We were in the car looking forward to an evening with friends, a couple we know mainly through my wife. She'd been friends with Kim since they were in school and Andy is Kim's new partner of a few of months. I'd met Andy briefly on a couple of occasions but tonight is the first time for both of us to get to know him properly.
I was driving and although not actually discussed we both know we'd be leaving the car and catching a taxi back tonight, it's the end of the week and we're both going to want to have a drink, in fact when Abby gets together with Kim drinking is typically a forgone conclusion. We drive in silence, not uncomfortably, the sort of silence between a couple who've been together as long as we have. I've not shared my apprehension of spending an evening making small talk with a guy I hardly know - Abby looks forward to the increasingly rare chances she gets to catch up with Kim since she had moved with Andy to a different part of the city and I didn't want to put a damper on the mood.
Pulling into their driveway it's easy to see why they did move and we gave each other look that confirmed the house envy we both felt. Kim had been living in a smaller flat not too far from us following a pretty acrimonious split from her previous partner. Wanting a bigger place and to leave some of the memories behind she'd moved in with Andy (pretty quickly we noted) and together they bought a lovely detached house on the outskirts, a big garden and the sort of privacy space doesn't allow for where we are.
Kim opened the door and we were chastised for our offering of wine and champagne as being unneeded but gratefully accepted nonetheless. Moving through to the kitchen we found Andy fussing with the evenings meal before coming over and further handshakes, greetings and kisses were exchanged. Andy wasn't much taller than me but he had broad shoulders, a barrel chest and big hands making him a more imposing presence, a fact that was offset by a slight Irish lilt in his accent that the years of living in England hadn't quite taken away. Kim was looking smart in a figure hugging dress that accentuated her figure, Abby had gone more casual in some tight jeans and a short sleeved sweater top that she knew I liked (she didn't know reason I liked it was because of how it made her breasts look, but I'm sure that's one of the reasons she bought it in the first place). Both myself and Andy had opted for the standard jeans and shirt combo that befitted our age.
We stood around chatting and laughing, my earlier anxiety easing as I found Andy easy going and with enough common ground that I never felt conversation became forced, he made further ministrations to our dinner and before long were sat around eating, drinking and enjoying the evening. Wine continued flowing following the meal and we moved through to the living room, larger than ours with a sofa, an armchair and a small coffee table in the centre It was set up as a space to relax complete with mood lighting and a small stereo in the background playing some inoffensive mix of what I assumed passed for modern popular music. Abby sat on the couch next to Andy and I took the armchair after much protest from Kim who insisted on sitting on the floor opposite the sofa claiming it was perfectly comfortable.
As we all sat talking Kim and Abby began reminiscing, the way old friends do when encouraged by drink and it didn't take long for Abby to move off the sofa to join Kim on the floor. The conversation was expertly audited to avoid any gratuitous mentions of Kims ex which might have broken the relaxed atmosphere that had been created. Andy and I listened to their old stories, making jokes and feigning disbelief at their past antics.
The subject of a holiday they took together to Spain in their teens came up . A good twenty years in the past and about six years before I'd met Abby it was the first holiday they'd taken alone and was a favourite topic of conversation when they got to talking about the past. They'd gone with their boyfriends at the time, (brief relationships in the grand scheme of things and with whom they'd both lost touch with over the years). I'd heard most of the stories several times before, but one was new to me.
"Do you remember that card game?" said Kim a little mischievous grin on her face.
"No!" replied Abby wide eyed in a way that suggested she remembered it very well but possibly didn't want it discussed.
"Card game?" enquired Andy intrigued.
"I've said too much."
"We played strip poker," said Abby glaring playfully at Kim.
"Except Stuart didn't know how to play poker..." said Kim.
"... so we had to play blackjack instead," finished Abby her mock indignation replaced by laughter.
I was a bit shocked, I'd known Abby for a long time and never heard about this, which meant it was either mundane enough to have never merited mention or scandalous enough to have remained secret for so long. It would be unfair to call Abby conservative or prudish, but she can embarrass easily and although I wouldn't mind I found it difficult to imagine her playing strip anything. Either way I was curious to know more.
"Strip blackjack?" I said looking accusingly at Abby.
"It wasn't that bad," she assured me.
"You did have your tits out by the end though," said Kim, gleefully enjoying the embarrassment she was causing as Abby flushed red. "It was nothing they hadn't seen already on the beach," Kim reassured me.
She knew I didn't really care - I've never been the jealous type, certainly not about things so far past. The sunbathing and the dilemma Abby had faced opting to go topless had been covered years ago during similar discussions with Kim. I'd always liked the thought of them topless together on the beach although further interrogation had found it had mainly been while they were laying on their front which differed slightly from how I liked to imagine it.
"You have got lovely tits though Abby," Kim said which started them both laughing, drinking had (not unusually) loosened Kim's tongue and Abby I noticed was also showing signs of getting drunk.
"Hang on, hang on," said Andy, "how did the game end?" I was encouraged to see he was taking it all in good humour.
"Kim won," said Abby "and I wouldn't go further than topless."
Kim did a quick up and down with her eyebrows at Andy.
"Does that mean you got those poor guys naked and all they got was a pair of tits?" I asked.
Kim and Abby looked at each other and laughed confirming that it was very probably the case.
"Bet that didn't pan out like they expected," added Andy chuckling ,"I think I need a drink after that revelation, anyone else?" he asked getting up from his seat.
"Not sure we need any more," I said but we all decided to have another anyway. I glanced over at Abby to show that I was aware that she was getting drunk and got a tongue stuck out at me for my trouble, she used the break in the discussion as an opportunity to get the conversation back onto less provocative ground and started chatting with Kim about more mundane subjects.
An hour passed and there was feeling the evening was winding down, I started to recognise the stubborn streak in Abby that she developed when getting a bit too drunk for her own good and I suggested we start thinking about booking a taxi.
"Don't go yet," protested Kim hugging Abby.
"Hang on," said Andy who quickly got up and went to the kitchen.
"What's he getting?" I asked suspiciously as I heard the clink of bottles, the look on Kim's face suggested she was as much in the dark as I was.
"One for the road!" he said returning with four shot glasses on a tray which was placed on the coffee table in the centre of the room. Abby looked at me, we both realised it would be game over after this. The shot glasses were filled with a clear liquid that I guessed from the smell was tequila.
We made a production of doing the shots counting to three before downing the shots together. The godawful taste and burning sensation confirmed it was tequila and after we all recovered from the shot Andy threw a small packet onto the table. I wasn't sure what it was at first then realised it was a pack of cards. Not everybody was thinking clearly so the implication didn't register straightaway.
"Andy!" said Kim.
"Are you suggesting what I think here?" I said, Andy grinned.
"I don't think Abby is up for that" I continued looking over for confirmation.
"And you are!" she said, slightly slurring.
"Do you want me naked in front of your friends?" I replied, even drunk she'd picked up it wasn't a denial.
"Deal me in," she said kneeling in front of the coffee table - I recognised the stubbornness, this was the drink talking. I looked to Kim for help.
"If Abby is doing it I'm all in," she said, moving next to her at the table.
Kim had always been a bad influence on Abby and I should have known better than to appeal to her for help to stop Abby walking into a potentially embarrassing situation.
I was sure that Abby would regret this in the morning, what's more I was pretty sure I would get the blame for not trying hard enough to stop her, but I was willing play along for now.
"What exactly are we playing?" I asked leaning forward on my chair, accepting (and slightly warming to) the inevitable.
"Stick with the classic if you want, it's obvious the girls know blackjack," said Andy smiling. With the cards already in hand he had began dealing.
I'd never played strip blackjack before so we ran through the rules as they had played it all those years ago, we took it in turns to deal with play passing to the left and you could only lose while you were the dealer. Losing meant taking off an article of clothing. I tried to make a quick inventory of what everyone was wearing, but the drink was affecting my cognitive skills to the point where the concentration needed was considerable, Abby was wearing jeans and a short sweater top plus the full compliment of underwear, Kim was more interesting because she had a dress on...
