[NOTE: this story has a longish set-up. If you need instant gratification, this bit isn't for you. However, this story introduces some characters that may wind up playing out over several stories. So... if you can stand a slow, steady build-up of tension, the payoff should be pretty intense. Happy trails.]
Janie looked out the window. "Game starts in half an hour. Where are they?"
"Fuck if I know," Rick shrugged. "But here be beer, plasma, chips and good company."
"Aww."
Janie crossed the living room and gave her boyfriend a hug. It was a tender moment, at least until Rick gave her butt a squeeze. She giggled, gave her cheeks a wiggle and pranced away.
Rick half-pointed at her shirt. It was tight cream button down number β tight enough that the middle-bust button magically undid itself on a regular basis. "Button's open."
"Hm? Oh. Again?" Janie half-consciously buttoned the button as she headed for the hall.
"Tease."
"Maybe," she purred as she disappeared into the bedroom.
Almost a shame that his friends were going to show up, Rick thought. He watched Janie round the corner and couldn't help but stare at her dancer's butt. Granted, she wasn't naked but she still filled her jeans like an American calendar girl.
Rick turned back toward the tube. The television was flashing great Superbowl moments, from Vince Lombardi to Janet Jackson's boob - still the most TiVo'd event in television history. Even now there was a moment of silence between commentators as they ran every angle of pixellated nipple there was. It was an artistically lurid bit marred only by the doorbell.
"Do you have that?" Janie's voice rang from down the hall.
"Uh, yeah."
Rick opened the door to see a large brown paper bag hovering over a pair of Bahama shorts. "Well there's something you don't see every day."
"Dude, this is not light."
"Come in."
Brian brushed by Rick and it was a study in contrasts. The new arrival was a six-four, 205-pound beach bum, a poor surfer, a great volleyball player and an environmental engineer by trade. The host was a five-eleven, 265-pound former Stanford linebacker and psychologist by trade.
"Got room in your fridge?"
"Some. Why all the stuff?"
"You said it was BYO."
"I did not... Did I?"
"You did."
"Shit. Sorry." Rick took the thirty-pound bag off Brian's hands and effortlessly guided it toward the refrigerator. "No, I've got brew, chips and enough meat for a world-class tail-gater."
"Real food. Now that's an idea."
"Grill's on the patio. You know what to do."
"Would you mind?"
"Long as you make enough for everybody."
"I don't see anybody else here."
"Janie's in the back, Dave and Bill'll be here-" The doorbell interrupted. "-Right about now."
"I'll get cookin'."
Brian started rummaging through the kitchen, Rick stepped out to get the door. Standing at the front of the condo was a wiry man of five-nine. Bill brandished a bottle of Gran PatrΓ³n and a bag of limes in one hand, a small stuff sack in the other.
"One bottle? You're not sharing?"
"So help me God, if I drink like I did last time, just kill me."
"You drink like that and you'll have it covered yourself."
Rick stepped aside and Bill slipped past. The newest guest was a triathlete and certified computer science genius who worked on commission β when he felt like it.
Bill stepped toward the TV and sized up the pre-game. He waved the nylon stuff sack and it took the shape of a DVD case. "I brought a little post-game entertainment."
"Ahh..."
"Anabolic. Only de highest quality pussy for me frien-"
"Bill!" Janie cried out. She bounded across the living room and gave him a hug. "Good to see you!"
"Fuuuu-ck." Bill turned four shades of magenta and hid the stuff sack behind his back. "Have I mentioned I'm an idiot?"
"Frequently," Rick nodded.
"So," Janie pressed on. "What did you say you brought?"
"Er-"
Bill was going into fidget mode β something Rick didn't want to miss β but a loud rap on the door pulled him away.
The last guest was Dave, a 6-foot, 300-pound tree-trunk of a man that had been in the secondary at Stanford with Rick. Since graduating with his criminal science degree (and getting a job with the Los Angeles County Sheriff), he'd taken up powerlifting to grow from huge to fucking massive. He had a powerlifter's gut but if law enforcement ever got boring, Dave would make the next great strong man for Cirque du Soleil. The way he perched the pony keg on his shoulder, it seemed more like a parrot on a pirate.
"Brutha!"
"DAAAAAaaaave!"
"Let me give you this."
Dave swung the keg off his shoulder and put it square in Rick's arms. Rick practically went cross-eyed but managed to fake some grace as he carried it to the kitchen. Dave tsked-tsked behind him.
"Got to get back in the gym, my man."
"Eh... I enjoy shopping for clothes at normal-person stores."
Janie's gravelly voice croaked between them. "βWhich you barely do anyway."
The one girl of the group gave the Dave the Bear a bear-hug and sent the giant into terminal aww-shucks mode. Just as quick, she unwrapped and headed for the kitchen.
Both men watched her bound past the breakfast nook. The middle button on her shirt was open again, teasing the men with a glance of globes in black lace. Dave was shaking his head and trying not to stare. Rick glanced at Dave, and joined in the head shaking.
"Man, she is something else," Dave mumbled.
"Yeah, she is, isn't she?" Rick tilted his head as he watched her. "Ya know, she actually gets all my jokes..."
Dave looked at Rick with a bit of alarm. "My friend, you've been bitten. Have you used the 'L' word yet?"
"...Yes."
Dave shook his head, his expression grave. "This is serious-"
Brian walked past and high-fived Dave. "Dude, good to see you!"