"It's easy," Brian said. "I leave the pub by the side door, streak along the shops and around behind them, where Adam will be waiting to pick me up. What can go wrong?"
"What can go wrong?" he grumbled to himself, doing his best to be inconspicuous as he huddled behind some bushes, watching the police breathalyse Adam, who he damned well knew would be over the limit.
"What can't go wrong?" he muttered, as that idiot Adam suddenly became obstreperous, swinging at one of the cops.
"Please leave the keys," he begged quietly as Adam was helped into the back of the police car and removed.
"Damn," was his heartfelt comment on finding the car firmly locked. There didn't even seem to be any handy rocks that would let him break a window and get in. He was well and truly stuck.
"One advantage," he mused. "It's late. I'll just sneak around until I find a place where I can sneak in and pinch a pair of pants."
Suiting thought to deed, Brian headed down the nearest street, slipping from shelter to shelter, striving to remain unseen as he checked out each house. Any with lights he ignored, but eventually he came across one completely unlit. Moving slowly and keeping an eye out for any dogs, he edged around the house, testing the windows.
At the side of the house, towards the rear, a window was unfastened. Breathing a sigh of relief, Brian edged it open and heaved himself up and over the sill. He heard a swishing sound and that was all he heard, as everything went dark.
Waking up Brian discovered several things. He was still naked. His head hurt. He was lying on what appeared to be a bed. He was also blindfolded and tied to the bed.
Brian gasped and called out.
"Ah," said a female voice. "Our would-be rapist awakes."
"What do you mean, rapist. I'm not a rapist," protested Brian.
"Really? You climb naked into a woman's bedroom in the middle of the night for fun?" asked a second voice.
"I've lost my clothes," said Brian. "I was hoping to find something to wear. That's all. I swear it."
From the laughter, it seemed that the women didn't readily believe him, which was, he supposed, understandable.
"I can explain," he said quickly. "Honestly I can."
He went on to tell his listeners about the bet, which he'd won, damnit, and how his pickup had let him down.
"If Adam hadn't got stroppy the cops would have left him there, and he could have given me my clothes and I could have driven home," he grumbled.
"More likely the cops would have stopped and tested you and you would have been walking home," came the unsympathetic reply. "Angela, take a look around the yard and see if his clothes are out there. If they're not, then it might be that he's telling the truth."