Tina's heart was pounding, and temper was fiery when the race ended. Her friends, Jodie, Amber, and Eli, screamed as the race came to a photo finish between Eli's and Tina's avatars. Tina had won! She threw down her video game controller and celebrated, "In your face! Yeeessss!"
The four roommates were squeezed onto the brown three cushion couch enjoying a lazy Friday night with nothing to do. The table in front of them was littered with wine glasses and empty craft beer bottles from the last couple hours of drinking.
"Such luck!" Eli groaned.
"It's all skill!" Tina yelled triumphantly. The blonde tomboy was not about to let Eli get away with talking trash after a loss, "I can't help if you're falling off after a couple races." Tina was in her pajamas, or rather, what she wore when she was laying around the apartment. She had a t-shirt with her club soccer team's logo emblazoned on her chest and leggings that cut off half-way down her calf.
"That one was all luck! I won every other race," he protested.
"Don't be such a bad sport." Jodie said, "She beat you fair and square." Jodie was in similar clothes to Tina. The more full-figured girl wore yoga pants that went to her ankle with a long-sleeved shirt with the drama department's logo on it.
"Yeah because I'm actually good at it," Eli said. Like the rest of his roommates, he was dressed in lounge clothes: a white t-shirt and black basketball shorts. He was tall, dark haired, and, if you gave Tina truth serum, quite handsome. She would never admit that; it would give him too big of a head. They were close friends, but, currently, she hated him for his stupid arrogant face.
"That doesn't make any sense. You can't have it both ways," Tina protested.
"Yeah, it can't be luck for her and skill for you!" Jodie agreed. Tina could count on her to come in on her side of an argument.
Amber stood up from the couch, joking, "Well he is right. I suck and I have fun."
"You also get last every race," Eli answered.
"Who cares? More wine?" Amber asked, heading for the kitchen. Dressed in silky, forest green pajamas, she was short but athletically built. Amber had been a cheerleader in high school, but now she stayed in shape by dancing in the college's hip hop team. If Tina didn't know her she would be concerned about the amount of wine she'd had tonight, but she had seen Amber perform some truly heroic feats of alcohol consumption and knew that Amber was no where near where she should be worried.
The four friends laughed but Tina did not want to let it go. Her and Eli were always competitive with each other since they met on the first night after they moved into freshman dorms.
Three years ago, now, Eli and some other guys had organized a poker night and invited all the girls. Obviously for the guys it was just a chance to flirt with them, but Tina had learned poker growing up with her older brothers and knew what she was doing. After winning a couple hands off Eli, their friendship was set in stone and had many good-natured fights over similarly stupid games.
"Alright one more," Tina demanded.
"Agreed, can't let the last race be a loss," Eli answered.
"Oh, it will be!" Tina taunted him.
"Wanna bet?" Eli said.
"Sure, what's the bet?" Tina asked. This was not new territory for them. It was rare that they did not have some bet going. Usually, they would bet a drink or a six pack versus a bottle of wine over a football game, but every once in a while, it was something more fun.
"You choose. you're gonna be the one paying up," Eli said.
"Help me think of something," Tina said, looking to Jodie and Amber.
"Leave me out of it," Amber said returning to the couch with a new bottle of wine.
"I don't care. I would bet my balls. You got no chance," Eli boasted.
Tina laughed. Eli had walked into one, "Oh really. I'll take that bet."
"What?" Jodie laughed, "What does that even mean? Are we finally devolving into the sex house?"
"Blow job! Blow job!" Amber chanted.
"No, no. It has to be a punishment. If I win, I get to kick him in the balls!" Tina said. She was sort of joking, thinking there was no way he would agree to that. She just wanted him to suggest something because she had have no good ideas.
Eli opened his mouth then closed it narrowing his eyes at Tina, "What if I win?"
Tina was surprised that he was considering it. She thought there was no way, but she was not gonna back down. He would never let her hear the end of it if she were the coward that backed off her own suggestion.
"I don't know. what's fair?" A pit was forming in her stomach from both nerves and excitement. This wouldn't be the first time the two of them had played this kind of pseudo intimate game of chicken.
In the past, she had made him streak around the dorm building and after losing a game of pong she had let him take a body shot off her which meant she'd had to take her shirt off at a very crowded party.
"Well, I guess I would get to kick you, you know, down there," Eli said.
"Y'all are crazy," Jodie commented.
"Y'all just need to get a room," Amber muttered drinking her wine, "Blow job was a better idea."
Eli winked jokingly at Tina. Their relationship had been called flirty by more than a few of their friends but Tina didn't think of him like that. He was more of a close friend with some annoying brother vibes. He had asked her once if she wanted to try a relationship and had offered to quit being so flirty if it was weird. She'd said no. It was fun to flirt and fight, but she wasn't into him like that.
Tina laughed at Eli's wink, "I don't know. Will it be weird?"
"We can think of something else. Plus, you can always back out after you lose," Eli said.
Tina thought pursing her lips. She really hated the idea of backing down when she'd been the one that suggested kicking him in the balls. "It's a bet. Looking forward to winning; it might take you down a peg."
"Go Tina!" Jodie said, "You a grower or a shower, Eli?"
"You gotta get with me to learn that," he answered with another flirty wink. "I've won every race but one. This is a bad bet, T. Sure you wanna do it?"
"You wish I'd back out," Tina said.
"Alright hope you don't blame a guy for looking forward to the view," Eli said.
"What does that mean?"
"Well you're gonna be naked in about, eh, five, ten minutes," he said making a show of checking the clock on his phone.
"One, I'm gonna win. Two, I don't need to take off shit if I lose!" Tina argued.
"Oh, come on. Jodie assumed I was getting my dick out. That's part of the fun," Eli said, looking at the others for support.
"Not part of this," Amber said, "Just an innocent spectator."
"I think Eli has a point," Jodie said.
"Traitor," Tina said to her friend.
"See," Eli said, "Nudity was assumed."
"Fine, I'll take my pants off," Tina said.
"Nah, naked. If I lose, I'll happily show y'all everything. Or you can always back out," Eli said.
"It's different. I have a little more to show," Tina said.
"Seems like you have less to show," Eli answered, faking cluelessness, "Mine hangs out there."
"You know what I mean," Tina said, "Also I got plenty up here." She laughed pushing out her chest.
"God, y'all are going to troll each other into marriage," Jodie said.
"Yeah, somebody is going to lose a dare and you'll both say I do cuz you don't wanna back out," Amber agreed.
Eli opened his mouth, but Jodie spoke first, "I think that's fair, too. How about bottomless with shirt off and bra on?"
"I'll accept that," Eli answered.
Tina sighed. She was sure Jodie would be cheering for Tina to win, but her friend made the negotiation much harder. Jodie loved egging the two of them on and now Tina was risking much more. "Fine, I'll agree to that, too."
"Can't believe it. Money in the bag," Eli said picking up his controller, "Last chance to back out."
"No way in hell. Better get ready to lose," Tina declared.
"One race or you want two out of three?"
"Just one let's get going," Tina demanded.
"Y'all want a piece of the action?" Eli said, looking at Jodie and Amber, "I wouldn't mind seeing all three of you."
"I'm sure you would," Jodie said, "But nah I'll stay out of y'all's thing."
"Too high of stakes for a game I suck at," Amber said, bowing out.
"Alright one on one, Tina. Sure, you wanna play?" Eli asked.
"You're just scared. Why don't you quit?" Tina said. She was confident. It had taken her a couple races to get warmed up, but she thought she had at least fifty-fifty odds and that was good enough for her.
She loved the thought of beating him and rubbing it in his dumb face. The risk was high, but she wasn't going to miss a chance to be able to make fun of him forever. Getting kicked in the balls after losing a video game to a girl is something he could never live down.
If she lost it would hurt, sure, but he couldn't exactly brag about beating a girl at a game and kicking her like that. (Double standards, for the win.) It would never leave the room if she lost and she wasn't really a prude around her friends.
"Never," Eli said as he picked all the options for the race.
"Hit start already!" Tina demanded.
"Yeah hurry up," Jodie said, "I wanna see that dick!"
Amber laughed, raising her wine glass in the air, "Go Tina! Girl power!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Eli said as he hit start.
There was a timer and the two were off racing against the backdrop of a rocky red-brown canyon. The two player-controlled racecars quickly outpaced the computer racers and dueled each other around the track.
