Wild Card Memories

By our final year of college, the Friday night dinner has become a tradition for us. It started late in year one, when some of the more culinarily challenged members of our group, like Nadia and Dani, complained that they haven't had a good home-cooked meal in ages. Nate, my ever-so-useful roommate, volunteered me to cook for them because I apparently impressed him with my ability to make pasta without burning the sauce. Pretty soon, everyone agreed to bring something, and a weird studential potluck has become a reality. We chose Friday, early enough so that those of us who wanted to could go partying, but late enough that we won't feel weird about drinking (Dani's cousin hooked her up with highly believable fake IDs, so getting alcohol was never an issue).

In year two, Dani, Nadia, and Sarah moved in together, and their apartment became the permanent spot for our weekly dinners. Our group also grew, and even though I just broke up with my long-distance girlfriend from high school, I soon started dating one of the other girls in the group, Becky, who I was sure was going to be the one.

That didn't pan out. She dumped me right before the finals (she told me she's sorry for the timing but "there is no such thing as a good time to do this." I could think of several better possibilities, but it was too late for that). As a result, I took myself off the roster for the Friday dinner for several weeks in a row. When Sarah called to invite me to the very last Friday night dinner of the year, I initially refused.

"I wasn't asking," She replied back. She always had this 'tribal leader' approach and would boss us around relentlessly, but at least she did it with a smile.

"Look, Sarah, I just don't think..." I started, but she cut me off.

"She's not coming, ok? She and Nadia are going to check out this graduate school this weekend. So you are going to be there. It's time for you to come out of the cave and join the rest of us in society."

"I get it, ok? I miss you guys too, but with Becky and the Finals, I just... Look, it's not like I became a recluse or something," I protested.

"That's not what Nate tells us. He says you NEVER come out of your room." Have I mentioned how delightful it is to have a roommate who keeps your secrets as well as Nate?

"So you're coming, mister, even if I have to drag you myself,' Sarah concluded. I had to chuckle. Sarah was 5'2'', and I'm pretty sure there are toddlers that weigh more than her. The thought of the little blond pixie trying to drag me anywhere was hilarious.

"I take that chuckle as a 'yes, Sarah, I'm coming and I'm bringing my lasagna,'" she said.

"Ok, ok, I'll be there. Don't want you to sprain something trying to carry my heavy ass."

"And the lasagna?"

I sighed, "yes, mom, that too."

"Just for that sigh, I'm making you bring those eggplant pastries you made for New Year's too."

I said goodbye before she'll make me make even more food.

And so Nate and I made our way to the girl's apartment that Friday night. Dani opened the door for us.

"He's alive!" she exclaimed when she saw me standing there.

"Ha, ha," I said dryly. "You saw me at the Statistics final just three days ago."

"Ok, rule one - never mention the S-word in this household again," she said. "And you barely said more than 'hey.' I was worried about you, you know."

I felt my face getting redder. "Sorry, I guess focusing on the finals helped me forget about... other things. I wasn't what you'd call social."

"Well, it's good you decided to come out, then. Though you could do with a haircut," she said, wrinkling her nose at the mane of hair I managed to grow in the last six weeks.

"Thanks, you look amazing as well," my tone was sarcastic, but I was telling the truth. Dani was one of those girls who has a near-perfect body without really working for it. She was dressed today in tight jeans and a shirt that hugged her big breasts, making them hard to ignore.

There was a pool party at one of the frat houses in year two, and she ended the evening with something like six spontaneous offers of marriage. Even though I was with Becky at the time, the sight of Dani in her bikini was forever etched into my mind. Those long legs, that soft, milky-white skin, the tight stomach, that shapely ass that just begged to be touched, the big, beautiful tits that the bikini top could barely contain - Even Becky couldn't take her eyes off her. And she has an excellent smile. It lights up the room and makes her big brown eyes shine. That, coupled with her wavy auburn hair, made her look like some 70's pinup model.

Unfortunately for the frat boys, she was out of bounds for most of college, thanks to having a boyfriend, Mike, who proved how unworthy he was of her by cheating on her last year. It was a complete shitshow, and even though Dani recovered, I heard from Sarah that she kinda swore off men for the time being. Trust me when I tell you that it's a terrible loss.

"Hey, don't I get a hello? Aren't you happy that I'm alive?" Nate complained next to me.

Dani turned her attention to him. "Hello, Nate. As for the second question, that depends: did you bring it?"

Nate feigned innocence. "I brought eggplant pastries..." he said, raising the box that I let him carry.

"As if you could make those," Dani said. "You know what I meant."

"There may or may not be a quite-full bottle of vodka somewhere on my person," Nate admitted. "Wanna look for it?" he added with a wink. Nate, who was perpetually single, never gave up on an opportunity to hook up with anyone, let alone someone as hot as Dani. He had the confident air of someone who never struggled to get a date, which, thanks mostly to his all-American poster boy looks - blue eyes, blond hair, and a height of 6'1'' - was true. Unlike Dani, though, he worked damn hard for his looks. He hits the gym five days a week most weeks, and he even managed to drag me with him a couple of times, which is the only reason my body didn't take the shape of the couch over the last few weeks. Working out is a powerful way to take out one's aggression after a break-up.

"Oooh, interesting offer," Dani replied. "Maybe I should ask Sarah what she thinks about it?"

I had to smile. Nate did have some success scoring with the girls in our group early on. I know he and Nadia had a friends with benefits thing going on for a while. But after he hooked up with a girl named Ashley and she started drifting away from the group because he didn't want a relationship, Sarah told him that if she sees him hitting on anyone else from the group she will cut him out of the Friday dinner and make sure every girl in the school thinks he has a tiny dick and a hair-trigger. After that, Nate made sure to set his sights only on girls that none of us knew.

Nate shrugged. "It's the end of the year, I figure I can risk it."

"I heard that!" Sarah's voice yelled from the hall. "There's still this dinner you can get kicked out of you know!"

We all laughed and then entered the apartment. Sarah and Rita were sitting on the couch, already sipping wine. We said hello and hugged each other, and I asked, "who else is coming?"

"That's all of us, I'm afraid," said Sarah. "I already told you about Nadia, John and Rachel are going on some romantic getaway, Elinor has a date that she apparently can't postpone, and it turns out Aaron is not done with the finals. He says the one on Monday is a big one, and he needs every minute to study." Her tone of voice let me know she's not happy with that excuse.

"Don't blame Elinor," Dani chimed in. "You know she expected to finish college with a ring around her finger. Tonight might be her last chance to snag a boyfriend."

"Oh please! You don't see me running around trying to date anyone with a dick and a good smile! She should have a little bit more respect for herself."

Rita shrugged. "I never really understood what's the rush, if she needs regular assisted orgasms that bad, I'm sure there would have been plenty of volunteers."

That was Rita for you. She was always outrageously open about sexual topics. She made it clear from year one that she was going to college to have a good time, and she loved regaling us with stories of her adventures. She had no shortage of partners, thanks to her voluptuous figure. She liked to say she had curves that should be put into good use. She wasn't lying, too. She was shorter than Dani and didn't have her long legs or toned body, but she more than made up for it with her other assets. She was wearing a flowy skirt that accentuated her curvy hips, and her shirt had a plunging neckline, putting her ample bosom on display.

But it was her face that made her impossible to ignore. Her bright green eyes, coupled with her long raven-black hair, gave her an exotic allure, and her full, luscious lips made even drinking from a straw look indecent.

"What about Mary?" I asked. Mary was Rita's roommate.

Rita shook her head. "Art students get to do a project instead of finals, the bastards. She went back home two weeks ago to work on hers."

Which I would have known if it weren't for my self-imposed exile from the group.

"Well, if everybody's here, can we start eating?" Nate said. "I'm starving."

We agreed and sat down around the table. Once again, everyone contributed something to the meal. My lasagna and pastries were the main courses, but we had Rita's pecan salad for a starter and Sarah's ridiculously delicious brownies for dessert. And of course, Dani still supplied the wine, even though she no longer needed her fake ID.

"Ugh, wine? Can't we have something stronger for the last Friday dinner?" Rita said.

"Hold on," Nate ran to his bag. "I thought we'd want it after the meal, but Rita's right, there's no reason that it shouldn't be available right from the start." And he produced a near-full bottle of vodka.

"Nice!" said Rita. Sarah had a different reaction "ew, I hate Vodka."

"Just mix it with something," Dani told her, "We have orange juice, we could make screwdrivers."

I looked at her in surprise. Dani was never a big drinker. I didn't think she even knew what a screwdriver is.

"No thanks, I'll stick with the wine," Sarah said.

Dani brought the orange juice from the fridge and started pouring it into her glass. "Anyone else?"

"Sure," said Nate, giving her his glass.

"I'll go with wine too," I said. "Vodka on an empty stomach is never a good idea."

"Nah, it makes it easier to get smashed," Rita said. "Gimme a screwdriver, too, Dani."

Dani poured each of us their chosen beverage.

"A toast," Sarah said, raising her glass. "Cole, you want to do it?"

I stood up and raised my own glass. "To finishing the finals, getting our degrees, and starting our life as adults! May we have many exciting adventures and successes!"

We all drank, and Rita remarked, "I wouldn't mind some exciting adult adventures," causing Sarah to nearly do a spit take.

We all laughed and began to eat our meal, which was excellent as always. Dani was the one to break the silence of our chewing. "So Rita, about those 'adult adventures'... Had any good one lately?"

Rita took another sip of her drink and smiled widely. "Nah, these finals have done me in. I barely had time to breathe, let alone find a willing partner who's not swamped. I'm afraid I had to rely on battery-powered adventures the past month."

"Just a month? I should throw you out for complaining about that!" Sarah cried. "Some of us girls have to do with much less, you know!"

"Having a bit of a dry spell, Sarah?" Nate asked, smiling.

"A lady never tells." Sarah met his gaze. "But it has been some time. I thought college was supposed to be wild! But if you're not willing to sleep with complete strangers - no offense, Rita - then you barely get to have any fun."

"I don't know why you're complaining," Dani interjected. "At least you were single and could have some fun with strangers if you wanted to. And I know of at least some nights when the sock on the door rule was invoked. Meanwhile, here I am, wasted all my time in college dating one asshole, and now we're graduating, and I've got no crazy story."

Sarah's protective instincts kicked in. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You were in love, and he was a jerk who didn't know a good thing when he had it."

"It's ok," Dani said. "I've gotten over him. I just wished I would have gotten over him sooner. I feel like I've wasted even more time that could have been much more memorable. I feel like I missed out on a key part of college."

"I think I speak for all men of the university - and some of the women - when I say that we all feel the loss of that." Nate said. The fact that everybody laughed was a testament to the strength of the drinks.

Then he threw me under the bus again. "Besides, you're not alone. Cole here basically jumped from relationship to relationship for his entire time here."

"Hey!" I cried in mock-rage. "I can't help it if I'm a romantic. And Becky and I had enough fun, thank you very much."

"Oh, yeah, some nights you've even stayed up until past ten!" said Nat sarcastically. "Face it, man, you've missed out. You were in an old-people relationship before you even left college, you let all the fun opportunities get away from you."

We were all quiet after that exchange. I think Nate figured he went too far because he started saying, "Oh, shit, I didn't mean -"

"No, you're right." I said. "I have missed out. But my mother taught me that complaining about something is useless unless you're going to try and change it, so I guess there's no point in talking about it anymore."

"But do you want to try and change it?" Rita asked. We all looked at her. She seemed blushed, as though what she's about to suggest makes her nervous, but the gleam in her eyes showed she was also excited.

"You've got something in mind?" Dani asked.

"Well... I noticed that everyone here is currently unattached... and I thought we could try something together..."

We all sat stunned while we contemplated the meaning of her words. "Try something?" did she mean the five of us having sex together?

I suddenly took a good hard look at everyone in the room. I would be lying if the thought of "trying something" with these three ladies didn't get my blood going. Rita was sex incarnate, and Dani is every boy's wet dream. And Sarah, well... truth is, despite all the time we've spent together over the past four years, I never really thought of Sarah in a sexual manner. She wasn't bad looking, mind you. Sitting there in her green dress that would have been short on anyone else, but perfect for her, it made her look all the more like a pixie. Her small breasts fit her tiny frame, and her legs were toned and shapely enough to compete with Dani's, even if they weren't as long. But I was never in the frame of mind to fantasize about her, I guess. Though I did have the occasional naughty thought of what it'd be like to have sex with someone so lightweight, I can throw them around to my heart's desire.

Who am I kidding? Even in my heartbroken state, I'd be lucky to have any of these girls.

"Define 'try something,'" Sarah said.

"Well... I was thinking about maybe playing a little game," Rita said coyly.

"What? Like Monopoly?" Nate asked. That broke the tension a bit, and we all laughed.

"No, no..." Rita giggled. " I was thinking maybe we should play something a bit more... adventurous."

"Adventurous as in one of those adult adventures you've mentioned before?" Dani asked.

Rita nodded.

Sarah was the first one to speak. "Ok. I'm in."

Wait, what? Did Sarah just agree to play some adult sex game?

She looked at her roommate. Something passed between them wordlessly. Whatever it was, it seemed to give Dani some resolve. "Ok," she said, looking determined.

"Hang on, all three of you girls are on board with this?" Nate was voicing the exact thoughts that we're going through my head.

Rita was about to say something, but Sarah beat her to it. "It's been a lot of stress for a long time. I don't know what Rita has in mind, but I'm up for anything, and I trust all of you guys. Why? you're not chickening out, are you?"

"Heck, no! Just wanted to be sure I'm not dreaming here. Count me in."

They all turned to look at me.

What was Rita planning, exactly? It was impossible to read her expression. A part of my brain was saying something about it being too soon after my breakup to be doing something like this, but it was silenced by another part that told me I'd be regretting it all my life if I didn't join in.

Honestly, I barely needed to think about it.

I nodded.

The meal was mostly over anyway, and no one wanted to eat more, the excitement of what might happen taking over us. We cleared the table and then sat down, looking expectedly at Rita to tell us what she had in store for us.

"Oh, I almost forgot," said Rita turning to Sarah, "do you have a deck of cards?"

Sarah nodded and went to her room to get it, while Nate asked: "what, we're going to play strip poker or something?"

"Not strip poker," said Rita mysteriously. "Too complicated. You'll see what we're playing in a minute."

Sarah came back with the cards. Rita took them from, removed the Joker, and started shuffling vigorously.

She gestured for us to sit around the table and explained the rules as we took our place.

"Right, so this is really simple. We go in clockwise order, during each player turn, you take one card and show it to everyone. If it's a card that hasn't been drawn, you get to make the rule for that card for the rest of the game. So for example, if I draw -"

And here she stopped shuffling and picked a card. Six of clubs.

"- The six of clubs, I could make a rule that anyone who draws a six can make another player take a drink. You can't repeat the rules, though."

We all looked at each other, wondering what rules we're going to come up with.

"So, the rules can be anything at all?" Dani asked.

"You're not supposed to make it anything illegal, so no "tens mean you go rob a bank" or something, but, yeah, anything goes."

We all sat in silence, wondering all the possibilities that 'anything' might entail.

"Right," said Rita, slightly blushing from all the attention on her. "There are just a few more rules: if you draw a Jack, the rule you make applies to all men. If you draw a Queen the rule applies to all women. If you draw a King, you can change the rules of an earlier card. And if you draw an Ace -" and here she gave us all a meaningful look - "you get to dare any player to do anything you want."

Once again, the word anything had our minds racing.

"Alright, if we're gonna do this, I need another drink." Sarah broke the silence. Dani whipped up Round of screwdrivers for everyone. I noticed Sarah didn't complain about the vodka this time. I guess she, like me, needed the boost of liquid courage that came with the stronger liquor.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Rita asked. We all nodded in turn, and Rita gave the deck one last shuffle. "I'll start us off."

She picked the top card and showed it to all of us. The Two of Hearts.

"Ok, let's keep it light for now. Twos are for truth. Anyone who draws a two can ask someone else a question, and they have to answer truthfully."

"Oh no, you've fooled us into playing truth or dare! Should we get pillows for a pillow fight next?" said Nate mockingly.

Rita just smiled at him. "I see we have a volunteer! How nice of you, Nate, to make me pick you."

Nate shrugged. "Bring it."

"Oh, I will. I know you're a bit of a man-slut - not judging, mind you, just making an observation. My question is: ever did it in a public place?"

Nate smiled as if he was waiting for this question all night long. "As a matter of fact... yes, yes, I did."