Dinner for Three Ch. 01

Natalie could see that Laurie had a 7 of diamonds, but Laurie had probably seen a high card on Natalie's head. "Adam. Two sips and I'm high." She laughed at the unintended pun.

Adam was looking at Natalie's face. She had a 3 of clubs on her forehead. Laurie had set her up by making Natalie think she had a high card. He said to Natalie, "I'll take that bet. Two sips—and I'm higher than you." He pulled his card down to see he'd had the 6 of spades.

Natalie swore and called Laurie a particularly unpleasant name. "Fine. I'm on to you guys now." She took two sips of her wine. "Let's go—next cards."

****

It took them 20 minutes to get through the deck. Laurie got picked-on both because she'd opened the game with a move that guaranteed Natalie's retaliation and because Adam was more comfortable putting the screws to Laurie given his general state of confusion about Natalie. The game had finished on a three-sip loss by Laurie because Adam had indeed counted the deck. He knew exactly what was on his head for the last card and caught Laurie because he had a King and she the Ace of Spades. When she'd seen Adam's high face card, she'd been certain that hers would be lower. Instead she'd had to drink and made a big show of being spluttering mad before stomping comically to the bathroom.

Natalie looked at Adam and smiled, "I knew you were going to count. How the hell do you do that?"

Adam shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I've just always been able to do it. My Dad and I played a million rounds of Casino and if I didn't count, I was a dead man."

Natalie hadn't heard much about his family before. Adam was oddly reserved about his personal life. "Where does he live?" She asked.

Adam gave a small shake of his head. The alcohol was certainly affecting him. He wouldn't have brought up Stanley with Natalie—or anyone for that matter. He said, "He doesn't. I mean he's dead."

Natalie was taken aback. She put a hand on Adam's knee. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Yeah. I don't talk about him much. I saw him once a week for as long as I can remember and cards were pretty much the way we could relate to each other. Sorry, not a lot more to say about him."

"I'd noticed. You don't talk about your family much...er...ever."

Adam pulled off his cap and ran his hands through his hair. He blew out a sigh and said, "Well you don't usually want to talk about a guy who was in jail."

Natalie's eyes were wide. "Jesus, Adam. What happened?"

Adam put his cap back on. "My Dad was into some bad stuff—he wasn't what you'd think of as one of the 'good guys.' He was a lot older than Mom but somehow they were really into each other. Oddly enough, that kind of tore both of them apart. Anyway for all of his bullshit, and what it did to my Mom, he loved us."

Natalie was stunned. She said, "Shit." under her breath.

Adam continued. "Mom brought me to see him every week like clockwork though. She wanted me to know him."

The toilet flushed and Laurie came bouncing back into the room. Natalie stood, pulled off Adam's hat and ruffled his hair; she'd wanted to do that all night. She headed for the bathroom.

Laurie gathered the cards and started shuffling. Adam looked at her and said, "No más. No más. I'm supposed to be somewhat intelligent tomorrow. I have to go into the office at some point and be at least conscious."

"Don't worry—my next idea doesn't involve drinking." Laurie gave a wicked grin.

Adam stood when Natalie appeared in the hall and passed her on the way to the bathroom. He raised his hand to high-five her but she did something completely unexpected. She reached up and lightly grabbed his wrist to pull his palm toward her face and kissed it. Then skipped back over to the table and settled back down next to Laurie.

In the bathroom, Adam finished peeing, zipped his pants and flushed. He went to the sink and ran the water until it was cold. The bracing splash on his face cut through the wine and he looked in the mirror. Talking about his parents had caught him by surprise. He really didn't want anyone to know about his father but she'd gotten to him. He looked at the mirror and said, "Shit."

****

Laurie had her hand on Natalie's shoulder. "You wimp. Come on. You told me he saw the picture of you at the beach—so what's the big deal? We're all big boys and girls here. Come on, prudes."

Adam was flustered. Laurie wanted to play strip poker. It was a little after midnight, there were three empty bottles on the kitchen counter and he was having a hard time finding fault with the idea. He knew he should put up an argument and walk home—but that was the right thing to do, not the thing he wanted to do. For the last three hours he'd been covertly watching his two dinner companions. Their casual clothes and relaxed conversation were layered on the picture from earlier and the chance glimpses of soft skin. It had been many months since he'd been with anyone and his body was letting him know it. He glanced back and forth at the girls and said, "I'm in."

"Fine." Natalie said. "But you and I are at a disadvantage. He's got on a hat, a t-shirt under his button-down, and socks."

Adam smiled. "Looks like you're fucked." When she put on a fake shocked expression he added, "Okay, okay." He dropped his hat on the floor and kicked off his shoes.

Natalie grabbed his hat and put it on. Laurie yelped and grabbed his shoes. "No way—you're not getting away with that." And she stuffed her feet into Adam's Nikes.

Adam said, "The shoes only count as one piece though."

The hat looked much cuter on Natalie than the oversized shoes on Laurie's feet.

Adam took the cards. "Five card draw. No wilds and you can only pull four with an ace." He dealt five each. When he fanned his cards, he was pleased to see a pair of queens. From the depth of the furrow, he could tell that Natalie didn't like what she saw. He said, "Time to put up or shut up. How many you want? L?"

Laurie was looking at her hand and trying to remember how poker hands worked. She'd wanted to instigate the situation to get Natalie to finally go for Adam, but the wine had befuddled her plans a bit. She took three random cards and put them face down.

Natalie had crap in her hand. Zip. She didn't even have an ace to trade in four. So she picked the low three and put them face-down on the table. The fact that she was in a strip poker game was getting to her. The anticipation of seeing Adam was adding to the tension. Also the room was noticeably warmer and she was getting flushed. If nothing happened with Adam, she was going to attack Laurie later—no matter what, she needed some attention.

Adam had noticed that the room was warmer as well. Probably better than being cold if he lost. He watched Laurie pick up her cards and remain completely neutral. Either she was a great bull-shitter, or she was sitting on a winning hand. Natalie was clearly frustrated with her cards. Adam had taken three as well, but they were garbage. He was squatting on a pair of queens.

Laurie laid her cards out first. "What do I have?"

Adam laughed. He realized that the reason her expression had been so neutral was that she didn't know poker. "Unbelievable. You lucky dog. Unreal...a full house. That tanks me—I only have a pair of queens."

Natalie slapped her cards face-down. "L cheated." and pulled off Adam's cap with a flourish. Then she whacked Laurie on the back with it before throwing it into the middle of the room.

Laurie laughed and put her hands up. "I didn't cheat...I'm just that good."

Adam shuffled and dealt again. When Natalie had reached back to toss the hat, she'd extended her arm and the fabric of her shirt had glided over her chest. Adam was hoping the cards were going to be in his favor again. He was getting eager to see more.

Unfortunately for him, he had nothing and it stayed nothing even with the draw. Laurie and Natalie hooted and hollered at his misfortunate. His socks joined the hat on the floor by the computer.

He said, "You got lucky that time." He shuffled and dealt. "L, you're due for a loss here." But it was not to be. He came up short again.

Natalie was getting more and more tightly wound with each hand. She loved watching Adam smile. He'd been so suddenly vulnerable a few minutes ago, but his confidence had never left. His hands positively flew with the cards, clearly his games with his father left him with that skill. She wanted him to lose his shirt. "Come on, boy-o. Off with the clothing."

Adam stood up and turned around to rude noises from his audience. Then he undid his belt and pulled it off his hips.

Natalie was indignant. "Wait, that's totally unfair. We don't have belts on."

Adam had thought of this but hadn't pointed it out earlier. "Tough shit. Should'a thought of that before."

Laurie let loose with a loud raspberry. "Lame!"

The cards were riffled quickly and Adam dealt the next hand. But again, his hand was a disaster. Even when he pulled two pairs, he still managed to lose to the ladies. This time he had to take off his outer shirt. He felt like a clown undoing the buttons to the chorus of jeers. He said, "I play poker all the time with the guys from work and if I had card luck like this I'd be flat broke."

Laurie said, "You're just trying to lose. Kinky."

Adam flushed. He left that comment alone and passed around the next group of cards. For the first time, Laurie lost and complained bitterly over the loss of her new shoes.

The next round Adam lost again. He looked incredulously at the two girls. "Shit--on--a--stick. This is ridiculous."

"Off with it." Laurie wasn't patient.

"Fine—my choice though, right?"

Both girls agreed. So he stood and pulled down his pants. He figured the thigh-length semi-lycra underpants were better than no shirt.

Natalie and Laurie were both on the floor looking up him when he dropped his pants. Neither of them were particularly inclined to look at a guy's crotch, but in this situation they couldn't help themselves. His black underwear hugged his legs perfectly. Adam's years of road biking had developed his thighs and he filled out the pouch enough that both girls were looking forward to the continuation of his card luck.

Natalie had more of a side view of Adam than Laurie and found herself tracing the strong outline of his hamstring up and over his ass. Her mind was racing ahead of the current situation and she had a brief thought about how satisfying it would be to pull in on that ass with her heels and to feel the flat of his hips pressing up against the back of her legs. She had to look away and sip more wine to break the image.

"No more Mr. Nice Guy. I'm gunning for the two of you now."

Laurie spoke out of the side of her mouth and said, "That's what we're hoping for." which almost caused Natalie to snarf her latest sip of wine through her nose.

The next round of cards proved to be the collapse of Laurie's luck. She'd lost the shoes and was left with her leggings and top. Earlier when she'd taken a quick shower and thrown on the leggings, there'd been no thought of underpants or a bra. That was proving to be poor foresight.

Laurie looked at her cards a second time and then at the other two hands. "Shit, shit, shit...and shit. Aw man, and I was doing so damn well."

Natalie had no pity for her friend. This had been her idea after all. "Come on, girl. Tits or ass—which is it?" The fine outline of Laurie's lips against the tight black legging fabric not only had Natalie's mind in the gutter, it was also a sure sign that she'd gone commando after her shower.

Adam figured now was the time to shut up and let things move on their own. He didn't want to miss out by saying something stupid.

Laurie glared at her roommate. "Fine—someone has to have the guts to get the night started."

Natalie retorted, "Or just suck enough at cards."

Laurie realized that the band-aid needed to come off quickly. There was no getting out of the game she'd instigated. She grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head in one continuous motion. Her chest was stretched high with her arms up and then bounced when she threw her shirt across the room. Her brownish nipples had crinkled even though the room was warm and she had goose bumps on her arms from the exposure. She'd always thought Adam was cute and here he was drinking in her body with clear hunger in his eyes. She wiggled her shoulders back and forth and said, "Live it up you pervs. You're next."

Adam could feel himself lengthening in the confines of the shorts. He knew he was supposed to stop looking at Laurie's chest, but her tits were fantastic. They were bigger than he would normally want but the firmness with the size made them magnetic.

Laurie grabbed the cards away from him. "A set of tits will make any man a complete dumbass. Gimme those and get ready to lose."

The next round of cards ended up with Adam missing a flush by one card. That would have been the end of Laurie's pants but it was not to be. He briefly considered surprising the girls and just tossing his shorts, but modesty got the best of him. So he added his shirt to the pile.

This was almost more than the alcohol was going to let Natalie easily deal with. Between her brazen roommate and the obvious effect it was having on Adam, she was seriously horny. She could feel the warmth in her belly and a slight slickness inside when she shifted her weight. Adam's shoulders seemed broader without his shirt for some reason. The collar bones stood out prominently and managed to make him look stronger—more masculine. He had a healthy shock of hair across his chest and she had a strong desire to push her fingers through it. More than anything she wanted to circle his nipples with her tongue and hear his breathing change.

Natalie almost growled at Laurie. "Deal already."

"Patience my little horn-dog. Patience."

Cards were flipped to each person and they took a moment to consider their positions. Adam found himself looking at three fours and figured he was safe either way. He'd win outright or be in the middle which was just fine with him. No matter how this hand went, something interesting was going to happen. He thought he'd happily sit and watch Laurie deal topless for the rest of the night but it didn't take a scientist to realize the sexual tension in the room was building rapidly.

Natalie had been dealt two pairs; nines over threes. She carefully selected a nine and a three and discarded them. She decided it was time to sabotage the game and move on to more interesting activities.

Laurie, on the other hand, didn't want to be the first one in the buff. She realized she had absolute shit in her hand, flashed her ace to the other two and then put four cards down. A moment later when they laid their cards out, Natalie had lost.

Natalie stood up and hooked her thumbs in the band of her sweats. She thought about pulling her panties down along with the sweats, but decided against it. She pushed the pants to the floor and stepped out of them before tossing them on the pile with a, "Ta da!"

Adam was transfixed. The picture from the beach didn't do her legs justice. Nor did it have the reality of what he was looking at. Natalie's panties were made of light-grey cotton and there was an unmistakable trail of petite moisture dots right along the centerline of the panties that disappeared between her legs. Natalie was completely unaware of this but Adam had zeroed in on it with unwavering interest. His cock responded further and continued its inevitable course of action.

Laurie had seen the dots as well and their effect was instantaneous for her as well. She'd spent many blissful evenings with her mouth firmly affixed to that pussy. Natalie's favorite was when Laurie would just plant her mouth on the area over the clit and create a strong suction. Then with her thumb, she would massage her opening and just barely dip into her quim. That slight penetration, mixed with friction added to the suction on her nub would send Natalie sailing over the edge every time. These thoughts wormed their way deeply into Laurie's alcohol-driven horniness. Without realizing it, she'd sat back on her crossed heels and was grinding against the upper one as she dealt.

Natalie saw what Laurie was doing and asked, "Got an itch there, Laurie?"

"Mmm...yup. Hoping someone will scratch it soon."

Adam's eyes almost popped out of his head when Natalie reached over and cupped Laurie's breast. She gave it a gentle heft and kissed her shoulder. It was quite possibly the single sexiest thing he'd ever seen.

Laurie shrugged her shoulder away. "Hey. Watch it, buster. You're going to ruin Adam's image of us."

Adam smiled. "I'm strong. I can take it."

A new selection of cards was finally passed around. The stakes were high and all three got quiet. Adam decided he wouldn't even look at his cards and just play them as they rode. Natalie's strategy had changed given that both Adam and Laurie only had one last item left. She took two and Laurie, who was grinding away on her heel, distractedly put in for one.

Laurie said, "I've got a pair of kings."

Natalie swore. "Fuck. I have queens. Let's see it gambler."

Adam flipped his cards over one at a time. The first one was a two, the second a five.

Natalie said, "Looks like shit to me. I want you to take those shorts off slowly."

The next card was a six which was followed by a three. Adam blinked and a half-smiled cocked to the side. He'd been sure he was going to lose and was totally fine with it. Time to see...

Natalie said, "Son-of-a-bitch. What the hell is that?"

Laurie had fallen over onto the carpet laughing.

Adam said, "Do you want help with that shirt? Or should we just go straight for the bottoms?"

Natalie decided that she'd had enough of cards.

She stood up and said, "You pulled a fucking straight out of thin air." She made a false show of anger. "Fine, I think I need help with both."

Adam swallowed hard, but stood. He was two-thirds hard and he was straining against his underwear. Natalie had moved to the middle of the room and he followed her. He walked around behind her and pulled her hair to the side. All thoughts of awkwardness were gone. He placed a warm kiss on the side of her neck—she closed her eyes. Adam stooped a little and ran his hands up the outsides of her thighs until he came to the shirt. Without stopping, he grasped the shirt and pulled it upwards. Natalie raised her arms and the shirt came free. She left her arms up and crossed them above her head. Laurie had gotten off the floor and immediately sensed that that intensity of the situation had ratcheted significantly north. She placed her hands on Natalie's hips and leaned in to kiss her full on the mouth. Their breasts mashed together and the heat of their skin touching brought a moan to Laurie's throat.

Adam was trying to process what was going on. He had no clue that Laurie and Natalie were intimate and he'd never been in a threesome other than in his imagination. He tightened his grip on Natalie and turned her around. He kissed her deeply, allowed their tongues to entwine briefly and then started kissing his way down her torso. Natalie's breathing was deep and regular as he passed his mouth over one nipple and then the next. Yet his primary interest lay further down. He planted kiss after kiss across her torso until he was on his knees in front of her. He took bite-sized kisses of her thighs and left a trail of saliva on her lower stomach. And then he pressed his nose into the center of her panties and inhaled deeply. She was so worked up that she was shifting her weight from foot to foot, but he took his time. He could feel the supple give of her pubic hair behind the fabric. He used his lower teeth against the material of the panties and dragged them lightly along the outline of her lips. He opened his mouth as wide as it would go and covered her sex completely and then exhaled fully which allowed the heat and moisture to build and build. While he was doing this, he pressed his tongue on the cleft that covered the clit. After doing this twice more, he finally pulled down on the elastic at her hips. The panties clung to her dampness for a moment before dropping away.