The Proper Rules For Strip Poker Ch. 04

"Where did you learn to do that?" I asked him.

"My mother has shown me a few things; because once I go away to school I may need to do some of my own cooking. This is really easy and tastes great," he answered, squashing a garlic clove with the flat side of a large knife.

"I'll open the wine," I said, leaving him to his work, "while the grill is heating up."

The three of us worked away, Scott even put out some candles, and cut a few flowers from the front planters, which he put in water in a vase that I found for him. He placed it on the table between the candles. I poured each of us a glass of wine, and went outside to grill the steaks. Scott came to join me.

"I've never seen the girls like this," he said to me, as I was checking on the meat, "There's an awful lot of flirting going on."

"I noticed," I replied, in a serious tone, "Did you see that 'come hither' look on Jayne's face when she stripped right off for us? It wasn't just directed at me; that's for sure. I've never seen her act like this before, even during strip poker."

"This could be quite an evening," Scott remarked, raising his eyebrows.

"I think they're done," I said, acknowledging his remark with a nod, "Let's get them inside. Do you mind calling the girls?"

I put the steaks on a platter, as Scott held the door for me, and then took them into the kitchen. Scott called the girls, and we heard footfalls on the stairs. Jayne came down the hall, looking radiant in a pair of white shorts, a red t-shirt and her hair band. She was definitely in cottage mode, with bare feet, and a healthy glow from all of the sun and water. Kathy and Debbie appeared in almost identical outfits, short denim skirts with white sleeveless blouses. You could tell by their faces that they had been in the sun, as well. Kathy had flip-flops on her feet while Debbie was barefoot, like Jayne. It didn't take long to determine that neither one of them was wearing a bra! Scott and I ushered them into the dining area and gallantly held chairs for them so they could be seated.

"Wine, ladies?" I asked.

"Look at the flowers, girls," Jayne said, "I'm impressed."

"I didn't think they could do stuff like this," Debbie said to her, "they're much more refined than they let on."

"Or they want something," Kathy said innocently, trying to put a puzzled look on her face, so she wouldn't laugh, "Whatever could that be?"

Scott and Steve brought over the platter and salad bowl, and started passing them around while I poured the wine.

Dinner proceeded happily. Steve earned some nice little kisses on the cheek for his salad, as I did for grilling the meat to a pink perfection. Scott pouted that no one was kissing him; so Jayne leaned over and gave him a short kiss on the lips, asking him if he felt better. The combination of the wine, the food and the sunburns had faces flushed as the meal disappeared. We served the pie and ice cream to the girls, and a riotous discussion about the volleyball voyeurs ensued. We had just finished dessert when there was a knock on the back door. I went to see who it was while the others cleared the table.

As I approached the door I could see through the glass that it was my cousin Joan, who is a few months older than me, and her boyfriend Rick, not my favorite example of the male species; who I had met several times before. Her parents had a place of their own a few cottages down. After I opened the door, we exchanged greetings. Joan then noticed that I had guests.

"So," she asked, "are my parents here?"

I explained that they weren't, and that mine weren't either. I took them out to the deck where the others had gathered, and made some introductions. While everyone started to chat, and Rick ogled the girls, Joan called her parents home, and obviously got an answer, because she was on the phone for quite a few minutes. When the call was over Joan explained the situation.

"They had a fight, and have gone home. They didn't know if we were coming or not, and now that we're here, they don't want us to stay; but who cares, it's probably more pleasant here than it is there right now. I told them we're not driving back tonight, so I'm in trouble, even though it's not my fault! Plus we have two other couples with us, and I'm not going to make them go home; they've been looking forward to this. Besides we're all over 18; we're hardly babies!"

I offered Joan and Rick a drink, which they eagerly accepted. While Scott handled the bartending, the rest of the group discussed the possibility of organizing a party for the following evening. Since the idea seemed popular all the way around, Joan walked back to her cottage and returned with the other couples, so that food and drink logistics could be dealt with. As had also been agreed, they brought some beer with them from their own supply. After some introductions, we dispatched party tasks quickly, and then Joan announced they would be going back to her cottage to eat as soon as her group finished their drinks.

Beach volleyball was mentioned at one point, and a game for the next day also appeared to be in the offing. I figured Rick would be a liability, slavering all over the place like a rabid dog when he saw our girls in their tiny bikinis, so I suggested a cottage against cottage challenge!

"What else do you do when you're here, besides swimming, partying and beach volleyball?" Linda, a stately slender brunette with shoulder length hair, and glorious dark brown eyes, asked.

"One of the real traditions," I replied, "is to have a bonfire on the beach if the wind conditions are right. Most people keep a brush pile down there for just this purpose. You'll notice how many there are if you and Ron go for a walk."

Ron was Linda's boyfriend, he was almost as tall as Steve, and he had an intelligent air about him, even though he had been pretty quiet so far.

"And of course, skinny-dipping," said Joan, with a giggle.

"My sisters and I used to all the time," she added, with some melodrama, "but we never let any boys join us. We always chose a really dark night; it made us feel very daring."

"And then, or course," I said, trying to stir the pot as much as possible, "there's always the strip poker games."

"What?" exclaimed Erin, "Are you kidding?"

Erin was not a pretty girl, but her pixie cut and artificial blonde highlights, in addition to her extremely generous curves, made up for her lack of natural beauty. She had on navy shorts and a white short-sleeved blouse shirt that buttoned at the neck. Her boyfriend Peter, who seemed serious behind the glasses he wore, was suddenly very attentive, as was Rick the prick!

"Oh, yes," I said, "It was only a few cottages down, where I learned all of the proper rules for strip poker."

"Joan," I asked, "you remember Ann, who played with our younger sisters; she taught them to me?"

"You played strip poker with Ann?" Joan said, incredulous.

"Actually," I responded, "that particular game didn't get very far ..."

"I thought so," Joan said, knowingly, "although I hear that Ann is pretty wild, so I would have believed anything you told me."

"How wild," asked Erin, intently.

"Well ..." Joan said in a low tone of voice, "my younger sister told me that she's actually done it with two boys at the same time."

There were several gasps. I noticed that Linda was blushing, while Erin and Peter looked at each other startled. Even our group was riveted on what was being revealed! And none of them had ever even met Ann.

"You haven't really played a complete game of strip poker," Joan said to me, "have you?"

"Oh, yes," Jayne interjected, in a matter-of-fact tone, "our group has played several strip poker games, and they went 'all the way'; if you know what I mean?"

"You mean everyone right down to the buff?" Erin said, with wide eyes.

"Of course," Kathy interposed, casually, "that's what 'all the way' means."

"But ... but," Linda asked, a little shocked, and looking around at Jayne, Kathy and Debbie, "you actually let all these guys see you ... you know ... with nothing on?"

"Yep," said Debbie, with a grin, "just like playing 'doctor'. And of course we got to see them, although their things seem to be pretty small," she added wickedly, wrinkling her nose and elbowing Scott in the ribs.

Then she added, in an attempt at an innocent tone, "Tell me Linda; is it normal for a guy to only be about three inches, even when he's excited?"

This remark was met with some guffaws from our group, with Peter and Ron joining in. Joan and Erin were giggling. Rick was busy trying to peek through the closure of Debbie's blouse.

"She's doesn't see very well, especially without her glasses," I said, trying to appear serious, "I think she couldn't tell the difference between three and eight inches."

"It was closer to nine than eight, right Steve?" Scott said.

"Easily," Steve added, with a grin and a wink at the girls.

"I guess I could go skinny-dipping with guys," Linda said, in a hesitant tone, "if it was dark enough. But strip poker ... real strip poker ... I don't know. I'm pretty shy. Would you play, Erin?"

"I might," she answered, "but I would need to know the rules, so that it didn't just end up with only the girls stripping; because usually the boys are better poker players. Do you bet your clothes? Or how do you play?"

"Yes, what are the proper rules you learned?" Joan asked.

"It's five card draw, maximum four cards replaced," I said, explaining, "Before you start you agree on how many articles of clothing everyone has, and what counts, and what doesn't."

"And no betting," Jayne added, "The loser of each hand has to take something off ..."

"And the winner of the hand," Kathy said, interrupting her, "also gets to choose someone else to take something off."

"When you have to strip off something important," I interjected, "not like a shoe or sock, you have to stand up so everyone can see you. And you can't use your hands to cover up. Now, when you're sitting, you can hide yourself as best you can, but no props are allowed ..."

"Once you're naked," Kathy exclaimed, cutting me off, "the fun really begins, because you don't just sit there, you keep playing, and you have to do dares!"

"Wow!" Peter exclaimed, impressed, "How does that work?"

"Let me tell him," Kathy said to me.

"OK," I said, giving her the floor.

"If you're naked," she said with authority, "and you lose a hand, or are chosen by the winner, you have to do a dare given out by the winner. Dares have colors; they're green, yellow, and red. Most of them have a time limit, usually a minute. A green dare is easy, like letting people see everything between your legs."

"Oh, no," Linda whispered, looking horrified!

"A yellow one is more adventurous," Kathy said, ignoring her, "like kissing and hugging naked. Then there are the red dares," she said, looking at her audience for effect, "they can be anything. The most extreme ones are doing something racy with someone who isn't your boyfriend or girlfriend."

"Not actual sex!" Erin said, putting her hands over her mouth.

"No, no," Kathy said in a reassuring voice, "there is a referee who ensures that things don't get too crazy. The referee is chosen from the players, and it's usually a girl, for obvious reasons. And the referee has a backup in case they have to do a dare. You can appeal your dare, or appeal if you are asked to be part of someone else's dare, and you don't want to do it. But the referee's decision is final. In all of our games, no appeal has ever been granted."

"So everyone starts with a green dare?" Ron asked.

"Not quite," Kathy answered, "the first person who has to do a dare gets the green one. The next person gets the yellow one, after that, too bad for you, you're going to do a red one!"

"How does the game end?" Joan asked.

"I'll explain it, Kathy," Debbie announced, "and you forgot to mention that if you win a hand and have to give out a dare to someone, you can't involve yourself in the dare, it has to be another player ... Now, when everyone is naked, there is one final hand. You need to go all out for this round, because the only thing that matters is winning; it doesn't matter whether you come in second, or last. If you are the winner, you get to give everyone else a red dare; and this time, you can be part of the dare, or make them do something with someone else."

"What if the green and yellow dares haven't been done?" Peter interrupted.

"That's never happened," Debbie answered, "but if it did, the worst hand always goes first, so they would get the easier dare. I guess in a case like that, if you didn't have very good cards, you would try to have the lowest hand. That situation has come up though, when two naked players have had to do a dare at the end of the same round. The lowest hand goes first, so it gets the green dare. It doesn't seem quite right, but that's the way it works."

"By the way," Kathy added with a smirk, "I don't think we mentioned that if there is a hand with both a strip and a dare, the strip happens first, so that if the dare involves the person that just had to strip, it can be more interesting!"

"If the game is very large," I said, "we add an extra strip to each round, so that it doesn't last forever. And we make the winner always choose a strip with the extra pick, if one is available."

Erin had a fascinated expression on her face. She was probably trying to imagine a game.

"But what about the guys," she asked Scott shyly, with a little giggle, "you know ... when they get to see the girls naked, and they ... ah ... respond?"

"That's all part of it," Scott laughed, with a twinkle in his eye, "Nine inches of raging manhood, ready for action. You have no idea how embarrassing it is to have girls see that!'

Erin was looking back at him and smiling at the ridiculous mental picture he was trying to draw. I really liked her; she was so genuine, and seemed to have a wonderful sense of humor!

"Which is why," he continued, with a sly smile in Kathy's direction, "it's so much easier for girls to take off all of their clothes."

"Baloney; what nonsense! You're always saying that!" Kathy said, glaring at him, and trying not to laugh, "Erin, just don't believe a word he says ... Debbie, I can't reach from over here, hit him for me!"

"You know," I chimed in, "It's not a bad strategy, if you are a guy, to get naked first."

"Why would you do that?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"Simpleton!" Linda chided him, blushing, but annoyed, "so he's sitting down where he can cover things up, before any of the girls have to take off their underwear. Get it?"

"Oh," Ron said sheepishly.

"But of course that strategy runs the risk of more dares," I said, nodding at her, and smiling, "so there's no perfect solution.

"Remember," Kathy said gravely, "This is Strip Poker; not Go Fish."

There was a lot of uproarious laughter at this point! Rick got up to get another beer; it had to be his third!

"When you played, how often did people have to do a red dare with someone other than the one they were with?" Erin asked, in a concerned manner.

"Actually, only once," Kathy replied, "In the very first game, my darling sister made me do a red dare with him," she said pointing at me.

"What was it?" Joan asked.

"Oh, I can't tell you," Kathy said, "because one of the rules is that no one ever tells either who played, or what they did. All you say if someone asks; is that you played in a game that went 'all the way'. Let their little imaginations run wild, and if they want to know more, then they'll have to get into a real game themselves. All I will tell you about that dare is that it got me so incredibly turned on, it was unbelievable! Good thing my sister was there, otherwise I would have just seduced him right on the spot; even though I was a virgin at the time!"

The other group stared at her speechless after this admission. I could tell that most of them were very, very inquisitive about that dare. Kathy just looked back at them with a satisfied little smile on her face, enjoying their curiosity!

Joan was looking at Erin, with some excitement in her eyes.

"Maybe we should try a game," Erin volunteered, catching the non-verbal cues, "but just ourselves, not with them; in case we chicken out. What about it guys?"

"Sure," said Joan eagerly, "Why not?"

"We could make a rule that any dare that requires another person has to happen with your partner," Erin suggested, "so it's not too scary."

I could tell that this suggestion met with Linda's approval!

Ron looked happy, he was clearly in! Peter, I sensed, wasn't quite so sure. Rick had left to use the washroom. At the rate he was drinking, he'd be blotto long before any game got going. But, they could always play with five; we'd done that once, and it worked out pretty well. I turned to Linda; if she got her courage up, the game would likely happen. She looked back at me; she probably suspected what I was thinking! I decided to make things a little easier.

"If you decide on a game, and since you are all new players," I said helpfully, "we've added a house rule that works pretty well. When some one has to be the first person to get seriously naked, say a girl has to take off her bra, or a guy his underwear; the referee declares the 'point of no return'. When that happens, before that person strips, each player is asked by the referee whether they are in or out. Because, once one player strips that far, everyone else has to go all the way, no backing out. So if someone doesn't think they can handle it, they can bail out safely, before there's anything significant shown."

Erin was looking at Linda, waiting for her decision.

"I think I'll try to play," Linda said to her, with surprising boldness, "how I'm going to do it, I don't know. I'm so shy, I'll probably blush myself to death!"

That brought some further laughter, which Linda joined into.

"Linda," Jayne said, in her kind way, "I was exactly like you, really shy and modest. But once I actually did it, and took my clothes off in front of some guys I trust, it changed me. I have more confidence in myself and my body."

I saw that Kathy was about to tease Jayne; which she so much enjoyed, and was so good at! I gave her a warning look. "Not in front of strangers!" I tried to say with my eyes. She nodded.

"Despite what Scott claims," Debbie added, "the first time is very embarrassing for a girl. But it was actually all in my mind. The guys were real gentlemen; they didn't make any rude remarks or say anything stupid. In fact, they just told me how beautiful I was."

"And you are," Scott said gallantly, "Maybe you should take off all your clothes right now, to show these other girls how easy it is."

"Nice try, but I don't notice you sitting there naked!" Debbie retorted, giving him a rap on the top of the head with her knuckles.

"Ow!" he winced.

"Good work, Debbie," Kathy said, encouraging her.

"Let me correct myself, Linda ... they were gentlemen then," Debbie explained, "Now they're just depraved sex addicts."

This exchange really loosened up the atmosphere; everyone was smiling or laughing, except Peter. Erin noticed it as well.

"So ladies," Erin said, in a commanding tone, "You're all up for it ... Ron?"

"Yes," he said quickly, with a grin.

"Try not to look so eager," Linda said, cuffing him playfully on the shoulder, "or I might change my mind."

Ron leaned over with a pleading look, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"This is interesting Joan," Linda said, with some irony, "We haven't even removed so much as a sandal, and they're already eating out of our hands!"

"I notice ...Where's Rick?" Joan then asked, with an edge to her voice.

"In the washroom, I think." I responded.

"Peter, you're going to play, aren't you?" Erin asked him pleasantly.