Wicked Games

I know, I know, almost every story you read here starts off with the disclaimer that the "story you are about to read is true". While that may or may not be true, mine truly is. This is a story based on how my marriage to my wife, Hannah, was transformed from a normal, all-American marriage into one of sexual discovery and liberation. The details may be shocking to some, perhaps comforting to others; either way, I am not seeking your approval or disdain—I am simply sharing our experiences. Names and locations have been changed for the good of the group.

Hannah and I have been married for twenty years. At the time we married, we were both in our early-20s. We had back-to-back kids almost immediately after marrying and were forced to "grow up" well before our peers. We are both college educated and have good jobs. We live comfortably, but like most of you, overextend ourselves from time to time. One of our kids is a freshman in college and the other is a senior in high school. Since they have become more self-sufficient, Hannah and I have had a chance to become re-engaged with the world.

We both joined a local gym and immediately made friends with the younger crowd. Hannah was prone to hang out with several of the girls, but I tended to remain more private, socializing with few people. I would, however, invite our friends over to watch sporting events, e.g. football and MMA fights. I would typically BBQ as I cooking was my wheelhouse. It was one of these gatherings led started the evolution in our relationship.

This is a true story.

We had invited several of our gym friends over to watch the fights and a once raucous house had now fallen quiet. It had been a good time—good food, good fights and lots of laughter. While the party had ended over an hour ago, one of the guests, Mark, was still in his same spot on the couch drinking one of my craft beers. He had made himself at home, kicking off his shoes and propping his feet up on the couch. He had a beer in one hand and the TV remote in the other, silently flipping through the channels as Hannah and I continued putting away freshly washed dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.

Mark was new to the gym, but had quickly been accepted into our tight knit community. He was outgoing and was fun to be around. He had become the clown of the gym, constantly joking and teasing the other members with good-natured humor. Young and extremely fit, Mark was among the top athletes at the gym. He had a hipster look to him—long dark beard and his hair was styled in the dapper manner that was currently popular among the hipster crowd. He was darkly handsome and undoubtedly a hit among the younger women at the gym, or so Hannah had told me. She said all the girls lusted for him, some sharing their fantasies over brunch. He apparently didn't date any of them though, she said some of the girls even guessed him gay-I highly doubted that, more like jealousy over being rejected.

After finishing cleaning, Hannah and I joined Mark in the living room. Hannah poured herself another tall glass of red wine and sat in the opposite corner of the couch from Mark. She sat sideways and pulled her tanned legs up to chest. Even though she was tipsy, she had the presence of mind to tuck her sun dress between her legs to avoid flashing herself in front of our guest.

I sat down in the middle of the couch and popped the top off a new beer, dropping the cap into the catch jar on the coffee table. What once had been labeled as a lame idea by Hannah was now a piece of modern art. The many different colors of caps had made an eclectic rainbow inside the jar and all our friends talked about how cool it was. I was proud of myself. Kicking my feet up on the coffee table, I leaned back and looked over at Mark.

"How you feeling, buddy?" I asked.

"Oh, man. What a night, so awesome." He replied. "Thanks for the invite, I really appreciate it."

"No worries, you going to be able to drive?" I asked him.

"Um, probably not!" He smiled and took another drink from his bottle. "I'll order up an Uber though."

Quiet.

"Do guys mind if I hang out a little longer? My girlfriend is out of town and I don't have much else to do." He asked as he looked over at Hannah.

"I don't mind. Hannah?"

"Kids won't be home tonight, so no biggie to me." She said.

"Cool, guys. It's a post-fight nightcap then!" He laughed.

Mark turned off the TV and set the remote down on the couch next to him. "Got any music?" He asked.

"Sure, what'll it be?" I asked him.

"Whatever, just no gym music please. I don't feel like listening to Drake ever, ever again." He laughed again.

I pointed to the remote. "If you go to the 3000 series channels, it's all music."

He took the remote and began flipping through the assorted music and settled on a channel that featured primarily folksy hipster music.

"This is what I'm talking about." He smiled and sat the remote back down.

"So, how long you guys been married?" He asked, looking over at Hannah.

"Twenty years in a few months." She responded. She took a sip of her wine and played with a few strands of hair that fell over her left shoulder. Her wedding ring glinted in the light cast by the two table lamps.

"Oh, wow. You guys must have married young. What are you, 30 something?"

Hannah answered him again. "Actually, more like 40 something." She smiled and took another drink of wine.

"No way! I would have never guessed you were in your 40's."

"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment." She grinned from ear to ear.

"Too easy."

"How old are you, Mark?" I asked.

"Just turned 24 last week." He took another drink of beer.

"Happy belated birthday, guy!" I said.

Hannah joined in. "Yeah, happy birthday. If I'd know, I'd had made you a cake or something."

He laughed. "Don't worry about it. You having me over tonight is the best gift ever."

We all laughed.

Mark finished his beer and asked if anyone wanted another. Hannah and I both asked for a refill and he went to kitchen to grab two more beers and Hannah's bottle of red. He stopped to top off her glass before handing me my beer. We popped the tops and tossed the caps with the growing collection.

"This music ok?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's pretty relaxing." I said. "We both listen to whatever, so this isn't bad at all."

We continued to drink and talk for what seemed like several hours. Mark was extremely friendly and good company. It had been awhile since I had laughed that hard. Although the alcohol helped, Mark was hilarious. All three of us were fairly intoxicated, but kept drinking.

Empty bottles littered the coffee table. Hannah had already finished one bottle of wine and was opening a second. She spilled some on the coffee table as she tried to pour herself more. I couldn't recall ever seeing her in that condition.

"Oops!" She giggled. "I'm getting some napkins, you boys need more while I'm up? Something harder maybe?"

"You like it hard?" Mark asked as he grinned at her.

"Oh, I love it hard." She said as she took a long swallow of the wine, setting the empty glass down on the coffee table. "But I was only referring to alcohol, young man."

Mark and I laughed, but Hannah only smiled at Mark.

"Got tequila?" He asked.

"Um, yes. Not so sure if we should be drinking tequila though." Hannah replied.

"Don't be a puss." He said. "Tell her not to be a puss, John." He tried to get me to intervene on his behalf, but I my tongue was heavy from the alcohol.

"Honey, he is our guest. Give the man what he wants." I told her.

"You heard him, give me what I want." Mark smiled at Hannah again. This time it was a big, white toothy grin.

"So you want it then?" She asked him, sitting up on the edge of the couch. Her hands were planted in the sofa and she leaned slightly forward. She looked like a sprinter waiting for the starting gun to go off.

"Yeah, I want it. I know you do too." He told her. The room fell silent, except for Mumford and Sons.

"Ok, tequila it is boys." She stood up and walked to the liquor cabinet and opened the glass doors. She bent over at the waist and looked into the cabinet, searching for the bottle of tequila. When she did, the hem of her pale yellow summer dress rose up the back of her tanned thighs. I was afraid if she bent over any further, she would expose her bottom to Mark. Although she didn't show herself, it was definitely a provocative pose. I wasn't sure if it was intentional or not, but my heart froze in my chest. I glanced over at Mark and could tell he had noticed my wife as well. I saw him take another drink of his beer and then "adjust" himself while staring at her. He was probably hoping she showed more. I was hoping she wouldn't.

Although Hannah and I drank socially, I had never seen her as intoxicated as she was right now. She had never been flirtatious in the past, but her statements were becoming increasingly provocative. Nothing overt, but you could spot the innuendo if you listened for it. Mark had obviously been listening and had picked up on her game. It made me nervous to have her speak like that and to have him respond as he did. Despite the fog of my intoxication, I got the feeling they were playing a game of cat and mouse right in front of me. I could feel the knots forming in my stomach. I took another drink of my beer and glanced back at Mark. His right hand lingered at his crotch and he now appeared to give his cock a firm squeeze. He took another drink and looked in my direction, probably checking to see if I noticed him checking Hannah out. We made eye contact, but nothing was said.

To my relief, Hannah found the tequila and set it, along with three shot glasses, on the coffee table. "Salt and lime, boys?" She asked.

"Up to you." Mark responded. "I like it straight, but a little variety every now and then never hurts."

"I'll be right back." She said as she walked into the kitchen, presumably to retrieve the salt and to cut some lime wedges.

After several minutes she returned with small bowl of dark green lime wedges and the salt shaker. "Here we are." She said as she sat the bowl in the center of the table. She poured three shots and handed me one. She got up from handed Mark his, smiling as he took the glass.

"Bottoms up." She toasted.

"Only way I like it." He said.

We took our shots, Mark slamming his glass on the coffee table.

"Oh, shit. Sorry about that guys, didn't mean to slam it like that."

"Oh, that's too bad. You seem like the type of guy that likes to slam it." Hannah said as she collected the glasses and refilled them.

"Occasionally." He smiled as he took the shot glass she had just filled and took it down in one fast gulp, never breaking eye contact. She followed suit, not even chasing. She poured another.

"We should play a drinking game." Mark suggested. "Any ideas?"

"I don't know it that's such a good idea." I said. I had been keeping tabs on the mutual looks between Hannah and Mark. My wife was subtly flirting with him and he knew it; he flirted back and she knew it. I played ignorant, but I was becoming increasingly nervous. I did not want things to get out of control. Good old fashion shit talking was one thing, but for the two of them to flirt in front of me like this was a little more than I was willing to take. I didn't want the alcohol to stoke the fire any further.

"Don't be puss." Hannah said, stealing Mark's words.

"Haven't you had enough, love?" I asked her.

She took another shot. "I'm a big girl and I'll be the judge of when I've had enough. Right, Mark?"

"That's between you two, but I'd have to agree that you'd know when you've had enough." He said. "And you're a big girl...in a good way." He was referencing her breasts.

"See, honey. Mark agrees with me. Let's play a game!" Her words were slurring.

Based on the pace she was taking shots, I seriously doubted she would last much longer. Mark looked as if he was still going strong, his demeanor hadn't changed much. The only thing that concerned me were the sexual undertones of their statements to one another. I doubted if Hannah would actually do anything inappropriate, she was too much of a square. She lived in a box of normalcy—she didn't like change and was most comfortable with routine. After some alcohol rationalization, I decided to sit back and watch to see what would happen. I would intervene if I felt things were getting out of control. It would be interesting to see where this would go. Hannah was probably just giving the young guy a good tease.

"You know what, you guys go ahead and play. I'm going to sit back and nurse a few beers. Beer before liquor, never sicker."

"So, what are you thinking?" Hannah quickly asked Mark as if she expected me to withdraw my consent.

"Hmmm. I know a few, depends on what you want to play for." He said.

"What are my choices?" She asked.

"I have three I can think of off the top of my head. 'flip, sip or strip', 'Russian roulette' and then there's 'hat of dares.'" Mark went on to describe each game. Each had potential for someone to lose clothing, which is what I figured was most likely his play anyway. That is what he wanted to play for.

"Wow, Mark. Sounds like you want to get me naked." She had picked up on his play. This is where I figured she would come to her senses and things would quickly end.

"Can't blame me for that." He said. Hannah laughed at his comment.

To my surprise, Hannah didn't change her mind. She settled on 'flip, sip or strip.' The premise of the game was a coin would be flipped and Mark and Hannah would alternate between calling heads or tails beforehand. If you got the call right, you were safe. If you missed one call, you had to take a shot. Missing two in a row meant losing an article of clothing. Why she chose this one, I wasn't sure. It seemed to me 'Russian roulette' would have been a safer bet as I don't recall there being a way to lose clothing. Being that she only had three items to lose, a bad run of luck would leave her naked as a baby bird in no time. I don't think either one of us would go for that.

"Honey, you get to flip since you aren't playing." She told me. Mark pulled a quarter out of his pocket and handed it to me.

"No cheating!" He said as he laughed. "I wouldn't want you to protect her from the inevitable."

"Scout's honor" I slurred as I took the coin. "Who's first?"

"The guest always goes first." Hannah said as she prepped the shot glasses.

My heart was pounding in my chest as the shot glasses filled. Mark had scooted forward onto the edge of the couch and extended his arms to pops his knuckles in front of him like a little kid. He was smiling, obviously excited about the prospects of seeing Hannah either completely drunk or naked—perhaps both.

In the fifth round, Mark became the first to lose a piece of clothing. Up until then, Hannah had only lost once and took one shot as punishment. Having lost two in a row, Mark had to take something off—he chose his shirt. He stood up and smiled at Hannah as he undid each button, it was as if he were a male stripper at a bachelorette party—giving a private show to the bride-to-be. His skinny jeans sat extremely low on his hips, two thick veins ran from waist of his jeans and alongside his abs before disappearing beneath his taut skin. If his jeans sat any lower, his pubic hair would have been visible to us both. He was muscular and extremely lean, tanned and covered in tattoos. I was suddenly very self-conscious. Although I didn't exactly have "dad bod", I wasn't even close to Mark's physique. He was in a whole different league.

"Impressive." Hannah told him as he dropped the shirt into flannel pile on the floor. She eyed him as she took a voluntary shot of tequila. She hadn't lied.

"Thanks, but if I really wanted to impress you, I would have taken off my pants." He smiled at Hannah as he took as seat on the couch and encouraged me to resume the coin flips. I could see that Hannah's cheeks were slightly flushed. It could have been the alcohol, but it might have been Mark's chest and abs. I hoped it was the former and not the latter. Either way, I hoped Hannah continued her run of luck.

Three rounds later, Hannah's luck came to a screeching halt. She chose her panties as her punishment. She stood up and peeled them off, then shocked me by stretching them out and shooting them at Mark. They soared high, but he was able to reach up and catch them with one of his big hands. He sniffed them and then stuffed the skimpy thong into his right front pants pocket. I was angered by his actions and wanted to say something, but I held back.

"I want those back." Hannah told him.

"There right here in this pocket. Come and get them if you want." He told her. She didn't respond.

"One down, two to go." He said.

Hannah lost another two rounds and gave up her strapless bra. Mark watched intently as she faced away from him to undo the skimpy thing and toss it at her feet. She did her best to hide her nipples, but wasn't very effective.

Mark lost his socks and shoes, but the game was slowing and I sensed they were getting bored. I was hoping the night was coming to a conclusion while both Hannah and I still had our dignity still intact. More innuendo had been exchanged, but it was harmless.

"Change of game." Hannah said out of the blue. "I want to play 'hat of dares.' How does that work again, Mark?" dangerous

Mark explained that a variety of dares were written on small pieces of paper and thrown into a hat. The players would take turns pulling out a dare. If a contestant pulled a dare they didn't want to perform, they had to take a shot. Each player had a total of three passes, or life lines, in the form of three shots of tequila. Once out of shots, they had to perform the dare, no matter what it was, or else forfeit the game. Mark explained there usually was a penalty for quitting and it was generally in the form of an outrageous dare.

After deciding she wanted to play, Hannah said we should look for a truth or dare app on one of our phones so we wouldn't have to take the time to think up dares. Sensing the evening was losing steam, Mark and Hannah both agreed and I was tasked with finding a suitable app.

Hannah must have really feeling the effects of the tequila if she was willing to play a game based on dares with a guy she barely knew. I'd never seen her in this condition. Emboldened by the drink, she was becoming loud and she had started dropping F bombs - both highly unusual for her. She was officially drunk. The only question was how much more drunk she would become.

After prepping the six separate tequila shots, she got up and changed the TV radio station to a channel that featured steady beats and soft vocals. After turning the volume up a little louder, she sauntered back to her seat on the couch opposite Mark, clearly sexualizing her walk.

"Find anything?" She asked me as she sucked on a lime wedge from the bowl of that had gone untouched so far.

"I did." I replied.

"Yay!" She giggled. "Party time!"

"Hannah, you get to lead off this time." Mark told her.

"Scott, can you please read my dare." She told me as she stared at Mark. She looked like a gunfighter waiting for the clock to strike the top of the hour.

I shook the phone and the app generated a random dare. "Flash the other players."

"What the fuck!" She tried her best to look shocked. Mark might have bought it, but I didn't.

She looked at the three shots on her side of the coffee table and appeared to be contemplating taking a shot or fulfilling the dare. "What would I have to flash?" She asked me.

"Doesn't say, so I guess you get to pick."

She continued to stare at the shot glasses. I silently hoped she took a passed on the dare and took one of her three shots, but it was her decision to make.