Gamers Pt. 08

- "The game?"

- "Yeah - the game. Shelovesthat game, Dean. She loved playing it, and she loved the fact that you made it for us - for her, at least in part. Make her a copy of the game - and especially a copy of the cards. It would be like sending her a piece of you. If she makes friends down there, she could play it. But every time she sees it, it would remind her of you - of all of us, and the fun we had playing it."

- "Lucy - that's a great idea."

- "You sound surprised. I have great ideas every now and then." she said.

- "That's an awesome idea. How can I thank you?"

- "By helping me find something more personal for Les. I will buy him clothes. You're right about his colors. But I want to get him something he'll really like. Is he into graphic novels?"

We talked for another hour. It was the first really good conversation I had ever had with Lucy. I was really glad we had done it, and told her so.

I didn't ask her what I should get Angie for Christmas.

***********************************

Angie and I double-dated with Trisha and Gerry, at their request. I was concerned that they might still be at the awkward stage - it's not always a smooth transition from friendship to romance. But they got along surprisingly well. The awkwardness was between Angie and me.

I could laugh and chat with Trisha without hesitation. Our conversation flowed naturally. Gerry, of course, was a one-man conversation. But I had no idea what to say to Angie. I couldn't remember ever having this problem with her before. I liked her, and I certainly wanted to have sex with her ... I just didn't know what to say to her when we weren't alone and naked.

Angie did manage to let me know that she wanted me to come home with her.

- "Trisha's OK with that?" I asked.

- "Yes. I asked her." said Angie.

It was decidedly weird when Gerry dropped the girls off at their apartment. He kissed Trisha goodnight, while I got out of his car and went in with the girls.

We had another drink, sitting at their table, while Trisha de-constructed the date, analyzing Gerry's reactions. She was mostly speaking to Angie, of course, but she did ask me for my impressions.

- "Do you think he liked what I wore? Was it too much?" she said.

I reached over, and took Trisha's hands between mine. "Trish - sweetheart." I said. "Gerry is crazy about you. Honestly, you could have worn a barrel and he would have loved it. I'm not giving away any secrets, here. He is obsessed with you. Just say the word, and he will come running."

That made her very happy. She kissed me goodnight, and kissed Angie, and went off to bed. Angie gave me a look, and then stood up. I followed her into her room.

It was sheer delight to take Angie's clothes off. That lush body had me absolutely fascinated. I kissed her neck and throat while I fondled her ample breasts. Then I caressed her flanks and hips while I licked and tongue-teased the little mole just above her navel.

Angie knew where I was headed, but she surprised me by taking charge and setting the agenda. She took my shirt off, and loosened my pants - enough to slide her hands in and grab my ass. Then she started licking and sucking on my nipples.

When she pulled my pants and underwear down, my engorged cock snapped upwards and slapped her under the chin. She smiled, and grasped it firmly, re-directing it to her mouth. Angie licked it from root to tip, and covered it in saliva. She produced a condom, and rolled it on me.

She pushed me back on her bed, and climbed atop me. She took hold of my cock, and inserted the head between her lower lips. With a groan, Angie sat down on me.

She did all of the work. I grabbed twin handfuls of tit flesh while she rode back and forth. It was especially obvious, now that I had nothing to do other than concentrate on her boobs, that Angie's right breast was noticeably larger than her left.

Then she began to pump up and down, squeezing me with her vaginal muscles. I put my hands on her hips, helping to lift her up, and then pull her down. Angie had her eyes closed, in concentration, in guess. That gave me the freedom to observe her.

She started grinding, and came, a bit more loudly than she ever had before. I let her enjoy it, and then flipped her on her back. She groaned as I began plunging my cock into her. I lasted maybe six strokes before I grunted and filled the condom with ejaculate.

***********************************

We went out again as a foursome a week later. Trisha and Angie announced that they had decided to host a New Year's Eve party. I told them that they didn't have to.

- "You guys had us all over for Halloween. You don't have to do it again."

- "We want to." said Trisha. "It'll be fun."

There was a decidedly different dynamic to this double-date. Gerry and Trisha were a little tighter, almost nervous. Angie was a bit more distracted than usual. It felt like the three of them had a secret which I could not be allowed to find out. I was actually relieved when Trisha said that she wanted to call it a night early. She asked Gerry if he would drive her home.

Angie put her hand on my knee.

- "Can we stay a bit longer?" she asked.

- "Sure." I said. I would have much preferred to go home with her for a repeat of last week's bedroom Olympics.

Gerry and Trisha got their coats, and bid us goodnight. As soon as they were gone, I asked Angie.

- "Do you have any idea what that was about?"

- "What do you mean?"

- "Gerry had almost nothing to say. Trisha was acting weird, too. Nervous, almost. Is something going on?" I said.

Angie blushed. "Well, Trisha asked me if I could stay out a bit longer tonight. She - she thinks that tonight might be the night, if you know what I mean."

Lucky Gerry. "Good for them." I said. "She's happy with him?"

- "Very." said Angie. "He knows exactly what she went through to lose all of that weight. He understands her. Plus she says he's sweet."

- "That's great." I said. "So we should give them some privacy. That's cool. What would you like to do, then?"

- "Actually, I was hoping we could talk." she said.

The way she said that sounded a bit ominous, but when you have no choice, you might as well accept it with good grace. So I smiled and said: "Sure. What's on your mind, Ange?"

It took some time for her get to the point. She was avoiding eye contact, at first. Finally, the story began to come out, in fits and starts. There was this guy. She knew him from class. And from the gym. Not a surprise, that: given what I had seen of Angie's body, it was a mystery to me why there weren't half a dozen guys following her home from the gym.

Anyway, this guy, whose name was Rick, had asked her out. She was going to say yes.

- "It's just a friendly date." she insisted. "But ... if it works out, I was going to invite him to the New Year's Eve party."

I nodded. "I understand. You want to see if this relationship has potential. I won't get in your way, Angie."

- "I knew you wouldn't be offended." she said. "Thank you."

- "Offended? Hardly. I've enjoyed the time we've spent together. You're a beautiful girl, and absolutely fantastic lover. I'll miss it. But you have to follow your heart."

Angie gave me a hug. "I've enjoyed it, too. You're a wonderful ... partner. And just so you know - if this thing with Rickdoesn'twork out, I would love to pick up where we left off. But in the meantime, I think I should stay ... single."

Well, that was a nice of way of being relegated to the bench. I would miss the sex, for sure, but it didn't hurt. For her sake, I just hoped that Rick wasn't a dick.

***********************************

When we got together for a game at Les' house, the week before Christmas, Gerry was practically bouncing off the walls.

- "Love is awesome!" he yelled.

- "What is he on?" asked Max.

- "He and Trisha made it official." I said.

Les made whipping noises.

- "Yeah, yeah." said Gerry. "I had that coming. Go ahead. I just want everybody to be as happy as I am. Les is happy. Are you happy, Max?"

Max shrugged. "I'm okay."

Gerry hadn't heard him - he was already on to me. "And Dean is knocking boots with the delectable Angie, so for the first time in history, all four of us have girlfriends at the same time!"

I didn't want to rain on Gerry's parade, but thought it was wiser to let the truth be known. "Sorry, Ger - Angie and I are on hold. She's going to give some guy at school a try." I explained, for the benefit of all three, that I was perfectly fine with it.

We played a quick game of Stuffed Animals which Gerry somehow won, and then Killer Cars, a sort of Mad Max scenario with custom made war wagons. Max, predictably, spent his points on the most powerful engine available. Les took a balanced approach, while Gerry loaded up on offensive options. I changed my strategy. Normally, I prefer balance, but this time I decided to take every defensive upgrade I could.

Max ran circles around the rest of us, while Gerry chose to pound Les to pieces. A lucky shot took out one of Les' tires, and after that, he was done for. Max and I had both taken a few long range shots at Gerry. I did minimal damage, but Max damaged Gerry's front end. He started leaking oil, and a cloud of smoke impaired visibility and accuracy for him.

Max and I came at him from different angles. Gerry couldn't fire at both of us. He had to hope that he could put one of us out of action early. He chose Max, just as I would have, in his place. I nibbled away at Gerry's car with my popgun armament. Gerry missed a few times, but then nailed Max good. It wasn't enough to finish him off.

Max and I finally had the satisfaction of watching Gerry go up in flames. From then on, it was a race for Max. He had to use his mobility to get into an advantageous position, but his medium weaponry made little impression on my heavy armour. I had to guess where he would be, and fire when I had the chance. I did little damage, but Max had already taken punishment from Gerry. It took quite a few rounds. I knew that Les and Gerry were getting bored, but Max kept trying, until I put a second shot into his engine, and cut his speed by half.

Kasia came home then (her parents had let her out for the Christmas holidays), with Lucy in tow. I said hello, and then went back to the table to finish Max off.

- "So close." he muttered. "I almost had you."

- "You did." I admitted. "That shot by Gerry gave me an advantage."

We had a drink with the girls. Lucy produced a tube of thick brown cardboard, with a red plastic cap at one end. It looked like the type of thing an architect would use to carry around drawings.

- "What isthat?" asked Gerry.

- "Dean's Christmas present." said Lucy.

I looked at her, completely surprised.

- "From Australia." said Les.

Oh. I didn't know what to say. "Should I open it?"

- "Not until Christmas." said Lucy. Then she leaned over, and whispered in my ear: "She said you should Skype her on Boxing Day."

I spent Christmas Eve with my family. But in the early hours of the morning, I unwrapped Jazz's present.

There were two things in the tube. The first was the board for Maharajah. Jazz had photographed my clumsy, Spartan design for the Maharajah's palace, along with spaces to set the deck of event cards and the character cards.

Then she had drawn her own beautiful rendition of my simple layout. The palace rooms were tiled, and featured ornate rugs. The harem featured a sunken bath and piles of cushions. The outer rooms had large windows. I had separated the rooms with straight lines; Jazz had drawn plants, and divans, or columns, or lacquered screens. Her board was a eyeful, with bright reds, yellows, and greens, and the occasional splash of purple.

The doorways were flanked by potted plants, or by bare-chested, turbaned guards wielding tulwars. The throne room was awash with gold and gems, while the lower levels were grim and forbidding. In the empty space, beneath the name of the game, she had drawn a miniature tiger hunt. And around the edge of the board, she had a parade of elephants, linked trunk to tail.

I studied every inch of it, and stared at it for the longest time. That's when I realized that no two rooms were identical. Every single room had a different layout, or colour scheme, or some feature which differentiated it from the others. I also saw that the elephants were all different: some were larger, one had a broken tusk, or bigger ears, and some had mahouts riding on their backs.

In the end, I came to two simple conclusions. First, this piece showed skill. She might not be ready for the big time, but Jazz could make money through her art. I don't know whether an expert would call this art, or design - but it was fantastic.

Second, it was impossible not to feel what was coming off the painting, in waves. There was no way that Jazz could have finished this in a single evening. This must have consumed hours and hours of her time. And she had to have been thinking of me for much of that time.

It was an incredible thrill, and very humbling at the same time. It was also a little frightening.

There was a second piece in the tube. It was a sketch, in pencil. Jazz had done a self-portrait. In most self-portraits that I have seen, the artist is looking off to the side - usually, their left - because they are looking at themselves in the mirror. But here, Jazz seemed to be directing her gaze upwards. If I held the sketch in my lap, she appeared to be looking right up at me.

It was a striking portrait. Jazz had talent, for sure. Her hair was unruly, her eyes striking. She hadn't stinted on her nose - it was all there, strong and proud. She was half-smiling, giving the impression that she had enjoyed the whole process.

It was over an hour before I went to bed.

Christmas Day was a bit of a blur. My mother had seen me bring in the package, and wanted to know what Jazz had sent. I let her see both the board and the sketch.

- "Oh, my." was her reaction. She stared at the sketch for several minutes. Then she asked me: "Can your father see these?"

- "Okay." I said. Why not? I was going to hang the sketch on my wall. I would let the guys see it, too. Lucy as well, unless she had already seen it.

That afternoon, while we were setting the table for Christmas Dinner, my Dad put his hand on my shoulder.

- "Those are quite the gifts." he said.

- "I know."

Boxing Day couldn't come soon enough.

***********************************

She was smiling as she appeared on my computer screen. Her hair was wet, and she was wearing a bathrobe, but she looked fantastic. She was also holding the package I had sent her present in.

- "I got it! I got the game - it's perfect!"

- "Not as perfect as your gifts." I replied. "Merry Christmas."

Her smile grew even brighter. "Same to you." She held up the card from the game - the one with the Warrior's pose. "This is me. You have no idea how much this means to me, Dean."

My eyes were beginning to water a bit. "The board - Your sketch ... it's the best present I've ever gotten. I can't ..." I couldn't finish my sentence.

- "Now you know." she said. "I think of you all the time. And now that you have the sketch, you can think of me. I know you do - I mean, you can think of me, and know that I'm thinking of you. Don't cry, sweetie - you make me so happy, even from the other side of the world."

I was utterly useless, crying openly. "Th-thank you." I got out.

- "I'm glad you like them. And Ilove yourgift. You couldn't have picked anything better." she said.

We talked a bit more, about her family and mine. She wanted to know more about Trisha and Gerry - though I suspected that she already knew more than I did. She commiserated with me about the end of my arrangement with Angie (I had told her).

- "Well, don't sit around waiting for her to come back. Besides, that's just sex. You can do better than that. Youdeservebetter than that." she said.

- "You areinfinitelybetter." I told her.

- "But I'm not there, Dean. You need somebody who is there for you. Although, today, maybe we can make an exception ... is your door locked, sweetie?"

- "It can be." I answered, still trying to get used to the fact that she had called me 'sweetie' twice already. I quickly locked my door and returned to the computer.

Jazz smiled at me, and raise her right hand to her opposite shoulder. She gave a little shrug, and the robe slipped several inches. I could see a bit of cleavage as the robe gaped open a bit more. She slipped her hand underneath the robe. From the location of her hand and the movement of her wrist, it was plain that she was playing with her nipple.

- "Your mouth is open, sweetie." she said. It was - I closed it. She slipped the robe off her shoulder, revealing her perfect breast and a very erect nipple.

- "You've been calling me 'sweetie' - that's three times now." I observed, while I watched her fondle her own breast and pinch her nipple.

- "I guess that means that Ireallyliked your gift." Jazz let her robe slide off her other shoulder, so that all of her upper torso was visible. She was still smiling. I started to smile, too.

Then she backed her up chair. Jazz put a foot up on the corner of her computer table. She had nothing on beneath the bathrobe. She draped the folds of the robe across her leg, so that I could see her clean-shaven pussy.

She licked her finger, ran it around her lips, and then moved it down to her lower lips.

- "Your mouth is open again." she pointed out. "Maybe you could take off your shirt for me."

- "Your wish is my command." I said.

- "Ooh - I like that. Don't stop at the shirt, then. Get your pants off."

I peeled off my jeans, and stuck my hand inside my shorts.

- "C'mon - don't be a tease." she said. "Shorts, too."

In a moment I was naked, except for my socks, stroking my cock as I watched Jazz play with herself. She put her finger back in her mouth, and licked it again. Then she wet a second finger, before lowering them to her pussy. She toyed with her clit, and then put those two wet fingers inside herself.

- "You seem to be enjoying the show." she remarked. "From what I can see."

- "Of course I am. You're an incredibly beautiful woman."

Jazz licked her fingers again. This time, she ran them around and over her hard nipples. I groaned aloud. That seemed to inspire her. She lifted her breast, and lowered her head - and, somehow, she managed to lick her own nipple.

- "I can't believe you did that." I said.

- "Multi-talented." she answered.

- "And flexible."

- "You'd know all about that." she remarked.

Jazz put her second foot on the table, giving me an unobstructed view as she returned her fingers to her pussy. She came first, hunching forward on her chair. That did it for me, as I sprayed come in the air. The first jets landed between my monitor and my keyboard. The next spurts landed on my chest.

When I could breathe again, I told her: "You're amazing."

She gave me one last dazzling smile.

- "I love you. Merry Christmas, Dean."

***********************************

The party was pretty good. Gerry and Trisha seemed extremely happy with their new status, and their high spirits were infectious. I had a good talk with Lucy, and thanked her again for her suggestion about the gift for Jazz.

Rick turned out to be a dick. He got smashed, and tried to pull Angie's tits out of her shirt. Max and I had to help him down the stairs, when what we really wanted to do was throw him down. Luckily he had a friend there who agreed to make sure that he got home safely. We bundled them into a cab and that was the end of that.

That was probably the end of Angie's little relationship, and she was understandably upset. Maybe she was embarrassed, but she didn't seem to want my support, or my comfort. Max took over, talking to her quietly.