Shawn laid out an inadequate pair of 9s which he quickly scooped back into the deck. I beamed at his friends. ‘If it’s any consolation, you won’t have to worry about tan lines when we go swimming tomorrow.’
‘This is a long way from over,’ Geoff said. ‘I for one am looking forward to seeing the tits that made Santa Cruz famous.’
‘If you’d asked me I’d have shown them to you. Instead you’ve made me play for my honour.’
Shawn handed the deck over and I divided it into two halves. My attempt at shuffling wasn’t very impressive: for people with small hands, wrapping thumbs around the edges of the cards is a gargantuan task.
I pretended that I’d done the job well and dealt.
Thanks to another strong draw – this time I received three 10s – I won a third consecutive triumph. None of my opponents looked like they were having much fun, but the expression on Farhan’s face was particularly sour.
‘Sofia could be cheating. She barely shuffled last hand and getting three of a kind all the time is highly suspicious.’
‘It’s true I keep an ace in my panties,’ I countered, ‘and I’m not afraid to use it.’
Shawn interrupted. ‘How about I deal for both teams?’
I narrowed my eyes at my boyfriend. ‘You know I’m not cheating.’
‘If Shawn deals and you still win, we won’t have any excuses,’ Farhan said.
‘Fine.’ The sun had nearly set and I was ready to crawl into bed. Letting Shawn handle the cards wasn’t going to impair my ability to win the game.
If I’d produced a fourth consecutive three of a kind, Farhan might have started recruiting people to join a strip poker truther movement. Instead, the hand I received from Shawn left me just one card away from a straight, needing either a 3 or an 8. My draw, a king, was a blank and the boys won their first hand with a pair of 10s.
They celebrated by bumping fists, which was weak, like when hockey players mob each other after finally scoring late in the third period of a blowout.
That lonely victory turned out to be the pinnacle of their happiness. I locked up the next hand with a set of 5s, beating jack-high. The boys were mostly quiet after that, resigned to their inevitable defeat.
They hardly reacted when I finished the game by turning over three aces.
‘I trust you’ll be gentlemen and I won’t have any trouble collecting on the bet,’ I said, getting up from the table. ‘It’s sleepy time for me.’
Farhan was stoic but Geoff seemed genuinely sad. Shawn kept his eyes down, looking at neither me nor his friends.
In the bedroom I changed into my summer nightie and slipped under the covers. The noises of the darkening forest seeped through the open window, lulling me into a gentle slumber. Shawn climbed into bed some time later and I woke momentarily as his body melded to mine in a warm embrace. He was already attired in the same outfit he would be wearing all day tomorrow.
Morning arrived with the lemony scent of the coast Douglas fir drifting on a southerly breeze. As usual, I was the first one conscious, eager to feel the early warmth of the sun as it peeked through the gaps in the bulwark of trees. I put on jeans and a sweatshirt and quietly slipped out of the cabin, grabbing a cranberry muffin and a bottle of apple juice on my way. Ocean storms can arrive on the mountains without much warning, but this day seemed likely to consist only of clear skies and summer swelter.
Tall yellow cedars and western hemlocks form canopies above the inland forests of the Olympic Peninsula, casting shadows over an undergrowth of stunted shrubs and wildflowers. The terrain is ideal for rambling, just heading off into the wilderness and pretending to get lost. At my height it is easy to duck under any low branches.
Since I was a child, I’ve loved to start the day with an adventure in the woods. My mother taught me how to read the trees so I’d always be able to find my way home. Wind from the sea brushes the peaks toward the east while the thickest growth is always on the south, the side that catches the most sun. Most people know that moss prefers shade but it is important to look for it a few feet off the ground. In damp conditions, the whole base of a tree is likely to be covered in a green velvet coat, not just the bark on the north.
Sometimes I wander for miles, but I decided this morning to stay in familiar territory. The erotic potential of the next few hours, to be spent in the company of naked men, infiltrated my imagination, affecting my ability to concentrate. Would they be shy, strategically clasping their hands to obscure my view of their secret treasures? Would they be bold, presenting their gorgeous cocks for my enjoyment without hesitation? When they felt the intensity of my gaze, would the lust emanating from my body become contagious, causing thick erections to rise from their pelvises?
I stopped when the cabin came back into sight, breathing deliberately to calm my rushing pulse. Greeting the objects of my desire while in a flustered state was not part of the script I had written in my head. I wanted to be cool, like last night – personify the myth that all women regard naked male bodies as comedic, not sensual.
I didn’t just walk in the front door as I normally would. Instead I knocked, hoping to create more tension. ‘Make your selves indecent, boys,’ I announced. ‘There’s a lady about to enter the room.’ After waiting several seconds, I turned the handle and readied for the treat of full frontal male nudity.
Only Shawn was actually living up to the deal we’d made before the game. His friends were both wearing shorts. ‘We know,’ Farhan said before I could object. ‘It just felt weird for us to be waiting around undressed when we weren’t sure when you’d be coming home.’
He promptly stood up and pushed his lone item of clothing to the floor. He was the largest of the trio, a former fullback who’d played on his high school’s football team. I watched his shoulder muscles flex as he bent over to gather the shorts from under his feet. If he had turned around, I thought, the scene would truly have been spectacular, his ass cheeks parting slightly as he stretched.
Farhan straightened nonchalantly, perhaps accustomed to being naked in front of other people after many group showers in the locker room. A narrow line of dark hair descended from his belly to his pubic bone. Below that I saw evidence of trimming: the mansplainer was apparently also a manscaper.
His broad bronze thighs were beautiful.
Geoff took advantage of the distraction to undress sneakily. When my eyes tracked him down he was huddled in a chair, his hands folded over his lap. I decided I should give him a moment to get accustomed to the situation.