Chapter 18: Let the Games Begin
By 7:30, Lee and Amanda were back at her house; they had taken turns showering and were now dressed in comfy clothes. Amanda had made some popcorn, Lee opened the wine. Now, they were on her couch; Lee's legs stretched out on Amanda's coffee table, her feet stretched across his lap. Both of them had a glass of wine near them and a handful of cards in one hand. They had been playing gin rummy—truth or dare style-for quite some time now.
"Amanda, your turn!"
Amanda glanced at her cards for a moment then threw down her hand as she said, "Gin!"
"Amanda!"
"Pay up!" Amanda said.
"Let me guess, you played cards in college too?"
"Actually I did. I was able to earn some extra money to help pay for my school books."
"Of course," Lee groaned. There was just no winning with Amanda. Her wealth of knowledge from the smallest mundane thing like knowing about mushrooms being grown underground to jiggling a wire to stop a detonator from going off to being able to beat him in cards—well, hot damn! God, did he love this woman! "Okay what's the question this time?"
"How old were you when you got to first base with a girl?"
Lee nearly choked on the sip of wine he was drinking. "Amanda, what kind of question is that for you to ask your…"
"Chicken."
"I'll take the dare. Okay Mrs. King—two can play unfair."
"You have to win another game first," Amanda chuckled.
"This may be true, but I'm bound to win another game or two and you just wait…" Lee said with a wink. "What's my dare?"
"I dare you to speak in Shakespearean English for the next five rounds."
"Come on!"
/
By 11:30, Lee and Amanda were still at it—playing cards and teasing each other mercifully. By this time, they had lost track of just how many games they had played but they both knew that Amanda was way ahead, no matter what the score was. They were tired and well revved up at the same time; so they had decided that this would be their last game. Nearly every question had been asked from: who did you have a crush on as a child to what was the most craziest thing they'd ever done in college to what was Amanda's marriage really like and how Lee really felt about "Dorothy". Lee had even asked Amanda what she really thought about him when they first met. Some dares Lee had to do was to make a phone call to one of Amanda's neighbor and hang up, to having to do his best 'yeehaaw and pretend to throw his cowboy hat in the air. Amanda had to attempt to stand on one hand, which of course she could do and she was supposed to sing the rest of the game, but the sound was just too much for Lee to bare.
It was now Lee's turn to play and Amanda anticipated Lee's move, curious to see if he would win this hand or not.
Lee looked at his cards, and then glanced down at Amanda as he placed down his hand and said: "Gin!"
"Okay Lee, you won, go ahead make your question a good one."
"If you could have anything in the world you wanted, what would it be?"
You! Came immediately to Amanda's mind. After the day she'd had with him; she wanted nothing more than to make love with him right now. She had resolved to not push the issue with him; not until they had officially settled things; but in the past few weeks, and especially after today; that resolve had become more and more difficult.
"Amanda!"
"Nothing."
"What?"
"I can't think of anything—at all."
"Uh huh! So you're taking the dare?"
"Uh, if I could have anything in the world I wanted, I'd want my boys to be healthy."
"Amanda! What kind of answer is that."
"It's my answer." Amanda stood up.
"Bwok! Bwok!"
"We better get these glasses in the sink."
Lee looked over at Amanda and smiled. "I'll do it, you go on upstairs."
"Okay."
Lee didn't have to tell her twice, she nearly sprinted up the stairs.
/
Now, as Lee and Amanda lay in bed, facing each other, and Lee pulled Amanda into his arms, just like he'd done several times in the past. But tonight, Lee wasn't sure rather he would be able to restrain himself like he had done in the past. Even though they'd been together once already, because she was afraid of "the proposal", he didn't want to scare her off, but just the simple feel of her body, clothed and all, in his arms, was making him rethink whether sleeping in her room was a good idea.
Lee was so afraid of messing things up with Amanda, he wanted to wait ever longer before they made love again. But after the day of flirting that they had and after the look he'd seen in her eyes downstairs, Lee wasn't sure he could hold his resolve to wait if Amanda perused him even a tiny bit.
"Amanda?"
"Yes, Lee?"
"Are you sure about me sleeping in here with you; shouldn't I sleep on the couch or in one of the boys' beds?"
"Didn't we talk about this already; it won't be as comfortable in the boy's bed or the couch..."
"But doesn't Aunt Lillian sleep when she visits?"
"But you have a larger frame. Look, I can move over if that will make you feel better."
But instead of letting her go, Lee pulled her back into his embrace. "No, no, it's okay."
As Amanda lay there in Lee's arms; she was having her own thoughts about Lee being in the same bed with her. She had told him that having him there was to make him feel more comfortable. But the truth of the matter was, that she wanted, no needed, to be close to him and another truth was, she wanted more than that; she wanted to feel his arms around her again and to feel his warmth again. She wanted for them to begin to make plans about their future.
"Lee?"
"Yes?"
"I, oh-I know I said you could lay in here and just sleep, but Lee…"
"Yes?" Lee pulled back and looked at her. Amanda had trust, love and passion reflected in her eyes.
"I want you!"
"Do you?"
"Yes, in the worse way. Can I show you?"
"Yes!"
Amanda pulled Lee's shirt over his head and then reached out and raked her hands up his chest and planted kisses along his neck and then down his chest, starting with his left nipple, caressing it with her tongue while her hand maneuvered around his back and slid down his spine to his buttocks where she gripped him to her as she ground her body against his.