Game Changer Read online

  I’d take it.

  Outside, it was still raining. The television was still full of incomprehensible game shows and news broadcasts we couldn’t understand. Hayden and Jake seemed to be watching one particular game show, and from the piles of little pistachio nut shells on the coffee table in front of the TV, seemed to have invented a betting game based on certain outcomes in the show. With nothing better to do, they shared the rules of their game with us: they were betting on things like which female contestant the host would grope next, or who would get kicked off the show first, or who would win any of the baffling array of mini-games during the show.

  Hanna and I tried playing along with them for a while, but it wasn’t as fun as it had initially seemed.

  ‘Maybe we should just go for a walk,’ Hanna suggested.

  ‘In the rain?’ Hayden reminded her, as if she needed reminding.

  ‘We have coats,’ she said. ‘And anyway, none of us are made of sugar.’

  We all looked toward the windows. It was really pouring.

  ‘It can’t be that bad,’ my wife insisted.

  We all went to the front door, and looked outside. The streets were unpaved, and the rain had turned everything to mud. And a huge gulley had been dug right down the middle of the street, by a torrent of muddy rainwater tearing down the mountainside. It looked dangerous.

  ‘Okay. Let’s not go out there,’ Jake said.

  Hayden said, ‘It’s nearly lunch time anyway.’

  Eleven o’clock. For us, bored out of our skulls, it was near enough to lunch time. We ate, as slowly as humanly possible. We chatted. Time passed slowly as ever. Hayden and Jake started playing their TV game show betting game again. Hanna sat at the table and resumed Hayden’s game of solitaire with the cards. I lay stretched out on the window seat, gazing out the window, occasionally glancing across at my wife.

  To be honest, I wasn’t really bored at all. I had to pretend to be bored in order to fit in. I could sit there and think about the brand new sexual fantasy that had been revealed to me earlier, reveling in the idea that Hanna might just suddenly stand up, grab Hayden or Jake, and walk off upstairs to go sleep with him.

  I could spend the time trying to figure out why I was drawn to such a bizarre fantasy, as well as thinking about the fantasy itself.

  I felt that the idea of Hayden, or Jake, or any other guy wanting to sleep with my wife somehow vindicated my choice in marrying her. And that although they got to sleep with her, I was more fortunate still because I got to live with her, and sleep with her every night. It was a pride thing.

  I also found that I liked the thought of Hanna having a good time with some other guy—that for her, it would have all that excitement of a new relationship, without the pressure of wanting that relationship to go beyond a no-strings-attached fuck. I enjoyed the thought of Hanna enjoying herself, of doing something wicked, something corrupt, something oh-so-very dirty.

  The early afternoon rolled on, and both Hanna and Jake went off to see if they could have a mid-day siesta. While I relaxed on the window seat, I found myself fantasizing that the two of them weren’t really trying to have a nap, that instead they had crept away for a little bedroom action.

  Hayden said to me at one point, ‘You are one lucky son of a bitch, you know that?’ Flicking his head to indicate that he was referring to the fact that I was married to Hanna.

  ‘You should have brought someone with you,’ I smiled.

  Hayden laughed, ‘You remember the invite said ‘guys only’, right?’

  ‘Well, you know how Hanna feels about that kind of thing. Why should guys get all the fun?’

  ‘Fun, huh,’ Hayden chuckled.

  ‘And she probably imagines if it was just us guys, we’d be out visiting strip joints when we weren’t skiing.’

  ‘Strip joints? Around here?’ We were both laughing. He added, ‘I bet she’s regretting coming along now, huh?’

  I thought for a moment. The way Hanna had been looking at me ever since the revelation about my new sexual fantasy, it struck me that perhaps Hanna was grateful she’d come on this trip. When we got home, perhaps it would all re-energize our relationship, at least the sexual part of it.

  ‘If only there was some kind of bar—’ I realized I was talking to Hayden, who was a confirmed alcoholic, and course-corrected, ‘—restaurant... whatever...you know...’

  Hayden laughed, ‘A bar would be okay. You know, the way this trip is going, I’m thinking about maybe going back to the drink. I can always go back into rehab again... probably be less painful than this...’

  ‘No, Hayden—’ I said, horrified, but then saw that he was joking.

  The way he shrugged, though, made me think that if tomorrow was as bad as today, he really might start thinking that a return to his addition might be preferable to the insanity drawn on by such complete boredom.

  Jake came back downstairs not long after he’d disappeared, and announced that he had been unable to sleep. ‘I’m just so lethargic,’ he said, ‘I’m about as well-rested as you can get right now, there’s no way I can sleep.’

  Hanna came back downstairs not long after, and reported that she had also failed to have her siesta, for very similar reasons. That strange, dark part of me where my new fantasy seemed to have come from was now filling my head with the suggestion that Hanna and Jake really had sneaked away for an illicit quickie. The idea horrified me, because the way Hanna and I had talked, it was all still a fantasy for me, I hadn’t got my head around the thought of doing it for real. And yet as well as being horrified, I was brutally turned on by the idea, and found it difficult to conceal my full erection as I sat there on the window seat.

  I watched the rain. Hayden and Jake watched the TV. Hanna seemed to be trying to invent some new kind of solitaire.

  Early evening approached. We had another ridiculously early meal. Discussed more ideas for what to do in this rain-drenched ghost town.

  ‘Maybe we could break into some of the other houses, see if there’s anything to do in there,’ came Hayden’s best suggestion. ‘Come on—maybe next door has a PlayStation!’

  But despite our strong feeling that there weren’t any police around this lifeless place with the ski season being a complete washout, we weren’t really law-breakers. We probably couldn’t even pick a lock between us.

  ‘If we’re going to break into people’s houses,’ Hanna pointed out, ‘we might as well just break into someone’s car and hotwire it... you know, get back to the airport.’

  ‘Anyone know how to hotwire a car?’ Jake asked.

  We all shrugged at that one.

  ‘Can’t be that hard. The cars round here—they’re all about 20 years old.’

  ‘And liable to break down halfway through the mountains,’ I pointed out. ‘Might be safer staying here until the shuttle bus comes back.’

  *

  Seven o’clock. We were all watching the clock in the kitchen, and any time a new hour arrived seemed like a minor victory in our attempt to remain sane while getting through this god awful trip.

  Jake and Hayden had started talking about risking the rain and the mud and the landslip that the streets were turning into, and going down to the grocery store to fetch alcohol—with Hayden resurrecting his idea that he would be okay to get drunk this week if he went back to rehab when we returned home.

  ‘The store’s going to be shut by now anyway, right?’ I said. ‘Town like this?’

  A little while longer, there was a big sigh from Hanna’s direction. Then she said, ‘This is insane. This is just insane.’

  I feared that she’d snapped, she’d finally lost it. She was going to do something stupid or reckless or both. Walk out the door and start hammering on doors for help, before catching pneumonia or being attacked in the street or something.

  But then she said, ‘Any of you guys know how to play poker?’

  It was a funny question, because we’d tried playing poker the previous day for a while. Hanna looked
over at me, and I couldn’t quite read her expression. I raised an eyebrow to suggest I was intrigued but didn’t understand where she was going with this.

  ‘Sure,’ Jake said, ignoring the fact that we had been playing poker the previous day.

  Hanna turned around and perched on the edge of the table. After her attempt at an afternoon siesta, she’d put on her old college hooded top, a short skirt with another pair of leggings underneath, even though it was perfectly warm in the chalet.

  ‘We’re all grown-ups, right?’ she said.

  ‘Well, I can’t speak for Hayden...’ Jake wise-cracked.

  Hanna said seriously, ‘We’re going to go completely insane here for another four days, right?’

  ‘Right,’ Jake agreed, serious now himself.

  ‘But... you know... we’re all friends here. We trust each other, right?’ she said.

  ‘Right,’ Hayden nodded. Like Jake, he was intrigued as to what Hanna was getting at. From her tone of voice, it seemed she had a killer idea. Would we all be sneaking out of here to become cat burglars? Had she thought of some clever way to go skiing on grass and mud and rain?

  ‘If we did something... bad... you know... just to pass the time, so we can avoid going insane... we could all agree to keep it all an absolute secret for the rest of time, right?’

  Hanna glanced at me again, and I saw her tremble slightly. Jake and Hayden glanced at me, and each other, and I think they were wondering if Hanna was thinking about murdering someone—perhaps one of us—simply to pass the time.

  ‘We can all keep a secret,’ Jake said cautiously.

  I honestly had no idea what Hanna was going to propose, but the way she was looking at me, seeming hopeful that I wasn’t going to be angry with her, and everything she and I had talked about in the bedroom earlier, my cock started thickening inside my pants, and the butterflies started fluttering inside my stomach, and I started suspecting that perhaps, considering the absolute dire circumstances we found ourselves in, Hanna was thinking about toying with my brand new sexual fantasy a little.

  ‘Yes,’ Hayden agreed. ‘What happens in this chalet stays in this chalet, right?’

  Hanna looked at me again, and I gave a nod of agreement.

  ‘Not a word,’ she said to everyone, ‘passes any of your lips beyond these four walls. Not about anything that happens in here, right?’

  ‘Right,’ we all said solemnly, and I could feel the tension in the other guys, who just wanted to find out what idea Hanna had come up with.

  ‘Okay,’ Hanna said. ‘And we’re all... you know... fairly broad-minded here, aren’t we?’

  Jake nodded. Hayden said, ‘Sure.’ I nodded. I was tingling all over. Was she really going to do it? Was she really going to suggest something so wrong, so naughty, so completely against the rules for friendship, especially among friends I’d had for so long?

  Hanna seemed nervous, and had to force herself to get the words out. And she couldn’t just come right out and say it, either. She came at it from a roundabout angle. ‘We’re all adults... you know... a girl... a few guys... nothing else to do at all... we’re going to go crazy if we don’t do something, right? I mean like The Shining crazy...’

  ‘Sure,’ Jake nodded. Everybody nodded. We all just wanted to hear her out.

  ‘Okay,’ she said, drawing a deep breath—and blushing fiercely. ‘So I think we should play poker... we can use your pistachio nuts as chips, right?’

  ‘Okay...’ Hayden said, glancing at us all warily as though to ask why we were all so tense if all Hanna was going to suggest was yet more poker.

  ‘And whoever wins... gets to spend the night with me,’ Hanna said.

  Chapter Four

  I felt my heart suddenly pounding inside my chest, threatening to burst out through my chest cavity like one of those creatures in the Aliens movies. A burst of searing-hot energy exploded in my stomach—as both intense fear and intense excitement were triggered within me. And of course, I was hard as a rock.

  ‘Spend the night... with you?’ Hayden said, seeking clarification.

  ‘Uh-huh,’ she said.

  ‘And... what does that mean?’ Jake said, and the way they were looking at her—profoundly hopeful, I’d call it—only intensified the arousal I felt at the idea of one of these guys getting to sleep with my wife that night. They really wanted her. In fact, I’d almost say that this offer from Hanna had exposed secret crushes they both had on her.

  ‘It means whatever you want it to mean, if you win,’ she smiled. ‘You get to stay with me in my bed... and do whatever you want to do... with me. All night.’

  ‘Jesus,’ Hayden said in an awe-struck whisper.

  The guys looked at me, and I merely shrugged and smiled, blushing myself, as though to say that it really wasn’t up to me. Hanna was her own woman, she decided who she slept with, she decided what she did with her own body. It wasn’t up to me.

  ‘And if he wins?’ Hayden pointed at me.

  ‘The offer stands,’ she said, ‘my husband wins, he gets to spend the night with me.’

  ‘And if you win?’ Jake asked her.

  ‘Then nobody gets to spend the night with me.’

  ‘Hey!’ I objected. ‘So where do I...’

  ‘You get to sleep on the couch, honey,’ she flashed me a mischievous grin.

  Jake was up on his feet, nervous, quietly excited, and hopeful not only of winning the chance to spend some time with Hanna, but also that this whole idea might somehow get us through the evening, and contribute toward getting us through the rest of the week.

  ‘Are you sure about this?’ he asked Hanna, and looked over to include me in his question.

  Hanna said, ‘I’m sure. We’ve got nothing to do here all week. We’re all so bored out of our skulls... I don’t dare think what would happen if we don’t find some diversion.’

  ‘It’s true,’ I said, acting cool and casual, as though none of this was a big deal for me.

  Hayden asked Hanna and I, ‘Have you guys... ever done anything like this before?’

  Hanna laughed. ‘Are you asking if we’re swingers? No, we’re not, by the way.’

  ‘No,’ I shook my head. ‘Nothing like this.’

  ‘And it’s... going to be okay?’ Jake said to me, now. Worried that if he won—or if Hayden won—it would affect our friendship.

  ‘It’s going to be okay,’ I insisted, trying not to blush so much, trying to sound as though it really wasn’t a big deal—and that I really wasn’t sexually aroused by the possibility of my wife sleeping with one of them that night. ‘It’s just the week, right? We’ve got to get through it. Somehow.’

  ‘But she’s... I mean, she’s your wife.’

  I sighed, as though it was really weighing on my mind, and said, ‘Look, it’s just... you know... sex. It doesn’t have to mean anything. And as long as we’re all absolutely clear that none of this leaves the chalet, we don’t ever talk to anybody about what happened here... I think it’ll be okay.’

  ‘Right,’ Jake nodded.

  ‘Come on,’ Hanna said, picking up the pack of cards to begin shuffling it. ‘We’ll play at the table.’

  We all grabbed our lemon cordials—which was what we were drinking in place of alcohol— and got comfortable around the table, which was actually pretty good for poker since it had a central light you could pull down closer to the table, so we could pretend it was some kind of casino we were in, rather than a cramped vacation apartment.

  I was sitting opposite Hanna, which allowed me to look into her smoky jade eyes and see just how excited she was. And she was able to look across at me and reassure herself that I really was all right with this—shocked, surprised, but okay with it, and excited at the bizarre prospect of my brand new sexual fantasy coming to pass.

  ‘Of course, if you win,’ Hayden said to Hanna as she started dealing out cards, ‘or if hubby wins, it’ll really be just another night like any other.’

  Hanna grinned. ‘But we’ll h
ave had an entertaining game of high-stakes poker, right? And maybe if you don’t win tonight, you’ll get a chance to play tomorrow night.’

  Now in amongst all the butterflies and the heart-strain and the giddy nerves, my hardness returned with a vengeance. The way Hanna talked—and the logical way for us to get through this week—was, indeed, to play this poker game each night. And with four nights to go, that meant fairly high probability that Hanna would get to sleep with at least one of them, Hayden or Jake.

  It would happen. My wife would sleep with someone else that week, I was sure of it. And I was, among many things, thrilled about it.

  Of course, poker is not all about pure chance.

  *

  I don’t think, to start with, we realized quite how bad at poker we all were. Or how reckless.

  As we shared out the pistachio nuts and pushed in our first chips for the ante, I think I was expecting the game to last a few hours at least. Maybe even until Midnight. It was in everybody’s interest to let it run as long as possible, so that we could eat up the time. A late night would mean a long lie-in for everybody, which would help us get through the interminable days in this chalet.

  But with each hand we were all merrily bluffing away and raising the stakes here, there and everywhere—and in no time, you had Hayden and I going all in on ridiculous hands, and losing it all. And inside twenty minutes, the game was over.

  Hanna, by the way, had won the day.

  The rest of us just groaned, and looked up at the clock to see, to our absolute horror, that it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet. Our optimism at having an entertaining evening—with an explosive night-time for somebody—had been dashed before we’d even had time to really settle and start enjoying it.