Chapter 6

"Hey, hun," Brad said when Ashley answered her cell phone.

"Hi, baby," she replied.

"We on for the River City tonight, lover?" Brad asked. "River City" was short for "River City Pub." It was a high-end nightclub they'd been hitting every few weeks on Saturday night for a good three months. They'd found it was an excellent place for one or the other to find someone to flirt with.

"Oh yeah," Ashley shot back. "Wouldn't miss it... I'm just pissed it's your night to be rescued and I have to be the rescuer," she added in a teasing tone.

It was the game they played. One or the other would find someone in a club to flirt with... and the more outrageously they did it, the better. The flirting was allowed to continue to the point where the selected individual was ready to leave with either Ashley or Brad. When they sensed the right time had arrived, a signal was passed to the designated rescuer who galloped in to the rescue, pretending to be a betrayed husband or wife busting their straying spouse. It was effective every time.

Then, when they got home, they pretended the rescued one actually had gone with that other person. It led to many evenings of enthusiastic role-playing and long hours of sex. Their arousal was frequently boosted by watching DVDs Brad brought home from Fred's Adult Bookstore. Fred's employees knew Brad well now and often put aside a copy of the latest new amateur sex movie for him to pick up when he could.

A girl there, her hair gelled into a hard punk style, was Brad's advisor on various toys and "sex aids" for sale in the store. Based on her recommendations, Brad had made a number of purchases and was just waiting for the right opportunity to pull them out of the hidden corner of his closet.

"Tough," Brad told his wife without the slightest hint of sympathy in his tone of voice. He chuckled. "You get your turn when we go to the Carousel next time."

"I know," Ashley sighed. "It's just that it's so long..." Brad laughed.

"Yeah, it's been almost a week and a half since your last time," he said without sympathy.

"Well..." Ashley said, almost whining. "Sometimes it's really boring, you know?"

"No, I haven't got there yet," Brad replied. "I'm having a hell of a good time and I thought you were too," he said.

"I know," Ashley said quickly. "Me too... but we could do something... else... you know."

"What?" Brad asked flatly. The silence threatened to lengthen interminably.

"Oh... I don't know," Ashley said at last. "Just something."

"Well, if you think of something... within the rules we agreed to... you let me know, okay? Heck, if you can think of something more exciting, I want to hear it."

"Anyway..." Brad said before Ashley could speak, "I'm late for the gym and the darned personal trainer Reed set me up with will charge me just the same as if I was on time. I think I need to work off a couple more ounces so I'll fit in those new pants, you know? If you keep buying me tighter and tighter ones, I'm going to have to stop wearing underwear." He chuckled.

"I will if you will," Ashley said, after a small pause. Her voice was excited again. She loved ratcheting things up.

Brad laughed again. "I'll think about it, sexy lady. I'll let you know."

"Okay," Ashley breathed into the phone. "We'll have a good time tonight," she cooed.

"Count on it," Brad said. "Bye, darling... love you."

"Love you," Ashley responded. "Bye."

"Hun?" Brad said with an odd note in his voice.

"What, baby?" Ashley answered. She was looking all around the dim nightclub, watching for a young woman suitable for her husband to approach and chat up. Brad was picky. The woman had to be reasonably attractive and, more important, had to have a reasonably nice body. It seemed the more obsessive Brad became with working out, the less inclined he was to even glance at women who didn't keep themselves in shape.

"You see that girl at the bar... over there under the funny looking chandelier... see her?"

"No... oh, the blonde with that red, off-the-shoulder thing on?"

"Uhhhhh," Brad stalled. He hadn't gotten around to looking at what the woman wore. "Yeah, that's her... she look familiar to you?"

Ashley peered at the girl for a long moment. "No... I don't think so... have we gamed her before or something?"

"Nah... is that a... uh... a pageboy hairstyle... like she's wearing her hair? Looks like one... see where it kinda molds her head, and it's pretty short... and it curves in right under her jaw and stuff?"

"Ahhhhhhh, well... yeah, I guess," Ashley responded, giving her husband a strange look. She hadn't been aware he'd ever heard the term "pageboy," much less knew what the hairstyle looked like. "Close enough, anyway," she added.

"K," Brad said distractedly, "but she doesn't look familiar to you... blond girl with a pageboy kinda hairdo... a little short... looks kinda plump in her clothes... you ever see anyone like her before?"

"I don't think so," Ashley said after studying the woman at length. "Anyway, she doesn't look like she's here with a boyfriend or husband. Are you changing the rules back?" she asked. She was getting a little irritated.

The game had been altered slightly. Because both of them liked the attention a new person showered on them, they'd begun locating couples to tease and play with. Brad would chat up the woman and Ashley would do her best to monopolize the attention of the woman's date or husband. Brad and Ashley would then stage an argument late in the evening and both would storm out, tossing apologies back to the suddenly deserted couple. When they got home, Brad would become the man Ashley had been flirting with and Ashley did everything she could to mimic the girl.

"No," Brad said, slowly. A man coming in the entrance had just joined the woman. They kissed and the girl handed the new arrival a drink she'd already ordered.

"You don't think you've seen her before... or the guy with her?"

"No," Ashley said after a perfunctory glance. "What're you getting at, Brad?" she asked impatiently. "I wish you wouldn't be so mysterious sometimes."

Brad leaned close to whisper in her ear. "That movie we saw last week? "Rob And Carrie and Thad And Alicia" or something like that?" he prompted his wife. "Remember?"

Ashley turned back to the pair and watched as the pair looked around for a table. The waitress shrugged her shoulders at a question from the guy. The room was already packed with several clumps of tables pushed together for large parties already in progress.

"Ohmigod," Ashley breathed. "You don't think... ?"

"I don't know," Brad answered. "But how about them anyway... even if they aren't?" he asked. "To play with this evening," he said almost impatiently. "What do you think?"

Ashley nodded slowly and Brad was out of his chair in an instant. In a moment, he was halfway across the room and quickly approaching the couple. He was eager to get to them before someone else did. Ashley watched as Brad made his offer. He was charming and engaging... even way over there.

He pointed her way and Ashley waved. The couple glanced at each other and turned back to Brad nodding. They were all smiles. The guy gathered up their drinks and napkins so Brad offered his arm to the little blond after bowing gallantly. Ashley couldn't hear the woman's chuckle, but she could see the big grin Brad got as a reward.

Ashley was suddenly not certain she liked this. Brad was too enthusiastic lately about this game... and disturbingly eager to invite this couple into it.

The idea the usual delicious excitement might suddenly dessert her at the last moment... just when they were beginning to play their flirting game with another couple... had never occurred to her. It was unsettling.

Then they were there in front of her and Brad was introducing them. The man, Carson was his name, was good looking, Ashley thought. Things would be all right.

Two hours later, Brad sat at the table with Carson's wife, Leeann, while Ashley danced with Carson. Brad pretended to study the short blond woman. She smiled, enjoying his interest.

"So... have you heard from Thad and Alicia lately?" he asked casually.

Leeann looked at him blankly for a moment. After two hours of dancing and drinking, Brad had caught her off guard. Even in the dim club, Brad could see her embarrassed expression. He watched the redness climb from her upper chest to engulf her ears and cheeks.

"Oh, God," she moaned, "they never told us that thing would be... distributed... locally."

"Well, I think you gave a very good... performance," Brad said with a smile. "Especially when--" He cut himself off before identifying the section he had in mind. "Actually, you seemed very... enthusiastic... all the way through... very impressive," he complimented Leeann.

She smiled tentatively, then more confidently. "Did you really?" she asked.