After an hour, it was obvious that the girls were having fun. Their voices and hysterical laughter became louder. Our poker table was far more subdued. We just shook our head in contempt thinking the women were gossiping about some unfortunate housewife in the neighborhood. Their victim might have had a boob job, or it was rumored she had an affair. Women can be so devious at times.
The jovial atmosphere upstairs continued until all four women trotted downstairs to join us in the den. "Alex, could you fix us those delicious vodka gimlets you made last time?" Stephanie asked.
I said almost rhetorically, "Of course. Should I use the Lust Vodka?"
All the wives smiled and said all at once. "Of course!"
Sipping her drink, Tammy said, "We want to play a card game with you guys."
Warren, her husband, asked, "What can we play with eight people?"
"We have an idea for a new game," Kimberly responded. "It might take awhile before you brain dead guys catch on. Delores came up with the idea. She'll explain it."
"Okay, guys, here is how it works. It's kind of an ice breaker type of game. You have deck of cards. We have a deck of cards. I will deal one card to each of us girls. One of you deals a card to each of you. Then we look for matches. A match is when two cards from opposite decks have the same number or is a similar face card. Suit doesn't matter."
"Okay, we get it," Ron, Kimberly's husband said. "So what's the deal with the matching cards, no pun intended?"
"We'll tell you after Alex gets us another gimlet," Stephanie answered.
There was along pause while I fixed the girls another drink. By now, all four of them were giddy, and their voices began to rise again.
Delores was nearly shouting when she said, "Let the games begin! We'll deal first."
"We don't know the rules when there is a match," I protested.
"You'll see," Delores admonished me.
She dealt four cards. Tammy had a seven, Kimberly a queen, Stephanie an ace, and Delores dealt herself a deuce.
"Okay now, let's see what you guys get."
Stan dealt me a three, Ron an eight, Warren a queen, and Stan dealt himself a king.
Kimberly and Warren had a match. Kim walked over to Warren and unbuttoned his shirt telling him to take it off. Now we all knew the rest of the rules. It was a new version of strip poker. No one objected.
"Wait, that's not fair," Stan objected.