The Key to Las Vegas Ch. 01

"Party pooper!" I giggled and nibbled her ear -- but lifted her bra cups back in place and moved back, letting my hand drift down and caress her exposed bottom before letting her finish getting dressed.

~

The two nubs of Angie's nipples, barely restrained by the silky barely-there bra, were slightly visible accenting her blouse as we walked up to the house. She knew I always found her entire petite package to be exceptionally sexy, but wearing a form-fitting blouse that let the perky nubs of her nipples show was exceptionally so.

She glanced over to meet my glance as we approached the front door and said, "I hope this will be fun."

"Me too."

"You must be Angie and Joe?" moments later the woman just inside the front door greeted us. One of the double front doors was standing open with a "Welcome Dinky Daters" sign attached to the other.

"Guilty as charged," I said, "I take it you must know everyone else?"

"I do! Most of us have been part of this group for a while. I'm Martha," she said, stepping forward and giving me a quick hug, and then another to Angie. "Welcome! This is your first time, so here you go." Holding a small basket in one hand, she took an envelope off the top and handed it to me before turning to Angie and saying, "Here, you take your number."

"What's this?" I asked. I had looked at the unlabeled envelope, flipped it over, and was now puzzled.

"That's your instructions."

"Instructions?" I added, "For...?"

"Oh! My goodness, I've completely forgotten. Forgive me, I don't do this all the time. Most of us know but, how could you? Those are your instructions for your date. There are only 16 couples tonight, so we'll have four groups. We have four couples that couldn't make it, so if everyone were here there would be 40 of us, 20 couples. The groupings for most nights are random, that paper will have your instructions for your dinner and after-dinner event. Tonight, we have two different movies, bowling, and miniature golf. There is a number inside, that will be your date. Angie, you are number..." she reached over and flipped the number in her hand so she could see it, "9, so your date will be looking for you."

"My date?" Angie said, apparently as befuddled as I was.

"Right. The man you're going to spend the evening with on a first date."

"It's not a date with my husband?"

"Of course not. That's what this is all about, getting to know others, expanding our relationships with like-minded people other than our spouses. But for now, come on in. There are paper nametags on the buffet counter. Everyone will wear one so that we can learn your names and you can learn ours. Most of us already know each other, and after everyone knows you, we won't need them, but for tonight we have them. Go! Mingle!" she said. She waved us into the room as her eyes shifted to the door and another couple arriving just behind us, and then stopped us again when she turned back with an "Oh, wait!" Stepping back closer she said, "God, you've got to forgive me, I still almost forgot this is your first time." She paused, collecting her thoughts. "What we have all come to realize after some time of being married is that we tend to only do things with our spouse, and when that is the only person we ever do things with, we tend to take them for granted and, in some cases, begin to resent them." She looked back and forth between us. "Sometimes that leads to quite strained interpersonal relationships. We started this group two years ago, when some of us girls were having breakfast together and realized we all had similar, sometimes negative, thoughts about our husbands and realized we needed to have other friends, too. By creating a mutual dating group, it gives us all a chance to spend some quality time with someone besides our spouse, while still having them near. Once a month we have a "Dinky Dating" night. You're paired off with a "first date", and then it's a group event, of usually four couples at a time. Sometimes we do things with our spouses, for example usually on weekend-long dates, but most times our monthly dates are with someone new and in a group setting. It won't always be a first date, after a while you'll probably get someone as a partner again, but you get the idea. General rules are that we're here to learn and meet new friends, not to hear about your work or troubles with your wife or husband. If someone asks, you tell them what you do, and then move on. If someone tells you they're an... oh, I don't know... investment specialist," she said, her eyes drifting around the room, momentarily landing on someone that I didn't recognize, thereby telling me that person was probably an investment specialist, "do not ask them about investments. If you want to do that, tell them you'll make an appointment and talk about that some other time. Tonight is all about having fun. We're all fairly well off, we've all got good jobs, but talking about your money or your job or how much you make or the troubles with your husband or wife isn't what this is about. It's about making new friends and sharing common experiences. Just have fun!" With that, she turned around and headed back towards the door.

"I wasn't expecting this," I whispered as we walked toward the buffet where the nametags and pens were.

"You must be Joe and Angie..." a woman's voice deflected us just as we got there. "What's your number sweetie?" she pointed a question at Angie. "Nine? Nope, my husband Barry is over there," she said, pointing to a man across the room. "He's looking for number 14 and I'm number 7. Who are you looking for?"

For the first time, I opened the envelope, finding two movie tickets and instructions for having dinner at PF Chang's, and a red circled #3. "I guess I'm looking for #3?"

"Oh yeah, that's right," she agreed, "you're looking for number 3. I haven't seen who that is yet, so you should be watching the newcomers. You'll also want to find 1, 2 and 4 as you'll be going to dinner with them."

"And have you got a name besides number 7?"

"Oh my gosh, how rude of me..." Jessica Martinez said, introducing herself, and affirming her husband's name was Barry. From the looks of Barry and the Martinez name, he was presumably Hispanic, but from Jessica's blond hair and fair skin, she presumably was not.

"This isn't quite what we were expecting," I said to her as all three of us filled out name tags. "What will you be doing?"

"No? What were you expecting?" Jessica said, and then realizing what we must have expected said, "Oh! You thought the two of you were going on a date?" She laughed. "No, this is all for fun, blind drawings of partners. I will guarantee that the two of you have been put in separate groups. We normally divide up into groups of four, random drawing. You with your number 3 will be with 1 through 4, and Angie with her 9 will be in the 9 through 12 group. You have a date with a stranger for tonight -- and then go home with your husband afterward. It's not always that way, whoever is in charge usually double checks after the initial pairings to make sure newcomers are in different groups than their spouse, but occasionally later on you may be in a group with your husband," she said, looking at Angie, "Or wife," she added with a nod to me. "It's all good fun, just designed to meet people, particularly of the opposite sex, who you otherwise might not even talk with, and most of them are pretty good-looking too! And the best thing, if you end up with a dud," she stopped and glanced around before lowering her voice and speaking confidentially to Angie, although I heard, "and believe me, if you ever draw Tommy Whitson, he's definitely a dud. I could never see what Laurie sees in him. He must have the biggest schlong and be dynamite in bed..." she pulled her eyebrows up and gave a quick grin, "Did I say that out loud?" she giggled before continuing, "I haven't got a clue what exactly my date and I will be doing until I find who has #7. Half the time us women get the instructions and the men are numbered, the other half of the time the women get the numbers, and the man gets the instructions."

"I think you just might have said that Tommy Watson is a dud," Angie giggled back at her.

'Shh! It's Whitson, and that's Tommy over there," she giggled, nodding toward a door going onto a patio out back. "Well, if you do happen to get a dud, just remember it's only for four hours, and just think -- you don't even have to kiss him, and you get to go home with..." she paused and looked at me.

"Joe." I filled in the blank for her.

"Oh yeah, Joe. I'll try and remember that. I'm terrible with names until I get to know you, so the nametags really do help. Although sometimes I even have trouble remembering what's his name's name," she laughed, pointing again to Barry and waggling her finger. She smiled and looked back at me, her scan traversing up and down. "Are you sure that your number isn't 7?"

"Why? Think you want to go on a date with me?" I answered with a quick laugh, looking down at the sheet again. "Nope, still a three."

"Oh, too bad. How is he as a kisser?" she asked turning to Angie and asking confidentially as if I wasn't there.

"Kisser?" Angie repeated. "Who's he going to be kissing?"

"Nobody if he doesn't want to -- but," she pulled the paper over in my hand and looked down, "but only Number 3 if he and she want to, at least until he goes home with you."

"I have to kiss..." I asked, feeling more and more inundated and out of my element.

"Oh, of course not," she giggled again, knowing she'd gotten me, "but didn't you ever give your date a goodbye or thank you kiss on a first date before? I usually did..." she again flipped her eyebrows up, "Just think back, what did you two do on your first date?"

I let my eyes drift to Angie, knowing full well that I always considered our 'oral sex on the beach' to have been our first date, although she always claimed it was our second date if I did, and if I said it was our second date, just to be obstinate she would claim it was our first. Jessica laughed, "I'm just kidding, this evening is all about having fun and meeting people. Oh, there's Tess! I'll go say hi." That was a goodbye, or at least a so long, as she headed to the door and greeted another couple who had just entered.

"Did she shut up the entire time she was here?" I leaned over and whispered to Angie.

"Not a bit," she laughed. "Are you OK with this?"

"I'm not sure. Are you?"

"It is a church group -- just how much trouble can it be?"