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Ch. 4: Endgame
Rick had won the first set, was up 5-4 in the second, and it was his game to serve. Unless Rob broke his service and evened the set score, Rick would win the clothes and Rob would be locked out of his room naked for the weekend. And it was only 12:40 am on Friday night! It could be a long weekend.
Rick aced his first serve. He was hot tonight. But, Rob attacked the next with vigour and won both this and the next point, bringing the score to 15-30. Rick won the next two volleys and announced, "Match point."
Rob looked determined and nailed the next two serves, flipping it to his advantage. One point and he'd be back in with a chance. Rick delivered another ace and heard clapping from behind him and watched as Rick took a bow. He slowly turned and saw two middle-aged ladies and a dog. Not knowing what to do, he too took a bow.
"Who's winning?" asked the lady with the dog. The other lady whispered in her ear.
Not hearing Rick say anything, Rob offered, "He is. If he gets two more points, I lose. I need two points, two games and another set."
"Oh, so it's almost over. Sorry we missed it. We're tennis fans, used to play when we were in school. I had to get Mary to come along and see that the game is still as exciting. By the way, she wants to know if your friend's buns are as cute as yours."
Rob looked around to see Rick pirouette, clench his buttocks and do a deep knee bend. He looked back and said, "We'll have to leave that up to you, I guess. Do you want to watch the rest of the game?"
"No, that's all right. We wouldn't want to change the tempo. It looks like you've been playing without an audience so far. Do you mind if I ask a couple of questions before we go, though?"
"No, go ahead."
"What are the stakes? I notice that there's only one set of clothes. The other question is, would you mind if we watched the whole match next time? If it's OK, we'd like to, but we'll have to bring some chairs, as we're not as limber as we used to be."
Rob said, "The stakes are my clothes. They're the ones off to the side. My room key is in the shorts, so if I lose, I'm stuck until my roommate gets back on Sunday. If I win, Rick is out of luck, as his roommate is also away until Sunday and he's locked himself out wearing what he has on now. I don't know when or whether we'll do this again, because this is the first time. Well, we play a lot, but this is the first time we've played like this." He blushed.
Rick piped up "Tomorrow night at 10pm we're playing doubles, hopefully for the same sort of stakes. Our opponents may be surprised to see you, and they don't know about the stakes, so no promises. But, you're welcome to come if you want. If you're old tennis pros, you can be the umpire."
Rob's mouth dropped and he turned around and looked at Rick. Rick carried on, "Do you mind if I ask a question?"
"Of course not. My name's Beth, by the way."
"I'm curious, and I'm sure Rob would like to know too. Why aren't you two upset with catching us this way? Did you do something like this when you were our age?"
"Sure did, and have never regretted it. Neither has Mary, although she's a bit shyer about it. We'll tell you about it tomorrow night. We'll bring a prize for the winners. You'd better get back to playing before you cool off." With that, Mary and Beth went back the way they came.
"You bastard. You have another game lined up already? When did you arrange all this? How did you know I'd go along with it?" Rob demanded.
"Hey, calm down. George was in the library tonight and asked what was up for the weekend. I told him we were playing tennis tonight for high stakes, but didn't tell him what. He and Ron are at loose ends this weekend, so I suggested a doubles match for Saturday. He agreed and I said I'd call him if you wouldn't play, but otherwise he and Ron should turn up at the court at 10.
"I warned him we'd be playing for high stakes, but that we'd discuss it before we started the match. He said that sounded good, as he and Ron were both bored. No, I didn't know that you'd go along with it, or even whether you'd agree to it tonight. I figured that if you bailed on me tonight, you'd at least loan me some clothes. So, we can call off tomorrow's game if you want, and we don't have to play naked if you're not up to it. Let's decide later. I'm getting cold. You ready to start?"
Rob thought for a minute and then brightened. "Sorry I snapped at you. It was just a bit of a shock. This is all very new to me and you've had a bit more time to get used to the idea. I can't wait to find out what else you've got up your sleeve..." He broke up laughing.
Now it was Rick's turn to look puzzled. "Hey guy, it's cool. What's so funny?"
"Up your sleeve," Rob gasped out between laughs.
Rick laughed too, saying "YOUR sleeve, soon to be mine, I believe." He calmed down and started to line up, asking Rob, "Ready?" Rob nodded and Rick got another ace.
Rob made a valiant effort on the next serve and the volley went on for many exchanges, but in the end, he knocked it out. "Shit! I can't believe it. Two sets straight. So what's next?"
Rob gave him a mischievous grin, walked over to the clothes and picked up the jock. He pulled back on the waistband and catapulted it into the top of a tree. "My trophy. Mary and Beth should get a kick out of that, and I'm sure there'll be a lot of puzzled people next week. It will also help to convince George and Ron to go along, if you're game."
"Well, I don't see I have much choice. You've got my key and my clothes. What else am I going to do? What I want to know is what we do until 10pm? It's almost 1:30 and there'll be a bar crowd along any minute now. And I dunno about you but this needs attention, and I guess you're in charge of it too" Rob pointed at his crotch.
"How about a sauna, and we'll talk over the next step. Little Rob will have to be patient a bit longer. After all, he might have had to hang on for another set. Let's wrap the rackets, balls, shoes and socks in your shirt and go to your dorm."
"Shoes and socks? Aren't you getting dressed?"
"I don't want to have a sauna with shoes and socks on, much less shorts and shirt. Do you? You go turn the sauna on and I'll meet you there after I dump this stuff in your room." Rob dropped his gear on his shirt and sprinted across to the dorm, only to have to wait until Rick arrived with the key.
"You could have carried some of this you know. After all, you're the loser" Rick said, as he swatted Rob's ass.
"Hey. Be careful with that. Mary's going to want an explanation if it's not as cute tomorrow night."
"Maybe, maybe not. What makes you think yours is cuter? Neither of them said." Rick unlocked the door and they went in. "See you shortly." With that, Rick headed upstairs and Rob crept along to the basement, where the sauna was. At least there, being naked would not be unusual.