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Phillip asks, “You haven’t seen Dirty Dancing?” It’s like everyone in the room is completely shocked I haven’t seen it.
“It was made like twenty years before I was born. Why would I have watched it?”
Phillip sits down next to me. “If you haven’t seen Dirty Dancing, we’ll have to put it on the to-watch list. I’ve seen it dozens of times.”
Andrew joins the conversation. “That was Mom’s favorite, right?”
Phillip grins and nods.
“Yes, everyone has to watch it,” Trish says. “Everyone. But now it’s our turn.”
So that’s who wrote that card. I don’t argue, and the group mostly calms down. John stands up almost solemnly and grabs a card. When he grins, I don’t know what to expect. Maybe we should have gone out and bought a copy of the actual charades game so we didn’t have such chaotic words.
He stands in front of everyone, the widest grin I could imagine on his face, and I set the timer. As soon as I say go, he hooks his fingers over his ears, making them look like they’ve got tips on them. I don’t have any idea what that could mean, but Trish does.
“Elf.” She says it like it’s a sure thing, and he nods to her, his grin somehow widening even more. Who the hell would instantly go to elf? And who put that card in the stack? But he’s not done.
He put his hands on his hips and starts walking, swaying them, but he only takes two steps before stopping. Trish doesn’t say anything, just watching him as he suddenly looks like he’s pulling something out of both pockets at the same time.
“Sexy elf rogue in black leather.” She stands up before he’s even confirmed it and walks toward the snack tray, completely confident in her answer.
“Yep. I knew you’d get it.” What? How could anyone get that? Much less gotten it immediately. I glance at the rest of the group, who are all looking a little dumbfounded as we all think the same thing.
He sits back down and watches Trish getting food, but nobody moves until Andrew says, “Okay, who wrote that card? Because that’s nuts.”
John turns to him. “Oh, that was my card. I mean, Trish hadn’t seen it, so it was fair game.”
“Then how the hell did you guess ‘in black leather’? I kind of understand elf. Same with sexy. Andmayberogue. But ‘black leather’?”
Trish is laughing as she walks back into the living room with a tray of snacks. “Oh, as soon as I got elf, I knew it was John’s, and he always thinks of sexy rogues in black leather. I wasn’t sure if he’d written it on the card, but it doesn’t hurt to say extra words.”
He wraps his arm around her. “It was on there. You know me so well.”
I can’t help myself. “How do you know what he thinks a sexy elf looks like?”
Trish grins and glances at John before turning back to me. “Well, I might have a sexy elf outfit in my closet. Made of black leather…” What? I knew Trish was chaos in a soccer mom’s body, but that’s not something I’d expected. She continues, “But in our Dungeons and Dragons game, I play an elf rogue who definitely wears black armor while slaying dragons.”
“I didn’t know that you played Dungeons and Dragons,” Sera says. “That seems… surprising.”
Trish shrugs. “Is it? Really?”
“She plays because it’s my hobby, and I needed another player one night. The same way that I watch the kids whenever she wants to have an impromptu karaoke night.” John pulls her close to him. What I originally saw as inappropriate PDA, I’m beginning to realize is something totally different. Love that neither one of them has any desire to hold in.
“Look, it’s a lot of fun. Maybe I wouldn’t play with just anybody, but if my husband can put up with all of my antics, I can pretend to be a murdering elf who wears leather pants for him. Why wouldn’t I play a game when it makes him happy?”
The way she says it, I feel like it’s one of those universal truths that’s so simple, that should be in the “How to Win at Relationships” handbook. Why wouldn’t she play a game that made her husband grin and maybe have a few fantasies about her? Why wouldn’t he watch the kids when she just needs to get out and put on a show for a bunch of people at a bar so she doesn’t go crazy?
I glance at Phillip, and I see the wheels turning in his head as well. Maybe he’s realizing the same things as I am.
Why don’t more people set aside their expectations to make their partners happy? Obviously, no two people have exactly the same hobbies, but why wouldn’t you join in if it makes the other person happy? Or do what you can to support them?
Instinctively, my thoughts go to Phillip, and whether I’m supporting the things he enjoys enough.But we’re not partners. We’re just roommates.And that voice inside me that loves to call me out is saying, “Roommates. Right…”
“Well, good for you,” Andrew says. “I don’t understand it at all, and I really can’t imagine dressing up as a leather-clad elf, but if that’s what tickles your pickle, that’s all that really matters.”
Sera grins at him. “You can’t tell me you’ve never roleplayed with a girl.”
He huffs. “Sure. She’s the sexy maid who’s terrible at her job but doesn’t want to lose it, so she agrees to get a spanking when she messes up. More short skirts and less pointy ears.”
