[thepac]

With Josh spending most of his summer with his girlfriend Adam has lacked a partner to play strip FIFA with. Losing the last game to Josh has only made the blonde more eager to get revenge over his best friend. The problem for Adam of course is the fact that Josh can’t come round to play so Adam just has to sit and stew over his lack of FIFA play. Playing strip FIFA on his own against the computer isn’t a sensible option so Adam is stuck. Not having Josh around doesn’t just mean a loss of playing strip FIFA it’s a loss of having a best mate to hang out with too. Adam does like Emma and he is happy that Josh is dating someone but she has been keeping Josh all to herself for the last few weeks affecting his ability to get revenge on Josh after he was made to run naked around Josh’s back garden.

Bored Adam decides he needs to hang out with other people for a while until Josh gets some free time away from his girlfriend. The first person Adam thinks of is the big central defender from his local football team. Simon is a gentle giant, standing at almost 6ft 5 he dwarfs the rest of the team so of course he plays right at the heart of the defence. He is the nicest guy you could ever hope to meet and luckily for Adam he also happens to be the biggest video game nerd he has ever met aswell. Adam wouldn’t say he is a close friend of the man jokingly nicknamed Giraffe Terry but their mutual love of videos games means they have had several non-football related chats. Adam sent Simon a text last night asking if he would mind if he came over to hang out for a few hours and maybe play some video games together.

Simon naturally said yes so the next day Adam made his way to the estate that Simon lives on. Simon’s house is about 10 minutes away from the college so finding it wasn’t too difficult for Adam. What the blonde did find tricky though was the idea of just walking into Simon’s place though the back garden. Simon had texted back saying he was home alone all day so he would just leave the gate and his back door open so Adam could come over any time. Adam decided to go around just after lunch still feeling a little unsure about just walking into Simon’s house. Adam texts Josh one final time but unsurprisingly doesn’t get a response so he walks up to Simon’s house and sees a plain brown gate just to the side of the house.

Taking a chance and hoping none of the neighbours think he is a burglar Adam pushes open the unlocked gate. Adam walks into the back garden which is nicely kept with a small garden shed pressed right up against the far fence with a set of football posts pressed up against it. Closing the gate behind Adam walks over to the back door being careful not to leave any footmarks in the slightly damp grass. There are toys littered all across the garden making Adam wonder if Simon has any siblings. He has known the guy for a couple of years and yet never bothered to ask about his family. Part of Adam thinks he should leave but the idea of spending a few hours not thinking about strip FIFA and just playing normal video games is too tempting.

“Hello? Anyone home?” Adam asks carefully as he pushes open the unlocked back door.

“Yeah man up here,” A voice shouts from deep inside the house.

Adam carefully closes the door behind him and walks through into Simon’s house. It’s a modest 3 bedroom house and as Adam walks into the living room he can see the stairs. Adam wonders where Simon’s bedroom is as he starts climbing the stairs but he doesn’t have to look too hard. A door is wide open right in front of him and the sound of heavy gunfire is ringing out indicating this is clearly Simon’s room.

“You busy mate?” Adam asks cautiously as he steps for the first time into Simon’s bedroom.

“No it’s fine Adam,” Simon says turning away from the screen, “It’s just a pointless online deathmatch.”

“Too hard?” Adam asks but the big defender shakes his head.

“Too easy, I must have found the only online game today fully populated by bad shooting 12 year old’s” Simon jokes.

“I wouldn’t mind but the fact they just swear and scream every time you shoot them makes the whole game really dull,” Simon explains.

“Hey at least you find deathmatches easy,” Adam says as he walks past Simon who is sitting in his chair and sits down on his bed, “I couldn’t win an online deathmatch even if I was playing against toddlers.”

“Really? I had you down as a big shooting game expert,” Simon responds, “Didn’t you say you played Call of Duty a lot.”

“I do play COD but really I’m more a sports gamer,” Adam says still looking around trying to get used to being in Simon’s bedroom.

“Stuff like FIFA then?” Simon asks and Adam nods his head.

“Yeah I’m pretty awesome at FIFA,” Adam says with a cheeky grin on his face.

“Cool so maybe we can play a few games of FIFA then,” Simon says putting his controller down.

“Hey don’t you wanna finish your deathmatch?” Adam asks and Simon just shrugs.

“Naw like I said it’s boring when it’s too easy and you win all the time,” The giant defender says, “Anyway as you are here I might get a proper FIFA challenge.”

“Oh yeah?” Adam asks curiously.

“Yeah playing against my little brother just isn’t fair,” Simon laughs but Adam doesn’t get the joke.

“I didn’t even know you had a brother,” Adam replies wondering just how little he knows about the big defender.

“Well I do, he’s only 8 but he loves playing with the light up controller,” Simon smiles as he reaches up to grab the FIFA 15 game box from off his bookshelf.

“I can’t believe I’ve known you for years and never asked,” Adam says honestly but Simon again just shrugs.

“It’s no big deal man it’s not like I advertise it,” Simon replies.

“Still I feel crappy coming over here wanting to hang out yet I know nothing about you,” Adam replies and that makes Simon laugh.

“Shit man what’s to know, I have a little brother, a single mum and I’m halfway through a business degree at college what more do you need?” Simon jokes.

“Not my fault I didn’t know how boring you are,” Adam teases back and that makes Simon snort with laughter.

“Damn that was funny,” Simon says still grinning as the game starts to load up, “So you just wanna do a couple of friendly games or something?”

Adam wants to just say yes but he is starting to feel comfortable around the giant defender. He also understands how Simon feels when he said his game felt too boring and easy, it was exactly how he felt about FIFA until the idea of playing strip rules came to him.

“I don’t mind mate FIFA is hard for me to get into these days anyway,” Adam starts to say, “I just find it too easy.”

“Really?” Simon questions sounding surprised.

“Yeah the people I play against just don’t seem to offer me much of a challenge,” Adam says wondering if he can get Simon into a more competitive game.

“What about Josh?” Simon suddenly asks, “I would have though you and him were on about the same level.”

Adam pauses for a second completely unsure about what to say, He can’t possibly be honest with Simon about the kind of FIFA games he and Josh play. Strip FIFA should be a dirty little secret between him and his best friend yet there is something about Simon. He is a massive man with a frame like a rugby player but that nice gentle streak inside him has Adam almost feeling sorry for him. It must be tough only playing games with a much younger sibling Adam assumes so maybe the big defender deserves a real challenge. Adam is sure he wouldn’t even be thinking about this if he hadn’t spent the last few weeks starved of strip FIFA gameplay.

“Something wrong?” Simon asks breaking the silence and Adam’s mental block.

“No it’s nothing it’s just Josh isn’t on my level in FIFA well not when it counts anyway.” Adam says slowly.

“When does FIFA count?” The big defender asks, “You guys play season mode against each other?”

“No we erm don’t really play any real game mode of FIFA we kinda made up our own thing,” Adam says without thinking.

The blonde has no idea why he is pushing this conversation into dangerous waters. He knows he is bored and enjoys the thrill and danger of playing a strip FIFA game but it’s not like he can discuss it with Simon. The large defender however knows something is up as he eyes the blonde curiously.

“Ok so what kind of FIFA do you two play?” He asks.

“Dude forget it, it’s not important,” Adam says quickly back tracking.

“No come on man I find FIFA boring too, I never get the chance to play it with someone who might challenge me so I’m willing to play it in a different way,” Simon says passionately.

The wheels inside Adam’s head are turning fast, Simon sounds almost exactly like he did before he brought up the strip game idea. The only difference is Simon is not his best friend, he really doesn’t know Simon so has no idea how he will react to the idea of a guy on guy strip game.

“You don’t wanna know man,” Adam says again hoping to get out of it, “Me and Josh play FIFA under a different set of rules that’s all.”

“What kind of rules? Come on man tell me,” Simon asks leaning forward in his chair.

Adam feels the defender’s eyes locked on his and suddenly he feels trapped.

“Mate trust me you will think me and Josh are weird,” Adam says desperately hoping to move on from this topic.

“Weird? How can playing different rules on FIFA be weird?” Simon asks again.

“When we play strip FIFA,” Adam says with a sigh.

The blonde is tired of fighting and just decided to get it out in the open. He didn’t want to tell Simon but clearly the big defender wouldn’t let it drop. Adam now doesn’t care if Simon is mad at him or thinks he is gay for playing a strip game with his best friend. He is starting to think coming round to Simon’s was a big mistake but when he looks up he sees Simon is staring at him in a kind of shocked silence.

“Strip FIFA?” The defender slowly manages to spit out.

Adam nods and Simon’s eyes widen trying to take in this sudden shocking information.

“Strip FIFA?” Simon repeats and Adam can’t help but chuckle at the stunned reaction of the large defender.

“Yes strip FIFA you know like those videos online,” Adam explains.

“Yeah I’ve seen those videos,” Simon mutters still trying to process what Adam just told him.

“Well me and Josh have played a few strip FIFA games together and well it’s actually kinda fun,” Adam says relaxing a little.

Simon raises his eyebrows and Adam anticipates the defender’s next question before Simon even opens his mouth.

“No it’s not a gay thing,” Adam quickly says, “Josh is very happy with Emma and anyway even if I was gay he isn’t my type.”

Simon can’t help but laugh at that, “So you are not I mean playing strip FIFA because….”

“No not gay man,” Adam smiles, “Strip FIFA is not about seeing each other naked it’s about the thrill of having something to compete for.”

Simon still has a confused look on his face and Adam enjoys the fact that for once the big defender doesn’t have an answer.

“It’s a whole new challenge to the game I mean you say FIFA isn’t challenging imagine playing it knowing if you concede a goal you have to take off an item of clothing,” Adam says half wondering why he is explaining a strip game to Simon.

“Dude that sounds like bullshit,” Simon says, “Surely strip FIFA is just an excuse to see someone naked.”

Adam stops and thinks for a second looking way a way to counter that argument.

“What if you knew that one goal is the difference between you and getting naked, think how much tension that bring into a game like FIFA,” Adam says.

“I thought it was bullshit at first too then I got into it and man I’ve never felt anything like the nerve shredding thrill of playing strip FIFA hell I don’t think I have played a real game of football feeling like so much on the line,” Adam passionately explains.

“I dunno man I’m still not convinced,” Simon replies and Adam just lets out a sigh.

“Well you have never played strip FIFA Simon so of course you wouldn’t understand what it feels like,” The blonde says impatiently.

“So if I played a game of strip FIFA I’d feel all tense and stressful then?” Simon asks.

“Yep playing for your clothes brings a whole new dimension to a simple game of FIFA,” Adam says with a smile.

“I don’t think so,” The giant defender responses quickly.

“Fine I’ll prove it to you let’s have a game now,” Adam says firmly picking up a second controller.

“What? You wanna play strip FIFA now with me?” Simon says in shock.

“Yes I’m gonna prove to you that strip FIFA is a proper test and that it’s as hard as any real life game you’ve played in,” A determined Adam says.