[Fiction] Strip FIFA

[thepac]

Simon pauses for a second to run his fingers through his short brown hair trying to take in all the information. Adam watches the big defender deep in through while butterflies already start dancing around inside his stomach. Adam feels weird about wanting to play strip FIFA with someone other than Josh but he loves playing it so much that it doesn’t really matter. The blonde does feel a little bad that Josh will be without any strip FIFA action while he is getting a game with the team’s big central defender. Simon is still thinking and the longer he thinks the more paranoid Adam becomes that he might say no.

“Man I dunno I’m not sure how I feel about playing a strip game with you,” Simon says honestly.

“Trust me dude once you get into it you won’t even care, you will just get so caught up in it,” A grinning Adam replies.

Simon puffs out his cheeks and lets out one big sigh before speaking, “Ok fine Adam one game, and if I don’t like it or it gets weird…”

“If you hate it then we will stop and you can kick my ass for making you play it,” Adam interjects finishing Simon’s sentence.

“Well good,” Simon says curtly as he picks up his own controller and goes to the team menu screen.

The two teen’s sit in completely silence for a few seconds both wondering just what the hell they are doing. Not being that close either means neither can think of anything to say to the other. The fact they are about to play a strip game too makes the awkward silence seem to last forever when reality it is less than a minute before Adam speaks up.

“Look Simon I promise just this one game and I won’t tell anyone about this ever,” The blonde says quietly.

“Even Josh?” The big defender asks sceptically.

“Scouts honour,” Adam says holding up his right hand like he is taking an oath.

“Were you even in the scouts?” Simon asks.

Adam sticks out his tongue in a childish response before he starts flicking through the teams, “So who do you wanna be?”

“I dunno,” Simon shrugs, “Maybe if we both just randomly pick teams from the Premier League?”

Adam is stunned for a second before replying, “Yeah that’s a great idea man ok you first.”

Simon nods and hits the randomize button and team names flash across the screen until the name Hull City comes up.

“Aww man that’s not good,” Simon complains having picked a side just recently relegated from the Premier League.

“Tough break man,” Adam says sympathetically before hitting the randomize button to select his team.

West Bromwich Albion are the team that Adam has landed on and Adam can’t help but look over at Simon and laugh.

“Well at least it will be an even game,” Simon grins as Adam keeps laughing.

“Yeah though we might not see any goals in it,” The blonde fires back still giggling at the way the game randomly picked two of the less fancied teams in the Premiership.

“So if I understand this right every time I score you have to take something off?” Simon questions and Adam nods.

Simon takes a deep breath to relax and then starts loading up the match while Adam gets lost in his thoughts. The blonde can’t believe he is about to play a game of strip FIFA and Josh isn’t his opponent. It’s feels weird yet Adam can already feel himself shaking anticipation as the game starts up. West Brom verses Hull certainly isn’t a classic matchup but it might just be perfect to slowly break Simon in to the joys of strip FIFA. Simon meanwhile is very curious about the stripping aspect, he cannot honestly believe someone as competitive as Adam would willing strip off after conceding a goal. The big defender knows Adam hates to lose even in training so the idea of him taking his clothes off when he loses just seems impossible to Simon.

The game kicks off and both men have to suddenly snap out of their thoughts and concentrate on the match. Simon is unsure about how competitive playing strip FIFA is and his worries are not helped by the fact that both teens make a very scrappy start to the match. Both teams trade possession and a corner each but there is very little in the way of goal mouth action. Neither West Brom nor Hull have world class players so the match is coming down to the individual FIFA playing skills of Adam and Simon. The big defender is able to fashion the first real scoring chance when Tom Huddlestone is able to blast a powerful shot in from the edge of the box. Ben Foster in the West Brom goal is able to dive to his left and block the shot leaving Adam to sigh with relief.

“Good save,” Simon responds unaware that he is slowly sinking into the competitive vibe of a strip FIFA game.

A few minutes later West Brom win a corner and Adam has his first chance of the match as the corner is whipped in and just narrowly headed over by Darren Fletcher.

“Wow that was too close,” Simon said having twitched forward in his chair as the ball sailed just over the bar.

“Enjoying strip FIFA yet?” Adam asks cheekily.

“This is a good match so far but I still don’t think the stripping part adds anything to it,” Simon says honestly.

Adam just shrugs his shoulders and goes back to playing, he is sure Simon will get the same buzz from playing that he and Josh get. 20 minutes into the match and Adam works the ball well down the right hand side where James Morrison whips a dangerous cross in. West Brom’s best striker Saido Berahino is there to meet it at the near post with a header that loops over the Hull keeper into the side of the net.

“GOAL,” Adam shouts in delight and Simon’s expression suddenly changes.

For the first time today he looks unsure and even nervous and Adam picks up on it, “You ok man?” Adam asks as Berahino continues on with the celebration.

“Yeah I just dunno what to take off first,” Simon says with a slight blush appearing on his pale cheeks.

“Try taking your socks off first,” Adam offers but Simon’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

“That’s two items,” He says firmly but Adam just shakes his head.

“Dude that’s just a cheap kop out and you know it, if a girl did that to you in a strip game you would get pissed,” Adam counters.

“You said this wasn’t about the stripping,” Simon fires back.

“That’s true but me and Josh have always counted socks as one item so either play along or take your pants off instead,” Adam smirks.

Simon shuts up and reaches down to pull his grey socks off his unsurprisingly large feet. He throws the socks away and rests his bare feet down on his carpeted floor as the game restarts. A few minutes later Simon gets a free kick just outside the area but he sadly overcooks the shot and the ball sails harmlessly over the bar. Annoyed with himself Simon stomps his bare foot down hard on the floor making Adam smile.

“See that tension you get from playing strip FIFA?” He says jokingly.

Simon chooses to ignore Adam and concentrate on the game which has now turned into a midfield scrap. Possession is shared between both teams until finally 5 minutes before halftime Hull win a free kick just inside West Brom’s half. Adam moans in frustration as his striker and goal scorer Berahino has just been booked for a late sliding tackle. Tom Huddlestone whips the ball in and West Brom’s defenders struggle to clear the ball as it is headed up and then half cleared out of the box where it lands at the feet of Huddlestone once again. Simon chips the ball up into the box and his striker N’Doye rushes in unmarked to head the ball past the stranded goalkeeper.

“Offside!” Adam shouts out hopefully.

“No way man that was perfectly good goal,” Simon replies with a big grin on his face.

Adam curses under his breath, he should be good enough to beat a team like Hull. He is annoyed at conceding such an easy goal and now this match is level at one all. Knowing Simon is watching him Adam reaches down and unties the laces of his trainers. He pulls at the heels and kicks his footwear off but Simon isn’t happy.

“Hey shoes can’t count man,” He complains.

Adam shrugs, “Hey I thought you said stripping didn’t matter?”

“I don’t wanna see your bare feet Adam I just think it’s unfair that you are wearing more items of clothing than me,” Simon argues.

Adam struggles to hide a smile as he can tell this game is starting to become competitive for Simon. He is getting into it in much the same way that he and Josh got into the adrenaline rush playing strip FIFA brings.

“Ok fine as I am wearing more than you,” Adam says reaching down to pull off his bright red socks.

Both teens are now barefoot as they play the final few minutes before half time. The referee’s whistle goes and Adam instantly turns his head towards the big defender.

“Having fun?” He asks.

Simon nods, “Yeah I am I still don’t see how strip FIFA can be tenser than a real game but I do know that playing FIFA with you is competitive.”

“Trust me man by the end of this you will be sweating buckets and kicking every ball,” Adam says firmly.

Simon can only take the blonde winger’s word for it as he presses down on the X button kicking off the second half. Early on Adam could tell Simon has a fair bit of FIFA skill but his best trick is a chipped ball over his back four. In the first ten minutes of the second half both Hull strikers are put through on goal thanks to chipped balls from the midfield. Adam is still clothed only through the heroics of his goalkeeper Foster who saves both shots from Jelavic and N’Doye respectably. Looking across the room Adam has a nervous grin on his face but Simon isn’t even looking at him. Simon is deep in concentration staring at the TV screen totally focused on the game.

The tension in the room is thick and it’s quiet with the sound of buttons being pressed echoing around the room. Adam slides the ball forward into Berahino who out paces a defender and cuts a shot in from across the box. The blonde curses under his breath as the ball goes well wide from goal leaving the match still finely poised at one all. Minutes tick down on the game clock and both teams trade away possession with neither being able to get the advantage. Adam wins a corner and when the ball is crossed in he tries to jump up and make an overhead kick. Simon can’t help but chuckle at the audacious attempt to score from Adam.

“What happens if we draw?” Simon asks.

“Then we go to extra time,” Adam replies.

The game winds down until there is 10 minutes to go and Adam wins a free kick wide on the left hand side of the Hull penalty area. He crosses the ball into the box and it falls easily right to the feet of a Hull defender. Simon tries to just pass the ball out of the area but Berahino is on him quickly. He tackles the ball away from the defender and quickly moves forward tucking the ball into the corner of the net with a well-directed shot.

“GOAL,” Adam yells punching the air as he has finally broken the deadlock in this tight contest.

“NOOOO,” Simon yells dropping his head down into his hands.

“Sorry man that is harsh,” Adam apologizes looking up to see it is 84 minutes on the clock.

“Shit that was fucking stupid,” The big defender complains, “I should have been smart and just cleared the ball away.”

Simon puts his controller down and grabs his t shirt, his annoyance at conceding such a soft goal means he doesn’t care about having to remove his shirt. Adam watches the defender peel his blue t shirt off revealing his large torso so now he is sat bare chested waiting for the game to restart. Simon’s focus is completely on the game as he is desperate to overcome the 2 vs 1 score line. Adam finds out that a focused Simon is bad news for him as Hull start flinging passes around like they are Barcelona. A quick one two of passes sends the ball inside the West Brom area then the ball falls to one of the Hull substitutes Yannick Sagbo. He is unmarked inside the six yard box so Simon holds his finger down on the shoot button and the ball smashes into the back of the net.

“Get in,” Simon yells jumping up in excitement as he has equalized with just 3 minutes of the game left.

“Nice goal,” Adam says genuinely impressed that Simon has been able to score so late in the game.

Grabbing the bottom of his t shirt Adam pulls it off so both teens are now sat topless. Adam places his removed shirt down on the bed bemoaning the fact that no matter who he plays strip FIFA against he always seems to lose his shirt. The game indicates that there are only 3 minutes of added time left so as Adam kicks off he is sure this game is heading to a draw. Simon has other ideas however as he quickly wins the ball off Adam and breaks down field. Hull break out all the tricks and flicks as they move the ball all around the pitch leaving Adam chasing shadows.

The ball is eventually swung out to the left hand side where Quinn neatly controls the ball then knocks it into the overlapping full back’s path. Brady takes a touch then Gareth Bale style strikes the ball left footed across the face of the goal. Before Adam is even reacting to the shot the ball nestles perfectly in the bottom right hand corner of his goal and Simon is jumping up in celebration.

“GOAL,” Simon screams loudly as Brady wheels away celebrating his match winning goal.

Two quick goals in injury time have completely changed this game around. Adam sits in a state of shock just staring at the screen watching the reply of the goal that has put him 3 vs 2 down. The whistle to restart the game blows but it is quickly followed by the final whistle and its game over. Simon’s Hull team have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and its a few seconds before Adam can stop staring in vain at the TV to look over the big defender still in complete shock having lost a game he was seemingly destined to win.