"Are there skins in the mashed potatoes?"
"I'd have to ask the chef."
"That won't be necessary. I'll just take a baked potato with sour cream. No butter or chives or cheese, or anything like that. Just sour cream."
He nodded his head as he wrote down my order.
"I'm sorry about my annoying friend," Kristen said. "I'll take the tilapia with wild rice."
I drowned out the rest of their orders and lifted up one of the shrimp skewers. If Pablo had been referring to the size of his penis when talking about this, then he was very well endowed. I put the first shrimp in my mouth and almost melted into my seat. I was pretty sure it was the best thing I had ever put in my mouth.
After Pablo took everyone's orders he excused himself with a smile.
"I forgot how embarrassing you are to eat out with," Kristen said.
"What? I just know what I like," I said with a mouthful of shrimp.
"Mhm."
"Those two guys are coming over here," Layla said and nodded behind me and Kristen.
I tried to finish chewing all the shrimp in my mouth.
"Hey, ladies," the first guy said as he leaned against the side of our booth. "I was telling my friend all day that he should save his card for someone special. It looks like we made the right call."
"And what does your card say?" Kristen asked.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"Absolutely." She seductively took a sip of her piña colada.
The man pulled his card out of his pocket and put it on the table, sliding it toward her.
She covered it up with her hand before looking down at it. "Actually, it's my friend's bachelorette party. I feel like she should get the first card." She slid it over to Alina.
The guy stared down at Alina's breasts and shrugged. "Fine by me."
Alina frowned as she looked down at the card. "Wait, seriously? I'm not doing that."
The card was too far away for me to see what it said.
"Kristen," Alina said. "Please don't make me do this."
"What how bad could it be?" Kristen picked it up and laughed. "Wow. Okay, what does your card say?" she asked the guy's friend.
"Dance with me." He smiled.
"Alina will do that one."
"Thank you." Alina looked relieved and immediately took the man's hand. I had never seen her look so happy to be escorted to the dance floor by a stranger.
"So," the first guy said and put his hand down on the table. "Does that mean you'll do my card?"
"Fine. But I'm going to ask the front desk about counterfeit cards after this." She pulled down the straps of her dress, exposing her bra.
"What are you doing?!" I yelled.
"Thanks, babe," the guy said and waved his card in front of Kristen's bracelet. It immediately clanged onto the table.
"It's just a game, hot stuff. Move along." She pulled her straps back on and shooed him away.
"What the heck did his card say?"
"Show me your bra."
"Really? That's so ridiculously inappropriate. We're in the middle of a restaurant!"
Kristen shrugged. "No one saw except you guys. It's not a big deal. But I do have a few questions for Javier. How risqué do you think this game gets?" She put her bracelet into her purse.
I moved my hand so that it was underneath the table. I didn't want anyone seeing my bracelet and getting any ideas.
"Come on, let's go dance too until our food comes," Kristen said.
"You two go. I'll stay here and wave you down once our food comes."
"That won't be necessary," Layla said. "Because the food is here! Oh my God, I'm so hungry."
Pablo smiled as he set down our entries. "Enjoying the bracelet game ladies?"
"I take it you were watching?" Kristen said with a smile.
"I may have been." He raised his eyebrow.
"I guess I'm lucky it wasn't any worse. I wouldn't have wanted the whole restaurant to see me naked."
"You'd be surprised how often that happens."
I was already cutting into my chicken. "Wait, does that seriously happen?"
"The cards go from very tame to very, very wild." He rolled his "r's" again in that sexy way of his.
"How wild?"
He winked. "I'm sure you'll find out during your stay. Enjoy, ladies."
"Seriously, how wild do the cards get?" I asked Kristen and Layla as he walked away.
"I don't know, but he was totally insinuating sex, wasn't he? It seems like he was," Kristen said as she stared at his ass.
I laughed awkwardly. "I'm sure he's just messing with us." I tried to pay attention to the delicious food, but my thoughts kept wandering back to the cards. I didn't want to play this stupid game. Couldn't I get out of it?
Alina sat down and picked up her fork. "That guy was super handsy, though. You would have thought his card said, 'let me grope you.'" She shook her head and took a bite of her steak. "This is soooo good."
We all were silent as we shoved our food in our mouths. Apparently they were all as famished as me.
"I need to pee, bitches," Layla said after she finished her piña colada.
Alina stood up and Layla slid out of the booth.
It only took a second for a guy to approach her. Hopefully she didn't have to go to the bathroom too badly.
"What do you think he's going to make her do?" I asked.
"By the way she's laughing? Maybe tell a funny joke?"
I wish the cards were that innocent. A second later, Layla turned around and the guy spanked her.
Kristen finished her last bite of tilapia. "We should probably go save her. I want to go dance anyway. You guys in?"
"Absolutely," Alina said.
"I'm still eating," I said and tried to slow down my ravenous eating so that it would look like I wasn't done yet.
"Come on, Momma Bear," Kristen said.
Alina laughed. "Oh, stop torturing Daphne. She'll dance when she's done eating, right?"
I nodded, even though I was planning my escape route as we spoke.
"Fine," Kristen said. "Man the fort."
I watched them walk over to Layla and steal her away from the guy. I didn't even notice Pablo come back over to the table. He was as quiet as a jaguar. His voice almost made me jump.
"May I interest you in some dessert?" He was holding up a tray of the fanciest desserts I had ever seen. "The triple chocolate mousse cake is our specialty. And it is my personal favorite." He gave me a seductive smile.
"Could I get a piece to go?"
"Certainly."
Five minutes later, I was sneaking out of the restaurant, trying to hide my wrist and hold my boxed dessert. I made my way to the front desk. I needed to have a word with Javier about this stupid bracelet game. I refused to play. It wasn't fun. It was simply degrading to women.
But as soon as I arrived in the lobby, I saw a group of guys walking toward me. One of them smiled. They would intercept me on the way to the front desk. I was not going to risk having to do whatever was on their stupid cards. I bolted to the elevator, got in, and pressed the close-door button until the doors slid closed. I sighed. That was a close call.