Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2019 19:17:56 +0000 (UTC) From: Mike Simmons Subject: It Was Always About The Bets 1 It all started a long time ago when I was 16. Well it actually started earlier than that. My cousin Ray and I are the same age born just a few weeks apart in 1973. As we lived just a few house away from each other and we're both very athletic and competitive we naturally became fast friends. Growing up we were always together, played on the same sports teams, went to the same church and often had sleepovers. Our dads were both pretty cool dealing with the "twin" boys and that was not too far off. We were built exactly alike. I was at 16 toned 165 lbs an 5'11 Ray was 170 lbs and 6'. Our moms were the exact opposite his was sweet caring and simply just laughed at some of the crap we pulled. Mine was miserable, unhappy and impossible to please, so we just dealt with it. It is a good thing we lived in the same neighborhood and played on the same team as we were so competitive everything was intense and challenging. Whatever we did whether it was Missile Command, Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Brothers or Zelda or any other game the competition was insane. Very early in the process, around age 10, we started to bet on almost anything, Pirate baseball games, Steeler games, what time dad would come home and the loser had to do what the winner wanted. Very simple and very innocent. The loser had to do things like fetch a soda for the winner, do exercises, clean the winners room, stuff like that. As we got older the tasks for the loser got more interesting, steel a cigarette from dad, run a mile at the track but always very tame. Once Ray made me wear his dirty underwear. However while it was sometime embarrassing it was pretty innocent. Then as we started to date, we often double dated, the bets centered on what we could get away with or what the GF would permit. Once after winning a bet I told Ray he had to get us condoms. It took him a week but he finally pulled it off. I just laughed as at 14 there was no way they were gettin used. But that upped the stakes some and when I lost the next bet, I was told to get some beer. That was easy I just took some of dads. Then one night when the parents were out we sat on his back porch and drank our first beers. Three each and that produced quite a buzz. While the stakes were higher stuff we required from the loser was normal for dudes our age. However, we were now entering high school, in a big suburban school. We were both out for football. Ray at wide receiver and me at running back. Things changed a good bit. We were in the weight room, lifting and working hard to make the team. It was a non stop and every minute not dedicated to studies was dedicated to working out. We pushed each other and there was little time for anything else. As freshman we both were placed on the JV team, while we were dissatisfied with the result, we were both starters and it led to many bets, many workouts and the bets resolved around beer and more beer, more exercises and cigarettes. The strangest bet resulted in us swapping jock straps. Oh, then there was the time he lost and I made him go to school the next day commando. It went on like this for the entire year. During the summer between our freshman and sophomore year Ray was away a lot as his grandmother on his moms side was sick and he spent a lot of time in Scranton. When he returned in late July we were both somewhat out of shape as we were not working out as we should so it got intense, everyday at the gym and I had a GF that he did not. That did not go over well, but what the hell he wasn't around. So the bets got nastier, if I lost I was not permitted to shower for two days. Being at the high school weight room every day that was not pleasant. My mom went totally nuts, she had a point. However, on the second day I came home and she was watering the plants and she hosed me down. Then would not let me in the house wet, I had to strip on the back porch and dry off. It went on like this all year. Ray eventually got a GF and we doubled dated all year. While the bets continued they were somewhat sane, he had to get beer a couple of times and we shared it on a double date. I had to get cigarettes and condoms. The condoms remained in their packages although after dating all year the make out sessions with the GF were getting more interesting. It was July just before our Junior year that things changed. I lost a bet on how much Ray could bench press. He simply secured the weights looked up at me, smiled and said "suck my cock bro" I threw the towel I was holding in his face and left.