The Consultant in an Open Relationship Who Plays Settlers of Catan Nearly Twice a Day
Day One 11:45 a.m.: In a daze after yesterday’s board game party yacht cruise off the Jersey shore. My girlfriend and I weren’t into most of the games, but we ran into a few friends on the boat … and played with them. Plus we brought our own game, a beautiful tile-based strategy game from Europe, which was offered, still unopened, to a group of strangers…
4:30 p.m.: GF and I can’t keep our hands off each other’s resource cards. I steal her card, flip it over on its back and stare at it while she buzzes herself by trading in for a development card and winning the game. She comes like a steam whistle. I can hear the upstairs neighbors laughing when she’s done. They must get a huge kick from living above us. Funny, but I’ve heard board game playing from upstairs only once in two years. I think we have the better part of that arrangement.
9:30 p.m.: We decide to get to bed early. We start reminiscing about the boat party, which leads to us talking about me building a huge city wall in Carcasonne. GF starts playing on her iPhone, and soon enough, I’m ready to play. I set the game up in her favorite position: on the living room with her on the couch and me on my knees across the coffee table. She builds into another screaming win. As is usually the case, I don’t win, but the intensity of the game fills my head with a dizzy energy. I don’t care if I win or not, frankly. We fall asleep in each other’s arms.