“Are we really going to do this?” Bruce asks.

“Yeah, I think so. I mean, if it sucks, we can just leave, right?”

He nods.

“Okay, then. I’m already dressed up. Let’s go.”

*This* is a house party. A lifestyle house party with a glow/disco theme. So way fewer kegs and 20-year-olds puking in corners. Way more married/partnered slightly liquored up couples looking for, well, other couples.

So we tromp up the gravel driveway and I thank the fates I decided to wear chucks, not heels. Before we can think to knock on the totally normal seeming front door, a totally normal middle aged dude opens it for us.

“Welcome! I’m guessing this is your first time?”

We nod.

“Well come on in! XYZ here will get you all checked in!”

We do as we’re told, and a totally normal, fresh faced 20-something smiles at us. “Hi! What’s your user name?”

User name? What user name? OH! “It’s blah blah blah,” I tell him, remembering our SZC identity.

“Cool! I’ll take your donation.”

I hand over the 60 bucks and he hands me a glow stick. “Just hang out a sec, and we’ll give you a tour!”

I take a minute to get my bearings… and it’s pretty much a totally normal looking open plan house, if most houses had a stripper pole, black lights, and projection TVs playing sexy movies.

There’s a counter loaded with typical Midwestern potluck items. A bunch of coolers stuffed under a folding buffet table. And a fridge stocked with bottled water.

And the people? Well, they’re the folks you’d see at the grocery store or at the high school sportsball game you frequent. Some are more glowy than usual, but, you know. Real people.

A man pops up in front of me. “Hi there, newbies! You need a tour?”

“That’s what they tell us!”

“Cool. Follow me.”

He takes us to a bedroom stuffed with beds. “This is our first play room. You can close the door if you want. Or not. When you’re done, change the sheets and throw them over in that bin. Cool?” We nod.

He shows us three more really similar rooms, one sporting a Sybian (which, stupidly, makes me blush), before heading outside. There’s a wooden deck lit by fairy lights. A big ol’ pool table. And two screen tents stuffed with, you guessed it, beds.

“Same thing goes out here. Although, as you can see, everyone else can too!”

We laugh awkwardly.

“Well, that’s it! Have fun,” he says, and disappears.

Bruce and I stare wide eyed at each other. “I need a drink,” I say. “Let’s go find our cooler.”

We do, and then we start to mingle. Before the party, we had dinner with another pair of newbies, so we cling together for a bit. But eventually, we go our separate ways and chat with a few different couples.

One woman looks eerily like my best friend, and I glom on to her for longer than is probably appropriate. They tell us a bit more about how the LS community compares to the kink community, and regale us with some fun stories. Both she and her husband seem like really cool people, and I can definitely see us getting to know them better.

As the evening goes on, I drink a little more, we chat a lot more, and I find myself having a really good time.

“I think I should change into the sexy version of this outfit, don’t you?” I ask Bruce. He agrees (of course), and so we make our way back to one of the bedrooms, which is miraculously unoccupied, although we an hear a couple having some pretty serious fun in the loft above us. I put on a totally transparent, glow in the dark nightie, some glow in the dark stockings, and, of course, a glow in the dark thong.

“You look amazing,” Bruce says. “I could eat you right up.”

Electricity buzzes in my belly and I grin. “Well then, why don’t you?”

A couple of really nice O’s later, we head back out into the thick of things. The atmosphere is getting rowdier. A few women are taking turns on the stripper pole in the living room. Outside, both screen tents are in use, and an audience looks on as four pairs get it on (and off).

We stop to watch, of course, and Bruce squeezes my hand. “So, what do you think? Anything shocking you?”

I take a moment to think about it. “Nope, not really.” And I’m not lying. It’s all totally cool and seems totally normal? Yeah. Normal. Which I guess means maybe I’m cut out for this after all?

At some point, we start chatting with a man I’ve locked eyes with a few times over the course over the evening. And the vibe is there. But his wife isn’t around, and at that point, I’ve had too much to drink, so Bruce steers me away.

We eventually leave the party alone, without playing with anyone else. Which is totally okay with us.

Bruce starts the car and looks at me. “Would you do it again?”

I think about the people I met, who I’d like to know better. The fun sex that I saw (and had). And I smile.

“In a heartbeat, babe.”

And so the adventure continues.