Strip Alphabet Challenge

A mildly erotic short story involving the YouTube / TiK Tok craze - and racehorses.

Mildly erotic

Sara and I were good friends – no more than that even though we were both currently single - and both avid horse racing fans. Whereas Sara preferred flat racing, I favoured National Hunt or jump racing. Whenever we got together, which was usually once or twice a month, invariably the conversation would soon turn to racing.

I’d popped round to Sara’s to drop something back that I’d borrowed. Sara had just opened a bottle of wine – it was gone five o’clock, so it was allowed - so she invited me in for a glass. Sara was in her thirties and had got to that stage in her life where she was quite relaxed about her appearance. Although she could dress up when the occasion warranted it, she was more at home in casual wear and wasn't afraid of being seen dressed-down. This evening she was dressed casually in a pair of grey jogging bottoms and a tight-fitting white crop top that accentuated her well-formed breasts and exposed her taut, muscular stomach. She was also wearing white sports socks and a comfortable pair of old mules. Sara was average height – about five foot six inches - with an athletic figure. She had shoulder length, light brown hair, that she sometimes wore in a ponytail, but today was pulled back in a rough bun with strands of hair hanging loose, framing her attractive face.

After catching up with what we’d both been doing since we had last met a couple of weeks ago, we started to talk about the racing we’d watched, the horses that had impressed us, and what we were looking forward to racing-wise in the next few days. Sara topped our glasses up and the conversation flowed as well as the wine now that we were on common ground.

“Have you seen any of the ‘Alphabet Challenges’ on YouTube or Tik-Tok.” I asked.

“The racing ones?” Sara questioned.

“That’s the ones. You have to name a racehorse beginning with each letter of the alphabet in turn, usually within two minutes.” I explained.

“I’ve seen a couple.” Sara confirmed, “I think I could do better than many of those that have done it.” she added.

“I bet it’s not so simple as it looks.” I countered.

“I’m sure I could do it.” Sara said confidently.

“Want to try?” I asked.

“I’ll do it if you will?” she proposed.

“Okay” I said, “You against me. Flat against jumps?” I suggested.

“How do you mean?” Sara asked, puzzled.

“You name flat horses, and I’ll name jump horses.” I clarified.

“Oh. I see.” Sara nodded, “Okay. I’m sure I can do that.”

Now I must admit that Sara’s knowledge of racing was better than mine. But I figured that, as National Hunt horses stayed around for longer than flat horses, they should be easier to recollect. Flat horses tend to come and go in a couple of seasons, and apart from the very best, were quickly forgotten. We were also in the middle of the National Hunt season, so the jumps horses were getting more media coverage and were fresher in my mind. I was also a bit older than Sara, so I had a longer history of horses to call on. With these factors in my favour, I fancied that I could beat her in a head-to-head challenge. To counter this, Sara’s younger memory was probably more agile than mine

“And no just picking random names. They have to be horses that both of us have heard of.” I explained.

“As if I’d do that!” Sara giggled. “I won’t need to; I’ll beat you anyway.” she added confidently.

“The winner will be the one that names the most horses in two minutes, or, if we both get to the end of the alphabet, the one that does it quickest.” I clarified.

“Okay! You’re on.” Sara said, “Prepare to have your ‘ass whipped!'” she added assuredly.

“You sound pretty sure of yourself.” I said, “Want to make it interesting?”

“How?” Sara asked, quizzically.

"A bit of a side bet?" I suggested.

"How much?" she asked.

"I wasn't thinking money." I added cryptically.

"No? What then?" Sara quizzed.

“I was thinking our clothes: 'strip Alphabet Challenge'. The loser has to strip.” I suggested, and then regretted straight away being so forward.

“What naked?” Sara exclaimed. “No way!”

“I thought you were confident?” I teased.

“I am. But I’m not risking getting naked in front of you.” she said firmly.

“Not quite so sure of yourself then?" I mocked.

“I am.” she repeated, “But I’m not prepared to take the risk of losing.” she added.

I wasn’t surprised, Sara was quite shy. I’d never even seen her in a bikini in all the years we had known each other. Getting naked would be way too embarrassing. I was fairly bashful myself, and I’d been amazed that I’d had the temerity to even suggest such an idea. Now that I had though, I thought I may as well pursue the proposal for a bit longer, just to tease Sara if nothing else.

“Okay.” I said, “If you're not prepared to take too big a risk, how about we take off an item of clothing for each letter we can’t name a horse for?” I suggested.

Sara hesitated. I could see that she was working out the implications of this suggestion in her head.

“Would my shoes count as two items?” she eventually asked.

“If you like.” I replied, surprised that she was even contemplating the proposition.

“And my socks?” she continued.

“Of course.” I reassured her.

“I reckon I can get at least twenty-three or twenty-four.” she stated confidently.

“So, you’ll do it then?” I asked, somewhat taken-aback.

“I’ll do it!” she giggled, “I’m happy to take my shoes and socks off, and I don’t think you’ll get as many as me. So you'll have to take more off.” she continued.

“If that's the case, I think we ought to have another glass of wine before we start.” I suggested, hoping the alcohol may impact on her memory.

“Good idea.” Sara said, pouring us both another large glass.

“Would you like to go first?” I asked, taking a sip of the wine.

“Yes please.” Sara replied, taking a large swig from her glass.

“Ready?” I asked.

“I guess so.” Sara replied, sounding less confident than at any other time.

“Three. Two. One. Your time starts……Now!” I exclaimed. “Good luck!”

Sara took a deep breath and started, “Australia; Baaeed; Cape Cross; Dubawi; E”, she hesitated, “I can only think of jump horses beginning with E.” she said, frustrated.

“There’s plenty of those – Edreden Bleu; Energumene; Envoy Allen; Edwardstone; Editer Du Gite; Epatante.” I said.

“That’s not helping!” she said, irritated, “I’ll have to come back to that.” she decided after a long pause.

“Okay, F next.” I said.

“Frankel; Golden Horn; Hakum; Inspiral; J…Damn! I can’t think of a J.” she said after more than a moment’s hesitation.

“Do you want to come back to it?” I asked.

“I think I’ll have to.” Sara responded despondently.

“Okay, K next.” I said.

“Kameko; Love; Mastercraftsman.” she continued.

“That’s half-way.” I interjected.

“How am I doing for time?” she enquired desperately.

“Just forty-five seconds left.” I informed her, “You need to speed up. N next.”

“Nature Strip; Oxted; Palace Pier; Quiet Reflection.” she reeled off quickly.

“That’s a good one – I thought you’d struggle with Q.” I said.

“So did I! I don’t know where I got that one from! R – there must be an R.” she hesitated, “Rip Van Winkle!” she exclaimed, relief in her voice.

“Stradivarius; Tuesday; U?” another hesitation, then, “Ulysses!” she continued.

“Good one!” I said. “Only ten more seconds.”

“V?” she hesitated again, “Skip V. W? Winter Power!” she gushed.

“Three......two.......one........ Time’s up!” I said as the stopwatch on my phone indicated that the two minutes was up.

“That’s much harder than I thought it would be.” Sara said, taking deep breaths. “How did I do?”

“You didn’t do too bad given that you got stuck early on. You were four short at the end.” I said, “V, X, Y and Z.”

“Not so good as I was expecting, but I’ll take that.” she said, relief in her voice, “Good job we agreed shoes and socks were two items each.” she laughed, kicking off her mules and removing her socks.

“You also missed out E and J.” I reminded her.

“Damn! I didn’t, did I?” she questioned.

“I’m afraid you did.” I said, “I thought you’d get Enabled for E.” I added.

“Enabled! Of course!” she exclaimed, “It was you putting me off with all your jump horses.” she said, annoyance in her voice.

“I must admit J was a hard one. I could only think of Journey.” I said, sympathetically.

“I wouldn’t have remembered that.” she said.

“Never mind.” I said, “That’s only two more items.” I added, barely able to hide my excitement.

"Two more items?" she said, sounding desperate, “You’re not serious?”

“I am.” I said, “That’s what we agreed at the start.”

“But…” she hesitated.

“Come on. You’d expect me to do it.” I said. “You’ll probably still beat me, and I’ll end up taking more off.”

“You better!” she said, then with a hint of acceptance in her voice, she continued, “I can’t believe I agreed to do this!”

To my astonishment, her hands moved to the hem of her crop top, she slowly lifted it up and over her head to reveal a bright red lacy bra that barely contained her well-formed breasts. I gawped at the unexpected view.

“No need to stare.” she said, sounding more than slightly embarrassed at where I was looking.

“Sorry.” I said, “But they are very nice.” I continued, not averting my eyes.

“Thank you.” she said, “I never imagined I’d be showing you this much.”

“Nor did I!" I exclaimed, "And you've got to show me a bit more yet.” I reminded her, still taking in the splendour of her ample breasts.

“Really?” she said pleadingly, “Do I have to?”

“One more item and then you’re done.” I said encouragingly.

“I can’t believe you’re making me do this.” she said in despair. “I better have another drink!” she half-laughed.

I poured her another glass of wine, and she took a large swig. She put her glass down and looked at me piteously.

“Really?” she implored.

“Really.” I said, “In your own time.”

“Okay. Here goes.” she sighed.

I could see the resignation on her face as her hands moved to the top of her grey jogging bottoms and undid the string tie at the front. She slowly pulled them down and stepped out of them. Underneath she was wearing a tiny red thong that matched her bra. I had gasped as her panties had come into view, and I'd realised how skimpy they were. She stood in front of me in just her undies, with her hands in front of her, covering her modesty as best she could.

“Happy now?” she said, sounding uncomfortable as she stood in front of me in just her racy undies.

“I’d say!” I exclaimed, “I didn’t expect you to do it.”

“Neither did I. At least I put matching undies on." she half-laughed.

"Very nice they are too." I smiled, "I must admit, they don't leave much to the imagination."

"I was worried about that. That's why I'll keep my hands here." she said, "Your turn now. Let’s see if you can do any better.” she continued. I could sense she wanted to move on.

“I hope so, otherwise I’m in trouble.” I laughed nervously.

"You could be getting naked." she grinned.

"Quite possibly." I agreed.

Although I was initially confident that I could get over twenty, I was now concerned that Sara had found it so challenging. Perhaps my confidence was misplaced: it was obviously more difficult than I first thought. Then there was the added distraction of Sara standing in front of me in her skimpy undies. I was finding it hard to concentrate anyway. I just hoped she didn't distract me too much.

“Ready then?” Sara asked.

“I guess so.” I said. “Although I’m going to struggle to concentrate with you like that.”

“Do you want me to put my clothes back on?” she asked.

“No. I’d prefer you to stay like that.” I grinned.

“I bet you do!” she smiled, "Tell you what; it's so difficult, if you get all the way through the alphabet, I’ll take the rest off too.”

“You wouldn’t?” I asked, shocked, “What your bra and panties?”

“Yes. I will take them both off if you do it.” she said, "But it has to be all twenty six letters." she added.

"There has to be a catch?" I said, not believing she would even consider it.

"Well," she hesitated, "If you don't beat my score, you have to strip." she laughed.

"What? Everything?" I asked.

"Yes. Everything." she giggled.

"So let's be clear: if I get all twenty-six, you'll take off your bra and panties, and I'll get to see you naked. But if I get less than twenty, I have to strip off everything?" I asked.

"That's right. And I get see you naked." she laughed.

"What if I get twenty - the same as you?" I queried.

"Then you strip to your underwear, the same as I have." she said.

"That seems fair." I said.

I didn't like to admit to Sara that I'd only got seven items of clothing on anyway, so if I scored just nineteen I'd be getting naked in any case. And if I scored twenty - the same as Sara - I'd be left in just my pants. I hesitated for a while, as if I was contemplating her proposal, even though it was a 'no-brainer' to accept.

"Okay. You're on." I said, "If I get nineteen or less, I'll strip naked. If I get all twenty-six, you strip naked."

"Agreed!" she exclaimed.

I’m not sure if she meant it, but it certainly made me focus. If she did mean it, I was just twenty six horses away from seeing her completely naked. I could feel my heartbeat quickening - and my member stiffening! Of course, if I failed to beat her score, I was just two minutes away from showing her everything. The pressure was on.

Sara set the stopwatch on her mobile phone, which meant her hands were no longer positioned in front of her private parts. I tried not to look, but failed miserably.

.

“Ready?” she prompted.

“When you are.” I confirmed, taking a deep breath, trying to relax and concentrate.

“Okay. Your two minutes start……Now!” she shouted.

“Arkle; Bravemansgame; Cue Card; Denman; Edwardstone.” I reeled off quite quickly.

“I thought you’d get an E easy enough, there’s loads of them.” Sara interjected.

“F” I hesitated.

“I hope I didn’t put you off?” Sara joshed.

“Just a tad.” I said, frustrated, then quickly continued, “Fiddlers Cross; Go Native; Harchibald; Istabraq; Jonbon; Kauto Star; Long Run; Minello Indo; Native River.” I was on a roll.

Sara sensed I was well ahead at this point, and she knew she needed to put me off my stride somehow. Holding her mobile in one hand to watch the timer, she put her other hand down, hooked her thumb into the front of her tiny panties and pushed them down slightly so that I could almost – but not quite – see the top of her slit. I gasped and lost my train of thought.

“Not distracting you am I?” she giggled, “You’re halfway through the time, by-the-way.”

“O?” I asked, “Am I on O?”

“Yes. O next.” she confirmed.

“One For Arthur; Protektorat; Quevega; Red Rum; Shiskin; Tiger Roll.” I carried on in a rush. “UknowwhatImeanharry” I continued, annoyed that the only one I could think of beginning with U had such a long name.

I could see that Sara was getting worried now; she had beads of sweat forming on her forehead. I’d only got five more to get, and I figured I’d got plenty of time to get them if I concentrated. She’d still got one hand on the top of her thong and she eased it down a bit further. I gasped as her slit definitely came into view. She was silky smooth down there. I don’t think she realised just how much I could see; she was still concentrating on the stopwatch. Instead of blood flowing to my brain where I needed it, I could feel it rushing to my groin area and giving me an erection.

“Sorry. Did I distract you again?” she grinned.

I faltered as I took in the view, and then continued, “Voy Per Ustedes; Wayward Lad.”

I’d still got time to get the last three. Sensing I was almost there, and if I did get the final three she’d have to get totally naked, Sara turned her back to me and pulled her panties slightly further down to give me a flash of her gorgeous bare bottom. It was enough to throw me off.

“X? X? I…I’ll come back to X.” I said, stutteringly, as I took in the splendour of her peachy cheeks.

“I thought that would do the trick!” Sara laughed.

She started turning back to face me, and I thought for a moment she was going to leave her panties lowered.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed, "You're not going to?"

She pulled her panties back up before I saw anything more, much to my disappointment.

“Yorkhill; Zarkander.” I continued hurriedly.

“Five....... four...... three...... two.......one. Times up!” Sara shouted, relief in her voice.

I took several deep breaths to compose myself. Not just from the challenge, but from what I’d seen of Sara. To be honest, Sara was breathing heavily too.

“That was close! You were just one short. Fortunately you missed out X.” she said, sounding relieved, “I actually thought you were going to do it!”

“So did I!” I gasped, “You must have been getting worried?”

“I was!” Sara confirmed, “I really thought I was going to have to get naked.”

“I was hoping.” I said, disappointment in my voice. “You did put me off a couple of times.” I admitted.

“Did I?” she said innocently, “No more than you did me.”

“It was probably enough to prevent me getting all of them, and seeing you naked.” I conceded.

“Shame!” she said sarcastically, “You did see my bare bottom though. I can’t believe I did that.” she added sheepishly.

“Now that really did distract me! But I'm glad you did. It’s a very nice bottom.” I said, "Although, when you pulled your panties down, I thought you were going to show me more." I continued.

I thought I better not tell her that I’d actually seen a fair bit more than her bottom anyway!

“Thank you. I’m glad you liked it.” she said, "I'm just glad I didn't agree to your first proposal - where the loser had to strip completely!"

"That's true." I said, "You'd be totally naked now. As you would be if I'd got just one more."

"I know!" she said, "It's humiliating enough being in just my undies. You can't imagine how embarrassed I'd be if I had to take them off too!"

"It would've been fun though!" I laughed.

"For you maybe." she said, "Can I get dressed now?” she asked.

“Before you put your clothes back on, there’s one more thing I’ve got to do.” I said cryptically.

Sara looked worried as she stood in front of me in just her tiny red undies. She knew she was vulnerable to whatever I was contemplating doing. We both realised that, if I was to take a step forward, I could easily pull down her panties, and there was little she could do to stop me. I must admit, it was very tempting.

“What’s that?” she said anxiously, her face etched with worry.

I took a step forward and reached down. Sara tensed up in anticipation, fearing the worst. I bent right down and undid my shoelace. I stood up holding my shoe.

“I was one short. ” I said mockingly, "So here's your winnings!"

“Idiot!” she exclaimed, and gave a deep sigh of relief, "For a second there I honestly thought you were going to pull down my knickers!"

THE END

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