City Love(45)

“Don’t break me.”

He leans against the counter next to me. “And I love how well I know you. Which is why I know you’re going to love this old-school board gaming group.”

We were talking about how no one appreciates old-school board games anymore. When Austin was younger, he used to sit for hours with his best friend playing all the classics: Sorry!, Clue, Monopoly, Parcheesi, Life. They would have gaming marathons that lasted all afternoon. A sleepover usually followed, featuring scary movies and popcorn with extra butter. Austin misses the pure joy of simple fun. So he found a board gaming group. Tonight will be his first time going. They meet at the upstairs café of the Tribeca Whole Foods. I wanted to go as soon as Austin told me about it. Their dorktastic meeting location was just icing on the cake.

I don’t really know what I was prepared for. Something like a few people with board games spread out in front of them mixed together with Whole Foods shoppers eating dinner from the hot food bar. Nothing like the scene we’re greeted with. The board gaming group has appropriated entire tables. We’re talking long tables. They’re sitting in groups of four or six or eight playing games I’ve never seen before. These games are beyond intricate. As Austin and I tour the tables, I notice games with so many pieces and cards it’s hard to believe they all go to one game.

“How long have you been playing this game?” I ask a guy with a half sleeve of ink and horn-rims.

“Four hours,” he says.

“How much longer do you have?”

“Probably another four.”

This isn’t just a board gaming group. This is the most hardcore board gaming group ever.

“Do you recognize any of these games?” Austin asks me after we’ve seen them all.

“None. Are they from a different planet?”

“The games or the gamers? Eight hours for one game? Do we have to do that?”

“I hope not. But at least it’ll be easy to take a snack break if we do.”

“Let’s try to find the activity director and see what we can play. I think his name is Michael.”

We track down Michael playing a game so elaborate it has two huge main boards, plus individual smaller boards. I’m surprised to see that Michael is a relatively normal-looking dude. Almost everyone else here is rocking some eccentric look. I’ve only seen one other girl. I don’t think I’ve seen any other college kids. Most of these guys are probably in their late twenties/early thirties.

“We’re new,” Austin explains to Michael.

“It’s your first day with us?” Michael asks.

“Yeah.”

“Welcome. Let’s see what’s starting up. There should be a Settlers group starting in about fifteen minutes.”

“What if we . . . haven’t played that before?” I ask.

“You’ve never played Settlers of Catan?” Michael is incredulous.

We shake our heads.

“How about Puerto Rico?”

We shake our heads some more.

“Asara?”

“We’re not familiar with any of the games we’ve seen,” Austin says, “but we’re excited to learn.”

“That’s the right attitude!” Michael looks around. “Let’s start you on Asara. It’s a cool fantasy game where you build castles. Does that sound good?”

“That sounds awesome,” Austin says. The adorable thing is, he totally means it. I can sense younger Austin whirring with excitement under this older exterior.

Michael hooks us up with four other guys who are on board with Asara. We find a free end of a table and settle in.

“I’m Austin.” He extends his hand to each of the guys. “This is my girlfriend, Sadie.”

Austin just called me his girlfriend. That’s the first time he’s introduced me to a group of people as his girlfriend. Or to anyone as his girlfriend.

This. Is. Happening.

The guys shake my hand. The whole thing is so adult, what with the handshaking and the girlfriend calling and the chilling with fully grown men.

“A pleasure to have you, Sadie,” the guy across from me says. I’ve already forgotten his name in my deliriously psyched state. But I’m too embarrassed to ask him what it is again.

“For reals,” the guy crammed against me on the bench says. “We hardly ever get girls!”

I wonder if he means at the gaming group or in general.

Asara is super fun. You have to build castles in different colors. There are a few different ways to win points. You can win points for the highest castle. You can win points for the greatest number of castles. You can also earn points for having bling on your castles. The castle pieces are cardboard cutouts that lie flat on the board in front of you. Some pieces have gold embellishments. Others have rays of light shining from the windows. Every castle has to have a standard base and top. How many pieces and what kinds of pieces you build in between are up to you.

But the best part of playing Asara? Is pressing up against Austin on the bench. He rests his hand on my thigh. I give him a shy smile.

“Someone’s winning for highest castle,” the guy on the other side of me announces.

It takes me a second to realize he means me. “What can I say? White castles are my jam.”

“I thought counting colored doors was your jam,” Austin interjects.