***
“Wow,” said Kim, as we opened my dorm room door. “It’ll be just like old times.” And she gave me a sexy wink. My hopes for the weekend rose. Something about being back at the college had really lifted her. She seemed not just happier but younger.
I tossed the events brochure we’d been given on the bed. I’d briefly scanned it on the bus: there was a reception that night, some sort of lecture we could attend the next day and then a football game on the final day. I was too excited to check the details, though. I was already imagining Brad’s jealous face when he saw what an amazing woman I’d married.
My dorm room looked almost exactly how I remembered it. The student who’d occupied it during the semester had even left his posters up. “I don’t know any of these bands,” I said, worried. “Does that make me old?”
Kim ruffled my hair. “I seem to recall your posters were all for video games or Lord of the Rings. Specifically, female elves from Lord of the Rings.”
I blushed. Kim had been known to play along and do a pretty good elf, when she was in the mood. Of course, that had been back in the early days of our marriage. We hadn’t done anything as adventurous as roleplaying in years. Maybe this trip away was just what we needed—a chance to reconnect, away from home. Kim seemed to be rediscovering her old self—maybe I could, too.
A pang of doubt hit me, at that thought. Kim’s college persona had been bouncy and sexy and fun—she’d grown more restrained over time, if anything. I’d done the reverse. At college, I’d been slow to come out of my shell. I’d only really gained in confidence once I met Kim and got a job. What if being around the old place sent both of us backwards? I didn’t want to go back to being my old self.
I dismissed the thought. This was just a reunion—we were all adults, now, ten years older and wiser. It wasn’t going to be like when we were students. Hell, I’d probably meet Brad and he’d be three hundred pounds of Jell-O, and have mellowed into a sweet guy. We’d probably wind up burying the hatchet and becoming friends—that was the sort of thing that happened at these things.
I smirked. That was all fine…but if Brad was still an asshole…well, he’d get a surprise when I walked in with Kim.
I was right. Just not for the reasons I thought.
***
The first night’s reception was in the old sports hall, the only room big enough to take the hundreds of people who’d come. The organizers had used blue and white balloons in their thousands to decorate the place, together with banners welcoming us back. There was free non-alcoholic punch and overpriced beer and wine. There was finger food which quickly disappeared as hundreds of nervous people sought something to do with their hands.
Just as I’d planned, I walked in with Kim on my arm. She looked absolutely gorgeous, her long green dress setting off her eyes and golden hair perfectly. Looking around the room, I didn’t see Brad or his friends anywhere. Maybe they won’t even come.
It was strange how you could see people return to their old groups. The rich kids clustered together again. The jocks reunited. Kim screamed with delight as she saw a gaggle of women and ran into their arms—the cheerleading squad, I guessed. I left her to it, since I didn’t know any of them.
But that left me on my own. I looked around for Hugo, the one guy from my old group of friends who’d said he’d attend. I searched around for his familiar, almost spherical body—he’d been seriously overweight when I’d known him. But I couldn’t see anyone with his waddling gait—
A hand slapped me on the shoulder. I spun around to see—
“Hugo?!” He looked amazing. His body had completely changed, his rolling fat replaced by a body much leaner and more chiseled than my own. He’d put on some muscle, too. He looked like a damn lifeguard. “What happened to you?!” I croaked.
Hugo beamed. “After college, I got sick of never getting a date. I lost the weight in about a year. I’m a personal trainer now.”
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t imagine a less likely transformation. But I was genuinely happy for him. I guess that’s what these things are all about, I mused. Now I just needed Brad to show up and be fat and friendly, and the picture would be complete.
“Louis?” A horribly familiar southern drawl. “Louis Dale?”
I turned slowly to face Brad, almost holding my breath.
Visually, he hadn’t changed at all. He’d managed to keep his muscles and he still wore his hair long and loose—those ash-blond locks had made all the girls fawn over him back at college and I suspected they still did. I had to admit that he’d aged a lot better than I had. Hell, he barely looked as if he’d aged at all, just like Kim.
And I’d forgotten how tall he was. He towered almost a foot over me and seemed twice as wide. There was something about looking up at him that sent me hurtling right back to my college days, my abs tensing up in preparation for a gut punch.
But just because he looked the same, didn’t mean he was the same. He’d probably mellowed and matured. He was probably friendly. Hell, he probably wanted to apologize for the hell he’d put me through.
He grinned at me and, for a moment, it seemed that all my hopes were justified--he had changed!
And then he threw his head back and laughed, and I knew that nothing had changed at all.
“Louis Dale! Shit, you look exactly how I remember you. What did you wind up doing? Computers?”
I’d rehearsed this a thousand times. I was going to say how I was now one of the top programmers for one of the top companies in my field. I was proud of my job. And yet, when he said computers in that sneering way, I was instantly right back in college. “Um...yeah. Programmer.” For some reason, I was looking at my feet. Why was I looking at my feet? Look him in the eye! This was all going wrong! “What about you?” I meant it to sound challenging, but it came out as defensive.
Brad grinned. “My company handles all the janitorial services for the schools and colleges in the area. We’re cleaning up, cleaning up.” And he gave me a slow grin, as if he knew it was a lame joke and he didn’t care.
I stood there trying to stare him down, but failing. Why was this happening? I had a good job and he was basically a glorified janitor...so how come I was the one who felt embarrassed? Viewed through the lens of his college bullying, I was still doing a geek job, while he was doing something traditional and manly, even though he knew as well as anyone that the internet ran the world these days.
I could see Brad’s old football buddies sidling up to him, curious as to who he’d found to torment. It wasn’t like they’d actually do anything--I mean, we were all adults now, they weren’t going to beat me up...were they?
“What else happened to you?” asked Brad. “Hey, you still single?” He laughed. “You still a virgin?”
I bristled. That had always been one of his favorite taunts. I hadn’t had a girlfriend until my final year and he’d teased me endlessly about it, making a thousand jokes about me whacking off in my dorm room. “No!” I said--louder than I’d intended. Heads turned.
“What, did you pay someone?” asked Brad. His buddies laughed.
“I’m married,” I told them.
“Did you buy her from Russia?” asked Brad. “Thailand?”
I looked around for Kim. This was supposed to be my big moment, where I showed her off, and she was nowhere to be seen! Probably off catching up on cheerleader gossip.
“Or maybe she’s one of those real fat ones,” said Rick, one of Brad’s old henchmen. He’d been a linebacker, back in college, and still had that broad, muscled build. With his dark hair and blue eyes, he’d been almost as popular with the girls as Brad. “Like she’d be glad even for Louis to roll on top of her.”
They all started laughing, and it got louder and louder. I could feel myself turning red, even though I’d done nothing wrong. It was college all over again….
And then I saw Kim through a parting in the crowd. I raced over to her, grabbed her wrist and yanked her over to Brad. “Here!” I s
aid. “Here’s my wife!”
The laughter stopped as if a switch had been thrown. There was total silence for a second.
Brad stared at Kim. “She’s your wife?!”
Hope soared inside me. “Yeah,” I said, trying to inject some smugness into my voice. “Married four years. And we’ve been together ever since college.”
Brad looked at Kim. All the confidence seemed to have drained out of him. “Is this for real?” he asked.
I opened my mouth to tell him yes, but then I realized he wasn’t talking to me. He was talking to Kim. And she was standing there open-mouthed.
“Kim?” prompted Brad, his voice strangely quiet.
“You two know each other?” I asked disbelievingly.
Neither of them said anything. Kim was gazing up at Brad--like me, she was shorter than him. But while looking up at him made me look stupid and weak, it made her look...vulnerable. More feminine, almost, than when she talked to me. And Brad was staring back down at her with a look I’d never seen before. I’d watched him give college girls the eye plenty of times: he’d leer and come out with some ridiculous come-on but, because of his looks and who he was, they’d giggle and give him their phone numbers. But this was different. This look was rawer and hotter than any look he’d ever given them. And it was directed right at my wife.
Brad’s other football buddies had formed a circle around us, now, and all of them were watching silently. The quiet was spreading around the hall, the intensity of the moment silencing everyone.
I glanced helplessly at Rick for an explanation.
“They were an item,” he said. “You married Brad’s ex-girlfriend.”
My eyes bugged out. No, I thought, he dated my wife!
Chapter 3
I grabbed Kim’s hand and pulled her out of the circle and off to one side. “You knew him?!” I asked disbelievingly. “You dated him?!”
She stared at me for a second. Her eyes were unfocused—it was almost as if she’d gone into shock. “We dated in freshman year,” she mumbled. “For a few months.” I saw her swallow and she looked away from me. “And then again in sophomore year. And again in our final year, for about six months. We kept breaking up and getting back together.”
I felt like my whole world was exploding. He’d dated her? That big, brutish thug had dated my perfect wife? Not just once but three times? And if they’d been together for months at a time, that must mean…”Did you have sex with him?” I whispered. I felt as if I was going to throw up.
Kim nodded.
Final year. She was with him in our final year. Realization suddenly hit me. “He was the one, wasn’t he? The guy who’d dumped you, when I found you crying?”
She nodded again.
I’d always known that I’d been her rebound. I hadn’t known that I’d been her rebound from him. But then I’d avoided that whole circle of people. If only I’d gone to a few football games, I would have heard that the head cheerleader was dating the football captain. But I hadn’t.
“How do you know him?” Kim asked.
I’d never told her about being bullied in college. No guy wants to admit that. I sighed. “He gave me kind of a hard time in college,” I said at last.
She looked towards Brad. And, through the crowd, I could see him looking at her.
“We should go,” she said. She had a very strange look in her eyes, one I’d never seen before in all the years I’d known her. She’d gone pale, but it wasn’t as simple as fear. Her eyes were wide and her breathing had sped up—it was the sort of fear you see on people when they’re climbing aboard a rollercoaster. Adrenaline-fear. I wrinkled my forehead at that. I could understand her being a little embarrassed at running into her ex-boyfriend, and I could certainly understand her wanting to leave in order to protect my feelings…but this looked like more than that. Something was going on, something I didn’t understand.
I looked at Brad again. Now that the shock was wearing off, he looked annoyed...no, downright angry. I began to see another side to this. The idiot had dumped her...dumped Kim, the greatest woman in the world, and now I had her. Maybe he still carried a torch for her.
Kim grabbed my arm. “Please, Louis,” she said. “Let’s just go. We can go back to the dorm room and get a flight home in the morning.”
My eyes widened. She wanted to go home?! Actually bug out of the whole trip? I glanced at Brad again. I must have been right. Brad must still be carrying a torch for her, and she’d sensed it. She was afraid he was going to make some sort of a clumsy pass at her, or get annoyed with me and cause a scene. That must be it.
I didn’t know how wrong I was.
I should have listened to my wife and got her out of there. But being bullied can leave scars that are hard to shift. Inside, I was aching to have my revenge and now cogs were turning in my head. Maybe my original plan could work...only, now that I knew Kim was his ex, it would be better than ever. He was already angry...I’d made him really burn with it by parading her in front of him. Only now, as adults, he wouldn’t be able to take out his frustration out by beating me up or I’d call the damn cops. He’d have to suck it up, just as I’d had to, all those years ago.
And so I made my fatal mistake. “No,” I said. “We’re staying.”
***
We didn’t see Brad for a while. He and his buddies left the sports hall--maybe, I thought hopefully, they’re consoling him outside. I smirked. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but a good one. The organizers had laid on a band for the evening and, as I watched, the lights dimmed and a disco ball started to send bright spots of light sliding around the walls.
Hugo put his arm around my shoulder. “Did I hear that right?” he asked. “You married Brad’s old girlfriend?”
I nodded, grinning. “And I’m going to make the bastard suffer for everything he did to us.”
Huge gave me a worried look. “You’re really still upset about that stuff? Dude, it was a decade ago. Let it go.”
“He was a prick.” I was surprised by Hugo’s attitude “He was a prick to you, too. And he’s still a prick.”
Hugo shrugged. “Yeah, I know, but...forgive and forget, you know? And making him suffer...that’s kind of a low blow. She was his girlfriend.”
“She’s my wife.”
“Yeah, but she’ll still be your wife when you leave here. He’ll never see her again. There’s no need to be a dick about it. Be the bigger man, you know?”
I hesitated at that. I looked across the room to where Kim had returned to her gang of cheerleaders. They were all clustered around her, patting her soothingly on the back. She still looked scared—what was she so worried about? That Brad would punch me? Not with everyone else around, surely. That he’d make a pass at her? She’d just brush him off. Why was she so frightened?
Maybe we should just go home. Or maybe I should at least try to make peace with Brad and just act normal.
At that moment, I saw Brad return. He looked sullen, his shoulders down and his gaze on the floor. Was I really going to kick him in the teeth?
Then I remembered all the times he’d tossed my book bag onto the roof of a building, or deliberately driven through a puddle to soak me. He’d never hesitated. Neither should I.
I stalked through the crowd and over to Kim. She allowed me to take her by the hand and lead her gently away from her friends. “Would you like to dance?” I asked.
She smiled. Then something caught her eye across the room and I felt her hand tense in mine. When I glanced around, she was looking right at Brad. And, for a second, she seemed almost hypnotized, her eyes staying on him as I towed her onto the dance floor. I wondered if she still had some residual feelings for him. I mean, obviously she hated him—he dumped her, after all, and broke her heart. But maybe she didn’t want to hurt him back.
Well, too bad. I was going to damn well rub Brad’s nose in it.
Luckily, the band was playing a soft, smoochy track. I slid one arm around her waist and cradled her into me. Her so
ft breasts pressed against my chest.
At first, we just danced. Then I slowly let one hand explore her back. Her dress was a halter-neck, so it was mostly bare skin, there. I found Brad’s face in the crowd and turned us so that I was facing him. Then I slid my other arm around my wife and let that hand move gradually down to her ass. I smoothed the dress over her firm ass cheek a few times, and felt her stiffen slightly each time, unsure about such a public groping. Then I squeezed.
“Honey….” she said warningly. And her eyes darted sideways, scanning the hall. She was looking for Brad, I realized. Maybe wanting to make sure his feelings weren’t hurt. And that annoyed me. The big brute deserved everything he’d get.
I put my hand on her chin and gently but firmly turned her head back to face me. God, she was gorgeous. My heart melted as I looked into those big, green eyes. Suddenly, I didn’t care about winding up Brad. I just loved her.
I leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. She gave a little mmf! of surprise, but after a second she relaxed into it, meeting my kiss. When I started to use my tongue, though, she began to pull away. “Louis!” she gasped when she broke it. “What are you doing?”
“Kissing my wife,” I told her.
“But not--” She flushed and looked around. I knew what she meant. She’d always been shy, ever since I knew her. It was strange, though--the few times I’d persuaded her into public kissing or groping, she seemed annoyed...and yet also a little turned on, as if she secretly quite liked it.
I checked over her shoulder. Brad was glaring right at me. Good. Exactly what I wanted. Although I had to admit, the raw anger on his face was more than I’d predicted.
I danced for the rest of the song with Kim, but then let her haul me off the dance floor. Well, fine. I didn’t want to upset her, and I’d done what I’d set out to do. I’d made him watch as I kissed his ex in front of him. That didn’t quite pay him back for all the years he’d tormented me, but it was a start.
Cuckolded at the College Reunion Page 2