by Lexi Archer
Well, maybe jerking off, but that only made the obsession lose some of its intensity. It never made it go away entirely. And it would always be back to the next time I hadn't had a chance to take matters in hand or I hadn't been with my wife for a while.
"We can talk about all of that later," Laura said. "For now I need to talk to Kristi, and then maybe after that I can thank my husband for being so nice and planning this vacation for me!"
I grinned. "Sounds like a good deal."
Only I couldn't help but think that I'd just set something in motion. Something that would end with Mike and Kristi breaking up. Of course I couldn't do anything to stop it now. Not that I could've ever done anything to stop it. I knew I was going to voice my concerns the moment Mike started being so brazen about that girl in marketing. I'd always had my suspicions, but with him coming out like that I couldn't stay silent. Especially with Kristi who I loved like a sister!
The chips would just have to fall where they would, and in the meantime I could fantasize about Laura getting with another guy tonight while she was thanking me for the vacation.
2: Breaking Up is easy to Do
"That slimy son of a bitch!"
I took a pull from my daiquiri, glad that I decided to go ahead and order something that was frozen and, more importantly, alcoholic for this work lunch. I usually tried to avoid drinking when I was on the clock, even if it was on my lunch break, but a little voice told me I was going to need this when Kristi called me and said we were having an emergency meeting.
"What did you find?" I asked.
"Your husband was absolutely right!" Kristi said.
"Damn," I said. "I'm so sorry…"
Kristi waved a hand and downed a shot. I blinked. Holy shit. It looked like it was going to be one of those lunches. I might have to call off for the rest of the day if things kept up like this!
"No need to be sorry," she said. "If he's going to be a cheating piece of shit then I'm better off without the asshole!"
"So did he give you a reason?"
I braced for this. I'd always had a bad feeling about Mike, but I'd never said anything. Kristi seemed head over heels for the guy since we first introduced them, and who was I to get in the middle of her love life? Well, I was her best friend. That's who I was. I felt a momentary stab of guilt that it'd been my husband who finally had the balls to say something rather than me.
Still I couldn't be too hard on myself. All I'd had was that bad feeling after all. The way he looked at me from time to time. And it was especially frustrating because I could see the way Dave looked at him looking at me, and I could tell that every time something like that happened he was thinking about that damn fantasy. Probably imagining Mike on top of me, and that thought thoroughly disgusted me. Mike might be the best guy in the world as far as Kristi thought, at least up until a couple of days ago, but he'd always set off my creeper sensor.
That was part of the reason why I was so reluctant to even consider indulging that fantasy in the first place. If Mike was the kind of guy my husband considered a good match then who knows where it could take us if I actually decided to indulge the fantasy. No, that was a road I wasn't traveling down.
Kristi rolled her eyes and I shook myself out of my brief reverie. I needed to be here for my friend. I needed to pay attention and not think about her boyfriend and what a slime he was. At least I needed to avoid thinking about what a slime he was outside of the context of him cheating on Kristi.
"You're not going to believe this!" Kristi said.
"Try me," I said.
Kristi leaned forward and glanced from side to side as though she was bringing me into some great conspiracy. I couldn't help but smile despite the circumstances. Kristi always did this when she was about to tell me something that that wasn't a huge secret at all.
"He said he felt confined with me," Kristi said. "He said he felt like he couldn't explore his sexuality as long as he was tied down! Can you believe that bullshit?"
I snorted. That really was rich considering Kristi. She'd been far wilder than I'd been back in college. I settled down with my husband early on in my college career and I'd been perfectly happy with him ever since, but not so with Kristi. Where she'd embraced all of the more hedonistic aspects of college life. And I have to admit there were times when I envied her that life, but then again there were also plenty of times I didn't envy her. Like right now when she was sitting on the other side of the table getting drunk and telling me all about how her latest guy had cheated on her.
This wasn't the first conversation like this we'd had. It definitely wasn't a conversation I ever had to worry about having regarding Dave.
Kristi managed a smile. A sickly smile, but at least it was a smile. "I know, right? All the bastard had to do was ask and I would've been up for at least trying a threesome or something!"
My eyes widened and I giggled. "Kristi! You slut!"
Kristi rolled her eyes. "Come on Laura. Not all of us can meet the perfect man the first time we go on a date back in college."
"Hey, that's not fair!" I said. "Dave wasn't my first date in college. I had to go through a couple of duds before I found Mr. Right."
"Yeah well you're lucky I didn't find him first. Otherwise I might've been the one rocking his world!"
I smiled and laughed, but inside I did have to wonder. It was something that I wondered about every time Kristi brought it up, usually when she'd had a little too much to drink. What would've happened if Kristi had been the first one to see Dave rather than me? They say in wine there is truth, and Kristi had said this often enough when she was really ridiculously shitfaced drunk, usually after she'd been dumped by her latest boyfriend, that I was starting to think there might be a little bit of truth to it. I wasn't sure if they would've worked out, but I had a feeling that true to her word she would've gone for my husband back in the day if she got the chance. If I hadn't gotten there first.
And that brought up a whole raft of insecurities that I worried about from time to time. Especially right after I'd gotten one of those ridiculous hall pass offers he always went on about right before we took a vacation.
Would Dave be happier if he was with girl like Kristi who had a wild streak? With a woman who was more adventurous than I was? I mean it's not like I was necessarily against the idea of sleeping with another man, no matter how crazy that sounded, it just seemed so wrong. It went against everything I'd learned growing up. Everything I believed about being faithful. Sure it might be a fun adventure, but what if it had unintended consequences for our marriage? What if it ended up blowing everything up and destroying the life we'd built together?
There was just too much at stake for me to indulge him in that fantasy, no matter how much he seemed to want it. Only if Kristi had gotten to him first…
"Hey," Kristi said. "Where are you? You're supposed to be consoling me, not staring off into space."
"Sorry Kristi," I said. "I was just thinking about Dave and our vacation, though I suppose that's not happening now."
"Like hell it isn't!" Kristi said. "I refused to let Mike into our apartment to get any of his stuff until he transferred the tickets over to me, and the hotel reservation was in your husband's name."
I smiled. "So what? We're going to foot the bill for the suite?"
"As I understand it Mike already gave your husband the money, and I made it clear that a condition of him getting his stuff back was that he was going to eat that cost."
I giggled again. "That sounds fair enough. Especially considering what he's put you through!"
"Yeah, but enough about that bullshit. Let's talk about what Dave is putting you through."
I blinked. "What are you talking about?"
"Come on Laura," Kristi said. "You always get that look on your face when you're thinking about something. When something's gone wrong with you and Mr. Perfect."
I rolled my eyes. "Mr. Perfect" was hardly how I'd describe Dave. Like all men he had his flaws, but that was a part
of being in a relationship. You learned to either accept or deal with a person's flaws where you couldn't smooth them out. It was all part of building a life together.
"He brought up the hall pass thing again," I said.
Kristi squealed and took another drink. I looked down at my own drink and was surprised to realize I'd downed most of the thing. And that rather than cutting it off there I was probably going to have another one. This was just one of those conversations. I took out my phone and sent a quick text to my boss before I got too drunk. Thankfully she was pretty understanding, I'd already told her the situation with Kristi and Mike. I got a text back telling me to take my time and make sure to get a cab home if I needed it.
I turned back to Kristi and for a change she was looking at me with a completely serious expression on her face. "Have you ever considered just taking him up on that offer?"
"Sleep with another man? No. No way! Never!"
Kristi leaned forward and stared at me. She just kept staring with that completely serious look on her face. A complete change from the giggles and smiles that had been on her face just moments ago.
"I know what you're doing and it's not going to work," I said.
Only she kept staring. Her eyes locked with mine. Eventually I blinked and then finally a smile cracked my face. And through it all she kept up that deadpan serious look. Finally I looked away.
"Okay, fine! So maybe I've thought of taking him up on that offer, but it's so dangerous!"
"More dangerous than not taken him up on the offer?" Kristi asked.
"What do you mean?"
Kristi shrugged. "Look what happened with my relationship. Of course he never actually told me what his fantasy was. He just went out and decided to start indulging it without asking me. Your husband is giving you the courtesy of telling you what he wants. Like I said, Mr. Perfect at work again."
I rolled my eyes, but Kristi had given me some food for thought. Not that I thought I was going to go along with Dave's fantasy even with this new information, but it was something to think about at least.
But I'd think about it later. Right now I need to get drunk with my best friend since forever and talk about what an asshole Mike was.
I held up my hand to flag down the waitress and order another round for both of us.
3: Beach Banter
I leaned back against the towel and pulled out a bottle of suntan lotion to start reapplying. I always had a natural ability to get a tan just by looking at the sun, never had a sunburn either, but that didn't mean I was going to start doing stupid things like risk skin cancer because I didn't put on my 40 SPF while I was baking under the hot Florida sun.
Movement caught just out of the corner of my eye turned my attention away from applying the suntan lotion. I turned just in time to see Dave turning his head back towards the ocean and away from me rubbing my hands up and down my body. I smiled. The jerk probably thought he'd just gotten away with sneaking a peek at his wife's best friend.
Of course if I was going to catch him then I wanted to make it memorable. I had to wait for the right moment. And the right moment came just a moment later when he reached down, pulled up the frozen drink he'd gotten from one of the beach bars, and started to take a sip.
"So do you want to help me put the suntan lotion on? Or were you just trying to catch peek while Laura was away?"
The reaction was everything I'd hoped for. He was so surprised that he inhaled some of his drink and then he was coughing up bits of frozen strawberry daiquiri. I smiled and went back to applying my suntan lotion.
"Sorry Kristi," he said.
I shrugged. "Don't be sorry. At least somebody's noticing me."
Of course that wasn't entirely fair. We'd only been on the beach for a day. We'd only gotten into the hotel the night before after a flight that had taken a hell of a lot longer than it should have because of delays and a storm system making its way through the Midwest.
"Where is Laura anyways?" Dave asked.
I looked back at him and pulled my sunglasses down. "I figure you of all people would have a good idea of where your wife is at all times. After all, you wouldn't want her to be swept away by some handsome stud on the beach, now would you?"
Dave looked over to me with a suspicious glance. He didn't quite choke on his drink, nothing so dramatic as that, but he definitely looked suspicious. And why shouldn't he be suspicious? He was well aware that Laura and I didn't hide anything from each other. Hell, usually I didn't hide anything from him either. I'd known Laura for longer, but he was like my best friend as well. My best guy friend at least.
No, scratch that, my best guy friend that I didn't fuck. Not that I was in the habit of fucking many of my guy friends. Okay, so I wasn't in the habit of fucking some of them. The ones that weren't too hot didn't get onto casa del Kristi. The hot ones were fair game.
I looked at Dave again and corrected myself. The hot ones who weren't married to my best friend for most of my life were fair game. And it might be the rebound or the alcohol talking, but that was a damn shame.
Whatever. I'm getting distracted here. The point I'm trying to make is that he was well aware Laura didn't hide anything from me, and so I was pretty sure he had a good idea of exactly what sort of double meaning I was going for with that seemingly innocent statement.
"Okay Kristi," he said with a resigned sigh. "What did she tell you?"
I picked up my own drink and took a leisurely sip. I wanted to enjoy this moment. I wanted to enjoy stringing him along. I actually enjoyed it when I got a chance to string him along for a change. Much in the same way that he'd done to me back in college.
I'd never told Laura, but I'd actually met Dave well before she did. We had a class together and we hit it off, but he was also the first man in the history of my dating life who'd managed to do a friend zone to me. It was absolutely perplexing and it was a never-ending source of frustration for me back in the day, though I'd long since made peace with it after I saw how well he went with my best friend.
I'd actually been the one who was mostly responsible for the two of them getting together, though that was another thing I'd never actually tell them. He invited me to a house party long after I'd given up on any chance of actually getting him in the sack, and at that point I'd moved on to another guy anyways. Some football player who ended up being more interested in scoring with every girl on the cheerleading squad than he was in scoring on the field so that had been a short-lived relationship, but while I was in that short-lived relationship I'd invited Laura to that party and the rest, as they say, was history.
That was still one of my favorite bits of matchmaking manipulation, even if it had taken a great guy like Dave off of the market. Permanently.
"She might've mentioned something about vacations and hall passes," I said, tracing my finger around the tip of my glass.
Dave sighed. "I suppose she told you how annoyed she gets every time I bring that up? How she said it would never happen?"
I took another sip of my drink and put it down. "She might've said something to that effect, but never say never."
To be perfectly honest that first instance of meddling in their love life got me hooked. It was the first time I'd helped push things along with their relationship, but after seeing how great they were together I resolved that it definitely wasn't going to be the last. I think because it was my proudest moment in manipulative matchmaking I wanted to make sure it continued to being my shining moment. I wanted to make sure my record wouldn't be sullied by something nasty like a divorce. Plus Dave was just so darn cute and Laura was my best friend. I really was looking out for what was best for them when I decided to step right into the middle of things.
Like, say, by perhaps helping my best guy friend who was married to my best girlfriend get a little bit of the kinky action he craved. Help him fulfill a fantasy. And maybe in the process help avoid him getting so frustrated that he decided to step out much like Mike had. Not that I thought Dave had it in
him to do that sort of thing, but you could never be too careful.
"What are you talking about?" Dave asked.
"Oh I don't know Dave," I said. "Maybe I think my best friend needs a little bit of adventure in her life for a change. Maybe I'm thinking I don't want things to go sour in your relationship because of a situation like what I had to go through with Mike deciding to step out without permission for his adventure."
Dave rolled his eyes. "I think there's a big difference between what Mike did and me not getting one little fantasy."
I shrugged. "Let's also say I'm intrigued by this fantasy. Wanting your wife to go out and sleep with another man and you don't get anything in return? That's kind of interesting. I'm intrigued. It's a way kinkier than I would've imagined from a goody two shoes Boy Scout like you."
Dave grinned. "I guess I'm just full of hidden depths that are waiting to be explored then."
I looked him up and down through my sunglasses. It was something I'd never do when I thought he was looking. Or when Laura was looking. There were definitely hidden depths to him that I wouldn't mind exploring if we were in some alternate reality where he wasn't married to my best friend. Muscular, broad shouldered, and apparently very open minded. No doubt he was a catch. A catch that was very off limits.
Damn Laura for having whatever it was to get his attention where I'd been so well and thoroughly friend zoned back in the day. But whatever. I needed to concentrate on the now. On helping my friends.
Of course I was also going to concentrate on getting myself laid. I was dealing with one hell of a rebound right now after ending things with Mike and kicking him out of our apartment, and I was ready to get out into the world and get laid again. Make a few bad decisions that I'd love in the moment and regret the next morning.