There are three things you need to know about Ariel, my wife. First, she’s gorgeous. I mean, she might not be to everyone’s taste, but she is to mine. Ari is an absolute shortstack of a woman. She’s short even for a Filipina at a smidge under five feet (I’m sure she’ll yell, “Four-eleven-and-a-half, Kyle! Round up!” when she reads this), with the missing height apparently deposited in some truly magnificent curves. Add to...

The inevitable never came. After what felt like hours but was probably closer to a minute, I unclenched just a bit and opened one eye. The bright light was still there; it hadn’t been a flash after all. Trying to locate the source, I peered over my shoulder and found the light at the end of the dock, which had hung overhead as we made love, had flared back to life. Sitting up, I looked back at the house, then towards the...

Everyone screamed. Some screamed louder or longer than others, but we all cried out. Eventually, only a few sounds remained: Heather’s keening wail in the kitchen, Mari’s sobs, Tyler’s stream of profanities, and Lakshmi’s renewed, desolate moans. The heartbeat pounding in my ears threatened to drown them all out. Kyle and Blake had bolted from the room to check on their significant others, knocking over a couple of smalle...

We woke a little late the next morning; almost everyone did. Shy, awkward smiles all around were the order of the day as we made our way downstairs and were later joined by the previous night’s foursome. Shmi had started working on breakfast and seemed to be in a better mood. Ty had gone out back; I heard the ping of an aluminum bat hitting a ball every so often. Kyle and Blake set the table that morning while I relaxed,...

Marissa and I arrived late, just as we always did. To my regular annoyance, and despite my best efforts, Mari couldn't seem to get anywhere on schedule. I thought even our wedding day would be delayed until she showed up right on time with a smile that gently mocked, “told you I’d make it.” This wasn’t our wedding, though; this was a vacation. Specifically, a Labor Day weekend spent at our friend’s lake house, or, more ac...

Linh wanted to give raceplay a try. Just another tool for when she wanted to indulge her humiliation kink, right? Yeah, sure. I love my wife, and I wanted to accommodate her. Almost immediately, though, I got tongue-tied, sounding like a goody-two-shoes trying their first curse words. Now, not only did I feel discomfort from the taboo vulgarities, but public-speaking nightmares bounced in my head. I was even naked! She tr...

I didn’t get any work done that day, nor did I sleep well that night. The following day was better, but by Saturday evening, I realized that I’d had no visitors, and I began to worry. I’d expected someone to come and try to talk me out of exposing Ella’s secret and, in turn, the community’s role in keeping it. That didn’t happen. No one came to talk to me about this or anything else. I thought about reaching out to someon...

“What?” I could barely believe my ears. Bob's revelation stunned me; he was not only complicit in hiding Ella's secrets, but he had convinced our neighbors, too? Bob nodded. “Not all of them. Some of them had already decided to… well, to do nothing, I suppose. Some of them just wanted to mind their own business. Others, like Mary Taylor, had their own reasons, and if their spouses weren’t already of the same mind, they mo...

I stood in front of the office building for almost an hour before he came out. Once, I had wronged him and ruined his life. Now, another had done likewise to me, in the same manner, and almost exactly twelve years apart. I don’t believe in karma, but a primitive part of my brain, the same one that made my ancestors ascribe noises in the dark to monsters and lightning among the clouds to gods, couldn’t help but link his fa...

Cassandra was ready on time, dressed in a blood-red choker, black minidress, biker jacket, and a pair of heavy boots with enough buckles, studs, and zippers to make a Cenobite proud. Her jet-black hair was hanging loose down her back, and red lipstick and cat-eye mascara with an eye of Horus accent finished the look. She gave me a little peck on the cheek as she greeted me, and we were on our way. The party was bigger tha...

My ex-wife was a lying, cheating, gold-digging slut. Some might say that statement lacks nuance. That people are complex. They have desires, dreams, histories, motives, loves and hates. There are reasons that people do the things they do, and reducing them to a short phrase is, well, reductive. And that’s all true. Kim was a person as complex as you or I, with her own wants and needs, with a history that informed who she...

Ty and Kylie had a nice kitchen. A nice house, truth be told, but the kitchen really was a standout: stainless steel everything, marble countertops, and an impressive cookware collection hanging on the rack over the island. Great view out the bay window overlooking the city, too. In other circumstances, I’d have been surprised that Alyssa didn’t pepper them with questions about their setup. To be fair, she was pretty dist...

Beth and I were distant for the next few weeks. Not in a cool, uncaring way, but still giving each other more space than we had before. That was difficult at times; she couldn’t drive, and it was possible she’d never be cleared for it again. I wasn’t supposed to leave her alone for too long, either, just in case. I’d been working from home since she left the hospital, and what had been convenient before now felt almost st...

“I’m sorry, but we just don’t know.” That phrase, and its myriad variations, was one I’d heard a lot in the past three months. That’s how long Liz had been in her coma. She was driving home late from her office, and then… something happened. Her car went off the road and flipped multiple times. The injuries were severe; multiple broken bones, internal bleeding, a lacerated liver, and more. A traumatic brain injury had pla...

“You didn’t know it was a costume party either, huh, Henry?” Even through the noise, I’d recognize that voice anywhere; I turned, wide-eyed, towards its source. “Tabitha?” My old gaming buddy grinned broadly at me, then launched herself into my arms. “When did you get back into town? Are you living here now?” She pulled back and looked up at me, green eyes bright through those thick-ass glasses. “Sort of? I’m moving back....