Evan had a glass of wine poured for Janice when she returned from the bedroom. She wore what appeared to him to be an oversized pullover, recklessly baring one of her shoulders. Her legs were bare and she wore thin sandals on her feet. He grinned at her.

“What?” Janice challenged him.

“It just dawned on me that I’ve only seen you either attired to go out or totally naked. I’ve never seen you dressed to just hang around the house. You look good,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she responded with a tiny curtsey. Indicating the glass of golden liquid, she eased onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar and asked, “Is that for me?”

“It is,” he said. He tugged at his tie and loosened his collar.

She took a small sip and place the wine glass back on the bar, twisting the stem between the long, delicate fingers of her hand. “So,” she said, looking directly at Evan.

“I was wondering if you had anything on under that top,” he said.

She smiled at him. “We have three days for you to figure that out,” she teased.

“About that,” he responded, “I don’t believe you.”

“What part?”

“I don’t believe it’s about me,” he said.

Janice took a deep breath. “I see.”

“I think you’re trying to protect me, Janice. You don’t have to do that.”

“Maybe it’s about me, then.”

Evan shook his head in confusion. “You?”

“Maybe I just want to be with you.”

“No,” Evan told her evenly. “If it was about you, then you’d have said that. No, Janice, this is about Emily, isn’t it? That’s why she didn’t tell me at lunch. That’s why she called you instead of me. This is something that Emily wants. The story you concocted was designed to protect my feelings.”

Janice rubbed her index finger around the rim of her glass. “Nobody wants you to be hurt, Evan,” she said softly.

Evan fixed his gaze on her. After a long pause, he reminded her, “We started this, Janice, all of us. I was a willing co-conspirator to bring Rich and Emily together, to let her explore her sexuality, and to create this situation of a happy diversion for all of us. Unless Emily is falling in love with Rich, and I don’t think she is, then I don’t need to be protected. My guess is that Emily is curious and exhilarated, and simply craves the excitement of her newfound sexual freedom.”

“That’s an astute observation, Evan,” Janice told him.

“I like you, Janice. And, I like Rich. The only thing that threatens our relationship is your attempt to deceive me.”

Janice nodded slowly. “Well, I love Emily,” she said. “And, of course, I love Rich, too. I’m happy they have a good time together. I only tried to deceive you because I didn’t want you to be hurt by Emily’s attraction to Rich. The fact is, Evan, that I love you, too. That’s why I tried to protect you.”

Evan smiled softly at her. “I can accept that,” he said. “But, please, let’s make a pact to be honest with one another. I’m quite certain that the physical attraction between your husband and my wife is essentially that; physical. While I’m sure they have mutual feelings of endearment, I don’t think they threaten your relationship with Rich or mine with Emily.”

Janice took a large sip from her glass. “All right,” she said finally. “I apologize for what I did. It won’t happen again.”

“Thank you,” Evan said. “Apology accepted.”

“So, is this where we make our plans?” she asked.

“Tell me, Janice,” Evan said, ignoring her question, “how you and Rich came to the agreeable situation you seem to enjoy.”

“How it started, you mean?”

“If you don’t mind,” Evan smiled at her.

She nodded quickly. “Well, it started in Virginia. Rich is a jock. Of course, you know that. Jocks have groupies.”

“Admirers,” Evan nodded.

“Well, even more than admirers,” she smiled. “Some of them are pretty aggressive. They seem to think if they can screw the jock they’ll get some benefit. There are those who think they’re in love, and others who are just out for the thrill of banging the jock.”

“That had to be difficult for you,” Evan responded, pouring more wine into her glass.

“I used to be one of them,” she said. “As a cheerleader, I was kind of expected to be available for the jocks.”

“You’re kidding!” Evan sounded surprised.

“It’s part of the sub-culture,” she told him. “Anyway, we dated and got married, and when he got his first job at the university, I thought the groupie thing was behind us. It wasn’t.”

“Rich was unfaithful?”

“Actually, no, he wasn’t. He was quite frank about how some of the coeds and even a few of the faculty wives would come on to him. He thought it was funny, really.”

“Why?”

“He wasn’t a player anymore,” she explained. “He wouldn’t be scoring the touchdowns or catching the big pass. He couldn’t understand why they would still be interested in him.”

“But, he is still attractive.”

Janice smiled. “That he is.”

“So, how did you come to be, should I say, open-minded about your husband’s dalliances?”

“You make me laugh, Evan,” Janice said. “One of the reasons why I love you.”

“Please, Janice,” Evan said, shifting uneasily.

“Does it make you uncomfortable knowing that I love you?” she asked, digging at him.

He nodded. “It does. You seem to use that word so casually.”

She leaned toward him and looked him in the eye.

“It’s not casual, Evan. I really do love you. Not like I love Rich, certainly. But, you are kind, funny, and it’s a joy to be near you. You’re a wonderful lover and a dear, dear friend. That’s how I love you.”

Evan said nothing. His eyes drank in her golden beauty. He nodded curtly.

“So,” she said, leaning back and looking into the liquid of her glass, “back to my story. Evelyn was the wife of a professor at the college. Some kind of literature, I think. She was one of Rich’s groupies. Even more so, though. She was very insistent.”

“Persistant,” Evan corrected her.

“Yes,” Janice nodded, “persistent. I decided to give her a taste of her own medicine. At every function when she would attach herself to Rich, I came onto her husband.”

Evan grinned. “I’d bet he was thrilled.”

“He was gracious and noble. While he never tried to escape, he always acted with decorum. The thing is, Evelyn appeared to approve as well. We later discovered that they had been involved with other couples in the past. This was nothing new to them.”

“So, they became your mentors, so to speak.”

“Rich and I talked about it. Then Evelyn and I had a lunch date. She explained that they were experienced and found that their extra-marital liaisons were entertaining and enjoyable. She suggested the two of us become instigators and encourage our respective husbands to participate. Sherrod, that was her husband, was the easy one. He’d done it. It turned out that Rich was the one who needed convincing.”

“What did you say to him?” Evan asked.

“I told him that he’d been a good boy long enough, and that Evelyn was obviously interested. I said that I was on her side, that I thought he should follow her lead, and that I wouldn’t be angry with him if he did. I told him that they had done it before with others and found it a good experience.”

“What was his reaction to that?”

“It was funny. He said that he’d always wanted to see what it was like to watch me with another partner. Eventually he showed me some literature he’d found that described that. He though it was really hot. He said he didn’t know how to approach the idea with me, but this seemed the perfect way, as long as I didn’t mind him having sex with Evelyn.

“So, what initially began as a little extra-marital fling turned out to be the realization of a fantasy. It worked really well until we transferred. Then we found you and Emily.”

“But, he isn’t here to watch,” Evan observed.

“He’s all right with that,” she said. “That will happen. Call it delayed gratification.”

“Now tell me about your feelings,” Evan directed.

She looked at him from under her long lashes. “Do you want me to be honest?”

“We have a pact,” he reminded her.

She nodded shortly. “I love it. My man is happy. He loves me and I love him. He has his sexual diversion and gets to see his fantasy fulfilled. As for me, I love the sex. I’m guessing that’s where Emily is right now. There is something incredibly exciting, excruciatingly arousing about feeling the firm cock of a new lover sliding into your innermost depths. It’s the wicked realization of the forbidden fruit. That’s why I love to play with it, stroke it, touch it, and taste it. It is not mine. It belongs to someone else. But, I have it on loan and I want to become as familiar with it and possess it while I can.”

“What about the man attached to it?”

She chuckled in a low laugh. “Men love pussy, Evan. Tits, asses, legs, and pussy. Sometimes we get lucky and have a brilliant mind and a gentle nature attached, like with you. It makes it better that I can care that you are fulfilled the same as I am. But, mostly, this is about me, and, in the case of this week, your loving wife. She is doing this for her own benefit. Rich is just along for the ride. He’s a tool for her to use in her search for sexual exhilaration. He’ll get his and feel great about it. But, really, it’s Emily that is in charge. Luckily for her, Rich is malleable and will do anything she asks him to in her search.

“Don’t feel bad, Evan,” she continued. “Believe me, this isn’t about love. She loves you with every fiber of her being. But, she also craves your respect. With Rich, it doesn’t matter if he respects her. He’s just her fuck tool. She’s using him to try things she’d be afraid to ask you to do.”

“I’d do anything for her,” he protested gently.

“Of course you would,” she said softly. “But she thinks you’d lose respect for her. So, she’ll try some things with Rich, and if they work, she’ll bring them into your love life. If they don’t, she’ll forget about them.”

“What about us?”

“You and me?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Honey,” Janice said, “remember, I do this because it’s fun. I love it. I want you to love it, too. We’re just going to have fun, enjoy each other, play, and fuck like we’re on a honeymoon. We’re in this just to have fun with each other.”

Evan gave her a wan smile.

“I know,” she laughed. “I shock you.”

He chuckled and nodded.

“That’s good,” she told him. “It’s another thing I love about you. You can be shocked without being offended. I love being able to break through that veneer of staid dignity and reach your heart.”

His smile broadened. “I find it exhilarating. You are so open and free. It is refreshing.”

Janice looked at him with a wicked little smile. “Speaking of refreshing. Have you ever had a shower with Emily?”

Evan shook his head slowly. “No.”

She took a long sip from her glass, emptying it and setting it firmly on the counter. “Good,” she said. “It will be something new for you. Come on. We’re going to take a shower together and begin enjoying our time together.”

“You’re serious,” he observed.

“Never that, my darling,” Janice said, standing and taking his hand in hers. “But I want to feel your body close to me, all warm, wet, and clean. Come on!” she ordered, leading him toward the shower.