When John reached Tom’s house, he was already expected. “Just off the phone with Blanche,” were the first words he heard.

“Are you going to let me in or has she convinced you to send me packing?” John asked, “I hope she doesn’t have you that pussy whipped. You should be on my side.”

“Well, come on in any way,” Tom chuckled, not taking the whole thing seriously. He opened the door wider and stood back. “She figured you would wind up here, and she asked me to tell you to come home right away or at least call her. She wants to know if you want her to pack your things for you. LOL.”

“Very funny, you bastard. Just because you can’t get any strange, you want to enjoy my being cuckolded by some twenty-something buck. You forget who put you in touch with that married pussy. He made your performance look like the amateur hour too you know. Get me a beer.”

They settled with their drinks and turned on the golf tournament on TV. “Did she give you all the details?” John asked.

“She didn’t have time; just said you had run off in a huff, as you have done before by the way, and she regrets something she said and needs to fix things with you. Do you want to tell me?”

“It’s pretty embarrassing, but she spent the night with one of our kid’s former school chums and it was the best sex she has ever experienced. They fucked all night and again this morning. She pretty much told me that I am a lousy lover, and her pussy belongs to him.” Relating this to his friend had John near tears.

“I realize that I brought this on, and there is no going back, but I don’t know if I can handle it.”

Tom pondered what he had heard for a while before speaking. “John, you are my very best friend, and Blanche is a close second. I love you both, and I don’t want you to separate. Of course, you can stay here as long as you need, but I would ask that you first call her and let her have her say.”

“Well, not right now; I don’t have a forgiving bone in my body at this moment. She and I both need to get our heads straight on what is important before we can have a useful discussion. This may be the end of us as a couple.” They turned their attention to the golf.

Several beers and a pizza later, Tom reminded John of his promise to call Blanche.

“John, darling, are you all right?” was her greeting.

“Hell no! Are you kidding? I’m the farthest thing from all right.” His anger rose along with the food and drink until he thought he might barf.

“Sweetheart, I am so very sorry. I should have been more circumspect. You caught me in the afterglow of a unique experience. I had just awakened, and I wanted to get you excited too. In my semi-daze, I assumed that you would be pleased that I had a good time. Of course, I see now that I went a bit overboard.”

“A bit? You simply told me that, in our entire thirty years together I never came close to pleasuring you like this stud did in five minutes, for several hours. How could I ever be with you after that?” His voice was freighted with anger and despair.

“If it comes to that, it will be the saddest thing in my life. You may not believe it right now, but I love you more today than ever, and I can’t bear the idea of losing you. If you will come back you will find me willing to do almost anything to please you. Please come home, at least to get some clothes.”

“I’ll discuss it with Tom.” He hung up the phone and turned to his friend, who had heard his end of the conversation. “She wants me to come get some clothes, and she thinks she can convince me to stay. Come with me, you can arbitrate.” But Tom would not go with him.

When he walked into their house, Blanche didn’t try to hug or kiss him; she took his arm and walked with him to the den. He sat in the armchair, she on the sofa. Neither spoke for some time, then she cleared her throat and began.

“Let me begin by apologizing to you. I went way over the line this morning, and I should have known it. In my defense, I always intend to be honest with you; I believe that I have been, throughout our marriage, and I want to be that way now and in the future.

“I have been thinking about us, you and me, in light of what happened last night and this morning. Today’s young people have been exposed to sex in its many manifestations from an early age; they have internet, porn and sex education. They know about all sorts of sex and lifestyle choices. We had none of that; all we had were prohibitions and no-nos. They are much more sophisticated than we even at our age, or at least me. That young man is an accomplished lover, skilled in all aspects of seducing and pleasuring a woman. and I succumbed to it eagerly.

“For our entire marriage, I had only my mother as a role model. The idea that a wife should enjoy sex was for paperback bodice rippers. I am not making excuses; like you, I should have looked around and seen that we, I, could make sex into a fun activity. Even when I saw what you and Tom were watching, I took it as a perversion to be avoided. My mind was closed, and that’s on me.

“Your little scheme with Tom opened my eyes some, and I wanted to continue exploring my sexuality. Then he took sick, and we didn’t know if he would play again. This is probably a good time for me to tell you that I have given him a couple of gentle blowjobs when I have brought food to him.”

John’s heart lurched, and his anger began to rise, but he opted to say nothing.

“I know that I have not been as enthusiastic with you as when we were playing; perhaps my guilt at not being truthful dampened my libido. You know the story about Jim and me, more than you wanted. I’m sure.

“I am not going to sugar-coat this; you deserve the whole truth. I was fully primed to let everything go with him. I went to his apartment intending to not hold anything back, and I didn’t. From the moment he took me in his arms at the front door, I was a trembling ball of sexual excitement. I intended to do everything to him that I had seen in your porn videos and have him do the same to me.

“When you came home this morning, I was careless in my choice of words. The only person I make love with is you. He and I explored the gamut of things a man and woman can do together sexually, but we did not make love. I love only you, and I hope you can forgive me and be my husband like we said in our vows.”

“I did not mean to make you feel inadequate, but I see now that I did just that.” As they talked, Blanche rose and came to sit on the arm of his chair. She ran her fingers through his hair, giving him an unwanted rush.

“I think the most painful thing for me was that you slept with him the entire night, never coming home. You never even suggested such a thing with Tom. Then, for you to practically have an orgasm, just remembering last night was too much for me.

“Now, what about this Jim guy? Where do you stand with him? After all these years, our sex is never going to blow you away like that.” John needed to get right to the nub of things.

“When we parted, he went to his four days on at the station house. We planned to meet when he was off duty again. Naturally, If you can’t abide my seeing him, I will tell him goodbye.”

“But how long before you regret it and decide to cheat on me again? How will you not show your disappointment when I ask you for sex?” John couldn’t imagine how to find a satisfactory outcome from where they were now. Blanche chose to ignore the dig about cheating.

“Yes, that is a concern. First, let me say that I never intended to deny you any access to me that you want. Believe it or not, making love with you is very important and satisfying for me. My sexual enjoyment with you has increased, greatly. I can give him up, and my life will still be good; the same is not true of you. I need your love.

“Would you consider getting to know him and having the same arrangement as we had with Tom? I don’t know how he would feel about that, but we could work something out, I suspect. After all, he knows we are married, and he saw us with Tom.” John just slowly shook his head.

“You see? I knew this conversation was only of interest to you if keeping him was the outcome. I better get my stuff together. We can’t unring this bell, and I think my ego has had enough of a bashing for one day.” He stood up and headed for their bedroom. Blanche followed, getting angry now.

“John, you are being unreasonable now. You need to remember that you initiated this whole thing. What did you think might happen when you dreamed your little scheme up? Please take a moment and tell me what you want.

“Did you imagine that you could control all of the elements, the people who you set on this path? We are not puppets, you know, and you are not our puppeteer. Wasn’t this a possible outcome, that I would begin to like the sex with others, the variety?

“Did you imagine that what you hadn’t figured out for thirty years would suddenly make our sex perfect? Be real; you are a smart man. Surely, you must have thought it might go this way. Or did you think that I was beyond learning how to have great sex and powerful orgasms? Were you trying to make me the bad guy, the reason sex was not good between us? Shame on you. Man up and face it; I like recreational sex, and you can’t handle it.” She sat on the bed and began to cry into her hands, her anger dissolved into tears.

She looked pleadingly at him, “Please don’t go. It will kill me if you do. I won’t see Jim again. We can go back to the way it was before.” John had his essentials in a duffle. He sat next to Blanche and patted her knee.

“I need some time to work out what to do, and maybe you do also. Let’s take a few days and then talk some more.” He rose and left quietly.

After he had repeated the conversation to his friend, Tom said, “Let me ask you this. Who will be made happy by you leaving Blanche? Not her, not him, and certainly not you. That doesn’t sound like a win for anyone. Frankly, John, I find myself agreeing with her; you should be stronger and better than this. I know I said you can stay here, but I think you will regret it if you stay too long.”

John didn’t talk to Blanche for the next few days. His sleep was tortured, full of dreams of his wife and other men, laughing and having all manner of great sex. His waking hours were spent trying to justify his rigid stance, and he really couldn’t. She was right, and he missed her like crazy. But his damned ego wouldn’t let him cave.

The following Wednesday, he returned from work to find a strange car in Tom’s driveway. Upon entering the kitchen, both Tom and a handsome young man stood from the table, leaving half-empty beer bottles,   “John, this is your adversary for Blanche’s affections, Jim.” The stranger reached out to shake his hand. His grip was firm but not aggressive. Tom quietly left them alone.

“Mr. D., I imagine you don’t want to talk to me, but you are making a big mistake here, and I don’t want to be the cause of that.” He waited for a response.

“You had better call me John; Mr. D. was my father. How is Blanche? Is she doing OK?” He got a beer, and they sat back down.

“No, she is not. She kicked me to the curb, as I’m sure you knew she would. She is grudgingly letting you have your time to pout, but I think she may run out of patience. How can you stay away from that beautiful, loving woman?”

“How do you suggest that I deal with you? I’m sure you realize that you and she had the most memorable night of her life last week. Where does that leave me?”

Jim took a moment to think about his answer, “I’m not going to offer marriage advice to someone with your age and experience. I’ll just tell you that, as long as she is alone, I’m going to try to get into her bed, your bed. How does that feel?”

“It feels terrible, you bastard. Don’t you have any ethics? You are destroying a marriage, a family.” John’s anger and his voice rose, causing Tom to return to the kitchen, sensing trouble. He just stood there and listened.

“Don’t turn this onto me; you three have already broken the traditional marriage contract. I just wanted to join you. I have no interest in marriage at this time in my life, but I have had the hots for your wife since I was sixteen.”

“Well, now she has the hots for you. Will my going back to her cure that? Is she going to forget about you and be happy with just me in her bed? I think you are going to be there too. How am I to compete with that memory?” A smile crept over Jim’s countenance.

“I know how I would like to solve that problem. It sure looked like you and Tom were sharing her bed. I’m good at sharing.” He stood up,   “Look, I’ve said my piece. The next move is yours; don’t fuck it up. I’m going to try to see her tonight unless you do.”

After he left, Tom simply said, “Your move asshole.”

“Should I call her first?” He was in a state of confusion.

“Hell no. Go over there, take her in your arms, make love to her, then apologize profusely. She is ready to forgive you, but you had better beat that kid out; he’s a hunk. Even I would fuck him.”

John didn’t bother packing his things, he hurried home.