A Love That Was Big Enough
Chapter 5
Romance Sex Story: Chapter 5 - Alex has been struggling to move on from his wife's passing five years ago. His friends insist that he move on and force him to install a dating app. It guarantees a match by Valentine's Day. He reluctantly agrees. The problem is that he finds someone. Actually... two someones. And life gets complicated.
Caution: This Romance Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Fiction Workplace
18 January
Jessica woke because her phone was buzzing on the nightstand. She reached for it, a slow, satisfied smile on her face. The screen showed a work email about quarterly reports, unimportant for a Saturday.
She put the phone down and her hand found the warm, solid shape of Alex beside her.
Of course. Alex.
She opened her eyes. He was on his back, one arm thrown over his face, still asleep. The sheet was bunched at his waist. She could see the pale scar on his shoulder from his college bike accident. He had told her that story at a happy hour two years ago.
A deep, contented warmth spread through her. She had begged him to stay last night. She had been so afraid the moment would pass, that she would lose the chance to show him every part of herself, every hidden corner. And he had stayed.
Then, like a cold tide, the memory washed over her.
Kara.
Her best friend, Kara. Who had said, just three weeks ago, “I think I’m falling for someone.” Who had been giddy and secretive. Who had slept with Alex on Wednesday. And Thursday.
Jessica’s stomach twisted.
What did I do.
She sat up slowly, the good feeling evaporating. Her clothes were littering the floor. Her bra hung from the lampshade. She remembered all of it, perfectly, and that was worse.
She needed to use the bathroom but didn’t want to wake him. So she just sat, staring at the blank wall.
Kara’s face kept appearing. Kara laughing over lunch. Kara leaning in to show her a phone screen. Kara’s confessional smile. “I can’t tell you yet, it’s too new.”
It was Alex. She had been talking about Alex.
Jessica covered her mouth with her hand.
“You okay?”
She flinched. Alex was awake, looking at her with sleep-soft eyes.
“I don’t know,” she said.
He sat up, running a hand through his hair. It stuck up in the back. “Yeah.”
They sat in the quiet. The radiator clanked. Her upstairs neighbor was moving around.
“I should call her,” Jessica said. “Right now. Before ... just right now.”
“Okay.”
“What am I supposed to say?” Her voice shot up, tight and thin. “Hey Kara, remember that guy you were falling for? The one you slept with twice this week? Yeah, me too. Last night.”
“Jessica.”
“I’m serious. What do I say?” Panic began to flutter in her throat. “She’ll ask when. And I’ll have to say Friday night. While she was at home thinking about you, I was here. Begging you to stay.”
Alex was quiet.
“You should leave,” Jessica said. “Before I call her. I can’t have you here when I do this.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“Alex, please.”
“No.” He looked at her, steady. “You asked me to stay last night. I’m not walking out now and leaving you to handle this alone.”
“This isn’t your mess to handle.”
“Are you serious?” He let out a breath that was almost a laugh. “I’m the mess. I slept with both of you. In one week. This is mine, too.”
Jessica pulled her knees to her chest. “I begged you. You hesitated and I begged you. This is my fault.”
“It’s not.”
“It is.” The tears came, hot and insistent. “You told me you’d been with someone. You were honest. And I still asked. What is wrong with me?”
“Nothing is wrong with you.”
“Then why did I do it?” She was crying fully now. “She’s my best friend. And I just ... I wanted you. I didn’t let myself think about her until it was too late.”
Alex shifted closer and put his arm around her. She leaned into him. It felt terrible and comforting all at once.
They sat like that. She cried. He was silent. The radiator clanked again.
Her phone buzzed. A text.
Kara: Hi Sexy! Morning! Coffee at 10?☕️😊
Jessica stared at the words. Her hands shook.
“She wants coffee,” she said.
“Okay.”
“I can’t sit across from her and pretend.”
“So ask her to come here.”
Jessica looked at him. “Now?”
“Whenever you’re ready.”
She would never be ready.
Her fingers trembled as she typed: Can you come to my place instead? Need to talk.
The three dots appeared, then vanished, then appeared again.
Kara: All ok?????
Jessica: Just come over. Please.
Kara: Ok. Give me 30. 2 coffees incoming!!!
Jessica put the phone down. “She’s coming. In thirty minutes.”
Jessica looked around her room. The evidence of the night was everywhere. The messy sheets, the clothes, the smell of it all still in the air.
“I need to shower,” she said. “And clean up. And ... FUCK. FUCK!”
She stood up, sat back down, then stood again, unsteady.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said.
“Neither do I,” Alex said.
It was the truest thing he could have said, and it helped nothing at all. The phone buzzed
From Kara: ONW! Been dying to tell you about my date and hear about yours! Be there in 20.
Jessica’s stomach dropped.
“She’s excited,” she whispered, showing Alex the message. “She has no idea.”
“We’ll tell her gently.”
“There’s no gentle way to tell your best friend you slept with the man she’s in love with.”
Alex had no answer for that.
Jessica pulled on jeans and an old sweater. Alex was dressed in yesterday’s clothes, his hair a mess he’d tried to smooth with his hands. They sat on the edge of the couch, not touching, just waiting. The air felt thick and still.
The knock came right at 10:20.
Jessica’s heart started slamming against her ribs. “I can’t. I can’t open it.”
“You can.” Alex’s voice was rough. He squeezed her hand, just once, a quick hard press. Then he let go. “Just open the door.”
She did.
Kara stood there, her cheeks pink from the cold, holding two to-go coffees and a little paper bag. Her hair was in a bright, bouncy ponytail. And around her neck, she wore Alex’s red scarf. She looked happy. She looked beautiful.
“Bitch! Finally!” Kara barreled inside, all smiles. “You will not believe the night I had, I have been dying to tell you...”
She stopped. Her whole body went still.
Alex was on the couch. In the same shirt from last night. On a Saturday morning.
Kara’s smile didn’t fade so much as it dissolved. The coffees wobbled in her hands. “Alex?” Her voice was small, all the energy gone. “What ... what’s going on? What are you doing here?”
Jessica shut the door and leaned her weight against it. “Kara...”
“Why is he here?” Kara’s eyes jumped from Jessica to Alex and back. A nervous, hopeful laugh escaped her. “Did he ... did he come over to tell you about his date? With Ember? Is that it?”
The silence in the room was a physical thing.
Kara’s face went pale. She turned, movements suddenly slow and precise, and set the coffees down on the side table. She placed the bakery bag next to them with exaggerated care, like she was afraid her hands might betray her.
“Tell me,” she said, not looking at them. Her voice was quiet and tight. “Tell me I’m being crazy. Tell me I’m wrong.”
“Kara, just let me...” Jessica started.
“TELL ME!” Kara whipped around, her voice cracking like glass. “Just say it! Say you didn’t...”
“I’m Ember.” The words fell out of Jessica’s mouth, barely a whisper.
Kara blinked. “What?”
“Ember. From the app. It was me.”
“You...” Kara looked at Alex, her eyes begging him to correct this. “You met her Friday. At the bookstore.”
He nodded, his throat working. “Yeah.”
“And Ember was...” Her gaze dragged back to Jessica, slow and dawning. “You?”
“Yes.”
The quiet that followed was awful. It was the kind of quiet where you could hear the fridge humming, and a car passing outside.
Then Kara’s eyes started moving, taking in details. The rumpled collar of Alex’s shirt. The damp strands of hair at Jessica’s neck from her quick shower. The reality of him, here, now.
“Oh,” she breathed out. Her hand came up, covered her mouth. “Oh my god. You slept with her.”
No one spoke.
“You slept with her.” Kara’s voice climbed, trembling. “On Friday. After you were with me on Wednesday. And Thursday.”
“Kara, I am so sorry,” Alex said, starting to stand.
“DON’T!” She flinched back, holding a hand out to stop him. “Don’t. Don’t you say that to me. Don’t.”
She turned on Jessica, tears spilling over. “You knew. On Friday, he told you. About me.”
Jessica could only nod, a sick, small movement.
“He told you RedHeart was me. That we’d been together. And you still ... you went ahead and...”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re my BEST FRIEND!” The words were a raw, shattered scream. “We tell each other everything! EVERYTHING! And you couldn’t tell me you were in love with him? For two years?”
“I didn’t know you loved him!” Jessica cried, her own tears coming hot and fast. “You never said that!”
“YOU NEVER SAID IT EITHER!” Kara’s laugh was a harsh, choked sound. “We were both doing the same secret thing. Both talking to him. Both falling for him. And we just ... didn’t say a word.”
She hugged herself, her fingers clutching at the red fabric of the scarf. “When did you figure it out? That it was me?”
“Friday,” Jessica whispered. “Before ... before anything happened.”
“Before you slept with him.” Kara stated it flatly. The hurt in her eyes was bottomless. “Knowing I had. Two days before.”
“Kara, please, it wasn’t like...”
“Then what was it LIKE, Jess?” Her voice broke. “How do you do that to someone? How do you look at me and then go do that?”
“I love him too!” Jessica sobbed, the confession ripped from her. “I have loved him just as long! Since the beginning! I just didn’t think he’d ever want me back!”
“So you took your shot. Even though it meant wrecking me.”
“It wasn’t a shot, it was ... I was scared, I just...”
Kara turned, her fury redirecting to Alex. “And you. God, you. Two of your girlfriend’s best friends. In one week. Did it even occur to you what you were breaking?”
Alex looked gutted. “I told you both there was someone else. I tried to be straight...”
“Straight?” Kara spat the word. “You weren’t being straight, you were being selfish. You were just taking what you wanted from both of us.”
“You’re right.” He didn’t look away. “It was selfish. I should have stopped. I should have ended it after you. But I didn’t. That’s my fault. All of it.”
“Yeah, it is.” But Kara was already looking back at Jessica, the anger dying into something worse: a deep, exhausted grief. “But you ... you knew it was me. You knew, and you chose him anyway.”
“Because I love him!” Jessica cried, the truth of it ugly and desperate in the room. “Yes, I knew! And yes, I chose him! And I am so sorry it hurt you, Kara, I am, but I can’t be sorry for loving him. I can’t.”
They were both crying now, standing feet apart in a room that felt too small.
“You should have told me,” Kara whispered, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.
“You should have told me, too.”
For a long moment, they just stared at each other. Two people who knew every secret, except this one.
Alex moved then, stepping into the space between them like he could physically hold the pieces together. “This is because of me. You two had a friendship before I screwed it all up. So I’ll fix it.”
“How?” Kara’s voice was hollow.
“I leave. I walk away from both of you. You get your friendship back. I go. No one has to choose anything.”
“You think you leaving fixes this?” Kara asked, her eyes red-rimmed and fierce. “You think if you vanish, we just go back to normal? If you pick her, I lose you both. If you pick me, she loses you. If you pick nobody...” She looked at Jessica, a world of hurt in her gaze. “Then we both lost each other for no reason at all.”
Alex looked between them - these two women who had been his lifeline through grief. Who had made him laugh again. Who had shown him he could live again, not just survive.
And he was destroying them.
“You’re right,” he said quietly. “Your friendship doesn’t survive this. Not with me in the middle of it.”
“Alex...” Jessica started.
“No. Listen.” He stood, faced them both. “You two have been best friends for two years. You tell each other everything. You support each other. You love each other.” His voice cracked. “And in one week, I’ve managed to tear that apart.”
“That’s not...” Kara began.
“It is.” He cut her off. “I slept with you Wednesday. Slept with you again Thursday. Then slept with Jessica Friday. I told myself I was being honest, that I wasn’t hiding anything. But the truth is I was selfish. I wanted you both and I didn’t care what it would cost.”
He moved toward the door.
“What are you doing?” Jessica’s voice was small.
“I’m walking away.” Alex grabbed his jacket from the back of the couch. “From both of you.”
“What?” Kara stared. “You can’t just...”
“Yes, I can. And I should have done it from the beginning.” He looked at them both, memorizing their faces. “You two were best friends before I complicated everything. You’ll be best friends after I’m gone. No one has to choose. No one loses. You just ... go back to how things were.”
“Alex, you can’t ... YOU CAN’T GO!” Jessica stepped toward him.
“Your friendship is worth more than I am.” His voice was steady despite the pain crushing his chest. “It’s worth more than anything. You’ve known each other for two years. You’ve been there for each other through everything. I won’t be the man who destroys that.”
“So that’s it?” Kara’s voice was sharp. “You just walk away? You don’t get a say?”
“I already had my say. I made my choices. And those choices hurt both of you.” He shrugged on his jacket. “I’m sorry. To both of you. For being selfish. For not thinking about what this would do to your friendship. For making you choose between each other.”
He moved to the door.
“I care about you both. Deeply. But I care about your friendship more.” He put his hand on the doorknob. “Take care of each other. Please.”
He opened the door.
“Wait.” Jessica’s voice stopped him.
He turned.
She was looking at Kara. Something passing between them. A silent communication born of two years of friendship.
“You’re really going to walk away?” Jessica asked. “Just like that?”
“It’s the right thing to do.”
“For who?” Kara’s voice was quieter now. “For us? Or for you?”
“For you. Both of you.”
“Don’t we get a say?” Jessica stepped closer. “Don’t we get to decide if your walking away is what we want?”
Alex looked between them, confused. “What are you saying?”
Kara wiped her eyes. “I’m saying you don’t get to make this decision alone. You don’t get to sacrifice yourself to save our friendship like you’re some kind of martyr.”
“This isn’t martyrdom. This is...”
“Bullshit.” Kara cut him off. “This is you running away because the choice is too hard. Because you don’t want to be the bad guy who picks one of us over the other.”
“That’s not...”
“Yes, it is.” Jessica was beside Kara now. “You’d rather walk away from both of us than hurt one of us. But guess what? Walking away hurts us both anyway.”
Alex stared at them. “What do you want from me?”
“We want you to fight for this.” Kara’s voice cracked. “For us. For what we could have.”
“But I can’t have you both. And I can’t choose between you.”
“Then don’t.” Jessica looked at Kara. “Not yet.”
Kara met her eyes. Another silent conversation.
Then Kara looked back at Alex. “What if ... what if we gave you time? To figure out what you need. Who you need.”
“Time?”
“A month.” Jessica’s voice was steadier now. “You date us both. Properly. Openly. And at the end, you choose.”
Alex shook his head. “That’s insane. You’re asking yourselves to compete-”
“We’re already competing.” Kara’s laugh was bitter. “We’ve been competing since we both messaged you on that app. We just didn’t know it.”
“But your friendship-”
“Our friendship survives.” Jessica grabbed Kara’s hand. “Because we’re both choosing this. Together. We’re both agreeing that you’re worth fighting for. That what we each have with you is worth exploring.”
“And in one month, one of you loses...”
“Or one of us wins.” Kara squeezed Jessica’s hand back. “Either way, we both know. We both get closure. We both get to try.”
“You’re asking me to date you both at the same time.”
“Yes.” Jessica pulled him back from the door. “We are.”
“That’s not fair to either of you.”
“Life isn’t fair.” Kara moved to his other side. “But this way we both get a chance. We both get to show you who we are. What we could be together.”
Alex looked between them. “And you’re both okay with this? Really okay?”
“No,” Kara admitted. “I hate that I have to share you. I hate that I might lose. But I hate the idea of you walking away even more.”
“Same,” Jessica said softly. “I don’t want to compete with my best friend. But I can’t let you go without trying. Without showing you what we could have.”
“So one month.” Kara’s voice was firmer now. “January 18th to February 14th. You date us both. Separately. Honestly.”
“And at the end, on Valentine’s Day, you choose.” Jessica met his eyes. “No more running. No more walking away to protect us. You choose who you want. Who you need.”
“And whoever I don’t choose?”
The women looked at each other.
“Walks away,” Kara said quietly. “With grace. No drama. No blame.”
“And we stay friends,” Jessica added. “No matter what. Our friendship survives this.”
“Does it?” Alex’s voice was skeptical. “How does your friendship survive one of you being chosen over the other?”
“Because we’re choosing this together.” Kara looked at Jessica. “Right?”
“Right.” Jessica nodded. “We’re both agreeing. We both know the risks. And we both love each other enough to accept whatever happens.”
“I don’t know if I believe that.”
“Then believe this.” Kara stepped closer. “I love you. I’ve loved you for two years. And I’m not ready to let you go without a fight.”
“I love you too,” Jessica said from his other side. “And I need to know if what we have is real. If it could be something lasting. I need that month to find out.”
“And if I can’t choose?” Alex’s voice was barely above a whisper. “If after a month I still don’t know?”
“Then you choose anyway.” Kara’s voice was firm. “Because one of us deserves to be chosen. Completely. Without reservation. And one of us deserves the closure of knowing it’s over.”
“Ground rules,” Jessica said suddenly.
“Okay.” Kara nodded.
“You’re honest. About everything.” Jessica looked at Alex. “No hiding. No secrets. We both know when you’re with the other one.”
“Agreed,” Kara said. “And we both get ... everything. Not one of us getting the romance while the other gets the sex. We both get all of you.”
“Separate dates,” Jessica added. “Not group hangouts. Real one-on-one time.”
“But equal time,” Kara said. “We both get the same number of dates. The same ... access.”
Alex looked between them. “You’re really doing this? You’re really asking me to date you both for a month?”
“Yes,” they said in unison.
He shook his head slowly. “This is crazy.”
“Probably.” Jessica smiled sadly. “But it’s better than losing you without trying.”
“And it’s better than destroying our friendship by making you choose right now when everyone’s angry and hurt.” Kara touched his arm. “This way we all get a chance. To heal. To explore. To figure out what we really want.”
“One month,” Jessica said.
“Valentine’s Day,” Kara added.
“And then you choose,” they finished together.
Alex looked at them. These two incredible women who somehow both loved him. Who were willing to share him temporarily to avoid losing each other permanently.
“Okay,” he said quietly. “One month.”
Kara’s breath caught. “Really?”
“Really.” He looked between them. “But I need you both to know something.”
“What?”
“This is going to hurt. No matter how it ends, someone gets hurt. Maybe all of us.”
“We know,” Jessica said.
“And I’m going to do my best to be fair. To give you both equal time and equal honesty. But I’m going to be figuring this out as I go. I might mess up.”
“We know that too.” Kara’s voice was soft.
“And at the end ... I’m going to choose based on what I need. Not on who deserves it more or who’s been waiting longer. Just on what my heart tells me. Is that okay?”
Both women nodded.
“Okay.” Alex took a shaky breath. “Then let’s do this.”
Jessica threw her arms around him. Kara joined from the other side. The three of them stood there, holding each other, knowing they’d just agreed to something that could destroy them all.
Or save them.
Only time would tell.
When they finally pulled apart, Kara wiped her eyes. “I should go. I still need space. To process all of this.”
“Okay.” Jessica hugged her. “I love you.”
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