Chapter 1

The story begins sometime during the first half of 2011.

Kevin Bishop and Alan Ayre had been friends for a long time. They met when they were in the same class at primary school and then went to the same secondary school. For most of this time they lived on the same estate in North London and hung out together most days. Their friendship continued into their teens, although by then Alan's parents had moved off of the estate. As they got older there were several holidays in the sun, in a group with their friends, where there were lots of the things that young single men in these situations get up to.

But, as often happens, their paths eventually started to diverge, as education, employment, and love took them down different roads. Kevin met and eventually married Sarah Turnbull. Alan was unfortunately unable to attend the wedding, as at the time he was living and working abroad, but he promised that as soon as he returned to England they would catch up. That time came after Kevin and Sarah had been married for almost two years: Alan had returned to his home town and was now living in a rented, one-bedroom flat which was some five or six miles from Kevin and Sarah's home. Alan had told Kevin that he was back and a reunion was set up for the three of them to meet up, in a restaurant.

A little background information at this point. Both men were almost the same age, although Kevin was a couple of months younger than Alan. They had both been mad keen sportsmen at school and played football in the school team, and up until pre-teens they harboured ambitions of playing professionally; although by the time that they got to secondary school, they both appreciated that they still had the enthusiasm, but not the necessary talent, although they both continued to play for enjoyment.

Kevin's eyes were brown and he now had close-cropped black hair; whereas Alan's hair was longer, a little unruly and the colour of pale straw, he had blue eyes. When Kevin had stopped growing he was still a couple of inches shorter than Alan, but he now had a more muscular and toned physique; which he tried to keep without going too far overboard. He was also quite good looking, in a very masculine way, so before he met Sarah there was never a shortage of girlfriends. If anything, though, Alan was even better looking: taller, but not as toned, he also had his fair share of female admirers, but he was in no hurry to settle down and he often went for months before he dated. He was always very up-front with women: he told them that he liked women's company and all that that involved; but also that he wasn't looking to get into a serious relationship. He liked sex and it was generally agreed that he was quite good at it, but unlike his friend, Kevin, that, too, was something that he could go without for long periods, if he chose to.

When Sarah had met Kevin they were at a wedding reception: the bride was a friend and workmate of hers, whereas Kevin had been invited as a family friend of the groom. There was an instant attraction and they seemed to spend a lot of the time either in or near each other's company. There was slow dancing and smooching, and although they left separately, telephone numbers were exchanged and shortly there­after, a first date; which included sleeping together. Over time, things took their inevitable course and they became a couple and although Kevin was probably the more sexually experienced of the two, Sarah was as equally enthusiastic, and to say that they had always had a good and varied sex-life would be an understatement. They were both young and enjoying life, so they agreed that there was no hurry for children, and that they would wait maybe five years or so before they tried for a family.

Sarah was a very attractive young woman, who liked to swim and who regularly attended dance-based fitness classes. Like Alan she had fair-hair, although worn shorter, but her eyes were green. Life was good: she had her man and so although she naturally attracted male attention, she never flirted; although when she and Kevin were on holiday, she mostly wore thongs and went topless on the beach. It was accepted by both of them that men would look at her and that Kevin would look at other women; but that looking was as far as it ever went.

Although they had never met, Sarah had seen pictures of Alan, taken when he and her husband were younger, and Kevin had told her about lots of the things that they had done as kids and young adults, and Sarah was looking forward to meeting him. She also saw how good looking he was and she liked what she saw, but she was still a happily married young woman.

The reservation was for eight o'clock and they agreed to meet in the restaurant bar before hand. It was a quite balmy early-summer evening, so Kevin wore slacks and an open neck shirt and he took a lightweight jacket. Sarah wore a simple yellow dress which was just above knee-length and had a repeating small print, and also a plain, fine-knit top, in case the evening temperature was chilly. Because it was a restaurant, she also wore quite sheer hold-up stockings. She usually preferred thongs, but with this dress she wore a matching lemon-coloured bra and bikini-brief set. Although neither Sarah nor Kevin intended to drink that much during the meal, rather than Kevin not drinking at all, instead of the car, they took a taxi to the restaurant. When they arrived, at about seven-forty, Alan was already there. Kevin shook hands and introduced Sarah and then she and Alan exchanged chaste kisses on the cheek.

It was a very enjoyable evening and the two guys acted as if they had never been apart. Sarah was included in everything and never felt left out when they reminisced about the past. Perhaps not unnaturally, Kevin and Alan were very much alike in both easy-going temperament and personality: Alan was better educated and had a very dry and quite wicked sense of humour and Sarah went home afterwards having spent most of the evening laughing at the anecdotes of her husband and Alan; who she considered to be her friend now, too. Alan had also come in a taxi, so they all walked to the cab stand where they each caught one to their respective homes. Before they parted, Kevin said:

"You've got to come over for a meal one evening, Al, Mate!"

"Yes, please do!" Sarah added, enthusiastically.

"Okay, I'd like that! I'll call you and we can work out a good time for both of us," Alan replied.

He let Kevin and Sarah take the first cab and before they parted, Sarah kissed him on the side of the mouth.

"He's a really nice guy!" she said, once they were seated in the cab. She never said anything to Kevin, but her imagination had already started to wonder about her new friend, and she tried hard not to seem too excited at the thought of seeing Alan again, although she was; perhaps more than she cared to admit to herself. Kevin leaned over and nuzzled her neck, which he knew she liked.

"When we get home I'm going to undress you with my teeth!" he whispered, which made her giggle.

As he said he would, Alan rang Kevin early the following week.

"Come over on Friday, Mate, then we won't have to worry about getting up the next day," Kevin told him.

"Sounds good! I'll get another cab over, so I can have a few beers."

"Yeah—good idea! See you Friday, then!"

Sarah liked cooking and she thought carefully about what she was going to prepare for Friday. During the week she worked until four-thirty in the afternoon and she needed time to get home, have a quick bath, and then get the meal, so she did most of the preparation on Thursday evening, so that she didn't have to rush. Kevin didn't usually get home much before six o'clock most days, so she had plenty of time.

As soon as Sarah got home from work on Friday afternoon she quickly stripped off her clothes and ran a bath. Had Alan not been coming—he'd only said a vague 'sometime after seven'—she could easily have stayed in there for an hour or more. Sometimes she stayed in the bath until Kevin came home, then, instead of showering, he would climb in with her: and at least once a week on average they would fuck in the water, until more of it was on the floor than in the tub! But that evening she had things to do, so it was a relaxing soak of no more than half an hour.

She quickly dressed in a simple skirt that came an inch or so above the knees of her shapely, slim legs, fresh underwear, and a navy-blue, loose-fitting T-shirt. Still barefoot, she was in the kitchen when Kevin got home. He stood behind her and cupped her nice 32D-sized breasts and kissed her neck.

"There's no time for that now, my husband will be home soon!" she said playfully. He let go of her boobs and slapped her bum.

"I'd best get in the shower, then, Babe. Did you sort me some clean clothes out?"

"Of course—on the bed. And don't mess that bathroom up!"

Sarah went back to the meal preparation. She had a recipe for creamy pesto chicken with roasted tomatoes, which she and Kevin both liked and which she usually served with pasta and a simple tomato sauce. She had also picked up a couple of bottles of red wine on her way home. There was always ice cream in the freezer, which she had taken out when she got home, and a fresh raspberry sauce was a matter of a few minutes work. Not knowing when exactly Alan would get there, she had timed everything for eight o'clock, but she was relieved when the doorbell rang at seven-twenty-five. Kevin let him in.

"Come on in, Al—Sarah's in the kitchen."

Unlike Alan, whose own flat was the upper floor of a converted semi-detached house, Kevin and Sarah were living in a two-bedroom flat in a low-rise block; although their second bedroom was quite small and was currently filled with all that accumulated stuff that couldn't be found a home elsewhere. Alan followed Kevin to the kitchen, where Sarah was taking plates down from a wall-mounted kitchen cupboard.

"Hello again, Sarah! I hope this isn't too early? I brought flowers."

"Oh, they're lovely! Thank you so much!" She took the flowers and then surprised Alan by putting a hand on his shoulder, stretching up on her toes, and giving him a little kiss on the mouth.

"Er, there's also wine; but you can save that for another day, if you like," he said, quietly.

"Okay, we'll see how it goes. Why don't you go and have a seat. Would you like a beer while we're waiting for the food?"

"Erm, yes, please! Shall I take one through for Kev?"

"No thanks—I'll bring ours in a minute, you go and get comfortable."

When Sarah came into the room carrying the beers for herself and Kevin, he was sitting at one end of the long sofa while Alan sat at the other. As she handed Kevin his beer and then parked herself on his lap, her skirt rose up her thighs. She wriggled to pull it down straight away and at the same time Alan automatically turned his head to look away. Both of his hosts noticed.

"You never used to mind looking up a pretty girl's skirt, Al!" Kevin said. Alan smiled.

"We were younger then, Kev, and Sarah's your missus. It's only polite to look away."

"—See—I told you there were still some gentlemen left in the world!" Sarah said to her husband. "Thank you, Alan! I appre­ci­ate the gesture, even if some people don't!" Kevin laughed.

"That would be me, I suppose!" Then before Sarah could say or do anything else, he quickly lifted the front of her T-shirt with both hands, giving Alan a good look at her low-cut black bra and cleavage. She quickly pulled her shirt down, slapped Kevin's hand, then looking a little flushed, she looked directly at Alan and mouthed the word 'sorry'. He in turn allowed the merest hint of a smile in the corners of his mouth.

"Come on, sexist pig, let me up; there's a meal to get ready. Come and help me please, husband dear!" She looked at Alan again and smiled, "Have a seat at the table, Alan; it should be ready to serve now."

It was another good meal, and with the addition of several large glasses of wine, once again there was lots of jollity and laughter. The time passed quickly and the wine flowed freely. Alan was slightly drunk, but not insensible. He looked at his watch:

"God! It's gone two! I'll have to be going—it's been another great evening. Thanks, both of you!"

Kevin was maybe the drunkest of the three of them.

"Why don't you stay, Mate! We can carry on tomorrow where we left off. Pity there's no football, but you're more than welcome, Mate!"

"All right! It won't be the first sofa I've crashed on; if you've got a blanket, Sarah?"

"Nah! You don't wanna sleep on no sofa—our bed's plenty big enough for three! Nuffin's gonna happen, is it: we're all tired and half-pissed. Wadya say?"

Alan looked at Sarah, who looked at him and unconsciously chewed her bottom lip.

"So, wadya say, Babe—your call!" Kevin said.

"Well, I suppose it will be all right. Can you give me fifteen or twenty minutes to change and brush my teeth, please, Alan; and can you turn this light off when you come to bed."

"Sure, no problem! You two go ahead."

As he sat waiting, he slipped off his shoes and socks. Fortu­nately, despite the early hour of morning, the air temperature in the flat was still pleasantly warm. He waited for twenty-five minutes before walking to the Bishop's bedroom. Once inside he looked over at Kevin and Sarah as he removed his jeans and T-shirt: Sarah was in the middle, but cuddled up against Kevin, leaving lots of the bed for him. As he carefully folded back the duvet, he couldn't help but see Sarah's pale legs, the skimpy bikini briefs and her lower back and bum crack, where her loose T-shirt had ridden up. For a brief moment he was tempted to pull her shirt down at the back, but he erred on the side of caution and got into bed with his friends; although he stayed as near to the edge as he could and facing away from them. He was tired and was soon asleep.

During the night he must have turned over so that he was facing the others: there was a slight contact with Sarah, which caused his eyes to flicker open; she had rolled over, too, and almost at the same time her eyes also opened. For a few seconds two half-asleep people lay looking at each other, then Sarah smiled and closed her eyes again. Alan turned over again to face the other way.

Alan was awoken again by movement in the bed and whisper­ing. Or, rather, he was half-awake and vaguely conscious of something happen­ing near him.

"—No we can't, Kevin—not with Alan here!"

"—Oh, he'll be all right!" he heard his friend say, "You should have been in our apartment in Spain—Alan, me, and all our mates, all shagging girls we picked up, at the same time! Come on, Babe—you know I need to start the day with a nice fuck!"

"—Oh, okay, then—but it's still not right!"

At that moment Alan opened his eyes. On the bed next to him, Kevin was taking off Sarah's knickers, while she was working her shirt over her head, giving him a good view of her bouncing boobs.

"Er, I think it's time I wasn't here, Guys," Alan said quietly, "I'll go and get myself some coffee. Have fun—see you in a bit."

He rolled out towards the edge of the bed and without looking back, picked up his discarded clothing and left the room. He carried his clothes into the kitchen and once he was dressed, he filled the kettle. The kitchen was the room in the flat that, apart from the second bedroom, was furthest away from the bedroom that he'd just left, so apart from a brief bathroom call, he stopped there until he heard people moving around again.

He was still sitting at the table, sipping coffee, when the door opened and Sarah came in, once more dressed in her T-shirt and skimpy briefs. She looked at Alan and smiled, but seemed to be rather embarrassed.

"I'm sorry about that, Alan—we shouldn't have."

"It's all right, Sarah: it was just one of those things, and I can think of much worse sights to wake up to!"

Alan tried to appear calm and stared ahead dispassionately as he contin­ued to sip his drink, as Sarah moved around the kitchen getting hers and Kevin's breakfasts. With everything on a tray, Sarah once again turned to Alan:

"I'm sorry to be such a bad host; give us a little while to eat and get dressed, then we'll be back."

"Don't rush. I've got to get off, anyway. I need to get home and shower and change these clothes. Tell Kevin I said goodbye, and that I'll get in touch again, soon. Thanks again for a great meal and a fun evening—we must do it again sometime." Sarah still looked flustered.

"Oh, all right—if you really must go. Yes, let's do this again some time, soon."

"I look forward to it!" Alan said, softly.

Sarah put the tray down on the table. Alan stood up, and for a few seconds they looked into each other's eyes again. There was another brief kiss on the lips, and for a moment she felt his hand on her hip. After the kiss Alan was sure that Sarah sighed.

When he was ready to leave, he knocked on the bedroom door and stood briefly in the doorway.

"I'll see you both soon!"

Later that day, Alan rang Kevin to apologise for rushing off like he had. He thanked him, as he had Sarah, and said that they'd definitely do something again some time.

1.2

It had been a few weeks since Alan Ayre had gone to dinner at the home of his friends, Kevin and Sarah Bishop; they had chatted and drunk until quite late and he had stayed the night, sleeping in their bed. In the morning he'd been woken up by the movements and noises of them preparing to have sex. Alan was no prude, and he wasn't embarrassed, but he had got out of bed and left the room, to allow them some privacy. Some time later, he was sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee, when Sarah came into the room to get breakfast. She apologised for hers and Kevin's behaviour, but Alan said that it was nothing, but that he had to leave in a little while, but that they'd all get together again, soon.

Life slipped back into its usual pattern and although Alan and Kevin talked on the phone occasionally, there had so far been no more socialising. Sarah was sure that this was because of hers and Kevin's behaviour last time, but Kevin laughed it off and said:

"Don't worry, Babe, Al's cool—we haven't scared him off; me and him go back too far for that to happen!"

So, one Saturday, shortly after this conversation took place, Kevin had gone to work and Sarah had taken the bus into town to get some shopping, she was just strolling through her favourite shopping precinct, when she thought that she saw a familiar face looking in a shop window.

"Hello, Stranger! How are you?"

Alan had seen her reflection in the shop front window as she approached and he turned and smiled. Sarah had forgotten just how attractive that smile was.

"Oh, hello! I'm fine, thanks! Is Kevin with you?"

"No, he's gone into work; but anyway, he hates shopping and there's nothing worse than shopping with someone who doesn't want to be there! How about you: are you like him, too?"

"No, I don't mind, would you like some company, I don't have to be anywhere else and I've got my car if you'd like a lift home later; unless you came in yours. But I might have to go back and pay for some more parking time."

"Yes, please, to both! I've never learned to drive: I was thinking about it, but then I met Kevin and I haven't really needed to since then; there's a bus stop practically outside our flats and I can be at work in twenty minutes. I usually just walk around for a while, maybe stop for a coffee, then I'll get my main shopping before I go home; but if there's a lot I get a cab home. I could be some time, so I hope you don't regret the offer before we're finished. But it will be nice to chat and get to know each other better: apart from a few minutes here and there, it's usually been the three of us."

Alan wasn't really a great fan of shopping, either, but he liked Sarah and in the past he had been with former girlfriends who also liked to shop, so he knew what to expect and he didn't mind. Although they were old pals and in some ways very similar, in other ways Alan was very different to Kevin: for one thing, Alan had the ability to put people at ease and he was genuinely interested in them and what they had to say. He was also very well read and knowledgeable about all sorts of things, so no matter what the topic of conversation was about, he could ask relevant questions and engage in the subject intelligently. After her husband's undisguised indifference to shopping, and apparently other things that she was interested in, Sarah naturally found Alan's attitude to be a revelation.

Sarah was also used to other women checking out her handsome husband when they were out together and she drew her own fair share of admiring looks from men, but she soon became aware that this was apparently nothing compared to the attention Alan received. In the beginning it was a little disconcerting to see even quite mature woman stopping and staring and she found herself inexplicably doing something quite extraordinary for her: she held onto his arm as they walked, as if to say, 'You can look, but he's with me!' And whereas her husband had always been aware of his good looks and seemed to like being admired by others, Alan seemed totally unperturbed and just carried on walking and talking and almost acting as if they were completely alone. They stopped to get a drink and something to eat.

"Can I ask you something, Alan. I couldn't help noticing that while we've been walking around that you get a lot of female attention—don't look, but there's a couple of women a few tables away who can't take their eyes off of you—is it ever a problem?"

"No, not really; you just have to look at it philosophically and take it as a compliment. What is more interesting for me, is how does it make you feel?"

Sarah wasn't expecting this, and she felt the heat rise to her face.

"—Well—to be honest—I shouldn't really be saying this, I suppose, but I've been feeling a little bit insecure, and a bit possessive. I get the female attention bit a lot when I'm out with Kevin, but I kind of laugh it off with him, because I know that he enjoys it."

Alan smiled at her again and Sarah got that same feeling again in the pit of her stomach and she couldn't look him in the eye.

"—And that's always been the main problem, Sarah. I accept that girls and women find me attractive, but it's always been harder for the girlfriends I've had: it doesn't seem to matter how many times I tell them that they are the only ones that I'm interested in, eventually they seem to feel like you do. So now I've got to the stage where the women that I really get on well with are only friends and usually married or in firm relation­ships. I'm an old fashioned guy in some respects, Sarah: I really enjoy your company—and, yes, your physical attractive­ness; but you are my friend's wife and I will never do anything to undermine that relationship.

"So, if any woman wants more than friendship, especially if she's got a husband or a regular partner, she's out of luck—and any single, unattached woman that I do get involved with gets my loyalty, guaranteed, one-hundred-per cent of the time. It also goes without saying, of course, that as my friend you can expect my total loyalty, too; as long as it doesn't conflict with our loyalty to Kevin. Does that change your feelings, Sarah?" She put her hand on his arm.