Wednesday night is girl’s night out. I and a two of my friends, Sara and Donna, usually go to a local bar and drink a couple of glasses of wine and chat. No men! One night, a few weeks ago, we started talking about things in our lives that are so normal and how we could break a mold here and there, and Sara and Donna told me a secret.

“Debbie, you must never tell anyone, but Donna and I swap husbands.” Sara whispered.

“What? For how long?”

“We have been doing it for almost two years.” Donna added.

“We agree on a weekend or even a week and John takes Donna out to dinner and dancing. They might go to a movie, just a normal date. Then he takes her back to our house and they spend the weekend or week living like they are married. William and I do the same thing.”

“We don’t have any kids so that is not problem. Our parents don’t keep in touch with us anymore. We don’t have to worry about anyone turning us in. When the date is over, we go home. It’s always good for me to see William again. We end up fucking like bunnies for a few days.” Donna waggled her eyebrows and smiled.

“Besides the homecoming, it is also nice to have two men care for me. I get love from two men and I get to love two men.” Sara added.

“I do love that as well,” Donna said with a slight smile.

“Do you ever get together and have sex in front of each other?”

“Oh sure. We do that on the holidays. We spend Christmas and New Year’s together and last Memorial Day weekend we went camping and spent the weekend naked and just fucking whenever and wherever we wanted. We went for a hike and fucked several times.”

“Wow!” I started to wonder if Mick and I could join them.

We had another glass of wine and the more Sara and Donna talked about it, the more it seemed like good clean fun. It was dating with a twist. I decided to tell Mick what they were doing and ask the question: What do you think of it?

Mick’s Story

I came home on Thursday evening to find a nice dinner waiting and Debbie dressed in a nice outfit. As we ate, I could tell that Deb had something to tell me and I finally asked.

“Deb, you look like you just farted in church and are afraid people will point you out.”

“What? I don’t fart!” She giggled, but she was nervous.

“Yeah right. OK, out with it. Did you wreck the car?”

“No!”

“Kill the cat?”

“No, Mick!”

“Well then what has you so uptight?”

“OK, Mick, last week on our girl’s night out, Sara and Donna told me somethings that amazed me. I was just shocked. But the more they talked about it, the more it sounded interesting. Maybe it was the wine, but I didn’t have more than my normal two glasses of red.”

“What did those two women come up with this time?”

“They have been dating each other’s husband.”

“Dating? You mean having sex with them?”

“Well it is more than that. On a Friday night, Sara’s husband, John, will go to William and Donna’s house and pick up Donna and they go out on a date. They do a movie or dinner or dancing. Then at the end of the date they go back to Sara and John’s house and they spend a few days, living together. Afterwards they go back to their own homes. Sara says that coming home to John always leads to a few wild nights of welcome home sex.”

“They sleep with the other guys wife in their own bed in their own house?”

“Sara and Donna both said that it has made them and their husbands closer.”

“So what is it you are saying Deb?”

“I was wondering if you would be interested in a swap with John and Sara or William and Donna.”

“Swap what?”

“Us”

I sat there for a moment and looked at her.

“OK, what is the punchline to the joke?”

“No joke, Mick. Sara and Donna tell me that since they have been swapping husbands for their date night, their relationships have been a lot stronger.”

“Were they weak to start with?” I tried to not sound upset.

“No, I mean all four are on their second marriage, but they have bonded and love each other even more,”

“Why did they get divorced? Cheating? Adultery?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never asked.”

“Have you already fucked one or both of the guys?”

“NO!” My wife looked absolutely horrified that I’d think that. “I would never cheat on you and don’t be so vulgar. I want you to agree with doing it first. We could even stay together the first time so we can see how much the other is enjoying it. I want to look into your eyes to show you how much I love you.”

“You want to look into my eyes while you are fucking another man and think that it will show me how much you love ME? You think you will enjoy sex more if you do it with another man while I watch?”

“We wouldn’t enjoy it more, I don’t think. It would just be different.”

“Let me think about it. We will talk in the morning.”

We went to bed and Debbie put on the full court press, but I refused to play her game. Actually, the thought of William fucking her made me kind of ill and when Deb tried to start something, I used the idea to stop from getting it up.

“What is the matter Mick? I’ve never had a problem getting you up before.”

“Deb, I told you I would think about it and I have been thinking of you getting Williams dick in you and I just can’t get hard. Sorry.”

I rolled over and went to sleep. Deb was very quiet.

In the morning, she tried to give me a blowjob. I’d woken before her and was laying there thinking of what to do. I was pretending to be asleep and I would not let myself get erect. I just thought about Deb blowing John and that crushed me.

“Honey, are you OK?”

“I was thinking about your full soft lips wrapped around John’s dick and I couldn’t get hard. Sorry.”

We had breakfast and then it was time to go to work for both of us. I helped with the dishes and then we went to the bedroom and got dressed. As I was entering the garage, Deb came to kiss me bye and I turned my head to let her kiss my cheek.

“What was that for?”

“I’m sorry, I was thinking how it would be to kiss you with another man’s cum on your lips and I couldn’t do it. Sorry.”

“Oh Mick. We really need to talk about this. I had no idea you would be affected like this. I’m sorry. Stay home with me and let’s work this out.”

“Can’t. I have too much work to do today. We can talk when we have dinner.”

“OK. I love you.”

“I loved you.”

I closed my car door and pulled out of the garage.

Debbie’s Story

I told Mick about what I was thinking, and he didn’t say ‘yes’, and he didn’t say ‘no’. He said that he would think about it and we would talk in the morning. I wanted to show Mick how much I loved him when we went to bed, but he couldn’t get hard.

I asked him, “Mick, what’s wrong?”

He told me that he was thinking of William fucking me and he couldn’t get it up. I was not expecting this reaction. He rolled over and went to sleep. I rolled the other way and worried myself to sleep.

In the morning I woke up before the alarm went off and went down on Mick while he was asleep. I hadn’t done that in a while and I was looking forward to the feeling of his cock swelling and growing down my throat. But he remained soft.

While I was working on him, he woke up. He said that he was thinking of my lips wrapped around John’s dick and couldn’t get hard.

We got up and showered together, but there was minimal touching and absolutely no playing. When we went to the kitchen to make breakfast, we ate but spoke very little. Mick helped me clean up the table and dishes and then we went to the bedroom and dressed for our jobs. He walked to his car in the garage and when I went to kiss Mick good-bye, he turned his face, so I kissed his cheek.

When I asked why he turned his head he told me that he was thinking what it would be like to kiss me with another mans’ cum on my lips and he didn’t think he could kiss me like that.

I freaked out! What had I done? I told Mick that we needed to stay home and talk about this, but Mick said he had too much work to do. And that we would talk at dinner.

I told him that I loved him. He got in his car and drove off, without a wave or anything. Then it struck me. What had he said?

“I love you” or “I loved you”?

I was thinking about it during a very long day.

Mick’s Story

I drove around the block and after I was sure Debbie had left for work, I pulled back into our empty garage. I went to the storage shed and pulled out the big suitcases we used for vacations and I packed all of my clothes. Everything that I owned went into those bags. When I was done, my dresser and closet and toiletries were gone.

Down in the living room, I took our wedding picture out of its frame and tore in in half, right between the two of us. I took the torn picture halves and set them on the fireplace mantle with my wedding ring between them. I left my house keys and cell phone next to them. Before I walked out to the garage and my car, I made sure all the doors to the house were locked.

After pulling out of the garage I threw the garage door opener back onto the garage floor as the door closed. I drove to work and at lunch I told them I had a family emergency and I would need time off beginning tomorrow. They told me to use my sick days, and then comp time and then if I needed, I could dip into my vacation time.

I left work a little early and went to the bank, taking out half of the money from checking and savings. While I was there, I closed the joint credit cards that Deb and I had. I then drove to the nearest credit union and deposited the money and got an ATM card. They printed out the card right there, cool tech.

I had skipped lunch, so I drove through a fast food joint for food and then drove away from town. Debbie would be getting home in about a half-hour. I wondered how long it would take her to figure things out. She was kind of self-centered before and now with her wanting to fuck other guys, life was becoming even more about her. That fact alone was reason for me to get out of Dodge.

I drove for a long time. I finally realized how far I had gone when the talk radio station I was listening to faded out and I looked down to see that I was almost out of gas. I pulled off the highway and into the next truck stop. I filled up my tank and found that I was about 350 miles from what used to be home. I got back in the car and drove until I needed gas again.

Debbie’s Story

I thought about Micks conversation and the problem he had getting it up last night and this morning and the fact that he said that he loved me, in the past tense. I was so worried that I called Mick at lunch time, but the call went to his voice mail. When I finished up at work, I sprinted home.

Walking in I called for Mick since he was usually home before me. I was determined to make Mick understand that I had been foolish, and it was just stupid curiosity. It was my foolish fantasy and fantasies should never become real. I was going to make him a special meal and show him I was sorry. I needed to make sure that he understood that even though I would still be seeing Sara and Donna, it would not be to get in bed with their husbands.

Mick was not home yet so I went to our bedroom and was changing my clothes when something seemed different. I looked around and out of the corner of my eye I saw our partially opened closet door. It was dark. I walked over and opened it.

Empty!

Oh no!

I opened the dresser drawers.

Empty!

Shit!

I ran downstairs frantically looking around and that is when I saw the mantle above the fireplace. There was Mick’s cell phone and his house keys, and next to them was the picture of us from our wedding. It was torn in half and his wedding ring was sitting there between the two torn pieces.

Everything he had was gone. I dropped onto the couch, stunned. Where was he? What had I done? Was he trying to teach me a lesson? Was he trying to make a point? Was he really gone?

He said that we would talk tonight. No, wait, he didn’t. He said, ‘We can talk when we have dinner.’ He knew he was leaving, and we would not be having dinner. He didn’t lie. And he said that he loved me. He used to love me. Oh God!

I called Sara.

“Sara! Mick is gone.”

“What do you mean, gone?”

“He packed his clothes and left.”

“Have you called him?”

“No! He left his phone here, with his wedding ring.”

“What happened? Did you guys have a fight?”

“No. You know how you and Donna were talking about how you swap husbands?”

“Yeah?”

“I asked Mick what he thought about us doing that with your guys.”

“You didn’t!”

“Yes. And he got upset and left me. He’s gone!”

I cried.

Mick’s Story

My next stop for gas was at an exit that had a Hampton Inn. After checking in, I walked to the Applebee’s across the parking lot for dinner. It was Thursday evening and the place was packed, so I sat at the only open seat at the bar and sat there watching the TV’s and thinking. The beer was cold, and the Bourbon Street Steak was good. I took my time eating and drinking a few large glasses of beer and thinking.

As the hour got late, the place cleared out and a young woman came in and sat right next to me. There were plenty of seats to go around but she parked it right next to me. I was paying attention to the game on the TV and drinking another large beer. I guess she didn’t like to be ignored.

“You are not very talkative.”

I looked at her after she spoke.

“I don’t usually want to bother people.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“I’m just not used to having someone sit next to me in an almost empty bar and strike up a conversation.”

“Actually, I don’t want a conversation. But I need a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yes please. Would you mind moving to a different chair so I can sit there?”

“Because?”

“It is just a little thing. Please,” she looked at me and there was a lot of sorrow and pleading in her expression.

“Look, I am having a really bad day. Why don’t you go and bother someone else? I’m not looking for a ‘date’.”

“I’m not either and I’m sorry about your bad day. Did someone you love die as well?”

“Close.”

“That chair was the seat my husband sat in the last time we were here together. I just found out today that he was killed by a bomb in Iraq. We had dinner here the day he deployed, and I just wanted to sit there and feel his presence.”

I looked at her for a moment before standing and moving over. I dragged my drink over a couple of seats with me and looked at the stool. She nodded and smiled and sat on the stool I had vacated. She closed her eyes and looked up. Then she looked at me and cried.

“I miss him.”

She broke down sobbing.

“Um...”

What the hell do you say to something like that?

“He has been gone for seven months and was going to come home on leave next month. I was scared of that. While he was gone, I got drunk and cheated on him with a friend of mine. I always fantasized about having sex with that friend. I was a virgin when my husband and I married. I got drunk and I had sex with my friend.”

“I was going to confess, but now my husband is gone, and I can’t apologize. Now I have to go on, forever being an unforgiven cheater, knowing that the last man in me wasn’t my husband. Having a fantasy is one thing but acting on it is another.”

“I understand. I just left my wife. She had the same fantasy. She told me about it and how she wanted to have sex with her friends’ husbands. She told me it would make our marriage stronger. How does she think that having sex with another guy will make me love her more? She said that she had not acted on it, but I don’t know.”

“So, you walked out on her?”

“Yeah. I took off for work and then went back home and took everything I owned and left.”

“Has she tried to call you?”

“No idea. I left my cell phone there, along with my wedding ring.” I held up my left hand showing the ring scar. “I left them on the fireplace mantle with a torn picture of our wedding.”

“She has to be going crazy.”

“She is probably being consoled by the other two husbands.”

“Two?”

“Yeah. She has two girlfriends who swap their husbands and she wanted us to join them. I can’t do that.”

“If she is sorry and realizes that you are really gone and kills herself how will you feel? If you die in a car crash tonight, how will she feel? Will she feel like I do?”

I sat and thought about it. Deb made me angry. I loved her, but she pissed me off. She didn’t make me not love her, she pissed me off. Making myself stay soft when she tried to get me hard was done to get back at her. Turning my cheek when she tried to kiss me and telling her that it was because I was thinking of her fucking or sucking those guys, was to make her mad. I wanted her to know that what she suggested was so objectionable to me that it broke our relationship.

“Do you love her?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like her right now?”

“No.”

“So, you’re willing to throw away your marriage because you don’t like her today. What are you going to do when she does have sex with the men because she figures you’re gone, and it doesn’t matter anymore? If you calm down and go home in two weeks and she has fucked both of them or more men because her life is over since you left her, will you forgive her?”

I was now reeling emotionally. What WAS I doing? Saying and doing the things I had done would have been a good idea if I had come home that night a little late. She would have realized that she had chased me away and my coming home could probably have made our marriage stronger.

“I am so sorry about your husband. Thanks for making me think past my pride. I’m going to head home. Good night.”

“Good night. Don’t hold her fantasies against her. Don’t do something that you won’t be able to take back.”

I thanked her and stood up to walk to the bathroom. When I returned, she was gone. I got the attention of the bartender and dropped a twenty on the bar.

“This should cover drinks and the lady.”

The bartender gave me a strange look, “What lady?”

“The young lady who was sitting next to me.”

“Mr. you’ve been sitting there alone all night until you got up and moved over a couple of seats. Are you OK?”

“You really didn’t see the petite, young woman that came in here? She asked me to move, so she could sit where her husband sat the last time they were together, before he got killed in Iraq.”

The bartender looked at me and tilted his head a little to the left.

“Mister, there was a lady in here a few years ago. She was upset because her husband had been killed. She’d cheated on him while he was deployed.”

“That’s her! She was just here.”

“No way, sir. That woman is dead. She left here and walked onto the highway and was killed when a truck hit her.”

“But she was just here.”

“Maybe to you, but I didn’t see her. Are you sure this isn’t a joke?”

I turned away and mumbled as I walked towards the door, “Yeah.”

It wasn’t too late to drive, and I wasn’t too drunk to drive, so I checked out of the hotel, repacked the car and began the six plus hour drive back to my home, all the time thinking of the woman and her words.

Debbie’s Story

I went to bed without a husband and I woke up alone for the first time in a long time. I rose and showered and made coffee and toast and left for work. I couldn’t stop crying and at noon my boss told me to go home. I had to pull over twice to clear my eyes because I was crying so much, I couldn’t see to drive.

I walked into a house that felt wrong. There was a vibe that was gone ... he was gone. He wasn’t coming back. His phone, keys and ring were still on the fireplace where he left them. I curled up on the couch and picked up my cell phone and called his. It vibrated where it sat on the mantle and rang before going to voice mail.

I disconnected the call and hugged a pillow and cried myself to sleep on the couch.

Mick’s Story

I tried to drive all night, but I couldn’t do it. About 4am I pulled over into a rest stop. I had to move my hastily packed suitcases out of the back seat and into the trunk, so I had room to lay down. I curled up in the backseat to get some sleep. The security lights shone brightly into my windows, so I pulled a coat over my head to keep the light out of my eyes.

The stress of the whole situation must have finally gotten to me because I was instantly asleep.

“Deb, I told you I would think about it and I have been thinking of you getting Williams dick in you and I just can’t get hard. Sorry.”

I smacked my head on the roof of the car when I woke and sat up so fast. I was startled. The content of my dream made it suddenly very urgent that I get home before irreparable damage was done; perhaps even more damage than I had already caused.