Chapter 8

So, the status quo more or less continued for about two and a half years. Was it the ideal situation? No.

Dysfunctional and adulterous, was my relationship with Jen the best thing in my life, by far? Yes. I loved being around her, whether we were naked or not, whether we were alone or not. I wanted to be with her, all the time, and I knew I was in love with her.

While we pretty freely said "I love you" to one another, I wasn't sure about the depth of her feelings for me, and we didn't discuss them.

I did notice, when spending time with her and Mike together, that they weren't particularly affectionate with one another. Sometimes, Mike and I would leave the office together and meet Jen somewhere for dinner. I always gave her a hug when we met. Mike, on the other hand, would offer a simple "Hi" or "How was your day?" and I rarely saw them hug or kiss.

Certainly, I wondered about the status of their relationship. But when Jen and I had some time together on our own, I didn't ask. I didn't particularly want to have difficult or unpleasant conversations during our "alone time."

Everything changed, forever, about 2.5 years after that fateful road trip. On my 30th birthday.

I'd decided to throw myself a little party the night before my birthday, a gathering of friends, to celebrate and mourn the end of my 20s. I invited mostly people from work, with a few neighborhood friends thrown in, and of course Jen and Mike.

Once again, I was also trying to ignore unpleasant thoughts. Earlier in the week, I'd heard through the company grapevine that Mike had been offered a job in our Manhattan office. It was a promotion, one he deserved, according to people who worked closely with him. I hadn't seen him at work this week, and Jen hadn't answered my texts and emails, but I was dreading the fact that she was very likely moving across the country.

We were in one of our "incommunicado" phases, I hadn't seen Jen in a few weeks. I'd gone back to Atlanta at Christmas to visit my mother, while she and Mike had flown to Baltimore to visit his family. So I hadn't actually seen Jen in about a month.

It was a chilly January night when my motley crew gathered at the 21st Amendment, a well-known San Francisco bar and grill. We basically took over the lounge area, my friends and I draining several pitchers of their excellent microbrews.

Throughout the night, as I celebrated and laughed with friends, I couldn't help notice that Mike and Jen weren't there. I mentioned this, late in the evening, to a co-worker named Melanie. She knew Mike and Jen, and in fact she and her husband had gone out to dinner with Jen and I one weekend when Mike was out of town. Jen and I joked later that it was our one and only "double date" with another couple.

Melanie made a face when I asked her about them. "Oh, I didn't want to tell you this earlier, but Mike texted me. Said he and Jen had a fight, and weren't coming, and to tell you sorry."

"Oh," I said, frowning. Some of my enjoyment from the party dissipated into worry about Jen. I stayed for another hour or so, then made the rounds saying goodbye, thanking everyone for coming.

Melanie and her husband Rob exited the bar with me, offering to split a cab. As we rode towards my place, Rob and I on either side of the bench seat, Mel in the middle, I noticed that she kept fiddling with her phone. When I tried to be nosy and peek at her screen, she pulled it away, showing it to Rob, who laughed.

Figuring it was just one of those inside jokes couples often share, I ignored them. The cabbie arrived at my place first, and I gave Mel and Rob some cash for the ride.

As I started to get out, Melanie put a hand on my arm. "Ed?" she said. "It's after midnight. Happy birthday. I hope you get everything you want."

I nodded, though her statement was a bit hokey and weird. Saying goodnight to them both, I headed in to my apartment building, yawning as I rode the elevator to my floor.

I unlocked my front door and stepped inside. From the entranceway, it looked like I'd left my bedroom light on, apparently. That was unusual for me.

Also unusual was the soft female voice I heard drifting out of the bedroom a few seconds later.

"Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, dear Eddie.
Happy birthday to you."

My heart racing, I stepped quickly towards the bedroom, screeching to halt in the doorway.

Surrounded by candles on my dresser and nightstands, gorgeous in the flickering light, my cousin was stretched out on my freshly-made bed, propped up against the headboard. She was completely, utterly, and beautifully nude, except for a green ribbon tied low around her waist, the bow resting between her navel and her pussy.

Her completely bare, shaved pussy. Jen hadn't kept it shaved after our road trip, so I hadn't seen her completely bare since our original Vegas adventure.

I stood there, silent in the doorway, for a few moments. The combination of the alcohol in my brain and this utterly shocking scene in my bedroom ground my mental faculties to a shuddering halt.

Jen's gorgeous form illuminated by candlelight, my sexy cousin beckoned for me to join her on the bed. I kicked off my shoes and climbed onto the bed, settling my fully-clothed self on top of her nude, smooth, and warm body.

We kissed passionately as her hands roamed my back, my own fingers traveling up and down her sides, tracing the edges of her breasts. As we came up for air, I finally found my voice again. Sort of.

"How -- I mean why -- I mean what does this mean--"

Jen kissed me again, hard.

I pulled away a second time. "But how do we--"

She kissed me again, even harder. When we broke apart a third time, and I started to open my mouth again, she put her hand over it.

"Shut up, Eddie. There's plenty of time for all that later. Now, just shut up and fuck me."

Luckily, even though I was less than sober, I knew good advice when I heard it. So I shut up and fucked her. After stripping off my clothes, my cock slid easily into her warm wetness, and Jen gasped with pleasure and wrapped her long, smooth legs around my ass.

We coupled quickly but not frantically, and I was glad for the beer I'd consumed earlier, as it helped me last a bit longer. Her smooth, bare pussy felt amazing around my cock.

At the end, as we both reached our climaxes, Jen made me laugh in the middle of my own as she gasped out, "Oh! Happy birthday, Eddie! Happy fucking birthday!"

Afterwards, we nestled together, my cock sticky and softening, her pussy still drooling, as she explained to me what happened.

"Mike knew the job offer was coming, Eddie. We talked about it before Christmas. And I told him that I wouldn't move to New York. That I liked it here, had good friends, had a job here. And quite frankly, that I didn't think our marriage was worth another cross-country move."

"Wow," I said. "How'd he take it?"

"Angrily, at first," she admitted. "Wanted to know if there was someone else, if I was cheating on him. I said no, of course. But he actually spent the night in a hotel a couple of days before we left for Baltimore."

"Anyway, he came back the next day and we talked about it. In his heart, he knows I'm right. He's not any happier in this marriage than I am. We're basically just friends who live together at this point. We haven't been in love in a long time."

"Wow," I said again.

"So we went to Baltimore, and pretended everything was hunky-dory for his family, which was awkward as hell. We went out on new year's when we got back here, and had another long, really productive talk. If the job offer hadn't come through, we might have gone to therapy, to see if the relationship was salvageable."

"But then, this past Wednesday, he got the official letter of offer. It's a great promotion for him," she said.

I nodded. "That's what I heard."

"He can't turn it down. But I also can't move across the country for a dying marriage."

I nodded, again, my mind racing with the possibilities.

"So he flew out to New York first thing this morning. I was pissed at him for missing your party, but he said he'd monopolize all your friends by talking about his promotion, which is probably true. Plus he needs to find a place to live, he starts on February 1. So when he said he was going, I called Melanie right away."

"Melanie? What does she have to do with this?" I asked.

Jen snuggled her face against my shoulder, not answering at first.

"Jen?"

She sighed. "Remember last year when we went to dinner with Mel and Rob?"

"Sure," I said. "Our 'double date.'"

She giggled. "Right. And remember how I had my hand in your lap under the table?"

I smiled. "Yeah."

"Well, apparently Melanie saw that. When she and I went to the restroom, she asked me about it. I denied it that night, said I was just reaching for my napkin or some nonsense like that."

I nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"But the next day, I called her, Eddie. I basically confessed the whole thing, told her what you and I had been doing for the past two years, the road trip, everything."

"You what?" I gasped. "You told my co-worker -- and your husband's co-worker -- that you've been messing around with your cousin for two years? I can't believe she never said anything to me, never acted differently."

Jen shook her head fiercely. "She never would, Ed. She promised me she'd take the secret to the grave. I think she probably told Rob, but she'd never tell anyone else."

We were both silent for a moment, before Jen continued in a small voice.

"I hope you don't hate me, Ed. I hope you're not mad at me. But this was eating me up inside, and I couldn't just keep it to myself forever. I know it's not natural to fall in love with your cousin, and we should keep it a secret, but I just had to tell someone."

"Jen? Did you just say that you're in love with me?" I asked, turning so I could look her in the eyes.

Her brown eyes widened, and she nodded, her gaze searching my own.

I kissed her, my tongue slipping into her mouth, my arms encircling her shoulders. I moved my mouth off hers and nestled it close to her ear, whispering softly. "Oh God Jen, I'm in love with you too, I have been since that road trip, and I want to be with you forever."

Tears leaked from her eyes as we hugged and kissed, and that led to the resumption of our earlier activity. Jen straddled me and rode my cock as I pinched and tweaked her nipples, and we woke the neighbors once again.

We fell asleep after round 2, and in the pale morning light, last night's candles burned down to the wicks, Jen picked up the conversation right where she'd left off.

"So. When Mike said he was flying to New York this weekend, I called Melanie. At first, I was going to show up at the party and throw myself into your arms. But then I thought that might cause too much of a scene."

I laughed, and nodded. "It surely would have, if only because more than half those people know that you are Mike's wife, and my cousin!"

"Right. So Melanie came up with the idea that I should just be here waiting for you when you got home. She also said she'd make sure you didn't get too drunk to properly appreciate the surprise!"

I laughed. "You know, a couple of times I thought a beer I was holding had mysteriously disappeared. Mel must have been stealing them!"

Jen nodded. "Probably so. We're going to have to take her and Rob out to dinner sometime, to properly thank them!"