Brad Finally Gets There

There was silence for a few seconds and then Susan said, "But I don't want to be out of your life."

"Then you shouldn't have been out at Steven's Point with another man while wearing my ring. You wanted to talk, so say what you want to say and let's get this over with."

'I screwed up. I thought that you would never find out. All I wanted to do was see what another guy would be like. You are the only boy I'd ever been with. I'd never dated another guy. I'd never even kissed another guy and I'd never... well you know. I was curious. Jackson meant nothing to me. I love you, Brad; I've always loved you. I still do. I'm sorry, baby. I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to break us up."

"You might not have meant to, but you did. Let's look at what you did from my point of view. You try on Jackson to satisfy your curiosity and you find out that he is a better kisser and he is better than me in the sack or he has a bigger dick that gets you off better than I ever did, so it's, 'Sorry, Brad; you just don't cut it for me anymore'.

"The second scenario is that you do it with Jackson and you find out that it is different with him than with me. Not better or worse, just different, so you say to yourself 'Brad and Jackson are different. I wonder what X might be like and after him how about Y'. Then it would be, 'Z sure is a hunk. I wonder what he would be like'?

"Then there is a third scenario. You didn't like it at all and you decided to never do it again. But Jackson liked it and wanted more. You tell him to take a hike and he says, 'Do it or I'll tell Brad what you did with me'. Then there is the fact that Jackson was a stone asshole and there is no doubt in my mind at all that he wouldn't be telling everybody that he had done you. Don't you remember 12th grade? He was telling everybody that he had banged Pauline French. She denied it, but the fact is that he was still telling everybody he did. You remember what happened then?"

Susan said no, and I went on. "Everybody and his brother started hitting on her. Then at Norm Miller's birthday party, three guys tried to drag her into a bedroom. Luckily, some other guys saw what was happening and they stepped in and stopped it. The point that I am making here is that you would never have been able to hide it from me. Someone would say something or do something that would clue me in. Once clued in, we would be over and that's even if it happened after we were married.

"There is a thing about curiosity, Susan. It is never satisfied. Once you start to wonder you will always wonder. True, you may never again do anything, but I'd know you did it once and I'd never be fully sure that you wouldn't do it again if for some reason I wasn't around and you thought I'd never find out. We are done, Susan. Stop wasting your time thinking there might be some way to get us back together. It just is not going to happen."

By the time I finished talking she was crying and I sat there waiting for her to say whatever she was going to say.

Finally she got herself under control and said, "You aren't being fair. You had other experiences. I know you did Gail, Marsha, Maria and Becky during our breakups. You did other girls, so how can you be pissed that I wanted to try other guys?"

"The difference, Susan, is that what I did was before you let me put a ring on your finger. Once that ring was in place, we were supposed to be exclusive. It isn't my fault that during our breakups you never tried someone else. If you had done it then, it would have been a case of no harm no foul. You would have just been doing what I did and it would have been none of my business.

"That ring said that you were mine and no one else's. That ring said I was yours and no one else's. It didn't matter, at least to me, that we hadn't yet said our vows. Once you said yes when I proposed and accepted my ring, you were supposed to be mine and only mine from then on."

She was still crying and moaning that it wasn't fair and I heard the click as she hung up the phone. I felt bad at making her cry, but she needed to know that we were never going to get back together because I meant what I'd said; I would never be able to trust her again.

My Wednesday date with Gail was dinner and a show, followed by a pretty decent kiss when I got her back to her place. We made a date for Friday, and we went to the Wild Horse where we ran into Marsha and her fiancé. I was introduced to Charlie and we shared a table with them. It was another good night and when I got Gail home, the goodnight kiss turned into a steamy make out session. I remembered what a hot fuck she had been back in the day, but I'd been gone a while and didn't know the lay of the land, so I was letting Gail set the pace. We did make a date for Friday, and I headed back to my place.

Thursday and Friday were very busy at work, and I pretty much wanted to fall into bed when I got home, but I did have a date with Gail for that evening, so I went home and got ready for the date. When I picked her up, she said that she wanted to go to Barney's, but I balked and told her why I wanted to avoid the place.

"Nonsense! It doesn't matter where you go in this town you are bound to run into her off and on. Pull up your 'big boy pants' and deal with it."

She was right. I'd put Susan out of my life, but she was always going to be around somewhere and I would just have to deal with it. When we got to Barney's, the same group who had been there the last time I was there had several table put together and we joined them. We had been there just a little over an hour when the inevitable happened. Susan showed up with Paul Stacks, another table was pulled up and they sat down. Fortunately, we were at one end of the tables and Susan and Paul were at the other end. I'd played ball with Paul and he as a nice guy, so when he said, "Hey Brad, welcome back," I responded with, "Good to be back."

Susan avoided looking my way, so it was a surprise when about twenty minutes later Susan got up, came over to me and asked me to dance. I was about to refuse when Gail leaned into me and whispered in my ear:

"Go! Be strong! You can do it."

I got up, offered Susan my arm and we moved out onto the dance floor. It was a waltz and as we moved to the music, Susan said, "I've accepted it, Brad, but can we still stay friends?"

"I don't know, Susan. It would be a bit awkward."

"Why? You are still friends with Gail, Marsha and Maria and I know you did them."

"That was different. There was no emotional involvement there. It was just sex play and we all knew that it would never be any more than that. I was in love with you, Susan, and that is what makes things different."

"All I can ask is for you to at least try."

"I can do that. No promises, but I will try."

The music ended, I walked her back to the table and she thanked me for the dance. When I sat down next to Gail, she leaned over and whispered to me, "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No, but it did kill the mood I was in. Feel up to leaving?"

"Let's go," she said.

In the car she was quiet for the first five minutes and then she asked, "Mind telling me why the mood change?"

I thought about it for a minute or so and then said, "It just reminded me of what I'd lost. I had loved her for a long, long time. Still do, truth be told. That we can never again be what we once were is a bit of a downer."

Gail slid over next to me and said, "Miss Gail knows the cure for the downers," and she put her hand on my lap and moved it around until she found my cock. She stroked it and it started growing.

"Are you sure that you want to do that?"

"You never used to mind."

"That was a long way back, Babe."

"Nothing's changed, Sugar. Neither one of us was going with anyone back then and neither one of us is going with anyone now. All it was back then was fun and that's all it is going to be now."

That's what I wanted to hear. I was hoping to get there anyway, but I had been going slowly because I wanted to make sure that I wasn't in a hurry to get myself into another romantic relationship, at least not for a while. "My place or yours," is all I said.

"Mine's closer," was her response.

Gail didn't believe in messing around. As soon as we were in her apartment, she said, "The bedroom is this way," and she led me to it. We hurriedly got undressed and then got down to it. Missionary followed by sixty-nine followed by doggie, another sixty-nine and then more missionary followed by her trying to get me up one more time. When it was finally clear that I was not going to be able to answer the call again I got off the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"The hell you are. You are going to wake up here in the morning and give me another chance at you."

"What the hell," I thought. "Tomorrow isn't a work day for me," so I crawled back into bed with Gail.

I had no idea how long it had been there, but when I woke up in the morning we were spooned together and my right hand was on Gail's right tit, and her butt was pushing back into my morning wood. I tried to move away without waking Gail up, but that didn't work out too well. As soon as I moved, she was awake and she reached back for my cock. I pushed her hand away, got up and went to her bathroom for my morning whiz. When I got back to the bedroom, I found her with her legs spread wide and a big smile on her face. She got one more out of me before I put a stop to it.

"If you plan to keep this going I need to get something in my stomach to give me some energy."

She pouted and said, "Wimp! Big man going to admit he can't handle a little girl?"

"I didn't say I was going to quit; I just need to refuel."

Over pancakes and bacon at the Village Inn, we talked about the changes that had taken place in the people we knew and in the town. The thing that surprised me the most was the fact that over half of the people I'd known (or knew) that had gotten married were already divorced, or going through one.

"Which brings up something we need to talk about," Gail said. "I do hope that you don't see what we are doing as going someplace. Little Miss Gail has discovered that she is not the marrying kind. I like my independence too much to settle down. What say you?"

"Honestly? I can go along with it for a while, but I AM the marrying kind and someday I'll meet someone with whom I will want to make the long haul. Actually, I've already known two, but neither of them worked out."

"Two? Sue and who else?"

I told her about Shelly and how that worked out."

"You do know that Sue would kill to get back with you?"

"I know, but I also know that it would never work out."

"How can you know that?"

"I can't really know that, and that's the killer. She cheated on me once and I'd always be wondering if she would do it again. I'd constantly be watching her like a hawk, looking for signs that she was doing it again, and I just won't live like that. Look at all the couples that we just talked about. Why are they divorced or getting divorced?"

"Because one or the other of them cheated?"

"Exactly. You and I both know that almost all of them had engaged in sexual activities with people other than the ones they eventually married, so their curiosities about others should have been satisfied, right? I mean, they sampled others before settling on the one they married, so why did they cheat after they got married?"

"I really don't know."

"I don't know either, so why should I take a chance and tie myself to someone I already know cheats?"

"This talk is going to kill my mood if we don't stop it. How about we finish eating and then go back to what we were doing until you wussed out on me."

"Good idea."

My friends with benefits relationship with Gail lasted nine months, and they were pretty good months. During them, I did occasionally date other girls, but I never found one with whom that I clicked. Even so, at heart I was a man who wanted a wife and family, so I knew that Gail and I wouldn't be going on much longer. I was going to have to find a girl that I could settle down with and have the life I wanted.

Then I ran into Harlina Collins. Lina and I had gone to school together and we had dated a couple of times during one of my breakups with Susan and her breakup with her longtime boyfriend, Billy Holbrook. We had several very hot make out sessions that didn't lead to anything. I think the relationship on my part at the start was just teenaged bullshit, showing Susan that I didn't need her, and I'm sure that on Harlina's part, all she was doing is showing Billy that he shouldn't be taking her for granted.

As things progressed, my feelings for Lina started to change to the point where there was a good chance that I might not have returned to Susan. Then one night Lina broke a date with me and the next day she was back with Billy. Two weeks later, I was back with Susan.

I was sitting in a booth at the Village Inn looking at the sports talk show on the TV when a voice from behind me asked, "Want to share your booth with a hot chick?"

I turned and saw Harlina standing there. She bent and kissed me, and then sat down on the seat on the other side of the table.

"I heard that you were back," she said. "Why haven't you looked me up?"

"Probably because I didn't want to engage in fisticuffs with Billy."

"You haven't heard? Billy is long gone."

"Why? What happened?"

"Cheating is what happened. Our relationship couldn't survive it. You back for good?"

"Looks like it."

She took a pad and pen out of her purse, wrote on the pad, tore off the top sheet and handed it to me.

"Call me," she said, and she started to get up.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to work. I was here having lunch with the girls I work with when I saw you. I'm usually home by six."

That night I told Gail about Lina and she asked, "Are you going to call her?"

"Probably. At one time, I thought we might have had something going. Won't hurt to see if anything might still be there."

"I'm in no hurry to lose you, baby, but we both know that I can never be what you want. Even if I could handle being permanent in your life, the kid's part is a no go. I don't want any. Don't like them. I can't stand my nieces and nephews, so I know I'd be a lousy mother. Just like with the others, babe; I'll be here if it doesn't work out."

I did call Lina, and we started dating. The feelings that I'd had for her way back when seemed to still be there. After six weeks of dating (and three of making love), I asked Lina to move in with me. She said she couldn't.

"It wouldn't be fair to you."

"Not fair to me? What the hell does that mean?"

"I couldn't live with you while seeing Billy on the side. It just wouldn't be fair to you."

"He cheated on you and you kicked him out, but you are still seeing him?"

"Billy never cheated on me, Brad. I cheated on him and he divorced me over it, but even though he says he can't live with me, he still loves me and once a month or so he calls me, and because I still love him we get together."

Finding that out killed the relationship for me. Lina tried to convince me that it wouldn't hurt our FWB relationship, but it did and I stopped seeing her.

By then, Gail had moved on and I was so bummed out that for the next month I didn't leave my place except to go to work and have Sunday dinner with my parents. I just stayed home, drank beer and watched the drivel that the TV offered. I was in danger of turning into an alcoholic, when one night my doorbell rang. I went to the door, opened it and my life changed again.

I found Shelly standing there.

Before I could say a word Shelly said, "You once asked me to marry you. Is the offer still on the table?"

I stepped aside and let her in.

Authors note:

In the old days, I would have ended the story right here and let you use your imagination as to where the story might go, but I do occasionally pay attention to feedback and it seems that most of you don't care for that approach. So, even though I reserve the right to end my stories the way I want, this time I'll put a finishing touch on the story for you.

In what would prove to be one of the smartest things I've ever done in my life I stepped aside. I let her in, and when I closed the door and turned to face her, she wrapped me in her arms and kissed me.

I pulled away and looked at her. I had so many questions that I didn't know where to start. Fortunately for me, she had all the answers ready for me. She pulled me over to the couch and sat down with me. One of the questions that I had on my mind was, "How do you know where I live?" Another was, "You are married to Randy, so how can you ask me if my offer is still on the table?"

It was as if she could read my mind and she said, "I got to know your mother when she came out to visit you in Colorado and we have kept in touch. When I divorced Randy, I called your mom to see how you were and she told me about Gail so I figured that I'd blown my chance with you. Next time I called her, you were with Harlina. When I called her last week, she told me that you and Harlina had broken up so I gambled, hurried up and got here before that could change. So here I am. I know that it is kind of sudden, but can I check out of the motel and move in? Or am I too late?"

"I don't understand. You were going to wait for Randy. You said that you promised him that you would."

"I did promise, but there were conditions attached. The first one you already know about, and you seemed to like it enough to propose. Then had to put fighting authority behind him; he had to behave himself, be a model prisoner and make parole. If he did those things, I would wait for him. He didn't do it. He kept resisting authority, kept getting into fights and that cost him any chance at early parole.

"Then in one fight he hit a guard who tried to break it up and earned himself two more years. When I found out about it, I divorced him. When the divorce was final I called your mother; we kept in touch, I took a chance and here I am."

I looked at her and began to smile. I stood up and said, "We need to get you out of that motel before they charge you for another day."

Two months later, we were married, and six years later we have two kids, a third one on the way and I'm happier than a pig in a very large mud puddle.