Coming Apart at the Seams

"Great! I'll order it tomorrow," Jenna said with an air of finality. "But I have other plans for you tonight," she told David as she stood up and drug him toward the bedroom. "You two know your way out. Oh, and...have fun, Monica, you hot MILF you!"

Monica felt herself blushing again for the first time since 'the switching teams' comment. "You're terrible!" she said with feigned indignation to Jenna on the way out.

"No, I'm actually very good and David's gonna find out just how good shortly," she said as she slammed the bedroom door and pulled her husband inside. "Well, if I can get him to pay any attention to me, that is."

For all her many faults, Jenna did occasionally come up with a decent idea. Monica had to admit, playing this game couldn't possibly make things any worse as long as no one said anything to blow up their marriage. So for now, she just kept her fingers crossed that things wouldn't blow up so she could occasionally um...blow her husband...and finally get what she so desperately needed and wanted.

The blowing part didn't happen that night, but at least they'd finally had sex. Monica felt so good afterward she didn't even stop to realize how lousy the sex had been—again. After all, it had been weeks and after such a long drought, any sex was good sex. Or at least 'okay sex', whatever that meant.

David and Jenna had fared slightly better in the bedroom, but it was nothing like it had been the first few years of their marriage. The next morning, Jenna ordered the game which was called Get a (Sexual) Clue and it arrived Thursday via UPS in a plain, brown wrapper. When it came, she sent Monica a text reminding them it was their turn to host the four of them this Sunday. She also let Monica know about the game and how fun it looked.

The game! "Oh, my God," Monica thought to herself. "Shit! I forgot all about that." She and David had had sex for the first time in...who cares? It wasn't great but it was sex and it felt so amazing to finally have an orgasm! And now this. The fact that the sex was lousy reminded her she/they had to try something and as much as she dreaded it, maybe the game really could get this rolling again. Even so, Monica felt the pressure building that always came from something she dreaded. Why had she agreed to this insanity? Then she reminded herself yet again she was barely ahead of Jenna in terms of how many times they'd had sex in recent months. She also thought about last Friday night. She and Michael had actually done it. It however, meant some kissing, a little touching, and then intercourse. Monica had been so relieved to have her husband's cock inside her she forgot how sterile sex had become between them. In fact, this was the best it had been in many, many months. The thought sent a cold chill through her. Maybe this game could help. Lord knew it couldn't get much worse. Or...could it? Having run the same thoughts through her head so many times she felt like a broken record, she let it all go—for a while.

After dinner, Jenna told everyone, "Okay, you guys. We need to sit boy-girl in a circle. Each person picks a card with a heart on it and asks the question written on the other side. To make it work, you have to be completely honest. They start out easy then get harder in terms of being more uncomfortable to share your answers. And no one can judge or say anything negative no matter what answer is given, okay?" They all nodded with some amount of apprehension.

Everyone had had a glass of wine and each had a second in front of them. The board was on the coffee table and each person sat in a chair on one of the four ends.

"Okay, I'll go first," Jenna said surprising no one.

The question was: Have you ever cheated on your SO (significant other)? If not have you ever fantasized about cheating?

Monica thought to herself, "OMG! If that's an easy question..."

Jenna put the card down and said, "No. I have never cheated." She looked at David for added emphasis and said, "And I never will. As to fantasizing? Um, well...yes. Many times and lately...all the time." Monica saw everyone cut their eyes toward everyone else to gauge their reaction, but no one said a word. "Honey, now you answer that question."

"No. I've never cheated." He then added, "And I never will."

Jenna took his hand and said, "Ah! I love you too, baby."

Then he said, "And yes, I've fantasized...a lot. And lately, all the time."

Monica forced herself to admit the same thing followed by Michael who essentially repeated what the other three had said.

"Okay, next question," Jenna announced.

"If you had to be alone on an island with one person of the opposite sex, who would you choose and why?" Jenna put the card down and said, "That's a no-brainer. I'd choose Michael."

Monica's eyes opened wide, but before she could speak Jenna said, "Well...it's true! It'd be almost like having David there and since David is my first choice, Michael has to be my second...first choice." The guys chuckled at her sentence structure and she said, "You know what I mean."

Again, each of them in turn chose the other person's spouse.

"Next question. If you had to have an affair, who would you have it with and why?"

To no one's surprise, all of them chose the other person's spouse. What surprised Monica though, was that she found herself wanting to say Jenna's name, but the pressure to conform was enormous. She didn't have Jenna's hutzpah, so she kept her feelings to herself. Still, she had to force herself not to stare at her best friend's pretty face. She'd never really had this kind of feeling before and she wasn't sure where it was coming from because she'd never had any girl-on-girl experience, even in college. Like so many other feelings that made her uncomfortable, Monica stuffed this one down deep inside her.

"I'm starting to see a trend here," David said to Michael.

"Yeah. Between this and the things we said at the will signing, I have to agree," his brother said.

Monica was feeling very uncomfortable again and said, "Maybe it just means we're all really good friends and that we trust each other. Why does there have to be some deeper meaning?"

Not wanting to argue, everyone shrugged and let it go.

The next question was a level 5 meaning it was the most personal kind. Jenna read it out loud: Having stated your choice for a hypothetical affair, would you be willing to actually have sex with that person? If they are married, would your SO and your first choice's SO allow it?

"Okay! That's where I draw my personal line in the sand," Monica said. "I'm not answering that and I'm done playing."

"Party pooper!" Jenna said. "Well, I'll answer it. Yes, I would actually have sex with my first choice IF my husband said okay." All eyes were on David.

"Um...well...this is still just hypothetical so..."

"No it isn't!" Jenna said interrupting her husband. "This is a separate question and the question is would you allow it, yes or no? Come on, be honest and answer the question."

David looked at his brother then at Monica before looking back at Michael. "I mean, I know you think Jenna's hot as hell, bro." He realized what he'd just said then looked at Monica and said, "Mon—that's not what I meant. I mean, my brother just thinks Jenna is attractive the same way I think you're attractive and..."

Monica felt herself blushing again. She was also angry and angri-ER because she couldn't stop this childhood business of turning red lately. She wanted to say something, but she feared turning an even brighter shade of red. David sensed her discomfort and softened his tone. "Look. What I mean is that if that's what Jenna wanted and you were cool with it—then sure, I'd be okay with that." His eyes went from Michael to Monica who was clearly upset by all this. She was sitting there with her arms crossed and refused to comment.

"Michael? You're next. Would you do me if David and Mon said okay?"

He could tell his wife was really bothered by this and took the diplomatic way out. "Uh, Monica is the only woman for me. Sorry, but as beautiful as you are, Jenna, I gotta say 'no.'"

"Thank you, honey!" Monica said. She turned toward him and kissed him on the cheek.

"There's one more level five question left," Jenna said.

"No thanks," Monica said flatly. "Count me out."

Jenna ignored her best friend and picked it up and read it to the group: Setting aside your first choice for an affair, would you be willing to allow a third person or another couple to join you in love making? If it's one other person, would it be a man or a woman?

Monica snorted indicating her displeasure with the question. She also glared at Jenna letting her know she didn't appreciate her not having her back and respecting her feelings.

"I'd say 'yes' and the other person would be..."

Monica shot a look that said, "If you say my name, so help me God I'll kill you!" And yet more than anything she wanted to hear Jenna say just that.

Jenna could tell she was not only crossing a line but potentially harming her friendship. She was aware that everyone else sensed exactly what she was about to say. Instead she set the card down and just said, "Maybe that's enough for tonight."

David chimed in and said, "Damn, honey. I was hoping to hear you say you wanted to do it with Monica or some other hot-looking girl!"

Monica felt her face doing what she'd been dreading. To try and draw attention away from her crimson face, she said, "Okay! We get it," Monica huffed. "This game stinks!" she said folding her arms again.

Michael could tell his wife needed help so he interrupted by saying, "Fantasy is one thing, but we all know Monica's not into women so it's a moot point. So is everything else for that matter. The game was a good idea, Jenn, but I don't think we got any real answers tonight."

No one spoke for an uncomfortably long period of time. No one was surprised when Jenna broke the silence. "So did we learn anything tonight?" she asked. "More importantly, has anyone given any thought to actually trying something new?" The look she got from Monica was devastating. "I'm sorry, honey, but we're all sitting here fully aware things are shit in the bedroom. We have all these ideas and feelings and needs, but no one's really saying anything."

There were some glances at one another but again, no one spoke. Jenna barreled on. "Okay. How about this? You guys go home and we all agree to discuss the options. And for Monica's sake, we'll include seeing a marriage counselor to try and find a way to make what was working in the past work again. Then next week, we get together at your house and tell each other what we decided."

"Uh, yeah. I mean, I guess it couldn't hurt to at least talk about it. We all said we'd never cheat on our spouse, but would it be cheating if, you know, we kind of switched things up? I mean, as long as everyone is okay with a decision, it isn't cheating, right?" Monica shot David one of her looks but he kept on talking. "If Monica, Jenna, and I both agreed to let well, Michael you know...be with Jenna, then, at least in my book, that's not cheating. Mike? Am I being too much of a politician here parsing words or does that make sense?"

Michael looked to see if Monica was getting ready to slug him again before saying, "No, I don't think so. About the parsing thing, I mean. Cheating is when one party sneaks around behind the other person's back and has sex or looks for emotional comfort from someone else. So I guess it wouldn't be cheating if everyone was okay with it." He looked at his wife when he said the word 'everyone' and just as he suspected, she shot him a look.

"I totally agree!" Jenna said. "That just leaves one of the Four Musketeers as the odd-woman out." Monica just raised her eyebrows when Jenna looked over at her. "Come on, hon. I know you're not happy with the way things are. None of us are. We all love each other and we all love our spouses. Something has to change. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?"

Monica's gaze didn't soften but what Jenna said rang true. Even when she and Michael found time for sex, which wasn't nearly often enough, it was the bare minimum. It was liking giving someone who was starving a crust of bread and some water. It would keep them alive a little longer, but what they really wanted was salad, an entree, dessert, and a fine wine.

"Okay, okay. We can talk about it, but it has to include seeing a therapist."

"Fair enough!" Jenna exclaimed as though she'd won some big case in court. "Let's do that. We'll talk about what we've been doing, why it isn't working, what we could do to make it work, AND...other possible options. Agreed?"

Both husbands said, "Okay. Sure. Agreed."

Monica reluctantly said, "All right. I'll...give it a try."

Everyone had a third glass of wine as they watched a romantic comedy DVD before saying goodnight. Sadly, Monica felt very uncomfortable among her three best friends. She couldn't help but believe the mood had changed; that the other three seemed genuinely excited to talk about a kind of more open marriage or whatever they'd meant, while she didn't even want to think about it. To make matters worse, she felt like things might never be the same again, and as bad as they'd been lately, staying the same might be preferable to...to...that. And then there was the added (and very uncomfortable) dimension of her inexplicable attraction to Jenna. Monica felt like her head might explode if she didn't die of a shriveled vagina first.

As Monica crawled into bed, Michael reached over and put his arm across her. When she didn't respond he said, "Are you mad at me?"

"No," she said flatly. "Disappointed is the better word."

Michael rested on an elbow and said, "Why, because of something I said?" She didn't answer and Michael told her, "Mon, you're gonna have to talk with me. What's going on here?"

Monica finally spoke. "You don't love me anymore. You almost never make love to me and you hardly even touch me lately. And now I find out you'd rather be with Jenna than with me."

"What? Where did you get that kind of crazy idea?" he said with total incredulity.

"Well, when everyone was talking about you and Jenna you seemed really excited about it," she said.

"Well, I couldn't lie. She is attractive. Besides, David seems to have the hots for you and I didn't get upset at that, did I?"

"No, but that's different," she told him.

"Why? Why is that different?" he asked.

"Because he's not my husband. That's why," she said matter-of-factly.

"Are you honestly saying you don't find my brother attractive?"

"Don't twist my words!" she said angrily.

"I'm not twisting anything. I'm asking you a question. Is David attractive to you, yes or no?"

Monica had her arms folded across her chest. "He's your identical twin so of course he looks handsome to me, but that doesn't mean I want to have sex with him!"

Michael changed tact. "I noticed you got a little bit embarrassed when Jenn mentioned a third person and you immediately changed the subject. Is there anything you want to talk about in that regard?"

Monica's frustrations boiled over. Tears welled up in her eyes. She blinked several times then began to cry softly. Michael held her close and said, "Hey? Why the tears? Don't you believe me?"

Monica sniffled and said, "I'm just so confused. I don't know what to think anymore—about anything."

"What are you confused about, honey?" he asked trying to coax her into talking to him.

"This! All of this. You, David, Jenna, me—us. I'm just...confused."

"Is that because my brother chose you as his potential other woman or because you chose him?"

Monica was crying openly. She shook her head and said, "I guess."

Michael thought he realized the real problem and said, "Oh, I get it. It's because Jenna and I chose each other. That's what's bothering you. Okay. That makes sense. But honey, I already told you I'd never..."

Monica sat up. Tears streamed down her face. She reached for a tissue as she said, "No, none of that bothers me. It's...it's..." She stopped to blow her nose which was so loud it made both of them laugh.

"Sorry," she said as they finished laughing.

"It's okay. Don't stop, though. Finish what you were going to say," he said as he sat up next to her.

"Promise me you won't say anything or use this against me in the future," she said as she sniffed and dried her eyes.

"Use what against you, Mon? What are you talking about?"

She reached out for Michael's hand and said, "When we were playing that...game...and Jenna chose the person she wanted to be with..."

"Yeah, I remember. She said me. You said that didn't bother you but it did, didn't it?"

"No," Monica said. "It really didn't."

"Then what? It's okay, honey, you can tell me anything," he assured her.

"I hope that's true," she said as she turned to look at him. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying and her face was a mess.

"You can," he told her. "You can tell me anything."

Monica looked away and back down at the comforter she'd pulled up over her. She took a very deep breath, exhaled slowly to calm herself then said, "Okay. It's just that well...when Jenna said your name...I wanted her to...to say...mine." She squeezed Michael's hand hoping that doing so would somehow mitigate his coming anger.

"You...what? You wanted her to say what?" he asked his voice rising on the last word.

"I know, I know. It's crazy. I'm sorry I brought it up. It's just that one time we joked about switching teams, you know, and she said if I ever did she hope'd I'd choose her and I was just hoping that...that tonight...she'd choose me. But she chose you. Then, when she had a second chance to choose me...later...as the third person she'd let into her marriage, I panicked and stopped the game." Monica felt tears welling up in her eyes again as she said, "Oh, Michael. I'm so sorry! I should have never said any of that."

After hearing what his wife said, Michael sat up straight. "No. It's okay, Mon. Really. In fact, I want to ask you something. Well, two things. Would you really be interested in you know...having sex with Jenna and well...would you also be interested—not hypothetically, but in reality—having sex with David?"

Monica immediately felt her tears stop. She grabbed another Kleenex and dabbed her eyes. She looked at her husband to see what his face was telling her. She could see he wasn't angry. In fact, he had a look that was what? Hopeful. Yes, he looked like he was hoping to hear her answer in a particular way.

"Yes," she said very quietly. "Because David is so close to being you, it would be...I mean, it would almost be like making love with you. As to Jenna, well, I've had some kind of girl crush or whatever on her for a really long time. I hope you don't hate me, but you asked and I told you the truth."

"Not only am I not mad, I think I may have a possible answer to what's been bothering all of us. Let me explain."

Michael spent the next half hour pouring out his soul to Monica who listened intently to every word. When he finished, she spent several minutes doing the same. What they discussed was so exciting, he found himself rock hard just thinking about it. Monica saw the large "tent" forming under the blankets and said, "Need some help with that?"

Moments later her mouth was taking him deep inside. "Oh, my God! It's been so long since you did that, baby," Michael moaned. Monica loved sucking cock but thought her husband no longer had any interest in that...or in her. Now she understand why. She took him deep into her mouth and held it until she gagged. "Fuck, that feels good!" he moaned.

Monica got on top of him, turned around and offered him a delicious 69. After a few minutes of more sucking and carpet munching, she flipped around and guided his throbbing cock into her soaking wet pussy. As he entered her, she gasped loudly. "Oh, fuck!" she whimpered. She began raising up and down as Michael held her under her arms. He felt SO good inside her. As his cock pounded her warm, wet pussy, she remembered how sex had been before. The thought of how it could be—how it might actually be—in the future—made her cum. She pushed hard against Michael's cock running her clit up and down its length. "Cum inside me! Fill my pussy with your cum, honey!" she begged him.