Reputation

"I had a good time. Did I earn a second date?" she asked with a cocky smile.

"I don't know. Cutting dates short doesn't seem like a good time, but I'll let it slide. I mean it's just so unbelievable that Kelly's friend got jumped, I think this may be one of those preset get me out of here texts."

She laughed.

"Honey, I'm coming after you hard. You're the one who's gonna need to be rescued."

I dropped her at Kevin and Kelly's apartment, and she gave me dick-hardening kiss before hurrying into the building.

I texted Steve immediately. He confirmed the unfortunate mugging of Mike and promised to use his new-found two-hundred bucks cash for our next round of golf. Steve was always the biggest of us and had no issues using his bricklayer muscles to show someone the error of their ways.

I texted Dave and asked if he was going to dump her. He said he wasn't sure.

His priorities were different than mine with a wedding a month away. It would be an expensive decision to throw her out and move on. I still would have dumped her.

*****

Three weeks later, Kelly threw a welcome home party at my house for her returning fiancé. I wasn't sure if it was necessary. It's not like he was away that long or was a returning soldier or something, but I relented. Who didn't love a good party?

It was going to be awkward as it was a surprise, so I was bringing him directly from the airport and he wouldn't have talked to her about Mike yet.

I sat in the car as he threw his bags in my trunk and fell into my passenger seat.

"Fuck, man."

"That bad?" I asked.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do. I want to slap her and toss her out for being so stupid, but we're getting married in a few weeks. Shit, it's not like I didn't get my share out there."

"You cheated on her? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"What? I've been gone for months. I've got needs, man. I'm used to getting it all the time."

"So, jerk off, dummy. Don't cheat on your fiancée. I can't believe you two. I thought you were the perfect couple and here you are both lousy cheaters."

"It's just sex, Dave. Don't get your panties in a bunch."

I was stunned and didn't speak for the rest of the ride home.

"God, I just want to take a hot shower, drink a cold beer, and get a blow job from my slut fiancée," he said as I pulled onto my street.

"Can't do it yet. We're going to my house because I forgot my wallet, then we're meeting Kelly and a couple of others at the bar for dinner and drinks."

"Aw, don't do this to me, brother."

"Sorry, it is what it is."

I smelled the smoke from the fire pit burning and noticed the street was full of cars, but my driveway was empty. Kelly parked in my garage, so I didn't open it as I pulled up to my house.

"Home sweet home," he said and chuckled. Then he screeched, "I'm on my way, I'm on my way, home sweet home."

It was our inside joke ever since we saw Hot Tub Time Machine. Whenever we heard the song, we sang along with it.

We laughed and he asked, "Mind if I come in to take a leak?"

That helped as I didn't have to make up a reason for him to come in with me. Perfect.

I opened the door and walked in with him following. The lights went on and everyone yelled, "Surprise!"

Gillian gave me a kiss, and I was shocked at what she wore. She wore a too-short, short skirt, heels so high, I couldn't even guess how many inches they were, and fishnet stockings.

"What are you wearing?" I asked.

"What? I thought I looked damn hot."

"Sure, for picking up businessmen at airport hotels. Jesus, if you bend over, everyone will see what's under that dress."

"Keep that attitude up, and you won't get to see what's under this dress."

She walked away and I sulked as everyone made the appropriate welcome home noises with Kevin. I saw Steve frowning in the corner, but he was talking to one of the good-looking friends Kelly always seemed to have around, he'd be fine. Dale didn't show. He didn't think he could keep his mouth shut about what he saw.

Later, Kevin found me and slapped me on the back, "That was great, man. I had no idea."

"I can't believe no one told you, but I'm glad you didn't know. Go use my shower to freshen up and get the tired out of your eyes."

"Yeah, I'll do that, thanks."

After his shower, I saw Kelly had wet hair too. I guess he got all three of his wishes after all. It made me wonder if he was going to keep her. It was certainly looking that way, and I was still glad I didn't have to make that decision.

At the end of a long night, and after changing into appropriate clothing, Gillian helped me clean up a little. Kelly promised to do the major stuff in the morning, but I didn't want my house to smell like stale beer.

"Great party," she said putting the last of the dishes into the washer.

"Yeah, she probably just did it to ease her conscience."

"What do you mean?" she challenged.

"Uh, nothing. I'm not sure why I said that."

Would any woman worth their self-respect let that go with my lame response? Of course, not. She was full-on silently demanding an answer with fists on hips, legs shoulder width apart, and glaring at me.

"I'm sorry, but it's not for me to say. I'm not getting any further involved than I am, so you'll have to let it go. You'll know all about it in a day or two anyway, I'm sure."

"If you don't tell me right now, you'll be sleeping with your hand for the foreseeable future."

I sighed and said, "I'm sorry, but I can't say. And I'll tell you what. Using sex as a weapon won't fly with me. If you'll cut me off from making love with you because of something as silly as me not telling you something I know, or not liking the way you're dressed, then, we're not on the same page and won't make it. I don't play games and I expect the same from you."

"I'll have sex with whomever I want, whenever I want."

"Sure, that's your right. The door's over there, don't let it hit your ass on the way out."

What an idiot I was. I let it slip, and then backed that up by taking a hard stand. She was going to know after Kevin and Kelly fought it out anyway; I should have just told her. It must have been all of the beer I drank. I couldn't be that stupid in sober life.

She didn't walk away, and for a moment I thought she was going to be the cooler head and bring things down to earth. After a minute of silence, she walked up to me and flicked me on the nose. Then she went up to my unoccupied third bedroom. Kevin and Kelly were, by the sound of it, still enjoying my second bedroom.

I had no idea where my relationship with Gillian stood. At least she didn't leave. We'd only been dating a couple of weeks, so it wouldn't be much of a loss, but she was growing on me. The flick on the nose was more playful than angry, but who knew?

*****

I woke first and showered. It took a few more minutes to get dressed and make myself look handsome, but no one woke up by the time I'd left my room.

Just to be on the safe side, I opened Gillian's door to make sure she didn't leave in the middle of the night. She was there and looked adorable sleeping in my KISS t-shirt, so I let her sleep it off.

I decided to play a record and without really thinking about it, I put on Hi Infidelity by REO Speedwagon. Now, when I say put on a record, I mean an actual vinyl record. I got suckered into the resurgence of vinyl and with all of the classic rock albums I grew up on coming out with remasters and special editions, it became an expensive hobby.

My dad doesn't bother to pay any attention to me when he comes by every Sunday to listen to the updated favorites he knocked into my heart and soul when I was a kid. The man just gets lost in Boston, KISS, Bob Segar, and whatever other new find I bought that week. I think he cried when he heard the 50th anniversary reissue of Dark Side of the Moon played out of my very expensive surround sound system.

Anyway, as the band sang songs of break-ups and infidelity, I cooked bacon, biscuits, and sausage. I didn't care if everyone else was too hungover to eat, I was going to have biscuits and gravy.

While the band ended the album with the perfect REO version of Gospel music, Kevin sat at my table.

"That album depressed me when we were kids, but it's a bit on the nose for me now."

"Yeah, I wasn't really thinking when I put it on. I'll play some Cheap Trick or something next."

"Get me some coffee first. What the hell kind of host are you anyway?" he chuckled.

"Fair point, although you can see where the coffee pot is, you lazy bastard. I'll remind you that you have your own mug here as well."

He air-toasted his Yoda mug after filling it.

"You still make your coffee too strong," he groaned.

"You say that every week and I'm still not changing for you."

I think we were both avoiding talking about anything too serious, and then one of the girls started the shower.

"Probably Gillian," he said. "Kelly was a bit rough when I left her."

"No doubt. It's a good thing that was a Friday party. You're gonna need two days on this one."

He laughed, "Maybe, but no matter what, I'm having the conversation with her today."

"Any idea what you're gonna do?"

"No. It's gonna depend on what she says. I mean, obviously, if she loves the asshole, she's gone. If she doesn't end it, she's gone. I guess there's a couple of scenarios where I'll forgive her, but like I said, it's on her."

I nodded and added the flour and milk for the gravy to the pan.

"Besides," he continued, "we've got so much put into this wedding, I almost feel forced into forgiving, forgetting, and moving on in a trust but verify mode."

"Trust is hard though, Kev," I said. "She's broken it. Will she do it again because you forgave her once? Maybe have her sign a pre-nup? You still have time."

"That's an idea. I'll do that. I might as well protect myself the best I can."

"From what?" Kelly yawned as she gingerly walked into the kitchen.

"We're talking about insurance on the house. I'm picking Dave's brain about things I haven't thought about."

"Good idea. You can ask Gillian too. She's an insurance agent, you know?"

"Right. Of course."

I handed her a cup of coffee and noted her weak smile. I wondered if she'd been listening, but then saw her look so adoringly at Kevin, a pang of jealousy shot through me. I hoped someone would look at me like that someday. Damn, love in the right hands is powerful stuff. But then again, she's a cheater. I shook my head and went back to stirring my gravy and flipping bacon.

Everything was ready by the time Gillian came down. Kelly saw the look on her face before I did and asked, "Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?"

"Mister keeping secrets over there. We're not on the same page on if he thinks couples shouldn't share secrets with each other."

Kevin and Kelly laughed.

She said, "Hell no. Could you imagine if I told this knucklehead everything? It would be all over the bar in a minute."

He agreed.

"I don't need to know everything she knows unless it concerns me or us. Anything else is arbitrary and is up to her discretion whether to let me know."

"I don't think there should be any secrets between couples," Gillian countered.

"You guys?" Kelly laughed. "You guys aren't even exclusive yet. You can't call yourself a couple worth sharing all your secrets."

"We're not exclusive? Well, that's fucking news to me," I spat.

"Settle down, Dave. I'm not going out with other guys or even looking to. Kelly's just talking shit about things she doesn't understand. We're a couple in every sense of the word. Exclusive and happy."

Kelly suddenly found something in her coffee cup to look at and didn't respond to Gillian.

"Boy, it sure seems like there's more to this story than you're telling me by the way Kelly is reacting. Is she seeing other guys, Kelly?"

"I told you, I'm not," Gillian demanded.

"I'm not getting in the middle of this. You need to ask her," Kelly said trying to be neutral.

"You cheating slut! You would protect your friend."

Oops. I didn't just let the cat out of the bag, I dropped it and kicked it across the room.

Kelly glared at me, "What the hell are you talking about? I'm not..."

Kevin sighed, "Let's go home, Kelly. We need to talk about exactly what you've been doing while I've been in Vegas."

"What are you talking about? I haven't done anything."

I threw my hands up and walked out of the room. As I left the kitchen, I heard him calmly say, "I know all about Mike." I have no idea what was said after that because I went to my room. I didn't close the door or hide. I simply sat there and wondered what would happen to my friends over the rest of the day.

I saw them get dressed and pack a bag of clothes, all while Kelly sobbed. A few minutes later, Kelly knocked on my open door.

"Thank you for letting me have the party here. I'm sorry your breakfast turned into a shit show."

I looked up and said, "Good luck."

She nodded and Kevin walked in.

"It's a mess, bro. Gillian is in the kitchen all freaked out. I don't think she saw any other guys. If what Kelly just told me is true, someone asked her out a couple of days ago and she accepted. She broke the date later in the day, so there's that."

I shrugged, "Fucking cheating, man. This is what it does to people. Who do I trust?"

"I know. I'll let you know later what happens. I may need a place to crash."

"The door's always open for you, my friend. You know that."

"Thanks."

*****

A few minutes later, Gillian walked in and said, "Breakfast is ready. I warmed everything up."

"I've lost my appetite."

She forced a giggle, "You've never lost your appetite in your life. If you want, we can talk, or I can leave."

"Who's the guy you set up a date with?"

She sighed and sat on my bed.

"I didn't set up a date. One of the guys from work asked me to join him for drinks after work. I didn't think anything of it until I realized he might have thought it was a date. I asked him later, and he confirmed that's what he meant. That's when I cancelled. I told you I don't cheat."

I snorted and asked, "When has a man ever asked you out for a drink and it not be expected to be a date?"

"I know I was being naïve. Like I said, I cancelled it when I wised up."

"I'm falling for you, Gills. Don't break my heart."

She hugged me and I returned it.

"I'm sorry this happened, Dave. I should have known better, but I didn't think it was worth mentioning. Fucking Kelly and her mouth. She's cheating, so everyone else must all be cheaters too, right?"

"You really didn't know?"

She shook her head and said, "No. I had no idea what's going on with her."

"Now you see why I said you'll find out eventually?"

"Yeah, come on. Let's eat before your eggs get cold."

She looked like the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

I asked, "What? You're too quiet."

"I'm sorry about trying to force you to tell me. I can see how you were in a shitty position. I'm not sure what I'd have done in your shoes."

"It was no fun that's for sure."

"Wait! That night at dinner. Our first date. Those texts were about Kelly, weren't they?"

I laughed, "Yeah."

"Wow! You've known for that long?"

"Longer. I caught her before Kevin came home over a month ago."

"Jesus."

I sat at the breakfast table, and saw she nailed the cook on my eggs. I was impressed. She had never cooked for me before and showed little interest in it.

I broke the yolks over the gravy smothered biscuits and smiled while the yellow-orange goodness flowed over the rest of the plate.

"You did great," I said before taking a bite. "Mm."

"I'm glad you like it. Breakfast is pretty much the only thing I can cook. My mom was a nurse and worked crazy hours, so I always made my dad his eggs when I was a teenager, and he liked them over easy like you."

"Good man," I mumbled with my mouth full.

She topped off my coffee and poured me a glass of orange juice before sitting for her own breakfast.

"Are we good, Dave? I mean, I haven't ruined everything before it started, have I?"

I washed down my mouthful with some orange juice and said, "No, I believe you. I don't fully understand how you didn't think it was a date, but I don't suppose I know you that well. You may just be that dumb."

I smiled when I said it, but it didn't stop her from throwing a biscuit at me.

"Shut it, jerk. I'm not dumb."

I said, "Okay, okay. You know I was just kidding. Just watch the using sex as a bargaining chip or as a weapon. I don't like that shit either."

"Promise."

*****

We were watching a college football game when Kelly called Gillian. She annoyed me by taking the call out of the room. So much for not keeping things from your partner.

I got a knock on the front door.

"Kevin?" I asked as he walked past me into the house.

"Hey, I need to vent."

"Wanna beer?"

He didn't wait, he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a couple from the fridge.

He handed me a beer and said, "She knew I cheated on her. Something I did raised her hackles, so she hired someone to follow me out there. She says that's why she started up with the guy."

"Damn."

"Yeah. but It is what it is. I did it. I was so fucking stupid, but I didn't think she'd ever know. How could she? I was a thousand miles away?"

"I don't know, bud. Maybe, you didn't answer the phone when you should have? Maybe, you didn't call her enough? I don't know."

I couldn't believe he cheated on her too. It's like I was in an a bizzarro world. They were supposed to be the best of us.

"She agreed to stop seeing the guy and we're still going to get married, except she's getting ready to go out right now and is wearing a short skirt. She won't tell me who she's going out with, or where she's going."

"Are you shitting me? Didn't you two kiss and make up?"

"I thought we were fine. I mean, we didn't even yell at each other when we were talking about the affairs. We agreed to be faithful going forward and forget about the last couple of months. A clean slate, you know?"

"What about tonight then. What's she up to?"

He shrugged and took a swig of beer.

"I told her if she leaves, don't come back. I'm not going to be worrying if she's giving him a goodbye fuck or picking up some random dude at the bar. It's game over if she leaves the apartment tonight."

"Why didn't you stay home and make sure she stayed."

"Honestly? If she leaves, I don't want to see it."

He fell back onto the couch and Gillian walked into the room.

"Kevin, what are you doing here?"

"Waiting to see if I still have a fiancée. I'll give it another hour then head home."

"You idiot!, She thinks she has to end it with him in person. You need to get home now and stop her," she pleaded.

"Nope. If she goes to him tonight, we're through. We agreed on a clean slate, and that doesn't include a goodbye fuck for the asshole she's been dating."

"I can't believe she'd go to him," I said shaking my head. I looked at Gillian and saw fear in her eyes.

I mouthed the word, "Go," to her and she fled the room. I hoped she could talk some sense into her wayward friend.

As Gillian left, I said, "This is so fucked up man. You guys are so disgustingly sweet when you're together with all the PDA's and goo-goo talk and shit. God! If you guys are cheaters, is there any hope for the rest of us?"

He sadly looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. He chugged the rest of his beer and said, "I have to worry about it for the rest of my life with her, man. You don't want this kind of hell."

I nodded and sipped my beer.

Gillian texted me and said Kelly was home in yoga pants, eating ice cream straight out of the pint, and crying uncontrollably.

I wondered what she was crying about. Was it for Kevin or for her lover? That's the crap you think about when people cheat.