The Three B's: Just Another...

Two dances later, Sam had to use the bathroom and while she was gone, Bev came up to me and said, "They are playing our song."

Being a typical guy, I wasn't aware the Strait's "Chair" was OUR song, but I grinned, got up and moved out onto the floor with her. As we moved through a western waltz, she asked, "Have you ever made a big mistake, Bob? Ever do something really stupid and then wished you could have a do over?"

"More that I care to think about."

"How about screwing up on someone and having to wish you could get forgiveness?"

"Been there and done that, too."

"Remember how it felt?"

"Only too well."

"That's were Barb is right now. She could use a bit of forgiveness, Bob. I'm not saying that you should give her ring back to her, but a smile and a dance or two would go a long way toward making her feel better."

"I don't know, Bev; I'm still a little raw from what she did."

"I'm not suggesting that you take her back, Bob. A smile and a dance or two to show that you don't hate her."

"No promises, sweetie, but I will think on it."

The tune ended and I walked her back to her table, nodded at Barb and Mike and went back to my seat. Sam was back from her trip to the bathroom and when I sat down, she said, "Have I lost you? I let you out of my sight for a minute and when I come back I've been replaced?"

"I didn't know you cared. Maybe we can go and look for rings tomorrow."

"Careful, Bobby; I just might take you up on that."

Oh goodie, I thought to myself. Just what I need, another relationship started at the Palace. The conversation was headed in the right direction for me to ask Sam for a date, but I again thought about the way a relationship started at the Palace worked out for me and decided to keep my mouth shut for a change.

Around eleven, Sam said she had to go and she got up, kissed my cheek and left. I debated getting up and leaving, also, but before I could, Barb walked up. She didn't sit down, she just stood there and we stared at each other.

Finally, she screwed up her courage and said, "It is obvious that you aren't going to ask me to dance, so I'm asking you. Will you dance with me?"

As I looked at her I was reminded of the fact that if things had been different, twelve hours from that moment we were supposed to be standing in front of a preacher taking our vows. I was also mindful of the fact that eighteen hours from that moment we probably would have making love for the first time as man and wife. She had hurt me -- hurt me bad -- but I needed to get over it and put the hurt behind me, so I stood up, offered her my arm and we moved out onto the dance floor.

We moved easily through a two-step without talking. I sensed that she was waiting for me to say something, but I knew that she would not appreciate the things I felt like saying. Things like, "I told you so," and "I told you that one day you would be sorry," so I just kept my mouth shut and danced.

My silence finally got to her and just as the song ended she said, "Say something, Bobby; talk to me."

"What would you like me to say, Barb?"

"That you don't hate me would be would be a good start."

"I don't hate you, Barb. I'm not happy about what you did to us, but I've never hated you because of it. I'm sorry that what I said would happen actually happened, but you made the choice so you get to live with it."

"I still love you, Bobby. I've never stopped loving you."

"Just not enough, right? I remember it like it was just yesterday. You looked me right in the eye and told me that you loved me, but not enough to marry me."

"I was wrong, Bobby. I made a big mistake and I would like a chance to correct it. Any chance I can get a do-over?"

"Sorry, Barb, but I can't go there again. The trust is gone. I'll never believe that you wouldn't abandon me again if he crawled back to you, said he'd learned his lesson and begged you for another chance."

"I wouldn't do that, Bobby; I've learned my lesson. A chance, Bobby; that's all I'm asking for is a chance."

"All I can offer you, Barb, is friendship. We can be friends, but that is all we can ever be. I will not take the chance of being hurt again."

"Friends with benefits?"

Call me stupid. Call me weak or call me an asshole for taking advantage of her, but pussy was pussy, and any man who was used to getting it was not going to turn down a steady supply, especially if he could get it with no strings attached.

"I can do that, but you need to go into it knowing that it will never be any more than that.'

I knew what she was thinking when she said that she would take what she could get. She was thinking that if she got her foot in the door she could eventually bring me around. Wasn't going to happen. I'd meant what I'd said when I said that the trust was gone. It was gone, and it wasn't going to come back.

"Can we start tonight?"

I didn't see any reason not to, so I said, "As long as you are sure that you can accept that friends with benefits is all it is ever going to be."

"I'll get my purse and we can go."

When we got into my car, she slid over next to me, her hand went to my zipper and before we were even out of the parking lot, she had her mouth full of my cock. She had me ready to blow before we were even halfway to my place, so I pulled over and let her bring me off. She swallowed my output, but kept her mouth on me to try to get me up again. She managed to get me up by the time we got to my place, and once inside, she started shedding clothes and was naked by the time we got to the bedroom. What followed was three hours of sexual gymnastics before we fell asleep with Barb snuggled up next to me. In the morning, I ran her home and we made a date for that evening.

For the next three months we got together three or four times a week, and except for when she had her 'monthlies,' we usually ended up in bed together. By the end of the second month, she was dropping hints that she would like to move back in with me. I ignored them, but by the end of the third month, I was weakening on the idea. She was at my place eighty to ninety percent of the time anyway and the sex, snuggling and cuddling were a touch on the addictive side.

From Bev, I learned that Ted had been trying to get Barb to talk to him, but Barb wouldn't have anything to do with him. Bev also told me that Ted had tried to get Mike to help him, but Mike had told him no way. He told Ted that he deeply regretted helping him the first time.

After giving the matter an awful lot of thought, the next time Barb hinted that she would like to move back in I said yes. A month or so after moving back in Barb started dropping subtle hints that she would like her ring back. I ignored them. A live-in FWB relationship was one thing, and a ring with the promise of marriage was a whole different thing. I'd been burned by Mary Alice, Irene and Barb herself, and I was in no mood to set permanent housekeeping for the simple reason that I had no trust in the opposite sex. I'd had three so called 'steady relationships' with women that I had cared for, and all three had exploded on me. A friends with benefits relationship was as far as I was willing to go.

I explained it all to Barb the next time she dropped one of her hints. She took it well, and the next four months slid by with no problems (or hints), and then one Thursday evening over dinner Barb asked me if there was any chance at all that I would change my mind about marriage, and I told her no. She changed the subject and we finished dinner. I helped with the dishes and then we watched some TV until bedtime. That night when we made love, she just couldn't seem to get enough and she kept me going until I couldn't respond. She did manage to get one more out of me when the alarm woke us up in the morning.

When I got home from work that night, Barb was gone. All of her things were gone and all she left behind was her apartment key and a note. The note was short and to the point.

"My dearest Bob, I couldn't gather up the courage to say goodbye to you face to face so you get this note, instead. I've spent months hoping and praying that you would eventually come around and make me your wife, but I have finally come to realize that it is never going to happen. I want the American dream, Bobby. The house, the white picket fence and babies, but I have accepted that it isn't going to be with you. I hope that you will someday be able to find someone who will love you as much as I do, but I honestly doubt that you will. No one could possibly love you more than I do. Take care and I hope you have a happy life.

Love always,

Barb."

I hadn't expected that, but I did understand where she was coming from. Funny thing though. Despite all the times I'd told Barb that friends with benefits is all we could ever be I missed her. As I usually did when I needed some cheering up I headed for the Palace for drinks and some dancing. I left after an hour and two beers. I just couldn't get into the swing of things.

After a couple of days, I had to admit to myself that I did love Barb, I missed her and I wished she was back with me. I sucked it up, called Bev and asked her how Barb was doing. She asked me why I was asking her that. I had naturally assumed that when Barb left she would have gone to Bev, but Bev said that she hadn't seen or talked to Barb in over a week. I told her about coming home and finding the note.

"Well, I can't really blame her, Bob; you didn't offer the girl much in the way of encouragement. I'm surprised she lasted as long as she did. Does this concern for Barb mean that there is a softening in your feeling about the relationship you had with her?"

"I guess that it does."

"I'll call around and see what I can find out."

"Thanks, Bev; I appreciate it."

I hadn't heard back from Bev by Friday, so not wanting to be home alone, I headed for the Palace. I just couldn't seem to get into the evening. For one thing, the band they had there that night sucked as far as I was concerned and for another, there wasn't anyone there I wanted to ask to dance. After an hour, I left and headed for the Stagecoach.

The first thing I saw when I walked in the door was Barb on the dance floor with some guy I didn't recognize. It was a two-step and she had just gone into a ladies inside under turn. As she came out of it, her eyes met mine. Our eyes held for a second or so and then I turned and left. As I headed for the car, I was wondering why I was so upset over seeing her with another guy. I'd basically told her that there was nothing in it for her except sex if she stayed with me. Her note told me that she wanted more out of life, so why was I upset that she was out looking for it? I decided to just call it a night and go home.

I slept in on Saturday morning and didn't get up until around nine. I was in the kitchen making coffee when the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, I found Bev standing there.

"Good morning, sunshine. Going to invite me in?"

"You're always welcome here, sweetie. I'll even offer you coffee."

She followed me into the kitchen; she fixed herself a cup and then took a seat at the kitchen table.

"What brings one of my favorite ladies to my humble abode on a Saturday morning?"

"I'm on what the Army calls a recon mission."

"Well, that certainly grabs my attention. Care to elucidate?"

"I had a crying sister stop by last night. Seems she went out last night for drinks with the girls she works with. She was on the floor dancing with some guy who had asked her to dance when you walked in. She told me that the look on your face broke her heart. The girl has it bad for you, Bobby. I know your position on things and I can halfway understand why, but that is in the past. She would die before she would hurt you again. Can't you find a little room in your heart for some forgiveness?"

"I do have to admit that I miss her, but I also have to admit I'm afraid of being burnt again. Mary Alice, Irene and then what Barb did to me have me gun shy. I just don't know if I could survive another hit."

"I know my sister, Bob, and I'm as serious as death when I say that she would die before hurting you again."

"I'll give it some thought, Bev. Where is she staying?"

"Right now she is staying with Mike and me. Mostly because I want her where I can keep an eye on her. She is in fragile shape right now, so I want her close instead of living with her two girlfriends."

Bev left, and I spent the rest of the weekend thinking. By the time I went to bed Sunday night, I had made a decision.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As I rubbed my cheek, I looked at Mary Alice like she was a creature from outer space.

"Fight for you? Why in God's name should I have fought for you? It was obvious that you didn't really want me. Shit, Mary Alice, every time I did get back together with you it ended because you couldn't or wouldn't stay away from Reardon. I finally accepted the fact that you were a cheater and always would be, so why the hell should I have wasted another minute of my life fighting for you?"

"Because you were supposed to love me; that's why."

"You were supposed to love me too, Mary Alice, but that didn't keep you away from Reardon."

"So I was young and stupid, Bobby, but Seth was no good, and you and everybody else knew it. God knows that enough people kept telling me that. You knew it, too, and you were supposed to love me enough to keep after me until I finally woke up to the fact that everybody was right about him."

"I was supposed to put my life on hold for the next five or ten years waiting for you to get your head out of your ass? Get serious, Mary Alice. You made your choices so you get to live with them."

I saw my wife come in the door and look around for me.

"You need to be leaving, Mary Alice. My wife just got here."

Mary Alice got a nasty look on her face, snarled, "Fuck you, Bob" and stomped away.

"Was that Mary Alice I saw you talking to?"

"Indeed it was, Bev, baby."

Bev? Not Barb, but Bev? Yes it was, and as that old radio icon Paul Harvey used to say:

"Now for the rest of the story."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Monday after Bev's Saturday visit, I called her and asked her to put Barb on the phone. She did and I made a date for Tuesday evening. That date led to several more and a month later, she was wearing my engagement ring. Four months after, that we both said, "I do," in a civil ceremony with Bev and Mike as witnesses.

The next five years went by and they were happy years. We had put off having kids until we were a little more financially stable. On our fifth wedding anniversary, we decided that we were in good enough shape so the condoms and the birth control pills went into the trash can.

It was a Tuesday, about a month after our anniversary when I got a call from Bev.

"Can you get away from work right now?"

"I suppose, why?"

"I have a major problem and I need your help. Right now! It has to be done in the next half hour to forty-five minutes. Time is of the essence here, Bob. Please don't call anyone to see if you can get a heads up. Just meet me at Tricocci's ASAP. Please, Bob; it is really important."

Ten minutes later I was at Tricocci's, and Bev didn't even let me sit down.

"We'll take my car. Come on; we need to hurry."

As she drove, I tried to get her to tell me what was happening and all she would say is "You'll have to see it with your own eyes, Bob. It is the only way you are going to believe it." She pulled up in front of the house that she and Mike had bought when they got married. Mike's truck was in the driveway, but for some reason Bev didn't pull into the drive behind him.

"Hurry, Bob; we need to get there before it's over."

"Before what is over?"

"You'll see. In a minute you'll see."

She opened the door and we hurried inside. The house was a three-bedroom ranch, and Bev led me down the hall toward the master bedroom. I could hear noises coming from it, but I couldn't make out what they were, until Bev quietly opened the door. There on the bed were three people. There was Mike, his best friend Ted and my wife. Barb was sucking Ted's cock while Mike was fucking her doggie. I couldn't tell if he was in her pussy or her ass, but I guess it really didn't matter which because the end result was the same.

"Surprise!" Bev yelled out, and three startled sets of eyes shot to the doorway. "Oh God no!" Barb cried out, and then she started crying. I hadn't noticed, but as soon as Bev opened the door, she had started taking pictures with her cell phone.

"What the fuck are you doing home?" Mike snarled, and he came off the bed and headed for Bev as he yelled, "Give me that fucking phone."

He was so intent on getting that phone that he paid no attention to me, and I doubt he ever saw the punch I threw that put his ass on the floor. Ted finally got his shit together and came off the bed to help his buddy. Not wanting it to be two against one, I kicked Mike in the stones as hard as I could and turned to meet Ted. Just as Mike had ignored me when going after Bev's phone, Ted ignored Bev as he came after me. Bev stuck out a leg and tripped him and he fell. I knew it wasn't very sporting of me, but I had always believed that once you get them down you keep them down, so I buried my foot in his side and then put a couple more into his crotch.

One of the things I noticed while putting the boot to their crotches was that neither one of them had a condom on. That really torqued me off since Barb and I had stopped using protection because we were going to start a family. That caused me to put a couple more into their crotches. Both men stayed on the floor writhing in pain as I walked over to the bed. Barb had her head buried in in a pillow, but I could still hear her sobs. I grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her face up off the pillow.

"Don't even think about coming home," I said. "You are nothing but a worthless whore. We were trying to have a baby and here you are fucking two assholes without rubbers. Trying to give me another man's kid to raise? Do not call me. Do not try to see me. You are dead to me. I'm going to pack your shit and toss it out onto the driveway."

I let go of her hair and started to walk out of the room. I saw Bev go over to Barb, pull her head up and then say, "What Bob said goes for me, too. I don't ever want to see or talk to you again. You are dead to me!"

Bev and I walked out together and she drove me back to Tricocci's to pick up my car. During the ride, I asked Bev how long the three of them had been at it, and she told me that for the last three months she had suspected that Mike had been running around on her, but she had only known for sure for the last three weeks. "And I didn't know that it was Barb until today."

"How did you find out?"

"I'm pretty friendly with Marge, our neighbor, and three weeks back she asked me if I knew that Mike brought a girl and another guy to the house during the day. Sometimes two or three times a week. The lawyers I work for have an investigator on retainer, and I asked the managing partner how much it would cost me to use him. He asked why, and I told him. He said he would take care of it and I could consider it part of my benefits package. Martha told me that it always happened on a Tuesday around noon, and sometimes on Wednesday and Thursday, but always around noon.

"I told that to Jake, the investigator, and he was parked across the street from the house on Tuesday. At twelve-twenty, Mike came home with a woman and another guy. They went into the house and two hours later, they came out and left. I didn't bother asking Jake to get pictures because this is a no-fault divorce state. My plan was to be parked just down the street. When they got here, I would go inside and catch them and then divorce him. When they got here, I saw that the woman was Barb and the guy was Ted. That's when I called you."