"I can't wait for tonight. I've been craving you all week." I smiled as I read the text from Jessica early Thursday morning. I sent one back, saying I was excited too.
"As excited as I am, I would also like to get in a little workout," she sent back. "Is that OK before we head to my apartment?"
"Of course," I told her. "I could use one too."
Getting to the gym that night, I met up with Kourtney and Jessica, giving them both hugs as they came out of the women's locker room. Both girls looked amazing, with their brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, short running shorts, and a white t-shirt. They said that they were going to walk on the treadmills, but they wanted to stretch first, so I went to join them.
As we were stretching and talking, Kourtney said, "I'm kind of surprised you two just didn't go straight to Jessica's apartment."
"I wanted to, but I also would like a workout too. Trust me, we won't be here long," Jessica said.
"Katie wanted to come tonight, but I told her no. I wasn't sure if she knew about you two or not, but I didn't want to risk it," Kourtney said, standing up from the floor.
Me and Jessica were still on the floor, stretching out our legs, when Jessica said, "That's good. It's bad enough she knows about you two."
Kourtney was stretching her arms and said, "So, Danny, if I hadn't said yes to coming over last Friday, would you have called Katie next?"
"No, I would have just spent the night alone. I told her one time, and I was serious about it," I said, seeing a confused look on Jessica's face out of the corner of my eye.
"You slept with Katie?" She asked me.
"Twice," Kourtney said. "Not just the one time."
"Oh," Jessica said.
Kourtney asked me something else, and as I responded, Jessica stood up from the floor and looked around the gym. "Hey, you know what, guys? I'm all of a sudden super tired. I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to go home."
"What?" Me and Kourtney both said it at the same time.
"Yeah. I'll talk to you later, but I need to go home," Jessica said before she started to walk away. I looked at Kourtney, who was just as confused as I was.
Kourtney shrugged her shoulders before I said, "I don't think she's happy that I slept with Katie."
Kourtney's eyes went wide, and she said, "I'll go talk to her."
As Kourtney walked away, I finished stretching and decided to go ride a stationary bike while I waited. When Kourtney came to find me a few minutes later, I asked if everything was OK, and she said, "I don't think so. I asked if it was about Katie, and she just said she was tired and going home. I asked if she still wanted you to come over, and she said no."
"Yeah, I think I already figured that one out," I said as Kourtney walked away to go to the treadmills.
Me and Kourtney walked out together, going to our cars, when our gym session was finished. We stopped at her car, and I pulled out my phone. Kourtney asked if I was going to text Jessica, and I asked if I should. Kourtney just shrugged her shoulders as she leaned up against her car.
I shrugged my shoulders before I decided to text Jessica. "Hey, I'm sorry if we upset you. It was never my intention. Can I come over, just to talk?"
"No" was Jessica's short reply a minute later.
"Ok," I sent back.
"I'm sorry I got your hopes up about tonight. I think I might be getting sick because I just got super tired all of a sudden. I'll talk to you tomorrow," her next text said.
I showed Kourtney what Jessica sent, and she said, "Maybe she's telling the truth?" I said I wasn't sure before giving Kourtney a hug and going home.
Jessica didn't text me that next day. Or the day after. Or the day after. I sent her a few, just asking if she was OK, but never got a response. Kourtney said that Jessica was talking to her, so I wasn't too worried. It was finally on that Thursday that Jessica texted me back, asking if we could talk that night. I said, of course, and she said to meet her outside the gym before I went in.
I tried to give her a hug when she came out of her apartment building, but she took a step away from me. "I'm sorry about last Thursday. I got really upset when I heard you slept with Katie, and I didn't know why."
"Ok?" I said, intently listening to her.
"I shouldn't have cared if you did. You're already cheating on your wife with me and Kourtney, what's one more person? But, I figured it out. I like you, Danny. A lot. And I know that I can't have you," she said.
I went to say something, but Jessica cut me off. "Not yet. I need to get this out. It's not fair to me, you, Kathy, or our kids for us to keep going. We need to stop. But, I can't stop without at least trying one thing."
"What's that?" I asked.
"I've been offered a job up in Boise and gotten permission from the custody judge to move me and Liam up there if I accept it. Come with me," she said.
"Jessica, you know I would if I could. But, my kids," I started to say.
"I know. I don't know what I was hoping for. I would be upset if you said yes and upset if you said no. Either way, I need to step away. Goodbye, Danny. Thank you for everything. I really mean it," Jessica said before stepping away and going back into her apartment. I briefly had the thought to follow her, but decided against it and turned to go to the gym.
As soon as Kourtney saw me, she could sense something was up and asked what had happened. I quickly filled her in on what Jessica said, and Kourtney replied back, "Damn, I can't believe she would put you in that spot."
"I know," I said.
"I'm sorry, Danny. I kind of feel like this is my fault," Kourtney said, putting her hand on my back and gently rubbing it.
"It's OK. Something like this was bound to happen. I'm just glad it didn't end with more people finding out," I said.
"Me too," Kourtney said.
I didn't hear from Jessica for the rest of that month. Me and Kourtney continued to go to the gym every Thursday, kissing and hugging afterwards, but were unable to find the time to do anything else. The last Thursday in June, as we stood by our cars talking after our gym session, Kourtney said, "So, next Thursday is the Fourth of July. What are you guys doing for it?"
"I don't know. Me and Kathy will both be off. Probably hit a parade in the morning with the kids, hang out at home, maybe some fireworks at night," I told her. "What about you?"
"I don't know. Probably nothing. Maybe I'll come join you guys for the parade," she said.
We hugged and kissed before saying goodbye. When I got home, Kathy and I started to talk about the holiday, and I said, "Kourtney mentioned maybe coming to the parade with us. We could always invite them over afterwards, have a swim party, and BBQ that night."
My wife agreed that it was a good plan and started talking to her family about it. When the day came, Kourtney and Katie both came to the parade, much to the delight of my little daughters. After the parade, with it being Utah, it was already one hundred degrees outside, and we headed back to my house to set up the swimming pool.
The only pool we had was a family-size pool blow-up that got to about three feet deep. I got to work blowing it up and filling it with water while the girls went inside to make some lunch and get my kids ready to swim. After getting the water started, I went inside and joined them to eat some lunch.
Kourtney was the only one who brought her swimsuit, so me, Katie, and Kathy sat in the shade watching Kourtney and the kids play in the water. About an hour in, my wife got up and went inside the house. When she came back out, she said, "Hey, mom and dad just called. They're wondering if the girls wanted to go to the carnival with them at the park."
At the same time, all three of my daughters yelled out that they wanted to go. My wife looked at me, Katie, and Kourtney and said, "Anybody else?"
Katie said that she would go, while Kourtney said, "Honestly, with how hot it is, I would rather go home or stay here in the water."
Kathy looked at me and said, "I'm guessing you want to stay here to stay out of the heat and the crowd?"