Ch 12
Hal always had a history of looking the other way. Of ignoring, putting off, letting slide, and generally not confronting issues around him. Growing up, his parents fought often about money. His father was almost a serial shoplifter, and his mother had multiple affairs. His much-older brother seemed like he couldn't go a week without getting in a fight.
And regardless of who did what, or for what reason, practically everything was ignored. Unless it had to do with being able to afford groceries or pay the bills, no one confronted anyone. When his parents fought, Hal would go with his brother to the other side of the house to play video games, watch TV, or they'd just leave and come back when they thought things settled down.
When his father stole, usually for stuff he didn't even need, his mother pointedly looked the other way. Hal followed his mother's example over the years, and as long as he never got caught, they never said anything. Once, in a mall, Hal noticed his father had stolen a pair of shoes from a Payless, a zip-up jacket from a Macy's, and then had every pocket -- there were three, counting the one on the breast -- with something random from the other stores around the mall. His mother didn't even comment on it.
There were times that his mother came home from "a long day at work" smelling of booze and sweat. The only reason anyone suspected the affairs at all was because she didn't spend any money doing it -- she had to have been letting other people buy the drinks for her.
Hal confirmed his suspicions on two separate occasions. On the same week, he'd snuck out of school early twice to skip a class with a teacher he didn't like. When he'd gotten home, both times, his mother had ushered a different guy out the front door moments after he'd gotten his shoes off. He didn't talk about the men, or mention or flushed face or her frazzled hair, and she didn't mention him skipping classes.
When his brother got into fights, he'd come home with bruised knuckles, a black eye, once a missing tooth -- for whatever reason, even that didn't get brought up as long as his older brother never asked to see a doctor. He knew he had several wicked scars that probably deserved stitches, but never got them. And his parents would only ask if he needed anything. "What'll help best, kiddo? A drink? An old shirt for a bandage?" his father would ask.
Hal had a long history of looking the other way. So when his girlfriend started acting strange or coming home late, or staring at his friend Brian, he stayed the course. Looked the other way. It didn't seem like she was any less interested in him, and that was all he really cared about. Much like the way his parents only really cared about paying the bills and keeping food on the table.
It wasn't like "no harm no foul," and he knew it wasn't normal. If he thought about it, he would see how wrong it was. But it just wasn't in his DNA to go starting fights if he didn't have to worry about losing what was important. To Hal, the important stuff was his sex life, his relationship, and his girlfriend's mental health. Since they still had fun on dates, still fucked plenty, and his girlfriend seemed as happy as ever, he just let the rest slide.
There was one issue, though. Just a teeny, tiny problem. Something he didn't expect to ever have to grapple with, and it was something that was getting harder and harder to ignore, mostly because of how things were going. He was starting to fantasize about what she might be doing when he wasn't around. They were foreign, unwelcome thoughts, but he couldn't deny the erection he had after the phone calls that night she'd come home so late from work.
He knew his girlfriend. He recognized the lust in her voice and picked up on her hushed moans. She was apparently having the time of her life, and despite his urge to look the other way while everything else was kosher, he couldn't deny how turned on he was when she'd called him while she was obviously with another guy. He had no idea if she'd even been at work. But he knew, without a fact, that she'd been fucked good that night.
She'd told him she was doing a team builder with her boss and her coworker. Both were young men, and Hal always had a suspicions they both liked Brittany as more than a coworker. If Brittany was at least half telling the truth, and she'd been with both men that night -- Hal shuddered at the thought, put it off.
Had Brittany been more attentive when she got home that night, she might have realized he'd been trying to hide an erection from her. Had she come and sat down, she probably would have realized he was urgently hiding all the porn he'd opened up about hot blonde chicks that looked like his girlfriend. But she didn't. She had a smile ten miles wide and a stilted walk, messy hair, drying cum on her clothes. Despite seeing it with his own eyes, and despite the erection in his shorts, when Brittany told him she was off to take a shower, he shrugged and looked the other way.
***
Another week passed, and when the following weekend began, Brittany realized she'd reached a point with her weight and trim that she finally felt satisfied with her hard work. She decided to slow down to a few workouts each week to maintain her weight.
She reflected that work had been going very well, and while no special "team builders" had occurred since their first threesome, the two customer service reps and their boss did work better together. Brittany even tolerated regular slaps on the ass (which inevitably started as a slap, and ended with mild groping -- one time even leading to a customer following the employees' example, much to everyone's surprise).
At home, Brittany and Hal continued to enjoy her newfound self esteem, fucking any night that both of them weren't already tired. There was an almost-tense conversation when Hal brought up the 'team builder' Brittany had stayed late for at work, asking out of the blue, "So what ball did you guys use at work?"
Brittany was caught off guard, and said, "What? We've never had any balls at work."
When he reiterated with some "confusion" that their team builder had used some kind of ball, Brittany flushed a deep red, stammering and backtracking. She finally managed to say that Rick had had a football in his truck. That's when Hal jabbed at her for losing her cool, saying, "Jeez, babe, what actually happened that night?" He had a smile on his face, but Brittany had to force a chuckle and leave the room 'for a glass of water.'
Hal hunched forward and blew out a deep breath at her reaction, gaining further evidence. "Wow," was all he could say.
Later that night, Brian came up in conversation. It made Hal wonder more about who his girlfriend might have been with lately, which didn't help his predicament. He didn't want to fantasize about other guys railing his girlfriend, but part of him couldn't quell the excitement it gave him.
Still, Brian had his own life, and he didn't get many chances to come over in the first place. Hal figured it wasn't likely that much could have happened between the two, despite the times he'd pushed Brian into groping her. Hal had to finally start to accept that the first time he'd done it, it wasn't just a joke. At least, he might have meant it that way, but it'd still sprouted the seed he never knew was there.
Brittany played it cool when she asked about Brian, not knowing the kind of mental gymnastics her boyfriend was doing to think about everything going on. Still, the couple talked about it and planned on seeing Brian before he left for a temporary out-of-town job.
That Friday, Brian showed up to visit before leaving for his temp job in the next state over. He and Hal talked about what kind of work he was doing, who he'd work for, and how he felt about it. Brittany got the impression Brian was excited to get out of town for a little while.
She sensed he was at least a little disappointed that they hadn't had any more private moments, or chances to repeat his last visit. She could see it in the way he glanced at her tits when Hal wasn't looking, and how he avoided too much eye contact with her when she asked him little questions.
Brian spent an hour and a half hanging out, and he felt like it was almost time to go, especially since Hal didn't seem to have anywhere he needed to run off to.
