Author's Notes:
This is a revision of my original story, Customize Your Marriage Pt. 1. I write stories because they are enjoyable to write and/or I want to tell a specific story. The hope is that you enjoy reading them. With the original story, the feedback was that there were significant issues preventing readers from enjoying it.
I believe I can still tell the same story that I want, but do it in a way that is enjoyable to readers, i.e., write a better story.
I have removed Edward's POV. He is still a character, but hopefully, without having to read events from his perspective, the story will be more enjoyable. Anything that was his previous POV will either happen from another character's POV, will be summarized, or may just not be presented in this version.
I have also revised the beginning. The original start was intended as a red herring when this was a much shorter story. In its current evolution, I do not think that introduction serves its purpose anymore. This is not a cheating husband/wife story. There will be discussion of prior cheating later in the story, but the point is to discuss the consequences or characters' views of it. Ultimately, this story is about promises, who we make them with, what we do to keep them, and the consequences of keeping or breaking them. Nothing about that has changed with this revision.
Finally, there is still a trigger warning for sexual assault. Please heed it if needed. The relevant information is summarized in Pt. 2
Oh, and yes, I changed Lawrence to Philip in this version. I didn't like Lauren and Lawrence.
Scott's POV
Something was...cold? No, not cold, but cool. Breezy. Yeaah, that was the word, breezy. Why was it breezy? What was going on? My eyes were closed. The bed felt scratchier than normal. I pushed my arm towards the breeziness, ughh thinking is hard, and that word sounds dumb.
Thunk! Pfffffffbbbbbbbbbttttttttttttttttt!
I opened my eyes just in time to see that my blind groping had found the source of the breeze and created a god-awful clatter. Yay for multi-tasking.
Someone had placed a mini fan near my head, blowing straight down the blankets. It was the kind you hold in your hand, portable enough to take anywhere. My reach had knocked it over, and the fan blades, thankfully flexible plastic, were now beating a staccato tattoo out on a wooden table. I heard a soft, high-pitched giggle that sounded extremely familiar. "Hi Scott", another giggle followed this greeting.
Tina! That's whose voice it was. What the hell was Tina doing in my bedroom? That thought made me finally fully open my eyes, bolt upright in bed, and throw back the blanket, determined to find out what was going on. Oh, not my bed. That was my first thought, Tina beat me to my second.
"Oh, good morning, Scott", Tina's voice was sultry this time. "I thought I'd get a little rise out of you with the fan, but I didn't think it would be that big. Or thick."
Yep, I was naked. Naked, in the front room of my house. Which made some sense as I didn't have a table at the head of my bed where a fan could be placed. The nightstand was too low and not at the right angle, the dresser too far away and too tall. But having fallen asleep on the couch, yep, there was a table where a probably evil-minded person could place a fan that would blow straight down an innocent man's blankets.
But getting back to naked. I had thrown off the blanket, which meant that Tina, easily my wife and I's best friend, was now treated to the sight of my very naked body, and something I'm normally proud of, my morning wood.
"Shit", I screeched, manfully hopefully. I grabbed the blankets in a wad and thrust it into my crotch. Well, such was my rush that blanket or not, I had basically just punched my family jewels. Great way to start the day.
Trying to keep my breath even and forcing an embarrassed smile on my face. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your lovely company this morning?" I asked Tina. "And why on God's green earth would you put a fan blowing down a man's blanket when he is sleeping?" I grabbed the still-running fan with my non-blanket-holding hand and switched it off.
"Remember last night when I told you my coffee maker was broken and you said I could use yours? Well, I thought I would take you up on your offer. But when I came over, you were on the couch, I assume Lauren is upstairs in bed, and the fan was just lying around. I was hoping it would be funny." She ended with a bit of a blush and a bashful glance at me.
"I, oh yeah, I do remember", I lied lamely. I didn't actually, but if she had told either Lauren or me anything was broken, we definitely would have offered our own. That's what you do for your best friend. If she had just been a neighbor, probably not, but best friend, yes, obviously we offered.
I took a deep breath. Here I was, in my own home, with only a blanket covering part of me, and a woman who was not my wife sitting across from me. Another deep breath. The adrenaline rush would wear off in a few minutes at most, and until then, I just needed to control it. I had plenty of practice with that. Lots of practice that I hated every second of and wouldn't wish on anyone else.
Focus on something. That was easy, Tina. I could tell it was early because the sun was just beginning to peek through the large front window. Tina sat just to the side of the window, curled up on the chaise. She was cute, that was the universally agreed-upon way to describe Tina. Short, barely 5'2" on a good day, petite everything. Red hair just brushed her shoulders, a small, round face, button nose, brown eyes, small mouth, and what I called a ballerina's body. This morning's pre-coffee outfit was a deep violet t-shirt and navy running shorts. Like I said, cute, even when blushing after seeing me naked.
"Since when do you make dirty jokes?" I said in a teasing voice.
Tina blushed again. "Since you and Lauren told me not to take other people's crap and fire it back at them", she said.
Oh right. Tina was cute, with a heart of gold, very smart, and painfully reserved. It wasn't shyness necessarily. Shy people usually just take more time to get comfortable with people or prefer smaller, more intimate groups. Tina just had trouble with everything when it came to herself. Asking for help, standing up for herself, and offering ideas as her own. She was one of the most amazing, beautiful souls I had ever met, and Lauren was determined that others would see what we saw in Tina.
"Ha, good for you. I'll take the compliment to my size as payment for sticking a goddamn fan down my blankets." I was chuckling now and shaking my head. Only Tina would come up with such an innocent prank and have it turn so dirty.
"Cool. I thought it was good. But why are you naked on the couch?" She gasped and covered her mouth after she said that. "Oh no! Did Lauren kick you out? Was it something I said last night? I should go, right? You two probably need to talk."
I started to raise my hand in astonishment at the sudden flood of words. But she talked right over me.
"Wait, no! Oh, I saw you naked. I need to talk to Lauren." She jumped off the chaise and moved towards the kitchen and presumably the stairs. "I'm so sorry, Scott. I'll tell her it was my fault and you were asleep." Her voice had gotten progressively higher-pitched and panicked sounding.
I had been trying to get a word in somewhere during her increasingly panicked word vomit, to no avail. So I whistled. Not low and soft, or even the universally despised "looking good babe" whistle men do at women. Nope. Two fingers in the mouth, fill the lungs as much as possible, and let out a piercing, shrill, attack on every eardrum within 100 yards. Lauren was going to kill me if she were still asleep.
"Tina", I said gently after my very rude whistle stopped her in her tracks. "Lauren is going to laugh her ass off when we tell her what happened this morning," I emphasized we, trying to make sure she understood this had been a team effort. After all, I was still trying to figure out why I had slept naked on the couch when my front room has a gigantic window that faces a busy street.
"Laugh my ass off at what you perv", came Lauren's voice from the stairs.
Lauren's POV
I let them explain what had happened in the kitchen, planning to avail myself of the coffee Tina had so fortuitously started. Well, I was standing behind the island facing Tina, who was sitting on a barstool. Scott had bashfully wrapped the blanket more fully around himself into something like a toga, if togas had 90% of their material stuffed around your crotch and ass. Lucky for Scott, that left many parts of his upper body and legs sticking out, and those were always nice eye candy. He was sitting at the kitchen table, seeming to feel that keeping distance between himself and Tina was best.
I tried so hard to keep a straight face. I almost got to the end. They were so adorable, stumbling over each other's words. Jumping in anytime they thought that there might be any potential for misinterpretation of what the other said. I think I had heard seven different attempts to explain Scott's nakedness and what exactly Tina had seen for exactly how many seconds before I couldn't do it.
I grinned. That led to me trying to hide the grin behind a hastily grabbed coffee mug that just happened to say "Freak in the Sheets" with an Excel symbol on it. I couldn't take it anymore. I almost threw the mug back on the counter as I doubled over, holding my belly while laughing.
"Oh my fucking God", I wheezed between full-throated out of control laughter. "Your faces. Your fucking faces."
Tina looked even more like she wanted to die, and I almost got myself under control, feeling a rush of sympathy for her. Almost, because Scott was scowling, and that set me off on another round of howling laughter.
