I had always wondered if they'd been intimate, but I was never sure. Of course, I am aware that at one time she considered him her closest friend, her best buddy.  There was a time, I knew, they were practically inseparable. It just stands to reason that they have been intimate, that they had fucked, but I was not self-assured enough to ask her. Would she just blow me off, or would it make her angry that I asked? I wasn't sure.
I had watched them together and they seemed to be so very relaxed and comfortable around one another, like dear friends, which they never denied. So I asked myself would it matter?  If I found they had slept together would I be able to handle that? I could say it is just in the past, but then I would wonder if it was really only in the past. Whether they were still being intimate. So, if it wasn't in the past, if they were still having sex, would it matter to me?
I was pretty sure it would. Being a pretty normally insecure kind of guy, I am fairly sure it would bother me a lot. I know I get pretty jealous if a good looking guy even looks at her approvingly. I know sex isn't the most important thing in life, we all tell ourselves that, but I also know that it would bother me a great deal if my wife was having sex with another man. I fight against feeling possessive and thinking I own her, but insecurity rules most the time and it's a losing battle. I don't own her but I'd like to, I guess.
When I finally told her about my worries, she just smiled, said I had to let go of my possessiveness. "You have to learn not to feel jealous," she said. When I asked how I did that, she grinned again and said I needed to be trained not to think sex was the only measure of fidelity.
"Just like a dog needs obedience training, you need to practice not feeling jealous," she said. "We can help you. Like riding a bike, you need to keep getting back on until you don't fall off anymore.  You need to practice not feeling jealous. You can only do that by testing yourself.
Jake and I can help you," she said. "Practice makes perfect."
She took my hand. "You like porn, right? Jake and I will make love and you'll watch us. Think of it as porn, erotic videos. Learn to enjoy watching your wife receiving sexual pleasure. You want me to enjoy myself, right? You aren't so selfish you don't want me to have a good time, correct? So we will help you get over your insecurity."
"So you've had sex with Jake?" I asked.
"That is not important," she said. "The important thing is for you to learn not to be resentful and jealous. It only would be sex, not love. You want to stop being jealous don't you? You have to think of it as giving me something, not me taking something from you.
Of course, I did want to stop feeling jealous. I wanted to be secure enough that the worry didn't eat me up inside. I couldn't argue against that. I thought about her porn analogy. She was right. I saw sex between other people as just entertainment, recreation of sort. Perhaps if I could just see her sex with someone else as just performance, entertainment, then perhaps I would not worry about her being with someone else. Maybe I could see it as just her pleasure.
I told her that night that I would try. We made love and it was good, loving, gentle sex. She gave me what I needed, what I wanted, and I vowed to try to let go of my possessiveness. I did want to stop worrying about whether she was intimate with someone else. I did want to let go of the feelings I had of possessing her, of owning her, of being the only one she could enjoy herself with.
I was willing to try. I pledged to do all I could to stop fretting about the possibility of her being unfaithful. I began thinking of her being able to enjoy herself sexually without me.  I began to imagine porn scenarios and put her in sexual situations. Gradually, I began to enjoy them, to be able to picture her having sex without ill feelings and hostility. I was practicing, as she said. I was letting go of the idea that she was only mine to have sex with.
I began to think of her with Jake, to picture them together and even masturbate to images of them. It was working. I began to think of actually agreeing to watch them, to accept them as a couple and acquiescing to their legitimate right to enjoy one another sexually. The more I thought about it the more excited I got about the possibility.
She asked me one night if I was thinking about it and I told her I was. I explained about what I had done, about her porn analogy, my picturing them together, and about how excited I had become. She listened, nodded, and smiled.
"That's good," she said. "And you're thinking about it as pleasure, not infidelity?" I nodded. "Then maybe you're ready," she said. "Maybe it's time."  I nodded. "Jake and I have been having sex since before we were married," she said. "But it is just sex, just recreation, not love."
Her announcement didn't tear me apart. I had, by that time, known it was coming and it didn't destroy me. "I guess I knew that," I said. "I'd like to watch you. I think I am ready."
"You want to practice letting go? You want to learn how not to feel jealous?" she asked, leaning forward and kissing me tenderly. It was a wonderful kiss and it communicated love and caring. I held her and thought about what she'd said. It didn't bother me anymore that she and Jake had been having sex. As I looked at her and smiled with my arms around her waist, I knew she loved me, that it had just been sex, and that I could handle her being with Jake.
"Are you sure?" she said. I hugged her and nodded. "He's coming on Saturday," she said. "He'll be here for dinner, then we'll soak in the hot tub, then we'll see." As I held her I thought about seeing them together, watching them make love, seeing his penis slipping into her.
"I thought maybe you had," I said. "At first I didn't think I could handle it, but after what you said I thought about that.  What you said made sense. He is a good friend. If you are going to enjoy someone, it is good it is with a friend. I am excited about seeing the two of you together. I am grateful that you are willing to let me share it with you and watch. When he comes, how do you want to do it?"
"We will have dinner. We'll soak in the hot tub, then I would like some time with him first," she said. "I'll call you in after a few minutes.  At first, I'd like you to just watch.  After awhile, maybe you can participate, if you want."
"I'd like that," I said. We kissed and stood holding one another for a long time.  "I love you," I said.
"I love you, too," she said. "I am fond of Jake. I like having sex with him, but I love you. I chose to be with you. I don't own you, either," she said. "You are free to enjoy anyone you choose. Really. It has to be fair.  Is there anyone you might like to be with?"