A Big Ask

"Dude, that sucks," I gasped, "Isn't there anything they can do?"

"It's been eight months since the accident. I bruised a nerve in my lower back, and they say the swelling goes down and the nerve usually recovers after a year or two. Maybe then."

"No surgeries?"

"Not worth it. They could do even more damage to the spinal cord by cutting, and they're not even sure exactly where it is."

"When they cut you out of the Mustang, I was always amazed at how little injury you suffered. Guess I was wrong. Hey, I'll bet if you were somebody famous, like, uh, Clint Eastwood, they'd find a cure."

"Got an extra million bucks I could bribe someone with?"

"Wow, wait a minute, what about Mel?"

"Yeah, about that, she's been pretty freaked out."

"I bet. How do you, I mean, how...uh"

"It's been tough on her...on us. Here, let me get you another beer."

"Yeah, sure. Christ, I'm so sorry. I, I feel like asking, and don't take this the wrong way, if there's anything I could do to help, but that'd be weird, right?"

Opening another cold one for me, he replied, "Yeah, about that, that's, uh, something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

"As long as this isn't leading where I think it might, I'm here for you. This isn't going there, is it?"

"Yeah, about that, uh, I think it, uh, well, fuck, the thing is... yeah."

"Okay, way too late for beating around the bush, spill it."

"Actually, it was my idea."

"What was?"

"Mel and I have known you for, what, 3 years? Since well before the accident. Can't even count how many BBQs since we've been in the neighborhood and you know Mel, she's crazy about me."

"Yeah, but lately I've noticed there's, like, tension between you two. You're kinda snappy with her."

"Yeah, and I feel terrible about it every time. It's because we used to fuck every day, and it's coming up on a year now since I've been able to do it because of... sometimes I just want to scream."

"But there are other ways to..."

"We've done all that. My god, my tongue is twice as strong and often twice as tired as it was a year ago. She says it's better than nothing, but just not the same. Neither are plastic toys."

"My girlfriends have always loved the oral part with the fucking as icing on the cake."

"Shit, I don't know, Melanie likes icing, I guess. She has always liked sucking and fucking the best."

"What guy wouldn't want to be with, can't believe I'm saying it...your wife. She's smart and funny, and I'm sorry, but that body of hers- Christ. You know that yellow blouse, the one that's too loose and her tits peak out every time she leans over."

"Of course, I know the fucking blouse. She has a red one and a white one that do the same thing. By the way, she watches your eyes as she leans over, and you never notice. Guys never do. It turns her on to flash and when she's in the mood, she wears one of those blouses. Look, the point is, we each wrote up a list of guys that might work. We gave each other veto power over ones we didn't like. She didn't like a lot of the guys on my list, and I didn't like most of the ones on hers, but you were on the top of each list."

"I'm flattered, but, you don't really know anything about how I am in bed."

"Apparently that's not true my friend. Mel has had some pretty intimate conversations with some of your girlfriends over the years. Girl talk, or some shit."

"All good news, I presume, but what about...."

"What about what? We've been hashing it out for about a month now, and you're the still the front runner. She feels terrible that she's even considering it at all, but these are desperate times."

"Mel IS a great kisser. I can tell by watching you two, plus she always gives me a nice soft peck on the lips as a greeting."

"She only does that with really close friends. I can't believe I'm saying this, but she is amazing in bed. Actually, truth is, I wouldn't know because we got married straight outta high school. She's only the second girl I ever fucked, but you know that- Mel's told that story like a hundred times."

"How are YOU with this?"

"Of course, I hate the whole fucking thing, but I'm sure that if the roles were reversed, she'd do the same for me. It's going to be brutal emotionally, but probably not much worse than what we've been... Look, I know I'm going to be insanely jealous of you, but we're thinnking it'll be worth it in the end. I have to believe that."

"Wait, if you can't get a boner, how to you, you know, relieve the pressure? It's hard for me to go a whole day without..."

"I can still come, but I don't get hard, and it takes a lot more work. It's very emasculating. The only reason I can handle it at all is because I know she loves me. She's very giving, and I need to be able to give her something she needs too."

"You know that Kathy and I broke up."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. She was really cute."

"Don't be, turns out she was very religious. Never mentioned it to me- in 4 months- but the fact that I hadn't taken Jesus to be my personal Lord and Saviour, was a deal breaker for her. I'm going to ask women on a first date from now on just to get it out of the way. Now she's one who really loved it when I went down on her. Used to scream 'Jesus' when she came. Shoulda been a clue."

"Sounds like it," he chuckled.

"So, what, exactly are you asking of me?"

"Mel wants, no, NEEDS to have sex. Old fashioned cock and pussy sex. We gotta find someone that's acceptable. Bottom line- both Mel and I are thinking it should be you."

"I was afraid you were going to say that."

"Why? Most guys would give their left nut to screw my wife."

"Being honest here, of course I'd give either nut to be with her, but that's in a consequence-free world where no one has to suffer emotionally. My first thought is no. I don't want to lose either of you as friends."

"I appreciate that, but if we can't figure this out, we'll probably end up getting divorced and THAT would fuck everything up. Look, none of us have ever done anything like this before and I don't know how it will all shake out. There are no guidebooks. All I know that my wife is in need, a need that I can't meet for her- except by, uh, doing something like this."

"And she's okay with it?"

"Yeah."

"So would you be there with us?"

"I've been thinking about that and, no, I'm pretty sure I couldn't handle it."

"I've got to talk to Mel about it first, to work out...things."

"Okay, you're officially invited for BBQ on our patio this evening. Six good for you?"

"I guess."

"Great, I bought some steaks- nice thick rib-eyes. I owe you buddy, just for considering it."

"I gotta go home and do the dishes before my roommate gets home. They've been there for 3 days now. See you then."

"Later."

I walked in, sat down, and started a list of pros and cons.

"Pros" were 1) helping a friend, 2) steady sex- I hadn't asked, but I assumed it was steady. I couldn't think of any other pros, but those were pretty good.

"Cons" were 1) maybe screwing up my relationship with this cute couple, and 2) maybe not being good enough for her, and 3) what if she fell in love with me?

I sat there thinking about it for another hour. Never did do the dishes.

At 5:30, my roommate opened the front door. "Hey dickhead," is all he said, as he walked past me to the bathroom. I heard loud splashing noises.

"I'm taking a shower and going over to Mel and Brian's. They invited me to dinner."

"What?" He said as he reentered the living room, zipping up his fly.

"Going to Mel and Brian's for dinner. Need to take a shower,"

"Be my guest," and glancing into the kitchen commented, "Shit, it was your turn to do the dishes."

"Sorry, I'll do them when I get back."

"Yeah, right." he sighed as he reached for the remote control and dove onto the couch.

I showered and pulled my long hair into a ponytail. It was going to be a warm evening, so I pulled on some clean-ish shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, with flip flops.

"I'm taking the Dos Equis," I said over the voices on the TV.

"All of 'em?"

"No there's three more bottles in the door."

"Have fun," my roommate mumbled as I slipped out.

I walked the half block and opened the outer gate to their patio a couple of minutes late.

"Hey," Brian greeted as he was salting the steaks on their platter. The hot smoking charcoal briquets were ready and the air shimmered with the heat.

"Brought beer."

"Always a good idea. Mel- he brought beer."

Mel darted out through the screen door, wearing the yellow blouse, with an open beer in her hand and gave me a one-armed hug with one of her signature kisses. She was wearing 3-inch heels which brought her lips up much closer to mine.

I really noticed her left breast pushing against my stomach, and her right one peeking out from her blouse. "Good to see you, thanks for coming. Hey slow poke, get those steaks on...everything else is ready. I'll put on some music."

"I do steaks medium-rare. Don't even think of asking for them any other way," Brian announced.

"I know all about your steaks," I commented as I went into the apartment.

"Brian told me about your discussion this afternoon. Are you okay?" she asked with concern in her voice.

On the table was a big bowl of guacamole with corn chips and cut up veggies with ranch dressing. I loaded up a corn chip and guided it to my mouth.

"I think so," I said while still crunching my chip. "What a weird situation. I'm sorry for your dilemma, but I'm afraid I'll be a poor substitute for your husband."

She smiled broadly. "Yeah, fucked up, huh? We can talk about it as long as we want, but we won't know much unless we pull the trigger."

"Can we have dinner first?"

Mel crossed the kitchen to me and gave me another kiss- still quite chaste but noticeably firmer and half a beat longer than normal. I read it as intending to show promise. "Sure," she whispered in my ear.

"Have you thought about it," Brian asked as he pierced the half-cooked steaks to turn them. They were an inch and a half thick and well marbled. The smoke was impressive.

After swallowing my mouthful of guacamole and chips, I asked, "Are you sure you want me to do this?"

"We've really talked about..."

Mel interrupted as she popped back outside, "Yes. We both like you and trust you. I love you, in a best friend kinda way. Is there something wrong with me?"

"Christ, no. You're wonderful. I'd have asked you out years ago if it wasn't for this jackass," I said punching Brian on the shoulder. "Probably shouldn't assault you with a big fork in your hand and me, talking shit about your wife."

"C'mon," Mel said, while hugging herself to me from behind, "I promise to be good."

"Okay, okay, if I say yes, when, exactly, did you have in mind?"

"I've got a guy from work- you've met Jake, all lined up. We're going to the pub, you know Houlihan's, at 8. I could give you, what, maybe 2 hours?"

"If we can't conduct business in that much time, we need to go back to the drawing board."

"Business, my ass," Mel commented, while bouncing up and down a little.

"Yeah, that's another idea."

Mel went up on tiptoes to give Brian a kiss, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Brian turned to me, "I'm going to leave the details to you two. I don't even want to know. Like I said, I don't think I could handle it."

"You gonna be okay?"

"I hope so. Let's eat."

Brian had cooked the steaks to perfection. I'm always amazed at how much better a home grilled steak is than from a restaurant. I put a couple of tablespoons of butter and fresh ground pepper on my potato- Mmmmm.

About halfway through, I had a thought. "So, the idea is to do this here this evening, but we can't always kick you out of your own house, can we? I feel kinda weird doing it in your bed, and unless my roommate is for sure going to be out, we can't do it there."

Mel answered. "We've been thinking about that and there's that little blue and white motel up on Ventura Blvd., near Woodman, that's kinda nice. We've even stayed there a couple of times, just for kicks. We might be able to get a regular customer discount."

"Shit Mel, you're really okay with this?"

"I gotta be. Don't think I can stand it another minute...and Brian will be better after a while- or so they say. Thank you for helping out." She leaned over and gave me another little kiss.

I looked at Brian and he was smiling. "And if it ever gets too weird, we can pull the plug and..."

"...and go back to your list."

"Let's not think about that, eh?"

After dinner we bussed the dishes to the kitchen. Brian grabbed his jacket and fished some car keys from the basket by the door. "You two have fun- and don't do anything I wouldn't do. Sorry, just had to say it."

"This is really it," Mel observed, "two hours?"

"I'll be back about ten, ten-thirty."

"Brian, one more thought before you go. This is really a big thing we're doing, and the only possible way we're gonna come out the other end okay is if we're brutally honest about everything. Good, bad, all of it. Please don't hold back with me and I'll do the same. I'll do my best to handle it."

Mel and Brian looked at each other and smiled, "I told you, number one on the list for a reason," Brian noted. They kissed one more time and Brian shut the door behind him.

"Should we do the dishes," I asked.

"You shitting me? I'll do the fucking dishes tomorrow." Brian's 240-Z had a distinctive exhaust note and we heard it leaving the apartment complex.

"So how did you see this going?"

She came close, went up on tiptoe and kissed me, slowly licked my lower lip then kissed me again. "Thank you for asking what I want- most guys wouldn't. It might sound weird, but my fantasy is to get in the shower and have you 'surprise' me after a couple of minutes. That'll break whatever "ice" there is pretty quickly. We should be able to figure out what to do from there."

As she pulled away, I hooked the front edge of her blouse with my finger and looked down at her hard nipples. "I like it. Now?"

I looked up and she was looking straight into my eyes. "Right now," she said as she smiled, turned and skipped down the hall toward the master bedroom.

*

Note from Author: Sorry for leaving you hanging. Don't be mad. I wanted to write a sexy story with no sex for a change. Part 2 is now set up properly and will get down to business.