(Sara tells the tale from her point of view)
Ryan left early Wednesday, and Eric came over about mid-day. I was pruning some shrubs by the sun room. He parked at the other side of the house, and walked around, coming up from behind and putting his arms around me. I was startled and gave a little gasp.
"Only me. Sorry," he said.
"And I thought country women were safe from molestation by random strangers," I said, turning around and giving him a kiss.
"Country women looking as good as you are never safe from molestation," he said.
We held our loose embrace for a moment, looking one another in the eyes, then kissed again, deeper with a lot of lips and some tongue. I had always liked this guy, since we met in the college-era apartment he and Ryan shared. Truth be told, I had fantasized about getting it on with him many times over the years, but I had been too much in love with Ryan to act out those fantasies until recently. Thank god Eric's girlfriend Pam was stupid enough to walk out on him, I thought, my spirits soaring. Then, I considered the debt of thanks owed my good husband, and my spirits flew down closer to the ground.
"Give you a hand with this stuff?" Eric asked, breaking into my thoughts.
"Yes, I'm just about finished. You can help me put them in those old sheets and we'll disperse them along the path on our way down to cool off in the river."
Which we did. I was already in a two-piece, as it made a cool yard-work outfit. When we reached the water, Eric looked around and not seeing anyone, just stripped off his swim trunks and jumped in naked. He wanted to keep the dry, he explained, unnecessarily. I used his shoulders for balance as I jumped in, gasping as usual at the initial cold shock, then dunking under. We took a short swim out to a large rock in the middle of the stream, climbed onto it and sat. Eric put his arm around me and we leaned in for another kiss.
A canoe came past with two guys in it. They looked our way, and waved. We acknowledged the greeting. Eric made no effort to cover his dick, which was a good size even while flaccid, and somewhat beyond that due to our cuddling.
"Don't you have any modesty?" I quipped.
"They were looking at the fox in the two-piece, not at me," he answered.
Soon, we spotted someone coming down the path. It was Joy, in a revealing bikini of her own. We all waved at each other. Reaching the flat rocks on the bank, she put down her bag and towel and whistled loudly.
"Love that suit, Eric. Yours is okay too, Sara." Joy jumped in the stream and waded out to us. She was not much of a swimmer, but the water was only waist deep. We made room for her on the rock.
Two more canoes came past, one with a young couple, the guy looking at Joy and I while the girl appeared to take in Eric's waist before smiling slightly and looking away. The second boat had two men with fishing poles trolling. They also looked over, smiling. One made a mock salute, saying loudly to his buddy, "Some guys have all the luck, and he looks like he's ready to cash in on it.
Eric was starting to look a trifle abashed.
"That's what you get for wearing such a daring bathing suit," I said.
"Isn't that the suit he got on his birthday?" Joy asked.
* * *
Joy and I worked on dinner while Eric relaxed in a patio chair. He had donned his trunks again, in case someone dropped in.
"He can't make up his mind, can he," Joy joked. On, off, on, and I bet before the night is over he'll have them off again."
I certainly hoped so, although frankly I would not have minded if Joy suddenly remembered she had somewhere else to go. I like Joy. She is a good friend. But I also liked having Eric all to myself. With Ryan away, it was a good opportunity. If he was around, he would be whining and claiming I was abandoning him, trying to make me feel guilty. He wanted to monopolize me. He had become so moody, paranoid and insecure. I was annoyed enough at that to snap at him a couple of times, and just turn away rather than get into an argument. I felt bad afterward -- I would not be with Eric at all if Ryan had not been so open-minded and generous.
Ryan used to say he thought monogamy over-rated, and it was natural to occasionally lust and love with other people. I had asked Joy to drop by and fuck him the other day in the hope it would remind him that extra-marital activity could be enjoyable and not threatening. I made myself scarce in the hope Joy coming on to him would boost his confidence and he would relax again. It had not seemed to do so right then, but maybe a couple days away would help.
As for Joy, I could not just tell her to butt out, not only because she was my friend. Eric had grown more fond of her. He had gone away with her the previous weekend, and in our recent joint sessions he was gravitating toward Joy more than he was to me. If I tried to exclude her, it could backfire. Ryan was not the only one with jealousy. I had to fight mine too.