We met Kevin and Ashley in a quick stop store on a Saturday night. Kevin was cute, I decided. Ashley was stunning. Her strawberry blonde hair reached her waistline. Her features were those of a chiseled statue. She stood about 5'7" in her sandals and was perfectly proportioned. And, she was young. She couldn't have been more than 25. Larry was smitten. I immediately felt inferior.
We had traveled to this small city just to explore and spend some time together. Larry and I often took off like this, driving anywhere from three to five hours from our home base just to get away. We arrived late Friday night, booked into a motel, slept, then went exploring on Saturday. We had stopped at this quick stop for gas and a few munchies to take back to the motel.
Kevin and Ashley drew our attention because they were counting out pennies at the counter while we waited to check out. Their demeanor said they had come upon some difficulty. Larry, who had been appreciatively eyeing the gorgeous Ashley from behind spoke up.
"Excuse me, folks," he said, "are you having some sort of trouble?"
Ashley turned a demure smile on him. "We've maxed out the only credit card we've brought," she said, with a touch of disdain for her partner. "We're checking the seats for change and this is what we've come up with."
"A stupid mistake, really," Kevin added. "I'd call the card company but, you know, it's the weekend. Nobody will do anything until Monday."
"This is dinner," Ashley grimaced at the small collection of snacks they'd assembled.
Larry looked at me. I smiled sweetly and nodded.
"Maybe we can help," Larry offered. "Where you folks from?"
"Maine," Kevin said.
"Wow!" Larry grinned. "You're a long way from home. Where are you sleeping?"
"In the car," Ashley told us. "It's that black Camaro out front."
"That can't be comfortable," I said.
"Here," Larry offered. "Let me get this for you." He spoke to the clerk. "Just add that to these things," he said, offering his card to the cashier.
"I really appreciate this," Ashley said.
"Not at all," Larry told her, beaming. "In fact, we can do better than this. Why don't you let us take you two to dinner. You hungry?"
"Famished," Ashley admitted. "But, we couldn't impose."
"Oh, nonsense," I piped in. "You'll come with us. Look, we're out for a joy ride. We'll take you to dinner and then you can have one of the double beds in our motel room. You need to get a good night's sleep for a change."
Ashley looked at Kevin. He shrugged. "That's really more than kind," he said. "Are you sure we wouldn't be imposing?"
"I'm positive," I told him. "Call it our good deed for the day." I stuck out my hand to Ashley. "I'm Samantha. Call me Sam. That's my husband, Larry."
Her hand was cool, smooth and soft. "Ashley. My husband, Kevin," she said. "We're more grateful than you could ever know."
Kevin took my hand and pressed it between his. "I can't tell you how much we appreciate this," he said.
"No need. Look," I said, "let's just forget about the hard times and enjoy each other's company. We'll make like we've been life-long friends, okay? From here on out, it's our treat."
Larry turned away from the counter with the two bags of snacks. "What's the plan, then?" he asked.
"We're going to take Ashley," I nodded in her direction by way of introduction, "and Kevin," indicating the young man, "back to the motel to freshen up. Then we'll take them to dinner."
"Fine, fine," Larry said.
"You remember Kevin and Ashley," I nudged Larry. "They've been our friends for ages."
Larry looked at me as if I'd sprouted a third eye.
During dinner, we discovered that our guests had been married for two years. He was a bio-tech engineer. Ashley had been a cheerleader in high school, gotten her BS in Psychology and worked part-time giving psych evaluation tests to students in the same high school from which she'd graduated.
"I'll bet you keep all those teenagers standing at attention," Larry quipped.
"A couple of the teachers, too," Kevin acknowledged.
"Really?" I asked. "Does it bother you, Kevin? All those men leering at your wife like that?"
Kevin smiled broadly. "Nope," he said. "She always comes home and sleeps with me."
"Well isn't that a co-incidence," Larry said. "We've got a similar outlook."
"Larry!" I commanded him severely.
"No," Ashley said. "I want to hear. What's your outlook?"
"Well," Larry started, "I think my wife is really quite attractive."
Kevin looked at me. "I'd agree."
"She is," Ashley chimed in.
"And I know," Larry continued, "that there are guys around who would like to have her, you know, to sleep with her."
"Oh!" Ashley said. She looked down to her plate and toyed with her food.
"What he means is," I took up, "that there is sex, and then there is love."
"Interesting," Kevin said. "So…you…"
"Sleep around?" I asked. Kevin nodded. "No, not exactly."
"Well, then," Kevin asked, "what exactly is it, I mean, what…well, what do you do?"
"So far," I admitted, "nothing much. I mean, if we notice a guy, an attractive guy like you, Kevin, giving me the eye, we just play act. I play like Larry is that guy."
"Ah!" Kevin seemed relieved. "I see. So you haven't…like…done anything, really."
"Not yet," Larry offered. "Have you?"
"Us?" Kevin seemed uneasy. "No, no. We're…well…committed, you know what I mean?"
"Certainly," I answered. "Larry and I are committed to each other, too. But, we still have fun with it. Haven't you two ever played like that?"
"Well," Ashley said very softly, "Kevin likes it when I tell him how some of the boys get, you know, excited when they're around me. He likes me to tell him about it."
"You mean he gets real turned on?" I tried.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Ashley admitted.
"And it turns you on, too, doesn't it," I pressed Ashley.
"I guess it does, yeah," she said.
"Me, too," I told her. And we let the topic drop.
As we left the restaurant I asked Larry if I could ride with Kevin in his Camaro. "You know, I've never ridden in a hot car like that. Could I?"