"Dave, we need to talk," she said softly.
Melissa and I were in bed, the little ones were asleep in their rooms, and Bobby was in the guest room. He'd been staying with us while waiting for his new house to close; the closing had been delayed and his lease had run out. I wasn't sure where this was going, so I just said, "OK".
She took a deep breath. Her hesitation to bring up whatever it was was obvious. Finally she let it out. "Bobby kissed me today."
I was not expecting that. We'd been friends with Bobby since I met him at my first job after college. He was there when both of our children were born, we hung out frequently at his place or ours, and nothing untoward had ever happened. As far as I knew.
Now, I had no idea how to react. Flying off the handle probably wouldn't work. Finally I asked, "how did it happen?"
She went quiet again. Finally, she said, "I was in the kitchen fixing supper, and I turned around and he was there, reaching for a glass. We maneuvered around each other a little bit and then he leaned over and started kissing me."
A heavy, tight feeling grew in my gut. And somehow, I had a hard-on as well. I said very quietly, "And then what happened?"
"I pushed him away and told him we couldn't be doing that!"
The tightness in my gut started to unclench. "How'd he react?"
"He backed down right away. He looked like he was almost as surprised as I was."
"Do I need to ask him to leave?"
"No, his house is closing tomorrow, he'll be gone by evening. If he behaves until then I figure we should just let it go."
We talked a little more and soon went to sleep.
The next morning I was on my way out the door when Melissa stopped me. She asked, "Can you stay home today?"
"Why?"
"Well, last night when Bobby kissed me... I... it wasn't easy to push him away."
That sounded kind of sinister. "He forced himself on you?"
"No! I mean, I... he's a very attractive guy, and he took me by surprise and when I realized what was going on, it was good and... I had to make myself stop and push him away. And... I'm not sure you should leave me alone with him today. Can you stay home?"
I thought it over for a little while, desperately wishing I could be in two places at once. Almost crying with despair, I said, "No, I can't take off work today, not without advance notice. I'm already behind as it is and we're trying to get something out the door this week. Besides, even if I stay home today, he's still going to live close by, and I can't watch over you forever!"
"But he won't be in the house anymore after today, and you'll be there whenever we all hang out."
"If I lose this job we're all screwed!"
"You won't lose your job just from taking one day off!"
"I don't know that for sure. And what about after today? If you can't behave today, how are you going to behave when he takes a day off and comes by? I can't watch over you 24/7!"
She looked uneasy. "Are you sure you have to go today?"
"Yes, I'm sure. It's only a few hours, and the kids will be here the whole time. Besides, if he was as embarrassed as you say, he probably won't try anything again the very next day. Can you be good? When I get home, we'll be as bad as you want!"
She looked down. "OK, I'll be good. I love you."
"Love you too. Gotta go." We kissed, and I was on my way.
Dammit, I couldn't take off from work, not that day. We'd gotten married and started having kids right out of college, and she'd never held a full time job. If I lost mine, we would be completely screwed. And I have trouble focusing. I'm smart enough to get by, but I'm always a little bit behind on work, and I dared not push my luck. But I was feeling very uneasy the whole day about leaving her home with Bobby. I was also feeling aroused for some reason. It was very strange; even while I worried, part of me was hoping I'd come home to find out he'd taken her into the bedroom and had his way with her. But if he did, would she even tell me? She'd told me everything so far. Although she'd waited until morning to admit that she didn't push him away immediately, and was tempted to not push him away at all.
Somehow I managed to get through the day, and I left the minute the work day was technically over. I got home to find Bobby's car gone. He was presumably at his new house settling in. We'd agreed that Melissa and I would spend the weekend helping him move whatever he hadn't taken with him. When I walked in the door, three year old Annie ran right at me and crashed into me, giving me a bear hug at the end. I picked her up and gave her a kiss, and did a few dead-lifts with her. Then I saw Melissa, and her expression did not look good at all. I put Annie down and, after a few minutes, she wandered off to play with something. I turned to Melissa and asked her, "How'd it go today?"
She looked seriously worried. She took a while to answer. "Bobby and I kissed again today."
That sounded quite a bit different from yesterday's "Bobby kissed me" tale. Now she was admitting full participation in whatever happened while I was gone. My heart sank a little and my cock stood at attention. Hoping the latter wasn't obvious to her, I asked, "You didn't push him away this time?"
She looked down. "No. I had put the kids down for a nap and we were sitting on the sofa talking for a while, and then he leaned in and kissed me and... I pulled back a little and he leaned in more and kissed me again and... we kept on kissing." She looked like she might start crying soon.
"Is that it?"
She looked down again and didn't answer for at least twenty seconds. Then, almost too softly for me to hear, "He put his hand up my shirt. My bra was still on but his hand was over my bra. He wasn't actually touching my boobs."
Now it was my turn to go quiet while I figured out what to say next. Even though she was the one that crossed the line, I worried about saying the wrong thing. I needed to hear all of what happened, so I didn't want to say anything that would put her on the defensive and cause her to clam up. Finally, I gently asked, "How far did you go? I need to know, sweetie."
She still wouldn't look at me. "He got my bra unhooked, with my shirt still on, when Annie got up from her nap. He pulled his hand out of my shirt; Annie didn't see anything. She was up only half an hour early, so I just let her stay up. That brought me back to my senses, and I stuck to her like glue just to make sure. He left about forty-five minutes later."
I was stunned. She was ready to keep going. If they hadn't been interrupted, they'd have ended up having sex. If she was going to stop short of that, she'd have done it before he unhooked her bra. Letting him do that was an invitation to play with her boobs and pinch her sensitive swollen nipples – and once that happens, every doubt and hesitation is gone from her head and only eagerness to get herself laid remains. I remember when we were dating it was months before I got her bra off, but once I touched her breasts, everything else followed until we snuggled under the covers naked and spent. There is no doubt in my mind that she and Bobby would have followed the same trajectory if Annie hadn't accidentally intervened.
She didn't admit to me that they would have had sex right then if they could have, and I don't think she'd even admitted it to herself yet. But given what I now knew, I had no choice but to assume that eventually, once they found themselves alone together for long enough, they would definitely have sex.
