I'm not an ambitious guy. When most of my friends from college dreamed of having an adventurous life, I could see myself settling into a modest house as long as I could sustain a decent living with someone I love.
Thanks to luck and support from others, I was already on track to my ideal life by my late twenties. First, a friend helped me land a decent-paying office job with an intensive schedule but flexible hours. Then, my parents helped me out with the down payment to secure a nice house in a decent neighborhood. And finally, an otherwise useless political science class I took in college as a freshman helped me find the love of my life, Aubrey.
I can still remember the day the professor matched us for an assignment, which was when we first met. We realized we had a lot in common as we spent time together on the project, and we started to hang out outside the class. She was already in a clique of close friends that I became a part of shortly after. I was already struck by Aubrey's looks the moment I saw her, and it didn't take long for me to fall in love with her. I knew she was out of my league. I was only a bit taller than Aubrey and, objectively speaking, I was out of shape and not very attractive. But still, it didn't stop me from pursuing her.
It took some time for us to start dating. Less than a year after we met, Aubrey went to Europe for an exchange program and spent a year there. We kept in touch and picked up where we left off after she came back. And finally, I gathered enough courage to ask her out six months after she arrived. However, Aubrey wasn't interested in dating. We had a long chat with her and to summarize her points, she said she had some feelings for me too, but she didn't want to risk ruining our friendship if things didn't work out. I didn't handle her response well initially and distanced myself from her for a while. We eventually got back to normal, and when I tried my luck again a year later, Aubrey, although a bit hesitant, gave it a shot and everything worked out pretty well. We dated for almost two years, and got married after that.
Over time, I fell for every aspect of Aubrey, but it was her looks were what caught my attention first. She is 5'7'' (roughly 1.7m), a bit shorter than me. She has natural straight black hair extending all the way down her back, with matching black eyes. She thinks her breasts are small, but to me, they are the perfect size--roughly the size of an orange and fitting perfectly in my palms. She doesn't exercise aside from occasional yoga but still maintains a decent figure. She got a bit thicker after college, but it only made her hotter.
And her ass is... It's just something else. It is the "fat ass" that anybody would dream of: incredibly tight with the perfect bubble shape. She can make any guy turn around for a second look when she wears tight leggings or a short dress. Aubrey doesn't always wear revealing outfits, but when she does, I can always sense the attention she gets. I can even see our friends, including my best friend, taking a peek at her from behind when they get the chance. And honestly, I can't blame them.
Speaking of my best friend, Bruce, Aubrey and I live right next door to him. Bruce is my best friend, but at the same time, it is safe to say he is Aubrey's best friend as well. Actually, they've known each other more than I know them. Both being out-of-state students, Bruce and Aubrey met at college orientation and immediately formed a close connection. I met Bruce soon after I got close with Aubrey, and the three of us have been close ever since.
I owe Bruce a lot. He knew about my crush on Aubrey and he helped me spend some alone, quality time with Aubrey on several occasions which would have been friend gatherings otherwise. From time to time, he also dropped Aubrey some hints that she should give me a chance, which helped us to finally get together. I later learned that Bruce had an initial crush on Aubrey as well, but he never acted on it and helped me out instead.
Bruce is also the one who helped me land my current job at the investment division of a nationwide bank. His dad had connections with the higher-ups and recommended both of us for the open positions. Although we performed well over time, our resumes would likely have been ignored without his help.
I can't say Bruce is the nicest person I know. Objectively speaking, he sometimes comes off as an asshole and can act incredibly selfish, even at the expense of me or Aubrey. However, it is the way he is, and I know that when it comes to important stuff, I can always trust him. I wouldn't ever trust him with my lunch, but I would definitely trust him with my life.
Living in side-by-side condos and having aligned work schedules, Bruce and I usually carpool to work. It was Monday evening and we were getting back home after a standard, or maybe relatively idle day at the office. I left Bruce by his door, parked my car in the garage, and went inside home to meet Aubrey.
Aubrey was lying on the couch, browsing through her phone when I got inside. Unlike Bruce and I, she works as a customer representative at a different firm and works from home. Her work doesn't involve real-time interactions with people - she works more as a problem solver behind the scenes. She first considered this job as a stepping stone, but she liked the flexibility over time and now considers it more of a permanent job.
After dinner, we spent some time on our own with Aubrey in her study planning for the week, and me playing a MOBA game with friends. This was our routine at night. We used to spend more time together, especially during the first two years of our relationship. However, we didn't get to have as much free time as before since we started to work, and both of us gradually started to spend a few hours of alone time, at the expense of enjoying each other's company.
This, unfortunately, also reflected on our sex life, especially over the last year or two. Honestly, I consider myself lucky if we have sex once a week. We never talked about it but over time, Aubrey stopped responding when I tried to initiate intimacy. I got discouraged after a lot of failed attempts and stopped trying as well.
I initially thought it was because she, and sometimes me, being exhausted from work. However, a few months ago, I came across Aubrey's web history when I was trying to fix something with her computer, and saw that she was regularly browsing porn. I don't know why she didn't bother browsing it incognito, but it looked like it was a daily routine for her to masturbate to porn. Honestly, I got a bit upset and thought about talking with her. But after browsing some relationship advice online, I realized that it is not entirely unhealthy to masturbate at the expense of having sex with your partner. If anything, I was doing it too. Sure, I would've liked it more if we had more action. But if this made Aubrey happier, then I wouldn't make it an issue. And who knows? Things could change if we had more time for ourselves in the future.
We met in the living room after a few hours to watch the next episode of a series we began a while ago. Midway through the episode, Aubrey stopped paying attention and started to eagerly type on her phone. I could see her face had a mix of excitement and surprise. She looked at me, grinning from ear to ear, and said Emma and Gianni were nearby and asked if they could stay with us for a week.
Emma and Gianni were Aubrey and Bruce's friends from their exchange year in Europe. They formed a close-knit group of five and spent almost the entire year together. They kept in touch after returning, but as far as I know, they never met in person since. I didn't know much about Emma and Gianni, except that they had been a couple back then.
That caught me off guard, but I was excited for Aubrey and told her they could stay with us for sure. She kept texting for a while before Bruce arrived. He was excited too, and he and Aubrey began discussing plans for the visit.
A few minutes later, they had a video call from Emma and Gianni. They chatted about their whereabouts for ten minutes or so before Emma said they should save the rest for the weekend. Then, Emma said she had something else arranged without asking Aubrey and Bruce, but she was sure they would be excited to hear about it. After a second of pause, she said their other friend, Javi, would be joining them too. Emma had asked Javi if he was available, and apparently, he had an open schedule for the next week and was more than happy to have a complete reunion. She said Javi was set to arrive on Saturday night, just a few hours after Emma and Gianni.
Before any response from Aubrey or Bruce, Emma suggested she and Gianni stay with Bruce since he lived alone, while Javi could stay with Aubrey and me. I didn't understand why but Aubrey sounded a bit hesitant, but both she and Bruce agreed eventually. After the call, Aubrey and Bruce continued planning for the week, as I decided to sleep early and left them to it.
The rest of the week flew by. Aubrey and Bruce arranged to take leave from work to spend uninterrupted time with their friends. Aubrey easily found coverage since she had a lighter workload. Bruce, however, had to find someone to cover for him because our manager didn't accept a week-long leave on short notice without someone agreeing to take over. Naturally, Bruce asked for my help, and I agreed.
It was already Friday and there was only one day left before everyone else arrived. I got back home, and had dinner with Aubrey as usual. After dinner, Aubrey said she wanted to talk with me about something:
+ (Me) What's on your mind, babe?
- (Aubrey) Uhm... I've been trying to tell you something for a few days.
Aubrey looked a bit uncomfortable, and I was wondering what made her feel like this. I tried to ease her up and said:
+ (Me) Babe, whatever it is, don't worry about it. You know you can tell me anything.
- (Aubrey) OK then... You know the guys are arriving tomorrow, right?
+ Yeah?
- It's a bit awkward and I know I should've told you this before, but... Javi and I used to date.
Well, obviously I had no idea about Aubrey and Javi before. I only knew about Aubrey's few short-lived relationships from her time in Europe, but no one in particular.
I had to digest what Aubrey just told me, and didn't say anything for a few seconds. I was in a tough spot and I was mad at Aubrey for letting me know about this only a day in advance. At the same time, I didn't want to lash out at her and say something I would regret later. I tried my best to keep my calm, and finally responded:
+ (Me) That's... I wish you would have told me sooner...
