"I want to have some people over," Carrie said.
It had been a while since we'd had anyone over. We had three kids, I had a demanding job, and I wasn't very outgoing to begin with. Carrie had organized get-togethers at least once a month... before we had kids. How long had it been? Almost a year I think.
"Okay," I said. While I generally don't reach out to people and often don't know what to say to them, I'm usually not opposed to having them over if I'm not expected to be the only one talking with them.
"Just 'okay'? You're gonna help, right?"
"Of course. I'll get some food and set up."
"Oh, and I'm gonna have to do everything else?"
I wasn't even sure what 'everything else' entailed. We've had people over before, but Carrie has a way of doing things without drawing attention to herself, and then gets surprised when I don't know what she's done. Well, really I have a way of not noticing what other people are doing then they get annoyed when I don't know what they've done or, worse yet, think I've done as much as them when I haven't.
I tried making a little deal with her. "You're the one asking for it, so it's your show. Tell me where to pitch in," I said.
Sometimes me not just knowing what to do gets her angry, although I can't figure out why. But this time she smiled and said, "Okay. This will be fun!"
The biggest challenge was getting the house ready. Without any recent visitors, we'd kind of let it go. I found myself reorganizing, vacuuming, and even dusting. Once she got me busy with that, she made up shopping lists and started contacting people we knew. And somewhere along the way she found a sitter that would watch everyone's kids in the back rooms.
The day was upon us before we knew it. The last couple of days, she was frantic, and got a bit snappy here and there, but she apologized for that as the last hour started slipping away and everything that could be done had been done. Soon the first car pulled up and it was showtime.
We ended up with about a half-dozen guests, a few people I worked with before I changed jobs, a few parents of kids that our kids played with. I put out food and drinks, she got conversations going, and all went well. She seemed to become more animated with Jordan, a former coworker of mine than with anyone else at the party... including me. I didn't think anything of it - I click more with some people than others, and couldn't blame her for doing the same. Plus, we'd been to a couple of his small get-togethers and the three of us all got along. He had dark, wavy hair cut short, he was a little taller than me, in good shape... you know, "good looking". Carrie and I were in our early thirties, I figured he was mid-twenties. He and I were both programmers, and he was a darned good one. Almost as good as me, plus he had a knack for bonding with non-techies and an intuitive understanding of them that I didn't.
Anyway, I liked him, and it didn't surprise me that she did too. I saw her twirl her dark, straight hair while she smiled at him. I saw her put her hand on his shoulder while she was making a point. I wandered over, tried to join in their conversation, and got nowhere. I chatted with another former coworker about the merits of C# versus Java. Finally, I told Carrie that I was going to go outside for a while. This didn't surprise her; interacting with people, especially several people at once, wears me down after a while. She was cool with it as long as I came back within an hour and did all of the cleaning up.
It was nice out. The cool air felt good against my skin, and the silence felt good throughout my body. The stars were out, although I could only see a fraction of the stars I'd be able to see if I were far away from civilization. Life was good.
Exactly 59 minutes later, I headed back in. People had already started leaving, and those who were still there were clearly not staying for much longer. Carrie and Jordan and two other guests were chatting as they walked to the door, the other guests were saying they had such a good time, and all that jazz. Within 15 minutes, it was down to just me, Carrie, and Jordan. I went in the back to pay the babysitter. She was cute, but not nearly cute enough to lose Carrie or go to prison for (assuming I could have gotten anywhere with her to begin with, which seemed unlikely), so I gave her nothing but cash and sent her on her way. She headed to the door, exchanged a few pleasantries with Carrie, and was gone. I made a detour to the restroom before coming back out to the living room.
I came back out and headed to the dining room to start cleaning up. I grabbed a few plates and put them in the sink, then went back for a few more when it occurred to me to wonder where Carrie was. Had she already gone to bed? I looked over into the living room, and there she was on the couch. With Jordan. Kissing him.
I shook my head and looked again. I saw the exact same thing. What the hell?
I walked over to the couch. They didn't notice I was there. What was I going to say? I thought for a few moments and went with "Hey, what's going on?"
She broke the kiss and turned to me and said, "oh hey sweetie, we were just making out."
Well, that was weird. I just looked at her. She went on, "You left yourself logged in the other day. I read those stories you like. And the one you wrote - it's really good, you ought to submit it. Anyway I know what you've been fantasizing about." Then she went right back to kissing him!
That brought me up short. I had been reading - and, as she said, trying my hand at writing - erotic stories about unfaithful wives and the husbands who loved them anyway and sometimes watched them get fucked. I'd kept it a secret from her, because it seemed kind of weird and embarrassing for me to be turned on by that, and because having her actually do it might blow up in my face. So I really didn't know what to say.
She was right about one thing. The idea of her with another man turned me on. Seeing her kissing him gave me pangs of jealousy - and the most intense erection I'd felt in months.
Still, I wasn't sure about trying it in real life. So I gathered my thoughts, pushed through my embarrassment, and said, "yeah, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to actually do it! It's just a fantasy!"
She broke the kiss and told me, "if that's all it is, tell me to stop." Then she climbed into his lap, facing him, straddling him, and they resumed their make-out session.
I opened my mouth to tell her to stop, just like she'd suggested... and no words came out. This was the most erotic thing I had ever seen in my life - and that was with both of them fully dressed. Well, she wasn't wearing shoes, but her shirt and her skirt were still in place. For now. I couldn't bring myself to stop them.... I had to see where this would go.
After about a minute, I guess he figured I wasn't going to stop them. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. She started playing with his hair. Not wanting to be completely left out, I lightly stroked the bottom of her foot. She flexed her toes, as if to say, "I know what you're doing and it feels good," but she was too busy to show any other reaction to it. She ran her hands up and down his sides and started flexing her hips back and forth.
He ran his hands up and down her back a few times. Then he closed his fist, grabbing a handful of her shirt, and untucked the back of it from her skirt. Then his other hand slipped inside and directly stroked her back without the shirt in the way. She arched her back, reacting to his touch.
He broke the lip-lock and lowered his head to kiss the side of her neck. She tilted her head in order to let him, then softly moaned as he found a nice sensitive spot there to kiss. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation for a while, then kissed him even harder when he raised his head again. I sat down next to them.