"I'm so sorry!" Bella said.
"It's OK, Bella," Vanessa said. "Let's go take a look at it."
She found her car with a broken tail light.
The blonde didn't meet Vanessa's eyes. "I guess it was in my blind spot."
"It's just the cap. It's easy to fix," Vanessa assured her.
"There's a mechanics store not far away," Tim said. He had so far silently followed behind his wife. "I can drive you there."
"If it's the one I think you mean, it's about an hour's drive. We can just swing by on the drive home tomorrow."
"It's closed tomorrow." he added quickly. "I'm happy to drive there now. We can take our car."
He seemed very eager to get the tail light sorted. Any other day, Vanessa would have written off his reaction as an earnest young man anxious to compensate for his wife's mistake. But after what transpired the day before, she was curious. His tone of voice resembled the constrained normality it had when he encouraged his wife to get a massage from Ben the night before.
"Well, I suppose we shouldn't drive all the way back to the city with a broken light," Vanessa said.
"Do you mind coming with me in the car?" Tim asked. "I can't quite find my way around here."
He looked nervous.
"Sure," Vanessa agreed. Whatever was going on, she was intrigued. "I just need to wait until Ben is back from his run."
"Maybe Bella can let him know what happened?" Tim suggested.
"She's not coming with us?" Vanessa asked, trying her best not to sound insinuating.
Bella looked at her husband. "Uhm, I guess I should stay here. You know, so Ben doesn't have wait here by himself."
Tim nodded. "Yeah, and please tell him you're really sorry about hitting his car."
The young couple exchanged glances.
"Yeah, I'll make it up to him," Bella said.
"OK, that's settled then," Vanessa said. "Shall we get going?"
Tim lingered, looking at his wife like he wanted to say something. But he appeared unable to find the words. Eventually, he turned and walked to the driver's seat of their car.
"Have fun," he said before closing the door.
They drove in silence for a long time. Tim kept staring straight ahead, apparently lost in his own thoughts.
"Are you OK," Vanessa asked.
He nodded. "Yeah, I think so."
He excessively scanned the areas around the road, as if looking for something to talk about that wasn't focused on him. Eventually, he took a deep breath.
"It was me," he said.
"What?"
"The light cap. It was me who hit your car."
Vanessa wrinkled her brow. "OK?"
"I convinced Bella she should take the blame. I told her Ben would be less upset if it was her."
"Aha," Vanessa said. "He's not the type to get upset easily. Accidents happen. But I can see why you'd think he might go easier on her. You know, after..."
There was no need to complete the sentence—the image of the sensual massage from the night before was already planted in Tim's mind. He drove in silence, his heavy breath a telltale sign of what he was thinking about.
"The thing is..." Tim eventually continued. "It wasn't really an accident."
"What do you mean?"
"I kind of hit it on purpose."
Vanessa gave him a skeptical look. "Why on earth would you do that?"
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Hamilton. It was stupid. I was just thinking about excuses all morning, and when I was backing the car up, I just had an impulse."
"Excuses for what?" Vanessa asked, suspecting she already knew the answer.
Ben stared at the road. He nervously licked his lips. "An excuse for Bella to be alone with... With your husband. Are you mad?"
"Mad that you broke our car or that you want to leave your wife alone with my husband?"
"Either, I suppose."
"No, I'm not mad. But next time can you come up with an excuse that doesn't involve a two-hour car ride?"
He broke out in a smile, but his face soon turned troubled again.
"I don't know what's wrong with me," he said.
Vanessa placed her hand on Tim's arm, rubbing him comforting. "Oh, honey. There is nothing wrong with you. You should be proud of yourself."
He didn't look convinced.
"You're doing this out of love for her," Vanessa continued. "You know it makes her excited, and you allow her to explore this. It's beautiful thing, truly."
Tim lightly shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe."
"And perhaps it's not entirely selfless," Vanessa added, flashing a crooked grin. "I guess you like it too. What exactly were you hoping for when you wanted an excuse for them to be alone?"
Tim glanced at her, shy to speak his mind.
"Oh, come on," Vanessa urged him. "We're friends now, remember. What do you think Ben is going to do with her?"
"Whatever he wants."
Tim stared straight ahead. He tried his best to conceal his erection. Vanessa reached for her phone and texted a brief message to her husband.
"I can't believe I just said that," Tim added after a moment of silence. "Who wants some other man to treat his wife like a..."
"Go on," Vanessa pushed. "You can say it."
He took a deep breath, "Like a slut. I want my wife to be a slut. God, you must think I'm some weirdo."
Vanessa smiled. She found it amusing that Tim was so oblivious to the fact that it was her husband he was hoping to have his way with his wife. But it was understandable. The young man was busy dealing with his own emotions.
"No, I don't think you're weird at all," she said. "You've suppressed these feelings for quite some time. It's expected they come bursting out now. You and Bella will have to find your own path and explore what works for you both. It's the only thing that matters. But promise me one thing..."
She paused, making sure that she had his attention.
"Whatever happens today," she continued. "Promise me you will support her. You put her up to this."
He nodded softly. "What do you think they will do?"
"I think Ben will fuck your wife," Vanessa answered matter-of-factly.
"Oh, yeah?" His voice betrayed his excitement. "Why do you think that?"
She unlocked her phone and showed him the short message she had sent to her husband. It succinctly read
Fuck her
.
Tim's breath shivered with excitement. He had to adjust his erection pressing against his pants.
Vanessa failed to suppress a giggle. "Now keep your eyes on the road or you'll get us killed."
Arriving at the store, Tim needed a moment to collect himself. It was odd, Vanessa thought. Back when he was her student, it would have been unthinkable to sit there waiting for his erection to go away. But now it felt strangely natural.
When they finally went inside and found the light cap, Tim offered to pay.
"No need," Vanessa said.
"It was my fault," Tim insisted. "Please let me pay for it."
"Don't worry about it, honey," Vanessa said, loud enough so the cashier would hear. "I'm sure your wife is paying back my husband as we speak."
It was a cheap trick, rendering the young man too flustered to argue. But she couldn't let him pay. The young couple's struggling economy was after all the reason she persuaded them to have this free vacation at the cabin.
"Let me drive," she said as they walked back to the car. "I think your brain is elsewhere."
"What about you?" Tim asked after they had driven in silence for a while.
Vanessa glanced at him. "What about me?"
"Why are you so eager to let Ben... You know."
"Let him what?" she taunted.
Tim took a deep breath. "Why do you want him to fuck my wife?"
"I told you. I owe him."
"But it seems to be you more than him pushing things."
She shrugged her shoulders. "That's what we do for the ones we love, right? We make good things happen for them. Exciting things. Besides, I think it was you pushing things today."
Tim nodded. He seemed to accept her answer, but his questions left Vanessa with some questions of her own. Why was she so keen to set Bella on the same path she had taken herself as a young wife? Sure, she truly believed she was helping the young couple. And she was sure Ben was having a well-deserved good time with the hot young blonde. But somewhere in the back of her head, she knew her actions weren't completely altruistic.
"Why did you stop?" Tim suddenly asked, breaking her train of thoughts.
"What?"