Softball

Todd Brady sat in the rickety stands watching his wife's coed softball game. Todd had come late, worn a baseball hat and a hoodie, even though it was September. He did not want to be recognized. He sat next to the ten or so fans of the Falcons - the other team. Maddie played for the Hawks - another raptor nickname.

There were three people on the Hawks that Todd knew quite well. Maddie, of course. Also, James and Jane Burke, long-time friends of Todd and Maddie. Maddie and Jane worked together at Billings Ltd., a law firm. (Todd always joked about the firm name, calling it Billings Unlimited.) Both women were lawyers there. Both were forty years old. Both were very attractive - even togged up for softball.

The rest of the Hawks were people who also worked at the firm, but who might not recognize Todd. There were six women on the squad and six men. Aside from Maddie and Jane, the women were all younger - two lawyers and two staff. The men consisted of James, a lawyer for the city, two mail room guys, Jamal and Blake, and three Billings lawyers, all younger. As far as Todd could see all the players on the Hawks were quite skilled. While this league was coed, it was one that attracted very good players. Yet the Hawks were ahead by six after two innings.

Maddie had been recruited for the squad the year before by Jane. Jane knew that Maddie had played softball in college, many years before. Maddie had coached her two sons' T-ball and baseball teams and Jane's son was also on those teams. Maddie was a great coach. Effective, but not harsh. She had the ability to make practice seem like great fun. But she had a method, and her charges ended up winning almost all their games. The teams she coached didn't start out with any better athletes than the others. But they won and had fun.

Jane and James helped Maddie with those teams, when they could. Todd did as well. He liked doing it, but his work sometimes prevented him from being there. He had a law degree, but he was in business providing computer and tech services to law firms, including security. He had begun as a sole proprietor, but now had twenty employees and a nice office outside D.C. His business dealt with small and medium firms mostly, not huge ones like Billings. Those had their own in-house techs. So, he was known by Billings people only from attending firm functions two or three times a year.

Maddie played third base. She was well suited for that position. She was 5'8" tall, and seemed slim. But at third, she was quick as a cat and could gun the ball to first. And, on offense, she wasn't only a singles-get-on-base person, like Jane. She had pop. She batted fifth.

Jane played outfield. She was a fine player, but not in Maddie's class. Except she was a beauty like Maddie, just a little smaller. James was the pitcher. He also had quick reflexes, which he needed pitching slow pitch to good hitters. He was six feet, 175 pounds. He and Todd had quite a tennis rivalry going for over ten years. Todd was smaller at 5'9", but just as quick. They had a great time playing. And the four of them also played mixed doubles. The competition was normally intense, because they were so evenly matched. And because they were all fierce competitors.

It was the bottom of the sixth and last inning when the Falcon clean-up hitter smashed a screaming line drive over the protective fence directly at Todd. Todd reached up and caught it with his left hand. He casually tossed the ball back over the fence to the Falcons' coach. But his hood came off and, of course, everyone's eyes were right there to see his catch. He was busted. James, Jane and Maddie stared at him. He gave a small wave and sat back down. Only Jane waved back, from right field.

The game ended ten minutes later - a Hawks win. It was 8:15 pm. Maddie had told Todd that it was a double header. But both teams headed off the field. So, Todd walked across to the Hawks bench, where James and Jane were standing to greet him. Maddie was off by the equipment in conversation with Jamal, the slugging first baseman. He had his hand on her shoulder and the conversation appeared more intense than the situation warranted. Their heads were very close, and the body language seemed tense.

Todd switched his direction from James and Jane toward Maddie, whose back was to him. Jane stepped to him as he did this.

She said, "What a surprise to see you here, Todd."

Todd brushed by her. James took a quick step to get beside Todd. But James didn't try to impede him.

Todd spoke as he was ten feet from Maddie and Jamal.

"Hey, Maddie. Nice game. Who's this guy with his hand on you?"

Jamal took his hand off her shoulder. Maddie turned. She said, "You remember Jamal from the Fourth party."

Todd nodded. "Yeah, I recall that party. You and Jamal were in the sack race. How could I ever forget?"

Jamal said, "Not so easy for a man of my size, bro, jumping in the sack." He smiled. He was very large. And quite confident.

Todd paused, stared at Jamal. Then he spoke to Maddie, "I thought this was a double header. What happened?"

James was right there. He said, "Change of plans, Todd. We're all headed to O'Malley's for some refreshment. Want to join us?"

Todd hesitated again, looked at Maddie. The scene was rife with tension, and potentially violent. Todd was ready and so was Jamal. Maddie had stepped away and the two men were face to face, six feet apart.

Todd said, "I don't drink with assholes who try for my wife." He said it in such a casual, non-threatening way that it took a beat for the rest to hear and understand. Just a beat. A beat before Jamal came at Todd, swinging a right overhand punch. A punch that, had it landed, might have killed Todd. And a big mistake. Todd moved inside the punch, which was slow, almost ponderous. As he did so, he used the top of his head to butt the right side of Jamal's face. Jamal's head was already moving toward Todd, behind the punch. His head snapped back fast. The head butt dropped him to the ground as Todd stepped away. Jamal made a loud noise as he crashed down. All of them stared at Jamal. He didn't move. Jane called 911 and Maddie threw the water from her thermos on Jamal's head. He moved. Jane hung up before she spoke to the operator. She didn't want police, unless Jamal was headed to the hospital. She'd seen what happened. Everyone had. Jamal would be chained to the hospital bed if he went. He was head man at the firm's mail room. He had a felony record, but an old one. Jane did NOT want police.

All this was partly her fault anyway.

SIX MONTHS BEFORE

Todd and Maddie had a break from their respective jobs in early March. They went to a small hotel resort in the hills near West Virginia. They rode horses and played golf. And they had sex, twice a day - at least. The place also had pretty good food. Todd didn't overeat. He never did. He was a disciplined person.

Todd was happy for the break with Maddie. Their two boys were seventeen and eighteen. Bill, the younger one, had a tennis scholarship from a private prep school forty miles away from home. Mike, his older brother, was off at State University, a freshman. The house had been quiet since September, save for the holidays. Todd thought that Maddie was restless and a little depressed. Thus, the small vacation to the hills.

On the last night at the resort, Maddie and Todd had a very nice time in bed after dinner and some dancing. Maddie had danced with several guys, and Todd with several women. Maybe Maddie had let loose a bit. Todd was more controlled. But when they got to the room, just before midnight, Todd was happy for Maddie's upbeat mood. She was the aggressor, and she had him under her for a long time, sticking her tongue into his mouth, and bouncing hard up and down. Hard, then slow. Todd was almost going to let loose several times, but Maddie knew that and slowed down. Up and down. Todd was put into some sort of trance. Finally, Maddie just kept going hard, squeezing Todd and putting them both over the top.

Later, Todd thought that that session was about the best sex he'd ever had. Right then he was wrung out, but truly satisfied. So much in love.

They both showered afterward and snuggled in bed.

Maddie began stroking his cock and whispered, "Todd, do you ever want other women?"

She felt him stiffen up. Not his dick. His whole self.

He said, "No, just you. Only you."

"Not Jane? Or that slut at your office?"

"Her name is Jenifer. She's not a slut. So far as I know, at least."

Maddie was still stroking him. And he was still soft. She said, "I see her flirting with you. Right in front of me, too, at that party."

Todd sat up. He looked at his wife of twenty years. He said, "Why are you asking this? Is there some idea in your head?"

"There's always some idea in my brain, silly man. I was talking to Jane about our common problem - empty nest."

"Yeah?"

"And she said we should spice things up. Switch men for a night."

Maddie was not being quite truthful with that statement. What Jane had really started with was that they should get laid by some of the young guys at work - maybe the mail room guys, or maybe the hunky new lawyer on her team. But Maddie was sure Todd would find out and leave her. So, Jane suggested that she could start by them swapping partners with each other. About as non-threatening a scenario as there could be that involved extra-marital sex. Then they could move on to the mail room from there.

Maddie considered it and decided to test the waters with Todd. She was not optimistic, though. That's why she softened Todd up at the resort, with an extreme amount of sex. Great sex, too. It made her wonder if she should risk the conversation. But she did anyway. She was experiencing a huge increase in libido.

Todd was sitting up in bed now, his face a mask but redder than normal. It could have been the recent exercise. He spoke in a measured tone, though. "Are you saying that you want to have sex with James?"

She hesitated. She said, "James is hot. We flirt. Like you flirt with Jane. But what I really mean is that we can.....I mean we've been together for twenty-two years. Just us. We could.....we could have new experiences. One new experience, I mean."

Todd stood abruptly. He paced back and forth. He was fuming. But Maddie was not all that worried. He wasn't going to hit her, and he wasn't going to leave her.

Finally Todd stopped his pacing and said, calmly, "I would have thought that this week showed that we're still....enough for each other. You're enough for me."

She sighed. "It's been great, and I'm so happy it worked out like this. But....we're headed back home, our same routines. And we could have an adventure with our very close friends. Friends that we both have always had.....well, an attraction."

Todd said, "No. Just no. We made promises, and I'm sure that I kept mine. And I'm almost sure that you kept yours."

"I did. It's only been you, babe."

"But now that isn't enough?" Todd looked so....hurt...so sad.

Maddie started crying. Softly. "It's enough. It is!"

Todd watched her but didn't move. He was shocked and almost morose. Her tears started him crying. He sat in a chair by the TV, wiping his eyes.

Some time passed and Maddie came to him, sat on his lap. She stroked his hair and said, "A bad idea. It was a bad idea. You're a wonderful husband and lover. All I need. Ever."

Todd gradually calmed down. Maddie was quite shaken by his reaction. In all their years together, she'd only seen him cry at his father's funeral. She was truly worried that she'd blown her marriage. Something she absolutely did not want to do.

Maddie gradually led Todd back to bed and snuggled with him until he fell asleep.

The next day, they left for home. Maddie assured Todd that the swap idea was mostly Jane's, and that she'd never bring it up again. Todd seemed satisfied. Especially since Maddie gave him a world class blow job in the morning.

Maddie thought that she'd avoided a train wreck.

Todd thought that he had better pay more careful attention to Maddie and her buddy Jane. Because he did not believe that Maddie was done with the idea of spicing up their sex lives. Well, of spicing up hers, at least. So, he took some measures that he was trained to take. Monitoring measures. Security measures. He also kept a computer journal about their lives, comings and goings, moods, cummings, etc.

Todd was not happy about the increased scrutiny. But he felt it was necessary. And he was sad that he felt that.

Back at work, Jane wanted to know how things had gone at the resort. She and Maddie had planned and plotted about the approach. And, despite their best efforts, it had failed miserably. And dangerously. Maddie said that she'd have to mind her P's and Q's for some time.

Jane was disappointed. She loved James and had good times with him. But the two of them had not been monogamous for some time. About once every six months, they each had a hall pass weekend. It was a don't ask, don't tell approach. So, James was not surprised when Jane brought up the swap idea. But he laughed at her. He said, "No way in Hell is Todd going for that."

"Why? I mean he feels me up when we're dancing. You know."

"He's too rigid."

She smiled, "He is rigid when we're dancing." A pause. "Oh, you didn't mean that way!" Mock surprise. They both laughed. But James was so correct, as it turned out.

One rule Jane and James had was that the hall passes could not be used with people that they saw often in their regular lives. Jane was not allowed to consort with people who worked closely with her at her firm, and James also had that restriction. But Jane was curious about the mail room guy, Jamal. She'd used one of her hall passes with him, despite the rule. That meant that when she suggested to Maddie that they could screw the mail room guys, she had real experience with one. A month after the swap fiasco, Jane told Mattie that she'd spent a weekend with Jamal. She gave a long, graphic description of the weekend.

It made Maddie hot, for sure.

But Maddie knew that a dalliance with Jamal would quite possibly kill her marriage. She stayed away from Jamal, for a while.

Meanwhile, Todd asked James about the swap idea. They played golf, and on the way home, Todd pulled over and asked James, "What's up with Jane and Maddie? You know that Maddie proposed that we swap spouses for a night. She said it was Jane's idea."

James knew what was what, of course. When Jane asked him if he'd be willing to do a swap with Todd and Maddie, she'd explained that Maddie wanted to explore with other guys, and that - as a start - a swap with friends seemed safe.

James was unsure whether to say this to Todd. But he decided that he'd want to know if he were in Todd's position. And Todd was his good friend. He explained it all to him. He also explained about his and Jane's hall passes. He told Todd how he had used the last one - with a woman at a CLE seminar in Richmond.

James figured that maybe Todd could be convinced. After all, James was a lawyer, and made his living being convincing.

But Todd was only appalled. James could see that right off. James said, "Todd, you have to cut Maddie some slack here. Women have a hard time turning forty."

"But she never before seemed like she wanted outside sex. She...she....Jesus."

James said, "Calm down. She hasn't done anything yet."

Todd replied, "Yet. But?"

"Just have a talk with her, Todd. Let her know that you know everything. Then maybe you can get some therapy or work something out." He paused. Then he continued, "Of course, you could just give in to her. You'd have fun with Jane. Fun with your dick and Jane." He chuckled.

Todd didn't see the humor. He drove them home.

The next night Todd asked Maddie for a discussion after dinner. Maddie was nervous.

They sat across the kitchen table.

Todd said, "Mattie, I spoke to James about the swap idea."

Maddie's face brightened. "And?"

"He told me about how you and Jane planned to use that as a bridge so you could have sex with other guys. He told me about their hall passes. You never let on about that."

"That's their business."

"But it becomes mine when you and Jane play games that might end us."

"Todd, I see how dead set you are against any outside play. Okay. That's okay. I'll never do it without your knowledge and permission. I won't."

Todd stared at his wife, wondering whether to believe her. She seemed to squirm without moving at all. Reading tells like that was how he got through college without borrowing. Finally, he spoke.

"I'm taking your word for that. But I believe I need to speak to Jane."

"Why?"

"To ask her to desist her efforts to...to corrupt you."

Maddie gasped. "Corrupt? It would only have been sex. Fun, but not meaningful, or harmful."

"Maddie, I'd also like us to go to a marriage counselor. We need to explore the motives here and try to head off more trouble."

Maddie gave him a look. "You don't trust me to keep my word?"

"Let's just say that I'll be much more comfortable that way. After all, this all was a plot. A preplanned effort to overcome my opposition. One small step away from an actual lie."

Maddie didn't reply immediately. She seemed to look into herself. Then she said, "Okay."

Later that night she came out of the shower dry but naked. She twirled for Todd. He rose for her. They cemented their deal.

It wasn't as if she was just using sex to calm Todd. She needed it, more now than ever in her life. She had calmed herself more than she calmed Todd.

Maddie came home the next day with a list of three marriage counselors. But she had a definite preference for Margaret Jenkins. Todd looked her up on-line. She was about their age and her web site emphasized that she would try to allow the spouses to fully express themselves. The other two on the list were older and male. Todd decided to go along with Maddie's pick.

Maddie had consulted Jane about marriage counselling. She and Jane did some deep research and came up with the three names. But they both liked Margaret Jenkins the most. Partly it was her age and gender. Partly it was what seemed like an agnostic attitude toward monogamy.

Jane asked Maddie, "Are you going to be honest? In terms of why you want more cock?"

"That's a crude way to put it, Jane."

"But, Maddie, it's an accurate description. Believe me, I know."

Maddie and Jane had been close friends for years. Maddie knew that Jane really liked variety in her sex life. She and James had worked that out. Maddie knew that James was reluctant at first but came around when Jane suggested that James always flirted with the woman who owned their favorite bar. Linda. A fine-looking woman. James didn't think Linda would go for it. But Jane gave him a hall pass to try. And he succeeded right away. He was ecstatic.

Of course, Jane had spoken to Linda. So what?

Jane was a woman who was honest with herself about herself. She knew full well how manipulative she was. She'd let James see some of that over the years. But James wasn't as smart as Jane. She loved him. He was great in bed, even now. Just not quite as quick as Jane. Mentally. Jane was quicker getting off. More prolific, as well.

Maddie was Jane's equal in intelligence, but maybe not as analytically introspective. She could plot and be devious. Still, in this case, Maddie only knew that she wanted different dicks. She hadn't thought through why she did. Not fully.

Jane had done some research on the matter of women's sexual inclinations as they aged through the late thirties and beyond. There was a hormonal aspect. Less estrogen, and so proportionally more testosterone. Ergo, the need for more sex. And, it seemed, more cocks. In any event, Jane thought that Maddie might be a hormonal slut in her forties. Maddie was her friend, but so was Todd. She was conflicted about whether to facilitate Maddie's need for outside men. But her bottom line was a desire to keep the two married and happy. Or at least not depressed.