Wendy was fuming. Ray had done it again. He made a big decision without asking her.
"Honey, you know we have to help him."
Her anger was rising, but she took a breath breath to calm herself.
"Ray... I'm going to say this one more time... my problem isn't that you agreed to host him... my problem is that you took a big decision without asking me..."
"Ok that's fair, but what could I have done? We owe some much to James."
"You should have told him you need to run it by your wife first, Ray!"
"But it's not like you would say no."
"That's. Not. The. Point. The point is that we need to be on the same page, how have you not learnt this after 25 years of being married?! This is like the RV all over again."
Around 5 years ago, Ray bought an RV without first asking Wendy. If he had told her first, she would have said this was just a mid-life crisis purchase and it was a bad idea. But after six months of never using it, he finally learnt his lesson. Of course, they had to sell the RV.
"Alright, I'm sorry. But can we please not fight? His son will be here tomorrow."
James was Ray's old boss and they owed a lot to him. Wendy and Ray wanted to marry straight out of college, but her dad said he wouldn't allow it. Not unless Ray got a job that could support her.
It was James who offered Ray his first job. And supported him every step of the way. Ray looked up to James like he would to an older brother. They had stayed in touch and had a solid friendship even when they moved to another city and Ray got another job.
So when James said his 23 year old son was moving to our city for grad school, Ray unilaterally offered to let him stay with us.
"What's his son's name again? Johnny?"
"Jason. And he's a very sweet boy."
"A 23 year old is a man, Ray. Not a boy."
"Ok ok, he's a very nice man. I was thinking we can give him Cassie's old room," he said.
Their daughters Cassie and Brianna had moved out for college.
"Alright... I suppose we could do that..."
Ray smiled as her expression softened.
"He's getting here tonight, I'll go pick him up from the airport. Could you prepare his room?"
--------
Wendy was glad to have something to do. It gave her time to get over her anger at her husband.
She cleared all of Cassie's stuff from her closet so that Jason would have room for his clothes. She threw the dusty old sheets into the wash and laid out fresh ones.
Wendy remembered Jason as an awkward, skinny kid. Whenever James brought him over for dinner, he barely said a word. He always got along with Brianna, the shyer of her two daughters. But Cassie the extrovert had little patience for these boring teens.
By the time she heard the car pull up in the driveway, the room was ready for a person to move into.
She was prepping dinner when she heard the front door open.
"Honey, we're home!" Ray's voice called out.
Wendy put on her best host-smile and went to the door.
Ray was pulling a suitcase and behind him was a tall, handsome man. He wore a pair of jeans with a white t shirt, his muscles bulging in the sleeves. His blonde hair fell over his forehead, just above his sharp grey eyes.
Wendy was confused. She was expecting a lanky, geeky little boy. What she got was a man who carried himself like a movie star.
"Oh... wow, Jason... hi..." she said.
"Hello, Mrs. Rose. It's a pleasure to see you again," he extended a firm hand that Wendy took, his touch sending a little spark through her body. "I was just telling Mr. Rose how grateful I am that you agreed to host me for the next two years. Finding a place here was proving impossible."
"No need to thank us, Jason. I owe your dad a lot. And I've told you, call us Ray and Wendy!" Ray said.
"Well... Ray and Wendy, it's great to be in your beautiful home," he said, kissing Wendy's hand lightly.
"Oh my, I see James has taught you manners," Wendy said, blushing.
"Well, he's always told me to be courteous in the presence of a beautiful lady," he said.
"What a gentleman. I'll show you to your room while Wendy finishes up dinner. Come on,"
Ray said.
Wendy's thoughts turned to Jason as she continued in the kitchen. She wondered when the glow up happened. It wasn't just a physical change, he also seemed more confident. He was no longer awkward, the way he had taken her hand and kissed it.
She felt Ray hug her from behind as she was laying out the table. His hands held her by the waist and she felt his breath on her neck. He pushed her brown hair aside and kissed her there.
"Have I told you I love you? And that you're an angel? And have I also mentioned how sorry I am that I didn't run this by you first?"
Wendy smiled. She couldn't stay mad at Ray for too long. Despite his caprice, she couldn't imagine a life with anyone else. Ray was a good father, a good husband and never let a day go by without telling her she was beautiful
"Keep telling me how beautiful you think I am and I might forget that you fucked up again."
"Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks you're a 'beautiful lady', eh?" he brought his hands up to give her tits a squeeze.
"Ray!" she giggled, pushing him away. "You can't be doing that with a young man in the house now!"
"Oh I was just teasing. Besides, look at you. Who wouldn't find you beautiful?"
"I used to be. I don't feel that way anymore," she said.
If Ray's mid life crisis involved getting an RV, Wendy's was fitness. When she was young, she was just effortlessly fit. But she never quite got rid of the weight she put on after the girls were born.
"Honey, you're incredibly hot."
"You're sweet."
Ray had insisted that she hadn't put on as much weight as she thought she had over the years. And that it was natural, but her body hadn't felt the same in decades.
Wendy was pretty voluptuous, so she had no dearth of male attention. Even if she never wore anything form fitting anymore, her rack was big enough to draw some eyeballs.
Wendy was glad their house had a swimming pool. In the privacy of her home, she could do a hundred laps a day with only her husband watching.
She didn't want to join a gym or a fitness class or a running group because she didn't like showing her body off. She didn't want people to see her in tights or in a swimsuit.
"I'm going to get changed for dinner," Ray said.
"Alright, I'll tell Jason dinner is ready," she said.
She walked up the stairs to Cassie's old room. Growing up with two girls, Wendy was used to just walking into a room without knocking.
Unthinkingly, she opened the door and started talking, "Hey Jason, dinner is-oh..."
Jason was standing there shirtless. Wendy didn't even realize she was staring shamelessly at this young man. He had a smooth, muscled chest.
She stared at his rippling abs. Wendy wanted to touch them, to trace her finger along those muscly ridges down to his v-front.
"Can I help you, Wendy?" he said, with a smirk.
Wendy realized she'd been staring.