Dan groaned as he rolled over and reached for his phone from the nightstand. Blinking his eyes, he tried to focus on the time displayed on the screen. He felt Sarah's warmth as she stirred next to him. Looking up at the familiar ceiling above him, Dan smiled. It felt good to be back in his bed in Middleton again.
"Remind me to thank your parents for taking the girls last night," He groaned as he closed his eyes and settled back down into the bed, "I want to sleep all day."
"Hmmmmm," Sarah purred as she rolled towards him, laying her hand on his chest, "It was nice just having the house to ourselves last night. I really enjoyed it."
Dan smirked knowingly, "So did I. It was amazing."
"It was," Sarah nestled into the crook of Dan's arm. "I'm glad you could come home."
"Me too," Dan said. Work hadn't been the same since his company announced the pay cuts. Morale across the board was at an all-time low. Several colleagues had promptly left the company while some were quietly let go. Dan felt secure in his position but didn't take anything for granted anymore.
After a couple of weeks of the stressful and demoralizing work environment, Dan told his boss, Walt, he was taking a week off to go back home. Walt didn't give him a hard time about it, and he'd just nodded and turned back to his computer screen. He seemed to be in damage control mode lately.
Dan had spent the week at home settling back into his old routine with the kids, helping Sarah run the household and trying to work on projects that needed doing around the house. Sarah couldn't take the whole week off like Dan; on the days without her, he'd spent his time searching for new jobs.
He was beginning to see just how dire the job market was. Depression was starting to creep into his thoughts due to the lack of follow-up from the companies he was applying to. He tried to press ahead and not let hopelessness sap his motivation.
Dan rolled over towards his wife and smelled her hair.
Sandalwood and strawberries.
"I wish you didn't have to go to work today. We could stay in bed all day together." Dan sighed.
"Mhmmm, that sounds great. I wish I could, too, but the extra hours will help us."
DING
Sarah's phone chimed from her side of the bed. She reluctantly disengaged from her husband and rolled over to check it.
"Ugh," Sarah said as she put the phone back down and took her place once more against Dan.
"Work?" Dan asked.
Several seconds of silence elapsed before Sarah finally answered, exhaling, "No, it was Lester."
Dan felt the blood immediately begin to flow towards his dick. They'd gone the entire week without mentioning Dan's roommate once. He tried to keep his cool, and he didn't want Sarah to see him get too excited nor let on how fast he'd been affected.
"I didn't realize you guys were on a texting basis," Dan said musingly, testing the waters.
"We aren't," Sarah said, "I mean, he texts me, but I don't respond to him."
"What does he want?" Dan wasn't thrilled that his roommate was going behind his back and contacting Sarah, but it wouldn't be the first time Lester did something for his own gain.
"Well, he hasn't said anything, but I think I know what he is getting at," Sarah's eyes were closed as she spoke.
"What do you mean he hasn't said anything? That doesn't make sense." Dan asked.
"He just sends pictures," Sarah answered.
"Pictures of what?" Dan paused, "Oh. Really? That's kind of gross. Just unsolicited dick pics? And you don't respond to them?"
"No. I haven't messaged him back, but every now and then, he just sends another. He has even sent them while I'm in the middle of my work day. I open my phone, and a new dick pic comes in. I'd be mortified if someone saw them." Sarah laughed.
"Why don't you just tell him to stop? Why am I just hearing about this now?" Dan was not fully awake and turned to inspect his loving wife lying besidehim.
Sarah looked up at him with gorgeous emerald eyes, "I'm afraid that if I start texting back, it'll send him some kind of signal. It's one thing to have things happen in the apartment, but this is starting to creep into other areas of our lives. And I didn't want to add to your stress, so I thought that if I just ignored them, he would eventually stop on his own. That's probably a naive attitude given what happened last time in Chicago but that's what I was hoping for."
Memories of the last night in Chicago crept into his mind, watching his wife and Lester together from the other side of the peephole, watching Lester experience his wife. Sarah's eyes losing focus as she screamed in ecstasy.
"Maybe you should send him a picture back...." Dan said playfully.
Sarah leaned up on one elbow and looked at her husband, "Do you really think that's a good idea? I feel like it would only make Lester more bold. Besides, we need to figure out what we're doing here. When I drive back up with you to Chicago tomorrow, Lester will probably be expecting another of his dates. I don't want him to think it's just open season, and he can get away with whatever he wants."
"Yeah,' Dan agreed, "You're probably right. That's smart."
Sarah eyed Dan suspiciously, "If I did send him a message back, what do you think I should send."
"Hmmmmm," Dan contemplated for a moment before answering. "I guess that depends on what we're going for. You could continue to ignore him. You could message him and play it oblivious to the pictures he sent you. Or if you wanted to mess with him, you could send him a sexy picture."
"A sexy picture, hmm?" Sarah leaned in and whispered, "And just what would I be doing in this sexy picture? Showing myself off to your roommate?"
"Ah," Dan said, putting up his hands defensively, "That, I haven't thought far enough ahead on. Besides, you usually seem to be the creative one when it comes to the sexy pictures that drive me wild. I'm sure you could come up with something."
Sarah's playful expression turned serious, "That's true. But again, what message are we hoping to send to him? What do we want here, Dan? What do you want? When I come back with you, do we tell him we are pausing things, and these dates are going to be strictly platonic? If not, what do we do? What are the ground rules, you know?"
Dan's heart was beating out of his chest. He knew how his mind wanted him to answer, but his devious instincts easily betrayed it. He remembered how his mind would often drift, paralyzing him to the point of inaction to see the events between Sarah and Lester play out. An image of the back of Lester's head shaking as he enthusiastically consumed Sarah's pussy flashed quickly in his mind.
"I don't know," Dan lied. They'd talked about this in the past, but things had changed. He felt like they were moving fast, and he hated admitting what he wanted, "I haven't thought too much about it."
"Really?" Sarah challenged, "You saw me and Lester together last time, and you haven't thought about it once? I'm not buying it, Mister." She caressed her husband's bicep, enjoying the feel of his skin.
"Listen, I'm not here to judge or give you a hard time. You know I am in this with you. I would be lying if I said I'm not at least partially enjoying this playful adventure we are on. I know you'll always be there to catch me. I just need us to get on the same page so I know where we are heading and, more importantly, where we aren't heading."
"Okay," Dan responded, "That's...that's good. Yeah, we should be on the same page. So, I guess, let's see. So, with the dates. I think, yes, for now, they are probably okay to keep going on, at least until we figure out our financial situation. What do you think?"
"Agreed," Sarah said smiling, "The dates are the easy part. I can handle those, and I can handle whatever Lester throws at me. What about the other stuff? Like what happened last time?"
"I think we deal with that on a case-by-case basis," Dan said, "When you get back to the apartment, we can debrief and figure out what we want to do."
"Okay..." Sarah looked at him, "But you know there is more to that, right? Like on a date, Lester might try to put his arm around me, maybe try to touch me or get me to touch him. Things might happen on the dates that we need to figure out."
"You mean like Lester trying something with you when you aren't in the apartment?" Dan asked. It hadn't occurred to him that the possibility existed that their nights wouldn't end up at the apartment with him being present. He remembered how his stomach had been in knots when he learned that Sarah had slept with Lester while he was in Minnesota, followed by an immediate rush of excitement over what he'd missed.
"I don't....I don't know." Dan finally said, "I mean, I want to be there, to know you are safe and to make sure everything is okay, but..."
"But?" Sarah asked after Dan had trailed off.
"But," Dan took a breath, aligning his thoughts, "But part of me gets excited, well, maybe not excited, but turned on just thinking about you doing things. The fact that it's an unknown thing, a thing I didn't witness where my mind kind of fills in the blanks, it's just a really erotic thing to think about. I don't know what we should do here."
"Okay," Sarah said, sitting up. She noticed that Dan was beginning to show signs of an erection beneath the sheets. "If I am out with Lester alone, and he puts his arms around my shoulder, do you veto that or should I let it happen."
"I guess that is okay, all things considered." Dan shrugged.
"What if he tries to hold my hand? Or tries to kiss me?" Sarah asked.
"That feels almost too intimate," Dan's face was a mix of arousal and torment, "It's a hot idea, okay, but I'm not sure. Maybe. As long as you acknowledge it just being for show and part of this whole thing."
Sarah looked bemusedly at Dan, "Of course, honey, there isn't an actual spark or passion here. It's just Lester, right." His wife wore a dismissive expression, as if the idea were beneath consideration.
"Right," Dan nodded, feeling reassured. "Okay, what's next?"
