A Unicorn In Our Bed?

I like sex as much as the next woman. Maybe more. I love my husband, our marriage, and our sex life. So none of what happened is because I wasn't happy with my marriage and my husband. I was happy. Don't blame me. None of it was my fault.

My husband, James, and I, Jessie, are both thirty. We met our sophomore year at college. We have been together ever since. Early on, we decided we would be exclusive and monogamous. I have been. I never had reason to doubt James' fidelity either.

I was living in a dorm at school when James and I met. I had dated some in college but was not really interested in any of the guys I dated. They were interested in one thing and that thing only. I had a boyfriend in high school and was no longer a virgin but I never wanted to hop in the sack just because some guy was good looking or sexy. I couldn't see doing that. Not because I didn't find guys I met attractive. I just couldn't get past having sex with some random guy I didn't know, someone I didn't care about and who didn't care about me. The getting to know part took some time and the guys I met weren't interested in taking any time. I guess I needed romance, some sort of emotional connection. I could never say to myself, "He's hot. I wanna try him out." It was more like, "He's hot. Let's see if there's anything else to him." Most guys found me too much work.

James was in my Calculus class the first semester of our sophomore year. I noticed him in class and thought he was attractive but we never talked. The professor in the class would assign homework problems from the textbook and at the next class he would ask if anyone had questions about the problems. If no one had questions, he'd collect the homework and dismiss the class. Something he did my semester the one time I got sick and missed class.

I was good at math and I loved all the math courses I took in high school and college. I asked most of the questions in this professor's class. I could do most of the homework problems and thought I was getting the right answers but I didn't want to find out I was wrong about that on actual tests. Our grade was based on how we did on the tests. He always collected the homework but he never returned it. Probably threw it in the trash without looking at it. So if anyone wanted to know if they were solving the problems correctly, they had to ask him about them in class. A lot of the classes came down to just the professor and me going over the homework while the other students listened.

James came up to me after class a few weeks in. I thought he was another of my classmates who was going to tell me to shut up in class. If I didn't ask questions, we'd be dismissed and have a free period. My response to these classmates was always, "I should fail this class because you want to go toss a Frisbee with your friends?" That usually shut them up but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be in the running for most popular in that class.

But that wasn't what James wanted to talk about. Instead, he said, "You're pretty good at this Calculus stuff." I shrugged. He continued, "I'm having trouble understanding some of it. Would you be willing to study together? I really need to pass this course and need some help. Just if you have time."

As I said, I found James attractive and he seemed sincere about studying. I wasn't seeing anyone and hanging out weekends with the girls was getting old. I thought, 'One time and we'll see if he's interested in math or getting in my pants. Or, worse, if he thinks I'll do his homework for him.' So I said yes. We set up a time to meet in one of the study rooms in the library.

James did everything right. It was almost like he had read a script that I had written on how to become my boyfriend. And get in my pants. Our first study session we actually studied. No, "Want to get a drink first?" or "Let's take a break. I have some great weed in my room." We studied, went over the homework assignment, set up a time for our next study session and parted company.

He took it slow. Over the next few weeks we met to go over the lessons for a couple of hours after our math class. Then he asked me out to dinner, "You've really helped me. You've been so generous with your time I feel I should repay you. Can I take you out to dinner?"

I said "Yes," and that Saturday night, we went to dinner at a really nice restaurant. One you had to dress up for. I was impressed. I had learned in the study sessions that James was smart, he really didn't need that much help with the math assignments, as well as funny. And, as I said, I found him attractive. At dinner we talked about our backgrounds. I learned a lot about him. He's a single child, his parents are wealthy and he planned to go into the family business after graduation. I told him I have a younger sister and my parents aren't rich but not poor either. I wanted to go into finance. James was easy to talk to.

After dinner, he walked me back to my dorm, kissed me on the cheek and told me he'd see me in class. I would have gladly hooked up with him that night. I had my dorm room to myself because my roommate had decided at the last minute not to return to school. I was about to ask him to come up when he kissed my cheek and left. Somehow the script he was following about how to become my boyfriend left out the part about how he was supposed to read my mind and know when I wanted to get laid.

Another couple of weeks went by before we finally hooked up. By then I was completely smitten with him. After sex, which was wonderful, he was lying on his back and I was on my side, my head on his chest with my leg across his legs. He had his arm under me and was running his fingers up and down my back. I asked him, "You really didn't need help with math did you?"

"I did and you have helped me. But that wasn't my only motive. I knew I wouldn't be able to get close to you by telling you I could guess the color of your panties or some other hook up line. You'd be turned off by that."

I interrupted him, "You really use that line? Does it ever work?"

"No, but I've heard it used. I'm more successful when I cut to the chase. I tell girls I can guess the color of the hair on their pussies. Or if they've shaved it all off. And if they tell me I'm wrong, they have to prove that to me. By showing me. A lot of girls agree to this because it's about them, all about them. And it's a little naughty. What girl doesn't want to be a little naughty? I never guess right and try to make it even naughtier. They certainly don't want to show me in public. My dorm room is nice and private. You'd be surprised how well this works.

"But not with you. I figured I had the rest of this year and two more before we graduated to get to know you. So we had plenty of time and I was willing to spend as much time as you needed. Now that we've hooked up though, we can dispense with all this romance shit. If you get horny, call me. I'll do the same. Or we can schedule booty calls a night or two each week for a quick bang. Doesn't have to interfere with any of our other hookups. Just friends with benefits. Oh, and I guessed right about the color of your pubic hair."

I punched him in the chest and started to get out of bed. He put his arms around me, laughed and said, "I was kidding. I'm serious about you. I don't want hookups with anyone else. And what we do and when we do it is all up to you. You call the shots. Thanksgiving is in ten days. Would you come to Thanksgiving with me and meet my parents?"

James was back on script. I did meet his parents that Thanksgiving. That was eleven years ago. It's been nothing but terrific ever since. At least for me.

We married a little over seven years ago. We don't have children. We decided to put that off. There's plenty of time for that.

After graduation, we moved back to James' home town, a medium sized mid-Atlantic city, so he could work in his father's business. His father owns apartment houses, office buildings and strip malls. He's very successful and James will inherit that business someday.

My degree is in finance and I found a job in a local branch office of an online brokerage firm. Between our two salaries, we are pretty well off. Not a villa in the South of France well off but we don't have to save up for vacations or to buy a new car. We own a nice four bedroom home in a nice suburban neighborhood. We're doing just fine.

As I said, I was perfectly happy with our sex life. It turns out, not so much for James. A little over a year ago, maybe fourteen months ago, at dinner James said, "I don't want you to take this the wrong way but things are getting a little stale in the bedroom. I think we should try to do things that will spice up our sex life. I love you, more and more every day, but we've been together for a long time. We know all of each other's moves. Things have become predictable. We should think up ways to make things more interesting."

I was taken aback by this. Yeah, we've been together for a long time but when I needed something more stimulating while we were having sex I just thought about movie stars. Some movie stars you think you know, almost as friends, and I would think about what it would be like having sex with them. Also, occasionally, I'd think about co-workers I was friendly with. I didn't consider this inappropriate and would certain never do anything with the men I thought about. I didn't tell James about these fantasies, I didn't know how he'd take it, but I thought enjoying sex was ultimately up to each of us individually, with lots of help from our spouse.

I asked James, "Where did this come from? You find me boring in bed? What do you want to try?"

"It's not that I'm bored with you. I'm just saying there are things we should think about doing that might make our sex life more exciting. That's all."

I was terrified that he would suggest activities I would never do. Like anal. "What things?"

"I don't know. Maybe some play acting. Maybe some cosplay. Things like that. Don't you have some fantasies you'd like to act out? I'm willing to do anything you want. Well, if it's not too crazy and it doesn't involve losing body parts or anything."

"Like what kind of fantasy?"

"OK, I'll start. We can take turns. I have never been with a prostitute. How about this Saturday, you dress like a streetwalker and I pick you up on the street and take you to a hotel. Pay you and everything. That would be a real turn on for me. What do you think?"

I thought, 'That would be a real turn on for me too.' I said, "So I dress up like a prostitute, walk up and down some street and you pick me up and take me to a hotel? And give me money?"

"Yup."

"OK, I'm down for that."

"This Saturday. I'll work out the details. When and where. You have to figure out what to wear. You have to look and act like a prostitute to make this work."

It did work. He picked a street where there were actual prostitutes. I wore nothing but panties under a trench coat. And stiletto heels. He pulled up in his car and stopped next to me. He opened the passenger side window and I asked, "Want to go to a party?" I opened my coat so he could see my transparent panties and that I was wearing nothing else.

"How much?"

I had no idea so I said, "$300 for two hours."

James asked, "What do I get for that?"

What the fuck? What does he think I'm going to do? But I answered, "Anything you want."

"$200."

I thought, 'Cheap bastard,' and said, "$300 and we go around-the-world. Otherwise, I have to wait for the next guy." I have no idea what 'around-the-world' means but it sounded like something a prostitute would say. A car with two men slowed down to look me over. I stepped away from James' car so they could see me and I opened my coat and flashed them. Gave them my sweetest smile.

James turned to see who I flashed and watched the car pull over to the curb in front of us. The man in the passenger seat opened his door and said, "How much for the two of us? We'll double whatever he's offering. Triple it."

James said, "Jesus, get in the fucking car."

I was really getting in to this. And it was nice to know I had a career waiting if I ever get bored with my current job. I raised my eyebrows at James as if to say, "Back to you. What's your offer now?"

James said, "OK, $600 but get in the car.

I stood my ground, "I want to see the money first."

James showed me the cash and said, "Will you get in the damn car?" nervously looking at the car in front of us. The guy who'd opened his door was getting out. Big guy.

I thought about trying to get more out of the two guys but James was flipping out. A little too much reality for him in this fantasy. I said to the guy who was now standing by his car, "He was here first. I'll see you next time." I waved to him and got in with James.

James was angry, "What the fuck was that?"

I shrugged, "A girl's got to make a living on these mean streets. I'm not a charity."

We went to a hotel. He wanted more than two hours so he had to pay more. But he was right; it was exciting. Great sex for me.

I enjoyed every second of my time playing prostitute. I don't think James did. At least not as much as he thought he would. For some reason, he didn't want to do it again. I think he was worried I'd have actually gone with the two guys if they outbid him. Just playing my part. Or he wanted the prostitute he brought to his room to fall madly in love with him and would do anything he wanted for free. So overwhelmed by his skills that I would even give his money back. Nope. I still have the $1500 he ended up paying me tucked away.

My turn. We did a rape fantasy with James as a home invader in a black balaclava. He came in with a toy gun and found me pretending to be asleep in bed. He told me to strip and "forced" me to do things. It was working until James got too hot in the balaclava and took it off. That sort of killed the fantasy. But the sex was still good.

We added cosplay which I understood as dressing up as a comic book or movie character. James said he always wanted to fuck Wonder Woman so I got into costume. I had to stay in costume while we had sex. Not that much fun for me.

I wasn't really interested in the cosplay. I didn't fantasize about having sex with Superman or Batman or the Hulk. But we did do Tarzan and Jane. Both Tarzan and Jane wore only short loincloths, open at the sides, covering almost nothing. My twist was we had to be Tarzan and Jane in the back yard. James had to swing up to me on a rope he tied to a tree branch, yelling like Tarzan, and carry me over his shoulder to Tarzan's 'cave' where he would ravish me. The cave was a tent we set up in the back yard. We did this at night with very little light so the neighbors wouldn't see too much. Although I'm sure they heard Tarzan yelling. That was fun.

My favorite role play was actually James' idea. He told me that he had the hots for a cheerleader in high school but she was going with the varsity quarterback so he didn't stand a chance with her. Now we could replay it and he would be the star quarterback and I would be the hot cheerleader.

When he told me his idea we were eating breakfast and I almost choked. I was a cheerleader in high school and my boyfriend senior year was the varsity quarterback. James didn't know this. After James and I became serious at college, by tacit agreement, we didn't talk about our past boyfriends or girlfriends. At least not any of the details. He didn't want to know about me and I didn't need to know about him. I told him I had a boyfriend in high school but that's all. I wasn't even sure he knew I was a cheerleader. So I told him I had been a cheerleader when he suggested the quarterback and cheerleader scenario. And that my uniform was still hanging in the closet in my old bedroom at my parents. James got even more excited. He was going to fuck real cheerleader.

My parents were wintering at their place in Florida so their house was empty. The following Saturday James and I drove the two hours to my parents. James got a football uniform somewhere: shoulder pads, helmet, pants and jersey. He even had a football. The idea was James, the star quarterback, asked me, the hot cheerleader, to help him practice his snaps. The story was he was having trouble handling the snap from the center. Could I practice with him? Of course. Anything for the team. We could practice snaps in my bedroom.

We arrived at my house and waited until about 7pm. He got into his football get-up and I put on the cheerleader outfit. Thank God it still fit. But the sweater was tighter and the skirt shorter than I remembered. We went out the back door and then went around the house to the front door.

I whispered, "My parents are watching TV. We have to be very quiet." My parents, of course, were in Florida but pretending we were teenagers sneaking past my parents added to the thrill. I quietly opened the door and we snuck upstairs to my bedroom.

James, the quarterback, said, "I want you to pretend you're my center. I want you to hike the ball to me," He handed me the football he brought.

I wanted to do something I thought would be more fun and said, "We're doing a new cheer at the next game. Could you watch me do the new routine first? I need to practice. Then we can do snaps." James nodded, interested in watching the new cheer. I started a cheer I hadn't done in over a dozen years. I stopped and said, "These briefs are two tight. Do you mind if I take them off?" James didn't mind. Briefs or shorts are what we wore over our panties, under our skirts. I took off my briefs and started the cheer again in my panties.

This was a re-creation of something I did once at a party when I was in high school. My high school boyfriend, whose name is Mike, and I were at a football team member's house with some of the football team and their girlfriends. There were two other cheerleaders at the party. We were all very drunk. We were in our cheerleader uniforms. We had a pep rally at school and wore our uniforms all day. The three of us were dared to do a couple of cheers without our uniform briefs. Do the cheers in our panties.

I'd known everyone at this party for years. Some since kindergarten. I felt safe with them. Everyone was drunk and having a good time. All good friends. Cheers in my underwear was no big thing.

Mike told everyone I would never do that. I was too much of a prude. His way of telling me that he didn't want me to do it instead of just saying that. He wanted people to blame me for ruining the fun. Wrong thing for him to say. I was wearing nice panties so it was like I was wearing a sexy bathing suit bottom. I was out of my briefs first. The other girls followed my lead and we did a couple of cheers together in our panties. After each cheer we were encouraged to take a shot of tequila.

Then we were dared to do cheers without our sweaters, in just our skirts, panties, bras, shoes and socks. I was wearing a nice bra so I figured it was like a swim suit top. Maybe a little too transparent for a swim suit but no big deal. We all took off our sweaters and did a cheer. Another shot of tequila. We were all really drunk now.

Why do we need skirts? They were the next to go. We did two cheers in just bras and panties, shoes and socks. At this point the three of us were falling all over each other more than doing actual routines. Two more shots of tequila. We were all having a good time. Lots of clapping and encouragement. I was enjoying myself.

The next dare was our bras. I thought, 'No way. I'm not doing cheers topless.' My two fellow cheerleaders already had their bras off. I just stood there. Then one of them unclasped my bra while the other one pulled it off me. I was able to grab my bra and we had a tug of war for a few seconds but she released it. Mike grabbed me by the arm and marched me out of the party in just my panties, sneakers and socks, and holding my bra. As soon as we got in the car, we went at it. I was really turned on and really drunk. Mike couldn't wait either. He had really liked the show. Great sex even though I always hated doing it in the car. So cramped and uncomfortable.

After we finished, Mike went back in the party to collect my cheerleader skirt, briefs and sweater. He was gone for a while. When he finally returned to the car, he said, "Your two girlfriends are doing cheers butt naked." All the way to my house Mike gave me a stern lecture about decorum. I did my best to keep a straight face but what a hypocrite. He enjoyed watching me almost as much as I did doing cheers at the party in my underwear.

The pictures of the three of us doing cheers in various stages of undress were on every phone of every student at our school within twenty-four hours. We were almost kicked off the cheer team. We didn't do anything at school or during school hours but since we were wearing our cheerleader uniforms, we brought 'dishonor' to the cheer-leading squad. Dishonor my ass. Our next game was a sellout. They didn't come to watch our mediocre football team lose again. They came to watch the cheerleaders. Our coach finally decided to leave our punishment to our parents. I was grounded for a month.

I wanted to recreate my cheerleader strip for James. Except I would go all the way. I had already taken off my briefs and started the cheer again. But I stopped and fanned my face with my hand. I said, "I'm really hot. Do you mind if I take off my sweater?" James didn't mind so I did another cheer in just my bra, skirt and panties, shoes and socks. But my skirt was sort of getting in the way so I had to remove that too. I was down to my bra and panties, socks and sneakers. James was sitting on the bed watching. I could tell he was already aroused.

Next was my bra. I told James, "My bra keeps riding up. It's really uncomfortable. Would you undo it for me?" James made no objection and undid the clasps. I still hadn't finished the cheer, having to make all these clothing adjustments, so I started again wearing just panties, socks and shoes. My panties were a thong. I wear thongs all the time but these kept getting bunched up while I was trying to perform the cheer. They were very irritating so I had to take them off too. I was finally able to finish the cheer to James' appreciative applause.

This was a re-creation of performances I had done many times for Mike. After the party, and our intense sex in the car afterward, Mike insisted I repeat the strip just for him but finishing the cheer completely naked. Wearing only sneakers and socks. Who was I to refuse Mike anything? I invented cheers for Mike that involved a lot of bending over with my back to him, wiggling my ass. Also a lot of leg kicks and splits. Mike never got tired of this. Either did I.

I did one of the more erotic cheers for James that I had created for Mike. It was like old times. James enjoyed it as much as Mike used to. I think James thought my naked cheer was something I came up with just now for this fantasy. Just for him. He didn't need to know the truth. We didn't tell each other about our pasts. A real turn on doing this again in my old bedroom.

We never got around to practicing snaps. My cheer-leading ended with James just like it always did with Mike: James pulled me into bed. I almost laughed thinking, 'Can I count James as the second quarterback I've had in my childhood bed?' It was really great sex. We couldn't get enough of each other and didn't get much sleep. Good thing my parents weren't home.

We planned to drive home the next morning, Sunday. James wanted me to wear the cheerleader outfit but just the sweater and skirt with nothing underneath. James was in normal clothes, too embarrassed to be seen in his football getup. He insisted we drive by my old high school on the way out of town.

It was spring break and early Sunday morning so the only people around were a few joggers on the track that circled the football field. James said, "I want to do it under the bleachers," We went to the far stands. A lot of stares at this thirty year old woman in a cheerleader's outfit. There is nothing behind the far stands but a fence and woods. It's dark under the bleachers so the joggers couldn't see much. Just enough to know what we were doing. Exciting.

I gave James a blow job at the exact same spot I gave my high school boyfriend a blow job after a game senior year. I knew it was the same spot because Mike had carved our initials into the wood to commemorate the BJ. Our initials, though faded, were still readable. I had guided James to that exact spot. James, of course, knew nothing about all the places Mike left our initials. If James noticed my initials carved in the wood, he didn't say anything.

Before I could complete the blow job, James pulled me up and did me from behind. I enjoyed this even more than last night. If the joggers couldn't see us clearly, they probably heard me. I was hoping someone would come and investigate all the noise. No one did. It was still thrilling.

I enjoyed the whole weekend. A walk down memory lane. Reliving a couple of my more exciting high school sexual experiences.

So that's how we've spiced up our sex life for the past year or so. But recently we've started to run out of ideas, out of fantasies. We tried repeats, like the rape fantasy with just a mask over James' eyes, Zorro style. But it wasn't the same.

One Saturday, James suggested we go out to dinner. Just us, none of our friends. We were seated and James said, "The play acting and cosplay was fun. Did you enjoy that?"

I did, so I answered, "Yes, it was fun. Do you have a new fantasy you want to try?"

"No, but I thought we could take it a step further. You've met Claire. She works with me." I remembered Claire from work events and nodded. "Claire was talking about how she spiced up her marriage. She and her husband invited a third person into their bed. She says the sex with her husband was dead but having a third person join them really rekindled their sex life. Probably saved their marriage. Not every night but occasionally they both have sex with a third person. Someone who's referred to as a unicorn. What do you think?"

"They're actually called unicorns? Seriously?"

"That's what Claire said."

Claire. I mentioned that James works for his father. James is in charge of renovations for new tenants. If a tenant requires construction of a new suite of offices before they move in to one of his father's office buildings, James would consult with the tenants, provide drawings for the renovations, and then oversee construction. Claire is his assistant. When James has to work late or on Saturdays, Claire is right at his side. I wondered if Claire was the reason James has been working late and so many Saturdays lately.

So my response to James' question about inviting a unicorn into our bed was, "You're talking about our sex life with Claire? And she's talking about hers with you? What's going on?"

"It's not like that. We were having lunch with a bunch of co-workers. Someone brought up the subject of how to keep sex interesting after you've been married for a while. I didn't bring it up and I didn't say anything during this whole conversation. I just listened. Claire says it's not cheating because both of you are there in bed with the unicorn. Claire and her husband have gone on from that and they're dating other people. So they have an open marriage now but that's not what I want. Hopefully, that's not what you want either. I'm just suggesting that we occasionally invite someone over to share our bed. Spice things up."

"So we would invite a man to come have sex with us?" I knew that a man was definitely not what James had in mind but, I thought, 'Let's watch him squirm.'

"No, not another man. That won't work for me. I thought maybe a woman. Someone we can rely on to be discrete and would be OK with being with you and me. Do you really want to be with another man?"

"Do you really want to be with another woman?"

"I just thought this was something we could try. Something we could explore together. To improve our sex life. I think it would be exciting. But if another woman makes you jealous or insecure, then let's drop it. But I believe it would be good for us. I think we should try it. If it doesn't work, no harm done."

I thought, 'So it's me who would get jealous. I'm the one who's too insecure.' I said, "And this other woman would be Claire from your job?"

"I think she'd be OK with it."

"So you talked to her about this?"

"No, of course not. Not before I discussed it with you. But I think she's a logical choice. We don't have to decide about this now. Just promise me you'll think about it. We should try it. At least once. If you don't want to do it again, I'll understand."

I could tell from his demeanor that he really wanted this. He guessed how I'd react so he took me to a restaurant where I wouldn't make a scene. Instead of saying, "That's not going to happen," I said, "I'll think about it." I didn't want to be the one to say no. I hoped he'd just drop it when he saw how unenthusiastic I was. And I wanted to see what this was really about.

James didn't know this but it wouldn't be the first time I had sex with a woman. He didn't know that I was involved in a long term love affair with a woman just before I met him.

My freshman year dorm roommate was a girl name Janie. Janie came from a very conservative religious family. She was not allowed to date without a chaperon. No parties unless adults were there and her parents knew and trusted the adults. Janie said, "Which meant the parents had to go to our church or I wasn't going to the party." She wasn't allowed to watch TV growing up and could only use the internet for school work. She went to religious school K through twelve. Her parents wanted her to go to a religious college but Janie rebelled. She was eighteen and threatened to leave home. Her parents acquiesced.

Janie and I hit it off as friends as soon as we moved into the dorm. She was the perfect roommate: Clean, quiet, and wanted to please. She is a sweet, intelligent, curious and beautiful girl who knew nothing about the world when she arrived at college.

The first day of class, in her first class, a guy hit on her. He wasn't asking her to dinner and a movie. He invited her to come back to his dorm room to "Netflix and chill." She didn't know what that meant so she freaked out because she didn't know what to do or say to him. She just quickly walked away without saying anything. I found her in our room in tears. She skipped the rest of her classes. She told me what happened and said she was going to drop out of school and go home.

I explained what the guy was after back in his room. What all guys want. "No, they don't really want to study. No, they really don't want to watch a movie with you." But if that's what you want, go for it. If she didn't, just politely but firmly decline their invitations. I told Janie, "This is going to happen a million times before you graduate. It happens to all of us. Just get used to it."

Anyway, Janie and I became fast friends. We went everywhere together. We replaced her wardrobe with one more appropriate to a girl attending college in this century, did a little eyebrow plucking and applied a touch of makeup because Janie didn't need much. We went to bars together, parties together and, after a while, we even double dated. Watching Janie at a bar for the first time was like watching someone who was visiting from a different planet. Yup, I was a corrupting influence on Janie. Enjoyed every minute of it.

After midterms, there was a frat party and Janie was invited. Janie wanted to go but not without me. Never without me. I was her security blanket. There was lots of booze and Janie and I both imbibed and we both got drunk, her more than me. But everyone was drunk. The guys started daring girls to show their tits and Janie stood and lifted up her t-shirt and bra for all to see. Janie was a crowd favorite. I figured it was time to get her out of there before they demanded to see her ass too. Sorry guys.

I had drunk too much but Janie was sloppy drunk. I had to help her back to our dorm room. When we got back to the room, I put my arms around her to lower her onto her bed. She hugged me back and said, "I love you," and kissed me passionately on the lips. Long kiss. I lowered her onto the bed, took off her shoes and began to take off her jeans. She grabbed me and pulled me on top of her, "Please stay with me for a while. You're the only bright spot in my life." I eventually got her pants off, took off my shoes and pants and lay down next to her. We fell asleep like that.

The next morning I woke up first. We were spooning, Janie behind me with her arm around my middle. I just lay there, thinking about the kiss and what she said the night before. I was sure the, "I love you," was the booze talking. She'd have probably said that to anyone who happened to be in the room with her. I figured Janie was so drunk last night she wouldn't remember any of it.

But the obviously sexual kiss bothered me. She was drunk and would have probably kissed anyone. But I liked the kiss. I was drunk but that wasn't it. I liked the kiss and I liked her telling me she loved me. This was a new thing for me.

I've always had girlfriends. As friends, never as lovers. They were my girlfriends because I was attracted to them in some way: They were good looking, smart, sexy, funny, bitchy, catty, entertaining. There was something about them I found appealing. I wanted to be around them, have them as friends, because I enjoyed being around them. But it wasn't a sexual attraction. I never thought about being with a woman. If a woman hit on me, I'd be flattered but definitely, "Thanks, but no thanks."

Women touch each other, hug each other, kiss each other as friends, and on sleepovers in high school, two or three of us would sleep together in one bed and think nothing of it. I like being touched and kissed by other women. I like the affection. I like showing affection. Unless we were goofing around at a party, it was never inappropriate. It just confirmed our friendship. Just brought us closer.

So I was awake in Janie's bed with her sleeping behind me and her arm around me thinking about Janie's kiss and declaration of love. I thought, 'There is no way any of that meant anything other than she was drunk.' I was very fond of Janie and I was wondering about the feelings she stirred up in me. That's when Janie woke up.

I felt Janie moving and she quickly took her arm from around me. Like I was a hot stove she'd touched by accident. I got up and sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her. She looked a little green and was watching me with horror. "What did I do last night?"

"Before or after you showed everyone your tits?"

"I did not!" I nodded. She put her hands over her face and started crying, "I was hoping I just imagined that. Oh no! Did I kiss you and tell you I love you?" I nodded. More tears, "I just want to die."

I stroked her hair. "Let's get cleaned up and talk."

"You're going to tell me you want to get a new roommate aren't you? Don't worry, I'll drop out of school. I'll be gone today." She took her hands down from her face and looked at me. A picture of pure misery.

I wiped away her tears with my fingers and said, "I don't want a new roommate and you're not dropping out of school. We need to get cleaned up. Get up and put something on." Our dorm had same sex roommates but the dorm floors and the bathrooms were co-ed. Girls walked the dorm hallways in their panties and t-shirts here. But not us.

We got up, put on shorts and went to the bathroom to clean up. On the way back, I asked if she wanted to get breakfast. She looked at me like I had suggested jumping out a window. We got back to the room and sat together on her bed. I asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm dying a horrible death. like there's a marching band inside my head. I'm sorry I kissed you and told you I love you."

I smiled, "Well, you were pretty wasted. So you're forgiven."

Janie looked at me for a long time. She told me later she thought about saying, "Yeah, I was really drunk," but instead she decided to tell me the truth, "Getting drunk just gave me the courage to tell you how I feel about you. I am in love with you. I've wanted to kiss you since almost the first moment I met you. It wasn't because I was drunk. I've just been afraid to tell you. I figured if you knew, you'd run for the hills. I'd lose you as a roommate and more importantly as my friend. I couldn't bear that. I know you don't feel the same way about me. So if you want to get a different roommate, I understand."

Janie looked at me with a vulnerability I've never seen in anyone before. Like I had her life in my hands. We were sitting side by side on her bed. I put my arm around her and pulled her in to me, "Sweety, you know how much I care about you. You're the perfect roommate. I don't want anyone else. You're also my best friend. Telling me you love me is not going to drive me away."

Janie put her head on my shoulder and whispered, "You're so wonderful. That's why I love you." I kissed her. On the lips and passionately. I don't know who was more surprised, her or me. We started to undress each other. It was awkward at first, neither of us had been with another woman before. But, after a lot of practice over the next months, we soon figured out what the other wanted and needed.

We were lovers for the rest of our freshman year. We didn't flaunt it but we did pretty much everything together. We both stopped seeing anyone else. We made sure that we would be sharing a dorm room for our sophomore year. I was supposed to visit her during the summer but while we were making plans, she suddenly cancelled them without telling me why. I told her to visit me. She said she couldn't.

Then Janie dropped out of school just before the beginning of our sophomore year. She wrote me a letter. Not an email or text, but a handwritten letter she mailed to me. She told me that she talked to her pastor about our relationship. She told him, "Jesus is love so Jesus would approve of our love." But her pastor disagreed, "What we've been doing is sinful. If we didn't stop and ask God for forgiveness, we'd end up in Hell. After assuring me he wouldn't, that our talk was private, the pastor told my parents about us. They're forcing me to go to the school they wanted me to go to originally. To get a religious education. I'm not supposed to have any contact with you so I'm disobeying them by writing you this letter. But I had to say goodbye. And tell you that I do love you and always will. I just can't be with you. Goodbye."

A few weeks later, James asked me to help him with math. I have not had a relationship with another woman since Janie. I haven't had a sexual relationship with anyone else, man or woman, since I met James.

But I've always wondered what would have happened if Janie had returned to school for our sophomore year. I know that she and I would still have been lovers when James approached me. Since James came at me the right way, asking for help with math instead of offering to fuck me, I would still have done the math study sessions with him. I like to think that I still would have fallen in love with him. That it wasn't just that I was horny because I no longer had Janie in my bed. Once James and I were together, I would have broken it off with Janie. Better the way it actually happened. She broke it off with me.

Which brings us back to James wanting a unicorn in our bed. I was supposed to be thinking about it but hoped that James would drop it. After Janie, being with another woman is not something I find shocking. I'd probably enjoy it if it was someone I knew and cared about. But watching James fuck another woman is something else again. That's not going to be a part of my marriage.

I have a very good friend at work. Mary. She's younger than me, twenty-eight, and smart, gorgeous and single by choice. She says she's too young to get married or even get in a serious relationship. She's having too much fun being single. And she doesn't believe in monogamy. Unlike me, who was never interested in one night stands or random hookups, Mary is down for anything. And with either sex. Mary loves to talk about her adventures. I love to hear about them. We eat lunch together almost every day. If we go out with our co-workers for drinks after work, Mary and I always end up by ourselves at the bar talking. We've become very close. As friends.

We talk about her hookups, with men and women, and what Mary does with them. In detail. Her stories are hilarious. And racy. She asks about my sex life. I've told her about the role playing and cosplay. With no details other than the roles we played. James has met her a couple of times at work functions and I've told him she's bi. He considers Mary... amusing.

I'm pretty sure Mary would be interested in hooking up with me. She has not said so in so many words but she's very touchy with me. Lots of hugs and putting her arm through mine or around my waist. She sees nothing wrong with dating married men or women. When I chastise her about that, she says, "It's not like I'm going to take them away from their spouses. It's never going to be serious with any of them. And it never lasts very long. If I get a whiff that they want something more, I'm gone and they know it."

I tell her, "It's still wrong." She just shrugs. I've thought about what it would be like to have sex with Mary. I'd definitely enjoy it but I would never be unfaithful to James. But I have thought about it. Mary is a very attractive woman.

I didn't believe for a minute that James didn't discuss this unicorn business privately with Claire. It wasn't at some group lunch. I'm also sure he's already asked Claire to be our unicorn. He wouldn't have brought it up unless he had everything ready to go. I decided that if James can talk to Claire about our sex life, I could do the same with Mary. So we went out for drinks together after work and I gave her the gist of my conversation with James.

She asked, "You think he's already fucking this Claire?"

"For the first time since James and I got together, I think it's possible. Having a threesome just makes his infidelity legit in his mind. I'd like to know for sure. If he's cheating, we're done. I would never cheat on him. If he cheats on me, regardless of what he says, he really doesn't love me. I don't want to be with someone who isn't faithful. Who thinks of me as one among many.

"But how to find out for sure. I've met Claire and she seems nice enough but if I ask her if she's fucking my husband, I'm sure she'll deny it. Like James basically did."

Mary asked, "Does James know that I like men and women?"

"Yes."

"He could have suggested me as your unicorn. Why do you think he didn't?"

"He said Claire was the logical choice. She's anything but. He knows I won't be intimate with anyone who I don't know well and care about. And who cares about me. He knew that way back in college. I don't know Claire and I certainly don't care about her. I wouldn't be comfortable sleeping with her. Why bring her up at all? He really didn't need to mention her. He could have just said he came up with the idea himself. Or he read about it somewhere.

"You are the logical choice for the third person. But he wants Claire."

"What do you want to do?"

Before I could answer, I got a text from James: "Where are you? Come home. We have to finish our talk." I didn't text him back right away but showed his text to Mary.

I said, "He's not letting this go. I want to know if he's cheating on me. Would you mind if I suggested you as our third person to him?"

"That's OK with me. But you're not actually going to go through with it. What are you planning?"

"Suggest you and see if he insists on Claire. And no, I'm not going to agree to my husband fucking another woman."

Mary said, "Let's do this. Tell him you're OK with a threesome but it has to be with me. See what he says. He'll probably say OK." Mary smiled and asked, "Who wouldn't want to fuck me? But let's see how much he wants this. If he agrees to me, tell him I'll only do it if you and I spend a night alone together first. Tell him I've tried this before with first timers. Gung ho husband and wife until we were naked in bed and the wife freaked out when I kissed her. Tell him I don't want a repeat so I have to be sure you're really OK with having sex with a woman. I want a night alone with you before we add him in or no deal. If he agrees, that will give you some idea of how badly he wants to fuck another woman. And that it doesn't have to be Claire."

"Or he'll just insist on Claire and I'll go see a lawyer."

Mary smiled, "And if he agrees, we can spend the night together. Have you ever been with another woman?"

I smiled, "That's a story for another time. But if he keeps insisting on this unicorn shit, we might be together for more than one night."

"No, it's not a story for another time. Tell me."

"Let's stick to my current problem. I don't want to talk about it. James doesn't know anything about that." Mary wasn't happy but she dropped it.

I texted James that I was having drinks with Mary and that I'll be home soon. I didn't get home until after midnight. James was fuming and asked where I'd been. I told him, "I had a long talk with Mary about the unicorn stuff and I may have a solution. But I'm too tired to talk tonight." I went to bed. Let him wonder what Mary and I talked about.

The next night, at dinner, I said, "I asked Mary if she wanted to be the third person in our ménage à trois. She said she would. What do you think?"

"I really don't know her very well. Why not Claire? If she's willing. I haven't talked to her about any of this."

"I really don't know Claire. You know I wouldn't be comfortable with anyone I don't know well. Mary and I are good friends. She's bi, has done this before and she's willing. Why are you insisting on Claire?"

"I'm not insisting on Claire. I just think she'd be a better choice. Maybe we can have Claire over for dinner so you can get to know her. She's really very nice. You'll like her."

"It will take me weeks or months to get to know her well enough. How long were we seeing each other before I was comfortable enough to sleep with you? A month? More than a month? And no matter how much time we spent getting to know each other, she and I might not click. I know Mary. I don't need to find out if I'm comfortable with her. And I'm very fond of her. We can have Mary over for dinner so you can get to know her."

"Claire is really very nice. I bet it doesn't take you more than one dinner with her to become best buddies."

"I'm not doing this with Claire. If we go ahead with this, it has to be with Mary. If not having Claire is a deal killer for you, then let's call it off. Which is what I'd really like to do. But you want to do this. So understand: it not being Mary is a deal killer for me. Mary or no one."

James was angry. His face got dark but he didn't say anything for a while. Finally, "And you're sure Mary is OK with being with both of us? She's not going to flake out? Or just be with you and ignore me?"

I shrugged, "She's done this before. She won't ignore you. She has one condition though. She wants to spend a night alone with me before the three of us get together."

James jumped up, really furious now, "There's no way. She just wants to fuck you. That's what she's always wanted. Well fuck her. That's not happening."

Calmly, I replied, "As I said, she's done this before. She had a bad experience with a wife who was supposedly ready to go but went nuts when it came down to it. She doesn't want to repeat that experience. So she wants to make sure I'm ready to do this with her. She won't do it otherwise. And if she doesn't do it, neither will I."

James responded, "But you won't have any problem. You can just assure her of that. I really don't like the idea of her having you to herself. For a whole night. I thought this was something we wanted to do together. That's why Claire would be the better choice. I'm sure she won't have any conditions."

"Ain't happening with Claire. And I don't know that I won't have a problem having sex with Mary. And either do you. Or her. Anyway, that's her one condition. I say we call it off and never talk about it again. But it's up to you."

"No, we need to do something to fire up our sex life. Let me think about it. Let's talk about it again after work tomorrow." We left it there but James was not in the best of moods for the rest of the evening.

The next day, I had drinks after work again with Mary. I wasn't in a rush to find out what James decided.

Mary asked, "So what happened?"

"He kept insisting on Claire. Even after I told him no way probably a half dozen times. You or no one. I told him your condition and he flipped out. But now he's thinking about it and will tell me his decision tonight. As you can see," I said sarcastically, "I'm so anxious to hear what he has to say, I'm here with you. Hopefully you can stay a few more hours."

"What are you thinking?"

"He's fucking Claire. He thinks that if he fucks her in front of me I'll be OK with him fucking her when I'm not around. I think his plan for our big night together was to fuck her, then fuck me, then repeat for as long as he can go. The plan does not include her and me hooking up. I bet she's not even into girls. So he fucks her while I watch and then she watches him and me. James has a big night. You being there instead of Claire complicates things for him because you and I would hook up and he knows it. He has to decide if he can live with that. You and me together.

"So he's thinking about it. He probably went to talk to Claire. See what she has to say about me refusing her as the unicorn. My guess is he'll tell me he's OK with you. He won't want to give up a chance to fuck you. Even if it means I'll get a chance to fuck you too. He'll tell Claire he's working on me. Or she'll be next after you. Whatever appeases Claire.

"If he says we're on, I'll tell him you and I are spending the night together first. Today's Wednesday. I'll tell him Friday night I'll be with you. Then we'll schedule the three of us for the following weekend. You and I will be too exhausted from... talking all night to be of any use to him Saturday night. Not Sunday night because we all have to work the next day so it has to be the following weekend. Postponing it until then will give me time to think about what to do.

My phone buzzed. It was a text from James asking where I was. I had texted him when we left work that I was going out for drinks. I texted him back now, "Home in a few hours."

From James: "Come home now. We have to talk." I ignored it.

Mary asked, "What do you want to do?"

"I know what I don't want. I don't want my husband with another woman. You or anyone else. Regardless of what he tells me tonight, that the three-way is on or it's off, I'm pretty sure our marriage is over. But I'd like proof that he's cheating."

"This is a no-fault state. You can't use infidelity in a divorce so you don't need proof of anything. Just irreconcilable differences."

"I want proof that I'm not throwing away my marriage because I'm misreading what's going on. I'm pretty sure he's in a relationship with Claire. But I want proof. Any ideas?"

"Grab his phone and look through it."

"He's too smart for that. He sees her all day. They don't need to text or call. He doesn't get texts or phone calls at night when he's home with me. Except calls from his father. But he doesn't leave the room to take calls so I know it's his father calling about business stuff. Maybe there's something in his phone but I doubt it. Any other ideas? I'd feel stupid hiring a P. I. to snoop on him but if we can't think of anything else, maybe it'll come down to that."

Mary responded, "OK, let's break it down. What we know for sure and what we don't. He's pushing Claire to be your unicorn because she's in an open marriage. Do we know if that's true? Does her husband know he's in an open marriage?"

"No, we don't know that for sure. That's what James told me but he's not going to tell me she'll be cheating on her husband to have fun with us. We also don't know if she's into women. She might not want to have sex with me. Or know that's what James told me would happen."

"Maybe call her and tell her that you'd like to get to know her a little better before your big night with James and her. James says he hasn't talked to her about any of this. If she thinks you're OK with her as your unicorn, she'll want to talk about it with you. She'll give it away that they have been discussing this."

"What does that do for me? I know they've been talking. It doesn't prove they've done anything but talk."

"Well that will confirm that James is a liar. Also get him in trouble. He's telling her that you don't want her. You're telling her you do. She'll think it's James who doesn't want her. Trouble in paradise."

"Doesn't get me proof they've been seeing each other. My guess is she'll admit that they've been talking about our three-way but deny they've been hooking up. I know they've been talking. I want to know about them screwing."

"How about calling her husband? Ask him if he knows his wife is seeing James. Maybe he doesn't know that he's in an open marriage. Have you met him?"

"I met him at the company Christmas party last year. And maybe another time. I pretty sure his name is Clive. They have an unusual last name. Trumble. What would I say to him?"

"That his wife has volunteered to be part of a three-way with you and your husband. Does he know about that? Is he OK with James fucking his wife? That, at least, should stir up some trouble for the love birds."

If he knows about them, he'll tell you. If he doesn't know about them, there will probably be some immediate changes in Claire's life. We can see where that leads."

Mary went silent, thinking, and then said, "Why don't we have our fun this Friday and keep putting James off. You tell him that the three of us will be together the following weekend. But then something came up so it can't be that weekend. And the next weekend something else came up. And on and on."

"Maybe Claire and Clive are on Facebook. Do you think people advertise their... openness on Facebook?"

"Let's look."

We did. Claire is more active than Clive on Facebook but there is nothing there to indicate they're not a happy monogamous married couple.

"I'm going home to see what James has to say for himself. See if he wants to fuck you enough to agree to let me fuck you first. I'll let you know tomorrow." We parted.

James was angry that I didn't rush home as soon as he told me too. I told him, "Just getting to know Mary better. What's your big decision?"

"Did you fuck Mary? Is that where you were?"

"No. We just talked. About her being the unicorn. What did you decide?"

"That we should go ahead with Mary. But you two are not hooking up alone. The three of us do this together or not at all. I don't want you with her without me. This will help our sex life only if we do it together."

"Then it's 'not at all'. Mary really doesn't need this. She's got a very active social life. She confirmed again just now with me that she won't be part of it unless she and I are together first. Let's drop this nonsense and get back to our lives. We're talking about this shit way too much. Giving it too much importance."

"If Mary won't do it, I insist we talk to Claire. Ask Claire to be our third person."

"Then I'm out. If you want to fuck Claire, go ahead, Then not only won't we be having a three-way but we will no longer have a marriage."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Absolutely. I'm glad you got the message. I haven't eaten; I'm going to make myself something. I'm finished talking about this."

I went to the kitchen to find something to eat. I left James sulking in the living room. We slept in the same bed that night but we didn't talk again that night or in the morning. About anything.

The next morning, Mary and I were both at work and had to look like we were busy at our desks. So we texted. "James still wants Claire but says you're OK as long as you and I don't hook up first. I told him it's off."

"I got a lawyer contact for you that a friend used. This attorney is supposed to be a killer. Call her and go talk to her. I'm texting you her contact info."

I thanked her and wrote, "It's Thursday already, It doesn't look like anything's going to happen anytime soon. He's too busy trying to get Claire in on this."

Mary wrote: "I found phone numbers for Clive, Claire's husband, I have his cell and work phones. I'm texting them to you. I think you should call him."

"How'd you get his numbers."

"I have his full name. How many Clive Trumbles married to a Claire do you think live around here? A few bucks and you can find anything on the internet. Also easy to find out where he works. Call him now. Or better, wait until we can both take a break. I want to hear this."

"And say what? 'Your wife and my husband are fucking. You good with that?'"

"Just pretend you know all about James and Claire. That she's been invited to have sex with both of you. You were told they have an open marriage and you want to make sure that's true. And, if it is, that your three-way is in line with whatever borders they've set for their open marriage. You don't want to do anything behind his back.

"He'll either say their marriage is open or it isn't. If they have an open relationship I'm sure they tell each other about who they're dating. They're not sneaking around because of him. He'll know about them. If he tells you he knows, you'll have your proof."

Mary continued: "My guess is that they're not in an open marriage. If that's the case, James will confront you about getting Claire in trouble, while denying that he and Claire are having an affair. But he lied to you about Claire's open marriage. Big fight. If Clive throws Claire out, James might want to be free to be with her. If she's cheating on Clive behind his back, at least you won't be hearing about Claire and unicorns anymore."

I typed, "I don't know. If the three-way is off, then I'm in no rush to do anything. I'll be watching him more closely. Sooner or later he'll fuck up and I'll know. If he tells me we're on, then I guess I'll have to blow everything up. He is not going to fuck anyone with my permission but me. But if he's OK with you being the unicorn, then I won't have any excuse to call Claire's husband. Claire will be out of the picture."

"Not if you tell James you might be amenable to Claire. If he agrees to it being me, tell him you've had second thoughts about me. You and I work together and it might get messy at work if you and I have sex. Something like that. So you're thinking maybe Claire. Tell him you want to have dinner with her or something, get to know her better, but that you really want to talk to her husband. To make sure all this is OK with Clive too. You don't want to do anything behind anyone's back.

"You want to blow things up? Telling James you have to talk to Claire's husband will blow everything up. I'm willing to bet they don't have an open marriage. There's no way they'll let you talk to Clive. They will do anything to prevent that. But do it anyway."

I was laughing, "I think they do have an open marriage. You said you're willing to bet? What's the bet?"

"Which of us uses the strap-on first."

"WHAT?"

Claire texted back a devil emoji, a unicorn emoji and a cucumber emoji.

About an hour later James called me on my cell. "Hello James. Are we going to talk about unicorns again?"

"I'm sorry about last night. I don't like the idea of you being with anyone else. Without me there too. But I'm being selfish or insecure or whatever. So for now, please ask Mary if she's still willing to do this with us. Maybe we can do it with Claire later. I'm willing to accede to Mary's demand to spend time with you in advance but tell her she doesn't need all night. Maybe an hour or so with her and then you come home. Do you think she'll go for that?"

I answered, "I've been thinking that hooking up with Mary may create problems for us at work. She and I are friends, close friends, and maybe we should keep it like that. Intimacy changes everything. So I'm thinking Claire might be a better choice. Like you said originally."

"Really?" James replied like he was just told he won the lottery.

"Yeah, it's just too complicated with Mary. But has Claire agreed to this?"

"Well, as I said, I haven't discussed this with her but from the way she talks, I'm sure she'll say yes. I can go talk to her now."

"Hold on. I have a couple of conditions. First, I need to get to know her better so maybe her and I do lunch a couple of times. Maybe a spa together or something. So we can talk.

"Second, I want to speak to her husband. I want to make sure he's OK with all of this. I don't want to do anything behind his back."

"There's no need to do that. They're in an open marriage. They both do this sort of thing all the time. Claire is not going to want you to talk to him. It will just embarrass him. And her. He knows she's dating but I don't think she pushes the details in his face. I don't think either of them talk about their dates. No, she won't want you to contact him."

"How do you know she's in an open marriage? Because she says so? Maybe she's just a cheater. Anyway, I'll need to talk to him. Get his number from her and call me back. Talking to him comes before anything else happens. Bye." I hung up.

I texted Mary: "Let's call Clive."

Mary and I found an empty conference room and I called his cell. He answered. I said, "Hello Clive. This is Jessie, James' wife. James works with Claire. We've met a couple of times at their work functions. I don't know if you remember me."

"I do remember you. How could I forget the hot twenty-one year old beautiful blonde with the amazing body. Way too gorgeous for anyone to forget."

I thought, 'Mary is going to lose that bet. This guy is a player.' I said, "Well I am blonde but I haven't seen twenty-one in a while and I don't know about the rest. Thanks for the kind words though."

"You know you're always the most beautiful woman at these work events. Probably the most beautiful woman wherever you go. No need to be modest."

I laughed and thought, 'I like this guy.'

He continued, "I hope you're calling about this little romance Claire is having with James. Claire said you and James are planning a three-way with her. I've been pushing Claire to make it a four-way."

"Actually I was calling to see if you knew about them. Evidently you do."

"Claire and I tell each other everything. I've been thinking I'm going to insist to Claire that you guys include me. Tell James that that's what you want too. A four-way would be much more fun than just the three of you. What do you think?"

"I'm not good with any of that."

"That's odd. Claire told me you were. She and I are not supposed to lie to each other about any of this. Wait. You're calling because you just found out about them? And you're hurt and upset. You called the right guy for comforting. Let's get together and talk. I'm a good listener and a good shoulder to cry on. I know exactly what you're going through and exactly what you need.

"You want to get back at your husband. Give him a taste of his own medicine. The best way to do that is a revenge fuck. We can get back at both of them. James for cheating on you and Claire for lying to me. It'll be more fun if it's just us two anyway. And James will go apeshit when you tell him we're going out on a date. Make him feel what you're feeling. The perfect way to get back at him. At both of them."

Clive continued, "Let's do it. Where do you want to meet up? Your place or mine? Or a hotel if you prefer. Or dinner first. No pressure. We can talk and see where it leads. Whatever you want. I'm really excited to get to know you better."

I replied, "I called because I wasn't sure you knew about James and Claire. But I bet you don't know how long it's been going on."

"Six or seven months. Maybe eight months now. They hook up on Saturdays and after work. How about meeting tomorrow night or Saturday night? Or I'm available tonight if you want. No sense sitting around moping about your cheater of a husband. Let's get you payback."

I said, "You're absolutely right. I want James to feel what I'm feeling. And I don't want to wait for tomorrow or even for dinner. Let me see if I can get off early today. I'll call you right back. I'm looking forward to getting to know you better too. And I'll need a lot of comforting." I hung up and blocked his number.

I crossed my arms on the conference table we were sitting at and put my head on my arms. Mary got up, stood behind me and started massaging my shoulders. I thought, 'Six to eight months. How the fuck did I miss that? No wonder he thought he could get away with suggesting Claire for our unicorn. He figures I'm clueless and it would never occur to me he's fucking her. Eleven years down the drain. Has James changed into this liar and cheat or was he always like this? How could I let this happen?"

I sat up and dialed the number for the divorce attorney Mary gave me. We set up an appointment for early the next morning. She said she could fit me in because she just had a cancellation. Someone decided to stay married for a change.

James called while I was on the phone with the attorney. It went to voicemail. Over the next twenty-four hours he called fourteen times, each time leaving a voice message, and texted nineteen times. I didn't answer, didn't listen to a voicemail or read a text.

I got up from the conference table and Mary took me in her arms to give me a hug. I said, "I don't feel much like working."

"Either do I. Let's get out of here. What do you want to do? We can go back to my place. It'll be quiet, unlike a bar, and I have booze if that's required. Or weed if you want. We can talk. Figure out next steps."

"I have to get our financials ready for the attorney tomorrow and I have to figure out where I'm going to live. And when to get my clothes. I can worry about the clothes and finding a place tomorrow but I have to get the financials ready tonight. Let's go to your place. Give me an hour with my laptop and then we can start drinking."

Mary offered me a place to stay. Not just that night but for as long as I want. "Won't that cramp your style. You can't fuck a dozen guys here every night if you have a mopey, soon to be divorced, woman putting a damper on things."

"A dozen would be a slow night. And you forgot to include women. No, you're welcome to stay for as long as you want. I'll keep my hookups to a minimum until you're ready to join in."

"I've had enough of men for now."

Mary smiled mischievously, "That leaves women."

Later, after we both had way too much to drink and smoke, I said, "You lost the bet."

"What bet?"

"That Clive knew he was in an open marriage. You lost but I'm not sure what I won. Do I put on the strap-on and use it on you or do I get the business end of it. What exactly does winning mean here?"

Mary laughed and said, "Come with me. Let's figure this out." Yeah, we spend the night in bed together.

It was a lot of fun with Janie back in college. Janie was mischievous, inventive and generous in bed. I loved every second being with her. But Mary is in another league. She really knows what she's doing. Mouth, tongue, magical fingers. I actually came once that first night while I had my mouth on her. But anticipating what she would do to me after I finished her off was enough to get me off.

We spent many, many more nights together. Vibrators and dildos but we actually didn't try a strap-on for almost a week. Different sizes and lots of fun. The winner of our bet was the first to get the business end. After that, we took turns. Then Mary brought out a butt plug. Why not? It's just one more experience.

I met with the attorney early the next morning. Still glowing from my night with Mary. It will be an easy divorce unless James complicates it. No kids so we split everything down the middle. Including the equity in the house which we'll sell. We keep our own retirement accounts plus each of us keep the car we've been driving. No alimony which is fine with me. He makes more money but I make enough and I don't want any contact with him after we divorce.

Mary and I took off work Friday and, after I saw the attorney and while James was at work, we went to pack up my stuff. The empty closet space and drawers increased James' phone calls and texts. I finally answered his call on Sunday, "I don't know why you're calling me. There's really nothing to say. I have a lawyer. She'll be in touch."

"Just listen to me for a second. There's nothing going on between Claire and me. Clive is a nutcase. He gets turned on when Claire makes up stories about her sex life. She included me in some of the shit she made up for him. But none of it's true. Claire and I are just co-workers."

"You said she doesn't push her hookups, dates, in his face. Now you're telling me that she makes up stories about her and you for him. Which is it? And why does she have to make up stuff about you when she can just talk about her real hookups?"

"I was wrong about him not wanting details. He needs these stories to get aroused. They are in an open marriage but she's not that active. It's not like she's out every night, so she has to make shit up so they can have a normal sex life. Well, not normal exactly but so they can fuck at all. I guess he actually believes her stories. Or wants to. As I said, he's a nutcase."

"You know a lot about her sex life."

"She told me all this so I can explain the shit Clive told you. Look, come home. We can talk. The three-way is obviously not going to happen. I've never been unfaithful and don't want to start now. I was way out of line even suggesting that. If we still think our sex life needs a spark, we'll come up with something. Something that doesn't involve another person. Just come home. I miss you. I love you."

"So you're telling me that she makes up stories for Clive because he gets off with hearing about her being with other men. You star in those stories. Does she make up stories about her being with women too?"

"What difference does it make now? I don't know if she tells her husband about her and women. Who cares who else she's making up shit about?"

"So you don't know if she's into women at all. Or has ever been with a woman. Maybe I should call Clive back and ask him. At least he tells me the truth."

James didn't say anything for a while, figuring out where I was going with this. Finally he said, "Look, I told you Claire and I never talked about any of this stuff. I don't know if she likes women. I'm sure she does. She said something about being with a husband but he wasn't cheating because his wife was there too. She didn't give details but I'm sure she meant that she had sex with both. It doesn't matter now. She's not having sex with either of us. All that's off. Just come home. We can talk."

My threat to call Clive kept him from just lying and saying that Claire's into women. He doesn't want me talking to Clive again. So he fed me this bullshit about 'The wife was there' and that it doesn't matter because there won't be any unicorns for us. He's right about one thing: it doesn't matter. Our marriage is over regardless of Claire's sexual interests.

I said, "James, you're dumber than I thought. How did you think you would get away with having sex with her while I sat there and watched? As a spectator. A bystander. That I would ever let that happen? How did I marry someone so stupid that he would actually propose bringing someone else, anyone else, into our marriage bed?

"And not just propose it, actually bringing a third person into our marriage. I don't believe that you and Claire aren't having sex. Clive said it's been going on for six to eight months. I believe him. But it doesn't make any difference now. We're divorcing. My attorney will be in touch. Stop calling and texting me. If you have something you want to talk about, tell my attorney." I hung up and blocked him.

Mary and I got high again that night. Mary was a lot of fun, in and out of bed. We went to work together, spent weekends together and slept together. But Mary wasn't interested in a serious relationship with me or anyone. Mary was good in bed and I was happy with her but I didn't feel the same about her as I had about Janie. I'm fond of Mary but I adored Janie.

Mike, my high school boyfriend, and I were together because the high school quarterback and the cheerleader were supposed to hook up. It was sort of expected and because that's what was supposed to happen, me and him, he spent a long time pursuing me. As I said, I'm not easy. He was nice enough. I liked him and he became my first. But once I was no longer the cheerleader and he was no longer the quarterback, since high school was ending, there was nothing else there. We both knew we were going in different directions. We broke up right after prom. So Janie was my first great love.

After a couple of weeks with Mary, I started to look for a place to live. I found a two bed, two bath condo close to work. And not far from Mary. I moved in a short time later.

So that was my life. Since he figured out he's blocked, James showed up at my work. I didn't talk to him and had security show him out. He finally got an attorney. He must have decided it wasn't worth making the divorce complicated. Especially since I wasn't asking for alimony. We agreed to split everything equally. The house is under contract and we'll close on it in a few weeks. We're just waiting for a judge to sign off on our divorce.

Mary and I still spend time together. We go out for drinks after work and, if Mary's not busy, we end up at her place or mine. But I haven't been dating. I get my share of attention from men but I'm not ready. Or just not interested. Probably more the latter.

I joined a gym and enjoy working out but other than that, most of the time I'm pretty lonely. The nights I'm not with Mary, I lie in bed and stare at the ceiling. I've started to think about Janie more and more.

Janie has never been far from my thoughts. After I got her letter eleven years ago, we had no more contact. I thought about reaching out to her, regardless of her parents and her pastor, but I never did. I told myself maybe it's for the best. I couldn't see myself in a lifelong romantic relationship with a woman. And once James and I got together, any sort of relationship with Janie, even only as friends, would have been problematic.

Problematic but not impossible. I just didn't do it. I guess I'd moved on. Janie was the past and James the future. But I always felt guilty about not contacting her. And I've missed her.

Staring at the ceiling, I wondered what she's been doing the past eleven years: 'Did she marry? Children? Is she happy? Did she ever get out from under her parents? What would she say or do if I contacted her? Just as an old friend calling to catch up. Am I a good memory for her or a bad one?'

I went back and forth about calling her. But I finally asked myself what's the worst that could happen. She won't remember me? She'll tell me not to bother her? Hang up on me? I decided to call her.

I thought she probably still had the same cell phone number she had when we were in college. I dropped off of my parent's cell phone plan and got a different phone when I married James, but I still have the same phone number. And I transferred all my contacts to each new phone upgrade, including Janie's.

I called her on a Tuesday evening about 7:30. She answered, "Jessie?" Her voice quivered but I guess she still had my contact in her phone.

"Hi Janie. How are you?"

"Jessie? Is that you?" Like someone was playing a trick on her. She started crying.

After maybe thirty seconds of silence, I said, "Janie, are you there? Are you OK?"

Sobbing softly, she asked, "Why are you calling me now? It's been over a decade."

"I've made some changes recently in my life and I've been thinking a lot about you. I miss you and I thought I'd call and say, 'Hi'. Catch up. How are you? What are you doing now? Are you married?"

More silence, just her crying. Then she said, "I'm so glad you called. I think about you all the time. No, not married. I live alone. I work for one of the Christian charities. I've missed you so much." Her crying became more pronounced.

I asked, "Where are you? Are you still living in your hometown?" Janie grew up in a small town about an hour's drive from where I live now.

She said, "Yes. Did you move back home too? After college?"

"No. I moved to [I named the city where I live] with my husband."

"You're married? That's terrific. I bet he's a great guy. You said husband so it's a guy, right?"

I laughed, "Yeah, it's a guy but we're divorcing. He couldn't keep it in his pants. That was the big change in my life I mentioned. Look, I hate doing this on the phone. You're only about an hour from me. If you're not busy Saturday, maybe we could meet for lunch. I'll drive over. I'd really like to see you. Are you busy Saturday?"

"Really? You want to see me?" She was sobbing more loudly.

"Janie, why are you crying?"

An almost whispered lie, "I'm not." Some sniffles but her sobbing stopped. "Please don't hang up."

"I'm not hanging up. Yes, I want to see you. I want to talk to you. I want to look at you."

"I'm not busy Saturday. What time? Where?"

"You pick a place for lunch and text me the address. How about we meet at noon? We have a lot to catch up on."

"Noon Saturday is perfect. I could come to you. I don't have a car but I could borrow one or rent one. It'll be easier for you."

"You pick a place to have lunch and I'll do the driving. I need an outing anyway."

"I know the perfect place. I'm so excited. I'll text you."

"I'm excited too." After about forty minutes of talking about parents, my sister's wedding, she recently married, and our jobs, we got off.

Saturday, I drove to the restaurant Janie picked for us and parked. The restaurant was on her town's main street and has large windows facing the sidewalk. It was a nice day so a lot of people were out walking and shopping. I spotted Janie immediately through the window at a table in the restaurant. She hadn't noticed me. She was partly out of her chair, hands on the table, anxiously looking through the windows at each woman passing by. I stopped and waved at her. When she saw me, she waved and fell back into her chair. She looked like she was hyperventilating.

I went in and she stood up to greet me. She seemed fine now. She was smiling, a huge smile, but she didn't know if she should hug me or shake my hand. She put out her hand but I grabbed her in a hug. We would probably still be hugging if we weren't blocking people who wanted to get past us.

Janie looked exactly like she did eleven years ago. Like she was still eighteen. Still beautiful. No makeup and her dark hair, longer than it was in college, was pulled back in a ponytail. With her flawless complexion, big green eyes and petite body, the best way to describe Janie is 'angelic.' We sat down.

She started, "I wasn't sure you'd really come. I've been so excited. You're just as I remember. Still gorgeous. It's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too. You haven't changed a bit. You still look like eighteen. And still beautiful."

Janie blushed, "Thank you. Even if it's not true. I assume you got my letter. I know I told you not to call me in my letter but I thought you would. Hoped you would."

"I should have. I thought about it. But your letter was pretty clear. No contact. I didn't want to get you in any further trouble with your parents. Or your pastor. Then I met James, the guy I eventually married. I wasn't sure it would have been fair to him if we kept in contact."

Our server came to ask what we wanted to eat. We looked over the menu and ordered.

"So you met James shortly after you knew I wasn't returning to school. I've spent all these years regretting that I listened to my parents. I always thought I should have returned to you. They weren't going to pay my tuition but I could have gotten a job at the university or somewhere in town to be near you. So we could be together. But all that was a fantasy. You met James and would have ended it with me. All these years of kicking myself for not following my heart, all these years of regret, and we wouldn't have been together anyway. You found someone else and would have dumped me."

Janie's hand was on the table and I grabbed it. She tried to pull away but I held on tight. "Maybe. You were out of the picture and I fell in love with James. Honestly, I don't know what would have happened if you returned to school. Why haven't you ever contacted me?" I held on to Janie's hand.

"I bought into the stuff about us being sinful. It took me a long time to work through that. And I thought you hated me for being such a coward. I thought you'd hang up on me if I called. It was hard enough and I would have been devastated if you refused to talk to me. I don't know. I was a coward for not returning to you and a coward for not calling you. Especially after I realized what a fool Pastor Tom is. There was nothing wrong with us, with my love for you. There is something wrong with a preacher, or anyone, who says there is.

"But you had moved on from me so it wouldn't have mattered anyway. What happened with your husband?"

"He's having an affair with his assistant. He wanted to do a three way with her and me. He's not worth talking about. We'll be divorced soon and that chapter is over. It's been hard but good riddance. How is your relationship now with your parents?"

"I see them as often as I can. We avoid some topics. They love me and want the best for me but they've given up on me. I'm never going to be the daughter they hoped for." She smiled, "I told them I was meeting you. They realized how happy I was so they didn't say anything. I think they're hoping this is a catch up and we won't see each other again for another decade." Janie looked for my reaction.

"Well, we'll just have to dash their hopes. Why did you never marry? Guys must be swarming all around you."

"Got close once. After I graduated, Pastor Tom and my parents found the perfect man for me. Much older than me, a guy in his forties, but a member of our church so they decided he was the one for me. I let it happen. It all seemed unreal. We got engaged but I fell into such a deep depression that even my parents realized their prayers weren't going to get me out of it. I refused to see Pastor Tom. I certainly didn't need his advice. My fiancé decided he didn't want to be a part of that mess and called off our engagement. I came out of my depression. No more suggestions from my parents about whom I should marry.

"After that, I changed churches and my parents decided I was a lost soul. But we have a good relationship now. They're more tolerant of me since Pastor Tom was fired." Janie laughed, "He was caught giving spiritual counseling to a congregant, the wife of a church deacon, with his dick. Evidently he gives good counsel. With lots of wives. They ran him out of town."

Janie squeezed my hand. "I'm sorry about your marriage."

I shrugged, "So am I. But that's over. Spilt milk. How is it working for a Christian charity?"

"I do the books, do some purchasing. I like what I'm doing. I believe we're helping people but sometimes I think we're more concerned about getting them into heaven than the more immediate need of getting food in their stomachs. I don't get paid much. My parents helped me buy a house. I live a couple of blocks from where I work so I don't need a car. Couldn't afford one anyway. I work, read, go to church, teach Sunday school, go to the gym, hang out with some of the people I work with. And think about how I screwed things up with you. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too. I still have your letter but I should have torn it up and called you. I regret not doing that.. And then life took over. I'm sorry..." Our server arrived with our food.

We ate pretty much in silence. Janie would look up from her food and smile at me. I'd smile back. I finally broke the silence, "I can't believe it's been eleven years. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It is so good to see you. How could I have not kept in contact with you? You were the most important person in my life."

Janie started crying. I took her hand. We finished eating and our server saw Janie and hurriedly took our plates away. Janie wiped her face, brightened, smiled and said, "Let's get out of here. I'd like you to see my house. Can you stay a bit longer? Please? It's only a few blocks away. Where are you parked? Can you leave your car where it is? It's sort of hard to find parking near me. My parents always Uber when they visit me."

"My car's OK where it is. I'd love to see your place." We fought over the check. I paid.

Janie gave me a tour of her house. It was evident that she's very proud of her home. She has a nice two bedroom. Small but perfect for her. It's all Janie. Clean, neat, tasteful but simply done. The downstairs is all living room and kitchen, a really nice kitchen. The upstairs has two bedrooms. A fairly large master bedroom and bath and a smaller guest bedroom.

Janie opened a bottle of wine and we sat in her living room. Me on the couch and her in a chair. It was awkward between us. It seemed that we had run out of things to say. Janie said, "I still have all those pictures I took freshman year. Do you want to look at them? It's fine if you don't."

"I'd love to see them."

Janie sat next to me on her couch. Close so we were touching. The pictures were on her phone. Janie had taken lots of pictures of me and selfies of us together. Also pictures with our friends. We were so young and looked so happy. While she scrolled through them, we guessed when and where each was taken. Well, I was the one who was guessing. Janie knew the details of each picture. I put my arm around her and she rested her head on my shoulder. Like we did back in college when we were sitting together on one of our beds studying. We always fit together perfectly. Some of the pictures were of friends I hadn't seen since college. We started to gossip about them. Laugh about the time we spent with them, the things we did. I told her about Mary. All about Mary.

Janie sat up and looked at me, "I wasn't completely truthful with you when we talked on the phone. I already knew you married James. And obviously that he was a guy. It was a joke when I asked if you married a man. Not very funny, I guess. I knew you moved to his hometown when you graduated. And about your job. I didn't know you were divorcing though. You haven't posted about that. I also didn't know you two got together so soon after I didn't return to school. You didn't start posting about him until after Thanksgiving and you made it seem you were just dating. I imagined returning to you instead of listening to my parents and you dumped him because you loved me. We would have lived happily ever after. It turns out it really was all just a fantasy. Anyway, meet your official Facebook stalker. I've been stalking you for years."

"Why didn't you contact me. You could have friended me on Facebook. I wish you had."

Janie leaned back, her head returned to my shoulder, my arm around her. "You had a husband, gotten on with your life. I was terrified you'd reject me, wouldn't even talk to me. Someone from the past you no longer wanted anything to do with. I thought about texting you but I couldn't bear it if you didn't reply. Or told me to get lost. I thought I was better off with my fantasy. And praying someday I'd hear from you. My prayers were answered." She started to cry.

I just held her. Finally, I said, "I really missed you."

"I've been right here, waiting for you."

We kissed and, again, it was like we never parted. We went upstairs to her bedroom. We picked up right where we left off. I felt I was where I should be. Janie was my home. I spent the weekend. And every weekend for the next two months.

Eventually we decided that weekends weren't for us. The online brokerage firm I work for has another local office in a slightly larger city about twenty miles from Jamie. I transferred there after I moved in with Janie. The only downside? She was right. It's impossible to park near her house.

Mary and I went out for a long lunch my last day of work at my old job. After ordering, Mary said, "What are you doing? You were just madly in love with James, faithful to him, and now you're moving in with Janie. It seems you can turn your love on and off like a faucet. How well do you know Janie. You haven't seen her in years and now you're in love? Aren't you concerned she's just a rebound from James?"

"I was more concerned that James was a rebound from Janie. I've always loved Janie. We were... interrupted. I did love James. At least the James I thought I married. He turned out to be a different person. But I thought he cared about me, loved me. That I was safe with him. I was wrong. I was a good wife. I was faithful to him but he wasn't faithful to me. He didn't love me and I wasn't safe with him. I can't love anyone who treats me as he did.

Janie really does love me. Janie is my safe place. Maybe we're moving too fast. Maybe I'm insecure. Maybe I'm superficial. But I love Janie and always have. And she loves me. She'll never treat me as some sort of prop in her life. She'll always put me first. And I'll do the same."

My restaurant reunion with Janie was about a year ago now. James and I are divorced. I haven't seen him since we closed on our house. At the closing he refused to talk to me or look at me. I thought, 'Does he think he's punishing me?'

After eleven years I finally met Janie's parents. They were cordial but I'm not what they want for their daughter. After we left them to go home, Janie said, "That went better than I expected. They know I love you and that I'm happy. They'll warm to you. Just give them a chance."

"They were nice. I really didn't know what to expect. I'm not going anywhere so they'll have all the time they need to warm to me."

Janie continued, "When I get pregnant and especially after the baby arrives, you'll become like a second daughter to them."

"WHAT?" Janie cackled. Sounded devilish to me. Then a huge smile.

I've introduced Janie to some of the toys Mary and I used. Not a strap-on or butt plug. Not with Janie. If I pulled out either of those, she'd probably be on her knees praying for my immortal soul for a solid week. When I pulled a dildo I bought out of its box to show Janie, she started laughing and got me laughing too. We were laughing so hard we ended up on the floor with tears in our eyes. When she was able to talk, Janie asked about the dildo, "Where does that go exactly?" More laughing. We don't need toys. Although a vibrator is nice occasionally. Janie is an artist with a vibrator.

I miss working with Mary but she comes to see us. She says our town is a nice place to visit. Nice shops and restaurants. That's all true but I know Mary and Mary visits because she wants to jump Janie's bones. Who wouldn't? Or have a three way with the two of us. But Mary hasn't asked us directly about hooking up. Just a lot of flirting. Janie is my girl and I'm hers and Mary knows that.

Janie originally was very standoffish with Mary. She considers Mary promiscuous and her lifestyle immoral. But Mary is a force of nature: very smart and funny. It's hard not to like her. Janie knows it's over between Mary and me and Mary never talks about her social life when Janie's around. Mary sleeps in our guest room when she visits so we all spend a lot of time together. They've gotten to know each other. And they each understand the other person is very important to me. I don't see them hitting the bars and clubs together anytime soon, or sitting in a pew together at church, but Janie has come to consider Mary a friend now too.

Janie wants to get pregnant and be a stay at home mom. I want that too. She really doesn't make very much so quitting her job won't have much of an effect on our income. But Janie won't have a child unless she's married. So I proposed. She accepted. It was the next step anyway and I want to be married to Janie. I want to spend my life with her.

My sister will be our matron of honor. My parents will give me away. We're not sure about what Janie's parents will do. And Janie didn't object when I suggested that Mary be our best woman when Janie and I marry next spring. Mary has agreed to be our best woman but told us she has one condition. She'll be our best woman only if she can be our unicorn first.

But she was kidding.

I think.