Rules 26 - Breaking Waves

Jeremy's mind was blank the entire ride up to Maine. His eyes followed the leaves blowing across the long, winding road. He wanted to put this nightmare behind him, he wanted to forget everything that had happened. Jeremy was confused, tired, and lost. Yet, he couldn't stop the image of Sage riding David in his mind. The words she spoke to David repeated endlessly in his mind.

I love you.

Jeremy had to remind himself that he wasn't making it up. Sage said that to David, he had seen it firsthand.

Of course, she couldn't have meant it. At least, that's what Jeremy told himself as his stomach churned over. It was difficult for Jeremy not to wonder what he had meant to Sage. Perhaps he had just been another plaything for Sage this whole time. Just another version of David that never meant much to her. Jeremy turned onto a gravel road, questioning everything that had happened with Sage over the last few months.

He drove towards a large blue house surrounded by trees with yellowing leaves. It was a home snapped out of a magazine, complete with a coastline over the horizon. Jeremy pulled his car into a large parking area and killed his engine. As Jeremy exited his car, he saw his old friend Ryan appear from the home's large white entry doors and make his way down the patio steps, greeting him with open arms.

"Long time no see man," Ryan said, embracing Jeremy with a friendly bear hug.

"Yeah, long time," Jeremy said softly, hugging back weakly. Ryan stepped away and glanced at the bag slung over Jeremy's shoulder.

"Packed light?"

"Didn't pack at all, this is some spare clothes I had in my car."

"Oh man... that bad huh?"

"Yeah."

Birds chirped in the background as cool winds carried leaves across the ground. Ryan shook his head and let out a long sigh.

"Well, we should get you inside. Amy is making dinner, I'm sure she and the kids would be happy to see you. Come on."

"Right." Jeremy followed behind Ryan, entering into his home with lowered eyes. He heard the sound of children laughing and felt his stomach twist in grief.

Why hadn't Sage started a family with him? He wondered if it was something he had done, something he had failed to show her to make her commit. Perhaps she found it in David.

"Amy, Jeremy made it!" Ryan shouted.

"Oh my god, he's here!" Amy called from the kitchen. Ryan turned to Jeremy.

"Feel free to drop your stuff off in the mudroom, we can sort it out later," Ryan said, walking into the kitchen. Jeremy did as he was told, hearing Ryan greet his wife and kids in the distance as he dropped off his bag. It may not have been his happiness, but being around such happiness was a welcome change of pace.

Jeremy's phone buzzed in his pocket.

His heart sank. Sage had been contacting him nonstop since he left. Countless texts and calls, all of which he had ignored. It wasn't that he didn't want to speak to her, he just didn't know how anymore. Still, he would look at every text she sent, and every one was something similar.

I'm so sorry, please talk to me.

Please don't leave.

I miss you and I love you, it isn't what you think. Just let me explain.

She even sent a large wall of text at one point, Jeremy only skimmed through it. The wound was still too fresh for anything more than that. She had left voicemails too, none of which Jeremy had listened to yet, and like every time before when Jeremy's phone buzzed, a seeping terror swam over him as he went to check it.

But to his surprise, it wasn't Sage this time. It was David. The fat old man who had pushed him out of his own home was texting him like this was a game. Jeremy lowered his phone with trembling hands. He wondered if Sage had put him up to it. Jeremy tried to convince himself that Sage would never do such a thing, but it was becoming harder to believe.

Jeremy didn't need to look at the message. He could let it go, leave it in the past, and stop giving them power over his life. And yet, if he looked, he would get to see Sage being dominated one more time. With utter self-contempt, Jeremy unlocked his phone and read the message.

David: Thank you for finally letting me have her all to myself.

David had attached an image. It was Sage lying on their bed. She was a sweaty mess. David took the picture standing over her, his dick slapped against her cum covered face.

Jeremy stared at the picture in utter disbelief. Had Sage really moved on that fast? Was he so easy to replace? His heart tore at itself as his mind fell away.

"Jeremy?" Ryan said.

"Y-yeah?" Jeremy quickly put his phone away and turned to Ryan.

"You alright?" He said with some concern.

"Yeah, yeah I'm doing alright." Jeremy was far from convincing, they both knew it. Ryan slowly nodded.

"Come on, Amy is waiting."

Greetings followed. Images of a picturesque family that Jeremy yearned for. A loving wife, two adorable kids, and even a white picket fence. It wasn't envy, he was happy for Ryan. It was grief. Somewhere along the way, Jeremy had lost sight of what really mattered to him. He remembered when he and Sage first got married, when they bought their home together, and when they began to float the idea of children. They decided to wait, decided to be smart. Weeks turned to months, months to years, and eventually, it was a conversation long forgotten. Replaced instead by David.

Amy served the family dinner, and several other old friends came over to greet Jeremy. Tom and his wife, Jessica. Along with Billy and Max. It was a nice welcome change of pace. Swapping childhood stories, each sharing where they had ended up and how they were doing now. Maine was a different pace from what Jeremy was used to, but it was a welcome one.

Dinner ended, Jeremy couldn't remember what he said about his own life. That was until Amy mentioned Sage in a passing conversation.

"Oh no, that was Sage's idea, remember?" She caught herself as soon as she said it. Freezing in place when she saw Jeremy tense.

"That's right, how is Sage Jeremy?" Jessica asked. The group, oblivious to the fact that Sage was being dominated by another man as they spoke, leaned in.

"Yeah, how is she doing?" Billy asked.

Jeremy's phone buzzed again. His heart sank behind the eyes of his curious friends.

"She's... she's doing alright," Jeremy replied. Amy and Ryan looked at each other nervously.

"Jessica, did you see the new gym they were building near the strip mall?" Amy asked, in a vain attempt to change the subject.

"Why didn't she come up with you man? We miss her just as much as you!" Max added. Jeremy laughed uncomfortably. He couldn't even bring himself to lie. His hands shook as the room went silent.

They knew. The silence was enough. They all knew. Maybe they didn't know about David taking Sage time and time again. Maybe they didn't understand how low Jeremy had been made in his own marriage. But they knew shame and sadness all the same. Anguish crawled through Jeremy as he blacked out where he sat.

"Amy, you had mentioned the gym?" Jessica said quickly, the group happily followed the tangent and left Jeremy to his own devices. He excused himself, making his way to the bathroom.

He sat on the toilet and wept. Soft cries of a broken man lost in dissolution.

Again, his phone buzzed.

Enough was enough. This had to stop, he needed to stop torturing himself. Sage wasn't his anymore. Why did he still want her to be?

How could she have said those words to David? There had to be a reason.

Jeremy pulled out his phone, defeated by his inability to stop himself, and opened David's messages.

David: I can't believe how quickly she has come into her own. Keep being an obedient little cuck, stay out of our way, and I'll keep you up to date on her progress.

David had attached a video. It was Sage on top of him, grinding on his dick slowly while he manhandled her breasts. Her shining black hair trailed down her breasts and her full lips parted as David took her. David lined up his thick cock with her entrance and Sage sat down on it, slowly letting it fill her up. Their pace began to quicken, Sage fell forward and placed her hands on David's chest as he grabbed her waist and power fucked her. Jeremy watched helplessly as Sage shivered against David's thrusts, and as he threw Sage onto the bed and pushed his cock deep inside her. Jeremy didn't need to hear the audio to know David was filling up his wife's womb with his cum.

He put his phone aside and buried his face in his hands. Swirling pain crashing through waves of images in his mind. Images of Sage marrying David, of taking care of him, of raising their children, of loving him in ways she never loved Jeremy.

Had she ever loved him? Jeremy didn't know anymore.

Spiraling downward into despair. Down into a hole deep within his own mind while his friends laughed in the other room. They would start to wonder about him, he would need to pull himself together one last time. Jeremy took a deep breath and looked at himself in the mirror. It was going to be ok. Everything would be ok.

He stepped out of the bathroom and walked back to the table. Out of respect, his friends left him alone. He smiled politely from time to time, and the night went on at light speed.

Jeremy felt his phone buzz again. It took everything he had to ignore it.

He imagined Sage being fucked forcefully from behind. He heard her tell David how much she loved him as he came deep inside her. He could see them talking about having children, planning their future, and laughing together. He saw Sage running towards David with a pregnancy test, excited that they had a little one along the way. He saw them grow old together, he saw her happy with another man.

Jeremy blinked and found himself outside by a roaring fire with his friend Ryan. The shoreline was visible from the overlook, waves broke in the distance.

"Beautiful night, huh?" Ryan asked, handing Jeremy a beer. He took it slowly while nodding.

"Yeah..."

"You remember that little raft they used to have set up on the coast when we were kids?" Ryan cracked open his beer. Being polite, Jeremy did the same.

"Yeah, I remember. I also remember you kicking our asses while playing King of the Hill on that raft."

"King of the Hill! I forgot about that game, I used to throw you guys around so easily." Ryan let out a deep laugh and shook his head. "I was bigger than all of you at the time."

"Fucking growth spurts."

"You found your way though," Ryan said.

"Yeah, I guess I did."

Crackling wood and breaking waves filled the silence as they swigged on their beers. Ryan ran his fingers through his beard and let out a sigh.

"You know you can stay here as long as you need, right?"

"I appreciate that," Jeremy said.

"You want to talk about it?"

Jeremy shrugged. "I don't know. Telling you the details was hard enough. I feel ashamed."

"Shouldn't be ashamed, people experiment. Nothing wrong with it."

"You're being polite."

Ryan paused for a moment. "Why would I be? I've been busting your balls since we were kids. Who on this fucking earth has the right to tell you how to live your life? You can spend years trying to make others happy, and end up an empty shell by the time you hit your forties. It's your life, your marriage. You're allowed to do whatever the fuck you want."

"Yeah, but look what happened. I was a fucking idiot to think anything good would come of this..."

"Uh-huh, you're blaming the situation too much. Ask yourself, how many 'normal' marriages end without swinging happening?" Ryan asked.

"This is different," Jeremy countered.

"No, it fucking isn't. If you guys had never dabbled in this swapping shit, you still could have found yourself in this exact same spot. The act isn't the problem, you fucking know that. It's the fact that she didn't give a flying fuck about your feelings man."

"Sage didn't mean it..."

"Didn't mean it? It doesn't fucking matter what she meant, what matters is what she did and how it made you feel."

"We both agreed to it though, that's the thing. I can't blame her for something I wanted and encouraged." Jeremy leaned forward toward the fire as his friend let out a long sigh.

"Look, I don't know all the ins and outs of what happened between you two. Maybe you're right, maybe you encouraged this kind of behavior. But if I'm going off what you told me, it sounds like Sage pushed the boundaries of what you two agreed on, and didn't really look back after she did."

"She did look back though, she did."

"Jeremy," Ryan said softly.

"What?"

"If the roles were reversed. If you were the guy fucking a bunch of different women and Sage agreed to it. At any point would you ever have said 'I love you' to someone else behind her back?"

The words stung, but Jeremy already knew the answer before he said it.

"No."

Ryan pointed at him before taking a swig of his beer.

"That's what I'm talking about. Now, I'm not telling you what to do. You're a grown-ass adult who's got his shit together, despite what you might think at the moment. If you want to mend things with Sage, great. If you want to cut her loose, fine by me. All I'm trying to say at this moment is you have a right to feel the way you do. You are right to feel betrayed and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Thanks man, I needed that," Jeremy said, staring into the flames. The two eased off the heavier conversation, and instead enjoyed the evening remembering their childhood together. Eventually, Amy came out to join them, and all three shared a peaceful evening.

The fire died down, and Jeremy excused himself to the guest room. He dropped himself on the bed, feeling slightly better about everything.

Then he remembered his phone.

There is a distinct moment in every person's life when they discover their weakness. In this moment, as Jeremy opened David's message with trembling fingers, he knew his weakness.

He knew it was himself who brought this pain.

David: You really shouldn't bother coming home. This bitch is having a blast. Even brought over a guest to celebrate.

Jeremy played the attached video and watched as Sage was double-teamed by Theo and David on their bed. She was a sweaty mess, just like that night of the party. He stared in disbelief, watching as David flung her legs over his shoulders and fucked her forcefully while Theo shoved his cock down her throat. Their hands grabbed onto her flesh greedily, pulling at her as she obediently spread her legs and opened her throat for them. The camera shook violently as David handed it to Theo. Theo continued to face fuck Sage as he focused the camera on David.

David raised Sage's legs in the air and wrapped his beefy hands around her thighs. Shoving his thick cock into her with powerful strokes as sweat dripped from his forehead onto her glistening stomach. David grit his teeth, leaning forward and pushing Theo off Sage as he forcefully kissed her cum covered lips.

Jeremy's stomach churned as Sage kissed him back. Wrapping her arms around his neck while David picked her up and placed her on top of him. She began to weakly ride him, clearly exhausted by the fuck session. Theo made his way over to her, standing on top of the bed and shoving his cock back into her mouth. He grabbed a handful of her hair and began to thrust aggressively, eventually losing interest in the camera and letting the phone drop onto the bed.

The video ended.

Jeremy dropped the phone and stared at the ceiling. Nothing felt real. Sensation bled away. Even his thoughts froze in their tracks. Then he closed his eyes, and upon seeing the images reply in his mind, cried softly.

She even cared about Theo more than she cared about him. He wondered what any of their marriage had meant up to that point. He even wondered if she had been planning this all along. Perhaps she had been seeing David before he sent those texts. Perhaps they had been speaking to each other for months, coming up with a plan to get Jeremy involved.

This had to stop, Jeremy knew it. His mind couldn't take it anymore. With a painful sigh, he reached for his phone.

And turned it off.