Reluctant Cuckold Read Free

“Maybe you could use another beer, my friend.”
     
    When Ashley eventually walked back out, I told her, “I’ve made some new friends tonight. This is Pete and this is Guy, just over from the UK. And this guy here has been nice enough to offer us free bungee jumping rides right over Avenue A if you want to stick around while he gets his equipment.”
     
    Ashley was gracious and polite before asking if I was about ready to leave. She didn’t seem drunk or anything, and the terrace was starting to clear out as we said our usual goodbyes. I’m pretty sure we were asleep within minutes of arriving home.
     

CHAPTER TWO
     
    The rumor continued to bother me in the shower the next morning.
     
    Who in hell was talking trash about my wife? Had something happened that had been misconstrued? Was there an innocent explanation? Had Ashley been involved in some party game like Truth or Dare , and had Ashley been dared to give Jim Murta a quick peck? If so, then why wouldn’t Ashley have explained that? And “hooking up,” generally means more than just a peck.
     
    Or was it like Ashley said. That is was just some jealous girl, talking shit.
     
    I decided to call my friend Craig and didn’t think much when he didn’t return my call until late afternoon. When I mentioned the “rumor,” he said, “I take it you’ve heard?”
     
    I was peeved by his response. Like, why hadn’t he picked up the phone and called me?
     
    I told him I was going to be in his area and suggested we meet for a beer after work. “I’m buying,” I added.
     
    It took me saying, “C’mon, one quick beer. Come on , man,” before he replied, “OK.”
     
    We met at an Irish pub, four blocks from where he and Ashley worked. It was by his subway stop, far enough away and sufficiently nondescript to avoid running into any of his and Ashley’s co-workers.
     
    I ordered a pint of Harp. When he finally arrived, I smiled and gave him a hug. After some brief small talk about work and sports, I told him how my wife had informed me about the rumor. “So you know what I’m referring to?”
     
    “Yeah,” he replied tersely, before asking, “what did she say?”
     
    “That there was a rumor at work about her and Jim Murta at that party the other weekend. That they ‘hooked up’ or something.”
     
    “Yeah,” he said, “that’s what I heard.”
     
    “So what’s the story?” I said.
     
    Craig shifted uncomfortably. He was making me nervous
     
    “Craig, c’mon, you’re my boy, talk to me, what did you hear?“
     
    “That he was with her at the party.”
     
    “ With her?” I asked. “What does that mean? What are you telling me? They made out?” When he hesitated, I laughed and added, “What? Did they have sex or something?”
     
    “Yes, that’s what I heard.”
     
    I looked at Craig. His eyes weren’t making contact with mine.
     
    “They had sex?”
     
    Craig hesitated before saying, “Yes.”
     
    I looked around the bar. The other men were older, no one I recognized, and no one looking our way.
     
    I lowered my voice and said, “So you’re telling me the rumor is that they had sex? What, that he fucked her?”
     
    “That’s what I heard, Dave.”
     
    “At the party?”
     
    “Yes.”
     
    I was stunned.
     
    It seemed crazy, incredible.
     
    “Craig, you were with me at that party—”
     
    “I know,” he said.
     
    “Did you see anything? Know of anything?”
     
    “No, I didn’t know anything until I heard about it at work that Monday.”
     
    “So Jim was telling people this?”
     
    “I heard it from others. I don’t know who started it. Everyone was talking about it.”
     
    “Did you hear where this supposedly took place?” I said. “One of the bedrooms upstairs?”
     
    “In the bathroom.”
     
    “Which bathroom?”
     
    “The bathroom,” Craig replied, “I don’t know, the bathroom inside when you come off the balcony.”
     
    “So the two of them just went into the bathroom