Gary and Jayne Ch. 04

Gary and I had exchanged a few emails since our encounter, but had not been able to make firm plans to see each other. Too many scheduling conflicts. It was almost a month after the 'cabin' encounter. The holidays had intervened; we were both miserably busy with family and holiday obligations. But when I had a free moment, I relived and rehashed the moments we'd had together. While I was busy with family and friends and various holiday activities, my mind was occupied with thoughts of Gary. The memory of those moments together kept me aroused, so much so that my husband benefited. Mark was more than pleasantly surprised at my unusual ardor. It may have relieved some of my guilt, too. But truthfully, I wasn't feeling that guilty. What I was feeling was spectacularly sexy and desirable.

But Mark was so pleased, in fact, that he decided to join me on a bike ride. The kids were at my mom's for the weekend, so it was just the two of us. That would be great; I enjoyed spending time with him. I liked him as well as loved him. But, it was unusual for him to offer to spend time with me like this. My paranoid radar was going off. Was I sending off funny signals to him? No, not really. He usually went fishing Saturday mornings with his best buddy, Nick. He explained that Nick had a meeting with one of his lawyers in the morning and couldn't make their usual Saturday morning jaunt.

Nick wasn't one of my favorite people; I failed to see his charm. He and Mark had grown up together; best friends since childhood. Nick was loud, boastful, raunchy, and racist, all things that drove me crazy. His family had deep roots in Florida. He and his brothers had inherited a good chunk of real estate, sold it off to the developers and made a mint. Since then he fished for a living. Entered some tournaments but mostly did it for fun. Had the latest and best toys, boat-wise and otherwise. He'd been through three wives, was on the fourth, and had spawned a passel of brats. He had good lawyers to protect his interests. He had to pay child support, of course, and some alimony, but his inheritance was still intact, the interest supplying more than enough for his living expenses. He and Mark spent at least one weekend day out on the water, usually Saturday mornings, scouting for poor, hapless fish. Not that I minded the catch, I didn't. I'd made some fabulous meals out of their catches. But, really, I'd rather have my husband home doing 'honey-do' things. There's golfing widows and I was a fishing widow. So I was surprised when Mark said he'd come biking with me on Saturday.

We racked up our bikes and headed to Flatwoods. When we got there, I saw Gary's Matrix in the parking lot. Oh, shit, I thought, this was not good. I didn't think he'd be there on a Saturday. Hell, I didn't know his schedule, I realized. Anyway, he wasn't anywhere to be seen, thank goodness, so Mark and I set off for our ride. Mark didn't ride that often so it was slow going around the loop. That wasn't a problem: it gave us a chance to chat and tease each other and catch up, remembering to share things we forgot over our hurried dinners. I let him set the pace. We had a good time together. At about mile five of eight, he started complaining about his rear. I could sympathize. I remembered being practically incapacitated by butt pain when I first started riding. The more you ride, the easier it gets and after a while, it doesn't hurt anymore. Getting the proper equipment, like padded bike shorts, helps as well. But I definitely remembered those first few painful rides. We decided to head back to the parking lot; he'd stay there with a fishing magazine he'd brought and I'd ride another loop. I stopped at the van and put on my Ipod for the next loop, and set off at a much faster pace. It was a busy morning and the loop was somewhat more crowded than usual with other riders, runners, skaters, and the large blue-hair contingent, the snow-birds that fill up the state during the winter months. I had one almost crash experience with a family of four spread all over the road instead of being to the right, like they're supposed to be. It's hard to stop suddenly when you're going 17+ miles per hour. I managed to thread my way through them with just a few curses and finished my ride and headed back to the parking lot. I racked my bike, grabbed my shake and went to do my stretches.

Right then I saw two figures riding up. I could tell it was Gary; his body and riding style were by now so familiar to me. He was riding with a woman. They came to a stop by his car so I walked up to say hello. They both were taking off their helmets as I approached. I glanced at him then looked at her. Oh my god, she was gorgeous. Tall, pretty yellow hair pulled back into a pony-tail, thin, and when I looked into her face, beautiful. Kind of Reese Witherspoonish, with bright blue eyes and a pointy jaw. She was everything that I'm not. I hesitated, but Gary turned and saw me. I could see the look of alarm in his eyes. I felt the same way. I foraged ahead; it was too late to turn back. "Uh, hi, Gary. Did you have a nice ride?" I stammered.

"Yes, we did. Jayne, let me introduce you to my wife. Tracey, this is Jayne; Jayne, Tracey."

We exchanged greetings while he racked their bikes and they changed their shoes. She was pleasant, very nice actually. I told her how I'd met Gary, and she said she remembered him telling her the story of helping someone who didn't know how to rethread their bike chain. (Did she roll her eyes???) We walked back together towards the pavilion area with the picnic tables where I stretched after my ride. Mark was there, reading one of his fishing magazines with his Ipod in his ears. He took his ear buds out and I introduced him to Gary and Tracey. He seemed to be captivated by her. They immediately struck up a conversation while she did some light stretches. They seemed to connect. Gary and I drifted off to the far side of the area.

"My god, this is a disaster waiting to happen," I whispered to him, doing quad stretches. "We need to find a way to head this off at the pass. It's like I'm frozen in place watching a horror movie."

"But how? What can we do?" He leaned over to do some toe touches, limbering up his hamstrings.

"I'm open to suggestions. Can you tell her I'm evil...he's evil? Anything." I grabbed a pillar to stretch my shoulders. "What are they talking about, anyway? Mark's not normally that animated, not unless he's talking fishing."

"No, no, no....don't say that! Tracey loves fishing. She grew up going out every weekend with her dad. That's our main bone of contention, that I don't fish. I just don't get the allure. Spending hours in searing heat or bitter cold, trying to lure some poor critter from its lair. Not that I don't like eating fish. I do. I just don't see the wonder of spending hours out on the water chasing them. That's what the damned seafood department in the grocery store is for." He was doing cross legged squats now to stretch his glutes.

"Oh, god, Mark goes out every weekend. It drives me absolutely nuts. I need someone who can help me around the house. He spends one day of the weekend out on the water and then he thinks he needs to relax and recover from his work week on the other day." I was on my toes stretching my calves. "Oh, and you know I'm itching for you. It's hard having you so close and not being able to do anything."

"Damn right, woman. Me too. Fer f's sake, this situation is down right intolerable. I see you, I want you. Your husband is right there, my wife is right there, and I still want you so much that I'd do something stupid." He did some hip flexor stretches.

"My god, me too. I want you so badly. But let's use our heads here, eh?" I stretched my quads again.

"Agreed. OK, what day is good for you next week? Would it be possible for me to come to your house?"

"Yeah, sure, while the kids are in school." I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, inhaled, and thought of the possibilities. A shiver ran through me. "I'll make it happen. Just let me know what day." We took the few steps back to where our spouses were involved in a deep conversation. "Oh my god, they're really hitting it off. This is not good."

"Hey!" said Tracey, brightly. "We're gonna meet up for lunch. You guys ready? Let's go to Fridays. It's not too far away."

I looked from her to Mark and back again. He widened his eyes, tried to look innocent, and shrugged his shoulders, giving me his best George Clooney imitation. That's the actor he most closely resembled, with the dark hair shot through with silver and big brown eyes. "She likes to fish," he said, simply. I looked over at Gary and he shrugged too.

"Uh, shouldn't we go home and shower first?" I asked. "I'm kinda stinky from my ride." I took an experimental whiff of my arm pit. "Not too bad, I guess."

Tracey shook her head. "We're all in the same boat, and I'm starving. We'll just offend those around us, and the wait staff."

"Boat...ha! That's where I should be now." Mark chirped in. "But if I were there I wouldn't have met you." He smiled over at Tracey. Gary had moved beside her and draped his arm around her shoulder and squeezed. We walked towards our cars. "OK, then, we'll meet you there." He swung into the driver's seat of the van and I climbed in the passenger seat. I gave Gary what I hoped was a look of abject terror as they walked by.

Mark was chatty on the way to the restaurant, which was unusual for him. He seemed really taken with Tracey. I was almost jealous, then shook myself. My god, I didn't know how to stop this. "Mark, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, we don't even really know them, you know." I said.

"Jayne, what are you talking about? You told me about Gary and how he helped you out. I remember. And Tracey seems really nice. And I've found someone I can talk to about fishing. Maybe she'll want to come out with me and Nick." He grinned over at me. He was teasing me. He knew how much I despised Nick. It would give me something to do, warning her off Nick.

We got to the restaurant a few minutes before they did, so we loitered out front. "Tracey's awfully pretty, isn't she?" I asked Mark. I couldn't help myself.

"Oh, I guess, if you like that type," He answered. Smart man, my Mark.

Gary and Tracey arrived and we were seated at a square table, Mark to my right and Gary to my left, Tracey across from me. Mark and Tracey started talking again about fishing while I hid my head behind the menu. I glanced over at Gary, beseeching him for help. Again, he just shrugged. The waitress took our drink orders and Mark and I talked and decided to do our usual and split a burger. Once orders had been placed, Tracey and Mark started talking again about fishing. He asked if she wanted to go out sometime with him and Nick and she said she'd love to. I had to interject. "Tracey, you don't want to meet Nick. He is the most obnoxious, foul mouthed, boastful, bigoted sumbitch that I know."

Mark countered: "But he's got a nice boat. A very nice, big, boat. And he loves going out. We do all nighters sometimes." The server was back quickly with our drinks.

"Mark, you've got to have some standards." I could feel the same old argument about to happen and I didn't want it to happen in front of Gary and Tracey. "Tracey, I'll let you make up your own mind. Just don't say you haven't been warned." I took a sip of my water and continued. "They've been friends since childhood. They've grown into such different men, but I can't seem to get Mark to see Nick how I do." Good god, I'd gotten in deeper than I should have. "OK, I'll just shut up now."

Mark and Tracey continued to swap fish stories and I felt Gary's hand on my knee. An electric wave traveled from my knee to between my legs and my mouth fell open slightly in shock. I turned to look at Gary and he just grinned at me. The tablecloths were not long so he didn't move his hand up, just left it there and squeezed gently. I could feel my arousal building. I stood up suddenly. "Uh, I'm gonna visit the ladies room and wash my hands before I eat."

"Me, too." Gary said and stood up and joined me. We walked away together.

I whispered fiercely to him, "That's stupid, stupid. We can't do anything risky."

"Risky? Fuck I'm so frisky I could take you here. Besides, they are so wrapped up in their fishing stories they might not even notice we're gone." We turned into the darkened hall that led to the restrooms. It was deserted. I felt his hand on my back. He stopped me and pressed me into the wall and kissed me hard. I moaned low into his mouth.

"Gary, no, no, NO!" I wrenched myself out of his arms and dove into the ladies room. I heard him chuckle behind me. I was trembling with desire. It took me a minute to calm down and relax enough to pee, and I discovered I was quite slick. I waited a few minutes longer, touched up my lipstick and went back to the table.

Gary was already back and our food was on the table. Mark and I divided the cheeseburger and fries and started eating. I was drinking a lot of water; I'm always thirsty. Tracey had a chicken salad and Gary had a cheeseburger, too. The conversation was light between bites. Tracey and Mark were now comparing reels and tackle and the pros and cons of different line test weight. I rolled my eyes and turned back to watch Gary. He attacked his burger with gusto. He dressed it high and dove in and demolished it. I watched in astonishment.

"Uh, I was hungry." He smiled at me. I grinned back and delicately nibbled on my burger. My appetite for food had diminished, replaced by desire for Gary. He plowed through his fries. "I rode almost two hours this morning; I worked up an appetite." He nodded towards our plate. "Do you guys always split your food?"

"Yeah, we do. Not all the time but we do it often. Most restaurants give you too damned much food anyway. Then you end up having leftovers, which may or may not be good." I took another bite of burger. "Economically it makes sense for us, too. We started doing it a couple of years ago after hauling home too many doggie bags." I dipped a fry into the mayo ramekin and popped it into my mouth. The waitress came by and refilled my water glass.

His voice dropped and he leaned in close. "God, you're so sexy when you eat. Wish I could be feeding you." I gave him a warning look and sat back. Then Mark's cell phone rang. He got up from the table to take the call. Now that he was finished eating, Gary's right hand was back on my knee. "How's your lunch, my dear?" He asked Tracey.

She looked down at her plate. She had done a good job of working her way through her strips of grilled chicken and pile of greens. "Good, I guess. I haven't really noticed. Jayne, I'm sooo enjoying talking with your Mark. I haven't been out fishing since my dad died. I really miss it, and him."

"I'm sorry for your loss. Has it been long?" I asked.

"Five years now. We really were close and it was devastating. Time does help, you know. And I really miss fishing!" Tracey bobbed her pretty blonde head.

Mark came back to the table and sat down. "That was Nick. He's free. He wants to go out this afternoon. Tracey, you want to join us?" He picked up and finished off the last of his burger, then stole some fries from my plate. I picked up my fork and pretended to stab him with it.

She looked over at Gary, questioningly. "Honey, do you mind? I'd love to go!"

"Tracey, this was supposed to be our date night out. The kids are at Gram's." He turned to me, "We've got tickets to see one of my favorite bands, The Drive-By Truckers." Gary looked put out.

"Oh my god I love them!" I exclaimed. "Mark's not into music so I haven't been to a concert in a really long time."

"Well, there you go!" Tracey exclaimed. "I couldn't care less about them. I was just going because Gary likes them to much. In fact, Jayne, I'll beg you to take my place. Please, please, please don't make me go to Skipper's Smokehouse again."

"What's wrong with Skipper's?" I asked. I'd only been there a few times.

"Oh, I don't know. It's so, uh...I don't know. There's bikers and hippies ...just not my type of people, you know. Gary, are you sure you don't mind?" Tracey was doing a very nice pouting/pleading look.

Gary's eyes met mine briefly as he turned to face her. "Of course I don't mind. I know how much you've missed it. By all means, go and have fun."

Mark burst in: "Since we're starting out so late, it'll be late when we get back. Will that be a problem? We probably won't get back until close to midnight." I could hear the excitement in Mark's voice. He signaled the waitress for the check.

"Babe," Gary said. "Please go, have a wonderful time, get fishy stinky. Just shower before you climb in bed, eh? And if we're going to the show, we'll probably be out that late as well."

"Oh thank you, my dear!" Tracey squealed. She leaned over and kissed Gary's cheek. She turned to Mark and they high-fived.

Gary snatched the check when it came. "You're taking my wife off and entertaining her. Let me at least get this." He smiled at Mark. "Besides, you guys are a cheap date. Just one burger between you. I think I can swing this." He paid with cash and left a generous tip. We made it out to our cars, Mark and Tracey planning their trip. Tracey and Gary were down to one car; hers was in the shop for the weekend, so he'd drop her off at our house, then Mark would drive himself and Tracey over to Nick's. I was beginning to have some hope that Gary and I could have some time together.

A little over an hour later they pulled into our driveway. Everyone was freshly showered and changed. Gary looked simply divine in a pair of tight fitting, faded Levis and an old grey t-shirt. Tracey was gorgeous in jeans and a dark grey sweatshirt. She brought another sweatshirt and a jacket for later. I brought them in and showed them around the house, proudly showing off the newly remodeled kitchen. Tracey ewwed and aahed and made appropriate comments, as did Gary. Mark had his cooler packed with sandwiches and beer and water and colas and other snacks, so we walked them out to his truck and loaded the two of them in. Gary and Tracey were over by the passenger side saying their good-byes and Mark and I were by the driver's side. "So, what are you gonna do with the rest of your day?" Mark asked me.

"Uh, I'm not sure." I replied. "I don't know if Gary wants to hang out or not before the show. I'm sure I can find something to keep me busy." We kissed, a peck, and he swung up into his truck.

"See you later, babe." Mark adjusted the rear view mirror and turned to make sure that Tracey was comfortable.

"Have fun, you guys!" I meant it. I heard Gary echoing the same sentiments. We walked away from the truck and stood together as Mark backed out of the carport and drove out of the driveway. We both waved parade waves as they drove off. We looked at each other and grinned and walked back inside.

As soon as the front door shut, I was backed up against the door, Gary pressing into me, his demanding lips on mine, hands on my waist, back, hips, ass...everywhere. He was not shy about his wants. I responded in kind. I was keening inside, a huge well of longing, need, and desire. His mouth left mine and trailed down my neck and caused more shivers to go through my body as I tried to erase any distance between us. I gasped and moaned and quivered with the sensations. I threw my legs around one of his and rubbed myself against his pants leg. I felt myself being lifted off the ground and thrown over his shoulder.

"Where's a bed?" he demanded. He circled me around a few times, flying me like an airplane thru the living room. I was giggling helplessly. I pointed towards my bedroom. So much for the sanctity of the marital bed. "Zoom, zoom, zoom." He propelled me forward, still over his shoulder, maneuvered through the door, kicked it shut behind him, and threw me down on my miraculously freshly made bed. "My god, woman, how many pillows do two people require?" He threw most of the eight pillows onto the floor and dove onto the bed next to me. I turned to my side to face him and we hesitated just a moment before starting to kiss. I could see the naked desire in his eyes - the blue irises were burning bright - and his breathing had already quickened. I just wanted to melt into him.