All Comments on 'Second Best'

So good, nothing really matters.

Yes, her revenge is a bit "out there", but it's fiction. Part of the appeal of fiction is that it isn't slavishly bound to "reality".

Reagan had it right ‘Trust but Verify’!!!

So he wants to believe her... OK! But she has stuck it to him before so why not again?

Not too many of Bob's stories merit a second read. For me this is one that does. One of my favorites.

Couldn't read it to The end! Let me guess she wants her revenge on him? Something I Would expect from little children, it fits to The Rest of The story!

This is one of those stories in which the husband believes every word coming out of the lying, cheating cunts mouth. It doesn't matter whether or not she actually fucked Dale. What matters was her intent. And after all those years of being second and being lied to, why would he reverse course 180 degrees and start thinking he really was number one on her hit parade and that she would be telling him the absolute truth? There's absolutely no reason for him to believe her, given their history. He needed a divorce. Bad Bob, BAD!

I don't think I would believe her if she said the sun rose in the east. What a crock.

So it's ok for a wife to kiss and get felt up by a guy? She lied where she was and who she was doing it with. She has no remorse for her cheating? Sorry that's exactly what it was. Who cares for the degree of it all.

She most certainly deserves to be kicked to the curb.

Stupid ending.

This is my third read of this story and I have to say I loved it. Don’t get me wrong I love BTB stories but my greatest weakness are reconciliation stories and this was one of them. But as i said I do love BTB stories. But at the end of the day if it was as small as this little drama then yes get back together. But otherwise BTB .

I think she cheated though, regardless of her explanation. Dale rounded second and was headed for third. All Rob had to go on is her explanation and what he saw with his own eyes. I think the first time he saw something crooked going on he should have pulled Dale out of his car window and busted his nose for the third time. She should have been honest with Rob about Dale's reappearance, but then again she seemed to always have a problem with being straight forward. Judging by his last thought as he drifted off to sleep he was taking her back. I don't think I would have.

she cheated i fill sad for rob , turning out to be a wimp.

Beta male.

Maybe cucky tendencies.

Love and respect means you don't keep big things from each other. No ifs and buts.

Did agree with doubt on trust broken.

That is why gave it 2 stars instead of 1

damn passwords

jtwheels

Nah, even if she was telling the truth, her 'revenge' on Dale was apparently more important than her marriage.

She didn't tell hubby about it because he would have vetoed her silly plans in a heartbeat, and she couldn't have that. Seems like she'll continue to make unilateral decisions in their relationship, regardless of who gets hurt.

He did accept the fact that he was second best, though - that part rings very true, despite any claims to the contrary. Even though he was a complete asshole, Dale literally had to run away from Grace to finally get her to settle for Rob.

I didn’t cheat?!? Holding hands is cheating. Kissing is cheating. Etc., Men that are okay with their wives having any physical contact at all with another man are insane!

Mabey Grace did not go "all the way" and she did not mean to dishonor her vows, but, her lunches, dinners and make-out sessions with Dale means she did. The vows "To Love, Honor and Cherish" and "Forsaking All Others". include more than not having sexual relations with someone other than your spouse. She knew Rob would not approve of her actions, which is why she did not tell him, yet, she went through with them anyway. Everything Rob said about the 'Seed of Doubt', that she planted in him, is correct. I thought the ending was too pat. At the very least they should seek out counseling. Rob should have dumped her.

Tricksy! She DID get him to invite her in...now it IS all his fault.

LWlurker

Oh boy. What a lot of crook! JOB write this sick stories and the only person who think they make sense it's him. She took a lot of work and risked a lot for someone she doesn't care about. Nine months for a stupid revenge? I mean taking revenge on an old boyfriend was worth lying and cheating on her husband the supposed love of her life? Lunches, meetings and making out? My stomach would turn if i had to make out with someone I loathe.

She is still hooked on Dale and he is still her second best.

Reading the story I do believe Grace is being honest. The problem is the kissing, hand holding, boob groping and hands under the dress. Keeping all of it a secret.

Even if everything she said is 100% true she has still shattered the trust in their marriage. Especially with her previous history of using Rob to fill in when Dale wasn't available to her.

Also, she never talked to Rob about what happened when she went to San Francisco looking for Dale. If she'd told him that story at the time it happened maybe this "revenge" would have made sense. Maybe he could have trusted her story.

Rob also could have put the onus back on her and asked how she would have felt and what she would have thought had she saw the things that he saw her doing.

It is one thing when you surprise your significant other in a compromising situation but this is FICTIONAL CHARACTORS IN A FICTIONAL STORY! Life is way to short with plenty to really be concerned about. Writers like JPB invest a lot of effort, I just enjoy the read. Thank you Bob!

somewhere east of Omaha

Several times Grace left him for Dale. And Rob keeps coming back? After the 2nd time, no excuses, lose my number, he should've said. She's tightlipped about Dale returning to her office for months. She's seen kissing him deeper as the weeks go by. Rob should've asked how she'd feel if it's him kissing an old girlfriend.

: She said a few times there's no Dale & Grace, most of the time with her returning to him. Now she wants to stay married to Rob & says the same thing. From history, how does he know there's not more to her & Dale during his working hours? Her excuse for not telling him's just bullshit.

: The line that says it all- You're my 2nd choice but not 2nd best. IDK if I'd put up with that. I'm married to you & expect/ demand to be your 1st choice. Her statement wasn't defined by the past (that I remember), so can he REALLY trust her to be faithful? The wedding vows include "forsaking all others" which she didn't seem to do. Not telling her husband that not only Dale's back but trying to get her again tells me that, despite calling him an asshole, Dale's still #1 while Rob remains #2.

: Wish there's a small continuation of what happened after that night. Did they fully reconnect? She found a new #1? Gale seems to have the right words for the time but....

: As always, a well thought out & written story by JPB. Though this story is fiction, it IS believable that it could happen in real life. 4 stars Bob (NOT JPB, hehe)

cuck

Don’t like it. Grace has him snowed. I think she will chest. I also think she plays too many games to be trusted.

The author believes in quantity vs quality for his stories.

She may be telling the truth, but you have to ask why she still needs to prove something? Plus, every friend who sees her with him thinks she is cheating on her husband. Is that love? No, I don't think I'd trust her even if she were telling the truth. She has too much growing up to do.

So many things wrong with this story, but I’ll just say this:

She was supposedly still the other guy’s girlfriend during the summers. If she’ll date you (go to parties as your escort, etc), when she’s another man’s girlfriend, then it’s not a surprise that she would date (lunch, dinner, kisses) the other guy when she’s married to you.

This is just the scorpion and the frog, and the MC is a fool, even by JPB standards.

ZK

He has to be the dumbest shit in town, to believe her story.

I think many here underestimate the author. Yes it does not please everyone, but the characters are just "normal" each of us has his ideal image of himself in mind, how he will behave in a situation. Exactly planned, every detail worked out ... for years.

But what happens when you really have to "live" this moment ? do you manage to control the feelings that overwhelm you at that moment or do you give in to your impulses and just act without sticking to the "plan" ?

The kisses in this case were in any case too much, and the woman would have to cope with an extreme performance on her knees sliding so that I would forgive her .... if feelings for her were still present ... would she have managed to eliminate them ? Just like the MC here on and off and Fuck u2

I will agree with some of the complaints, for my own reasons. Grace's account was cockamamie. It could be true in the way that a Lucy Arnaz account would be true in "I Love Lucy," if sex were involved. Rob never bothered to check anything out with mutual friends and workers. He knew--based on their long history-- that Grace was a bad prospect, and even went so far as to divide their assets and disappear. But then -- he allowed her to come back to his place and decided after a little claims-making on her part that she just "felt" right. What if he had tried this: "Okay, darling, prove that your months of double dealing behind my back had motives as pure as the driven snow. Fully explain why you wouldn't trust your life partner. Prove it. Or at least make the effort. Line up your testimony and evidence. Show how such a record of sneaking around should lead to more, rather than less trust on my part." That would help. My own stories have a well-earned reputation for having a bias in favor of reconciliation. This certainly could go that way with a little work. If my wife were Lucy Riccardo this could go one way easily. Still, "trust but verify" as a recent president put the matter.

That said -- this is in many ways a great story, well told and well-written, deserving at least a '4' IMHO.

Itisamazingthe power she has over him. From the start shefooledhim, cheated on hi., made him no more than a stupid puppy, a pudimin her hands. And he loves being the cuck. Man up, sissy.

Epic Fail... I am not a big fan of RAAC stories in general...but I do appreciate a RAAC in which an author has built a quality foundation for the RAAC conclusion with proper foreshadowing and proofs of suspended veracity,,, This, unfortunately is not one of those tales... In fact the author spends the ENTIRE four pages of the tale portraying the wife as a serial cheater to the eventual husband throughout her life to her original boyfriend, Further, she spends an entire year hobnobbing and frankly seducing her old boyfriend who now works with her and says ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to her fricking husband about it. Further, the wimp husband leaves her...gets his new job...and suddenly in a classic Deux Ex Machina off stage entrance...the newly repentant wife shows up at his office spouting her undying love and telling the wimp husband that the entire year was simply her revenge plot on the bad boy ex boyfriend for cheating on her...

These kind of blatant Deux ex Machina fixes really don't fix anything... rather they utterly BREAK the entire logic train of the story into such a chaotic mess that the average reader is forced to try to figure out the mess themselves...that single action is the most fatal error that an author can make because it causes the author to fail to convince the reader to properly suspend disbelief.... With that failure...the entire tale unravels into chaos...and thus you see all the negative comments from reviewers.

The real problem here is sloppy organization and absolutely no real use of proper foreshadowing to support the RAAC conclusion.... In short this one is an EPIC FAIL...

2 stars

I have happily read most of your stories. The guys who commented here are liars, unaware, or naive trying to brag on their "masculinity". I gave it 4 stars.because I'm a perfectionist, always looking for the Holy Grail. Every non-narcisist can remember the first time a girl's beauty or sexiness knocked him out. For me it was first grade. I'm 73, married one woman who passed from Ovarian and am married for 7 years again. I love my two wives. I've been loyal. But I only have to think of that young Swiss girl to miss her despite only holding hands and a few kisses until her family returned to Europe when we were seven. You have insight into the human condition and the skill to write it. Thank you.