Coercion

I couldn't believe the words I'd just heard coming out of my wife's mouth. She and I had talked extensively about my past experiences with Lydia, and her suggestion for an open relationship, with everything going south from then on. Now I was painfully wondering if Christine was already doing Justin behind my back.

"Justin, Christine and I think the world of you two. We can't imagine having a better set of friends. We feel closer to you two than any other couple we've ever associated with. Thank you for thinking enough of us to consider taking such a step. I believe you both are sincere and suggest this out of love and friendship. At the same time, you are very familiar with my Christian roots. My faith runs deep and is an integral part of me. It's not something that I can shut off whenever I find it inconvenient. As I said, you guys are great but I could never see my way clear to follow through with what you suggest. I'm sorry. I don't need time to think about it. It's just not who I am. I hope you understand."

Justin responded with a big smile, stuck out his hand to shake mine, and said, "Thank you for hearing us out. We completely understand and respect your decision. You never know the answer to a question until you ask it, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Abby and I hope that this suggestion won't put a damper on our friendship. I'll not bring it up again."

"It's fine, Justin. I was sincere when I said thank you for asking. I'm flattered, really. I assure you that nothing has changed among us. I appreciate you not pressuring us. Now I've got some sand under my suit that I feel more so since it is dry now. Christine and I need to be heading on back, so we can shower off this grit and get more comfortable."

Christine chimed, "See you at work tomorrow, Abby. Okay?"

We all stood up and as was our usual, the girls hugged everyone while we guys shook hands. Christine and I packed up our things and headed home. She knew what was coming the moment her car door was shut.

Chapter-4

"You're game? It might be fun to explore? Enhance our friendship? Did you conspire with them against me and plan this to blindside me?" I demanded.

"What? No! I simply responded honestly. He asked a question and I answered, that's all. Should I have lied to him?" She asked.

"Lie? No. I didn't want you to lie to anyone. I wanted you to act like my wife and at least pretend like our marriage means something to you!" I seethed.

"Our marriage? NO ONE loves you more than I do and never will! You KNOW that. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking of your past with Lydia right then and was caught up in the moment. It must have been the wine talking. But I am NOT Lydia. I will never do what she did to you."

"However, you were admitting that you were ready to jump into bed with Justin and have sex with him, and I should be okay with that? And my consolation prize is Abby?"

"Of course not. I would NEVER do anything behind your back nor without your express knowledge and permission. As you well know, yours was the first and only cock to ever penetrate my vagina. You've flirted every bit as much with Abby as I have with Justin. Can you blame a girl for wondering what another man might feel like? You've been with other women but I'm not allowed to even consider the same privilege? And don't you dare try to tell me you're not attracted to Abby. I've seen your dick get hard from her more than once after you've looked her up and down. You're blowing this all out of proportion," she asserted.

"Baby, I don't want to lose you. Maybe we should cut ties with Abby and Justin as a protective measure. Perhaps you ought to go to Human Resources tomorrow and ask them to transfer Abby out of your area and bring in someone else whose husband isn't trying to get in your pants."

"What? Why would you suggest such a thing? I love Abby. She's my best friend. I'm not going to ask them to transfer her."

"I see. So you believe that I should be perfectly content with another man asking you right in front of me to let him fuck you? I get it." I said sarcastically.

"You don't have to be so vulgar. You know as well as I do that Abby is prettier than me. You'd get to be with her if we ever decided to swap with them. It wouldn't be all one-sided you know."

"I'm sorry, Christine. I love you too much to ever share you with another man. You are my everything, my whole world. I'd give my life for you in a heartbeat without even thinking. I'll pass on a dozen Abbys at the same time to keep you all to myself.

We went to bed that night with minimal conversation. She didn't have a comeback for my last remark. She would never openly declare that she eagerly wanted to have sex with another man outside of our marriage.

A week went by in near-total silence. Christine was unaccustomed to the wall I had constructed between us. This was unfamiliar territory for us. I usually trip over myself to cater to her every whim to make her happy. Apparently, she no longer needed me to make her happy. Her new best friends seemed to be filling that niche in her life nicely. I noticed that she had started humming to herself in the evenings while I occupied myself going over financial work files I had brought home to peruse to occupy my time. At least one of us was happy. Her behavior around me was uncharacteristic. She would usually try to engage me in conversation to work through any problems that arose between us. Quite frankly, I had no reason to change my position on the topic.

On Thursday evening after supper, she finally broke the ice and spoke a full sentence to me.

"Abby and Justin have invited us out to that new restaurant tomorrow night that we've talked about visiting. They'll pick us up here at 7:30. I need you to be dressed and ready to go ahead of time in case I need you to change your clothes. I don't want you to create a scene with them. I need you to be on your best behavior tomorrow night. It's important to me that we reconnect with them and pick back up where we left off before encountering this unfortunate bump in the road. So, mind your manners, please, and watch what you say. Don't make this uncomfortable for anyone, please? I don't want to lose them as friends. Understood?"

She looked me directly in the eye after making her request known. I simply shrugged my shoulders and walked away having said nothing. She smiled at my silence believing that I would knuckle under and go along with her on this. I'd always catered to her every whim. I've watched a couple of football games in my day. Now might be the time to make an end run around her sphere of influence. Since I had still not openly warmed to her with an act of contrition, it was chilly in the house once again that night. No sex for me.

Friday evening, Christine came home from work almost bounding with excitement. I could tell that she was ready to resume the four musketeers' friendship, paving the way to continue the adventures of the Sinclairs and the Riersons. It was glaringly obvious that friendship with them was her paramount objective. I took inventory of my thoughts. Abby was a beautiful woman but her breasts were not as appealing to me as Christine's double-Ds. Abby's smaller chest aside, she sure acted like sugar wouldn't melt in her mouth when out with us. Justin's a great guy but he hasn't done anything for me personally. It still bothered me that Christine would have been on board with his offer of partner swapping but I knew I could never abide that.

"Why don't you go ahead and get your shower, Nolan? I'll go through your wardrobe and pick out something for you to wear," she said tersely.

"You go ahead and get your shower first, Christine. I've been taking Tums for my upset stomach, and I think it needs more time to settle down," I lied.

"What? When did this start? Did something bad happen at work today?" She queried.

"Nothing to do with work. It may be lunch not settling down. I can't say for sure. Just give me some time," I affirmed.

"Alright. You go rest a while, and I'll go get cleaned up," she acceded.

I rested on the living room couch to avoid interacting with her. She came dressed to the nines. She was still all into the flirty dressing up when going out with them as long as my wife-swapping line wasn't crossed. I could tell she was still a bit uneasy with me as I hadn't shown signs of acceptance yet.

"Your turn. I hope you're feeling better now. I took my time," she said aspiringly.

"The jury's still out," I countered.

"Why don't you go ahead and get your shower now? Sometimes the warm water, and getting yourself clean goes a long way to feeling better."

"Alright, I'll give it a shot," and I disappeared into the bathroom but locked the bathroom door. I took my shower but let the water run much longer than needed. I was dried off long before I ever shut the water off. Then I effusively sprayed the bathroom with orange-blossom-scented spray to mask unwanted smells, which, in reality, didn't exist.

She wanted to know why I'd locked the door.

"To spare your olfactory senses, my dear. I have a bad case of the runs, and I don't think I should stray too far from a toilet tonight for obvious reasons," I informed. "I don't think it would be advisable for me to go out tonight. I'll just stay here until whatever it is, passes."

"You're kidding. You're still angry with me, aren't you? Don't you want to see your friends? You get an erection every time you're around Abby but suddenly you act like you want to avoid them? Don't be silly. Get dressed and let's go. I've already set your clothes out for you as you can see," she insisted.

"Fine, I'll go but only under two circumstances. Not IF, but when I mess my pants, YOU will clean up my butt all by yourself, and secondly, the next time you get sick, if I think you're bluffing, you'll do what I want anyway. Deal?"

She considered it for a moment and replied, "No deal."

"That's it then," I injected. "We'll just stay home tonight."

"Let me think about that. If you stay home sick, they'll understand. But if we both stay home, they'll take it as rejection. As much as I hate to leave you here alone when you're not feeling well, I think I need to be there tonight to represent us. You understand, don't you, Nolan?"

"Of course. You go and have a good time. I won't wait up for you. Take care," I said as I walked away back to the bathroom and locked the door again.

I think it bothered her that I acted as though it didn't matter to me at all, missing out on being out with our best friends. But I was determined to prove a point and wanted to create some leverage to work with. The doorbell rang promptly at 7:30. I heard her call out to me that she was leaving and shouted out that she loved me in front of Abby. I remained silent as she left. I felt a bit of relief as if I had made my stand, and was able to use her friends, something she valued, to get my way. I don't really have diarrhea. I want to take advantage of the circumstances to make my point.

She arrived home at 11 pm and called out to me. I feigned sleep as she quickly joined me in bed. If she was all revved up like she normally was after an outing with the Sinclairs, I wasn't going to allow her to use me for her relief tonight. I considered it a tiny victory in my own way.

Saturday morning I followed my nose to the kitchen where she was cooking breakfast. She greeted me with, "Are you feeling any better?"

"Much," I simply stated.

"Good, have a seat and I'll get you a plate for breakfast." After serving me, she asked, "Aren't you going to ask me about last night? Aren't you curious?"

"I guess I'm not awake enough yet. I'm sure you're going to tell me all about it."

She didn't like my tone and elected to say nothing about the night other than, "They've asked us out again tonight. You pick the place, anywhere you want to go."

"What if I don't want to go anywhere?" I posited.

"What's got into you, Nolan? You're acting like a two-year-old baby and I don't like it a bit. I've already accepted their invitation for both of us. We're GOING to go, together! All we need from you is to choose where we go tonight," she stated defiantly. "We thought that would make you happy."

I remained silent.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" She urged.

I still kept quiet and just looked down at my plate.

"Fine, go on, get out of the kitchen. I'll clean up alone. You just go think about whatever it is you want to think about until you decide you're ready to talk to me as an adult."

I grinned and left the kitchen, dressed, and drove to Costco. For reasons unknown, I felt at peace in Costco. They invariably have good deals on quite a variety of items and I could browse through the store killing a lot of time. I texted her asking if she knew of anything we needed while I was there. She belligerently texted back, no. I laughed out loud. She was royally pissed at me and I knew it. Usually, I fall all over myself to placate her but this time I have an agenda, and I aimed to see it through. I sprang for the least expensive hot dog meal in the city at Costco while I was there, and enjoyed every bite. I did run into my neighbor, Austin Melton. He was arriving at Costco just as I was leaving. I told him there was nothing left in the store, that I had bought it all.

He chuckled and told me a couple of old jokes that he had only recently heard:

My wife sat down on the couch next to me while I was sitting there flipping through the channels. "What's on TV?" She asked. "Dust," I said, and then the fight started.

-

My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, "I want something shiny that goes from zero to 150 in about four seconds."

I bought her a bathroom scale, and then the fight started.

I erupted in laughter at both of his jokes. They were just what I needed to lighten my mood. I left for home with a smile on my face, ready to face any challenge. As I was putting all of my purchases away, Christine made her way to the kitchen to finally engage me in conversation. She had never known me to be so stubborn about anything before, and I'm sure it was unsettling to her. I still felt as though I had the upper hand but she was yet unaware of that status.

"Why did you go to Costco?" She inquired.

"You asked me to think, so I went there to think."

"And what is it that you think, now that you've had a chance?"

"Well, I think more than likely I'm going to be sick again tonight. I hope you have a wonderful time with your friends." I nonchalantly muttered.

"Sick? Again? What is it this time? Mental illness?" She accused.

"You can tell your friends anything you want. Sure, say I'm sick in the head. I don't care what you tell them."

"MY friends? They're your friends too, Nolan. What is it with you? Why are you so sullen lately? I thought you enjoyed their company as much as I do. Why are you being so stubborn about seeing them?"

"Are you sure you want to know what's on my mind? After all, according to you, I have the mind and attitude of a two-year-old."

"Just spit it out, Nolan. What's eating you?"

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, went to my happy place mentally and calmed myself down to a peaceful demeanor, and replied, "You, my dear. You've been acting differently ever since Abby and Justin came into our lives. Whether or not you agree with me is immaterial. It is my perception. When Justin suggests we swap partners, you blithely say you're game, and because I said, no, you cut me off from sex, hardly speak to me for a week, and expect me to grovel at your feet because you're not happy about it? You, the woman who saved her virginity for marriage now want to hop in bed with another man to try a different cock? I don't get it."

Her eyes large grew at my recalcitrance.

I continued, "As a matter of fact, I plan to be sick every time you want to get with them. I can go visit my parents while you're living it up out on the town with YOUR friends. You three musketeers can be just as happy without the brooding miserable fourth bringing you down."

She was trying to think of some clever way to put a spin on her desire to remain their friends after assenting to Justin's suggestion that we swap partners for sex but she couldn't. She was in a quicksand of her own making and she was desperately looking for a way out.

"What do you want, Nolan? Evidently, you've given this a lot of thought. How do we break this stalemate? Surely you've thought of some way to work through this. I don't want to see our friendship with them unravel, and I don't EVER want anything to come between you and me either."

"Tell you what, Christine. I'll be happy to resume our friendship with them under two conditions. First, if you are willing to forever give up on the idea of us ever swapping with them as long as I'm your husband. If Abby ever brings it up at work, then you immediately shut down all such talk without further discussion," I explained.

"Done," she firmly stated with emphasis. "I've given a lot of thought to what happened with you and your former fiancée, and I should have been more perceptive about where such things can lead, no matter how innocently they begin. If I ever had any such desires, they're permanently burned out of me. I'll never speak of it again and will shut her down if Abby ever brings it up in conversation. It will no longer be a topic for discussion, I swear. And the second thing?"

"I want you to start dressing more conservatively when we're out with them. Justin has seen more of your body than I ever did before we married, and I don't like it. I'd love for you to dress as slutty as you dare for me but only for me. If you can do both of those things, then I can suddenly feel better about us, and about going out with them. The ball is in your court, woman. What's it going to be?"

I could almost see the gears turning in her mind as she considered everything I had just said. I could tell that she wanted to become defensive and argue against my position but she realized that she would be embarrassed trying to explain my ongoing absence. She smiled, walked over to me, hugged me fiercely, and whispered 'deal' in my ear. I nearly fainted. Finally, a reprieve, truce, or whatever it could be called was in effect. I felt as if a big weight had been lifted from my shoulders. The dark cloud was being replaced with sunshine.

We went out again with Justin and Abby that night and had a grand time. They were unaware of the power struggle that had just taken place between Christine and me unless Christine had apprised Abby, and that wouldn't surprise me. After all, Abby was her best friend. Another fun-filled month went by as we four reconnected and thoroughly enjoyed one another's company. The flirting continued but never extended into overt or intimate touches. Justin remained true to his word to avoid that topic.

During their many talks at work together in the university library, the girls clearly understood that intimate exchanges would never be in the cards, so Abby floated the topic of children with Christine. She and Justin both wanted kids and had talked about them in a positive light numerous times. Christine admitted that we were in the same boat but had not set any specific date yet to start working on our family. It was then that Abby had a creative inspiration.

"I have a great idea, Christine! Why don't you and I both get pregnant at the same time? Think about it. We could go to the same obstetrician, share baby room ideas, learn how to waddle together and have our babies at the same time. Wouldn't that be awesome?"

Christine considered her suggestion and liked it a lot, "I'll talk to Nolan about it tonight. I don't think he'll require much persuasion. We've recently paid off my student loans which paves the way for us to focus on growing our family now."