Expanding Our Horizons Ch. 02

After taking a quick shower, he grabbed his keys and wallet, and headed out the door. The drive to Ashley's was over before he knew it; there wasn't much time to think about what he was walking into. He knocked on the door, and it opened after a few seconds. Ashley gave him a smile and a fierce hug.

"Go easy on her Jake. She knows she made a mistake," Ashley whispered in his ear, "whatever you said to her last night made her feel unwanted, and we girls can do some silly things to try and reaffirm our desirability."

"I know," he whispered back to her, squeezing her tightly. "I was an idiot, but I don't hold anything against her." He pushed back from her and smiled in return.

As they walked into the living room, he saw Rob on the couch. Rob quickly got up and gave Jake a firm handshake. Jake laughed and pulled him into a hug instead.

"I think we're way past handshakes, man."

Rob laughed back at him. "Well, just don't try and kiss me."

"What, no lovin' for your friend?"

"Ew."

The banter was friendly and light. Jake was happy to see there were no awkward moments between them, given what had transpired.

"I think Jana's sleeping off her hangover. She apparently drank way too much last night," Rob told him.

"You don't say."

Jake wandered back toward the bedroom, not knowing exactly what to expect. Jana obviously had a habit of running from difficult situations. She had once told him it was to avoid saying anything stupid or hurtful in the heat of the moment, which he understood. But it would be nice if they could just work out their issues together without one of them taking off, or saying something bitter. He supposed this was still part of the 'transition' period of newly married people. They had never really had much of an argument in the past, and certainly not over sex, jealousy, or anything similar. They never even had the awkward conversation about exes or previous experiences. He just hoped it wouldn't be like this every time they had an argument. Sometimes you just had to endure through the disagreements, no matter how uncomfortable they may get, especially if you're married. It's one thing to just be dating - you can end it if it gets too out of hand, but a marriage means you're in it for the long haul, through good and bad times.

As he entered the bedroom, he saw Jana laying on her side, facing the doorway. She was asleep, her light, long hair falling in waves over her face. Even unconscious, she was still so incredibly beautiful to him. Seeing her serene like this made him remember all the good times they had together, and how he had fallen so deeply in love with her. He remembered laughing with her, how she loved to be so close to him while they enjoyed each other's company, always touching him or just keeping him close. How she loved to snuggle up close to him as they watched movies, or the way she looked so radiant as she posed for a painting. She was perfect to him physically; the emotional side just had an occasional wrinkle.

As if sending him there, her eyes slowly opened, and she stared at him, her expression unreadable. After a few seconds, Jake noticed a tear rolling down her cheek. He immediately felt guilty, thinking it was probably his tirade the night before which caused her sadness.

"Jake, I-"

"No, Jana, don't say you're sorry. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I pretty much forced you away."

"I was going to say I'm sorry, but...not for leaving.." She stuttered through her sentence, obviously struggling with what she was trying to say. Jake suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of dread, like he knew he really didn't want to hear what she had to say next. His shoulders slumped, and he let out a exasperated sigh.

"Then...what are you sorry for?"

She looked down, unable to meet his gaze. "I'm thinking we might want to spend some time apart. I agonized about this all morning, after I found myself inexplicably drawn to Rob this morning, and after you basically told me you thought I enjoyed Rob more than you."

Jake's jaw dropped, and it was as if he just took a punch to the stomach. It felt as though the wind left his lungs in a sudden gasp, making it difficult to breathe. The worst case scenario had come to be.

"Jake, the truth is... I really did enjoy being with Rob, and I thought you enjoyed being with Ashley. But the truth is I think I enjoyed it more than I should have for being a married woman. And... I still find myself drawn to the idea of being with other people."

Jake finally found his voice, but found himself starting to shake. He knew their extramarital activities had caused some issues, but after her speech the previous night, he assumed they would always work things out.

"Jana, you told me last night that your heart always belongs to me. Was that just bullshit? Or were you just buttering me up because you didn't want me to think you wanted more from others? I let you fuck Rob, and at the first signs of a problem you're running away?!" His voice was starting to raise, but he immediately felt embarrassed. He really didn't want to air out these issues within hearing distance of Rob and Ashley.

"I meant what I said. This isn't about my heart; it's just physical. I don't want to feel these desires, and have it cause you any more pain than it already has. I love you."

"Could've fooled me."

The tears were flowing freely now. She was obviously conflicted, but it sounded like, in her mind, she thought she was saving him from grief.

Jake didn't know what to think. He was angry, he was sad; all he knew was that he needed to get out of there. Get as far away as possible. He had some money saved up - maybe a vacation was in order. He had been hoping to take Jana on a nice vacation, but that was furthest from his mind at the moment. And he needed to leave before he said anything else he would regret, so he turned around and walked out of the bedroom, leaving Jana sitting there, staring at his back.

He walked out to the living room and, without saying a word, walked right out the door. He heard Rob call out to him as he left, but he didn't stop. His heart was wounded and his mind could only focus on running away. He made it out to the car before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He didn't even flinch; instead, he just froze in place, completely numb.

"Jake, what happened?" Rob asked, obviously shocked by his quick departure.

"Rob, we're friends, right?"

"Of course! What is -"

"Just do me a favor, and don't fuck her anymore."

"What? I didn't -"

"I have to go." And with that, he slid into the driver's seat and pulled away, leaving a dumbfounded Rob standing in the street.

Jake's phone rang as he drove away, and he saw Ashley's name on the screen. Instead of picking it up, he just turned it off and tossed it behind him. When he arrived home, he quickly went about packing a suitcase, grabbing enough clothes for at least a few days. He grabbed toiletries and some light snacks, as well as his sketch pad and some other small art supplies. Within fifteen minutes, he was back in his car, leaving the house in his rear view mirror.

He didn't have a plan. He didn't want to go to his parents' house; if he did that he'd just get peppered with questions about what happened, and someone might try to contact him there. Instead, he got on the freeway and headed south to Portland. It was three and a half hours away but, in his mind, the further away the better.

Traffic was only dense in while passing through the major cities, and he was making good time. When he reached the Kelso area, he decided to stop for lunch. He saw a sign for Shari's, and pulled into the parking lot. Shari's was a decent restaurant chain, much like Denny's, except better in his opinion. He had good memories of Shari's - late night visits with friends, sipping coffee and eating a grilled cheese sandwich after a night of drinking, or just spending part of an afternoon socializing. It had been a long time since he'd seen a Shari's; most of them had closed down in his area, and now it seemed you could only find them in smaller cities, where they hadn't been pushed out of business by the other trendy restaurants taking over the food scene.

He sighed deeply, and got out of the car, making his way to the front door. He noticed a group of younger women going inside, talking and laughing amongst themselves, making their way inside the restaurant. One of them glanced back her way, then whispering in another's ear. The other woman looked back toward him and smiled. Even with the heartache fresh in his past, it felt good knowing he could still attract the attention of other women.

As he walked in the door, the group of women was already being lead away to a table by a waitress. The two women who had smiled at him were still taking quick glances back his direction, even as they walked away. Jake decided to sit up at the bar, and flagged down a waitress when she walked toward him.

"Can I get a coffee please?"

"Sure thing sweetie. You want cream and sugar?" She was an older woman, the gray hair starting to show around her roots. Still attractive though, he noticed, with a nice, trim body, and mostly blond, curly hair.

"Yes, please." Jake watched as she walked away toward the coffee pots, admiring her form.

He could hear the women he saw earlier chatting away and laughing over the din of the restaurant, but chose to ignore them for now. The waitress brought him his coffee, and set down small dishes of cream and a variety of sugars.

"Looks like you have some admirers, honey." The waitress motioned toward the women's table with a quick nod of her head. Jake gave her a slight smile and thanked her for the coffee, asking for a menu as well.

He was looking over his food choices when he felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw the two women who noticed him outside the restaurant standing behind him.

"Hi, I'm Kayla, and this is Sarah," the taller of the two said, pointing to her shorter friend. They were both attractive, probably in their younger twenties. Kayla had long, curly reddish hair, and Sarah had straight blonde hair. Both were in great shape from their appearance anyway, but while Kayla was tall with smaller breasts, Sarah was short with larger breasts. Jake laughed at himself inwardly, wondering why a man's first impression is almost always either the breasts or the ass. Kayla had a slim face, with a slightly upturned nose and bright green eyes, while Sarah had a rounder face with blue eyes. Both of them could probably get any man they wanted, he thought to himself.

"Hi, I'm Jake. Girl's day out?" He asked, nodding toward their table with the rest of the women. The other women weren't paying him much attention, obviously more focused on their own conversation.

"Something like that," Kayla replied, "our friend Tara - the one in the middle - recently got engaged, so we're all doing our due diligence, and trying to make sure she's ready."

Jake cringed, and Kayla must have noticed. She glanced down at his ring finger.

"Oh, you're married?"

"Recently separated, I think."

"You think?"

"Well, she just told me she wants to have sex with other people."

Kayla's eyes went wide at his admission, and Sarah's jaw dropped.

"Then you're perfect!" Kayla told him, and he cocked his head to the side, unsure of her meaning.

"Perfect for what?"

"To provide a viewpoint of the other side of the argument. Wanna join us?"

Just then, the waitress returned. "You know what you want, hon?"

Jake glanced back at her, and handed her the menu. "Grilled cheese, please. Can you bring it over to their table when it's done?" He pointed back over to Kayla and Sarah's table.

"Sure thing." She gave him a lopsided smile and walked away, menu in hand.

Jake got up and followed the two women back to their table.

"Ladies, this is Jake. He's married but separated, and I thought he might be able to talk some sense into Tara." Kayla told them. Tara's jaw went slack at Kayla's statement, and she glared back at her.

Jake's cheeks burned as he looked at Kayla. Before he could speak, Tara interjected.

"How is he supposed to give an unbiased viewpoint now that you've started our presenting it negatively?" She smirked at Kayla, and Jake relaxed a bit. At least it seemed the jab was all in good fun.

"Tara, is it?" Jake stuck his hand out, and she took it and shook lightly. "And you are?" He moved his hand to each of the other ladies in turn, introducing himself to Tara, Jeannie, and Lyla.

"So, Jake, what's your story?" Tara asked. It was an open-ended question, and Jake wasn't sure how much she actually wanted to know, but he stuck to the point the ladies were discussing.

"Well, I've been married for under a year, and we dated for about six months before that." He decided to get right into it, knowing it would probably feel good to air out his problems to someone, especially someone who didn't know him and wouldn't judge him based on previous knowledge of his character. "A week ago my wife surprised me with a threesome. Then I decided to return the favor, but there was some fallout."

"Did she leave you for the other guy?" Tara asked.

"Not exactly. But it opened her eyes, I guess you could say. She decided she wanted to have more experiences with other people."

There was a collective 'aww' around the table, all except for Tara. She seemed like the intuitive one.

"Let me guess, she found something in him she didn't find in you?" Tara asked bluntly.

Kayla shot daggers at Tara with her eyes. "Tara!"

"What? It sounded like that's what happened, that's all," Tara told her. "I just want to figure out what happened."

Jake shook his head. "It's alright, I don't mind," he told Kayla, "Tara's right."

Kayla pouted, as if she felt bad for him. She put her hand on his and squeezed. "I'm sorry, Jake."

He turned his hand over and squeezed in return. "It was at least partially my fault. I guess I should've stopped it from the get go. But if you ask most men, I think they'd say there's not much that could get in the way of the possibility of being with two women."

Suddenly, his grilled cheese sandwich was in front of him, and he jumped in his seat, not hearing the waitress coming up behind him.

"You're right about that, hon," the waitress said as she put his plate down and then walked off, and Jake felt his cheeks heat up again. The ladies at the table stared at the departing waitress with wide eyes, and then burst out laughing at Jake's embarrassed expression. Jake couldn't help but laugh with them.

Sarah finally spoke up. "So how'd it all go bad?"

Jake explained the emotional insecurity he felt, not in too much detail, and how Rob told him how he woke up with Jana trying to fellate him. He relayed his conversation with Matt, and how he planned to make amends with Jana, only to find out she didn't want to. The ladies groaned at this, obviously feeling bad for him at this point. Jake felt somewhat vindicated for how he felt, or at least felt he was not completely to blame.

The group ate lunch and chatted once their meals arrived, and Jake learned more about each of them. Tara was studying psychology at a university in Portland, and had been dating her fiancée for two years. It was apparent that her friends were not terribly fond of him, but Tara was obviously very much in love. Kayla was in school studying marine biology at the University of Washington. Sarah was a business major. Jeannie was undecided on her academic pursuits, and had a part time job at the local Home Depot. Lyla was taking art classes in Seattle, and was stripping to make ends meet. The five of them grew up in Kelso, and decided to meet up in their home town to discuss Tara's engagement.

"So, Tara," Jake decided to stir the pot a little, since that's what they came here to do anyway. "What is it about your fiancée that these women don't like, and why?"

Tara stared at him for a moment, as if deciding whether he should be included in this conversation. Jake felt like he was solidly neutral though, a stranger they'd probably never see again and, in the end, she must've felt the same way, because she indulged his curiosity.

"Gary works as a bouncer at a strip club. I met him through Lyla in Seattle, but then he moved south to be near me in Portland. I think my friends here don't like him for two reasons: because he stares at naked titties all day, and because being a bouncer isn't exactly an admirable academic pursuit. But he's a great guy, and he treats me right."

"Do you think the naked thing is any reason for concern?"

"No, I trust him."

"Do you know the girls at his club though? Do you trust them?"

"What are you getting at, Jake?"

Jake put his hands up in mock surrender. "Don't get me wrong, I don't know the guy, so I'm not judging here. But I do know how most men think. If there's pussy all around him - not meaning to be crude, ladies - there's more room for temptation."

Tara pauses for a second, but before she could answer, Lyla interjected. "Gary is good that way, Jake. I knew him for a while at the club even after he started dating Tara, and he never chased any of us. Some of the girls there even tried throwing themselves at him, and he never faltered."

"Well, that's admirable of him," Jake agreed, nodding his head, "that's one point in his favor. So the only major flaw is that he's not motivated to seek other professional ventures?"

"He wants to open his own club eventually," Tara told him, "and I support that."

"His own strip club?" Jake asked, and Tara nodded. "So he really does like the titties." He felt a kick on his shin. "Ow!"

Tara laughed, and put her hand on his. "Sorry Jake, but I'm open to the idea. It's all he's ever known professionally. So why not go with what's familiar?"

"What will you tell your future kids? Daddy works with naked women?"

Tara blushed at that. "Neither of us want kids."

"Oh. Okay." Jake couldn't think of any other reason to object. "So what do you ladies have against him then?"

"We just want her to be happy, and get married eventually," Kayla told him, " I think this proposal seems rushed. She's still in school, and Gary's the only guy she's been with."

"And that's a problem...why?" Jake asked her, but Kayla just shrugged. "You don't really have to play the field to know he's the one."

"Exactly." Tara glared at Kayla playfully. "Kayla just thinks I should get more experience before I commit."

Jake looked at Kayla, surprised. Maybe she was right - Tara might regret not experiencing more and, in this day and age, it was more of an old fashioned notion that you marry the first person you're with, but it still could happen...just not very often.

"He even gave her a free pass," Kayla admitted.

Jake had sipped on his coffee right before she spoke, and started to choke a little after she dropped that bomb.

"What?!" He finally spat out.

"Yeah, Tara nodded, "he told me I could fuck another guy if I wanted. I told him I don't need to."

"Why would be do that?" Jake asked, confused.

"He probably gets off on the idea," Kayla said with some venom, "like a cuckold type of thing."

"What the hell is a 'cuckold'?"

"It's basically a guy that derives pleasure from watching his wife or girlfriend get fucked," Tara told him, "but usually there's a degree of humiliation involved, like he's not good enough to please her or whatnot."

"And he wants to be humiliated?" Jake was flabbergasted. He couldn't comprehend wanting to be humiliated.

"Who, Gary?" Tara asked. "I don't know. I can't imagine why, if that was the case."

Jake just shook his head. This conversation just took a bizarre turn.

"Tara, maybe you should just fuck Jake," Jeannie said, and all heads whipped her direction. She hadn't spoken much the entire time, but she obviously knew how to make an impression.