Marriage Shuffle

Rachel and I had been married for four years before we moved from Illinois to Virginia. We were college sweethearts for two years, seemed compatible in every way – including sexually – and got married several months after we graduated. We're fairly normal looking people, although both in much better physical shape than the average American, even the average one our age. I'm a 5'11", 180 pound blonde (dirty blonde – the color, not how sanitary it is), Rachel is a 5'5", 120 pound brunette.

Rachel is pretty laid back; although I don't think that she's smarter than I am (at least not by much) she is more intellectual. I'm fairly aggressive in most things that I do, including when I used to play lacrosse and wrestle, and now in business. I'm a fairly clueless and transparent whereas Rachel is extraordinarily perceptive and enigmatic.

Some of the first people that we met when we moved to Virginia were Rick and Tanya. They were quite a pair – seemingly not well suited for each other, but both with highly likable and idiosyncratic personalities. They lived only a few houses down in the same starter-home development that we did. Rick was the same age as Rachel and I, while Tanya was a year younger. They had also met in college.

For all practical purposes Rick was exactly my size, and even had the same dirty blonde hair color. After we had known Rick and Tanya only a couple of weeks while they were sitting by the community pool and we all had sunglasses on several times Tanya called me "Rick" and Rachel called Rick "Bob." I gave her shit about that since she prides herself on how perceptive she is, but when they took photos of us from the back with the same pose and with the same color towel wrapped around our waist, even Rick and I couldn't tell who was who.

Tanya was never mistaken for Rachel. Tanya is about 5'1" tall, probably 110 pounds. She probably would weigh only 100 except that her tits are way oversized for a woman her body type. She has natural "ruby red" hair (the color that Carrie Preston, of True Blood, The Good Wife, and Crowded fame, dies her blonde hair) and her personality is as fiery as her hair color. While Rick is one of the few people I know more laid back than (and as intellectual as) Rachel, Tanya is as aggressive as they come – while still being fun to be around.

After we had known Rick and Tanya for about two months another couple that we immediately liked moved into our neighborhood about a block away. Larry and Brenda were both a year older than me and Rachel but had been married a year less than we had. Larry is easy to describe – Brenda hard.

Larry looks like a classic ex-football player; which is what he is. He's probably 6'4" tall, 250 pounds with very little fat, and has physical strength even out of proportion to his size. While not really handsome he has what I'm sure most women would consider an attractive look and manner, and he holds himself with a real air of confidence. While being as funny and pleasant as they come, he has a real competitive streak and with the exception of Tanya is more aggressive than anyone else Rachel or I have ever met since college.

Brenda is – I know of no other way to describe her – sultry. She doesn't put on airs, doesn't strike sexy poses or wear provocative clothes, and she wouldn't win a beauty contest; however, there is something about her that knocked my socks off the first time that I met her. Maybe it's her penetrating intense blue eyes, which to me are indistinguishable from Olivia Wilde's. She's probably about 5'9" tall (she says that she's 5'8" but when she has three inch heels on, and I have a classic man's one inch heel, she's exactly the same height that I am) and thin, probably only 125 pounds. She is a brunette with natural subtle red highlights.

As young marrieds with fun outlooks on life, the six of us easily made friends with almost everyone that we came into contact with, but – despite our diverse personalities – especially with each other. We interfaced with each other one way or another almost every weekend and sometimes during the week too. This is despite the fact that shortly after they met Tanya and Larry seemed to develop a love-hate relationship. Maybe it was because they both were so aggressive, maybe because their size discrepancy was laughably dramatic, maybe it was something from their past, but the other four of us – even perceptive Rachel – couldn't quite figure it out.

There were some dramatic examples of the seemingly bi-polar (maybe "yo-yo" is a better term) interactions between Larry and Tanya. Once time when Tanya was giving Larry unmitigated shit at a pool party because he could barely swim a lap ("Too much muscle" was his excuse, obviously made in jest but probably some truth to it), he picked Tanya up like she weighed nothing, turned her over, and gave her two quick swats on her ass. She seemed to be mortified and immediately exited the immediate area. It turned out to be an act.

As Larry was talking to several other people near the edge of the pool with his back turned to Tanya, she snuck up on him, poured a bucket of ice – with just enough water to make it penetrate – down the back of his trunks, and as he was hopping around trying to dislodge the ice without exposing his privates she hit him like a linebacker would a running back and knocked him flat into the pool, to the hilarious laughter of all around.

After the six of us had been interacting for about a year, having more fun than we had had in college as long as we could prevent Tanya and Larry from pranking – or at least killing – each other, I started having some strange feelings. As I said, clearly NOT the most perceptive person in the world, but the strange feelings were at least in part fueled by a change in the way Brenda reacted to me.

As previously indicated, when I first met Brenda she knocked my socks off – and my reaction changed little from the first one every time that I saw her. However, I was happily married to Rachel, Brenda appeared happily married to Larry, I hated cheaters, and our group dynamic didn't lend itself to anything more than friendly interaction. However, I swear that her greeting and parting hugs were getting a little longer and more intense, that she solicited my opinion more often than previously, and whe was more appreciative of little things that I did for her – which I had done constantly for her, Rachel and Tanya over the entire lengths of our relationships.

I started to enjoy Brenda's company more and more.

It was almost exactly fourteen months since I met Brenda (and Larry) when I organized a combination treasure hunt, scavenger hunt, and immersive team building event. We had four teams of four. When making up the teams I discussed them with Rachel to make sure that she felt like I did, namely that we wanted two people from our group on each of three teams.

"How about if you and Rick are on one of the teams, Brenda and me on another, and Larry and Tanya on a third?" I asked Rachel, without making eye contact, as one night I played with the list of the sixteen participants.

"You little devil," she chuckled. "By putting Larry and Tanya together you're trying to be sure that both your team and mine will at least not come in last; let's hope that they don't kill each other or alienate their other team members."

"So you figured it out, huh?" I snickered.

"Hard not to," she laughed.

The event was designed to require each team of four to transport themselves around an area of about twenty miles in diameter, centered at our housing development. People would have to solve clues, fill out a sheet that required information that could only be obtained at various locations, retrieve some objects, and complete some tasks. I had paid an organization to execute the details, after I gave them the general parameters, so I didn't have an advantage over the other participants. I actually had a legitimate prize for the winners, a reunion dinner for the four teammates that won at one of the nicest restaurants in the area. I was planning on winning and using that as an excuse to go out with Brenda – and two other teammates – sans spouses.

Both the contest helpers and I believed that the fastest possible time for completion would be about four hours, and every team had to report to the finish line (restaurant) within six hours from the start whether or not it had compiled all of the information or completed all of the tasks.

I drove with Brenda riding shotgun for our team. Brenda had a map, our two teammates in the back seat had the clues and game sheets to be filled out, and we took off from the start in a hurry on a beautiful sunny spring day with the temperature in the 70s. Brenda and I gave each other knowing looks and laughed as Larry and Tanya were already arguing about which vehicle to use before their team even got started.

To make a long story short, we had a blast. More important to me than even the fun of the contest was almost five hours of interaction with Brenda, which included some significant body contact, and one particularly desirable task when she and I had to do something together in a lake with our bathing suits on.

Did I mention that in a bikini Brenda looked hotter than a Carolina Reaper pepper?

Our team was smug when we pulled up to the finish line four hours and fifty two minutes after we started, confident that we were in first place. I'll have to admit that we were surprised, and more than somewhat deflated, when we walked into the restaurant where the finish line was and found my contact with the contest helpers chatting with Larry and Tanya's team as they drank beers.

"When did you guys get here?" I inquired.

Tanya looked at her watch and then giggled "twenty nine minutes ago, although if we had to rely on Larry it wouldn't be for another hour from now."

"What do you mean, little firecracker," Larry bellowed. "I was the star of the team, wasn't I?" he continued, looking in the direction of Mac and Cheryl, their two teammates.

"I'm not getting between you two," Cheryl laughed as she took another swig of her beer, while Mac just smiled and shook his head.

After we were further surprised that the Larry-Tanya team had filled out all of the contest sheets correctly, so that there was no doubt that they were the winners, and after the Bob-Brenda team had gotten our own beers, I subtly approached Mac and Cheryl.

"So, did you have a good time?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Actually it was a real hoot," Mac replied. "Thanks so much for organizing this. We had a great time both participating in the event and refereeing Larry and Tanya."

"Especially refereeing Larry and Tanya," Cheryl giggled. "There were several times that I thought that they would kill each other, but every time that Mac and I had to choose which of the divergent paths that Larry and Tanya were proposing we seemed to pick the right one. And boy, do they have quick minds."

"While they probably wouldn't last a week in business with each other, if they did they'd make millions," Mac chimed in.

Another team arrived about twenty minutes after Brenda's team, while the team with Rick and Rachel moseyed in right at the six hour mark, with one task remaining. They were unconcerned, however, said that they too had a great time, and everyone was joyous at the dinner.

When I handed the Larry-Tanya team their dinner-for-four certificate of course Larry and Tanya had to spar over who would be in charge of setting up their dinner and holding on to the certificate, with the audience laughingly shouting them down so that Cheryl eventually ended up with the certificate and instructions to organize the dinner.

****************

I had a very big problem after our fun treasure & scavenger hunt/team building event. I had really bonded with Brenda.

After the event both Rachel and I were exhausted but – to my surprise – she wasn't adverse to some carnal recreation that night despite her fatigue, and in fact was a very active participant.

When we got home I virtually ripped Rachel's clothes off as she giggled, and then helped me remove mine. We showered together for the first time in months to wash the grime off of us, but ended up playing "drop-the-soap" and "what's that thing at your crotch" more than actually scrubbing each other.

We were still partially wet – with water, and Rachel with something else – when we exited the bathroom in a tight embrace and fell onto our bed. I ate Rachel to two intense orgasms, the second preceded by her sucking my cock until her orgasm hit, before we copulated. Rachel mounted me – a relatively rare event since we usually do doggy, or me on top – and we proceeded to pound each other into sexual oblivion. As Rachel's pussy clamped onto my cock and I started spewing cum into it I had a massive orgasm. One reason that it was so massive was that I was imaging that I was fucking Brenda – but that had me feeling guilty when Rachel snuggled up to me with her head on my shoulder during our post-coital bliss.

My pre-occupation with Brenda, and the associated guilt, increased over the ensuing months, sometimes almost exponentially. I went to lunch with Brenda four times over a one month period, two of the lunches picnic versions in a park with a lake. She and I talked over the phone regularly, and were always sure to pair up at least for a while during the weekly times that we three best-friend couples got together.

The Thursday night that the Larry-Tanya team that won our multi-task event had their first prize dinner together, Rachel happened to be out of town. I called up Brenda and asked if she wanted to go to dinner too. The restaurant we wanted to go to ended up being too busy, with a long wait since we didn't have reservations, but it was near a nightclub. We got a quick meal at an all-night deli and then went dancing at the night club.

The dancing was great – except for the three slow dances. While we were a little tentative during the first one, by the third one I had a raging hard-on and Brenda had her right leg between mine with her thigh unmistakably pressing on my cock and almost causing me to spontaneously ejaculate in my pants.

We were so engrossed in each other that the time slipped away and we suddenly realized that we'd have to hot-foot it back to Brenda's house if she wanted to get home before Larry. When we pulled into her driveway at 11:24, there was yet no sign of Larry, causing us to breathe a sigh of relief.

Brenda planted a quick, but zealous, kiss on my lips as she said "Thanks for a great time," and her hand inadvertently – I think that it was inadvertently – stroked my crotch, just before she quickly exited my car and disappeared into her house.

I spanked the monkey but good in the shower that night, thinking only of Brenda and her delicious thighs and sultry manner. Sleep did not come easy, although guilt did. "What the fuck is happening to me?" I inquired. I can't say that I consciously thought of divorcing Rachel, or having an affair with Brenda, or ultimately marrying Brenda, but later events lead me to believe that all three scenarios were playing out in my sub-conscious.

"Am I really in love with Brenda, or just infatuated with her? Am I still as much in love with Rachel as when we got married? How disastrous would breakups of my and Brenda's marriages be?" I asked myself.

I had no answers.

When the six of us got together for a cookout that weekend, Brenda and I seemed to bump into each other on occasion – and not because we're clumsy – but we tried to avoid one-on-one situations. I hoped that I wasn't obvious in ogling her.

**************

The Wednesday after the night that Brenda and I went to the nightclub she called me at my office. After just a perfunctory greeting she got right to the point.

"Bob; I really think that we need to have a personal conversation. Can we meet for lunch?"

"Uh...sure, Brenda. Where do you have in mind?"

"Let's go to the park where we've picnicked before. I'll pick up some sandwiches at the deli in my building. What would you like?"

"Salami and Swiss on rye with just a smidge of mayo, a pickle, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water, Brenda."

"Got it. See you about 12:15 Bob."

At 12:16 we hugged, got a seat by ourselves on a bench, divided up the food, chatted about things in general as we ate, and once I had either disposed of or recycled what remained after we ate, Brenda got to the point.

"I need to know what you're thinking, Bob. I've been experiencing feelings that I'm having great difficulty suppressing; and I don't know how much longer that I can. Unless you're the most clueless guy in history you have to know that I've become very attracted to you."

I just stared blankly at Brenda for probably a solid minute. "What are you feeling?" she finally asked just to knock me out of my trance.

Suddenly all of the angst, uncertainty, and ambivalence of the last year or so dissolved into clarity. "I love you!" I blurted out without thinking – but it was from the heart.

Brenda burst into tears and threw herself on me. I stroked her hair with one hand and held her tight with the other until she calmed down.

"Sorry," she said, wiping the running mascara from her enchanting "Olivia Wilde" eyes with a hankie that I handed her. "I hoped that that was true; unfortunately that makes things very complicated."

"I was thinking the same thing," I replied, rubbing one of her shoulders and holding the hand that wasn't attending to her leaking mascara.

"I don't want to cheat – in fact I can't cheat – physically, that is," she said, deeply gazing into my eyes. "I can't help it that I fell in love with you; I didn't want to, and there is nothing deficient about Larry. I guess that means that emotionally I've already cheated, but the physical kind would hurt others so much more."

"I feel the same way about it," I responded after a pause. "I don't want to hurt Rachel or Larry; but I'm not sure that I can interact with you anymore without being ripped apart inside – unless we're together in every way, including physically."

We talked for another twenty minutes. Finally Brenda summed up the situation. "Now that we're sure of each other's feelings, why don't we think about things for a week or two – including feeling out our spouses if we can do that subtly, and then meet again? I don't want to actually do what my heart wants me to do without thinking about it more."

We kissed – quickly but fervently – and then went back to our offices; like we really could get some work done the rest of the afternoon.

**************

My mind was in turmoil the rest of the day, including when I went home. Rachel and I hugged, as usual, when I got home, had a discussion about dinner, and we both set about preparing part of our meal. By the time that we sat down to eat I do believe that I had regained my composure, and we actually had a lively dinner conversation, although a little more intellectual than I was prepared for.

I thought about Brenda on-and-off Thursday and Friday, and saw her at a community pool party Saturday afternoon and evening which Rick, Tanya, and Larry attended along with Rachel, Brenda and I – and about fifty other people. Brenda and I tried not to be alone together during the party, but exchanged many furtive longing looks. That night resulted in another uber-zealous sex session with Rachel with me thinking about Brenda; and again I was wracked with guilt but this time in the morning since we had rendered each other comatose with the intensity of our orgasms in the evening.

Sunday night, things changed dramatically. Just as we were getting ready to go to our bedroom to turn in Rachel stopped me. "Let's sit on the couch a second," she said. I wasn't really prepared for what she said once my ass hit the cushions.