The Price is Always Right Pt. 03

James sipped his coffee as his students filled the classroom for the first hour of his Monday morning. The sound of their chattering interrupted his effort to grade papers. He stacked up the pile of papers and put them into the drawer of his desk, then set his cell phone on top of them before he closed it. The students were mostly in their seats now, but a few stragglers were still up and talking to their friends.

"Matthew! Take a seat please," he said loudly to get the attention of one of the particularly rambunctious students. As the last few students took their seats, he started to try to get things moving. "Everyone, pass up your homework to the front so I can collect it."

James stood up and moved from row to row as his students handed up their homework. He gathered stacks of papers from the students in the front and brought them back to his desk, thumbing through them to make sure that everyone had turned in what was due.

BUZZ. James felt the vibration of his phone from inside the drawer but he ignored it. He started going through the day's lesson with his class for the first twenty minutes before he gave them an assignment to work on by themselves. He walked around for a few minutes after that, taking the time to help a few individuals who needed one-on-one attention to grasp the concepts.

By the time he took his seat at his desk again, there were only a few minutes left before the bell to signal the change of classes.

BUZZ. He felt his phone vibrate again from inside the drawer. BUZZ. BUZZ. It was going off in rapid succession. He normally tried not to use his phone in class but who would be texting him this much? Was something wrong with one of his parents or with Sophie? He considered it for a moment. He better check just to make sure it wasn't anything serious.

James discretely opened his drawer and slipped his phone out to make sure that everything was okay. His students would never let him hear the end of it if they saw him using his phone during class considering how strict he was about them using them. He looked at the notification but didn't recognize the phone number that had sent the most recent text. His worry was replaced with a different emotion when he opened the conversation though. There was already a string of texts in the group conversation that he had been added to, which explained the number of messages he had received.

The name attached to the first message was the only one he had on his phone, and seeing it made his stomach flip over violently. Richard. He looked around the classroom to make sure that the students were completely engrossed in their work before he started reading through the messages.

"James, we enjoyed having you at the poker game the other day and would love to have you back at the next one. This is the group text where we organize the games." Richard's text said. The scenes from the poker game raced across his mind. Sophie in that emerald silk dress that hugged her body so tightly. The way the men watched her strut around in her lingerie. The way she had sat in their laps one after another and then... He pushed it out of his mind and focused on the messages in front of him.

The next message was from a number he didn't have, but thankfully, Clarence included his name. "Welcome, James! -- Clarence"

"To be more honest, we mostly just bullshit here," yet another number started, "This is Hank, by the way. Glad Richard added you to the group, James."

"Arthur here. Don't get too excited though. The games usually aren't that memorable," another number added.

"Yeah Saturday was one for the fucking books alright," Hank agreed.

"I certainly enjoyed my time -- Clarence," Clarence said.

"You don't have to add your fucking name every time, Clarence, we've been over this," read the next answer from Hank.

"Hey James, Cliff. Clarence, we all saw how much you enjoyed it, but I'd say you still didn't enjoy it as much as Ben, lol," another number said. That must mean that the only other number in the chat was Ben, or Mr. Miller, as Sophie called him the other night. That memory sent a shiver through him. He hoped that the man was discrete because it could blow up their social lives. Thankfully Richard had promised he would handle it and Ben had as much to lose, if not more, than Sophie did if his daughter Nora ever found out about what happened.

"Speaking of, Richard you need to do whatever it takes to get that girl back at our next game," Arthur said. James' breath caught in his throat.

That caught him up on the most current message as there wasn't any more to scroll through. "Shit," James said under his breath as he waited to see what would come next. He stared at his phone, waiting. He looked around to make sure that nobody was up to any mischief when his phone made the familiar BUZZ. He looked at the message that had come through.

"I'll have to text her and see if I can convince her," Richard said. James felt his heart beating faster. He knew it would come up again but he hadn't expected it so soon. He and Sophie had barely had time to process what happened Saturday night and now he's reading messages about trying to convince his wife to do it all again. No doubt the men hoped that next time there wouldn't be a sudden end to the evening before they had their fun. BUZZ -- another message.

"If she needs to be convinced then I better do it," Hank's message read, "I bet I can sweet-talk her in no time."

"You're such an overconfident cunt, Hank," Cliff said back to Hank a few moments later. James tried to think about what he could say to join the conversation but he was having trouble thinking straight while the men talked about Sophie.

"Hell, I'll text her right now," Hank insisted. "Send me her number." James froze as he read Hank's brazen request for his wife's number. Surely Richard would ask him before...

Before he had time to finish his thoughts, another message interrupted him. Richard had sent his wife's number to the entire group text. Shit. Fuck. FUCK, he thought. He had no idea if the men would really text her but Hank didn't seem to lack confidence. How would Sophie react to getting texts from these men in the light of day though?

"Shit," James said under his breath again, louder this time though. One of the students looked over at him and he gestured at them to continue working on the assignment. They seemed to know he wasn't in the mood because they went straight back to their paper without a word. The messages just kept rolling in.

"Speaking of Hell, you don't have a chance in it with her," Cliff said in a follow up message.

"A little southern charm can go a long way," Hank answered, adding a wink at the end of the text. James felt his mouth go dry at the idea of this man trying to seduce Sophie, and he struggled to determine whether it was anxiety or desire.

Richard answered next, "That girl doesn't care about your charm. She cares what's between your legs." James felt himself turn bright red as he sat in his classroom reading the improper messages about his wife and the implication that was being made.

RINGGGGGGG. The bell to signal the end of class startled James so badly that he nearly knocked his chair over. His students started packing up their bags and leaving the room as James flipped his phone over and tried to act as natural as possible, saying goodbye to a few of the students as they left for their second hour of the day.

When they had all funneled out of the class he flipped his phone back over and picked back up with the messages.

"Well if she's lucky I'll let her find out what's between my legs," Hank said. James felt his cock threatening to break through his zipper as he thought about Sophie with Hank. Frustratingly though, nobody engaged Hank again for a moment after that comment and the group fell silent for a few minutes as the next group of students filled the class. James reluctantly put his phone up in the drawer and focused on teaching another lesson, though admittedly he was so distracted that it wasn't his strongest work.

After stumbling through it for fifteen minutes, he couldn't take it any longer and decided just to put them in groups and set them loose. It saved him from having to work one-on-one with different students since they could help each other. As soon as he got back to his desk, he opened the drawer and took out his phone. His anticipation was overwhelming as he scrolled through a few new messages.

"Well? Is she drooling over it already?" Cliff had asked, challenging Hank to put up or shut up.

"Soon enough. Sweet talking her as we speak," Hank texted back. James was on the edge of his seat. Was that true? Was Hank texting Sophie at this exact moment? Should he text her? His mind was a blur as he tried to sort out what to do.

Minutes passed by and he decided he needed to text the group to act as normal as he could so they wouldn't think something was amiss. "Hey guys, thanks for including me. Looking forward to the next poker night." Generic, but he couldn't make himself think of anything to say about the Sophie situation. A few of them sent him replies and niceties in return but the conversation about Sophie had dropped off. James couldn't get it out of his mind though.

The rest of the day, he struggled to focus as he waited for any update from either Sophie or Hank but it was all silence. As soon as he finished teaching the lesson for the hour he would hurry back to desk to check his phone just to be disappointed each time. He considered texting Sophie a number of times but he held back, waiting to see if she would tell him that Hank had texted her.

By the end of the day he was barely holding it together, wondering what had happened. The fact that Hank hadn't sent them an update made him wonder if Sophie hadn't been open to his advances. But then why didn't she tell him that the man had texted her? Maybe Hank was bluffing and didn't text her at all. Maybe he didn't actually have the balls to back up all of his bravado.

When the final bell rang for the day, the students hurried out in the hallway, reenergized by their freedom. James frantically gathered the papers he needed to bring home to grade and put them in his briefcase before he locked up his room and power walked to the parking lot. He opened the passenger door and tossed his briefcase onto the seat - BUZZ.

He fumbled to get his phone out of his pocket as his mind raced, wondering who it would be from.

A message from Hank to the group text. The message he had been waiting for all day. He half ran around, throwing open the door and jumping into the driver's seat so he could read the message in a semblance of privacy. His fingers were trembling as he clicked on the message from Hank. It was a series of screenshots of a conversation.

James enlarged the first screenshot and noticed immediately that it was a conversation with "Sexy Blonde -- Poker Night". He skimmed it quickly, too eager to know what happened to take his time. The conversation started off straightforward enough with Hank introducing himself and telling her how much he enjoyed her company that weekend. Sophie's answers -- assuming it really was Sophie and not something he faked -- were short and a bit stilted at first. She thanked him when he told her she was gorgeous and she answered that she was at work when he asked what she was up to.

Cordial enough, but not really playing along with the subtle flirtations from the man. Not sure so far why the man would have bothered to send the screenshots.

James moved through a couple of pages of messages as Hank and his wife had apparently texted off and on throughout the day. Hank was persistent as he managed to keep the conversation going even when Sophie gave him little to nothing. Slowly, though, he noticed that Sophie seemed to be loosening up and giving him a little more as she started to make a little small talk. James had to admit the man had a certain charm which was helped by the fact that he had taken a gradual approach, treating Sophie like a lady despite the sordid way they met.

Finally, in the last screenshot, Hank offered a riskier message. It was from no more than a few minutes earlier.

"I apologize if it's a bit much, but I haven't been able to think of anything other than you for the last two days. I've been all over the world and I can't recall a woman that's captivated me more than you have," Hank told her.

"Is that so?" Sophie asked in response. It could be somewhat of a non-answer, he thought, but it also invited him to continue complimenting her, which could be the point. He felt like he was over analyzing it and read the next message.

Hank continued, "What would you say if I asked you to meet me for a drink this weekend? I'm out of town until Friday."

James felt his stomach drop and his cock grow two inches as he read his wife's response. "Let me think about it."

--------------------

James anxiously crossed the threshold of his own home, the anticipation of seeing his wife absolutely killing him. He had thought about her answer the entire drive home. He wavered back and forth on if she really was considering it or if she was just putting it off rather than saying no. He sat his briefcase down on the chair as he walked through the living room, looking down the hallway toward the bedroom to locate his wife.

At that moment the back door opened and Lucy bounded inside followed by Sophie. When he finished playing with the dog, Sophie gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She was wearing a pair of tight stylish black scrubs that accentuated her slender waist where they were tucked in. Her long blonde hair was up in a neat ponytail that fell down the middle of her back. The emerald color of her eyes popped and added a splash of color that caught your attention immediately. He tried to imagine her texting Hank looking like this.

"Hey," she greeted him cheerfully enough.

"How was your day, Soph?" he asked her, testing the waters.

"It was okay," she said without letting on anything as she opened the cabinet and took out a wine glass. He let that answer hang in the air as he thought about what to say next to try to direct the conversation. He didn't have to say anything for it to go exactly where he wanted it to go though.

"I got a text from Hank today," she said casually while she poured a glass of wine.

James did his best to play it cool as his pulse sped up. "Hank?" he feigned, not wanting her to have a hint that he already knew that Hank had messaged her. She might react poorly to him going all day without letting her know that the entire group text was talking about her. He also didn't want to let on because she hadn't told him about Hank earlier, even if she seemed to be working up to it now.

"From Saturday," she said. From Saturday. That's certainly the most innocent way to say it, he thought. 'The guy who groped me on Saturday at the poker game' would have been a more honest way to remind him.

"What? Really?" James asked with surprise, doing his best to keep up the act.

Sophie, to her credit didn't shy away from telling him the truth, "He asked me to get a drink with him this weekend." James could see his wife's nervousness as she told him about the man asking her out.

"Shit... I mean I guess it's not like he knows you're married," James said, thinking out loud.

"I'm not sure he would care, James," she said.

"Well, what did you say? Did you let him down easy?" he asked her. Sophie cringed for a second at the question and he felt a pang of guilt. He was leading her a little with the question since he already knew the answer.

"I told him I would think about it," she said. "I wasn't sure what you would want me to say." Sophie was looking at him intently now, her vibrant verdant eyes studying him.

"Me?" he asked, "I don't know. I wasn't expecting this so soon after Saturday," he admitted honestly.

"Me either. I guess Richard gave him my number. I don't know how else he would have gotten it," she said as she took a sip of the wine she had poured.

James poured himself a glass and followed her out onto the back porch. He sat in one of the rocking chairs a few feet from hers as they looked toward the back of the yard, enjoying the cool evening air. Silence fell between them as they sipped their wine for a couple of minutes until James finally broke it.

"Would you really go?" he asked his wife as he watched her.

"I would do anything for you, James," she told him quietly. He thought about that answer for a minute, choosing his words carefully.

"I don't want you to do it just because of me," he admitted. "I only want you to do it if you want to do it." It was true. As incredibly erotic as Saturday night had been, he didn't want Sophie to feel like he was pressuring her to do something she didn't want to do. He wanted them to be on the same page if they were going to go forward with anything like that again.

James knew that whether she admitted it or not, part of her loved it, craved it. He had seen how she reacted the first time with Richard and again with all of the different men a couple nights earlier. She had something inside of her that she was wrestling with but he wanted it to be her choice on what she did with it.

She studied him for a while. "Is it wrong that I kind of do?" his gorgeous young wife asked him softly. "I feel like such a whore every time I think about any of it. I could have put an end to it and I didn't. I just lose control and then I'm doing things that I can't even believe I'm doing," Sophie was pouring her innermost thoughts out to him, making herself completely vulnerable. He adored her and her trusting him with his made his heart swell and reassured him that everything would be okay.

"You're not a whore," he laughed, trying to reassure her. "If there's something wrong with one of us, it's me. I mean what kind of husband pushes their wife into the arms of another man? You said it yourself the other night. It would all be on me." He paused for a moment before going on. The silence hung in the air, but there was a comfort to it rather than tension. "I was thinking about it today and I wondered what the people we knew would think about us if they knew," he said as he looked out into the evening.

"They would say I'm a whore," she said with a laugh at the absurdity of it all. "And James, the other night... I wanted you to understand that I would have walked away if that's what you wanted. I could see how much you wanted to stay, to see what happened. I didn't want you to blame me for where it led."

"No, I know. I get that. And if they'd say you're a whore, then they'd say I was a terrible husband," he told her as he looked back at her.

She gave him a sad look. "You're definitely not that," she said as she put a hand on his arm to make sure he knew she meant it.

"I love you so much, Sophie. It's just... It's like an addiction," he said.

"Really?" she asked as she studied him. "Explain it to me."

"Ever since Richard started hitting on you, it's been there in the back of my mind, something that I couldn't shake..." he started.

"Wait, when he started hitting on me?" she asked him. "Like you were thinking about it before I even went to the party with him?" Shit he actually hadn't even meant to admit to that, but obviously she would have thought that it started when he watched them together. He momentarily considered trying to backtrack but he knew he needed to continue with the unabridged honesty.

"Y-yeah," his voice cracked, "It was like something that would force itself into my mind even when I tried to forget about it. At first, I hated how much it turned me on, thinking about men hitting on you. Especially a man who shouldn't have any chance with you. When he asked you out I thought I could just have a little. A taste of it without anything more happening. But I guess, like any addiction, once I had a taste of it, I couldn't say no. I saw you with him after the party and when he offered money it was... like an excuse." He knew he was telling her everything but he owed it to her and she seemed to be doing her best to understand.