* * * Now * * *
Dusk was approaching, and I was sitting on the end of the dock, alone. I was hopeless as a host. Everything I did turned out wrong. I tried to fit in, joke, act like everyone else. I always screwed it up. I wonder how many friends I’d have if not for Sue.
Marie came down and sat next to me, quiet, sipping a wine cooler.
“You know something, don’t you?”
Know? What? Hell, I didn’t know anything. Not even how to host a party. I didn’t answer.
She looked back over her shoulder, and I followed her gaze. My wife and the two husbands seemed to be arguing.
“She loves you, you know. It’s not too late.”
“Too late?”
She looked at me, and I saw her eyes were moist. “Don’t Trey. Please. You’ve done enough. It’s stopped. I’m certain it never really went anywhere. They were stupid, but you have to forgive them.”
“Forgive them?” I asked her, wondering what the hell there was to forgive. If anything, I should be asking their forgiveness, screwing up another party.
“Please? For me? You’re a better man than this. You have to stop torturing them. You’ve made your point.” She grabbed my hand, clutching it tightly. “I love him. He’s an idiot, but he’s my idiot, and I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
“Lot of idiots around,” I muttered. Count me among them.
“I know. I’m so sorry. I suspected, but you, you knew. It was obvious. God, how stupid could they be!” she snapped. “Everyone knows you’re the last person in the world to screw around with.”
I sighed. Right. “Everyone knows,” I laughed.
She grabbed my face, and looked into my eyes. “No. Nobody does. It’s our secret. You stopped it. Now you have to let it go. Please, I’m begging you, Trey. Let it slide this one time. For me. For all of us. She’s learned her lesson, they all have. They screw up again, I’ll help you bury the bodies. Please? Can it end?”
Hell if I could figure out what the hell she was all worked up about. I hated to see her like that. I hated to see any woman upset. It was a weakness of mine.
“Sure. For you, Marie,” I told her.
She burst into tears, hugging me, her arms like steel bands. I tried to calm her, stroking her hair. “I’m sorry,” I said. Dad had taught me that much. With any crying woman, 90% of the time ‘sorry’ was a great start.
She pulled away, and I felt her lips press against mine, briefly. “God, we don’t deserve you. None of us. Don’t ever apologize to me, Mystery.”
I chuckled. “I don’t deserve you.”
She tried to smile, but I saw the corners of her mouth twitching. “Don’t cry, beautiful. It breaks my heart.”
She looked back at the rest of the party, and I saw that we were being watched. “Time to go back, I think. Don’t need any tongues wagging,” I said.
She laughed, and took my hand when I offered to help her up.
“It’s over?”
“Yeah,” I said. It was getting late. Still had a lot of cleaning up to do.
“Thank you. I… I’ll make it up to you someday. I swear.”
“Fine, next time you bring those crab cakes of yours.”
She laughed, and it sounded almost hysterical. “I’ve got an idiot to take home and straighten out. Don’t be too hard on Sue. She really does love you.”
“I love her.”
“I know. Everyone knows. Otherwise, I imagine our parties would be half the size in the future, wouldn’t they?”
Hell, if I didn’t have Sue, there would be no parties. I said as much.
She let go of my hand as we approached the deck. I hadn’t even realized she was holding it. Marie walked up to her husband, and slapped him. Hard. He didn’t say anything, just lowered his head.
“You got a fuckin’ reprieve, you asshole. All three of you. There better be no next time, or I’ll be the one pulling the God-damn trigger! You understand?” she shrieked.
I saw his face turn red, and he nodded slowly.
She kicked him in the leg. “God damn it! Fucking man-up and apologize, you piece of shit!”
“I’m sorry, baby. It’s not what you think,” he whispered.
“Not to me you idiot!” she screamed.
She was scaring me, I’d never seen her like that. I was glad I was married to Sue, she never went off like that. I looked over at my wife, and she bowed her head. She got up and walked over to me, clinging to my arm like that first date. She lowered her head and pressed it against me.
Mark spoke up. “I… I’m sorry, Trey. I swear, it never went anywhere.” He looked down at Sue. “You too, Sue. I never meant…”
“Just leave,” she said softly. “Please.”
He nodded, and turned away. Marie walked over and gave me a hug. “Thank you.” She grabbed Sue’s chin, and lifted her face. “You and me. We’ll talk later. You should thank your ever-loving lucky stars, you know.”
Sue nodded. “I know.”
Annie appeared as confused as me. Dale? Well he looked like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Marie stared at him. “What the fuck are you waiting for, dipshit? An engraved invitation?”
He shook his head nervously, and approached us slowly. He moved like his feet were made of lead. Dale was a tall guy, good 6’3″, towering over my 5’9″. He stopped a couple of feet away.
“Sorry, man. It was stupid, we know. Nothing happened, it was just talk that got carried away. If… if you can let this go, I swear to God, you’ll never have to worry about anything like it again. I swear.” He was shaking. “Please, man. Whatever you need to do, I understand. But I got a wife and kids. They didn’t do nothing.”
I looked over at Annie. Damn near as good-looking as Sue. I tried to make light of the awkward situation. “Gorgeous wife,” I said, giving Annie a wink.
“God, don’t you think I know it? I must have been fucking insane, to get involved.” He was babbling, and I let him chatter, until he stopped, staring at me. “Is that the cost? My Annie?”
I felt Sue’s hands gripping into my arm.
“How about next time, I provide the meat, and Annie provides dessert?”
He glanced back and forth between his wife and me. “My A-a-annie’s dessert?” he whined.
He was acting weird. “Yeah. Make sure she brings over that amazing marble cake of hers. We’ll call it even.” At least. Best cake I ever ate. The girl was a genius when it came to baking.
Dale’s eyes opened wide. I stepped back involuntarily, when he dropped to his knees, holding his face in his hands. “You’re not fucking with me, are you, Mystery? Please, please tell me, you’re not. It’s over?”
“Yeah, getting late,” I said, feeling distinctly awkward.
He looked up, and I saw tears on his face. I turned away so he wouldn’t have to suffer the embarrassment.
“Sorry, Sue. So, so, damn sorry,” he mumbled, standing.
I looked back, and Annie was standing beside him. “C’mon,” she said. “You’re going to have to explain to me what the fuck is going on.”
She came over and gave me a hug. That’s one of the things I really liked about Annie. Always got a nice hug, both arriving and leaving. “You always have the most interesting parties, Trey,” she said, kissing my cheek.
She gave Sue a hug. “Give me a call?”
Sue nodded.
As they left, Sue turned and hugged me. “God, I don’t deserve you. Forgive me for being a fucking moron?”
“If you’ll forgive me for messing up another party,” I said, holding her.
She looked up at me. “Only you, Trey. I swear. I’ve been with nobody but you since we met, and I’ll never even look at another man. You have to believe me. They never really stood a chance.”
I lifted her and gave her a bear hug. “Of course I believe you. I love you, silly girl.”
She grinned, and kissed me. “You know, I’m going to fuck your brains out tonight. Tonight, tomorrow, and every single day for the rest of our lives.”
“Leave a little brains, Ok? I don’t have that much to spare.”
She laughed, squirming out of my arms, and tugging down my shorts, right there on the porch, in the fading light of day. “Alright. Just a little. You ready for me, Mystery Man?”
“Always. I can’t imagine my life without you.”
She stopped, looking up at me nervously. “I swear, I’ll never give you cause to worry about that again.”
As her mouth engulfed my cock, I reached down and brushed her hair back to see her beautiful face. Damn, she was good at that.