Page 14 of His Best Friend's Wife
Summoning every bit of courage I could muster, I rang their doorbell. The formal ringtone bellowed, echoing through the vaulted ceilings of theirhouse.
Cassie answered, looking only mildly surprised to see me. "Oh, hi, Reed." She sounded friendly, but somewhat distant. Since she didn't appear to have been crying, I figured she hadn't told him yet. I was glad I was here to give her moral support and to help carry the heavy lifting of ourconfession.
It took a great deal of restraint not to pull her into my arms and reassure her that everything would be okay. That temptation was alleviated when she swung the huge cherry door open wide to reveal Dirk sitting on the enormous sectional in their open-concept livingroom.
"Oh, hey buddy," he yelled at me. "Come on in and watch the game with me." It was the kind of open invitation that wouldn't have been at all bizarre before last night, but now felt odd. "Cassie, bring him a beer," he ordered hiswife.
"Umm, I don't..." My words trailed off, but Dirk was too engrossed in the game to notice. Cassie had escaped to the kitchen––probably to get my beer. I followedher.
"Are you okay?" I spoke quietly, craving a private chat with her before we trampled Dirk'sheart.
“Yep, fine,” she respondedbreezily.
I gaped at her. She was acting like nothing had happened.Was this some form of crazy coping mechanism? Did she think if she acted like everything was normal that it wouldbe?
"Well, I wanted to be here when we told Dirk what happened. He's liable to go a little crazy at first." I had the feeling that last part might be the understatement of the year. Dirk did not like to lose. He wasn't used to losing, but when he did, it wasn'tpretty.
Cassie looked at me like I had grown two heads. "We're not telling him," she said matter-of-factly.
"We have to tell him," I hissed. This was worse than I could have imagined.She wanted us to go back to the way things were before?? No way in hell was I going to step aside and be her friend, while she remained married toDirk.
I knew that plan wouldn't be right for any of us. What was she thinking? We would all bemiserable.
"Cassie, last night was phenomenal," I started. Her cheeks turned a gorgeous shade of pink. It was the first time since my arrival that she had given any indication that she even remembered our lovemaking. "I can't just ignore that it happened and go back to the friendzone."
"You have to," she informedme.
"No," I spluttered. "I can't. I won't." Changing tactics, I reached for both her hands, touching her for the first time since our night of passion. "Last night meant the world to me. Please don't tell me it didn't matter to you." I was distantly aware that I sounded like I was pleading, but this was too important to let pride impede the outcome I wanted andneeded.
"Of course it mattered," she revealed, and I let out a shaky breath that I didn't realize I had been holding. I smiled when she added, "It mattered a lot more than I would have imagined itcould."
That sounded promising. "Then we have to tell him." I said it matter-of-factly because it was the only course of action that made anysense.
"No, that would ruin everything." She absently twirled a long, brown lock of hair around her finger. I recognized the habit as her go-to move for when she was lost inthought.
"Or set everything right," I countered, moving in close to her, still holding her hands. I heard her breath hitch at my nearness and knew that my feelings weren't completely one-sided.
Her breasts were brushing against my chest. My cock was straining towards her. "You feel that?" I placed our interlaced hands over my racing heart. Feeling brave, I moved our hands over to her chest. Pleased to find her heart thumping wildly as well, I said, "Our bodies are telling us how much wecare."
"No," she denied, "our bodies are telling us that we have lust for eachother."
"Last night was not about lust." She gave me a look that clearly said she was calling 'bullshit' on that last statement, so I amended it. "Okay, it was partially about lust, but it was mostly aboutlove."
Her eyes darted to mine in obvious surprise. "Yes," I confirmed. "I said love, and I meant it. I've always loved you Cassie––from the first moment I saw you." It felt good to finally have it out in the open. The tears glistening in her eyes let me know that she was moved by myadmission.
"Nonetheless," she started, and I suddenly hated that word, "I am a married woman, and we need to go back to the way thingswere."
I shook my head. "I can't go back. I can't pretend that last night didn't happen. Can you?" I felt so vulnerable waiting with bated breath for heranswer.
"We have to try," she responded, making me feel marginally better. Her words implied that it wouldn't be easy for hereither.
"No," I said adamantly. "We have to give ourselves a shot. You aren't happy with him," I gestured to the living room where Dirk was too engrossed in the game to notice that I was stealing hiswife.
"He's my husband," she shotback.
"That is easy enough to change," Icountered.
One of the tears that had pooled in her lower lids spilled over when she shook her head. "It's not that simple," she toldme.
