Mark

I rearranged my schedule to take a long lunch at the end of the week, planning on swinging by my girlfriend Sam’s place for a quickie. I’d been busy at work on top of needing to be extra cautious at home with my wife, Heather, so it had been a while since I had time to see Sam. 

She’d been understanding about all of it, but I could tell she was getting frustrated with me. I had a feeling she was holding back from sharing some details about her most recent hookup with her neighbor, Chris, until I would make time to see her. I didn’t blame her, and I was definitely missing my time with her, too. 

So when I arrived at Sam’s, we got right into it, making up for lost time by kissing and groping in the apartment doorway, up against the frame. Clothes flew off on our way to her bedroom. But I pushed Sam back onto the bed before she could get into my pants to free my hard cock. 

“Tell me what happened with Chris,” I demanded, stripping off her leggings roughly. 

Sam smiled up at me, moaning breathlessly. “He pushed me to my knees to suck his cock right out there in the hallway. And he pushed me back until my head was against the wall and fucked my face.” 

My cock throbbed in my pants. “I bet you loved that.” 

“I did,” she confirmed, her smile growing. “I was touching myself and made myself cum while I sucked him.” 

“Good girl,” I groaned, leaning over her with one knee on the bed.

I brushed my fingers lightly over her pussy to tease her through her underwear and watched as her body writhed beneath me. “Did he cum inside your slutty mouth?” 

“No,” Sam said, blushing. 

I waited for her to say more, but she didn’t. 

“In your pussy?” I guessed next.

She bit her lip, shaking her head and moaning as I pressed my fingers in deeper. 

“Tell me where.” 

“He came all over my face,” she admitted. And I felt her clench around my fingers as she said it. 

I groaned, tugging her underwear to the side so roughly that I heard a tear. “There must’ve been a lot.” 

“Yess,” Sam moaned, arching into me. “It went everywhere. All over my face, in my eyes, up my nose, in my hair.” 

I couldn’t resist freeing my cock and tugging Sam to the edge of the bed by her hips, roughly. Then I sunk straight into her with a groan. The mental image of Chris cumming all over Sam nearly made me lose control right away, and I had to hold still for a moment as her tight, wet pussy gripped my cock and held me deep inside.

She cupped my face with both hands, and I stared down into her eyes, shivering and grinding into her. 

“I missed feeling you inside me like this,” she breathed, smiling up at me. 

“Ditto,” I responded, smirking and groaning, closing my eyes and pressing myself deeper.

Sam laughed and slid her hands down over my shoulders and chest before wrapping her arms around me, then running her fingernails lightly up and down my back.  

“I want a video next time,” I told her, thrusting faster and deeper, rotating my hips so that my cock rubbed against her g spot with each thrust. “Of your face getting covered with his cum.” 

“Oh god!” Sam yelled, wrapping her legs around me and pinning me to her, so that my pelvis would grind against her clit, too. “I want you to see it. And I want your cum on my face, too.”

“Such a dirty slut,” I groaned, holding deep inside her and grinding harder. 

“I am a dirty slut. Molly was here the whole time with Josh, too. They heard me with Chris. And when we were all talking afterward, she saw that I still had some of his cum in my hair.”

I smirked down at her, still rotating my hips and grinding my cock inside her. “Were Molly and Josh fucking too, while they listened to you with Chris?” 

“Yes. I heard them, too, at a few points. I was pretty distracted by how hard Chris was fucking me, though.”

“Were you really loud?” I asked, thrusting harder suddenly, causing Sam to yell out. 

“Yess!” she moaned.

I didn’t let up, thrusting faster and harder. “You put on a good show for your roommate. And Chris’ roommate.” 

“Yes!” Sam gasped, clenching around me and arching her back. 

“They heard how loud you get for him,” I groaned. “How much you love taking his big cock.”  

“Oh fuck, Mark, I’m gonna cum! That feels so fucking good!” 

I didn’t hold back, grunting and thrusting, knowing I was about to cum fast inside her pussy. “Have you missed being my slut?” 

“Oh fuck! Yess, I’ve missed it so much!”

“You’ve missed cumming for me?”

“Yess! I’m gonna cum!”

“Cum for me. Show me. Prove you’re my slut. Cum all over my cock, Sam!” 

She yelled out, and her back arched as I felt a sudden gush of warm wetness. Her legs and pussy clamped down around me, milking every drop of cum from my cock.

We kept moaning and grinding together, so much wetness flowing between us. 

“Good girl,” I panted, smiling down at her as she kept clenching and releasing around my cock through the aftershocks of her orgasm. 

Sam smiled up at me, running her hands up and down my back and moaning as her eyelids fluttered. “That felt so fucking good.”

“Mmm hmm,” I groaned in agreement as I leaned down to kiss her. “I’ve been wanting that all week.”

“Me too,” she agreed, squeezing around me again, affectionately. 

Then I glimpsed the time on her bedside clock. “Fuck, I better go. I need to be back at work by 1:00 to lead a meeting.” 

I gently extracted myself from Sam’s embrace, pulling her legs from around my waist and letting my softening cock slip from her pussy as I crawled back off of the bed. 

Sam didn’t say anything right away, but I noticed her disappointed expression as I got dressed. 

“I’m sorry for rushing out. I wasn’t sure if I should come, but I just really wanted to see you and I wasn’t sure I’d have another chance for a few days.” 

“It’s fine,” she said, smiling weakly. “I appreciate you using your lunch time to come.” 

“And to make you cum,” I smirked, unable to resist the pun. 

That got a little laugh out of her. “I’ll see you at swim lessons tomorrow, at least. Right?” 

“Yes,” I confirmed. 

Then I remembered something I’d talked about with my wife but hadn’t run by Sam yet. 

“Oh, and Heather might ask you about babysitting for the kids sometime. I think you should do it,” I said with a wink.

Sam’s eyebrows raised, and she looked a little incredulous. “You want me to babysit your kids? Like… in your house?”

“Could be some fun opportunities there, don’t you think?” I asked, noticing a slow smirk teasing the corner of her lips. 

“Maybe,” she admitted. “What did you have in mind?”

“I was thinking you could invite Chris over after the kids are asleep. Then Heather and I could come home to find you fucking and watch again. And hopefully, next time, I’ll be able to convince her to go in and interrupt or join you while I watch. She got really turned on watching Chris fuck you at the fundraiser. She said he reminded her of a guy she had a crush on in college. We’ve been talking more about it, and role-playing about another guy fucking her.”

Then I looked up and noticed that Sam’s smile had faded. 

“What is it?” I asked. 

“I wouldn’t be comfortable with anything happening between me and your wife,” Sam answered, looking away as she got up to pull on her robe.

“That’s fine,” I smiled. “It might just be a fantasy, but I’m hoping we’re building up to trying something like that.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that would be a lot of fun for you,” she said coldly. 

I could tell something I’d said had upset her, but I really had to go, and didn’t have time to talk it through at the moment. 

“You can think about it. And we can talk more about it later. I just wanted to let you know so you wouldn’t be surprised if she asks at swim lessons tomorrow.”

I finished re-buckling my belt and picked up my keys from the floor. Then I moved to kiss Sam before heading out. “I have to go. I’ll text you later, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” she answered, with a small smile.  

Sam

Sure enough, Heather came up to ask me about babysitting after swim lessons the next day. 

I was still feeling pretty resentful about how Mark had proposed the idea, so part of me wanted to just blow them off and say no to the whole thing. I’d been expecting that he might have naughty ideas about sneaking around with me behind his wife’s back in their own home, or having me masturbate in different places while they were out, or something along those lines. Instead, it felt like the idea was centered around Heather, and Mark might as well just be using me to make his wife’s fantasy come true.

In the end, I agreed vaguely without committing to a specific date or time to babysit. Despite my hesitation, I gave Mark another chance to convince me that there would be something in it for me, too. 

We talked about it more on the phone that night. 

“What other ideas did you have for me being your babysitter?” I asked, trying to hint at my desire to keep the fantasy centered on me and him. 

“I think it would be really hot to come home and catch you fucking Chris again,” Mark answered. 

I felt the wave of jealousy rolling in again. “Because you want him to end up fucking Heather?”

“Well, that too,” Mark laughed, oblivious. “I bet he’d do it, don’t you think?” 

“I’m not sure. You’d have to ask him.”

“Does that make you jealous? Thinking about Chris fucking someone else?” he teased. 

I was fuming, unable to believe how badly Mark was misreading the situation. 

“No, that’s not it!” I snapped, unable to hide my irritation. 

Mark didn’t respond right away. 

I needed to get my emotions under control. Even though I was expressing my frustration with Mark, I knew I was more upset with myself for allowing my feelings for him to get so out of hand. I felt jealous, and I didn’t like it. I wanted to be more important to him. I wanted him to prioritize fun with me over fun with his wife.

But I also recognized how silly that was, and how immature I was for even having those thoughts. Mark had never promised me any of that. He never led me to believe that he would ever compromise his “real life” for me. I thought I understood and was fine with that arrangement, but my feelings for Mark seemed to be getting in the way. 

“What is this about, then?” Mark asked then, breaking me out of my thoughts. 

I took a deep breath and waited for the pressure in my chest to dissipate before responding as evenly as I could manage.

“I get that it would be a fun scenario for you and Heather if she wants that, too. And I don’t care if you do want to try making it happen with Chris. I just don’t feel comfortable being in the middle of it, or helping to set that up for you.” 

“That’s fine,” Mark conceded. “I didn’t mean to upset you. And I don’t want to push if you don’t want to talk about this.” 

“Yeah, I think I’d like to be done talking about it,” I asserted. 

“Okay.” 

There was an uncomfortable silence that followed. It felt unlikely that we’d be able to recover the sexy mood that night, and I wasn’t ready to say more about the upsetting, ominous thoughts I’d been having about our “relationship,” or affair, or whatever it was. So, I decided to end the conversation before it could get to that point.

“I think I should say goodnight. I’m pretty tired.” 

“Yeah, okay,” Mark agreed easily. 

He must’ve sensed that I was upset, but apparently wasn’t interested in digging any deeper to figure out why. I felt somewhere between relieved and disappointed. 

We said goodnight and hung up. Although I hadn’t lied about feeling tired, my thoughts kept me up for quite a while before I eventually fell asleep. 

***

The next morning, I woke up with a new sense of resolve about what I needed to do. So, before giving myself the chance to chicken out, I sent a text directly to Heather.

Sam: Hi Heather, this is Sam, the swim instructor. I was thinking more about it, and I’m already working quite a bit between swim lessons and shifts at the gym, so I’m not looking for a babysitting job at this time. Let me know if you’d like me to ask around to the other instructors :) 

Rather than sending a separate message to Mark, I decided to just leave it and let him find out through his wife. 

***

Sure enough, Mark texted me a little while later, while I was out running. I slowed my pace to check the message on my watch.

Mark: Heather just showed me the text you sent her

Mark: What’s going on? Can we talk? 

I knew he’d get a read receipt, so he’d know that I’d seen his texts. Even so, I didn’t respond right away. 

A few minutes later, my watch chimed with an incoming call from Mark. But I sent it straight to voicemail. I just wasn’t ready to have the conversation we needed to have. Still, I knew it would be that much harder to start the talk later if I pissed Mark off too much, so I decided I needed to send him something back.

Sam: I’m out running. Can I call you back later?

He got back to me right away. 

Mark: Okay

Mark: We’re going to Heather’s parents’ house this afternoon, so I’m not sure when I’ll be free

Sam: Okay, no worries

If anything, that felt like a relief. I knew the talk would help me feel better in the long run, but I wasn’t looking forward to it, so I didn’t mind putting it off a little longer. 

***

Later that evening, I got another text from Mark as I was making dinner. 

Mark: Is it okay if I come by? 

Mark: Heather stayed at her parents’ house with the kids

I couldn’t tell from Mark’s messages if he was in a sexy mood and wanting to spend the night, or if he could feel the serious conversation looming over us, too. 

“Smells good in here!” my roommate Molly said, coming into the kitchen. “Want some wine?”

“Yeah, sure,” I agreed, watching as she took out two glasses. Then I glanced back at my phone before asking, “Is it okay if Mark comes over?”

Molly stopped in the middle of twisting the corkscrew and looked over at me. “If that’s what you want.” 

I took a minute to think, stirring absentmindedly and weighing pros and cons of having the conversation Mark and I needed to have with Molly around. 

“Have you decided what you’re going to do?” she asked when I took too long to respond.

“I think so,” I said. “But that doesn’t make it any easier to do it.”

She looked at me and nodded sympathetically, then poured more wine into my glass until it was filled to the brim. 

I laughed, but didn’t stop her. 

“Hopefully, this will help,” she said, passing me the glass carefully. 

“Thanks,” I chuckled. 

Then I took a sip to keep it from spilling over and set it down on the counter to keep cooking. I also sent a couple of quick texts back to Mark.

Sam: Sure

Sam: Molly and I are about to have dinner, but come over whenever you want

***

We were about done eating and three quarters of the way through the bottle of wine when my phone chimed with another text from Mark. 

Mark: Here

Then the loud door buzzer blared over the music we had playing, startling both of us as always.  

“Fuck!” Molly cursed, having spilled a little wine. “I’ll never get used to that.”

I took a deep breath and another big gulp of wine before getting up to let him in. 

“Just remember,” Molly said, calling after me as she wiped up the wine from her lap. “Whatever happens, this time next week, we’ll be laying out and going out in Miami!”

That thought did bring a smile to my face as I buzzed Mark in and opened the apartment door to wait as he climbed the stairs. 

“Hey,” he said, smiling and breathing hard by the time he reached my floor. 

“Hi,” I smiled back. “Do you want some wine?” 

“Sure,” he agreed, smirking back at me and glancing at my glass. “Looks like you’ve already started.”

“Just a bit,” I agreed, giggling.

Then I walked back through the living room to the kitchen to get Mark a glass. 

He and Molly greeted each other pleasantly enough. 

“Sorry to crash roommate dinner,” Mark said. 

“It’s okay, we’re finished,” Molly responded. “She made me dinner. You can have her now.”

I laughed and topped off Molly’s wine. 

“Yeah, and you’ve got dish duty!” I said, before leading Mark down the hall to my room. 

“Yes, ma’am!” Molly answered, using her phone to turn up the music. 

I appreciated the privacy as I built myself up for a hard conversation. 

But as soon as I’d closed my bedroom door, Mark was there, pushing me back up against it and kissing me. Then he reached down between my legs to rub me through my shorts and underwear.

“Fuck!” I yelped, breaking the kiss and breathing harder as Mark pressed his fingers between my lips. 

I moaned, grinding on his fingers as he pinned me against the wall. 

“I want to make you cum,” he said, his hot breath tickling my neck as he kissed, bit, and sucked on my skin. 

“Oh god!” I moaned, breathing harder as Mark buried his face in my neck.  

Then he tugged at the drawstring of my shorts before sliding a hand inside. He pressed two fingers between my lips and started rubbing hard and fast, pinning me against the wall as he fingered me. 

“You’re always so wet for me,” he groaned, pressing his fingers deeper. 

Somehow, Mark had already turned me into a shivering, whimpering mess. I held his arms for dear life, nails digging in as my pussy clenched. 

He curled his fingers up inside. Then, he used his spare hand to tug my shirt and bra up, until he’d freed my tits and could lean down to put his mouth on them. He teased each nipple with his tongue before sucking them into his mouth one at a time, making them tingle and throb. 

He pushed his fingers deeper, rubbing and stroking the upper front wall of my pussy while his palm pressed and rubbed against my clit. 

“Fuck, Mark! That feels so good!” I breathed as his fingers slipped in and out through my wetness. 

“I want to feel you cum on my fingers.” 

He pressed himself into me, and I felt his hard cock against my hip. I reached down to rub him through his pants and squeezed my hand around his cock as my pussy clenched on his fingers. 

“Cum now, Sam!” Mark growled, fingering and grinding his hand on me furiously. 

I held as still as I could as he found the sweet spot inside me, and within a matter of moments, I was writhing and cumming on his hand. My back arched against the door, and my hips pressed into his hand harder. 

It was such an intense feeling that I nearly slumped over and fell to the ground when Mark pulled back suddenly, only to drop to his knees in front of me. 

“Ohhh fuck!” I moaned loudly, unable to control my volume as I anticipated what was coming. 

He pulled my shorts down and tugged my thong to the side as he lifted my left leg up over his shoulder, smirking up at me as he leaned in, kissing my clit, then licking between my lips. 

“Oh, my God!” I moaned, shivering and clenching. 

I pressed back on his forehead instinctively, unsure whether I’d be able to handle the pleasure of his mouth on me so quickly after an already intense orgasm. 

But Mark only took my hands and slid them to the back of his head, encouraging me to hold him closer instead. 

“Fuck!” I moaned, my whole body clenching as he continued licking, darting his tongue into my opening. 

He brought a hand to my stomach, just above my clit. Then he slid his thumb down and started circling my sensitive nub, rubbing as he licked me. 

“Mark! Fuck!” I groaned, grinding on his tongue.

I couldn’t control the string of curses and exclamations flying from my mouth as he pleasured me. My next orgasm came on surprisingly quickly and hit me like a sneaker wave, sending me into more writhing fits and spasms, up against my bedroom door. 

“Ohhh fuck! Oh, my God!” 

I felt the heat rising in my cheeks, my face furrowed in pleasure as I looked down, only to find Mark looking up at me as I came on his face. 

“Fuck!” I groaned as I came down again, releasing my hold on the back of his head.

“On your knees,” Mark groaned as soon as he’d pulled back, wiping my juices from his face. 

I sunk right down to trade places with him. My body was eager to comply in its weakened state. 

“Get naked,” he added, stripping off his own clothes as he stood up. Then he moved in front of me, stroking his hard cock as he watched and waited for me to comply. 

I followed Mark’s command quickly, still breathing hard and eager to repay the favor.

“Leave the thong on,” he amended, once I’d pulled off everything other than the black, lacy underwear.

Then I crawled closer. Looking up at him, I grazed my fingernails lightly up his thighs until I could cup his balls with one hand while I wrapped the other around his cock, squeezing and stroking. 

“You made me cum so hard. That felt so good,” I said, leaning closer and licking his balls. 

Mark moaned, watching as I sucked them into my mouth.

I caressed and rubbed his balls with my tongue before letting them pop back out of my mouth one at a time. 

Then I felt his hand on the back of my head, pressing and holding me there. 

I moaned and swirled my tongue around, giving his balls more attention. I pinched the soft skin between my lips lightly before sucking them into my mouth once again. 

I kept licking and sucking until he guided me towards the head of his cock. 

“Suck me, Sam. I want your mouth on my cock.” 

I moaned again, but the sound was muffled as he pushed through my lips and down my throat in one deep thrust. He wrapped my ponytail around his fist, moving my head and pushing harder. Then he held me down on his cock until my nose pressed into his lower stomach. 

Feeling Mark’s hand on my head, guiding me and holding me on his cock, turned me on so much that I couldn’t resist reaching down to rub my pussy. I spread my knees apart as far as I could and rubbed my fingers along my slit. There were audible wet noises as I pressed harder and rubbed faster. With my other hand, I held onto Mark’s hip as he continued to thrust into my mouth. 

He groaned and tightened his grip on my hair, rotating his hips and thrusting deeper, making me gag on his cock. 

I rubbed my clit faster, looking up at him, wanting his cum in my mouth. So I wrapped my fingers around the base of his cock, stroking as I sucked on his head, rubbing the underside of his cock and over his slit with my tongue. Then I swirled my tongue around his tip before sucking hard again, my lips rubbing over the ridge.

That did the trick. Mark’s cock pulsed between my lips as he grunted and released several hot spurts of cum into my mouth. 

I moaned and sucked all the cum from his cock, letting it pool on my tongue before swallowing it down. 

“Good slut,” Mark groaned, pulling back a step. “Now cum again. Rub that pussy.”

I smiled and moaned, leaning back on my heels and rubbing faster, breathing hard. 

“Cum for me. On your knees, with my cum still coating your slutty throat.” 

“Fuck,” I gasped, clenching and slipping two fingers inside myself. “You taste so good.”

“You’re such an eager cocksucker, aren’t you?” Mark teased, smirking down at me and cupping my face, holding under my chin. Then he rubbed his thumb over my lips and pressed it into my mouth, encouraging me to suck. 

I moaned and complied, answering his rhetorical question through actions rather than words as I continued rubbing and fingering myself, building up to another orgasm. 

“That’s it. Cum again, Sam. Show me what an obedient slut you are for me.” 

Though it normally would have turned me on, hearing Mark refer to me as obedient rubbed me the wrong way, considering everything I’d been thinking about lately. But I quickly brushed off that thought, not wanting it to inhibit me from cumming. 

I moaned and closed my eyes, remembering how good it felt to have Mark’s fingers and mouth on me, looking up at me as he worked on making me cum. My pussy clenched again as I thought about the way he pinned me up against the door as soon as we got to my room. I gave in and got off to the warm, enveloping feeling that came with knowing how much he wanted me. 

My body writhed in pleasure. Mark’s thumb slid out of my mouth as my lips parted in a rapturous moan. 

“Good slut,” I heard him say as I calmed down. 

I smiled up at him and moaned contentedly. 

Then Mark offered me a hand to help me up, and kissed me tenderly once I was standing in front of him. 

I combed my fingers into his hair at the nape of his neck and got lost in the kiss as his hands roamed over my hips and ass.  

“Do you have to get going?” I asked once we finally pulled back, remembering what had happened the last time he came over and bracing myself for it.

“No, I can stay,” Mark replied, smiling. “If I’m welcome.” 

“Of course, you’re welcome,” I said. Though I could feel that my smile didn’t quite reach my eyes. 

“I do want to apologize for the whole babysitting plan,” Mark said, as we both started redressing. “And the thing about Chris. It feels like I might have crossed a line.”  

After everything that just happened, I’d just about talked myself out of starting a serious conversation about our relationship that night. So, when Mark brought it up, I took a minute to gather my thoughts before responding. 

“I appreciate you saying that. But my reaction really didn’t have anything to do with Chris or the babysitting idea. It’s just that…” I trailed off, building myself up to share a hard truth. “I’m happy for you that your wife might be into trying more of the things you want. But it also makes me feel like there isn’t a space for me in your life. If you can have fun and be kinky with her, and you also have the whole family thing, then you have it all, right? What’s my role, if you have all of that at home?” 

There was a momentary pause as Mark processed what I was saying, and we both finished redressing. 

“You still have a space in my life because I want you,” he said then. “My ideal scenario would be having more fun with my wife and still having you. We can still be together whenever we both have time. And you can keep fucking Chris, or whoever else you want to. I thought that was what you wanted, too?” 

As Mark said that, basically asking for things to remain the same as they had been since the beginning, I realized just how much my feelings had changed. Everything felt different once I’d finally really accepted the truth that should’ve been obvious all along; that there could be no future for us. 

“I don’t know anymore,” I answered, shaking my head. I felt a lump in my throat as I forced myself to keep going. “Since the gala, I feel like things have changed for me. For a long time, it felt like I was your priority, because things seemed not great for you at home. But seeing you with her, and seeing the two of you having fun together… I guess it made me realize how naïve I was being. Now, it’s like, if you don’t need me for that fun, then I’m just taking time away that you could be spending with your family. And I don’t want to be the petulant young girl wishing for things to take another bad turn in your marriage.” 

I looked up as I finished speaking and met Mark’s eyes. They seemed to search mine, as if grasping for a sign that I wasn’t saying what he knew I was saying. I wanted nothing more than to give that to him, but I knew I couldn’t. 

He sighed and sat down heavily on the edge of my bed. “Well, I don’t want to make things harder for you either. I know I’m the asshole in all of this for starting a relationship with you when I already have a family. But I really care about you, Sam. My feelings for you are real. They always have been. I…”

“You what?” I asked, boldly, my heart suddenly hammering in my chest. As masochistic as it was, I wanted to hear what else he might allow himself to say. 

He looked at me, and I saw his expression change as he managed to get a grip on himself before saying too much.

“I don’t want to lose you,” he finished, finally. 

I let out a shaky breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding in. Part of me was relieved that he didn’t say the three words I’d been anticipating. The words I sensed he was intentionally but barely leaving unsaid.

“I don’t want that either,” I said. “But I’m not sure I can get back to where I was before.”

“Yeah,” Mark conceded, solemnly. “So, what do you want to do?” 

I didn’t feel capable of ending things officially. Just the thought of telling Mark that I couldn’t see him anymore made me feel suddenly nauseous. But I also knew that I couldn’t let go of my conviction. Deep down, I knew that what felt impossible at the moment was what would be best for me in the long run. 

Still, I couldn’t resist leaving some ambiguity. 

“I have the trip to Miami in a few days, with Molly and our other girlfriends. Maybe we should take a break for a bit, at least until I get back, and then go from there.”

“Yeah, okay,” Mark agreed. 

A few awkward moments followed. Then he got back to his feet with another sigh. “I guess I should probably go, then.” 

I just nodded, not letting myself stop him, as much as I wanted to. 

He turned back before opening my bedroom door. “You know I just want you to be happy.”

“I know,” I answered, trying again to swallow the lump in my throat. “And you, too.” 

“I know,” he said, forcing a smile. And then he opened the door to leave, letting in the sound of Molly’s music, still playing loudly in the kitchen. 

***

A week later, I was in Miami with my friends. We’d planned the trip weeks ago, to celebrate our college graduation. But the timing was pretty fortuitous for me. I was still feeling really down about how I’d left things with Mark. So, if it weren’t for the escape out of town, I’m quite sure I would’ve given in to the temptation to see him again. 

Instead, I had Molly and the girls, who were all eager to show me I’d made the right choice. We went out every night, drinking and dancing, flirting with guys, having some much-needed, carefree fun.

“I feel like I finally have my best friend back!” Molly said, draping her arms around me after a round of tequila shots.

“You never lost me!” I laughed, hugging her back. 

“I know I didn’t really,” she admitted. “But all the sneaking around and secrecy… it just wasn’t you.”

Before I could think of a response, Molly continued. 

“I know you’re allowed to have your own life, and you don’t need to tell me everything, and blah blah blah. But I think if you can’t talk about it with the people who love you the most, then it can’t be the best thing for you.” 

I couldn’t really argue with her reasoning, so I didn’t try. “You’re right. As always.” 

Molly clinked her glass with mine. “And don’t you forget it!” 

We laughed and drank some more with the rest of our group until someone decided it was time to head back out to dance. 

I checked my phone before we left the bar and saw that I had a few texts from Mark. 

Mark: I hope you’re having a good time with your friends

Mark: Have you hooked up with anyone there? 

Mark: ;)  

My heart started pounding in my chest. I hadn’t heard anything from him since the night we’d decided to take a break. And now, it was difficult to decipher the tone behind his messages. 

I felt tempted to respond.

My friends were heading into the throng of sweaty, writhing bodies on the dance floor. 

“C’mon, Sam!” Molly called, waiting for me. 

Somehow, I resisted the urge to text Mark back. Instead, I forced myself to click my phone off and slid it back into my pocket before catching up with Molly and the others. 

Mark

I waited until Heather had rolled onto her side to face away from me in bed to check my phone again, looking to see if Sam had responded to my messages. 

Still, nothing since I’d checked ten or so minutes earlier. But this time, it showed that my messages were read. I watched and waited to see if those three dots would start flashing, signaling that Sam was typing out a response. 

I gave it a few minutes before finally forcing myself to click the phone off and let it go, sighing and rolling onto my back. 

I closed my eyes, envisioning Sam on vacation in Miami, probably out at a club with her friends, having fun and flirting. And I found that I was smiling.