Back in the hallway, the numbered plaque on the door of Jamal’s cabin stared me in the face; cold, unblinking, indifferent. The door had slammed shut behind us, and with it, the trance I’d been drifting in for the past hour cracked wide open. It all felt like a dream; blurry, unreal, the kind that makes you question whether it actually happened or if your body just made it up. My breath came in short, uneven pulls. My leg...

It was just after 1:30 p.m. on a warm spring Friday—minimum day at the high school—and Rachel pulled into Damon’s driveway for their first weekday afternoon tryst. Nearly a week had passed since their all-day hotel rendezvous, when Brad had believed she was attending a work-related professional development workshop. That memory still stirred Rachel’s pulse, but today’s meeting had a different, more immediate energy. The t...

Jamal pulled Pam to her feet without a word, using the kind of effortless strength you’d expect from a man built like a Greek god. She rose slowly in front of him, flushed and unsteady, her body loose and yielding in a way that only total surrender can produce. He reached for the hem of her tank top and began peeling it upward. Her arms lifted above her head, the fabric dragging across her sweat-damp skin, catching briefl...

I’d been thinking about Anthony all week, ever since Tom and I met him at that charity gala. His broad shoulders, that confident grin, the way his dark eyes seemed to see right through me—it stirred something wild in me. Tom and I had been talking about opening our marriage for a while, but when I admitted my fantasy of being with a black man, his eyes lit up. He was into it, no condoms, no barriers, just raw and real. So...

We left the Golden Mermaid in silence, the last traces of '80s trivia music fading behind us like it knew better than to follow. After her “fuck it,” I hadn’t given Pam a chance to think. I’d pulled her out before the guilt could creep in, before she found a way to forgive Steve like she always had. We didn’t speak. The shift had already happened, and words would have only slowed it down. The elevator bank was just outsid...

This is a true story of what happened in July of 2013, as told by my wife when my wife was sixty. My wife and I enjoy riding with groups of other bikers. We are members of several all-black bikers’ clubs and are the only Caucasian members of these clubs. My wife rides a VW-powered trike. Her usual riding attire with these clubs (weather permitting) is a white lacy bra and panties, chaps, and boots. The men are always happ...

Amanda stood in the driveway, arms folded against the early morning chill, watching as Steve tightened the last strap on the rooftop cargo rack. Their boys—still half-asleep—climbed into the back of Steve’s SUV, dragging backpacks stuffed with fishing gear and snacks. “Five days,” Steve grinned, stepping back and wiping his hands on his jeans. “We’re going to eat like kings, freeze our asses off, and probably not shower o...

The Cost of Admission (7 pm, Thursday, December 27th, 2012) Sara went to her family's home that year for Christmas, and I drove to meet my brother and his family for a camping trip north of San Francisco near the Oregon border. When I started my long drive home, Sara called me and we discussed missing each other over the holiday. I couldn't wait to see her again. While on the phone, I asked if the plan was still on for th...

It was intolerably hot on that bus. Even with my window open, I felt as if I were apt to suffocate. It was August in 1968, and the world? Well, it was a’changin. The war in Vietnam was raging, young people were protesting in the streets, and this big concert called Woodstock was looking to be the biggest thing to hit the country since cornbread. That’s why I left home. I was eighteen and free; and I was done living in the...

Lauren's slender fingers traced the bubbles that danced on the surface of her warm bathwater, her thoughts drifting to the week of passion she had planned with Chad during her spring break from her job as a Kindergarten teacher, but his last-minute business trip had left her feeling more than a little desolate. Her two young kids were away for the entire week with their father, Lauren’s ex-husband, and now she would be al...

I need this. My job sucks, my cheater of a boyfriend sucks. I need this vacation. I can see myself sitting on a beach in Hawaii, sipping down a cool tropical drink. The smell of the ocean, the sun tanning my skin. Fine dining and dancing at night. Who knows, I may meet Mr. Right. If I do, I may never return. ..................... The sights from the airplane flying over the islands were something to see. Wings popping in...

Susan and Ted had been married twelve years, with two young kids and a comfortable life in Southern California. But lately, comfort had turned into routine. Their sex life had grown quiet—almost rare—and Ted had started to worry. Between her work as a high school Honors English teacher and his job as an accountant, then their young children’s schooling and soccer, there was little time—or energy—for much else. He noticed...