Terry looked down at the floor. Her voice was not much more than a whisper.

"I'm really sorry, guys, but I think I need to be alone, now. Would you mind if I chased you out?"

'Damn,' I thought. 'I really screwed things up for everybody. But we were so close!'

After we got out of the door, Bob punched my arm.

"Ouch," I said, "but I guess I deserved it."

"Nah," Bob reassured me, "that was just a love tap. I still think it was a good idea, and it almost succeeded. Probably the whole four-week plot I came up with in the first place was a stupid idea."

'Not hardly!' I thought, remembering the first week. But of course Bob didn't know about that. Tom and I glanced knowingly at each other, but didn't say anything.

"Hey, look," I finally said, "the night is young. We didn't get any pussy, and didn't get to play poker, but how about going and drowning our disappointment in booze?"

"Hear, hear!" they said in chorus, and that is exactly what we did.

I was still thinking about Terry the next day, though. OK, so she wasn't the sex pot I thought she might be, but I might still have a chance of seducing her one-on-one. After all, that's the way Pete got to my Nancy. At work that morning I found Pete's number in my Rolodex, and called it, hoping that Terry would be at home. She was.

"Hi, Terry, it's Dick, from the poker gang."

I was afraid she might hang up on me, so I rushed ahead without giving her a chance to say anything.

"Look, I wouldn't blame you for being really mad at me ... at all of us ... but I felt so awful about what happened that I just had to call and apologize.

I did pause a moment then, but she didn't say anything.

"Terry, are you OK?"

"Oh, Dick, it really wasn't your fault. I'm the one who should apologize. I realize now that I led you guys on, and then kicked you out without even letting you have your poker game."

"Well, I guess we all let things get a little out of hand. But at that point you were right to kick us out. It would have been very awkward for all four of us if we had stayed after what we had said."

"True, but I have to admit it was very lonely after you left. I mean, knowing that Pete was out f- ... out with another woman."

"Oh, God, Terry, that must have been awful! And we were to blame for that. I mean for you knowing. Me especially, 'cause I was the one who thought we should tell you. Oh, Terry, I'm so sorry!"

"It's OK, Dick. As I told you, it wasn't the first time, and it probably won't be the last time. I do love Pete, but I know he's a little wild, and I just have to learn to accept that."

"That's a terrible thing to have to learn to accept. Uh, Terry ... uh ... I really, really, don't want to make things worse for you, but there is something else you and I need to talk about. And I don't think we can do it on the phone."

"Oh, I suppose you want to come over here and try to seduce me." I could hear a tinge of bitterness in her voice.

"No, Terry, that's not what it's about, though I'll admit that I have fanta... no, I'm sorry I said that. When I see you I promise I'll be a perfect gentleman. And it doesn't have to be at your house. In fact, I don't think it would be a good idea for me to go over there to see you alone."

"Yes, I agree." Her voice now sounded shaky, and not a bit bitter.

"We should probably meet someplace that's very public, so we won't be tempted ..."

"Yes, definitely, very public, or it wouldn't be ... safe." She was sounding even more shaky.

"How about lunch somewhere? Maybe the WaterBoy?"

"Oh, dear, isn't that awfully fancy?"

"If you've been there for dinner, yes. But lunch is much more relaxed. And you have to admit the food is great. Come on, say yes."

"Well, maybe. But certainly not today."

"Of course not. In the first place, it's too soon ... after last night. In the second place, I already have lunch plans today. Can we make it tomorrow?"

I heard a big sigh at the other end of the line. "I really shouldn't, but OK."

"Great. I'll meet you there at 12:30. Uh ... one thing, Terry. I don't want you to keep secrets from Pete, so I expect you to tell him about us having lunch, but it would be better if you wait to do that until after we have talked."

"Don't worry," she said, her voice tight. "I'm not talking to him about anything right now."

"Ouch! Did you confront him about last night? ... No, sorry, that was out of line. Forget I asked."

"It's OK, and no I didn't. Oh, Dick, you're so sweet! Thank you for caring."

"I know it's all bottled up inside you right now, and it makes me hurt to know how much pain you must be feeling. Three things. First, what Pete did last night wasn't right, but you don't know the whole story. We'll talk about that tomorrow. Second, if you can hang on without yelling at him until after we meet, I may be able to give you some useful suggestions. Third, I told my wife I wanted to talk to you, and what we would be talking about, and she approves."

"Thanks. That really helps. I was feeling kind of guilty about meeting you, but now I'm just happy about it. You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to it."

"I am, too. 'Bye, Terry."

"'Bye, Dick. Until tomorrow!"

I got one more interesting piece of information from Nancy that night. She looked at me a bit oddly when I got home, and asked me how the poker game had gone the night before. I thought, 'Oh, oh, here it comes. I was pretty drunk when I got home, and she must have noticed, even though I thought she was asleep.'

I decided honesty was the best policy in this case, and admitted that we didn't really play poker, but went to a bar instead. Her next comment caught me off guard.

"Oh, right, you were going to Pete's house, weren't you, and I'll bet he told you something came up."

"Yeah, that's right. But what made you say that?"

"Because he told me. He called and said he had canceled the game so he could come and see me."

"So you mean he was here again last night? I thought you said ..."

"No, I told him I couldn't let him come over. We just ... talked ... on the phone."

The way she said it I immediately suspected phone sex, but given what I was up to at the same time, I decided not to push her.

The next day Terry arrived at the restaurant promptly at 12:30, and we were escorted to the table I had reserved. I had made a point of asking of asking for one where we could talk without being overheard, and was delighted with the alcove the maitre d' put us in. But I was worried that the things I intended to talk about might interfere with our appetites, so I was careful to keep the conversation light and friendly until we finished the scallops we both ordered. Then I leaned forward and looked into her eyes.

"I'll bet you are wondering what I had to say that was so important, and why I haven't been saying it."

She nodded.

"Actually, there are several things. But I'll start with one that I feel terrible about. The four of us guys cooked up a really evil plan. I'm so ashamed of it now that I can hardly bring myself to tell you about it. It was like none of us seemed to have any respect for our wives at all; like we were thinking of you as pieces of meat.

"I know, I'm not making any sense, yet, but I'll try to explain. It's just that now I can't believe that I would have agreed to the plan, or that any of us would. There's just no way around it; I have to say it straight out. Basically, we each offered to let all the others have sex with our wives."

I stopped, seeing the shocked look on her face that I knew would be there.

Finally she tried to speak. "No! That's ... it's ... it's ..."

"I know," I said softly. It's hard to find any words for it. Maybe despicable, or disgusting, or vile. Now you see what I meant by pieces of meat."

"How could you do that? How could any of you do that?"

"I don't know. I can only say we weren't thinking or acting as if we were married. The truth is we were behaving like horny teenagers.

"Look, I know this is very hard for you to listen to. It is also very hard for me to tell you. I struggled a long time before I decided that I really had to, but I'll explain why later. For now, you need to know that my stomach is tied in knots thinking about how much this must be hurting you. If it's too much, just tell me."

"No, go on. I think I need to hear it all."

I nodded, but didn't say anything for a bit, because the waiter brought our bill, and I gave him my credit card.

"He'll be back soon with the credit slip," I pointed out. "I'll tell you the rest after that."

We basically just sat there, each thinking our own thoughts, while we waited for him. Fortunately we didn't have to wait long, and then we could resume our private conversation.

"Well, our plan was that for four weeks, one week in each guy's home, we would arrange that the guy hosting would get called away on an emergency, leaving the field open for the other three guys. We did at least agree that the wives were not to be forced to do anything; but the guys could use any technique they wanted to try to seduce them."

"So that's why you came up with that so-called hypothetical argument."

"Yes, Terry, and as long as I live I'll never forgive myself for doing it."

"But ... but ... then you lied to me! Pete didn't leave to have an affair with another woman."

"Actually, I happen to know, now, that he did hope to be with someone he was having an affair with, but she turned him down that night. However, I didn't know that then. And, yes, we did sort of lie to you. We never actually said he was going to be with a woman, but we did try to lead you to that conclusion, and when you said it we didn't disagree with you."

"Oh, you were so evil! And to think I almost fell for it!"

"I'll admit that at the time I hoped you would fall for it, but now I am very, very, glad that you didn't."

She seemed to be thinking about something. "Dick," she said very tentatively, "was this the first week you guys tried your trick?"

"No, Terry, it wasn't," I said, looking her straight in the eye.

"But, a week ago, I think Pete said he was going to your house for poker."

"Yes, Terry, they were at my house last week."

"Pete came home a little earlier than usual, but he was still gone quite a while. Were he and Tom and Bob alone with your wife all that time?"

"Yes," I whispered. I couldn't look at her any longer.

"Oh, Dick, I'm so sorry! Do you ... know if ... anything happened?"

"Yes ... Nancy told me what happened."

"Did she and Pete ... do something? Oh ... that must be what you needed to talk to me about, right?"

"Yes, it was. She didn't actually have sex with him ... I mean, she sort of did, but it depends on what you mean by sex. She said she didn't see or touch his ... penis, but ... she did have an orgasm from what he was doing to her."

"Yeah," she said dryly, "like Clinton didn't have sex with Monica Lewinsky."

"Right, very much like that, but the other way around."

"I shouldn't say this about my own husband, but I can't believe Pete would go that far and then just stop."

"Nancy said he wanted to keep going, but she said no."

"Good for her."

"Yeah, but Pete didn't leave it at that. He came back to our house the next day at noon, and told her he wanted to apologize, and asked if they could talk. She let him in, and they did a lot more than talk. That time she didn't say no, and I guess he spent most of the afternoon with her.

"Oh, God, Dick! This is terrible! What are we going to do?"

"We can talk about that, but first I need to tell you that Nancy was crying when I got home that night, and finally told me the whole story. She admitted that she really wanted to be with Pete again, but she also said she loved me, and because of that she had decided to never see Pete again. At least not if there was any chance she and I could stay together. I told her I didn't know, but there was a chance.

"But I was thinking all crazy, Terry. I wanted to get even with the bastard, and all I could think was that I had to f- ... that I had to have sex with you to get even. And that was the state of mind I was in this week when I tried to trick you."

"No wonder! It all makes sense now. I can see how you would have felt that way after what you had been through. I do forgive you, Dick. No, I more than forgive you. ... Dick ... if we weren't sitting across the table from each other in a public place I ... I would be hugging and kissing you right now."

"That, my dear, is precisely why I was very tempted to have this conversation at your house, and why I told myself that I mustn't let it happen that way."

Terry let her breath out in a great whoosh. "Thanks, I needed that."

"But we do have one more thing to talk about, don't we? We need to face up to the fact that last week your husband and my wife spent an entire afternoon together. And that they were wildly and passionately ...," I dropped my voice to a whisper, "fucking. There, I said it. They were fucking, Terry. Pete and Nancy were fucking all afternoon. And not only that, they both want to do it again. Actually, I think they are both dying to do it again."

I stopped at that point and looked pensively at her for a bit. Then I changed the subject a bit.

"You know what, I said we had one more thing to talk about, but I was wrong. Because there's another thing we need to face up to."

"What's that?" Terry asked, but I suspected she knew the answer because she couldn't look at me as she asked it.

"Unless I am reading the signs wrong, and I don't think I am, Pete's wife and Nancy's husband are also dying to be together. They haven't made love, at least not yet. They haven't even kissed. But I think it's inevitable that they will."

"Ohhhh ... yesss ... it is."

"Do you think they'll stop with a kiss?"

"No, they won't. Pete's wife wouldn't let them stop."

"Nancy's husband wouldn't be able to stop, either."

"Oh, Dick. OH, DICK!"

"So now we have to decide what we are going to do about these two problems. I have a suggestion. ... Nancy and I want to invite you and Pete over Saturday evening for dinner and ... some time together."

"Oh, God, YES!"

"So you'll be there?"

"YES! ... I can't wait..."

"Wonderful," I said, getting up and offering my hand. "Until Saturday night then, which I imagine will be one of the most memorable nights of my life."

I started to pull her up, but she pulled her hand back and shook her head.

"No, Dick, you don't understand. I really mean it. I can't wait. I need you to come home with me right now. Leave your car here and come with me. You have to!"

"Oh, Terry, YES!"

This time I did pull her up, right up against me. We both gasped as our bodies touched for the first time and our nervous systems shorted out.

"Let's get out of here," I groaned, "before I get arrested for what is trying to rip its way through my zipper right now."

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