Learning to Love the Spiral (a slow burn)
Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2023 10:30 am
Chapter 1
“You look great, Mags,” Bryan assured his young wife, “You know I can't resist you in a sundress.” He stepped forward and pushed her light brown hair away from her neck. She was wearing a green and white number that fell to her feet but had a slit that exposed the tiniest bit of her tanned and toned stomach.
“Absolutely not now, I'm already late!” Maggie responded with a hand pressed against Bryan's chest. Instead, she gave him a quick peck, grabbed her carry-on suitcase and ran out the door. Maggie had a wedding to get to-- one of the many on her social calendar over the last few years. She was in a sorority and amassed more friends than Bryan could keep up with. Most of the weddings came with plus-ones, but not this one-- Brittany was getting married on the beach in North Carolina and she told Maggie it was going to be a small affair.
Bryan really didn't mind missing the wedding-- it meant a weekend by himself with video games, burritos and maybe a few beers with the guys. He didn't always love going to the weddings, anyway: he met Maggie after college and, while he liked most of her friends, he was definitely not one of the clique they ran in from their time at Canis, a small college in suburban Pennsylvania. Every one of the weddings ended up with the girls telling inside jokes and stories while he nursed a beer.
He rushed through his work for the day, and then threw himself down on the couch. There was beer in the fridge and his buddy Dave would be over soon. Maggie text him that she made it to the hotel just as his friend got there with another case of beer.
“Getting cleaned up and heading to the rehearsal dinner!” The text was accompanied by a picture of Maggie smiling with her bright, happy smile.
“Jesus, your wife is hot.” Dave said dropping another can of beer next to Bryan.
“Thanks and fuck you,” Bryan laughed responding, “are we going to play or what?” As crude as he was, Dave was right and Bryan was often shocked that anyone as beautiful as Maggie would marry him. He was successful, with a great job project managing IT development, but he was also twenty pounds beyond his peak and balding; while she was yoga fit and even hotter than she was in college.
An hour of beers and games later, another text came in with a picture of the group out at drinks. Bryan recognized most of the people in the pic except for the tall, fit guy standing next to his wife. “Brittany is a bitch, there are so many people here from college!”
“Lol,” Bryan responded, “I thought it was supposed to be 'intimate'.”
“So did I! But there are people here I haven't seen since graduation. It's so fun!”
Bryan started to type out another text to complain, then deleted it. Then, he started to type a text asking about the guy standing next to her. But again, he deleted it. Bryan was a jealous guy in high school (he may still be with his high school girlfriend Rachael if he didn't get jealous at the slightest thing when she went away to camp between Junior and Senior years), but it was different with Maggie. Since he met her, Bryan was able to walk a tight rope of being both amazed that she was with him, while also very secure and trusting. He would not screw this up over a picture with some old frat guy.
But the drinks and the games kept flowing, until eventually Dave decided to take the walk back to his apartment and Bryan was left debating having one more. It was definitely one beer too many, but he was a bachelor for the weekend with nothing much to do. Why not?
He cracked open a bottle and pulled up Instagram. He had become friends with many of Maggie's sorority sisters, and their stories were filled with pictures from the night. As he spun through them he noticed that in the back of nearly every picture Maggie was next to that mystery guy. A familiar, old feeling started to bubble up in Bryan's chest-- it was kind of warm but biting.
Maybe he could've resisted, but not after this many beers. So instead, he text: “Hey babe, having fun?”
“OMG such a good time! There are people here I haven't seen in YEARS.”
Bryan smiled at how quickly the response came, that meant something, but his mind raced with images of this guy touching Maggie-- maybe his hand would just brush against the small of her back, or maybe drift a little lower and even give a grab. Maybe she'd like it. Bryan was starting to spiral.
And then the next text-- a picture of Maggie with her big smile next to her best friend Cat, the bride-to-be Brittany, and that guy from before.
“Who's that guy?” Bryan couldn't contain it anymore.
“Adam! Used to be such an ass, but he's really matured. It's great to see him!”
Bryan felt like he was punched in the stomach, but he also noticed something weird-- as the thoughts of Adam sneaking a kiss from Maggie in the bumping bar played in his head, he was getting hard.
“That's great, Mags. Someone for you to dance with while I'm here.”
The next text took longer. It may have only been two minute but it felt like an eternity. “Is that jealousy I hear? You know I love you.”
Bryan gulped-- he couldn't be that guy again. He had to go down a different path than he did with all of those girls before Maggie.
So instead he sent the text that changed everything:
“Not at all-- you're single this weekend. I want you to go dance with him and have fun.”
“Really?”
“Really...just tell me about it when I sleep off these beers.”
“Mwah, love you.”
Bryan put down the phone, and then did something that would stick with him: he pulled back up Instagram and gave himself the most mind-blowing orgasm he had in years looking at the picture of Maggie and Adam standing next to each other.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bryan woke up groggy and late on Saturday morning. On his phone was a picture of Maggie in bed, comforter just over her breasts, faking a yawn, “Morning sleepyhead!” She was the best at that sort of thing-- always bright and positive and incredible at sending pictures that were just on the innocent side of a tease.
He responded right away, noticing hers was sent an hour earlier. “Did you have fun last night?” And then he took stock of what happened the night before-- he didn't exactly regret the offer for Maggie to dance with the mysterious old friend Adam (something in his animal brain was telling him it was the best thing he'd ever done), but he was nervous about these renewed feelings of jealousy and arousal
His head returned to a familiar old fantasy-- when he and Rachael broke up in high school, rumors swirled that she ended up sleeping with his friend Tyler. Bryan never knew for sure, certainly not enough to confront Tyler, but something about it never left his head. He always pictured Rachael on her knees...
Right as he was starting to get to aroused, his phone buzzed.
“So much fun! We danced for about an hour after you went to bed. Way too late. Now we're all trying to get ready to go get our makeup done! So much to do.”
The slight arousal turned into a raging hard on. An hour dancing with Adam, and then what? Did they just separate off into their luxury hotel rooms to sleep? He shook his head to try to reset and noticed he had a headache.
“Danced....with Adam?”
“Not just him, silly,” the response came quickly, “Just a little bit. He's fun! He used to be such a jerk but he was always a party.”
“Oh good. He didn't try anything did he...” Bryan was slipping back into jealousy rapidly.
“No! I thought you weren't jealous!” Maggie protested.
Bryan didn't think long enough about his next response to lie, like he should've, “I'm not I wanted you to have whatever kind of fun you wanted lol.”
“I have to go get my makeup done! But you know I love you and would be having more fun if you were here.”
“I love you too, but do your best to have even more fun!”
Bryan didn't know what he was thinking. He just knew that he had never been more turned on than the idea of this fit old friend dancing with his beautiful wife.
But, there was a full day ahead to do nothing at all productive. Bryan's alma mater Penn State was playing Ohio State and he was going to meet a few buddies at a local bar to cheer them on. He washed up, threw on his blue and white jersey and headed out.
There was already a picture incoming from Maggie by the time he got there-- her and the girls toasting champagne in pink silk robes. Bryan knew he wouldn't get much chatting from her, but she was a selfie master and he appreciated the glances into the day.
Dave was already at the bar and a few of the others in the crew would be there soon as well. They had a table with a good view of one of the many TV's, right next to a table filled with a gaggle of attractive college aged girls in Ohio State jerseys.
The first half went well for the guys-- beers flowed freely, and the Nittany Lions kept up with the Buckeyes going into the half. Dave even started talking a little trash with the girls next to them. Bryan was a bit shy about the trash talk-- he was married and it all felt a little flirty-- so he took a moment to run to the bathroom and check his phone.
There was a text from Maggie: “Makeup and hair done, hope you're having fun with the boys! Off to the venue for a few drinks before it's go time!”
Bryan left it on read, then pulled up Instagram again. All of the girls' had posted pics from the day-- it was hard not to feel a little left out. And then he saw the one that triggered all of his fantasies: Cat posted a picture of each of the bridesmaids standing in front of their groomsmen pair, with Adams arm around Maggie's waist. He couldn't really zoom in, but the hand definitely wasn't hovering and it may have been grabbing a bit.
“So much fun, Lions playing great,” Bryan couldn't help himself, “You should be focused on your groomsman and having fun. Pretend I don't exist!”
“Oh hush, I can walk with Adam and still text you.” It was the first time she confirmed he was her pair, and so nonchalantly.
Bryan needed to get back to the table or everyone would start joking about how long he was in the bathroom. “Yeah, but don't. Focus on having fun-- you're his date for the night. You wouldn't text another guy while on a date with me. Getting back to the second half! Text later.”
This was rapidly spiraling out of control, but Bryan couldn't help himself-- the body wants what the body wants.
“You look great, Mags,” Bryan assured his young wife, “You know I can't resist you in a sundress.” He stepped forward and pushed her light brown hair away from her neck. She was wearing a green and white number that fell to her feet but had a slit that exposed the tiniest bit of her tanned and toned stomach.
“Absolutely not now, I'm already late!” Maggie responded with a hand pressed against Bryan's chest. Instead, she gave him a quick peck, grabbed her carry-on suitcase and ran out the door. Maggie had a wedding to get to-- one of the many on her social calendar over the last few years. She was in a sorority and amassed more friends than Bryan could keep up with. Most of the weddings came with plus-ones, but not this one-- Brittany was getting married on the beach in North Carolina and she told Maggie it was going to be a small affair.
Bryan really didn't mind missing the wedding-- it meant a weekend by himself with video games, burritos and maybe a few beers with the guys. He didn't always love going to the weddings, anyway: he met Maggie after college and, while he liked most of her friends, he was definitely not one of the clique they ran in from their time at Canis, a small college in suburban Pennsylvania. Every one of the weddings ended up with the girls telling inside jokes and stories while he nursed a beer.
He rushed through his work for the day, and then threw himself down on the couch. There was beer in the fridge and his buddy Dave would be over soon. Maggie text him that she made it to the hotel just as his friend got there with another case of beer.
“Getting cleaned up and heading to the rehearsal dinner!” The text was accompanied by a picture of Maggie smiling with her bright, happy smile.
“Jesus, your wife is hot.” Dave said dropping another can of beer next to Bryan.
“Thanks and fuck you,” Bryan laughed responding, “are we going to play or what?” As crude as he was, Dave was right and Bryan was often shocked that anyone as beautiful as Maggie would marry him. He was successful, with a great job project managing IT development, but he was also twenty pounds beyond his peak and balding; while she was yoga fit and even hotter than she was in college.
An hour of beers and games later, another text came in with a picture of the group out at drinks. Bryan recognized most of the people in the pic except for the tall, fit guy standing next to his wife. “Brittany is a bitch, there are so many people here from college!”
“Lol,” Bryan responded, “I thought it was supposed to be 'intimate'.”
“So did I! But there are people here I haven't seen since graduation. It's so fun!”
Bryan started to type out another text to complain, then deleted it. Then, he started to type a text asking about the guy standing next to her. But again, he deleted it. Bryan was a jealous guy in high school (he may still be with his high school girlfriend Rachael if he didn't get jealous at the slightest thing when she went away to camp between Junior and Senior years), but it was different with Maggie. Since he met her, Bryan was able to walk a tight rope of being both amazed that she was with him, while also very secure and trusting. He would not screw this up over a picture with some old frat guy.
But the drinks and the games kept flowing, until eventually Dave decided to take the walk back to his apartment and Bryan was left debating having one more. It was definitely one beer too many, but he was a bachelor for the weekend with nothing much to do. Why not?
He cracked open a bottle and pulled up Instagram. He had become friends with many of Maggie's sorority sisters, and their stories were filled with pictures from the night. As he spun through them he noticed that in the back of nearly every picture Maggie was next to that mystery guy. A familiar, old feeling started to bubble up in Bryan's chest-- it was kind of warm but biting.
Maybe he could've resisted, but not after this many beers. So instead, he text: “Hey babe, having fun?”
“OMG such a good time! There are people here I haven't seen in YEARS.”
Bryan smiled at how quickly the response came, that meant something, but his mind raced with images of this guy touching Maggie-- maybe his hand would just brush against the small of her back, or maybe drift a little lower and even give a grab. Maybe she'd like it. Bryan was starting to spiral.
And then the next text-- a picture of Maggie with her big smile next to her best friend Cat, the bride-to-be Brittany, and that guy from before.
“Who's that guy?” Bryan couldn't contain it anymore.
“Adam! Used to be such an ass, but he's really matured. It's great to see him!”
Bryan felt like he was punched in the stomach, but he also noticed something weird-- as the thoughts of Adam sneaking a kiss from Maggie in the bumping bar played in his head, he was getting hard.
“That's great, Mags. Someone for you to dance with while I'm here.”
The next text took longer. It may have only been two minute but it felt like an eternity. “Is that jealousy I hear? You know I love you.”
Bryan gulped-- he couldn't be that guy again. He had to go down a different path than he did with all of those girls before Maggie.
So instead he sent the text that changed everything:
“Not at all-- you're single this weekend. I want you to go dance with him and have fun.”
“Really?”
“Really...just tell me about it when I sleep off these beers.”
“Mwah, love you.”
Bryan put down the phone, and then did something that would stick with him: he pulled back up Instagram and gave himself the most mind-blowing orgasm he had in years looking at the picture of Maggie and Adam standing next to each other.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bryan woke up groggy and late on Saturday morning. On his phone was a picture of Maggie in bed, comforter just over her breasts, faking a yawn, “Morning sleepyhead!” She was the best at that sort of thing-- always bright and positive and incredible at sending pictures that were just on the innocent side of a tease.
He responded right away, noticing hers was sent an hour earlier. “Did you have fun last night?” And then he took stock of what happened the night before-- he didn't exactly regret the offer for Maggie to dance with the mysterious old friend Adam (something in his animal brain was telling him it was the best thing he'd ever done), but he was nervous about these renewed feelings of jealousy and arousal
His head returned to a familiar old fantasy-- when he and Rachael broke up in high school, rumors swirled that she ended up sleeping with his friend Tyler. Bryan never knew for sure, certainly not enough to confront Tyler, but something about it never left his head. He always pictured Rachael on her knees...
Right as he was starting to get to aroused, his phone buzzed.
“So much fun! We danced for about an hour after you went to bed. Way too late. Now we're all trying to get ready to go get our makeup done! So much to do.”
The slight arousal turned into a raging hard on. An hour dancing with Adam, and then what? Did they just separate off into their luxury hotel rooms to sleep? He shook his head to try to reset and noticed he had a headache.
“Danced....with Adam?”
“Not just him, silly,” the response came quickly, “Just a little bit. He's fun! He used to be such a jerk but he was always a party.”
“Oh good. He didn't try anything did he...” Bryan was slipping back into jealousy rapidly.
“No! I thought you weren't jealous!” Maggie protested.
Bryan didn't think long enough about his next response to lie, like he should've, “I'm not I wanted you to have whatever kind of fun you wanted lol.”
“I have to go get my makeup done! But you know I love you and would be having more fun if you were here.”
“I love you too, but do your best to have even more fun!”
Bryan didn't know what he was thinking. He just knew that he had never been more turned on than the idea of this fit old friend dancing with his beautiful wife.
But, there was a full day ahead to do nothing at all productive. Bryan's alma mater Penn State was playing Ohio State and he was going to meet a few buddies at a local bar to cheer them on. He washed up, threw on his blue and white jersey and headed out.
There was already a picture incoming from Maggie by the time he got there-- her and the girls toasting champagne in pink silk robes. Bryan knew he wouldn't get much chatting from her, but she was a selfie master and he appreciated the glances into the day.
Dave was already at the bar and a few of the others in the crew would be there soon as well. They had a table with a good view of one of the many TV's, right next to a table filled with a gaggle of attractive college aged girls in Ohio State jerseys.
The first half went well for the guys-- beers flowed freely, and the Nittany Lions kept up with the Buckeyes going into the half. Dave even started talking a little trash with the girls next to them. Bryan was a bit shy about the trash talk-- he was married and it all felt a little flirty-- so he took a moment to run to the bathroom and check his phone.
There was a text from Maggie: “Makeup and hair done, hope you're having fun with the boys! Off to the venue for a few drinks before it's go time!”
Bryan left it on read, then pulled up Instagram again. All of the girls' had posted pics from the day-- it was hard not to feel a little left out. And then he saw the one that triggered all of his fantasies: Cat posted a picture of each of the bridesmaids standing in front of their groomsmen pair, with Adams arm around Maggie's waist. He couldn't really zoom in, but the hand definitely wasn't hovering and it may have been grabbing a bit.
“So much fun, Lions playing great,” Bryan couldn't help himself, “You should be focused on your groomsman and having fun. Pretend I don't exist!”
“Oh hush, I can walk with Adam and still text you.” It was the first time she confirmed he was her pair, and so nonchalantly.
Bryan needed to get back to the table or everyone would start joking about how long he was in the bathroom. “Yeah, but don't. Focus on having fun-- you're his date for the night. You wouldn't text another guy while on a date with me. Getting back to the second half! Text later.”
This was rapidly spiraling out of control, but Bryan couldn't help himself-- the body wants what the body wants.