SUMMER SWAP // Part 3 // Chapter 2

Cheyenne’s cheeks had blossomed a pinky hue under her suntan. There was a shine to her eyes. Instead of feeling jealous, he was excited for her. Excited that she was excited at the prospect of being with Philippe.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I was thinking about it, too. What kind of couple would you have to be?”

“You said they would have to be in love.”

“We’re totally in love.”

“I really do love you. And I know you love me.”

“We’ve never strayed.”

“I’ve never even thought about it,” she said, chuckling.

“Then why would we even think about this?”

“I know, right?” she said, still smirking.

“I don’t think it’s that crazy,” he said.

“You don’t?”

“Do you?”

Cheyenne shook her head no. Not eager, going slow and tentative, still assessing the situation.

They were quiet for a long time, both of them breathing, not looking at each other. They both stared across the room, deep in contemplation. He wanted her to speak first, was dying to hear what her next thought would be, and each heartbeat brought him closer to being the one who would blurt it out.

Cheyenne whispered, “Yeah, I wonder.”

“I wonder too.”

“I mean . . .”

“Yeah?” He turned to face her, scooted closer, and she turned her hips. He put a hand over her knee and thumbed her kneecap. “What do you wonder?”

Cheyenne took a deep breath and said it: “I wonder if we could do that?”

An unstoppable smile spread across his face. “I’ll tell you, even the fact that you’re wondering excites me.”

She sucked her lower lip into her mouth and looked in his eyes, showing a glimmer of fear.

He smiled. “It’s so crazy. Not the idea of doing it, but how much excitement I get from the thought of you with another man.”

Her expression scrunched into disbelief. “Are you serious?” Her voice was a thin small whisper.

He nodded. “What do you think?”

She put a hand over his, laying on her knee. “I want to hear you ask me.”

“I’ll ask you. I want to hear you ask me, too.”

“You first.”

“I think I might like to give it a try. You know . . . Swing.”

Her eyes widened, her lower lip plopped out. He could see her chest rise and she took another deep breath. She said, “I think I’d like to . . .”

“Sleep with another man.”

Cheyenne gulped, bit her own lips, eyes going even wider. Then a smile brought her lips back to normal. She whispered, “Sleep with another man.”

He swept his hand up her thigh. “Why does that turn me on?”

“I don’t know,” she said, cuddling closer to him. She touched his lower lip. “I have to be honest, Byron: I absolutely hate the idea of you with another woman.”

“You don’t want me to?”

“Byron, the only way I would do it is if it was fair.”

“It doesn’t have to be fair. I really am excited.”

“No,” she said. “I don’t want it like that. I would feel . . .”

“Guilty?”

“Totally.”

“Wouldn’t you just feel special?”

She laughed. “I already feel special.”

“You are special,” he said, brought his hand up to cup her neck and thumbed her jawline. She kissed the heel of his hand. This bit of unexpected honesty was doing something strange to them. Any of that awkwardness and chagrin they held toward each other when they arrived on Friday night was melting. He was accepting her as an individual again. Not as her function as his partner, but a human being, a real live woman he was in love with. And seeing her this way was making him appreciate her. A whole new facet of his wife’s shining diamond reflecting light back at him. He brought her in for a kiss. She touched his neck when their lips came together. “This is so crazy,” she said before they kissed.

“I want to do it.”

“I want to do it too,” she said. “I can’t believe I want to do it. I can’t believe you’re not mad.”

“I’m excited.”

She bit her lower lip. “When?”

“Honest? As soon as possible. Before we come to our senses.”

“It’s not a good idea if you think we might change our minds.”

“I still think we should do it soon. Like, I mean—”

“Tonight?”

“Oh boy,” he said, laughing, putting a fist to his chest. “Tonight?”

“Is that too soon?”

“No. I’m the one who said it should be soon. Look at my hands.” He held out his hands for her to show they slightly trembled.

She gathered his wrists and brought his hands so she could kiss the backs of both of his knuckles.

She said, “You’re right. Soon. Like tonight.”

“And you’re not going to be mad at me?”

“I’m not excited. I’m not excited like you’re excited for me. But I do feel kind of a weird curiosity.” She turned up her nose, made a funny face, shrugged her shoulders up high. “Is that okay?”

“Tell me it’s okay. I have to hear you say it.”

“It’s okay,” she said, some of the glee gone from her now, taking this more seriously, running four fingertips on his chest and watching her hand. “Just don’t like it too much, or anything.”

“I don’t want you to be jealous, Chey.”

“I’m a big girl,” she said. Now she looked up at him, and he kissed her forehead. He ran his hand through his hair, drawing in a deep breath. “What are we supposed to tell Cody?”

“What do you mean?”

He said, “I guess Carla will tell him.”

Cheyenne was still frowning. “Tell him what?”

“That I’m going to . . . you know . . . with Carla.”

Cheyenne frowned at him, shaking her head, lifting a hand up in a What the fuck are you talking about? gesture.

He said, “Well, you know. We’re going to . . . What if he doesn’t—”

“He’s going to be with me, Byron. I don’t get what you’re talking about.”

He shook his head. “Cody?”

“What are we talking about here?”

“You and Cody?” He said it as if it just occurred to him.

“What on earth are you talking about? Of course Cody. We’re talking about swinging.”

“Ah,” he said, palming his forehead, then running his palm down his nose and over his mouth. Embarrassed.

“What the hell, Byron. Did you want a threesome with Carla, you and me?”

“No,” he said, “no, that’s not what I was thinking.”

“What were you thinking?”

“I thought you and . . . Philippe. No?”

Cheyenne laughed and shook her head as she tried to comprehend him. “Philippe’s not a swinger.”

“We’re not either. And he’s single. Plus, I thought, you know, you guys were down in the bathroom for all that time.”

Cheyenne rested a palm on her forehead and chuckled to herself for a good while. Then she said, “You’re so stupid.”

“I am so stupid. I was thinking of you and Philippe.”

“Oh,” she said, then he saw her features shrink with disappointment. Her lower lip pooched out. Chey was worried he would call it off now.

“Hey, no, it’s okay,” he said, laughing and circling an arm around her waist and rubbing her back. “I was just mixed up.”

“I don’t want that thing Philippe has anywhere near this area,” she said, circling a hand around her pelvis. “So it’s okay? Me and Cody?”

“I don’t know, yeah,” he said. “Probably even better than you and Philippe.” He was kind of glad Chey was frightened of Philippe’s penis.

“So you thought about me and Philippe?”

“I don’t know why my head was there. It’s just . . . I thought you were attracted to him.”

“This isn’t about attraction.”

“No, I know, you’re right.”

“Are you attracted to Carla?”

“No. That’s not it. Like you said, I’m just—”

“Curious.”

“Yeah, curious. Yeah, you and Cody. That’s even easier to take.”

“Why?” she said and chuckled, slinking against him, purring practically, rubbing his shoulder.

“Like you said—Philippe’s, you know . . . big down there.”

“Okay,” she said. “I thought you were worried I was attracted to him.”

“Worried you were attracted to that dong he had.”

“Don’t be gross,” she said, and kissed him again.

And with her body against his, things were happening. He kissed her fully and deeply, wanting her tongue, sucking on her lips and hugging her tight. She began to stroke her knee up and down his thigh, and he grew incredibly hard. While they kissed, he stroked down her arm, took her wrist and guided her hand between his legs. She palmed his aching erection and laughed into his mouth. “This is so for real.”

“This is very, very real, Chey. And it has nothing to do with me and Carla. I’m only thinking about you.”

“You’re bad,” she said, stroking her palm up and down the underside of his erection, and handling his balls.

“Are you bad, too?”

“I guess I am,” she said, and kissed him again. He rolled on top of her, and she hugged him. But when he kneed open one of her thighs, she resisted.

“You don’t want to?”

“I’m dying to. I’m really dying to. I want to save it.” She cupped her hands to his cheeks and drummed fingers on his cheekbones.

“I’m so in love with you,” he said and kissed her forehead again.

“And I love you,” she said and kissed his chin.

“But I want rules,” he said.

“Of course,” she said, that loving expression gone as she renewed her serious face. “We should have rules.”

“So what are our rules?” he said, rolling off and laying side-by-side with her. He grimaced and adjusted his pants. She patted his erection, smiling at him.

“Condoms,” he said.

“Of course condoms.”

“How about you? Anything for me to know. Anything off the table?”

She thought about it, her mouth working around.

He said, “What about mouths?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Yeah. I don’t know.” Her brow lowered. “Mouths.”

“What do you think?” he said, his thoughts entirely on whether Carla would go down on him. He hoped the answer was yes.

Cheyenne said, “If you let me, I want to.”

“You want to?”

“Use my mouth.”

“On Cody?”

She said, “I’m having trouble if you’re understanding what we’re talking about here.”

“No, of course, I know. I just . . . It surprises me to hear that. You want to go down on Cody?”

“If you’re okay with it.”

He shook his head again, still uncomprehending. “You want to suck Cody’s cock?”

“Can I?”

His features constrained, and his body stiffened. Chey asked him if he was okay. He made a low grumbling sound and rolled over on top of her. She laughed, put her hands on his waist and he humped his erection between her legs. “What the hell, Chey? Why does that turn me on so much?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I thought we were just coming up with rules.”

“You just hit me over the head with that. You want to suck another man’s cock? You want to suck Cody’s cock?”

“We’re swinging, aren’t we?” she said, smiling.

He stayed still, the belly of his cock mushed into the soft space between her legs. The expression of joy on Cheyenne’s face did weird things to his heart. Renewed his love for her in the strangest way. Returned jealousy into the relationship. There were times when they were dating that were so intense because he worried he wouldn’t be good enough. Worried she would run off with some other suitor. But he’d won her. Won her and somehow they’d become comfortable and complacent. But now he was rock hard and his heart beat strongly against this strange vice that clamped it. “This is doing crazy things to my heart.”

“Mine too.”

“I love you so much.”

She said, “How can this be so right?”

“I have no idea. But it is. Isn’t it?”

“I feel, like, so tingly all over.”

“Me too,” he said. “My heart is absolutely pounding. You better not chicken out,” he said and bit her neck.

“You better not either,” she said, rubbing hands on his back.