The Home-wrecker

I've been faithful long enough. I never claimed to be a good man, but I've always done what was expected of me. Find a nice girl. Get married. Have children. That was my duty as a good Christian man. And everything was going as planned when I met Briar. Beautiful. Charismatic. Sexy. But marriage is hard, and after seven years, I feel like I'm failing. Then, a figure from my past enters the picture. Dean Sheridan is cocky and charming. When this twenty-six-year-old needs a place to stay, I should turn him away-especially after I notice the spark between him and my wife. But I don't. When I pressure him about his relationship with Briar, he does the last thing I expect. He dares me. He thinks he can take what's mine. And if it's a challenge he wants, it's a challenge he'll get. What started as a game becomes so much more. Between them. Between us. This isn't how normal couples behave. The games we're playing are dangerous. And the roles we're playing are far more. But God help me, I can't seem to stop. What we're doing is wrong, but it feels so right, and before long, I don't recognize the good husband I used to be.

I've been faithful long enough. I never claimed to be a good man, but I've always done what was expected of me. Find a nice girl. Get married. Have children. That was my duty as a good Christian man. And everything was going as planned when I met Briar. Beautiful. Charismatic. Sexy. But marriage is hard, and after seven years, I feel like I'm failing. Then, a figure from my past enters the picture. Dean Sheridan is cocky and charming. When this twenty-six-year-old needs a place to stay, I should turn him away-especially after I notice the spark between him and my wife. But I don't. When I pressure him about his relationship with Briar, he does the last thing I expect. He dares me. He thinks he can take what's mine. And if it's a challenge he wants, it's a challenge he'll get. What started as a game becomes so much more. Between them. Between us. This isn't how normal couples behave. The games we're playing are dangerous. And the roles we're playing are far more. But God help me, I can't seem to stop. What we're doing is wrong, but it feels so right, and before long, I don't recognize the good husband I used to be.