“Absolutely. As long as I get to date other people too.”
For one brief moment, uncertainty flashed across his face.
Then he laughed it off.
“Sure, why not?”
Oh, Dave.
He had absolutely no idea what he’d just agreed to.
A week later, Dave was discovering that the modern dating world wasn’t nearly as welcoming as he’d imagined.
Every evening, he sat on the couch swiping through dating apps as if persistence alone would guarantee success.
It didn’t.
“Another one canceled,” he muttered one night, dropping onto the couch beside me.
I was folding laundry and doing my best not to look entertained.
“She said she’s ‘taking a break from men.’ What does that even mean?”
He genuinely looked at me as though I might translate the mysterious language of women for him.
I shrugged.
“Maybe she sensed your desperation through the app?”
Dave frowned.
“You’re not helping.”
One morning, while he showered before work, curiosity got the better of me and I looked through his phone.
I knew I shouldn’t have.
But what I found was almost sad.
Rejected invitations.
Awkward conversations.
Matches that disappeared.
Women who stopped responding after a few messages.
Part of me had worried he might immediately find someone amazing and make me regret agreeing to his experiment.
Instead, his dating life was collapsing before it had even begun.
Mine was another story entirely.
Enter Shawn.
He was a coworker of mine—attractive, confident, with intense eyes and one of those smiles that made people instinctively smile back.
During a coffee break, I casually mentioned Dave’s open-relationship proposal.
“Wait, so your husband actually suggested this?” Shawn asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yup. Crazy, right?”
Shawn laughed and shook his head.
“Well, his loss is my gain. I’d be happy to take advantage of his crazy decision, if you’ll let me?”
With a smile like his, saying no wasn’t easy.
We started with coffee.
It went surprisingly well.
Really well.
Eventually, I invited him over for dinner.
That evening, I spent more time getting ready than I had in years. I slipped into a beautiful new dress, did my makeup carefully, and felt a thrill of anticipation I had almost forgotten existed.
I cooked an impressive dinner and, just before Shawn was supposed to arrive, sent Dave a message.
***Don’t come home tonight. My date might go to the next level.***
I hit send.
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