Ex-Appeal, first chapter preview

Ex Appeal

By Paul Garland

 

A Cuckold Collection Novel

All rights reserved by the Author.

Contents copyright 2020 © Paul Garland and Cerulean Publishing

Chapter 1

“This is so romantic,” Alexandria said to me and she was right. I wouldn’t consider myself the most romantic of men in the world, but here, walking along the Champs De Mars in Paris, the Eiffel Tower glowing ahead of us in the early evening sunlight, I could feel the fizzing energy in the air that could only be called romance.

“It is,” I agreed, taking a step back for a moment to admire the view. The Champs De Mars was beautiful, a wide green space at the very heart of Paris, full of lovers, strolling along hand-in-hand, just like Alexandria and I.

I let go of Alexandria’s hand for a moment and she turned around to see why.

“You okay, Joe?” she smiled at me, dazzling me with that smile like she always did. Alexandria was beautiful, no one could dispute that. She was short and petite with a tight, slim body that drove me crazy and turned heads wherever we went. She wasn’t busty, her breasts were just a B cup but were perfectly shaped with delicious pink nipples. What I loved about her most was her oval face, blue eyes, elegant features and her luscious, long waves of brunette hair. At the moment, she had the tips dyed blonde, which set off her complexion exquisitely. I was the luckiest man in the world, but I’d need every bit of luck I had for what I was about to do next.

“My shoelaces are untied,” I told her. “You keep walking. I’ll catch up in a second.”

Alexandria studied me for a moment as I bent down and began fiddling with my shoelace. “Okay. Whatever.”

As soon as she turned her back on me, I quickly re-tied the shoelace I’d just loosened and then reached into my jeans pocket for the ring I’d bought.

Catching up with her, I tapped her on the shoulder. “Alexandria?”

When she turned around, I dropped down onto one knee and I think she thought my shoes had come untied again. “Joe, not again?”

Then she saw the box in my hand.

“Alexandria,” I managed to say over the sound of my heart thudding in my chest. “Will you marry me?”

She didn’t reply. She just put a petite hand to her mouth in shock.

A small crowd had gathered around us now, mainly tourists, some of whom were talking photographs.

“Don’t keep me waiting.” I pleaded to her after a few moments.

Alexandria looked around at the circle of watchers then turned back to me.

“Yes,” she said but she didn’t look as happy as I thought she would.

I stood up and took her into my arms and noticed with some relief that she was at least emotional. Her light blue eyes were damp as she stared into mine and then kissed me.

“I love you,” I said, my own emotions rising.

“I love you too,” she smiled, “But we need to go somewhere and talk. I didn’t expect this.”

I was about to ask her what we needed to talk about but just as I opened my mouth, a Japanese couple approached me and gave me a polaroid picture they’d taken of the moment.

“Arigoto,” I thanked them in my very basic Japanese, but then Alexandria’s arm looped around mine, drawing me away through the now dispersing crowd.

“Aren’t you going to put the ring on?” I asked. She hadn’t even looked at it properly and I’d spent ages choosing it. Gold, inlaid with a beautiful emerald.

“Wait until we’ve talked,” she told me as she dragged me into a nearby cafe where we sat down. “You might want to get us drinks,” she suggested and I began to sense that something was wrong.

“What’s up?” I asked, after getting us both a beer. “You’re not already married or something, are you?” I laughed. “I don’t see how. You’re only eighteen.”

I knew we were young. I was only twenty-one but we’d been together a while and I knew she was the one. I didn’t know how. I just knew. It felt right. I’d planned this whole trip just so I could do this. Propose to the girl I loved.

“That’s the problem,” Alexandria sighed, taking my hands in hers across the cafe table. “I’m only eighteen.”

“But you love me,” I pointed out. I was prepared for this conversation. I could handle it, I’d gone through it in my mind. “And I love you. We’ve been together long enough, you know how well we get on.”

“I know I said ‘yes’ out there,” Alexandra pointed out through the window towards where I’d proposed. “But I only said that so as not to humiliate you in front of all those people.”

“So, you’re saying ‘no’?” I said slowly, trying to comprehend. “Why?”

“I’m eighteen,” she shrugged. “I’m too young to get married.”

“Then why even be my girlfriend?” I scratched my head. “That’s a commitment in itself. If you’re not ready to settle down, then why even be in a monogamous relationship.”

“Because I love you,” Alexandria smiled again, her blue eyes twinkling in the candlelight from the lit candle on the table. “I love being your girl. But why can’t we just keep it at that for now? Talk about marriage sometime in the future, when we’ve lived a bit?”

“Lived a bit?” I repeated dumbly. “We can ‘live a bit’ if we’re engaged. We don’t have to get married straight away. We can have a long engagement and then when we do get married, I’m not saying we have to have kids right away or-”

“Woah there,” her hand clasped mine, squeezing hard. “Slow right down. Kids?”

“I’m sorry.” I realised I was getting carried away. This hadn’t gone to plan at all, not the way I’d envisioned it going.

“Oh, Joe,” Alexandria leaned forward, probably seeing the dejection in my face. “I love you. That’s a good thing, right? I’m having the best time here in Paris. Let’s not ruin it by falling out?”

“You don’t know how much I’ve put into this,” I said softly.

“I do and I appreciate it so much, I really do.” Alexandria looked at me, working out what to say. “Look, I’m going to come clean about something. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while now.”

“What?” Just when I thought this couldn’t get any worse, it suddenly felt like it was going to get worse.

“It doesn’t matter,” Alexandria’s posture altered. She sat back from me, her arms folding across her chest.

“Yes, it does,” I said, reaching out towards her but she stayed leaning away. “Tell me.”

“It’s just...” she was shaking. What was wrong with her?

“Just what?”

“I don’t know how to say this,” she gazed at me, chewing her lip nervously.

“Just say it. Whatever it is.”

“Getting married is a big thing,” she explained. “Huge. I don’t feel ready. There’s too many things I want to do before I ever get married.”

“Like what?” I countered. This was okay. She was going back to the arguments I’d roughly planned out in my head. “Whatever it is you want to do, we can do it while we’re engaged. I’m patient. I can wait as long as you want to before actually getting married. I just want you to wear that ring. It’d make me the proudest man in the world.”

Alexandria looked down at the ring, taking it out of the box.

“It’s beautiful,” she gasped, seeing it properly for the first time. “But there are things I want to do that I can’t, if we get engaged.”

“Like what?” I questioned her again. “We’ll just be engaged. What does that change? There’s nothing you can do now that you can’t if we’re promised to each other.”

“Yes, there is.” She put the ring back in the box.

“I don’t understand,” I said but it was starting to dawn on me. “I’m not enough for you. Am I?”

“Yes you are. Look, when I get married,” Alexandria explained. “I want to do it properly. I want to be yours. I don’t ever want to cheat on you.”

“Which is a good thing,” I scratched my head, wondering where she was going. “What’s the problem with that?”

“So to me, getting married means sleeping with just one man for the rest of my life.”

“I get that,” I took a large gulp of my beer, slowly figuring it out.

“And I’m not ready to commit to that yet,” Alexandria said, then quickly took a drink of her own beer. “I’m sorry, Joe. I just don’t think I can go through life only ever having sex with you. There’s so much out there to explore. So many experiences to have.”

“So you want to break up?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“No!” Alexandria finally leaned towards me and seized my non-bottle-holding hand. “I love you. I don’t want to break up. I just can’t commit to marrying you while I’ve got this feeling - these urges - inside me. It wouldn’t be fair on you. If you want to break up though, then I understand.”

“Breaking up is not an option,” I swallowed deeply, my mind working hard to process what she’d just told me. “I’ve told everyone I was going to ask you to marry me. My family, my friends, they’re all waiting for me to ring them and tell them you said ‘yes.’ I was so sure you would.”

“I have an idea,” Alexandria suggested. “You’ll say no and probably dump me, but I guess this is kind of a make or break night for us. I don’t want it to be, but it kind of feels that way, now I’ve said what I’ve said.”

“You’re probably right,” I shrugged. “So what’s your idea?”

“Maybe we should have a short break from each other when we get home,” her hand was still squeezing mine. “Just temporary. Let me get a few things out of my system. Then, when I’m ready. We’ll get back together and we’ll get engaged. I promise.”

“I can’t do that,” I replied sadly. “When I tell everyone you said no, they’ll laugh at me. Not to my face, but they will. It’ll just make me feel shit.”

“I see,” Alexandria slumped forward, taking her head in her hands “Joe, I’m so sorry.”

Then I realised something from what I’d just said.

“When you said ‘get things out of your system’, you mean guys, right?” I asked. “You want to sleep with some other men. Experience the things you mentioned. Do all the exploring you need to do. That’s what you meant, right? Exploring guys, experiencing different men.”

Alexandria didn’t lift her head out of her hands. “Yes,” she said simply.

I was so desperate for her to say ‘yes.’ I’d do anything for this girl. There was a way. If she was willing to take it.

“What if I said that I will let you do that?” I asked, lowering my voice so no one in the cafe could overhear.

“What do you mean?” she replied, still not showing her face.

“Say ‘yes.’ Put the ring on. Let’s go home as an engaged couple and in return, I’ll let you do whatever you want. Do whoever you want. I don’t want to lose you. If it means marrying you, I’m prepared to let you explore and experience stuff.”

“Really?” she finally looked up, a curious look on her face. Her mascara was streaked around her eyes. She’d been crying. “But you’ll hate me.”

“I could never hate you,” I reached across and wiped at the mascara, trying to clean it away but only making it worse. “You do what you need to do and only when you’re ready will we actually start planning the ceremony.”

“What if it takes a long time?” she smiled weakly.

“I’d be lying if I said I’ll wait forever,” I smiled back, “But I’ll give you as long as you need.”

“You’d do that for me?” Alexandria asked. “Let’s just get this clear. You’ll let me have sex with other men while we’re engaged? We are talking about the same thing right?”

“If that’s what it takes,” I couldn’t believe I was saying this, but I was. “You’re worth it.”

Alexandria took the box, opened it and pulled out the ring. She grinned then let me slide the ring onto the third finger of her left hand.

“In that case,” she leaned in and kissed me. “Yes. I will marry you, Joe. Let’s do this.”