Three’s A Crowd: Love, Lust or the Latter?

“I’m almost there—keep going, baby!” the woman moaned, breathless and panting. She was naked, bent over at the edge of the bed, her face pressed into the pillow. “f**k,” the man growled behind her, sweat dripping from his brow as he lost himself in the ecstasy of the moment. Her moans pushed him over the edge, and he began to pound faster, his control slipping with every thrust. They were so consumed by pleasure, so lost in each other, that they didn’t hear the sound of the front door unlocking—or see Michaela stepping into the apartment with quiet footsteps and a heavy heart. She had just finished work early and decided to surprise her boyfriend, using the key he had gifted her just a month ago. But the moment she walked in, the unmistakable sounds coming from the bedroom told her everything she needed to know. Her eyes darkened. Jaw clenched. She slipped off her heels and crept down the hallway, her footsteps silent on the hardwood floor. She paused at the slightly ajar bedroom door and peeked through the c***k. And what she saw made her stomach churn. “Yes, yes, yes!” the woman moaned shamelessly. “I wish you’d just break up with your girlfriend so we could do this all the time.” Michaela’s heart dropped. Her fists clenched. Ethan, her boyfriend, didn’t respond. He didn’t want to talk about his girlfriend—not when he was lost in lust. Instead, he pulled out and slammed back into the woman with force, silencing her words with a loud cry of pleasure. A sharp smack to her ass followed, echoing through the room. Michaela’s mouth fell open. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe. She blinked, stunned, trying to process the betrayal happening right in front of her. The man she thought she loved—the man she hadn’t even been intimate with yet—was giving himself so freely to another woman. She had been waiting, wanting to be sure it was real before taking that next step. Meanwhile, he couldn’t even wait. A wave of jealousy washed over her as she watched the woman moan in pleasure. It was too late to stop them. But damned if they were going to finish. “Ride me, baby,” Ethan ordered as he lay back on the bed. With a giggle, the woman climbed on top of him, straddling him without hesitation. Michaela stepped fully into the room, her arms folded across her chest, a storm brewing behind her eyes. They were too deep in their lust to notice her presence. Ethan moaned and sucked her n****e while she rode him, eyes squeezed shut. But then she opened them—and froze. Her scream pierced the room. She leapt off him like she’d seen a ghost, scrambling for the sheets. Ethan’s eyes shot open. His breath caught in his throat as he met the icy gaze of his girlfriend standing just feet away, looking like she’d been lit on fire from the inside. “Baby! Wait—I can explain! It’s not what it looks like— I didn’t mean—” His words fumbled, pathetic and empty. Guilt sank into his face as he realized just how badly he had messed up. Michaela said nothing. She didn’t need to. Her silence screamed louder than anything he could’ve imagined. The woman in the bed pressed herself against the headboard, a thin sheet covering her body. She smirked, assuming she’d finally won—but her smile quickly faded as Ethan ignored her entirely and dropped to his knees. “Please, baby, I’m so sorry,” he begged. “She doesn’t mean anything to me. I’ve been waiting for you, but I’m human, I have needs—please don’t leave me!” Michaela looked down at him with disgust. This wasn’t the man she thought she loved. This was someone else entirely—a desperate, naked coward groveling on the floor. “Go f**k yourself,” she said coldly. “Or f**k her again for all I care. You ruined your chance with me.” She hurled the key to his apartment at his chest. It hit him and dropped to the floor with a metallic clink that echoed louder than his sobs. And with that, Michaela turned and walked out of his life—for good. The second the door slammed behind her, the tears came. Hot, bitter, unstoppable. She had stayed strong in the room, but outside, everything hit her at once: the betrayal, the heartbreak, the humiliation. Ethan was her first boyfriend. The man she had planned to lose her virginity to. She had let her guard down, believed in the possibility of love. And in return, she got this. She walked aimlessly, tears blinding her until she could barely see. As she neared her apartment, she tripped on a broken sidewalk, landing hard on her knees. A sharp pain ripped through her leg—glass embedded itself into her skin. She screamed, both from the pain and everything else she had been holding in. Strangers passed by, casting sympathetic looks, but no one stopped. She cried there on the ground for what felt like forever, raw and wrecked. Eventually, she forced herself to stand. Limping home, she cleaned the wound, bandaged it as best she could, and collapsed onto her bed. The cut was deep. It would probably scar. Just like her heart. And with that final thought, Michaela cried herself to sleep, vowing never to fall for love again.