Cuckold — -5-

And it was. It was bitter and sweet, like everything else.

The number was a whisper, not a verdict. Cuckold -5-

Outside, a car passed. Maybe Mark’s. Maybe not. And it was

“Mark thinks you should try the bitter marmalade.” not a verdict. Outside

He remembered the first time he watched. Not in person—God, no. Through a crack in the door, trembling, ashamed of his own pulse. She had laughed with the other man in a low, smoky way she never laughed with him. That laugh was a key turning in a lock he didn’t know he had.

The fifth was just the one where he stopped lying to himself.

He closed his eyes and thought: Tomorrow, I will learn to like the marmalade. End of piece.