Member-only story
Bedroom Secrets
Do open marriages work? Would it save our relationship?
“Dave, what would you think about us having an open marriage?”
“What?” Dave rolled over to face me with arched eyebrows and his mouth agape. He looked wide awake now. “What’d you say?”
The room was dark with only a sliver of moonlight, but I couldn’t look him in the face. I lay on my back and stared at the ceiling. I felt the heat rise into my face as I tried to explain. “Well, it just seems like we live separate lives these days. You do your thing and I do my thing.” I cleared my throat as I tried to think of the best way to proceed. “And I was starting to feel guilty that I couldn’t give you what you wanted in bed.”
Truthfully, I felt the opposite. My sexual urges felt like a boiling kettle about to blow its lid. But I couldn’t bring myself to have sex with a man who made me angry all the time. Over the years I thought about divorcing Dave, but it just didn’t seem possible. I couldn’t deny that despite all Dave’s faults, he was a good provider and he was the children’s father. It just didn’t seem right splitting up the family because I was unhappy.
“Don’t you think it would be nice that you could go out with other women and not have to worry about my finding out?” I asked. “I mean, I saw how you looked at that waitress…
