Katie let out a contented sigh as she stepped into her living room. It was only half past nine, but the day already felt like it was shaping up to be one of her best birthdays in several years. It started with an incredible breakfast in bed that her husband, Ken, had lovingly prepared, complete with all her favorites. When that was done, he surprised her with some beautiful hand-crafted birthday cards that their kids made for her before they left for summer camp on Monday. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, Ken gave her a gift certificate to her favorite spa and promised to take her out for a night on the town when he got home from work. It was such a loving start to her day.

After Ken headed off to work, Katie decided it would be fun to spend some of her birthday catching up on her favorite shows. After slipping into one of her husband’s old t-shirts and a pair of shorts, she headed to the living room sofa, grabbing her favorite purple blanket and the remote control on the way. She had just cuddled up under her blanket and was pointing the remote at the TV when a loud knock at the front door startled the woman. Katie let out a little sigh. It looked like catching up on TV would have to wait.

As she climbed off the sofa and made her way to the front door, the person on her front porch continued knocking. Katie shouted that she was coming as she picked up her pace. Grabbing the doorknob, Katie swung the door open and found herself staring at a man that she didn’t recognize. He was tall, with dark hair and a disconcerting smile. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something about the guy seemed a bit off.

“Hello,” she began cautiously, looking the man over. “Can I help you?”

“I sure hope so,” he began in a friendly tone. “I’m looking for an old friend of mine. A guy named Kenny Carpenter. We grew up together back in Pensacola. Is this his house?”

Katie’s eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry,” she replied with a tone of suspicion. “Who are you, exactly?” If there was one thing Ken absolutely hated, it was being called Kenny. Katie found it hard to believe that any friend of his would even jokingly refer to him by that name.

“Oh, right,” the man said, extending his hand. “I’m Russ. Russ Johnson.”

“Katie,” the woman replied as they shook hands while she tried to remember where she’d heard that name before. Suddenly, her eyes went wide with realization as she recalled the stories that Ken had shared with her about Russ. Snatching back her hand, she gave the man on her porch a deep scowl.

“Wait a minute,” she snarled. “You’re Russ Johnson? As in THE Russ Johnson? As in the asshole who followed my husband around all throughout high school, making his life a living hell? You’re that Russ Johnson, and you expect me to so much as give you the time of day? No, sir. You can just turn right around and get off my porch, and if I so much as see you looking at my property again, I’ll make sure it’s the last thing you do.”

Russ raised up a hand and attempted to say something, but Katie cut him off, slamming the door in his face. She grunted in anger as she set the lock. She was just about to march over to the sofa to grab her phone and call Ken when she heard Russ shout out from the other side of the door.

“Come on, Katie,” he pleaded. “I drove four hours to come up here and talk. I deserve to have you hear me out.”

Katie huffed angrily as she stared at the door. Russ was no friend of Ken’s. Ken had made that abundantly clear every time he told a horror story about him. One side of her brain was screaming to ignore his plea and call her husband, and maybe even the cops. At the same time, a small part of her had to admit that Russ had a point. It’s a long drive up from Pensacola, and maybe there was a valid reason that he’d come all that way. If he was willing to drive that far, maybe he really did deserve a chance to tell his story.

After another minute of thought, Katie let out a frustrated sigh and unlocked the door. Swinging it open, she gave Russ her toughest glare.

“I’ll give you ten minutes to explain,” she stated firmly. “Not a second more.”

“Thank you, Katie,” the man smiled. “That’s more than generous. May I come inside? Surely, I deserve the opportunity to sit down while we talk.”

Katie stopped to consider his words. “Alright,” she said, stepping aside so he could come into the house. “But I expect you to be on your best behavior.”

“Absolutely,” he promised.

Katie closed the door behind Russ and led him to the living room sofas, gesturing for him to take a seat across from her. Russ sat down, smiling at the woman as his eyes roamed across her body, eliciting another scowl from Katie.

“Now, like I said,” she began. “You’ve got ten minutes to explain yourself. What are you doing here? Looking to make Ken miserable again?”

“On the contrary, Katie, I came here to talk to you.” Katie gave Russ a confused look as he continued. “See, I’ve been trying to track Kenny down for years. He kind of slipped off my radar after high school, and I only recently learned that he was married and living all the way up here. When I found out that he had a wife, I just knew that I needed to come up here to find you and set the record straight about a few things between Kenny and me. I figured that you’d never heard my side of the story, and you really should hear the truth.”

“The truth?” Katie asked. “I think I know the truth. I sincerely doubt that Ken was lying when he told me all the ways you made him miserable over the years.”

“That’s just it,” Russ interjected. “Ken tells a convincing story, but I’m sure he left out the important parts. Go on and tell me what he’s told you about me. I deserve to know so I can tell you if it’s fair or not.”

“Fine. You want to hear what I know? I’ll tell you what I know. First off, let’s start with the fact that you told his family all kinds of lies and turned them against him. They literally kicked him out of his house at seventeen, and he had to resort to living with friends until he finished school. Years later, his own parents wouldn’t even come to our wedding because of whatever you said to them. Then there was the time that you stole his car for a week and wound up crashing it into a building, all without getting so much as a ticket, while Ken got hit with impound fees and a hefty repair bill. And of course, every time Ken had a girlfriend, you came in like some kind of lowlife and wooed them away from him. Ken was so terrorized by your actions that he had to cut all ties and move out of town just to escape the hell you seemed to love putting him through.”

Katie stared daggers at Russ as she finished her indictment against him. In response, Russ just kept smiling as though all of this was just a big game.

“See?” His grin only grew as he spoke. “Just as I thought, you haven’t heard the whole story. Kenny made me out to be some sort of villain, but that’s just not how it was. I’m sorry he lied to you, but there’s a lot more to what went on between us. I’d be happy to tell you, too. I think you deserve to hear my side.”

“What do you mean, he lied to me?” Part of Katie wanted to stand up and tell the man to get out right now. She couldn’t believe he’d make such an awful accusation about Ken in his own home, to his own wife. At the same time, a growing voice told her that Russ was right; she did deserve to hear things from his perspective. After all, there are two sides to every story, aren’t there? Katie thought for a minute, then decided she’d humor her husband’s bully. “If you’re saying there’s more to this story, then you’d better get talking, because you’re running out of time.”

“Thank you, Katie,” Russ replied. “Let’s start with the car incident. It’s true that I used his car for a week and crashed it at the end. But what you deserve to know is that Kenny actually lent me his car without telling me the brakes were going out. I had needed a car for a week while mine was in the shop. Kenny was almost excited to lend me his. At first I thought it was strange, because Kenny was always bullying me, but I was desperate and agreed to it.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Katie interrupted, her eyebrow arched. “Ken bullied you?”

“Absolutely. I know he played me up to be some big, mean bully, but in reality, it was Kenny who always picked on me. I swear it’s true. You can look me in the eyes and see I’m not lying. Surely I deserve to be believed about this.”

“I don’t know,” Katie said, even as she felt her heart sinking. Could this be true? Was her husband bullying Russ? The man seemed earnest enough in his admission. Despite just meeting him in person for the first time a minute earlier, something about the way he spoke seemed to exude truthfulness about this situation. For the first time in ten years of marriage, Katie felt herself seeing Ken in a different light. If Russ really was being truthful, this changed everything about how she saw her husband. As she slowly grappled with the possibility that Russ was telling the truth, he continued.

I swear, Katie, I’m being completely honest. Kenny was really the one pushing me around all along. When he gave me his car, he knew the brakes were going to go out. The reason I didn’t get in trouble from the police was because they knew I was being honest. You deserve to know that I’m a really upstanding guy, Katie. I’d never lie to you.”

“I, you, okay,” Katie stuttered as her mind swirled, throwing everything she thought she knew about her husband and his high school bully into question. “But, but what about all the other stuff?”

“You mean like how his parents kicked him out? That was because of how disgusted they were with him when I revealed the truth to them. It was the same thing with all of his girlfriends. Whenever I found out he was dating someone new, I went to them and set the record straight. That was why they dumped him and started going out with me. It was all because they realized, just as you are now, that Kenny wasn’t who he said he was. I’m the victim, not the bully, Katie. If anything, I deserve your sympathy while Kenny deserves your anger.”

Katie tried to collect her thoughts. Something about this all seemed wrong to her. In a decade with him, she’d never known Ken to be anything other than a kind, loving husband and father. All of this information coming out of left field almost left her head spinning and her brain feeling scrambled.

As Russ sat there staring at her, Katie found herself feeling more and more sorry for the man. Obviously, Ken must be incredibly manipulative if he had been able to hide all this from her for so long. All of Ken’s stories about Russ had seemed so authentic when she heard them. She took him seriously when he warned her never to talk to him if she ever saw him. She absolutely believed him when he had told her Russ was dangerous. Now it turned out that Ken was the bad guy, and Russ was a victim of his manipulation. The more she thought about it, the angrier she grew at her husband. How much of their marriage had been a lie, just like the lies Ken had told her about Russ? As a fury toward her husband began to grow inside her, Russ continued.

“Honestly, Katie, when it comes to ‘stealing’ his girlfriends, I was a hero for saving all those women from Kenny. I deserve admiration for keeping those women from falling for such an awful guy. That’s why I came here today, because I wanted to see if I could rescue you, too.

Katie frowned. “You’re right, Russ. I’m so angry at Ken and how he’s lied to me for all this time. Now that I see the truth, I really do admire you, and I can appreciate that you wanted to help me. The thing is, I’m afraid it’s too late for me. I’m married to Ken. We have kids. I don’t see a way that I can just walk away from him and our decade together, even if he’s lied to me for so long and was truly terrible to you.”

“You can do it, Katie,” Russ grinned. “You can do it, and I can help. I could see it in your eyes when we first met. You don’t really love Kenny. He deserves your contempt and not your love. You deserve to be hopelessly in love with a real man, a hero like me. Kenny deserves to be seen as a villain, and you deserve an escape from him, straight into my arms.”

Katie’s head swam as she processed the man’s words. She could feel her anger at Ken growing, swallowing up her love for him bit by bit. He really was a villain, she realized. Anyone who spent a decade lying to her while pretending to be the victim of a sweet, wonderful man like Russ deserved to be escaped from.

Russ. As her eyes met his, she realized how truly amazing he was. He was tall, dark, and handsome. Really, he was everything she had ever wanted in a man, especially in the way he sought to protect her from Ken. He drove hours out of his way, just for her, to try and rescue her even though it seemed like such an impossible task. He was sexy and perfect, and as she stared into his eyes, she realized that for so many years, she’d been in love with the bad guy while her true love was right here, in the very man that Ken had kept her from.

“Oh, Russ,” she finally said, leaning forward and taking him by the hand. “You’re right. About everything. I want out. How do we do it?”

Russ stood up, pulling Katie to her feet and drawing her close. “I hoped you’d see it my way. I can rescue you from all this, but first, I think we deserve to have a little fun. Why don’t you show me to your room? After all, I deserve to experience that hot little body of yours thanking me for coming to your rescue.”

Katie grinned, a thrill of excitement running through her body. She practically dragged Russ to her bedroom. As soon as they were through the doorway, the woman was all over him. Her lips mashed into his, quickly parting so their tongues could dance. Her hands roamed all over his body, pulling and tugging at garments. Russ responded in kind, letting his hands come up to Katie’s tits, eliciting a moan from the woman. Piece by piece, their clothes were lost to the floor until Katie was standing there naked, passionately making out with the man her husband had warned her about.

“I can’t wait to fuck you,” she groaned between kisses, pulling Russ closer to the bed. A moment later, she fell backwards onto her mattress, pulling Russ down on top of her. Russ quickly climbed up, positioning himself on top of the woman, pressing his lips into hers once again. As they made out, Russ shifted, lining his cock up at her sopping entrance. Katie reached down, taking hold of his member and guiding him into her. He entered her slowly, taking his time to press himself deeper and deeper into her tight, wet heat enveloping him. Katie let out a gasp, her nails digging into his back, urging him deeper.

“You like this, don’t you?” Russ nearly growled his words.

Katie nodded, the sensation of his cock filling her up and driving her wild. Russ pulled back before thrusting again, causing the woman to groan in pleasure. His thrusts continued, picking up a steady pace as their bodies began moving in sync. Their breath mingled. Their lips pressed against one another. The room filled with the sounds of their passion as they moaned and groaned, pushing each other for more. Katie bucked hard against her new lover, taking him as deeply as she possibly could. Russ pounded himself into the woman mercilessly, enjoying her squeaks of pleasure as she wrapped her legs around him harder.

“Oh, fuck!” Katie cried. “You fuck me so good, Russ. So… fucking… good!” The woman tried to say more, but Russ moved one of his hands over the woman’s clit, stimulating it as he thrust, transforming her into a babbling mess. In no time at all, Katie felt her orgasm rising up, and before she could even give it a thought, it erupted through her like a crashing freight train, sending her screaming as her body shook.

Before long, Russ was on the brink of orgasm himself. “Oh, God,” he moaned. “Here it comes! Oh, fuck, here I go!”

He buried himself inside Katie as deeply as he could, pressing hard against her as he erupted, his cock loading her up with load after load of white-hot cum. Katie groaned out again, using her legs to draw him as closely as she could. The man leaned in, kissing her on the neck, leaving a trail of marks on her body as he sucked and kissed his way to her lips.

As they slowly came down from the throes of passion, Russ smiled into Katie's eyes. “That was good,” he started. “I’m definitely keeping you. But first, there are a few more things that I deserve from you…”