14. ‘No hugs. No kisses, no hand holding etc. I was starving.’
“16-year marriage. Every night I would beg him for sex, every night he would make some excuse not to. He would then masturbate to pornography, while I lay in our room trying to figure out why I wasn’t enough. Every 10-12 months he would give in and we would have sex. Other than these times there was no physical touching. No hugs. No kisses, no hand holding etc. I was starving.
After one confrontation, he told me to go find a boyfriend but warned me no one else would want me.
So, I did. It only happened once, but it taught me some really valuable lessons, and gave me the courage to leave this sexually, financially and physically abusive marriage.
It took two years, but I left. I am with a man now who touches me all the time, treats me well and makes me incredibly happy.
Should I have cheated? No. But one partner does not get to totally dictate the couples sex life. I was scared and hurt and broken.”
15. ‘My head went to a dark place and figured he was cheating on me or didn’t love me anymore.’
“I was in a long-distance relationship—he moved for his career, I was supposed to follow once I figured my shit out.
So I hadn’t seen him in 6 months, he rarely wanted to Skype or talk on the phone, he didn’t want to come back to visit me (only me visiting him, he hated the state), I’d always text him first, etc. So I started distancing myself from the relationship, as I felt that’s what he was doing. My head went to a dark place and figured he was cheating on me or didn’t love me anymore. Lack of communication, I guess. I also felt I was becoming a clingy GF and I never wanted to be that girl (even in a long distance).
So I met this guy, we hit it off right away, there was so much mental and physical chemistry. We’d communicate a lot, he always wanted to hang out but I told him no, as I was in a relationship. But I think I hadn’t heard from my BF in week at one point, even after texts sent. So I hung out with the other guy and we ended up hooking up.
Do I regret cheating? Yeah. I broke it off with the BF the next week out of guilt, I never told him. I should’ve ended it well before that point, considering I was falling out of love. I was young and naive. But we both agreed the long distance wasn’t working. Haven’t talked to him since, but I have a feeling he’s doing all right in life.”
16. ‘My SO had cheated on me multiple times, and one night I said ‘fk it’ and went out to get drunk with work mates.’
“My SO had cheated on me multiple times, and one night I said ‘fk it’ and went out to get drunk with work mates. I met a guy that I worked with that treated me like a princess, was attentive and all around sweet. We hit it off. It wasn’t intentional, it just happened. I remember thinking that it was a bad idea and then thought ‘you know what, I deserve happiness too. It’s not all about [my SO].’ I left my SO the next day. Best decision I ever made.”
