The husband has a brother. He’s a young, fit guy. His parents helped him buy an apartment, so he moved in. We were invited to a housewarming party. To be honest, I expected to see his girlfriend at this meeting, but as it turned out, he had recently broken up with her.
My husband and I have known each other for over 4 years, the “spark” in our relationship has faded a bit. What keeps us together is more a sense of comfort and common plans for life than love. I have not felt passionate about him for a long time.
During the housewarming party I drank too much and allowed myself to relax-joking and keeping up conversations and dancing with other men. In the evening my husband, being the most sober, volunteered to escort home an acquaintance who had drunk too much at the table, and the landlord and I were left alone.
At first we just went out on the balcony for a smoke, but we got to talking and somehow our conversation turned into a flirtation. I was under the influence of alcohol and was just joking, relaxed and enjoying the attention of a young, handsome guy, but he took it seriously. I thought my husband’s brother understood that there could be nothing between us, I was against cheating in general, and here we were talking about a kinship. He acted strangely, but he didn’t allow himself anything extra that night. Fortunately, my husband came back soon after, and the young guy started acting normal again. We continued to have fun and relax, and toward morning we took a cab home.
A few days later I had already forgotten about the curiosity that had occurred. I only remembered when he asked to be my friend and started messaging me on social media. On the one hand it was a polite, friendly conversation, but on the other hand I understood that my husband’s brother was only interested in me because we were flirting. I tried to communicate with him dryly, and he backed off.
Soon, at a family reunion, he was just glaring at me, trying to catch me alone at every opportunity, and huddling in the hallway. I told him that he got it wrong, and that I was just joking, but he didn’t believe me. Now he keeps texting me and flirting with me.
My husband doesn’t notice what’s going on under his nose yet, otherwise a scandal would break out and I would be made extreme in it. From all their family gatherings I now disassociate myself, just to avoid running into this guy again. I hope he finds a girlfriend soon or makes up with his ex. But my husband’s brother recently said he would “open everyone’s eyes to me” if I don’t stop avoiding him. He thinks I’m playing with him.
I understand that I’m to blame for this situation, but I don’t want my marriage to collapse because of it. My husband has a very close relationship with his brother, and I’m afraid that he will believe him and not me.
