Chapter 3

“Daddy? Are you okay? You’ve been kind of ... off ... recently.” Allie placed her hand over mine at the table.

I blinked, not even having registered the last few moments. “I’m sorry, Allie. What did you say?”

She squeezed my hand, worry playing across her adorable little face. “If you’re tired, we don’t have to do this. We can just do the daddy-daughter night another time.”

I shook my head, the restaurant coming back into my view. I had been lost in my mind again. It had been happening more frequently since that time with Candice.

“No. No, I’m fine. I’m sorry, sweety. Work has just been a bit hectic. I’m here.” I smiled at her, my other hand rubbing hers on the table. “What were you saying?”

Allie still looked worried, but her shoulders settled a bit at my reassurances. She sat back on the curved couch next to me. It was the booth we’d been using for the better part of a decade, and she still sat beside me rather than opposite me.

“I was asking you about what you thought about college. I really don’t want to be away from you. New York is such a big place. Maybe I could stay local? I don’t really know what I want to study anyway. I could always transfer later.”

“I know it can be scary, baby. And yes, the big city is very different from Sanderson.”

“That’s just it, daddy. I’ve only ever known this, but I love it here. I don’t want to leave.”

I smiled, rubbing her leg comfortingly. “You don’t have to leave. You know we’d be happy to keep you here forever. All in your own time.”

She sniffled, her eyes growing slightly red. She dabbed her eyes briefly before leaning her head onto my shoulder. “Thank you, daddy. I was worried you’d tell me that I should leave.”

I kissed her head, the smell of her shampoo played lightly in my nose. “Never. You’ll always have a home with us.”

She nodded and intertwined her fingers with mine below the table. The silence lingered.

“Have you been okay, daddy?”

“Of course. Why?”

“You look kind of tired.”

She wasn’t wrong. Not even an hour before our little date had Candice come over unannounced. I had made up an excuse to run to the store, fearing that she would make me fuck her in the house where Amy and Allie were. We had pulled off the road into a quiet spot and fucked until she had screamed so loud it had startled the deer. I could still smell her on me.

Candice had been coming by more frequently now, and I was becoming a nervous wreck. I could hear her heels clicking in my mind, see that slow smile of hers, smell her scent, feel her burning eyes on me. Anytime she was near, I was rock-hard.

Allie snuggled into me, my arm pressing between her soft mounds. “We could do a quiet movie night at home after this. Just cuddle up like we used to. Popcorn, sodas, what do you think?”

“That sounds wonderful, sweety. It’s been too long since we’ve done that.”

She kissed my cheek softly. “I love you, daddy.”

I popped the top off another beer and leaned back in the chair, lightly thumping against the basement wall of Geoff’s house. He had repainted it last year, so it wasn’t as depressing as it used to be. Andrew and Geoff had gone to grab some chips during our half-time, leaving me making small talk with Ryan.

“You alright, Dan? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone lose so many hands in a row.”

I shook my head ruefully, “What can I say? Luck is a fickle mistress.”

He chuckled, taking a swig of his beer. We’d all been hanging out more often, getting together every other week for a game of cards. It was all in good fun, so no one lost more than a handful of dollars.

“Hey, uh, you’ve lived here for a while. Have you ever noticed anything ... I don’t know ... weird about this place?”

“You’ll have to be more specific. There are a lot of weird things here. The town is run by generations of the same family, just about all blonde, blue-eyed and stacked. Or do you mean the lack of good internet providers? The suspiciously large number of potatoes and beef this town runs on?”

“No, it’s the eyes, they, well, never mind. I’m just being paranoid.”

Geoff came down the stairs, a giant bowl of chips in one hand and a big bowl of salsa in the other. “Paranoid? Paranoid about what?” He set the bowls on the tables and sat in his chair.

“Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? Like you can feel eyes staring? Like you’re a piece of meat being evaluated?”

An odd dropping sensation in the pit of my stomach hit me at those words. I tried to shake it off, but I knew what he was talking about. Ms. Kenzie at the school, Allie’s swim instructor, that random woman on the street. I’d swear they were like lions eyeing a juicy piece of meat. Worst of all was Candice. Her blue eyes followed me everywhere. They laughed at my attempts to escape her clutches.

I was lost in my own world of Candice’s burning gaze as Geoff nodded. “Yeah, I do.” He leaned forward. “When did it start?”

“Some time after I moved here. Not always, but sometimes when I’m at the gym, or grabbing a coffee, or even just sitting in traffic.”

“Is Lanie with you?”

“Yeah--, no! No, it’s whenever I’m alone.”

“They’re watching you. Stick with her. I do the same with Kenzie. Don’t stray from her for too long.”

I only partially registered what they were going on about. All I could see was Candice’s eyes blazing in mirth as I railed against her, desperate to find a way out. She was always watching.

“Always watching,” I mumbled to myself.

“What did you say?”

I shook my head, waving my hand as if brushing the matter aside. “No, nothing. I was thinking of something else.”

“Dan, are they watching you?”

“Geoff, I’m not buying into your curse theory. There is no ‘they’.” I said it with more conviction than I felt. I stood up, placing the nearly empty bottle on the table. “Listen, I gotta go before I lose any more.”

As I headed up the stairs I caught Geoff whispering, “They’re watching us.”

Burning blue eyes followed me wherever I went. I could feel them on my skin. The small hairs on my neck prickled as those gazes raked me. Ever since that conversation in Geoff’s basement, I had grown more aware of it. I was only ever safe with my family, but even then, I was never safe from her.

My cock twitched as Candice’s voice drawled over the phone in Amy’s hand.

“Amy, would you be a dear and have Dan come over? I swear there is a leak somewhere under the sink, and I’m hopeless with the tools. Martin was always the handy one.”

“Let me ask.” She turned to me as I sat rooted to the chair. I hadn’t moved an inch since hearing her velvety voice over the speakerphone. “Dan, do you have time to help Candice out?”

“I, uh, I don’t have the tools,” I offered lamely.

“Don’t be silly, Dan. I have everything you need. Right. Here.”

I could practically hear her eyes squinting and her lips tightening as she spoke.

“Uh, sure. I’ll, uh, be over in a bit.”

“Good b-- Dan. I’ll see you soon.” I knew she had pretended to nearly slip and call me a ‘good boy’. She was reminding me of my place in the pecking order.

I hated how good she looked in that short silken robe of hers. It was tied loosely at her waist, displaying her toned and tight body from one bare shoulder to her navel, with her nipples just barely holding the robe closed, their hard nubs clearly visible against the satiny material. The hem ended not an inch below her pert ass, and I could already smell her arousal.

She didn’t move from the door, simply beckoning me to enter. She stopped me just before I crossed the threshold.

“Uh-uh. You know the rules.” A self-satisfied smirk hung on her lips as her sapphire eyes pierced me.

I leaned in and kissed her. Her tongue snaked into my mouth as her arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me in tight. She purred, her bountiful body pressing tight against me. I knew she wanted me to do this in full view of anyone who might pass by.