Chapter 1

The cursor hovered over the ‘Send Message’ button for a full minute, my heart hammering against my ribs. Carlos’s profile picture—a Hispanic man with a confident smirk, dark eyes, and a perfectly trimmed goatee—seemed to stare right through the screen. His bio was simple: ‘Looking today. Work in law enforcement.’ A cop. My thumb finally tapped the trackpad.

Ping.

A response came back almost instantly. You’ve been checking me out, huh?

We fell into an easy rhythm, the anonymous chat a safe harbor. He was witty and direct. Within an hour, we’d exchanged numbers, the conversation migrating to a private, encrypted app. The digital veil gave me a courage I never had in the halls of my high school.

“I have to tell you something,” I typed, my fingers suddenly cold and clumsy. I’m not who my profile says I am. I’m 14.

The three dancing dots appeared. They danced for a long time. I held my breath, expecting a torrent of anger, a threat, or the digital slam of a door.

Figured, his reply finally came. Your “35-year-old executive” vocab could use some work. My secret is I’m a cop who shouldn’t be on here, either. So I guess we have each other by the balls, don’t we?

A shudder of relief, hot and intense, went through me. The conversation deepened, turning personal. He was a detective, sharp and observant. He asked about my life and my parents, with a focus that felt more clinical than horny.

My dad’s a doc, always gone. Mom’s ... around. They do their own thing.

And what’s ‘their thing’? Carlos pressed.

I found myself confessing it all—the empty house, the lonely hours, the way my mother, Karen, had recently... blossomed. I didn’t mean to type it, but the words spilled out. How her new curves strained against her silk blouses, how her laugh had become throatier, how she’d float through the house in a robe that never quite stayed closed, her pale skin glowing.

Carlos’s next message was a sledgehammer. You think about her, don’t you? When you’re alone in your room. You imagine what’s under that robe.

I didn’t deny it. I couldn’t. The confession, laid bare for this stranger, was the most potent aphrodisiac I’d ever experienced. My cock thickened instantly, straining against my jeans.