Part Three: The Setup

It was a Friday night in October. The apartment was warm, the heat kicking on against the autumn chill outside. Katie had volleyball practice that afternoon and had come home around six, her hair still damp from the locker room shower, her cheeks flushed from exertion. She’d been wearing her practice clothes—spandex shorts and a tank top—and Rob had been sitting on the couch with Kim, trying to focus on the movie they were watching, when Katie had bent over to pick up her bag from where she’d dropped it by the door.

The shorts had ridden up. Rob had seen it—the perfect outline of her pussy, the fabric nestled between her lips, creating that cameltoe that Kim was obsessed with. He’d looked away quickly, his face burning, but Kim had noticed. Kim always noticed.

“Katie, honey, come sit with us,” Kim had called out, patting the cushion next to her.

Katie had hesitated, her eyes flicking to Rob, then back to her mother. “I should shower. I’m gross.”

“You’re beautiful,” Kim had said, and there was something in her tone that made Katie pause. “Come. Watch the movie with us.”

Katie had approached, her movements tentative, and sat on the couch next to Kim. Rob was on Kim’s other side, and he could smell them both—Kim’s rich perfume, Katie’s clean sweat and young skin. The contrast was intoxicating.

The movie played on, some action blockbuster that Rob couldn’t follow. He was too aware of Katie’s presence, of the way she shifted on the couch, of the glimpse of her pale thigh where her shorts rode up. Kim was playing with her hair, casual and domestic, but Rob knew her well enough to see the tension in her shoulders, the way her eyes kept darting between him and her daughter.