Chapter 5: California

We landed at SFO at 3 pm on a Friday afternoon. The sky was gray, and the air felt heavier than Iowa. Nicole pushed Michael’s stroller while I kept one hand on the handle and tried not to look as overwhelmed as I felt. Richard was waiting just past the doors. He smiled when he saw us, tall and solid in a way that made the terminal feel smaller. He hugged Nick, then bent to talk to the kids. Nicole was shy at first. Michael was not. Richard laughed and swung him up for a second before setting him down again. He took the heaviest suitcase without being asked.

On the drive, he and Nick talked the whole way, discussing work, traffic, and fun places/activities for the kids. I watched out the window and tried to imagine what living in the Bay Area would feel like.

Richard said he had been lonely since the divorce. He had thought about selling the house but could not quite bring himself to do it.

“It’ll be good to have kids around,” he said. “That’s the one thing I regret. Never had any.”

I sat in the back with the children and watched the freeway. Everything about Richard seemed warm and easy. Still, the same unease I had felt the last two times we met was there. There was nothing specific he said or did that I could point to as a reason for how I felt. But when I bent to pull a bag off the carousel earlier, I was pretty sure I had caught him looking away when I stood up, and I wondered if he had been looking at my ass. In the rearview mirror, his eyes seemed to rest on my chest longer than they should have. Every time I glanced up, he was already looking somewhere else. I told myself I was imagining it,, but I wasn’t sure.

Richard’s house was big; it had a pool in the back, an office, den, living room, dining room, and two spare bedrooms that were not next to each other. One sat close to Richard’s master. The other was on the far side of the house and had its own bathroom with a tub and shower. We worried about the kids making noise next to him. He waved it off.

“Nonsense. They’ll be fine. You two take the bigger room; you’ll need the ensuite for Nick to get ready in the morning, and having a little privacy won’t hurt either.” he gave Nick a sly smile and a wink with the last comment, and I felt my face blush. Nick agreed.

The living room looked like a bachelor’s place—huge television, integrated sound systems so it would “feel like you are in the stadium” while watching the game, Richard explained. There were a couple of leather couches and comfortable oversized recliners, a pool table, and a full bar. Richard said he watched a lot of sports when he was home and liked to entertain friends on the weekends, but he planned not to do that while we were staying with him because his friends were a crass, rowdy lot. He told us to treat the place like ours. Nick offered to pay something for the stay. Richard refused, but he had already cleared space in the pantry and fridge for the kids’ food. We were grateful.

That night he took us to a steakhouse. The kids behaved. Everyone laughed. When I bent to dig a toy out of my purse for Michael, I felt Richard’s eyes on the front of my blouse. He looked away the second I straightened. I was not completely sure. The feeling stayed with me anyway.

The weekend was pleasant on the surface. The kids loved the pool. I wore a modest two-piece and still felt his attention when I bent over or stretched out on a chair. Saturday night Nicole could not settle. I lay with her until after midnight. When I opened the door to go back to Nick, I heard Richard’s door open. He walked out naked, heading toward the kitchen. He did not see me. I saw everything—the muscle across his back and chest, his cock swinging between his legs. It looked thick and partly hard. Heat climbed my face and settled low in my stomach. I waited until he turned the corner, then slipped back to our room. In the morning I told Nick. He spoke to Richard, who was embarrassed and apologetic. He said he always slept that way and had simply forgotten we were there.

Sunday, Richard took me to his gym. The girl at the front desk was tiny, smaller than even my 5”2” stature. She was gorgeous, with shoulder-length blonde hair and streaks of pink running through it. She could not have been more than eighteen or nineteen. Richard introduced her as Sammie. She was sweet, bubbly, very friendly, and talked easily and nonstop. Richard got me two free weeks. Sammie guided me through the registration process and explained that her father owned the gym and her boyfriend was the head trainer. She showed me around while Richard worked out. I noticed how good shape he was in. After the tour, I did light cardio while Richard finished up with his weights, and I thanked Sammie before we left.