Chapter 30: Date Night

Vic shrugged off her covers and headed out of our makeshift living room tent as I lightly dozed holding Audrey. It was not yet light out, I figured, given how dark it was outside the flap as Vic left. Gwen was snoring moderately on her back nearby. I squeezed Audrey and held her as I slid just around the edges of falling back asleep.

Too soon, Audrey was moving. She kissed my lips. I could still smell her warm body that morning, but unfortunately, she told me quietly, “Really need a shower...” before leaving the tent.

I drifted a while before turning over to see Gwen’s eyes watching me. Her lips pursed and she asked, “Dad ... like ... this is gonna sound weird...”

I waited a moment for her to continue.

Gwen said, “I’m kinda ... sore ... you know, down there...”

“Hurting?” I asked gently.

“No, not bad, just ... you know, kinda sore.”

I thought about how to respond for a few seconds, then went with sleepy honesty. “Well ... that’s not really all that unusual, Gwen ... Sometimes things get sort of stretched out or a bit raw ... Were, uh...” I swallowed a time or two, not wholly comfortable with what I was about to ask, “were you two using condoms?”

“Of course!”

“And ... were you,” I gulped, “properly lubricated ... throughout?”

I saw her shrug, “Kinda ... I think ... Maybe...”

“That might be it, then, uh,” I paused, uncomfortable but not avoiding a frank conversation with my daughter, “maybe you should ensure you, uh ... keep things wet...”

“Like, how exactly?” my daughter asked, clearly not exactly comfortable herself.

“Well ... you know ... saliva helps ... Or ... I could buy you some lubrication...”

Audrey returned, smelling of fresh soap, her practice outfit now covering her body. “Are you two talking about lube?” she smiled as she crawled beside me.

I blushed, and so did Gwen. “Uh,” I stammered, “yeah.”

Gwen offered quietly, “I’m kinda sore, you know ... down there...”

“Want me to make sure it’s nothing bad?” Audrey replied.

“Uhhhh,” Gwen wrinkled her eyes, “what, like, show you my pu--- vagina?”

Audrey shrugged, “Just offering ... I doubt your father much wants to check it...”

Awkward silence a moment before Audrey continued, “I mean, if it’s bad, Gwen, probably should go to the doctor...”

“It’s not bad, really,” my daughter said, “just, I dunno, sore...”

“Doesn’t sound bad, then. I get sore sometimes, you know, after Darren and I are together ... It’s normal...”

“Ewww,” Gwen said, her nose scrunching, “Tee-emm-eye!”

“Hey, you started it,” Audrey giggled.

Gwen blushed again, then said, “Maybe, uh ... maybe if I’m not feeling right, I’ll, uh, have you see ... uh...”

“I’ve got conditioning in a few hours, but, sure...”

Gwen rolled past us and said nothing more as she left our ersatz tent. I listened as my daughter’s footsteps grew faint down the hall, then let out my breath. “Yikes...”

Audrey laughed, “It is so much fun watching you squirm...”

“Not a subject I rather enjoy discussing with my daughters, Audrey...”

She held my hand and kissed my cheek, “But you did, right? Even though it was tough?”

“She ask me a personal question ... I do try to answer honestly...”

“I love that so much about you, you know,” Audrey said, leaning against me and letting me wrap my arms around her, “honesty is so important to me...”

“Me, as well.”

“I’m sure she’s fine, Darren, just in case you couldn’t tell...”

“I figured ... I wasn’t about to ask if things got ... rough...”

Audrey patted my thigh, “Bad enough asking her if she was wet, right?”

I groaned my answer.

“Fair enough ... It is normal to be sore. My pussy gets sore when you really pound it. Not complaining,” she added, “just a fact.”

“Happens to both of us, but not often will it stop me from wanting more...”

My penis was rising a bit and pressing right against Audrey’s butt.

“Mmm ... morning quickie in the tent, then?”

“Uh ... my daughters are home, Audrey...”

“I can be quiet if you can. Just a quick in and out, until we have time to do more later ... I’d love to feel you inside me right now.”

I kissed Audrey’s neck as she pushed her practice pants down to her thighs. I smelled her arousal in the closed space despite her recent shower, the warm scent of the teen’s genitals causing me to surge. I pressed my penis against her labia and pushed inside Audrey’s body.

We rutted slowly, not in a rush, kissing softly with her head turned back. I caressed her breasts through her shirt, keeping my breathing calm as I could. I listened intently for any sound of my daughters’ return, but for several lovely moments, I heard nothing.

I wasn’t particularly close to orgasm when I heard a bedroom door open and on instinct I pulled back my hips, my cock slipping free of Audrey’s cunt with a wet plop. She giggled and pulled her pants back in place.

We were both fully covered by the time Vic stuck her head under the makeshift tent flap. My daughter started to say something, wrinkled her nose at the scents inside, then said, “Gross,” and disappeared.

Audrey patted my thigh again, “Sorry ... suppose I shouldn’t have started that right here...”

“It’s fine ... She didn’t see or hear anything...”

“But she smelled me, I think,” Audrey said, “I should be a little more cautious about that...”

It was true that Audrey’s aroused odors were rather rich and striking. I absolutely loved her smell. I wished I could swim in it. But it did tend to linger, thick and heavy, and filled whatever space she’d been in when we were intimate. I’d several times left a bedroom and come back in soon after, smelling Audrey’s scent clearly in the air. “Don’t worry about it,” I assured her, though I did feel just a little guilty for exposing Victoria to Audrey’s intimate aroma.

Vic had been about to ask Audrey what time they were going to the cages, but she waited in the kitchen, eating cereal, until the two of us came forth. My daughter raised an eyebrow when she saw us, repeating, “Gross,” though she had a bit of a smirk instead of a frown.

“Not gross,” I assured her, “but ... sorry about that, regardless...”

Vic eyed me, a little flushed but grinning then. “Suppose not gross to you, but I don’t want to smell that!”

“Sorry, Vic,” Audrey said, “didn’t mean to offend or anything...”

“It’s fine,” my daughter replied, “just ... kinda hit me hard ... is ... is that, like ... normal?”

“What?” Audrey asked.

“What I smelled. Like ... it was, like, super strong...”

Audrey looked at me as if to take over the conversation. “Normal, yes,” I said, “and we were in a closed in space, so ... that just made it seem more than it was...”

Vic considered that a moment.

I asked, “Surely ... you’ve, uh ... noticed the same with Simone ... or maybe ... yourself, at times?”

Vic shrugged, “Suppose ... but ... I guess it was gross because ... well, you were there!”

I grinned, honestly relieved to hear her say such things. “And I’m sure, if I ever am close enough to you and Simone, I’ll think you’re gross, too.”

Audrey and Vic laughed, shaking their heads, but thankfully dropping the subject.

Audrey was off to her conditioning practice and she took Victoria with her so that they could go to the batting cages immediately after. Gwen stayed in her room a while, and I could hear her talking to someone on her cell. Pretty soon, she was out to go spend the day with Pete, and I was left alone for a while to consider my thoughts.

A call came in from an unidentified number and I picked up. It was Elise, the old friend from Yates-Parker. We caught up very briefly and then I bridged right into the reason I’d reached out to her, telling her about Tracy and her attempts to publish her books. “She self-publishes, but based on the feedback she gets, she would love to try to increase her exposure.”

“Can you have her send me some samples? I’m in marketing, Darren, but I do know many of the buyers and editors here. We’re always looking for fresh meat, so to speak. If she’s decent and has this big catalog of material, we might be able to give her a chance. No promises.”

I agreed I’d have Tracy send her a few of her best and Elise politely cut our call short.

I texted Tracy, letting her know where to send the books. The woman replied quickly, thanking me for my help and saying she would send them right away.

It left me with little to do in that moment. It was too soon to relook at my proposal for the dean, so I turned my attention to figuring out my date night with Audrey.

It was odd that the two of us had never really had a proper date. Of course, her age and mine made it risky to so much as been seen in public together. We had ready explanations, should anyone pry too much, but we knew things might be tricky if anyone who knew us well were to see us do something non-platonic.

I thought it might be nice to take a cue from Pete and take my girlfriend somewhere really nice. Bagano’s was one of the top Italian restaurants in the Houston area, and reservations there were often made well in advance. I decided to take the plunge and called up the place when they opened around eleven for lunch. In luck, I secured a dinner reservation for two at seven-thirty.

The rest of my day looked empty. I knew Audrey and Vic would be gone for a couple of hours or more, and Gwen might be gone all day. So, I pulled out a book about the Great Depression and sank into my favorite chair to read.

I had fallen asleep, waking to the sound of my cell ringing. I picked it up, not knowing the number. “Hello?”

“Uh,” a small female voice said, “is, uh, is this Vic’s dad?”

“It is ... who is this?”

“Simone,” the girl replied.

“Oh, hi, Simone...” I wondered how she got my number, the girl having never contacted me directly before. When she said nothing a few seconds, I asked, “Everything okay?”

“Uh, I, uh ... I talked to Vic a few minutes ago ... uh ... I ... I really want to leave and come stay with her a while...”

I grew concerned quickly. “What’s going on, Simone?”

I could tell she was sobbing lightly. “I hate it here,” she told me, “my parents ... they just don’t understand anything...”

“Are you hurt? Is something wrong?”

“No, not like that,” Simone replied, “I just ... I want to play ball again and ... I miss Vic a lot. I just want to ... run away.”

I really didn’t know what to do. On one hand, I certainly understood the girl’s desire to be away from her controlling, fundamentalist parents and enjoy the freedoms of her young womanhood. On the other, though, she was a minor and not really capable of making that sort of decision. At least not without a significant court fight and attorneys and protective bureaus involved. My heart ached for the girl, but what she was asking was beyond what I could offer.

“Simone,” I said gently, “running away isn’t going to help. It might seem like a good idea, but ... you can’t just up and leave your parents like that.”

“But it stinks here...”

“I know, I know,” I told her, “but right now, you have to suck it up a bit and be strong. I know that’s not what you were hoping I’d say, but ... Think about it. If you came here, then what? I’d have to tell your parents, and they aren’t going to let you just stay with Vic. They’d make things so much worse for you then.”

“So,” the girl said weakly, sobbing, “I can’t come and stay with Vic?”

“I’m fine with you coming over, Simone, always. But living here ... no, I think that’s out of the question.”

She said nothing, letting the silence hang a moment, only a hint of her sobbing coming over the line. “Okay...” she said quietly, “I just wanted to ask...”

“Can I do anything else, Simone? Do you need anything?”

“I just want to stay with Vic and play ball...”

“I know, Sweetie. I’m sure sorry. If you can get your parents to let you visit, I’ll be glad to come pick you up, okay? Have them call me if you need to...”

“Okay,” Simone said, defeated, “Bye...”

I called Vic and spent several long minutes explaining the serious concerns I had about shuffling this idea off to me the way she had. It wasn’t great that she’d gotten her girlfriend’s hopes up like that only to have me put my foot down. I explained, again, that if Simone was being abused somehow, I’d consider that differently, but for the time being, there was nothing I could do.

Vic wasn’t happy with my decision, but she admitted she knew it was a long shot before hanging up.

I let out a long breath, frustrated for my daughter and for Simone. Even if there was cause to take the girl in, the nightmare of dealing with her parents and the authorities was not one I wanted to try to navigate. I’d protect Simone if she was being abused, as I’d told Vic, but anything less than that was too tricky to solve easily.

I ran out for lunch in the early afternoon, choosing a small deli nearby where I liked to order their capicola and roast beef sandwich and then eat it while sitting at one of the outside tables. Energized for the day, I chose to get my order to go, and spent the next hour briskly walking around the nearby park, using my gnawing hunger and that evening’s date with Audrey as incentives for the exercise. I wasn’t growing any younger, and the only way I was ever going to even pretend to keep up with Audrey was to stay in shape as best I could.

I slumped down on a park bench beside the large pond in the middle of the park after my legs started to feel heavy, feeling rather good despite my fatigue. The heat had really driven itself into me and I drank all but the last few swallows of my bottled iced tea before tearing into the sandwich.

My cell rang about halfway through. “Hey, Audrey!”

“Hi, Darren. We’re just finishing up at the cages. Did you eat lunch yet?”

“Most of the way through it right now, actually. Got a little exercise first at the park.”

“Oh, great,” she replied, “mind if Vic and I stop for something to eat before heading back?”

“I never mind you being your own adult person,” I grinned, “no need for my permission.”

I heard her chuckle, “I know, silly. I just wanted to be thoughtful.”

“And I love that about you. Don’t eat too much, though, I’ve got us reservations tonight at seven-thirty.”

“Oh, lovely! Where?”

“Bagano’s.”

Audrey replied, “Oh, big spender ... hoping a girl might put out if you buy her an expensive steak and lobster dinner?”

“Something like that,” I agreed with a smile.