Chapter 7

The sudden knock on his bedroom door startled Jason out of his funk.

“All right, Mr. End of the World,” his mother said. “You’ve sulked in your room long enough. It’s time to get over it.”

Keeping his head down, Jason replied, “It’s not sulking. It’s depression.”

Seconds of silence passed before Mom sighed, then his mattress huffed as she sat. “She’s been away for what, three days. It’s not the end of the world.”

“I did something dumb and screwed it all up.”

“Jason Todd Thomas, did you do something to Stephanie? I swear, if you—”

Alarmed, Jason spun his chair around. He said, “No, mom, I’d never do anything like that.”

Mom crossed her arms. Agitated, her right foot tapped the floor. “Then what?”

“I told her that I love her, and ... and she told me she didn’t feel the same.” The last half of his sentence came in a rush.

Mom’s expression relaxed. “Jason, you are very much your father’s son. Both of you are clueless when it comes to women.”

“What do you mean?” A faint stirring of hope colored his words. Mom used to be a girl.

“Any dummy could take one look at her and know she’s crazy about you.”

“But—”

“But nothing! She’s sixteen, Jason. How many boyfriends has she had? Being in love isn’t something everyone instantly recognizes. Give the poor girl time.”

“Oh, I, ah, I didn’t think of that.”

“Like I said, you are your father’s son.”

“What should I do?”

“Keep yourself busy. The grass needs cut, and my van needs vacuumed out and washed. If you keep busy, you won’t have time to mope.”

Trust a parent to use chores as problem solvers. “I meant about Stephanie.”

“Be patient.” Mom strode to the door. “Meet me in the kitchen and I’ll find something for you to do.”

Both parents got in on the fun. Dad mentioned the garage needed cleaning and organized. Jason cleaned cars, cut grass, trimmed bushes, and painted the ceiling in the guest room. Mom said he’d paint the rest of the room after she picked out the color scheme. The busy work did keep him from worrying.

Around two PM on the second day of his choreathon, Alfred interrupted Jason while he washed the paintbrushes. “Master Jason?”

“Yes, Alfred?”

“You have a text message from Miss Stephanie. It is on your tablet.”

Jason ran upstairs. In the center of the screen, a small text box had opened. In it a short message. “I’m almost home. Miss you. Steph.”

He read the message three times before he took another breath.

Mom found him sitting on the family room couch, game controller in hand, while the title screen of a go-kart racing game looped on the video display. He didn’t notice her presence until her hand pressed against his forehead.

“Hmm,” Mom said, “you don’t have a fever.”

“What?”

“You’ve been sitting down here for over an hour, with that game music blaring. What’s going on?”

“She’s coming home.”

“Who? Oh,” Mom’s eyes twinkled when she understood. “You’ve heard from Stephanie.”

“Yeah, she’s coming home.”

“Well, of course, she’s coming home. I swear, Jason, she has you wrapped around her little finger.”

“Hello, Miss Stephanie.”

Stephanie hadn’t even made it to the Thomas’ deck before Alfred detected her. She’d hoped to surprise Jason and had forgotten about their AI. Maybe there was still a chance? “Alfred, does Jason know I’m here?”

“No, Miss Stephanie.”

“Can you keep it a secret? I want to surprise him.”

“One moment, and I’ll check.” Hardly any time passed before Alfred spoke again. “It’s not a problem. However, Mrs. Thomas wishes to have a word with you first.”

“Thank you, Alfred.”

“You’re quite welcome.”

The back door swung open, and Jason’s mother stood in the doorway.

They took seats at the kitchen table. Mrs. Thomas frowned and said, “I need to apologize...”

What was it with humans apologizing all of a sudden? First, Daniel and now, Mrs. Thomas.

“ ... because I poked my nose into your and Jason’s business.”

“I’m sure it’s fine, Mrs. Thomas.”

“Well, the other day, Jason was upset because he confessed feelings for you that you didn’t return. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Not in the least. You are your own woman and free to make whatever decisions you want.”

Stephanie blinked. “Jason surprised me, and I didn’t handle it very well. The thing is, I do care for him, just as much, and I’ll tell him today.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. No relationship is easy, and I’m thrilled how you two work at it together. Now, the other thing I want to ask about is your father. I know he’s a sore spot for you.

“That’s putting it mildly.”

“I need to ask. Does your father abuse you or your mother?”

Stephanie froze; she should have expected this.

Mrs. Thomas noticed Stephanie’s hesitation and reached across the table. “You know Robert is a lawyer. If there’s a problem, he can help.”

Mentioning Jason’s Dad served as all the trigger Stephanie needed. She took a deep halting breath. When she spoke, she looked straight into the older woman’s eyes. “Mrs. Thomas, my father isn’t a nice man. He’s easily angered and disrespects my mother and me. He’s never hit me. The most positive thing I can say about him is that he’s often not home. All that said, neither Mom nor I need Mr. Thomas’s assistance.” The best way to lie was to tell the truth. That she could trust Mrs. Thomas was a certainty. But Mr. Thomas was another thing. One phone call from that self-righteous man could ruin everything. No matter how tempting it was to accept help from Mrs. Thomas, it was better to stay with the plan.

On the afternoon of his eighth day without Stephanie, Jason found another AI-related subject: distributed processing. Instead of using a single, local CPU, an AI might use additional external CPU cores. Latency across a LAN was the limiting factor, but what if he could reduce the lag? Ideas flew through his head. He typed each into his notepad app.

Engrossed in his studies, Jason never noticed the shadow on the floor outside his room. Nor did he hear the stealthy footsteps creeping up behind him. He almost dropped his tablet in surprise when its screen changed to a collage of pictures featuring Stephanie. One of the pictures featured them holding game controllers and sitting together on the family room couch. He recognized the scene, but there hadn’t been anyone else in the room. Who took these pictures, and why did they show up on his tablet now?

A pair of hands pressed against his shoulders, and Stephanie said, “Surprise!” a moment before she kissed his cheek. From the corner of his eye, he followed her gaze to his tablet. “Wow,” she said, “you missed me a lot.”

“I did.” Jason glanced up towards Alfred’s camera. The little blue LED blinked off, then on, almost as if it winked.

“I think the best boyfriend in the world deserves a reward.”

A reward? He stood, eager for a hug, but she took his hand and pulled him towards the bed. The reward potential skyrocketed.

Stephanie pushed him down then crawled on top, one knee between his. From the hall outside his door, came the stomp of parental footsteps.

By the time Mom made it to his open bedroom door, Jason had managed to sit up with both of his feet on the floor. In the same amount of time, Stephanie sat swiveling back and forth on his desk chair.

“Hey, you two,” Mom said, glancing around the room. If she noticed either teen’s breathless condition, she didn’t mention it. “Sorry to interrupt your reunion, but it’s a beautiful day. I’m going to change and get in the pool.” She smiled and turned away. Several seconds later, Mom’s bedroom door clicked shut.

Jason and Stephanie stared at each other, neither daring to comment on his mother’s announcement. Jason smiled. “I missed you a lot.”

“Me too, you,” They both grinned at her use of their little shortcut. Then she bit her lip and glanced to the side. “We, ah, we need to talk.”

“Uh, oh,” he had a bad feeling about this. “What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean, ‘What’s wrong?’”

“Everyone knows a relationship’s in trouble when the girl say’s ‘We need to talk.’”

Scowling, Stephanie shook her head. “Where do you get those crazy rules?” He started to answer, but she waved him off. “Never mind, we aren’t having problems.” She gave him a sneaky grin. “I decided to reinterpret my promise to Mom...”

Whoa, this was big news. The possibilities made his heart pound. For a brief fraction of a second, Jason’s sense of responsibility almost made him ask if she was sure. His long-suffering, self-interest stomped all over that idea. Not noticing Jason’s distraction, she’d continued speaking. “ ... and that’s what we need to talk about.”

“You know me, sweetheart, I’m always eager to support your decisions.”

“That’s you, Mr. Eager,” Stephanie’s grin grew wide.

A footstep from down the hallway signaled his mother’s return, so he changed the subject. “Where did you guys go?”

Of course, Steph understood why he changed the subject and went along with it. “Gene took us on a business trip.” Sighing, she added, “It wasn’t fun.”

Once, for “Take your kid to work day,” Dad took Jason to his office. It must have been as boring for Steph. A cough interrupted them. Mom stood in the doorway. She wore a robe over a stylish two-piece swimming suit. “I’ll be in the pool. Jason, remember the talk you had with your father.”

After his mother started down the stairs, Stephanie whispered, “What talk?”

Jason grinned, what else could he do? Nodding towards his dresser, he whispered back, “Top drawer.”

Curious, Stephanie hopped up and opened the drawer, and froze. The box of condoms, still unopened, sat right in the front.

“Dad bought them for me a few weeks back. He and Mom think you’re a saint, and I’m a dirty-minded horndog.

Stephanie lifted out the package and spoke while reading the label. “You are a dirty-minded horndog.”

“Says the girl with that little red skirt.”

“You’re not going to let that go, are you?”

“Are you kidding?” He held up his thumb and index finger, a fraction of an inch apart. “We were that close to doing it.”

“I wish we had,” she mused.

“Says the girl holding the condoms.”

Stephanie turned and smiled. The intensity of her green eyes made Jason gulp. With that single glance, the temperature in the room skyrocketed. He said, “Uh oh.”

Her expression didn’t change, but she strode towards him. The pleats of her cute skirt swayed with each step. Once she reached his bed, her stare softened. “Seriously, Jay, you don’t act like a guy who’s about to have a wish come true.”

“Which wish?” he kept a hint of wariness in his voice. “I have a bunch.”

“Horndog,” she accused, tossing the box up and then flubbing the catch. The box hit the bed, rolling once before stopping.

You could cut the tension with a knife. Maybe I’m not the only horndog? Jason held up a finger, and Steph cocked her head. “Alfred?” he spoke in the direction of the room’s pickup.

“Yes, Master Jason?”

“Privacy mode, please.”

“As you wish.” Alfred’s blue presence LED shut off.

Stephanie said, “That’s handy. I’d wondered how you managed to...” those bright green eyes flicked down, then up, “treat your insomnia.”

Jason snickered. “It only works in bedrooms and bathrooms, unless you’re an adult or a guest.” He scooted back to the center of his bed. “Come here,” he patted the spot between his thighs, “let’s “talk” about your new plan.” All he expected was for her to call him a horndog again.

But Stephanie surprised him. She pursed her lips as if considering his offer, then glanced down to his hands—or was it to the front of his shorts? A hint of color spread across her cheeks, and scant seconds later, she scooted into his arms and leaned against his chest. Careful to keep his hands in the approved safe zones, he said, “Tell me what changed your mind, and don’t say, “It’s complicated.”

“It’s not complicated.”

“Says the girl with complicated issues.”

“Do you want to hear this or not?”

“Says the girl—” Stephanie turned her head and glowered. He got the message and apologized. “Sorry.”

“Gene and Mom used to leave me home when they went on business trips. This time I had to go with them.”

Thinking back to the other week, a memory that still helped him “treat his insomnia,” he had an idea. “I’m not surprised. Your mom probably thought you’d sneak one of her outfits and come looking for me.”

Stephanie froze for a second, then nodded. “Oh, that has to be it! Not the skirt exactly, but I bet you’re right. Mom said she didn’t know why Gene scheduled the trip when he did. I’ll tell her later.”

Once again, Stephanie managed to confuse him. “I’m, ah, glad I helped.”

“Well, the deal went bad for Gene. Mom and I had to help. The whole thing still stresses me out.” Steph slumped. “All I want is for you to hold me ... and tell me you love me.”

“Whoa, sure.” The last time the “L” word came up, it hadn’t ended the way he’d hoped. Having Steph bring it up first gave him a jolt. Don’t get too excited. Holding her was easy; all he did was tighten his arms a bit. Her shoulders were right there, so he kissed both sides of her neck. Careful to not hurt her ears, he kept his voice low. “I love you, Stephanie.”

Stephanie twisted around and kissed him back. “I-I love you too.” Her words held a touch of wonder.

“Hey, wow, where did that come from?”

“On the trip I had a lot of time to think about us. The longer we were gone, the more I missed you. Then Mom helped me figure it out this morning. When I saw how bad you missed me, I knew I had to tell you.”

What should one do when an AI did you a favor? “This is wonderful.”

“Then there’s my promise to Mom. All she wanted was to keep us from getting too involved, because it might hurt me later. But I don’t care about that anymore. All I care about is you and me.”

“What are the new rules?”

“It’s more like wiggle room. We’ll do more and see how it works out.”

There had been one memorable wiggle, the first time they went swimming. More wiggles could only be good. “Wiggle room,” Jason said, “I like how that sounds.” He shifted his hands down and jiggled her hips.

She didn’t put up with more than two jiggles before completely spinning around to face him. With him sitting and her kneeling, he had to look up to watch her smirk.

“Horndog,” she said, just before pushing him onto his back. That dangerous look in her eyes was back. “Show it to me,” she commanded.

Hands trembling from excitement and not a little nervousness, Jason pushed the front of his shorts down. Stephanie grinned when it popped into view. “Whew,” she said, relief plain in her voice, “from the way that thing’s been poking me, I thought it’d be huge.”

“Hey,” he said, trying and failing to sound unbothered. “Aren’t you supposed to say, ‘It’s bigger than you thought?’”

Her hand paused mid-reach. “That was your dream, boyfriend, not mine.”

“Well, it’s not small, it’s a lot closer to average. I looked it up.”

“It’s fine, Jay.”

“And I’m not done growing yet. I checked on that too.”

“Jay, believe me, I wouldn’t want it any bigger.”

“You sure?”

“Cross my heart,” she crossed her heart, then reached for him. One exceedingly warm finger touched him. It had never felt so stiff before. A second finger joined the first. Then her hand wrapped around him and squeezed.

“Ahh...”

Her eyes flicked up to his. “You’re not complaining, are you?” He just shook his head; he didn’t dare move too much. “Good,” She nodded and bent at the waist.

The natural consequences of her degree or two higher body temperature became immediately apparent. Jason’s concerns went from size to endurance.

Scant minutes later, Stephanie sat back; one finger swiped a dribble from her chin then pushed it into her mouth. “Mmmm,” she muttered, “Mom wasn’t kidding, that stuff’s not bad.”

“What?” Had he dozed off and misheard her?

“I said, ‘Ask your mom to feed you more citrus.’”

“Oh, okay,” heck, right now he’d chew stones for her. If this were what Steph meant by wiggle room, he’d take it. He had another thought: if she could do it to him, he could do the same to her. Another of his many, many fantasies was going to come true. He sat up and grinned.

“Jay,” Stephanie said, “why are you looking at me like that?”

Instead of answering, he leaned forward and kissed her. The kiss was pretty hot, literally. Stephanie’s mouth was warmer than usual, go figure. There was something else, though, an unpleasant, bitter flavor. Realization kicked in: Oh, ick!

Jason resisted the urge to scrub his tongue against the blanket. If she could deal with it, so could he. “Lie back, sweetheart.”

“Um,” she said, sounding uncertain, but didn’t fuss when he pushed her back.

They kissed again; ready for it, he ignored the “ick” flavor. Despite Stephanie’s “wiggle room,” he doubted she’d go all the way. Still, there were a few things she might be interested in trying. Another of Dad’s favorite quotes came to mind. “It’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.” Without asking, he flipped Stephanie’s skirt up to her waist.

Two things happened. Steph’s knees rose and clamped together. At the same time, her hands pushed her skirt back down.

“Hey,” he said, “that’s cheating.”

“We can’t go all the way,” she said.

“I figured as much. Besides, I couldn’t right now.”

This caused her to chuckle. “Oooh, I guess not. What do you want to do?”

“Sweetheart, I’m a hungry guy, and you’re on the menu.

If anything, her cheeks grew redder. She knew what he meant. “You don’t have to do that, it’s not necessary, and anyway, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

What is it with girls and complicated rules? “You’re not saying no, are you?” It was more of a statement than a question.

“No, but—”

“But nothing.” It took a supreme effort to stay cool when his fingers hooked under the waistband of her bikini style underpants. Sliding them down, then up over her bent knees. He took a chance and lifted her ankles, folding her legs back before slipping those panties off. Stephanie’s cheeks flared crimson with the exposure. There was no doubt his girlfriend was a natural redhead.

“What’s wrong?” she said, interrupting his reverie.

Startled and embarrassed, he tore his eyes away. “Nothing. It’s just—” unable to think of the right words, he shrugged.

“You better not say it’s bigger than you expected.”

“Oh, heck,” he snorted. The outrageousness took over and his laughter bubbled out. Steffi joined him a second later.

“Sweetheart, you’re too much.” Reaching out, he cupped his palm over the rise of her mons. Her gasp punctuated the intensity of the moment. If he thought her hands were warm, down here, she was on fire. “This is perfect. You’re perfect.”

“I’m not perfect.”

He settled into position while mentally reviewing the tutorials. If you wanted a girl to come back for seconds, you needed to get this part right. “You’re perfect for me, and that’s enough.”

It felt better knowing he wasn’t the only person with a short fuse. Stephanie’s enthusiastic response took him by surprise. Everything he’d read said that girls took longer than boys. Well, a real man satisfied his girlfriend, and he’d succeeded. Steph lay as if he’d knocked her out. How gratifying was that? Sitting up, he pulled his shirt over his head and used it to wipe his face. Mental note: do laundry before Mom gets to it.

Bare-chested, he shifted up to lay alongside his girlfriend. Without opening her eyes, Steph snuggled into his arms.

“You good, sweetheart?” he asked.

“Mmm, hmm,” she murmured and wiggled closer. Over at the edge of the bed, the unopened box taunted him. It lay within easy reach. Something told him, if he insisted, she wouldn’t say no. But he’d promised. Instead of reaching for the box, Jason hugged Stephanie tight. “I love you, sweetheart.”

“I know,” she whispered. “I think it’s what made me love you back.” She paused then spoke again. “I’m sorry I tricked you.”

What? “When did you trick me?”

“When we first met. I cheated and made you like me.”