Chapter 6: Birthday Boys

Monday February 6
Cassidy had avoided me all day. When she didn’t want to talk to me during flight training, I started to think it was more than her usual snit about something. I knew it was serious when Cassidy handed me the keys to the Demon to drive home. Maybe she was sick.

“Did I say or do something to make you mad?” I finally asked.

“No,” she grumped.

“Then why are you acting like I just announced I was going on tour as a Christian comedian, and you have to be my security?” I asked.

Her eyebrows went together as she tried to imagine that.

“That would be less funny than Wolf already is.”

“I’ve been practicing my material,” I said proudly, and then launched into my routine. “God always answers kneel-mail ... funny, right?”

She wasn’t buying it.

“Okay, I’m not going to hit all of them out of the park on the first try. I’ll work on that one. How about this one? Seven days without prayer makes one weak,” I said. “Weak spelled W E A K ... get it?”

“David, it’s not funny if you have to spell it for your audience.”

“Good point. I know you’ll like this one. No time to pray makes you easy prey,” I said hopefully.

She groaned.

“I don’t know why you’re not rolling around on the floor laughing. Coby loves my jokes,” I complained.

“Coby’s a little giggle-box.”

“That he is. I know ... you’ll like this one...” I started to tell her my best one.

“Stop! I’ll tell you already,” she said, and then hung her head. “Brook warned me. Tami told me that I made a horrible mistake. But I have to come clean.”

“You ate my cookies that were over the fridge in my apartment?”

I noticed they were gone, and I’d accused my mom. She’d denied it, so it had to be Cassidy.

“That’s not it ... but yeah, I ate them,” she said, giving me her pouty face.

No wonder no one ever bought my drowned puppy look.

“So, what’s so terrible?”

“I owe you a favor,” she said so fast I almost didn’t catch it.

I all but ran off the road when I figured out what she was talking about.

“The bet!” I yelled as I started to bounce up and down. “Tell me everything. Did Dare lose his virginity?”

“No!” Cassidy scowled. “I couldn’t make out with Don with Dare in the car. I’m afraid Don wants to break up with me.”

“Did he get to third base at least ... OW! Don’t hit me.”

“‘Stupid Boy’! Darius was a gentleman. He did get a sweet goodnight kiss.”

“What did Chrissy think of it? Did he slip her the tongue?” I asked as I blocked her jab.

“I’m pretty sure she liked it. More might have happened, but her dad started flashing the porch lights when they went on forever.”

I smiled because I imagined Dare remembered me telling everyone at lunch last fall how to kiss a girl goodnight after a date.

“I can’t believe he didn’t tell me,” I complained, suddenly realizing this was the first I was hearing of this.

“What was the first rule your brother taught you?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah. Why didn’t Chrissy say something? I thought girls were the ones that blabbed.”

“She did. We girls just don’t always share everything with the boys,” Cassidy said smugly.

“Gina always makes me talk. Why does Chrissy not get the same treatment?” I asked.

“Do you really need to ask that?”

“I guess not,” I grumped and then smiled. “So, you owe me a favor.”

“Just ask it. I don’t need this to drag out.”

“Hmmm ... nope. I think I like you owing me a favor.”

Cassidy smacked her palm against her forehead and groaned. I wondered if she was getting a migraine. My mom seemed to get those in situations like this.

I dragged Cassidy up to my apartment so I could dress for dinner. Miss Joey Marshall, my hottie-hot-hot trainer, had relented and was coming to dinner tonight. I stripped down to my underwear and was rifling through my closet. By the look Cassidy gave me, she was enjoying the show.

“Covered or uncovered?” I asked.

“What?”

“Covered,” I said as I pointed at my booty. “ ... or uncovered?”

I pulled my underwear up like it was a thong so my best asset showed. Going to my tippy-toes like I was wearing high heels made Cassidy laugh. I had to pick my underwear out of my butt to get it back to normal.

“Or should I go with the old standby: silk boxers?”

“Show me again?” Cassidy asked.

“Covered ... or ... HEY! No pictures,” I complained.

Cassidy shrieked when I lunged for her phone. She was quick as she rolled off the bed, rocketed through the living room, and darted down the stairs. My little ninja screamed when she saw I wasn’t going to stop just because I was only wearing my underwear. She only made it in the back door of the house because I almost killed myself on the ice on the driveway.

Cassidy tried to lock me out, but I pushed the door open. She darted into the kitchen with me in hot pursuit. Cassidy ran behind my dad, and I came to a stuttering stop when I found my whole family in the kitchen, talking to Joey.

“This is new,” Mom announced to the amusement of everyone.

“You need to get in here and see this!” Angie called out.

That was when I found Peggy, Ashley, and Scarlet all at the door separating the living room and kitchen, gawking at my state of undress.

“Why do I never have my phone when I need it?” Melanie, our cook, complained.

I scrambled to make a quick retreat when everyone started digging for their phones. Yep, my butt was still hanging out as I sprinted out the back door.

I debated what to wear and decided I would go with the Jersey Shore look. I put on camo pants; a black, instead of white, wife-beater shirt—the black option to give it a touch of class; and my Lincoln High baseball cap, which was put on backward, of course. Joey needed to see the guns to help erase the memory of my butt hanging out.

When I walked in the back door, my brother was waiting for me. He took one look at me and burst out laughing.

“Should I go change?” I asked.

“Oh, hell no,” he said as he pushed me into the kitchen.

When I stumbled into the kitchen, all conversation stopped as they turned to see my outfit. Angie got up and put me in a bear hug.

“I’ve missed you,” she said and then let me go.

Duke growled at me. I’d forgotten that my hats freaked him out. I took it off so he could see I wasn’t there to steal his toys.

Coach Hope picked that moment to walk in our back door. He took one look at me and stopped.

“What are you supposed to be?”

“Is dinner about ready?” I asked to change the subject.

Frick! Joey was going to know I was a total freak. I had no idea why she made me act like a love-sick puppy. Then I glanced over at her, and it all came flooding back. I was such an idiot.

The reason my family was all here was that Allen and Dawson, my twins, were birthday boys today. They had no idea what was going on. My mom had made cupcakes to minimize the damage the kids could do to a cake. The boys did like the singing and cupcake mashing. Greg’s little ones, being older, were more excited than the younger crowd. Mac was sure there had to be a pony since it was a birthday party. I stayed out of it this time.

Inviting Joey to eat tonight wasn’t my brightest idea. Angie, Peggy, Ashley, and Scarlet dominated her time as they became friends since they were all about the same age. Greg pulled me aside to talk.

“You realize you have zero chance with her?”

“What? I have no idea what you’re implying.”

“I could tell by the way you were looking at her.”

“How was I looking at her?” I asked.

“The way every guy in the room was looking at her—like you wished you had a few minutes alone with her, pants optional,” Greg said.

My eyes got big in mock horror.

“I was not.”

“Okay, sure. Whatever.”

We both laughed.

“I wasn’t obvious, was I?” I asked.

“Dude! You bust in the back door with your butt hanging out, and then you come back dressed like a muscle-bound douche. Yeah, it was obvious. My only problem is now my wife will be on me to go to the gym more,” Greg complained.

“You are getting a little puffy,” I teased.

“Angie tells me that there’s just more of me to love.”

“Dude, not in a good way,” I assured him.

“If I had Joey training me...” he trailed off.

“You don’t want that. Joey’s an evil bitch when it comes to training. She is seriously kicking my butt to get me ready for baseball.”

“I’d die happy.”

My brother and I were too much alike as far as our taste in women went. I’d dated several of his exes.

He then filled me in on his kids. Kyle was done riding ponies. One of them had nipped him. Mac was still crazy about them and was getting good at riding alone. Nate was happy spending grandma time when they went for riding lessons. Greg said they had several of Nate’s masterpieces that he’d colored on the refrigerator.

I caught him up on what had happened with Brook and what Uncle John had told me. He perked up when I said I was going to talk to everyone about their goals and see if there was anything I could help with.

“I need help at the massage studio during the day. I’m in class, and Jill and Becky are busy at the high school.”

Greg had hired our trainers over the summer so they could make some extra money.

“I could ask Scarlet to help you to screen applicants before you interview them,” I suggested.

“That would be a big help.”

I wanted to say that he should have Angie do it but bit my tongue. Scarlet and my mom kept her busy helping them whenever she wasn’t in class or studying. If Angie worked for Greg, he would have to pay her, and they’d suffer a net reduction in their household income. The whole purpose of having her work for me was to supplement their income, so they had enough to get by and to give her a flexible work schedule. Greg knew that I wouldn’t bill him for Scarlet’s time. Besides, I’d promised Greg that I would keep Angie employed through college. If it weren’t for that, I would have fired her by now.

Coach Hope and Cassidy walked Joey out. I guess I would have to take it slow with her. Then something my brother told me once leaped into my mind. ‘Only people who don’t like you want to take it slow... ‘ Frick! I had to get over this infatuation.

Somehow, I was volunteered to clean up after dinner. I’d thought that was why we’d hired Melanie, but she left after dinner was served, leaving a mess. I had a sneaking suspicion my mom was involved somehow. Just as I finished loading the dishwasher, Ashley touched my arm.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Scarlet wants to talk to you alone for a minute. She’s in your apartment,” Ashley said and then handed me an envelope. “Cindy wrote you a letter. Scarlet said to read it once you get upstairs.”

“That doesn’t sound ominous at all,” I commented.

Ashley gave me a coy smirk.

“I think you’ll be okay with what’s in it,” she said and pointed to the back door.

I didn’t think Ashley or Scarlet had any evil intent, so I trotted up the stairs to my apartment and opened the letter from Cindy. Scarlet was nowhere to be seen, so I assumed she was using my bathroom.

Love,
Cindy

I took a moment to ponder what I’d read. While I had a good idea what Cindy had planned for my surprise, I wasn’t sure whether or not I should go along with it. I knew that she’d added the part at the end to guilt me into helping. While I was willing to help Scarlet, I hated being manipulated. Ask any teen, and they will tell you that they would prefer something to be their idea rather than being told. Then again, say to any teen boy that he might get to have sex, and he will ten out of ten times do just about anything for it.

I decided to check my bedroom to see what Scarlet had in store for me.

Oh! My! Goodness!

I discovered Scarlet in a black corset that shaped her. It exaggerated her already sexy body by pushing up her breasts and squeezing her middle to give her a perfect hourglass figure. She wore a black leather collar, and at her waist, she had on a garter belt that held up her black stockings. The whole ensemble was finished by six-inch hooker heels.

The overall effect was made even sexier by the fact that she was kneeling, and I could see she was sans underwear. I could tell she was nervous because her face started turning pink.

I watched as the flush deepened and slowly spread down to the top of her corset. Scarlet was either turned-on or embarrassed, or my best guess—both. For my part, Mr. Happy did his best impersonation of the Alien as he tried to rip through my jeans.

“You did all this for me?” I asked, somewhat in awe.

“I wanted to play a little dress-up and be a very naughty girl,” Scarlet said hesitantly.

I reached down and stroked her cheek.

“You are my naughty girl, aren’t you?” I asked with affection.

She blinked and licked her lips, and then it was like the sun suddenly came out as her face lit up. She figured out that I wasn’t going to judge her for wanting to play sexual games.

“Yes, yes, I am,” she beamed.

I took a deep breath because the sexual beast inside me had all kinds of deviant ideas flashing through my mind. While he distracted the big brain, Mr. Happy wrenched control of the body. My hands undid my pants, and my jeans and underwear were suddenly around my thighs. Scarlet looked like a largemouth bass as she inhaled my member.

I pulled back, and she groaned in disappointment when my cock was suddenly freed. I leaned down and kissed her. When I broke the kiss, I tilted her head up and looked her in the eyes.

“Scarlet, I just want you to be happy. Even if this isn’t what I’m used to, the end result for me is your happiness.”

“I want to suck you now, I just want to please you, any way I can!” Scarlet pleaded, and then she got shy. “I’m feeling extra naughty tonight.”

Scarlet’s absolute need was embodied in the expression on her beautiful face.

I reached down, slid my hands inside the top of her corset, and pulled her breasts up until they popped out. Scarlet’s chest was utterly flushed, and her nipples were diamond-hard. I bet she was dripping wet for me right now. What I saw before me was every guy’s fantasy.

I reached down, grasped her head, and pulled her back to my cock. Scarlet eagerly opened her mouth as I pushed forward. As excited as I was, I needed to remember that I was responsible for her safety. I could envision getting overly rambunctious and choking her, or worse, as I drilled her face. I began to slowly move my hips back and forth until I learned how much she could comfortably take. Then I started to test her limits every few strokes. She would gasp when I finally pulled back.

As I used her for my pleasure, I began to talk to her.

“You need to up your game. I need to hear that you’re enjoying this,” I said.

Scarlet moaned in response.

I focused on my pleasure. My cock felt like it was made of steel. Scarlet was giving me the sloppiest blowjob I’d ever had as she literally drooled all over my balls. Once she got started moaning, she sounded like my own personal porn star.

I saw Scarlet wince when I went especially deep. I had a feeling her jaw was getting sore. Since I wanted this to be pleasurable for her, too, I pulled out of her mouth. Scarlet looked up at me, confused as to why I stopped. I reached down under her arms, lifted her up so she could stand, and spun her towards the bed as I pushed her face-down on the comforter. Before Scarlet could even think, I fisted my dick, rubbed it up and down her sex, and filled her tight little pussy.

“Oh, sweet baby Jesus on a unicorn!” she shrieked as I began to pound her from behind.

We were both a sweaty mess once we finally finished.

“That was fun,” I admitted.

Her head was resting on my chest, and she glanced up at me, then away.

“You okay?” I asked.

“You think I’m a freak,” Scarlet whispered her greatest fear.

“Oh, Honey, I don’t think that at all,” I said, which caused her to look back up at me and search my eyes.

“You really had fun?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Scarlet snuggled back down against my side and sighed contentedly.

I squeezed her shoulder to get her attention.

“Being different is what makes you special. At least you’re brave enough to go after what you want,” I assured her.

“You really think so?” she asked, looking me in the eyes again.

“Yes, I really think so.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

Scarlet blinked a few times, and I saw tears forming. Ah, crud!

“Finding out I was pregnant was both the worst and the best thing that ever happened to me. It turned my world upside down, but it gave me Carol, and I would never give her up. It also gave me you. I don’t know anyone that would have been so supportive at your age. The boys back home would have disappeared if they found they’d gotten a girl in a family way.

“Even most of the college guys I know would have left me high and dry. You were more into Ashley than me, and I sort of blindsided you when we got together. If I’d been you back then, I would have told me I was on my own. It wasn’t as though we had a history or anything. I guess I’ve been wondering why you’ve been so good to me,” she said.

“I agree with most of what you’ve said,” I admitted. “At first, I was hesitant, and not at all sure about you. In the beginning, it was all about Carol and making sure my daughter was cared for. We really didn’t know each other.”

“You wouldn’t be doing all this just for Carol. You could have thrown money at me and told me to go away. Instead, you gave me a place to live, a job, and a family.”

I could see she was confused.

“That’s all true. When you first came home with us, I kept you at arm’s length. But as I’ve gotten to know you, I’ve found a capable woman that I truly care for. Last fall, I would never have allowed you in my bed. I didn’t want to muddy the water with sex. Since then, I’ve become comfortable enough that you’re with me now,” I explained.

“I feel the same,” Scarlet said, and then went quiet for a moment. “Thank you for not taking advantage. When I came here, I would have done just about anything to get out of what I was facing. You’re a kind man, David.”

“Scarlet, I don’t want you to read too much into this, but I do love you. I don’t see us being life partners or anything, but I do see us being close and raising that little girl together. I hope you know I would do anything you asked of me that I could possibly do. And I feel the same way with Ashley,” I said.

A little smirk touched her lips.

“Ashley told me that you wore her out. She really needed you,” Scarlet said as she shared probably too much information.

“Well, I probably needed it as much as she did,” I said to deflect.

Scarlet had to go take care of our little girl. She went to take a shower, and I could hear her singing to herself. I closed my eyes and let the afterglow of what we just did put me to sleep.

Tuesday February 7
“Do you have any idea how early it is?” Cindy complained.

“You’re back in Ohio, right?” I asked.

“Next year, you’ll be a college kid and understand. No calls before ten.”

I just ignored her complaint.

“Did you talk to Scarlet?” I asked.

“Yes. You did and said exactly the right things,” she assured me.

I sighed.

“I hope so, but I think she needs to find a boyfriend,” I admitted.

“If you aren’t careful, Scarlet’ll latch onto you,” Cindy warned me.

“I get it. And you’re right, I don’t really have time to be more than I already am with her right now.”

“I have another question for you. Are you only into older women?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Do I need to go through the list?” Cindy asked, and when I didn’t respond right away, she started to enumerate them. “I mean, there was Beth, Suzanne, and me. When you were in LA, there was that crazy stalker actress, then the Baywatch girl with big boobs and her little friend you called Groper. Then I hear you’ve spent time with Peggy, Ashley, and some college girl from back East.”