Chapter 12

The proof of concept demo coming up in a few weeks at work had kept James anxious, and he awoke with a detail haunting his mind that would need to be re-checked. He jotted a couple notes on his phone for action in the morning.

He wasn’t so distracted by work that he failed to hear the slight girlish sounds coming from elsewhere in the house. It was clear that one of the three girls at the sleepover was expressing sexual excitement. He couldn’t tell which one.

James’ initial impulse was to knock on his daughter’s door to verify that no boys were present. That was unnecessary, though, he knew. Laurel was a good girl, and she was still learning how to fit in with her peers. It would be a while before James needed to worry about boys.

Still, he couldn’t keep his mind from searching for an explanation of what he heard. He certainly knew that Hunter indulged in pornographic videos, but his son was conscientious enough to keep the volume low. One of the girls might have snuck away from the others to jill-off. Or perhaps the girls were masturbating together or getting each other off - practicing for eventual relationships with boys. Or, of course, some combination of the girls could very well engaged in romantic, sexual love with each other.

Whatever the case, James didn’t see any risk in allowing the girls their privacy. He wasn’t even sure if he would talk to Clover about it.