Chapter 1

His hair was still damp from the shower as he lazily strolled across the street. Pausing in the middle of the residential road, Vinny Masters turned to look at his house. He admired the yard work that had consumed his morning. It was something he enjoyed, if for no other reason than to do what he was doing right now -- appreciating the absence of weeds and pinecones. I'll paint the house next year, he thought, tapping the three DVD cases against his thigh. I wish I could get up here more often. Then I'd paint it this year.

He owned the house less than a month and there was so much to do. Time wasn't an issue though. Taking a buy-out from his employer of over twenty years, the severance package was a deal dreams were made of. He received full salary and benefits for eighteen months. That would carry him to his fifty-fifth birthday and retirement age. He also exercised stock options allowing him to buy the house in the White Mountains for cash. The house was his escape from the summer desert heat. But his wife wasn't ready to leave the job she loved, so he was only able to enjoy the cool mountain weather on weekends and an occasional week. His wife suggested he spend more time there and that she'd drive up on weekends, but he told her he'd be too lonely without her. He had great sex that night.

Vinny completed the short walk to his new friend's house and climbed the three redwood steps. He paused at the door. I'm glad I have nice neighbors. John's a little weird, but he's a good guy. And it's nice to know someone who has every tool I would ever need. He looked at the DVDs in his hand. And DVDs when you need them. Next time don't forget to bring yours up. Maybe I should just hook up cable and eat the cost. No way. Why pay for something I would hardly use. I'm here so infrequently, he thought as he pressed the doorbell with his thumb.

When the door swung open, Vinny's eyes lowered. He had expected the large figure of his new friend, not John's young daughter. He had seen her around, usually on her pink bicycle, but had never met her.

"Oh, hi. I'm Vinny from across the street."

"Yeah, I seen ya working." She stepped towards him so he automatically backed up. Standing on the porch, she pointed to a window on the second floor and said, "That's my room. So I can see your house easy."

He looked up and then over his shoulder. Her bedroom was directly across from his house.

"Is your dad home?" he asked.

"He went fishing."

"Oh. Um, can you give him these?" Vinny held the DVDs out. "I borrowed them the other day. I forgot to bring mine."

He held his hand out, but the girl didn't take the proffered cases. She stared up at his face and then, without uttering a word, turned and went into the house. Vinny stood on the porch, his eyes shifting between her and the DVDs.

The girl said, "Put them over there."

Vinny checked the cases for crud. There wasn't any. He stepped up to the door and peeked into the house. She was pointing to a coffee table in the family room. He looked at her oddly. But after shrugging, he brushed by her and placed the DVDs on the table. When he heard the click of the front door closing he spun around.

"Can I ask ya something?" the girl said.

"Sure."

"Is it okay to let a boy kiss you?"

Vinny felt a lump in his throat. "Isn't that something you should be asking your mother?"

"I don't live with her in the summer so she ain't here."

"Oh. Who's Arlene?"

"She married my dad after the divorce."

"Sorry, I didn't know. I'm new here."

"I know. I seen you from my window."

Vinny raised an eyebrow and then said, "Why don't you ask her?"

"She's a bitch! I ain't gonna ask her nothing."

Vinny shifted from side to side. He was getting into uncomfortable territory. "How about your father?"

"Yeah right. I can't talk to Dad 'bout stuff like that. Fishing and camping and four-wheeling, yeah, but not that."

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

The girl was no more than five foot tall. Her long brown hair was pulled off her face into a ponytail. Her brown eyes were big and round, and her nose just a cute button. The small points on her chest were barely visible under the pink tank top. She had begun to lose her boyish figure, and her black shorts hugged her developing hips and round butt. She was still quite thin though.

"You're fifteen?"

"I will be in December."

"So you're fourteen."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I'm Vinny, by the way."

"Yeah, you told me that on the porch."

"What's your name?"

"Jasmine."

"That's a very pretty name."

"So is it okay?"

"Look, Jasmine, I don't think I should be, um..." The young girl stared up at him with big, innocent eyes. "Why even worry about it? You don't date yet, right?"

"No, I'm not allowed. But some of us hang out together and there's a boy who is, like, so hot, and he wants to kiss me so I wanna know if it's okay." Jasmine took a deep breath and let the air out loudly.

"I guess if he wants to kiss you and you want to kiss him back then it's okay."

"Really?! Wow, I didn't think you would say yes! You're a lot cooler than my dad."

"So your dad would have said no?"

Panic washed over the girl's face. "I didn't say that. It's just that he's old."

"I'm older."

"Yeah, but you don't have a beer belly like him and you have a better body and look nicer."

Vinny's chest swelled and he sucked in his gut. He held back the smile that was trying to burst forth. "How do you know what my body looks like?"

"I told you, I seen ya from my window."

"I guess I better wear a shirt from now on."

Jasmine frowned and then said, "Why? I like looking at you like that."

Vinny studied the girl. She was so little, staring up at him with big brown eyes. Innocent eyes. If she were older he would have wondered where that comment had come from, but she was just a little girl.

"Well, I don't want my wife to get jealous." Vinny chuckled.

"I wouldn't tell her. I promise. So you don't have to wear no shirt 'cause of me."

Vinny's ego was about to burst. He knew he wasn't going to wear a shirt when working in the yard.

"What if he wants to do more?" Jasmine asked.

"Huh?" Vinny was pulled out of his thoughts. "What do you mean?"

"What if he wants to do more than kiss me?"

"I think at fourteen kissing is quite enough."

"I'm almost fifteen."

"Fourteen and a half."

"Whatever. But what if he wants to touch my boobs?" she said, digging her chin into her chest and pressing the pink material taut around one tit. "I sorta just got them and boys like boobs."

Vinny couldn't tear his eyes off her little tit. She wasn't wearing a bra and the material molded the cone shape. He noticed the little bump where her minuscule nipple was. His mouth was parched as he took slow, deep breaths.

"Look, if you can't see what I mean..." Without warning, Jasmine grabbed the bottom of her shirt and yanked it up to her chin. "Boys like boobs, don't they?"

Vinny couldn't speak, nor could he look away.

"Wow, you like them too," Jasmine said excitedly with her shirt tucked under her chin. "You got a boner. I can see it."

Vinny's hands automatically covered his groin.

"That's what happens to the boys, 'xcept yours is bigger."

"Jasmine, I'm sorry that happened. It's just that--"

"You mean you don't like my boobs?" Her bottom lip stuck out. "They're too small, aren't they?"

Vinny noticed her eyes watering and quickly said, "No, they're not too small. They're just right."

Jasmine's pout turned into a huge smile and she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his body. With the side of her face pressed to his chest, she hugged him tightly. He felt her belly pushing his hands into his groin.

She backed away and looked up at his face. Her eyes were radiant and she hadn't lost the smile. She once again lifted her tank top over her bare breasts.

"You better pull your shirt down." Vinny's voice was raspy.

"But you like to look at them."

"It's not right. You shouldn't be showing me your, um, boobs."

"Why not? I finally got some and boys like them. I know you like them 'cause you got a boner."

"I'm sorry about that, but--"

"Why are you sorry? I like it. It makes me feel grown up. So what do you think?" She tucked the shirt under her chin. "Is it okay for boys to touch them?"

"Maybe when you're older."

"But I wanna know what it feels like now." She cupped one small tit with her hand. "I do it myself but it don't feel like it's supposed to. So I want a boy to do it."

"We shouldn't even be having this conversation, but since we are ... Look, if you let a boy touch it he'll brag to everyone and then everyone will think you're not a good girl and call you names."

Jasmine's mouth opened and her eyes watered.

"I'm sorry, but that's how I feel," Vinny said, his heart breaking.

"If I can't have a boy touch it, how 'bout you? You already seen them and you won't tell nobody."

Vinny knew he should say no. But his eyes were drawn to her little breasts. They looked so fresh and untouched, virginal. A year earlier she had been flat as a boy. But her late developing body matured and one day her little nipples puffed out and then swelled, forming two perfect little cones. They hadn't even rounded out yet. Just two pointy tits with tiny nipples and areoles the same color as the surrounding flesh.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked, his voice strained. His eyes were not on her face but lower.

"Yeah, I wanna know what it feels like. If you don't do it then a boy will and he'll talk 'bout me like ya said."

Vinny looked up at the girl's face. His eyes narrowed and his lips pressed together. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"I swear I won't tell. Ever! Promise!" Jasmine pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside.

Vinny's eyes dropped to her chest, to the small cones with tiny nipples. His mouth was dry. He reached out, placing two fingertips on the side of the left one. It was so firm. He was sure she could jump up and down and they wouldn't move. Then he slid those fingertips along the flesh until they brushed over the nipple.

Jasmine sucked in air causing him to look up. Her eyes were closed and her lips slightly parted. He could just make out the tip of her pink tongue.

Vinny cupped one small tit. Jasmine gasped. He squeezed it. She sighed. Like a drug addict, he craved more. His free hand surrounded her other breast and he alternated between sliding his palms over her pointy tits and squeezing them.