The summer passed slowly.  Normally the months were gone in a flash, but without college on the horizon, it seemed to drag on forever.  I finally told Madison what happened and she was supportive, even if she was a little concerned by my lack of a follow up plan.  I took a job at the mall, working retail like I did in high school.  My parents seemed to be numb to the whole situation after a couple of months.  I was their failure and they mostly ignored me unless I needed something.  They didn’t even respond when I told them I had a job.  I was ready for summer to end and all of the college students to head back to school—except Madison.  The thought of her leaving and the only person who seemed to care if I lived or breathed being taken away from me for months left me with a sense of dread I couldn’t overcome.  Her car was already packed when I walked up her driveway on the last night of her summer break.

“Hey, Mr. Vance.”  I waved as he opened the door.

“Hello, Charley.  Come on inside.  Madison took my car to pick up a few things, but she should be back soon.”  He stepped back and opened the door.

“That would explain why she hasn’t responded to my texts in nearly an hour.”  I shook my head and laughed.  “She’s shopping.”

“I probably shouldn’t have given her my credit card.”  Mr. Vance grimaced and wrinkled his nose.

“Definitely not a good call.”  I sat down on the couch and stared at the movie he had paused to answer the door.

“How are things with you?”  He took a seat in his chair.  “Madison said you got a job?”

“Yeah, I’m working retail at Walton’s Boutique.  I worked there in high school and they were happy to have me back.”  I shrugged.  “I’ll find something better once the college kids abandon their summer jobs.”

“So you haven’t put any more thought into school?”  He raised his eyebrows at me and tilted his head.

“I’m not ready yet.”  My fingers started to fidget with the edge of my shirt like they often did when I felt like I was being judged.  “Maybe in a year or two, I’ll look into something local.”

“I hope you do.”  He stood and picked up an empty glass from his table.  “Would you like something to drink?”

“Sure, do you have beer?”  I looked towards the kitchen.

“Are you trying to drown yourself in my pool again?  How about some tea?”  He started walking towards the kitchen.

“Tea sounds good.”  I let out a sigh as my mind flashed back to the night he pulled me out of the water.

Mr. Vance had stayed true to his word and nobody knew about my late night escapade except the two of us.  Madison would have never let me live it down if she found out.  She would have told all our friends and then I would have lived with some stupid nickname for the rest of my life.  I watched Mr. Vance as he fixed the two glasses of tea.  It seemed like he had foregone shaving for a few days and the stubble on his face made him look even more attractive than normal.  The shirt he was wearing was a thin undershirt that made his muscles more visible than normal.  The fact he had saved my life only added to the crush I had developed.  He wasn’t just a hot, sexy older man; he was also my hero.  If he wasn’t my best friend’s father, I might have somehow worked up the courage to go for it, even if he was a bit older than me.  He returned to the living room and handed me my tea.

“Thank you.”  I smiled and sipped it.  “Wow, that’s sweet!”

“I think I put an extra cup in it by accident.”  He shrugged and sat down.  “It’s still drinkable.”

“More than drinkable.”  I lifted the glass again.  “This might give me more of a buzz than a beer.”

“Should I go cover the pool now?”  He sipped his tea and eyed me with a sarcastic grin.

“No, when I get hopped up on sugar I get hyper, not stupid.”  I shook my head back and forth.  “By the way, thank you again for saving me and for keeping it a secret from Madison.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”  He waved me off.  “I understand why you didn’t want anyone to know.”

I lifted my phone as it buzzed.  “Oh, Madison sent me a text.  She’s shopping...  That’s all it says.”

“Is that girl-speak for ‘don’t expect me home anytime soon’?”  He sipped his tea again.

“Probably...”  I sighed and put my tea down on the coaster.  “I can come back later.  It looks like you were in the middle of a movie.”

“Nonsense, you can stay.  I can finish this later.  I like talking to you anyway.”  A faint smile formed on the edge of his lips.  “You’re a bit more down to earth than most girls your age.”

“That’s probably why college guys avoid me like the plague.”  The corner of my lip raised slightly as I realized the words just slipped out.

“Avoid you like the plague?  I thought you failed out of college because you couldn’t stop partying.”  His face reflected genuine shock.

“Yeah, but I was usually too shit-faced to go home with anyone.  It was just a group of girls doing stupid stuff and being too hungover to make it to class.”  I shrugged my shoulders.  “I don’t have many proud moments from those nights, but I wasn’t sleeping around.”

“A girl as beautiful as you definitely would have caught my eye back in the day, shit-faced or not.”  He narrowed his eyes at me and nodded his head.

Did he just call me beautiful?

“That is nice of you to say.”  I looked at the floor and felt my cheeks blushing.

“I mean it.  I know you’re my daughter’s age and it probably isn’t right of me to say it to you, but it is the truth.”  He sipped his tea again.

“It is nice to hear it.”  I lifted my head and tried to control the blood rushing to my face.  “I never get those kind of compliments.”

“Guys your age really are slacking.  Fucking millennials.”  He let out a grunt of displeasure.

What is this I feel?  Is it courage?

“I’ve never met a guy my age that I wanted to say that to me anyway—I like hearing you say it though.”  I bit down nervously on my lip.

“That’s a dangerous thing to say.”  He stood up from his chair.  “I might be tempted to say it again.”

My head is spinning.  How do I respond to that?

My eyes must have said whatever my tense lips were too nervous to say.  He walked over to the couch and leaned against it with his knee.  He put a hand behind my neck and pulled me towards him.  I closed my eyes and it felt like fireworks exploding in my head when his smoldering lips met mine.  All of the times I had fantasized about kissing him and dreamed about him showing interest in me was nothing compared to the reality of having his tongue moving against mine.  Our kiss formed a perfect seal and I felt my body surging with warmth and desire.  I could count the number of guys I had kissed on one hand and none of them had ever made me feel like that.  He sank down into the couch, pushing me back against the cushion, as he continued to kiss me.  His body was pressed to mine and every nerve was tingling.  I didn’t want him to stop.  I wanted him to keep kissing me and touching my body with his strong hands.  I didn’t care if he took my virginity right there on the spot.  His lips finally moved from mine and he leaned against my ear.

“You’re beautiful.”  His lips grazed the edge of my earlobe and I felt another tingle sweep across my body.  “You’re so beautiful I’d love to have you right here, right now.”

“I’ve always had a crush on you.”  I ran my fingers through his dark brown hair.

“I’ll do things to you that the boys your age can’t even dream of—I’ll make you orgasm until you can’t breathe.”  He kissed my neck and moved his hand to my breast, squeezing it through my shirt.

“I’ve never had sex before...”  I felt his hand moving down to my jeans and I was afraid to let it go any further without confessing the truth.

“Never?”  He pulled back and looked down at me.

“No.”  I shook my head.  “I told you—guys my age don’t seem very interested.”

“I’m interested.”  He took my hand and moved it to his crotch where I felt his cock swelled up in his pants.

This is really happening.  Mr. Vance wants me the same way I’ve always wanted him.

“It’s huge...”  I rubbed my hand up the length, squeezing the shaft and watching his lips sigh with pleasure.  My cell phone buzzed underneath me and startled us both.

“Is that Madison?”  He leaned back.

“Yeah.”  I let out a grunt and fell back on the couch as I read her text message.  “She’s on her way.”

Mr. Vance returned to his seat and I ran to the bathroom.  My hair was a bit of a mess and my makeup had smeared.  I started reassembling myself as I tried to ignore the wet, sticky spot in my panties.  I tried to hide my guilt when Madison returned and watched as she showed off everything she bought.  I couldn’t focus on her because I was so enthralled with the thoughts of what happened.  As the night wore on, I felt my guilt intensifying.  Madison was my best friend.  I couldn’t have sex with her father no matter how smoking hot he was.  The kiss was incredible, but I couldn’t let it go any further.  Fantasy was one thing, but actually having it happen was something else entirely.  It would change everything.  I would have to see Mr. Vance as long as I was friends with Madison and if he was the man who took my virginity, it would never be anything but awkward.  I tried to avoid eye contact for the rest of the night, but I felt his eyes on me every time Madison wasn’t looking.  When she went outside to check the car one more time, he walked up behind me and put his arms around my waist.

“Can you stay the night?  Madison will be in bed soon.”  He pressed his lips to my neck.

“I can’t.”  I shook my head and pulled away.  “This was a mistake.  I’m sorry, Mr. Vance.”

I said my goodbyes to Madison and wished her a safe trip.  It would be several months before I got to see her again and normally we would have made a much bigger deal of it, but my head was spinning with too much confusion to focus.  I started walking back towards my house and felt tears welling up in my eyes.  I was a terrible friend.  Madison trusted me and I betrayed her by kissing her father.  He might have initiated it, but I did nothing to stop it from progressing any further.  I welcomed it.  I told him I had a crush on him.  I told him I was a virgin and practically begged him to be my first.  If nothing else, there would be a few months before Madison got her first break and it would be a cooling off period for both of us.  The spark he left on my lips and scorched into my soul was not going to go away easily, but I had to do everything in my power to ignore it.