Chapter Six
Nick
We’ve been playing a game of cat and mouse all week. She watches me, I acknowledge it, and we continue it the next night. But this time when I stand in front of my window, it’s different. I frown as I watch her, trying to put my finger on exactly what it is. She paces in front of her window and keeps glancing over at mine like she's waiting for me.
I flick on my lamp, so she knows that I'm there, and then watch her with interest. She stops when she notices the light, turning so she’s facing me. I swear she’s looking right at me as her fingers move up toward the top button on her shirt. I shift on the spot, my heart pounding. What is she doing—? And then it hits me.
Oh, my god, she's getting undressed in front of me.
Stripping. I think the word I’m looking for is stripping.
My best friend’s daughter is about to perform a strip tease for me.
Oh, shit. Fuck, this isn’t good.
Of course, the horny side of me thinks this is fucking awesome. I’m fighting a battle between two sides of myself where I feel like there will be no winner. Fuck. What do I do? Look away, you creepy asshole. Embarrassed, I whip my head around to the side, but then I turn back because I can't bring myself to not look. She slides her shirt off and my cock springs into action. Any chance of me not watching is long gone by now. I know I’m going to regret this, and I’m okay with that. Well, right now, I’m fine with it. Later might be a different story.
With both hands outstretched on the bed behind me, I lean back—mainly to stop myself from doing something even stupider, like grabbing hold of my cock and jacking off. With her shirt gone, she reaches behind her back to unclasp her white, lacy bra. My heart pounds as she glances down, and then looks up, directly at me. I can't breathe because his whole thing is utterly incredible. Is she making the playing field even? Is that what this was about? Or is she getting off on this is much as I am? So many possibilities…
I watch, mesmerized, as she lowers each strap over her creamy white shoulders, threading her arms free. She still holds the bra to her breasts, not letting go until she looks up and meets my eyes. With both of our lights on, we can clearly see each other. There are no secrets. Everything is out in the open. I swallow hard as she moves her arms free, letting the bra fall to the ground. I stare at her perfectly rounded breasts in shock, wanting nothing more than to close my mouth over them and suck the fuck out of those stiff little nipples.
Running my hand through my hair, I’m not sure what to do with myself. I stand up, but then I sit back down. I sit forward, but then my erection gets in the way, and I move back. I look back up at her, and she smiles. For the love of God, she's smiling at me. I let out a low groan, so completely turned on. The more worked up I get, the more she smiles.
She’s loving this.
Her hands move down, and she places her thumbs beneath the band of her skirt. Slowly, she lowers it down over her thighs, then down over the rest of her legs, until she’s standing in front of me, wearing nothing but a tiny pair of panties. I wet my lips and swallow, watching her as she turns around. She reaches for the hair clip holding her messy bun together and pulls it out. Her blond curls cascade halfway down her back. She turns back around and runs her fingers through her hair. I groan because all I can do is stare at that tiny scrap of material covering her pussy. I shiver, aching to see what's underneath it. She walks over to the window and leans against it, staring at me, a tiny smirk playing on her lips. She raises her eyebrows, and then I realize.
She's not going to show me.
“Come on,” I growl, frustrated. I frown at her and shake my head. She laughs and reaches for her lamp, switching it off. “Fuck,” I mumble, falling back onto my bed.
I think I just got blue balled.
Sighing, I crawl up to the pillows and flop down face first, then reach over and switch off my light. I lay there in the darkness, thinking about what I’d just witnessed. I replay it over and over in my mind, each time waiting for those tiny panties to come off, and maybe see a finger slide in there, but the ending never changes.
My hand travels down to my cock, and I run my fist over my shaft. I groan, clutching a handful of the sheets beneath me as my body tenses. I’m so wound up that it doesn’t take long for me to be ready. I pump my fist, picturing her, replaying what I just saw, until I release. Gasping, I tidy myself up, throw on some boxer shorts and then bury myself under the covers.
She’s coming over tomorrow, and I’m supposed to look her in the eye and pretend everything is normal after witnessing that? I roll back over onto my back and stare at the ceiling, shaking my head. This is bad. Before tonight, I’d been pushing the boundaries when it came to Anna. After this, I’m pretty sure I’d just taken a flying leap off the edge without a fucking parachute. The only problem with that?
I have no fucking idea where I’m going to land.
The next morning when I wake up, my stomach is churning at the thought of facing Anna. I jump into the shower, thinking it will help, but all the sensation of the water running over my body and thinking about her does is work me up. Pretty soon I find myself jacking off to relieve some tension, with her as my muse, which just makes me feel worse all over again.
To be honest, just the idea of being around her is scaring the hell out of me, since I obviously can’t control myself. What am I going to say to her after seeing what I saw, and then doing what I did? This has gone on for way too long. I need to put a stop to it before it gets out of hand.
This is the first Saturday in months where I’m not working, so I have a big day planned with the kids. The only reason I’ve asked Anna along was to give Milly a bit of a female influence. My excitement for the day ahead of me quickly changed.
Apparently, spending the weekend hiking with your dad is lame, and friends are cool because no sooner than breakfast is over, they start hounding me about going to their friend’s houses. I agree, only because the thought of spending the day with Anna is too much for me to handle right now, and this is the perfect excuse to get out of it. Without them here, there is nothing for her to do, right?
Except for me. She can do me any time.
No. Not you. She can never can do you.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” I gasp, shaking my head in disgust.
A knock sounds on the door, interrupting my internal argument. I gather up the courage to answer it, knowing it’s going to be her. When I open the door, she stands in front of me looking incredibly sexy in a dark blue dress that matches her eyes. My gaze trails over her body as I imagine what she has on underneath that dress. Or what she doesn’t. Fuck. I shift positions as my cock begins to react. She smiles at me, and I smile back, confident that my awkwardness is showing.
“Hey. Come in,” I mumble.
I stalk off into the living room where I throw myself on the couch. The best way for me to disguise my semi erection was to sit down, even when it seems entirely inappropriate. She eyes me strangely, but I pretend not to notice.
“Uh, so, where are the kids?” she asks, glancing around. If she’s as nervous as I am, she sure isn’t showing it. Maybe last night was all just a dream. I could almost make myself believe that.
“They’re in their rooms, but they won’t be for long,” I say.
“Pardon?” she laughs. “Where are they going? I thought we were going hiking?”
“That was the idea,” I growl. “But apparently, Milly just has to go over and see Indigo, and Max just has to go over and play Jackson’s new videogame.”
“Ah,” Anna says with a grin. “To be young again.” I stare at her and chuckle. She narrows her eyes at me. “What?” she says indignantly.
“To be young again?” I chortle. “What are you, twenty-two? You're hardly hitting middle-age.”
“I meant to be a child again, you smartass,” she replies, rolling her eyes. “You know, brushing off your parents in favor of your friends.”
She looks down at her hands. They’re fidgeting like crazy like she’s embarrassed about something. Because she's probably thinking about last night. I hesitate, not sure whether to address it or just leave it. In the end, I decide I can't make things worse by bringing it up. I glance at the door to make sure the kids are out of sight.
“So, about last night,” I begin.
She squeezes her eyes shut. “Please don't say it.”
“I thought it might be less awkward if we address it,” I say. As soon as I say it, I realize that I couldn’t have been more wrong. What part of me thought this was a good idea? Of course, she wouldn’t want to talk about it. Hell, I didn’t want to talk about it.
Why am I bringing this up?!
“Trust me, nothing could ever, ever be less awkward than talking about this with you,” she whispers. The poor girl looks mortified. “Look, I don't know why I did that last night. I wanted to be bold and spontaneous...” She shakes her head, embarrassed. “But I can assure you that it won't happen again.”
“Fuck that, I'm glad it happened.”
Holy shit, did I say that out loud? She looks up at me, surprised like she can’t believe I said that. Hell, I can't believe it either, because I’d meant to say it under my breath.
“Look, I have to go into work for a while,” I say.
It wasn’t just an excuse to get away from her—that was an added bonus—I really did have to get some work done, and if the kids weren’t going to be here, it was the perfect time to do it.
“Do you mind staying until the kids are picked up?” I ask her. “Then you’re free to go.”
“Sure.” She shrugs, sinking down onto the couch.
“Great. I owe you one.”
I grab my keys and phone and stalk out the door before I can say anything else to embarrass myself. Everything I said to her was either inappropriate or wrong. I was supposed to diffuse the situation, not make it worse.
I walk into my office and slam the door shut, still annoyed at myself over this whole Anna situation. This is ridiculous. I walk over to my desk and pull my chair back and sit down. For the next half hour, I get no work done because all I can think about is the mess I’ve gotten myself into. I sit there, staring at the ceiling, think about the last two weeks and cringe. I don't sneak around behind my best friend’s back and take advantage of his daughter. Even though she’s not underage, I’m sure I hold some kind of power over her, being that I’m so much older. This is not me. I just don’t do this.
Fuck. I’ve turned into the creepy guy who lives next door. Before long, kids will be refusing to walk past my house to get to school, and nobody will be game enough to knock on the door for Halloween. I groan and shake my head as I sink into a midlife crisis kind of moment where I'm just sitting there, contemplating the meaning of life and wallowing in my sorrows. Then I knock myself out of it.
I need to man up and either commit to this or end it—whatever the fuck ‘it’ is.
It’s one or the other. The messing around isn’t fair on either of us, and someone is eventually going to end up hurt. Sighing, I get to my feet and stomp to my car, determined one way or another to resolve this.
And definitely, before I have to have another awkward conversation with her father.