by Amy Brent
Oh well, if I wasn’t certain then there was only one way to find out. I was going to need to put a plan in place, to test the waters and see if my reaction was imagined or not.
I was willing to bet it wasn’t… but at the same time I wasn’t willing to bet at all. I was just twenty. It was way too early in life to be completely delusional.
Flopping onto my temporary bed, I looked up at the ceiling and began to plot. It was time for careful, studious Stella to be a little bit dangerous.
I padded down the back hallway out towards the massive deck that lead to the in-ground pool the Sternlichts had. I remember when they had built it. It had been the summer of our freshman year and Anthony had decided to treat his daughter before summer came so she could have lots of pool parties with the rest of the kids in school.
While those parties rarely happened, it did become a nice hang out place for all of us. I remembered Anthony grilling delicious food that my family could never afford at home while we all lounged or played around the place. Of course, my mother never said thank you, and if my dad showed up be really only drank the beer then passed out, but those get togethers had been real bright points for me.
It’d only been an hour or so since Rachelle left, and I could tell that Anthony was a bit bummed. I felt bad for him, I really did, but hopefully my plan would completely distract him from his melancholy.
…or make things so awkward that he kicked me out forever. I was certainly playing some high stakes gambling.
I found him out on the deck, lounging in one of the fancy chairs and looking over a very fat binder. I guessed it was business stuff and for a moment I almost backed down, but it was now or never. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself forward, hands gripping my chest.
“Anthony?” I asked in a quiet voice.
He looked up and got that expression on his face again. The one that made electricity shoot through my veins. It wasn’t like I was wearing a bikini or something. No, I was far too self-conscious for that. Instead I was wearing a relatively modest tankini with a sort of halter top.
“This is so embarrassing, but since Rachelle isn’t here, I have no one to tie up my bathing suit so it doesn’t tangle in my hair. Would you mind?”
He looked at me uncertainly, like I was some alien creature that was going to abduct him to my space ship, but eventually he nodded.
“Sure.”
Sure? Hard to interpret that, but at least he was agreeing.
Turning around, I listened as he strode closer. I could feel the apprehension rolling from him in waves, but apprehension was better than disgust.
When he reached me, his fingers tentatively gripped the ties and I finally let go of my front. The two lengths of cloth grew taught as the weight of my sizable chest suddenly pulled them forward, and I knew Anthony had to have felt it.
I acted like nothing happened, however, and my hands went to my long, long brown hair, pulling it up and away from the ties. It really did take both of them to keep the strands out of the way. Normally I braided it to make swimming easier, but there wasn’t anything about today that was ‘normal’.
It took him a couple seconds longer than it probably should have, and the entire time I could feel his warm breath against the back of my neck. Again, part of my mind said that it was all in my head, but the majority of me was sure that I could feel that very specific sort of tension between us.
Eventually, however, he finished, and I whirled to him with a smile. “Thanks! You’re a life saver! You gonna swim too?”
I had turned fast enough to catch his expression and it was glorious. His pupils were far wider than they should have been, and his mouth was ever so slightly open. I swore his chest was rising and falling a bit faster than usual, and the thought made desire pool in my lower belly.
“No. I have a lot of work to do.”
“Aw… okay.” I pouted a little, but I didn’t push it. If I went too hard too fast there was a chance that I misinterpreted everything and would ruin it all. No, life was going to be a series of small pushes until I finally had my answer one way or another.
I jumped into the pool and swam around for a bit, letting my mind wonder as I enjoyed myself. We had a pool at college, but I rarely had time to swim there. It seemed that my life was always running, running, running, so this vacation was sorely needed. Granted, if I didn’t work so hard all the time and live so frugally, I probably would have never had enough money to take all of our break off.
Oh well. That was a bit of the chicken or the egg situation. The important thing was that I was having fun, relaxing, and tentatively pursuing the man I’d had a crush on ever since I was able to actually have crushes.
I stayed in the pool until I was beginning to prune, and I noticed Anthony stayed out the entire time. I would only glance to him occasionally and tried to do it in a way where he couldn’t really tell where I was looking. Most of the time he was studiously marking things in his binder, but every now and then I would catch him looking at me.
Good. I wanted him to. Those grey eyes on me made me feel alive. Much more alive than I had ever been before. Was this what being high was like? If so, then I could understand why people liked it so much.
But eventually, even I got thirsty and hungry, so I headed in to the kitchen to satiate myself. I grabbed one of the towels on a rack by the back-sliding door, wrapping myself up in it like a burrito. I loved how the Sternlichts always had the biggest, fluffiest towels that I could really swaddle myself in. I was cheap myself, so I just bought the nine-dollar ones from the local super store that hardly covered anything and left it at that.
I was pouring myself a glass of water when I heard footsteps down the hall. And idea came to me suddenly, and just as Anthony walked in I gave a little start and dropped my towel.
“Oh! You startled me,” I said with a laugh.
“Guess I’ll have to walk less quietly,” he answered, seemingly back at ease. But I didn’t miss how his eyes quickly flicked to my body.
“Haha, I think I just was wasn’t paying attention.”
I bent forward again, slowly and deliberately, making another show of it but this time from the front. I couldn’t look to his face, but I could feel him zeroing in on my breasts as they tried to escape from the confines of my bathing suit, and it made me feel so incredibly powerful.
Was that strange?
It probably was, but I didn’t care.
When I finally stood, I draped the towel over my arm and glanced back to Anthony. He was standing there, looking a bit confused -like he wasn’t sure what the hell had happened.
That same power doubled in intensity as it rushed through my veins. I felt like some sort of enchanting goddess or witch that had him under my spell.
Well… maybe under my spell. Although signs were positive, I definitely was a biased source and there was a chance that I was interpreting all the data I was collecting to suit my own ends. There was a word for that, but I wasn’t at college so I was leaving my pop-quiz knowledge back on campus.
I traipsed out like everything was normal and I wasn’t trying to seduce my best friend’s father. It was a struggle not to look back over my shoulder at him, but part of keeping him off balanced was acting as if nothing was amiss.
By the time I reached the room that I had been supposed to share with Rachelle, I was burning with desire and an aching sort of need. I peeled my damp suit from my body and flung myself across the bed, rolling onto my back and letting my hands glide over my form.
God. While I had largely grown out of the worst of my insecurities, I still didn’t consider myself some sort of bombshell. But the looks that Anthony gave me, the way his eyes snapped to my body, made me feel like I was the most beautiful woman on the face of the whole damn earth.
My fingers traced down my soft form, reveling in the sensation and imagining that it was Anthony who was touching me so. And in reality, my imagination was all I had.
While I hadn’t intended to when I was young
er, I supposed that I had been somewhat saving myself for him. I knew that it was impossible that I would ever experience him in a carnal way, and yet when other men approached me, I found myself inevitably comparing them to him anyways.
Combine that with my always present drive to keep working and my frantic schedule, I was somehow twenty years old without a boyfriend or even a first kiss. Normally I didn’t mind, but suddenly I found myself craving the experience I never had.
Ugh, I was going off the absolute edge and soon my hands slid between my legs, slipping between my folds and spreading my slickness up and down myself.
I closed my eyes, mind drifting away. I was replaying my favorite fantasy of him roving over my body, the callouses on his hands eliciting gasps from my mouth. My hand between my legs picked up in pace, focusing at that little bud of pleasure at my apex. They circled around and around, never touching it directly, while her other hand played at her nipple.
Up and up she wound herself until she was nearing her peak, and then she finally let her fingers directly touch her pearl.
The jolt that shot through her stole her breath away and she whispered Anthony’s name while she raced towards the that wonderful abyss. Sweat beaded on her forehead and her spine tensed as she arched up into her own ministrations.
A small gasp issued from her as she slammed into her own orgasm, all of her muscles clenching down on her deft fingers. It lasted quite a while, her hips lifting from the mattress and her mind spiraling out of existence.
When she finally collapsed down to the sheets she was breathing hard. She allowed herself a moment to breathe before her fingers slowly started to pick up again.
If she was going to give into her fantasies, she supposed she might as well go wild.
Anthony
I washed my face in the bathroom sink, taking a good long minute to stare at my reflection.
I couldn’t help but feel like something was going on with Stella, but I also kept shoving that down in my thoughts at the same time. She was half my age and my daughter’s best friend. I didn’t want to be like those creepy fathers from movies, lusting and drooling after a twenty-something.
I was just lonely, that was all. Maybe I should look into getting a dog. Not nearly the same kind of companionship that I would have with a woman, but still an improvement.
Maybe I would go to the rescue shelter in a week or so after I had a chance to think about it. Unlike my ex, I didn’t like to rush into things, especially when it came to the very important commitment that involved another life.
I heard Stella milling about downstairs and went to the steps to call down for her. I wasn’t willing to go downstairs, worried that something else was happening where she would end up in a state of undress around me.
“Hey, Stella?”
“Yeah?” she responded, coming to the foot of the stairs. She was back in that burgundy romper, her hair still wet from a shower that she must have taken after the pool. There was a faint glow to her face that caught my attention, but I forced myself to ignore it and say what I had called her for.
“I had reservations tonight at a local place for you and Rachelle as a surprise, but obviously that’s not quite going to work now.”
“Oh really? Geez, I’m sorry. That’s really annoying.”
Hey, she said it, not me. “I’m aware. Do you have any other friends that you’d want to take with you? At least that way you can still enjoy it.”
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, chewing on her lower lip. In all the years that I had known her, I’d never heard talk about any other friends, and Rachelle had said that Stella had a hard time fitting in with kids at school.
“Um… no… not really.”
I rubbed my chin. This break was going completely not how I had planned. “That’s too bad. I know eating alone isn’t really all that fun either.”
“Why don’t you come with me?”
“What?”
I did a double take at her like she had just asked me to skydive. But really, her suggestion made sense, and I slowly nodded as I considered it.
“Sure. That sounds good. If you don’t mind the company of an old man like myself.”
“You’re hardly an old man,” she said with a snort. “I have teachers who are twice your age.”
“I’m sure you do, especially if they have tenure.”
“Yeah. Hey, where is this place you did reservations? Sounds fancy.”
“Oh, it’s just some place I remember Rachelle mentioning. Benniccio’s?”
Stella’s eyes widened in an utterly adorable way. “Benniccio’s!?” she repeated incredulously. “That place is… is… is-”
“Tasty?”
“Expensive!” She finished, sounding horrified. “Stacy went there in senior year and she said her date spent three hundred there for just two meals and some wine! They didn’t even get dessert.”
Although I hadn’t been well off for long enough to forget what it was like to be barely scraping by, I had become a bit spoiled by it all. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be taking care of it so you can order whatever you like.”
“But I-”
“They do have a dress code, however,” I said with a smile. “So, you should wear something nice. I assume Rachelle made you bring at least one nice dress?”
“She made me bring both that I owned,” Stella said, her lips curling into a smirk. “They were ‘just in case’, so I’m guessing she either anticipated you had something planned or was planning something herself.”
“Probably the latter. She really did want this holiday to be special for you.”
Stella’s pretty face softened, and I found myself that much more drawn to her. Stop that. “You guys are really too nice to me.”
“I don’t think so at all. I think we’re only making up for a little bit of the niceness that life has skimped you on.”
She ducked her head and I was reminded of how young and neglected she was. Right then it was easy to remember why pursuing her would be wrong and I finally succeeded in kicking those thoughts out of my mind for at least a few minutes.
“Well, I’m gonna start getting ready then. I assume we’re heading out around seven?”
Ah. She remembered our normally family dinner time. I didn’t even have to tell her. For some reason, that pleased me, and I nodded. “I don’t have quite as much dolling up to do so I’m going to just make a few calls.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“In a bit,” I echoed, heading back to my room and attached office.
But try as I might to work, my thoughts kept drifting to her. To the proud curve of her lips. The sparkling honey of her eyes. Her long, beautiful hair. If she was just a bit older and not my daughter’s best friend, she would have been exactly my type.
It was really just too bad.
“Anthony? Are you ready to go?”
I looked up from my computer, apparently finally having found some focus and actually getting some work done. Thankfully, I was already dressed, so all I had to do was exit my office, walk through my room and open the door.
I did so, and I was greeted by the sight of Stella in an absolutely gorgeous dress. It was lavender, and fit close to her body while flaring into a wide ruffle at the bottom. I could tell part of it hugged her body tightly, but the top seemed unflatteringly lose.
In fact, she was holding it up.
“Um, could you zip this for me?” she said meekly, her cheeks coloring. “Like I said, I usually have Rachelle to do this.”
“Oh, do you only wear this around her?”
“Yeah, I’m more of a sweats and t-shirt kind of girl. You know that.”
“Hah, that I do. Alright, turn around.”
She did so, and her pale back was exposed to me. It was then that I realized that she wasn’t wearing a bra and I desperately tried to ignore that. Hadn’t I just lectured myself on this very thing?
Her skin looked so soft, so luminous between the panels of fa
bric, and I just wanted to drag my fingers along it, but I resisted. Instead I found the base of the zipper and pulled it up.
Or at least I tried to. It definitely resisted me as it went up, the dress barely fitting along her curves.
I felt the zipper toggle bite into my finger, but I kept had it while I heard Stella hold her breath until finally she was fully clothed.
“Uh, thanks,” she said, turning around. “That would have been impossible to do myself.”
“Yeah,” I answered with a chuckle. “Hopefully it won’t lose me my man car when I say that actually kinda hurt a little.”
She laughed again, and I realized that I was definitely beginning to enjoy the sound. “Don’t worry. I’ve literally cut my finger open on a bad zipper.”
“Really?” I retorted a bit dubiously.
“Really. Beauty is pain, after all.”
“I guess so.” I offered her my arm, which I hadn’t been intending to do until just that moment. “Shall we to our ride?”
“Oh yes, we shall!”
She looped her thick arm through mine and we headed down the stairs. Suddenly I was acutely aware of how short her strides were compared to mine, and how warm her body was right beside mine.
We got down to the base floor and then I lead her to the front door where I regretfully untangled myself from her. “I’ll bring the car around,” I said, heading for the garage.
She could have just walked through there with me, but it seemed ungentlemanly to take a lady through where I kept all my tools and spare parts. Plus, the thought of possibly getting oil or dust on a dress that made her look like an absolute goddess to me was completely abhorrent.
So instead I grabbed my keys from the hook by the door leading out to my ‘man cave’ as Rachelle liked to call it and got into my car. I was already dressed in a nice shirt, tie and dinner suit, but I found myself double checking the mirror to make sure that I was up to snuff.
But it wasn’t until I pulled around to pick her up that I got the full effect of her whole outfit. Stella’s long hair was done up in gentle waves, framing her face like she was some sort of movie star, and the front of the dress had a plunging neckline that made her figure look that much more bombshell. The dress clung tightly to her stomach, speaking of a heavenly sort of softness there, while her hips flared out to perfection.