Single Dad

by River Laurent

  When I pull her panties down, she steps out of them.

  I take one of her legs and put it over my shoulder, stroking from knee to hip as goosebumps rise up on her skin. I can smell her now, musky and sweet, pulling me in like a magnet. Closer and closer until my nose brushes her smooth mound and she whimpers softly. Encouragingly. My tongue darts out for a taste and she’s sweeter than I ever dreamt.

  Fucking heaven.

  “Oooh…yes…” she breathes, jerking her hips, giving all of herself to me.

  And I take it, letting my tongue lap at her swollen lips, licking up her juices, diving in between her folds until I find her clit and capture it inside my mouth.

  Now she’s mine.

  Completely under my control. Lost in pleasure, hands pulling at my hair, breathing in short gasps, she struggles to stay quiet even as I feel her quivering under my mouth. I know she’s close. I thrust my tongue into her wet heat and she clenches uncontrollably. I flick my tongue over the tip of her clit and suck it into my mouth. Her body shudders. Her words echo in my head: I like feeling I don’t have a choice but to submit to whatever a man wants to do to me.

  I bite her.

  And that’s all it takes for her body to go rigid, and her thigh to tighten around my back. Her hips buck frantically as her orgasm tears through her. It lasts ages, but I don’t take my mouth away.

  Finally, her body slumps forward. Her leg is still trembling with the intensity of her climax. “Oh, my God,” she pants, leaning against the wall for support, her eyes closed, and her mouth hanging open.

  I put her foot back down on the ground and stand. I’m rock-hard and a little dizzy with desire, but this is enough for now. Maybe too much, but I don’t care. If we weren’t in public, I’d keep going.

  Especially when she opens her eyes and her lips curve into a shy smile. “That was…unexpected.” Dakota straightens herself out, smoothing down her dress. She looks around on the ground for her panties.

  I hold them out to her and she snatches at them, still looking down.

  “I guess we’d better get out of here,” I murmur. “Maybe separately would be better.”

  “Okay. Yes. Great. Thank you.” Her hand covers her face. “I mean—I’m not thanking you for this—I mean, I am, but…”

  “I know what you meant.” She’s so fucking adorable. For her sake, I hold back the need to throw her against the wall and slam into her. I watch her leave. My cock is throbbing painfully for her. I stand in the shadows and wait until she hails a cab and climbs into it. Then I’m out of the alley and on my way to my own car.

  Chapter 21

  DAKOTA

  Boy, am I glad you’re off tonight.” I sit on the edge of my bed and let my body fall backwards as I speak into the phone. Stretched out on the bed I stare up at the ceiling. I know Mom is fast asleep, but I keep my voice quiet.

  “Oh, no. What happened? Did you drop out of the game?” Jenny sounds deeply sympathetic, but almost like she expected this to happen.

  “No! In fact, there are only six teams left now.”

  “Really? That’s fantastic! So what’s the problem? Did Mr. Gorgeous piss you off?”

  “Not exactly, but he is the problem.”

  “Not exactly? Come on. Don’t tiptoe around it. Tell Aunty Jenny.”

  I snort. “Excellent choice of words, since my toe had something to do with it.”

  “Wait…What?”

  After a deep breath, then another one, I spill the entire story without leaving anything out. Okay, I leave out a few key bits, but those are things that are filed under too much information.

  “Dakota!” she gasps.

  “I know! You don’t have to tell me what a huge mistake I made. I’m already well aware.”

  “I wasn’t going to tell you it was a mistake, but the fact that you immediately went there, makes me a little concerned for you,” she says thoughtfully.

  “Actually, I don’t know what I feel right now. You’re right. I can’t stop thinking it was a mistake, and that’s not a good thing.”

  “Did you enjoy it?”

  “Oh, God, what do you think?” I close my eyes and let myself go back to that alley for just a moment. “Was it the most romantic spot? No. Did I sort of feel trashy for letting it happen there, of all places? Yes. But it was all I wanted in the entire world at that moment. And he wanted it too. It was fast, dirty and hot, but part of me still can’t believe I allowed it to happen. I’ve never done anything like that in my whole life. Hell, anybody could’ve walked in that alleyway and caught us at any time.”

  “Girl, you are making me seriously jealous right now.”

  “Sorry.”

  “No, you’re not.” She laughs.

  “You’re right.” I laugh with her, covering my face with my hand. “Oh, I don’t know what to do! I mean, he’s still my competition, Jen. We’re down to five other couples and us. Eventually, it’ll be me and him. What do I do then? I know I won’t be able to forget what happened tonight, or how much I loved it.”

  “And neither will he,” she reminds me in a quiet voice. “Don’t forget that.”

  “You don’t think he was using me, do you?”

  “Absolutely not. He did it for the same reason you did it. Because even though it was bad for business, both of you wanted to do it. The game show had nothing to do with this. You were just two people for the first time since you met in the parking lot. The sparks flew even then. When you first told me about him, do you wanna know what I thought?”

  I sigh heavily. “I have a feeling you’re going to tell me anyway.”

  “I thought it sounded like you two were perfect for each other.”

  “That’s crazy. I hated him. He was behaving like such an entitled jerk.”

  “It’s not crazy. I’ve never been more serious in my life. It was that same something that made the presenter zero in on the two of you. It was fate,” she proclaims dreamily.

  “You’re fucked in the head.”

  “What’s your point?”

  She has me there. “Anyway, it’s irrelevant. It’s all irrelevant. I have to beat him. I can’t keep thinking of him as, you know…a man.”

  “You’re setting yourself up to fail. Nobody can do that after someone they really fancy just got them off in an alley.”

  “You’re supposed to be helping me through this, not reminding me how my life is going to get even more difficult from here on out. This is the first lesson in Best Friend Basics, 101.”

  “Oh. Okay. Let me try again.” She clears her throat, then lets her voice get breathy and high-pitched. “You can do it, Dakota! I believe in you!”

  “You’re the worst. You know that?”

  “Just think of him as a Ken doll. Nothing down there but molded plastic!”

  I burst out laughing. “Trust me. That’s not the case. He’s a lot, lot more than molded plastic.” My body flushes at the memory of his hard, probing dick pressed against my thigh, and the way he groaned when I brushed against it.

  “Please, lay it on thicker. I’m not already hating your guts over your luck,” she laughs.

  “I don’t know that I would call it luck. More like…the natural progression of what happened because of our stunts.”

  “Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? Stop kidding yourself. You lucked into getting paired up with a guy who can’t keep his hands off of you.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far…”

  “You don’t have to,” she teases. “He’s already done it for you.”

  “Jenny!”

  “And I bet he would like to go even further, if you’d let him. No man does what he did, where he did it, and doesn’t want more. Trust me, girlfriend.”

  She might have a point, though I’m still afraid to let myself believe it. I guess I already like him too much and I don’t want to let myself get more tangled with him when there’s a chance he doesn’t genuinely like me back. I don’t want to get hurt.

  I roll onto my st
omach with a groan. Leaning my head on my arm, I stare off into space. “I still can’t believe I did that. It’s so…”

  “Hot?”

  “Yeah, hot, but it’s so not like me.”

  “Maybe this is who you are,” she reasons.

  “Thanks a lot,” I grumble.

  “Jeez, I’m not calling you a back-alley slut, Dakota. All I’m saying is, maybe you have a touch of bad girl deep down inside you, and you’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this to let that bad girl out. You just got excited by the taboo aspect of the situation.”

  “I would argue the point, but it’s shocking how turned-on I became in the restaurant.”

  “See? You’re a naughty girl at heart. I knew you had it in you.”

  “I wish I knew what to do now. Do you have any wisdom for me?”

  “What would you do if you had an illicit encounter with a guy from work?”

  “Illicit encounter at my workplace? Please. There’s only old Mr. Douglas, two married middle-aged men, Ryland who is gay, and the cleaning lady.” I work at a dusty warehouse where we store stuff for people. Nobody keeps anything of value there, just old files, and stuff they wouldn’t really care about if it were lost. They leave it with us because we’re so cheap.

  “Seriously. What would you do?” she insists.

  “I guess, I would find a way to face him after it was over.”

  “You’ll find a way to face Trent, too. Hey, he wouldn’t have pulled you into that alley if he didn’t want you like crazy. You said he was turned-on by all that word play in the restaurant.”

  “Are you kidding? He led me into half of what I said. His reaction was what turned me on to begin with.”

  “Ugh. I hate you so much right now,” she mourns. “A hot guy, salivating over you in front of a restaurant full of people. Sucking your toe in public… Anyway, I’m getting off-track. My point is, he’s probably going through something similar right now. Not regret, per se. But I’d bet he’s wondering what you’re thinking, if he made a mistake, how he’ll face you during your next stunt. I know it’s easy when you’re dealing with a super gorgeous, confident guy to assume they have everything together and are just so much cooler than you, but sometimes that’s not the case.”

  “You’re a wellspring of wisdom, Aunty Jenny.”

  “I know,” she agrees smugly.

  “It must come from working as a bartender,” I muse. “You get to experience so much.”

  “I work in a dive bar,” she says dryly. “It’s not glamorous.”

  “You know what I mean. You seem so much wiser than me. I’m always the one who’s like, duh, what do I do now? And you’re the one with all the sensible answers.”

  “You scored a few points tonight, though,” she points out with a giggle. “I’ve never had a guy go down on me in an alley before.”

  “I’m never gonna live this down, am I?”

  “Oh, God, no.” She’s still laughing when she hangs up.

  My cheeks tingle with my little secret…and maybe with a little bit of pride. Just a little. A smidge. I have a dirty sex story. Me. Dakota. Good Girl Dakota has a sexy story! I’m now a woman with a past. And I don’t entirely hate it.

  I only wish it wasn’t with him—even though I’m glad and slightly more proud because it was him in that alley with me. Why can’t something fun happen in my life without strings attached? Other people get to have fun, be young and not worry about it. I can’t even have a fling with a hot guy without worrying it’ll cost me a million dollars and my mom’s life.

  Chapter 22

  TRENT

  I wonder what she’s going to be like today.

  I’ll never apologize or go back on what happened last night. We both wanted it. She had me so turned on I was about ready to burst out of my damn pants. The innocence is what got me. I’ve never met anybody who’s so straightforward, honest and straight, but so fucking hot at the same time.

  When she talked about getting tied up…

  Just remembering it as I drive to the regional airport for our next stunt has me rock-hard and wanting her again. For real, this time. I’ve tasted her and want more. I want everything she’ll give me.

  So here I am, going through the same damn mental gymnastics I went through last night. It fucking kept me awake for half the night. To the point where I hope, we won’t have to do anything that involves thinking or reflexes today.

  The money is still my goal. My business. My dream. I’ll make it happen. A little fun in an alley doesn’t erase years of hard work. We’re both adults, and I’m sure I still have what it takes to eliminate her from the game when the time comes. I might not even have to. She doesn’t have the balls to go through with the stunts without me pushing her along. Without me, she’ll most probably drop out as soon as the last stunt is announced.

  It doesn’t matter if she hates me.

  So why is there a sharp little twinge in my chest when I imagine it ending that way?

  It’s the first cold day of the year. I rub my hands together to warm them up once I step out of the car. The airport is sort of out in the middle of nowhere. Nothing around for miles.

  Why would they want us out here?

  I double-check the latest text, confirming the time and the place. I don’t see anything outside of a hangar, but a single helicopter. There’s not a pilot in sight. Also, there’s no Dakota. The thought that she might bail on me today never crossed my mind until just now.

  Holy shit. What if that was it last night? What if she couldn’t handle it and walked away? A sick feeling settles in the pit of my stomach and the cold wind turns it to ice. I’m standing alone in the middle of an airport runway and this could be the end of the line.

  If it is, I’ll kick myself. I let my dream die, because I couldn’t fucking control myself.

  When her piece of shit car makes the turn into the lot, then down to the runway, my legs feel like they could buckle out of relief. I should’ve known she would hang in there. She’s tough.

  I wave to her.

  She doesn’t look embarrassed, or like she wants to avoid me.

  A good thing, I guess.

  “Hey,” she calls out, shoving her hands into the pockets of her long, black coat. It’s seen better days. “What’s this all about? Do you know?”

  “They wouldn’t tell me anything they haven’t told you,” I call back.

  She’s smiles as she reaches me. “That wasn’t true last night, when they texted us separately.”

  I expected her to at least look shy if she brought up last night’s stunt, but she doesn’t. Have I underestimated her? “True,” I say softly, looking deep into her eyes.

  She blushes and looks away. “Do you think there’s been some mix-up or something?”

  “I wouldn’t have thought so.”

  “This is eerie.”

  While I wouldn’t have used that word, we are alone, or practically. Just the two of us in the middle of a windswept stretch of land, freezing our asses off. I have a feeling our stunts have just been taken a notch up.

  Our phones buzz.

  Judging by the way she fumbles for her phone, it looks like she’s desperately relieved to hear it.

  Good morning Dare Me Contestant.

  Please go into Hangar Three

  and knock at the office door.

  We both shrug. So far, so good.

  “This has to be a trick,” she whispers as we walk. “I mean, just like everything else so far. They get us to meet up someplace, then spring some insanity on us. It looks innocent on the surface.”

  Just like you, I want to add, but I bite my tongue, and hold the door open for her instead. The inside of the hangar isn’t much warmer than outside, but the office should be. I hope.

  She knocks at the door—a little softly, but loud enough.

  “Come in,” a man’s voice calls.

  We glance at each other. I don’t have a good feeling about this all of a sudden. Dakota seems frozen to the spo
t, so I push open the door.

  The man behind the desk is old. His skin has been weathered to leather, and even though I know appearances can be deceptive, I relax a little. His kind smile is good to see, but I notice his eyes look a little sympathetic. What does he know that we don’t?

  He points to a stack of clothing on a table in the far corner of the room. “I’m supposed to instruct you to put those on.”

  “What are those?” Dakota asks, crossing the room to examine what’s waiting there. She lets out a little gasp. “Are these wetsuits?”

  “They are.” He looks at me and shrugs. “I’m just telling you what they told me.”

  “Holy cow,” she whispers, eyes wide as she turns to me. “What are we supposed to do today?”

  Chapter 23

  TRENT

  I don’t like this one bit!” Dakota mumbles. She is strapped in, the way I am, with a pair of headphones over her ears and a microphone in front of her mouth.

  I know there have to be cameras somewhere in the helicopter, since the audience will want to catch every heart-stopping, cringe-worthy moment of this epic disaster.

  I can’t admit it out loud to her, but I don’t like it any more than she does. Flying in a helicopter is one thing since I don’t have a fear of heights. Although, it doesn’t exactly make me comfortable to be this high up in the thin air wearing a wetsuit, but knowing what we have to do once we reach a specific point of the Delaware River is a whole other thing.

  I flash Dakota what I hope is a confident smile. “No sweat! Just close your eyes and it’ll be over before you know it!”

  “You know what else could be over before I know it? My life!”

  I reach for her hand and give it a quick squeeze. It’s freezing cold and clammy. “They wouldn’t ask us to do anything that would kill us. You have to be smart about the way you jump.”

  Her head whirls around. “Smart? Smart how?”

  How the fuck should I know? I have to come up with something to relieve her anxiety. “Try to fall straight up and down. Point your feet. Cross your arms over your chest.”