Tell-Tale Hearts

by H A Blackwood

  “Oh, yeah, you offered to help with mine. Maybe you can go to Home Depot with me later this week and help me figure out what I need to do.”

  “I’d be glad to. I do know my way around Home Depot. In fact, that’s where my story picks up. You want to adjourn to the living room?”

  Gemma smiled that gorgeous, toothy smile of hers. “You know I want to hear more, but only if you’re up for it. I know you don’t feel good, and I only intended to bring you the shake and go.”

  “Oh shit, the shake! It’s melting!” I grabbed her hand and led her to the living room, snatching the shake from the dining table on the way. I took a big pull from the large-diameter straw. “Mmmm, still cold and super tasty! You are an angel of mercy!”

  I settled on the couch, and Gemma took a seat in the cushioned chair opposite me. She kicked off her shoes and pulled her knees up to her chest, looking like a little kid about to hear someone read a story to her. Which, I guess, is what I was doing. “So, speaking of super tasty and Home Depot, guess who I ran into there one fine Sunday afternoon?”

  Home Depot

  Six Weeks Ago

  I was walking down the central aisle at the rear of the store, looking for the plumbing aisle, when I saw Peter and a woman who I assumed was his wife pushing a cart toward me. I’d seen the picture of his wife on his phone, but she was way more attractive in person, even holding their toddler. She looked older, more mature, but sexier. Her short blond hair was the right style for her. I don’t think many women can wear short hair and make it look good, but on her it was perfect. Her breasts were more prominent than in the picture, too, but that was probably owed to the pregnancy. She glowed as she walked along with a gymnast’s grace. I’d had fleeting, dirty thoughts about her when Pete showed me her picture but seeing her in person was different. I felt a tingle inside, and a hunger stirred that I hadn’t felt in a long time.

  Peter saw me, and I could tell he was hit by a sensation of panic. I wanted to head him off before he said something stupid.

  “Peter!” I exclaimed. I walked up and gave him a hug. The look on his face was pure deer-in-the-headlights. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy putting him on the spot a little bit. I was in control here, and he was freaking out.

  “Pete?” his wife asked, suspicion heavy in her voice. “Who’s this?”

  I turned to her. “I’m sorry! I’m Darcy Ford. I knew Peter back in college, and I ran into him at the Kroger’s the other day. You must be Kimberly? He showed me your picture and told me all about you and your beautiful daughter. From that picture, I thought you were a hottie, but I must say, you are way prettier in person!” I turned my head a little toward Peter. “Way to go, Peter!”

  “Pete,” he said, catching on to my act. “I go by Pete now, just for the record.”

  Kimberly relaxed a little and extended her hand. She clearly liked that, according to me, the first thing he did when he met me was to shove her picture in my face. “And I go by Kim. It’s good to meet you, Darcy. How is it that Pete’s never mentioned you before?” She looked sideways at Pete, but I answered instead.

  “Well, I transferred to a different school after my second year, and we hadn’t seen each other in, gosh, like, ten years. I just moved back a few weeks ago, so you’ll probably run into me again, especially if you come here a lot. My house needs a lot of work.” Their daughter reached a hand toward me and made that grabby-grabby motion that kids do. “Isn’t she precious! Can I hold her?”

  Kim paused a second, then passed the little girl over. She really was a cutie—I wasn’t faking that part. I took her and addressed her as one addresses all non-verbal cute things. I did baby talk. “What’s your name, cutie-patootie-pie?”

  The girl laughed and said, “Pop pop pop. Boppa pop.”

  “Her name’s Rebecca,” Kim said.

  “Well, Rebecca, you’re going to have to work on your pronunciation. Pop pop pop boppa pop isn’t quite how you say your name.”

  She drooled on herself and said, “Poopa poo!” then she made a farting noise and blew spit bubbles all over herself.

  “I bet you learned that from your daddy!”

  The little girl laughed, then made the grabby motion toward Kim, so I passed her back. “Oh, you guys, she’s adorable!”

  Kim beamed. “Thanks. We think so, but don’t all parents?”

  “You’re the exceptions that are right.”

  “Well,” Pete said, trying to extricate them from this awkward situation. “We’ve got some stuff we need to get to before this afternoon, so…”

  “Oh, of course! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hold you up.” I noticed Kim’s phone was about to fall out of a side pocket on her big bag. “Oh, watch out, this is going to fall!”

  I grabbed her phone, and when I did, I hit the home button. The phone didn’t have a passcode. I took a risk and opened the text app and started typing.

  “Um, hello? What are you doing?” Kim demanded.

  I typed a few more characters and hit send. My phone buzzed in my pocket. “I texted my phone. Now you have my number. I don’t really know anyone in town, so if you ever want to get coffee, or whatever, just hit me up!” I leaned in close and handed the phone back to her. I lowered my voice, making it huskier than usual. “I’d love to get to know you better.”

  She blushed, her red cheeks standing out against her porcelain skin as she put her phone away. Pete was already wheeling the cart down the aisle. “Good to see you, Darcy,” he said over his shoulder.

  Kim looked at me and smiled, the flush fading from her face. “It, um, it was nice to Darcy you. To meet you! It was nice to meet you, Darcy.” She hustled to catch up with Pete.

  I went on about my business, got the parts I needed, and was working on fixing my toilet that evening when I heard my phone buzz with a text alert.

  Hi Darcy, this is Kim Olsen, Pete’s wife. I’m running a couple of late errands. Can I bring you a coffee?

  What the fuck? I gave her my number like five hours ago, and she wants to come over? I knew I’d dangled some bait, but I didn’t really expect her to take it, and certainly not to contact me this soon. On the other hand, she was hot, and she wanted to come to my house, and she made my loins tingle. What could go wrong? I texted her back.

  “That would be awesome! I like lattes if you’re going somewhere that has them. Otherwise, black coffee is fine.”

  The three dots danced for a few seconds.

  Is a McLatte okay?

  “Perfect.” I gave her my address and went back to work on the toilet.

  Thirty minutes later, the doorbell rang. I went out to answer it, and there was Kim, changed out of her Home Depot shopping outfit, and dressed super cute in black capris and a pink top that let just a sliver of her belly show. She had open-toed shoes with a thick, two-inch heel that brought her almost up to my barefoot height.

  By comparison, I was a slob. I was wearing a pair of gray sweat shorts and an old, ratty tank top that had seen a few too many wash cycles. It had a hole in the stomach, and the sides were stretched out, showing my side from my shoulder to just past the bottom of my ribcage. It made me self-conscious that I wasn’t wearing a bra. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I look horrible. I was working on the bathroom and lost track of time. I should go change.”

  She extended the latte to me. “No, don’t bother! I know I surprised you by texting so soon, but I just had some things I wanted to talk to you about before they drive me crazy. And you look great, by the way. I wish my working-around-the-house look were as striking as yours.”

  I felt my face get warm. “Well, that’s a lie, but I’ll take it. Come in, Kim, have a seat.”

  We sat in the living room, and I took a sip of the latte. It was actually pretty good. I was pleasantly surprised. “So, what’s on your mind?”

  “Okay. I’m just going to get to it. When you were in college, did you and Pete used to date?”

  I felt a trap. Kim had likely already had this conversation w
ith Peter—Pete, I mean—and I had no idea what he would have said. I decided the truth was probably the best and easiest way to go. If he lied about our relationship, that was on him. “Yeah, we did. For about three weeks.”

  “I thought so. He acted really nervous when you walked up to us in the store. I thought he was going to have a panic attack!”

  I laughed. “Yeah, guys are dumb. Worlds colliding, and all that.”

  “Were you two… intimate?”

  Again, I decided truth was the best, but I dressed it down a little to take the focus off Pete. “Kim, if I dated someone in college, we were going to be intimate. In fact, that’s why he broke up with me.”

  That surprised her. “Wait—Pete broke up with you? But… you’re gorgeous!”

  I felt my face heat up again. “It’s true. I had a bit of a reputation, well deserved, I’m afraid. I think Pete’s friends even teased him about it, and ultimately, I just wasn’t what he was looking for.”

  I could tell from her face that she was both relieved and confused.

  “Does it bother you that Pete and I were together?”

  “No. I mean, I know he’s been with other women. But he’s been acting really weird lately. Ever since the baby came, he’s been more distant. And then over the last few weeks, he’s been out of the office at lunch a lot and working late. I was actually wondering if he was cheating on me.”

  I leaned forward. “Cheating? Because he eats lunch and works late sometimes?”

  “I know, it sounds stupid when I say it out loud. He was just suddenly less affectionate, more distant. God, I can’t believe I’m telling you all this. We literally just met each other today.”

  I leaned back, and when I did, I felt my left breast slip partially out of the side of my tank top. The nipple was just exposed, and I felt it hardening in the open air. I was feeling a little devilish, so I decided to see what Kim would do. I left it where it was, acting like I didn’t notice. “I don’t know, Kim. Like I said, guys are dumb. Maybe he’s still just a little weirded out about you giving birth or something. I have friends that told me their husbands took a while to get back to seeing them as sexual beings.” I’d read that in a Cosmo in my gynecologist’s waiting room a few weeks prior while I waited for my annual exam. I couldn’t believe I actually found a conversational use for a Cosmo article!

  “Yeah, maybe. Um, Darcy?” She gestured at my tit hanging from the side of my tank, but never averted her eyes. “You’re, uh, hanging out there.”

  I feigned embarrassment. “Oh, my god! You must think I’m horrid! I knew I should have put on a bra. I just hate wearing them. I used to have B-cups, and I could get away with it, but they’ve grown, and well, you saw what can happen.”

  “Well… um, they look like they’re holding up well, from what I saw. You say they’ve gotten bigger?”

  “Yeah, I think it’s because of the birth control I switched to a few years ago. It’s one of the side effects. All things considered, that’s a good one to get, I guess. But whatever the cause, they’re larger than they used to be. Certainly, larger than Pete would remember.”

  She laughed an uneasy laugh. “Well, at least I’ve seen something that Pete hasn’t! That would kill him if he knew! When you said they’ve grown, I thought you maybe got a boob job. It was so—perfect.”

  “Well, thank you. I work out a lot to try and keep things tight. I can assure you they’re real.” I paused and then decided to go for it. “You want to feel them and see for yourself? Now, that would really drive Pete crazy!”

  She just stared at me for a second. “Can I tell you a secret?”

  I leaned forward, purposely pinning the right side of my tank under my arm, allowing my left breast to break free again, but keeping it hidden behind my left arm. “You bet. Who would I tell, anyway? I only know you and Pete, and I, for sure, won’t tell him.”

  She licked her lips and took a sip from her coffee. “When you said you wanted to get to know me better in the store today, it sounded… sexual.”

  I leaned back, breast exposed, but didn’t say anything.

  She stared directly at my nipple but didn’t say a word about it this time. “You’re not denying it. So, you did mean it that way. I was thinking about it all morning and this afternoon. Every time I replayed it in my mind, I felt a little charge run through me, just like I did when you said it. I mean, when I was on the cheer team in school, some of the girls were, um, playing for the other team. But they never hit on me. That thrill I felt when you said that—it’s something I’ve never felt before. It had me totally flummoxed! I even, um…”

  She trailed off, staring at my nipple. “You what, Kim? You can tell me.”

  Her words came out in a rush. “I pleasured myself in the shower, thinking about it before I went out. Thinking about you!”

  Her face turned bright red. She leaned back in her chair and finally looked away from my breast. She buried her face behind her hands. “Oh my god, I must sound like a lunatic to you. I’ve known you for less than a day, and I’m telling you about my husband not having sex with me and that I play with myself in the shower thinking about random women. Next, I’ll tell you that I made up my errands just so I had an excuse to see you again.”

  “Did you? Make them up?”

  “Who has errands to run on a Sunday night, Darcy? Of course, I made it up. Oh god, I should just go before I embarrass myself any further.” She started to get up, but I stopped her.

  “Kim, I told you I had a reputation in college. A well-earned one. You thinking of me while you masturbate isn’t weird. I’m flattered that a gorgeous woman like you would think of me that way.”

  “You’re kind,” she said. She was staring at my breast again. She licked her lips. I knew I had her on the hook. She pointed at my exposed flesh. “You’re doing that on purpose.”

  I crossed my arms and lifted the tank over my head and tossed it aside. Her mouth fell open, and I felt my face and chest get warm with a flush. “Go for it,” I said. “I’ve wanted you to touch me ever since I saw your picture on Pete’s phone.”

  She leaned across the coffee table and grabbed a breast in each hand, holding them like she was assessing which one weighed more. My nipples grew impossibly hard, and she dragged a thumb over each one. A fire ignited in my pussy, and an involuntary gasp escaped my throat, totally surprising both of us. It snapped her out of her reverie.

  “I need to go!” she said, dropping my breasts and practically sprinting for the door.

  I grabbed my tank and held it over my chest. “Kim—”

  “No, I’m going. Thank you for the talking to. For talking about Pete. My husband!” And like that, she was gone.

  I returned to the couch. That was, without a doubt, one of the strangest, most exciting few minutes of my life. Well, of the previous nine and a half, anyway. I looked at my phone, tempted to text her, but decided to let her run. Following my fishing analogy, she needed some line to tire herself out so I could reel her in. My pussy still tingled, thinking about this game we suddenly found ourselves playing. I was tempted to play with myself, but I didn’t give in to the urge. Not yet. I closed my eyes, thinking about her hands on me, how heavy and full my breasts felt as she hefted them, how exquisite her soft, delicate touch was on my body. I wanted more of that.

  I was about to give in and pleasure myself when my phone buzzed.

  Darcy, I’m sorry I freaked out. I shouldn’t have. You were so sweet after what I told you I did in the shower. So nice to make me not feel like a weirdo, and to offer yourself to me like you did. I didn’t mean to run away. I just… I don’t know. I reacted badly.

  I typed out a reply. “Don’t worry about it. I was probably a bit too aggressive. I’m generally not like that, but I was serious, from the moment I saw your photo, I’ve felt drawn to you. Then, when I saw you in the store… I found you irresistibly alluring. Whether I want to be or not, I’m attracted to you.”

  The three dots danced.

 
I’ve never been called alluring before.

  So… I did it again.

  “Did what?”

  What I did in the shower. I pulled over a mile from your house and pulled my pants down, and I did it. I think a homeless guy saw me. I’m so ashamed… embarrassed.

  And excited.

  I thought for a moment, then simply typed, “Holy shit!”

  OMG! I can’t believe I typed that! WTF is wrong with me? You have to delete this chat!

  I set the phone down, slid my shorts off, put my feet on the coffee table, and reached down. I never get tired of that first touch. It’s like powering on a computer. Everything lights up. I rolled my head back, amazed at how wet I still was from when she fondled my tits. I imagined her in her car, her capris pushed down to her knees, her hand rubbing her clit, her fingers sliding in and out of her pussy, and after she came and her senses returned, she saw a random guy peeking in her windows. It only took me two minutes to cum, my hips lifting, bucking at my fingers, my entire upper body in a flexed, crunch position, my stomach tightened, my pelvic muscles contracting and relaxing over and over. I pinched my nipples with my free hand and let loose with a scream as the wave crashed over me. I collapsed, panting on the couch.

  My phone buzzed. I picked it up and saw several texts from Kim.

  Darcy? Are you there?

  Where’d you go?

  RU there?

  My god, this was so much more exciting than fucking Pete! I typed a reply. “I’m here. Had to play with myself real quick. You can’t have all the fun. I was thinking of you touching my tits, and I had to do it.”

  Nothing happened for a moment, then the three dots danced.

  Holy shit.

  I laughed.

  I’m going running at six tomorrow morning. Join me?