Press Your Luck 47

Two hours later, after the mourners had left and Lucy had gone grocery shopping with her aunt Linda yet again, Samantha dragged Danny into the master bedroom. “Danny. I need you to be completely honest with me.” She said as she sat on the bed. Speaking in just the same way now to the large man as she once did to the little boy she knew. “Is Harlow alive or not?” As happy as Samantha was at the prospect that her son might be alive…if she was crazy she at least needed to know just how crazy and she knew Danny had too many tells to be a good poker player and too honest to lie to a grieving woman.

Danny frowned and rubbed his neck and glanced at the closed door. He loved Lucy and wanted to help her, but at what cost? Danny looked down at the mourning mother sitting on his parents bed. He had already hurt her once. Could he do it again? “It’s complicated.” Danny swallowed the rock in his throat.

Samantha’s lips quivered, fighting between the smile that threatened to split her face and the deep set frown she had worn all week. Had she just been crazy Danny would have simply said no! So it must be true? But if it were true then why wouldn't Danny just say so? So she must be crazy! “Is…Is Lucy Harlow?”

Danny’s jaw hit the floor. ‘How did she find out?!’ His mind yelled at him in panic. ‘Was Lucy’s plan that obvious? Lucy looks nothing like Harlow.’ He reasoned. ‘Was it just a mother’s intuition that told her the truth?’ She was with Harlow when no one else was around, were there more signs that Danny had missed out on that Samantha had seen or figured out?

“Please, Daniel.” She begged. “I just need to know.”

Danny stood in stone silence as he stared down at the woman. He had long ago grown accustomed to being taller than Samantha and pretty much everyone else he knew. But today as she pleaded with pain in her eyes she appeared somehow smaller than he remembered. He already justified hurting her once before by lying. If she somehow already knew, or suspected there was no harm in telling her, right? She was even more paranoid than Lucy was. So she would know to keep it a secret. ‘But it’s safer to lie isn’t it? Just in case Marcus comes back.’ His brain told him. It would be better, easier on all of them to just snuff out the small glimmer of hope she had that her son, or daughter, was still alive. It would be a small sacrifice to keep Lucy safe.

Danny swallowed the boulder in his throat and whispering, he said, “Yes ma’am.” Samantha’s smile finally broke free and flung her arms around Danny’s stomach as she broke out into happy tears and whispered in elation her gratitude to every deity imaginable. Samantha’s happiness washed over him. Danny smiled, as he felt the faintest feeling of lightness lifting his soul and knew he had done the right thing. He could only hope he had done the smart thing as he held the crying woman in his arms.

Danny then spent the better part of an hour explaining the situation to Samantha as far as Danny understood it to be. Including what he had told Marcus about Lucy and Samantha’s relationship. When he had finished Samantha inevitably asked about Danny and Lucy’s relationship and what caused it to end.

“That…is complicated too.” He admitted and adjusted himself on the bed where he sat beside the much relieved Samantha. “We had issues and there was a fight over her gambling.”

“But you let him stay here? Her.” Samantha corrected herself. Harlow, or Lucy, coming out was a shock. Now that she had come out little moments stuck out to her now. Small and insignificant signs she had noticed when he was little but nothing she could not easily dismiss or rationalize. She had somewhat suspected Harlow might be gay with how he appeared to idolize Danny. This all would take some getting used to but she would rather have a living daughter than a dead son.

“Like I said, it’s complicated. She’s still my friend and I still lo–I mean I still care for her, I always have. I don’t think I can ever stop caring about her. I don’t…I don’t think I want to.”

Samantha nodded and pulled the larger man down so she could kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you for keeping my son…my daughter safe.” She said before giving him another hug. “And don’t give up on her just yet.” She said softly.

Samantha stayed two more days after that before returning to Utah with her sister. She promised Lucy she would return in a couple of months to be sure it was safe so that she could get to know her daughter more.

It wasn’t long after Harlow’s fake memorial service that Danny, Lucy, and Valerie stood in the airport terminal. “You remember to text us and let us know how you’re doing okay?” Valerie sniffed.

“I will.” Danny smiled.

“And text us when you land.” Val added, biting her lip. “L-Lucy will worry if you don’t. Right?” She turned her head to ask Lucy who stood beside her.

“Totally.” Lucy’s natural smile quivered as she fought against herself not to pout or worse, frown.

“I’ll call you both. Don’t worry.” Danny smiled gently but spoke directly to Valerie. Knowing she was only using Lucy to cover her own worry.

Valerie nodded and wrapped her much taller brother in a tight hug. Now that Danny was actually leaving She was going to miss him. Valerie had known that he was going to be leaving soon, she was even aware of how many days he had left. She told herself she wouldn’t miss him. He was only going to be gone for a month after all. Unless they cut him then he’ll be home in four days. ‘But they would never be that stupid.’ Val thought, ‘Danny is an amazing player.’ Still…they had lived their entire lives in the same house together, rarely parting for more than a day or two before. Valerie sniffed as the siblings broke their hug before ducking under the nylon partition that separated the lines.

Danny stared down at Lucy for a moment, unsure of what to say to her. They had kissed and made love, and he still loved her, but now he didn’t know where he stood with her. He couldn’t just give her a high-five or a fist bump like he had done with his friends. Despite all that happened she was still his best friend.

Lucy forced a smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around the larger man. She had worn her highest pink stilettos so that she could be closer in height to Danny, as impossible as that was. Which meant she had to find the perfect outfit to go with them to say goodbye. She had to match after all. At least that’s what she told herself as she dug through her closet and drawers until she finally settled on a plaid print knot shoulder split hem overall dress with a short sleeved white top that read "playboy" in a flowing script.

Lucy whispered softly, “I’m gonna totally miss you. So, like come back soon okay?” She finished with a heavy pout.

Danny frowned and gently rubbed Lucy’s back. “I’ll miss you too.” He whispered back. “But, hey. It’s not like you’ll be alone. You’ll have Val.” Lucy huffed into Danny’s chest. “And I won’t be gone long even if I do by some miracle succeed.”

With that reminder, Lucy nodded and pulled away from Daniel’s warm body, breaking the hug and turning her head to conceal her hand wiping a tear from her eye. “Still, like, please, like, be safe, okay?”

“You too.” Danny said softly, his hand still lingering in Lucy’s one extra moment before letting go. Lucy faked a smile before kissing Danny’s cheek and turning to duck the partition and join Valerie to watch Danny as he was ushered through the x-ray machines and TSA agents.

Lucy whispered softly, “I’m gonna totally miss you. So, like come back soon okay?” She finished with a heavy pout.

Danny frowned and gently rubbed Lucy’s back. “I’ll miss you too.” He whispered back. “But, hey. It’s not like you’ll be alone. You’ll have Val.” Lucy huffed into Danny’s chest. “And I won’t be gone long even if I do by some miracle succeed.”

With that reminder, Lucy nodded and pulled away from Daniel’s warm body, breaking the hug and turning her head to conceal her hand wiping a tear from her eye. “Still, like, please, like, be safe, okay?”

“You too.” Danny said softly, his hand still lingering in Lucy’s one extra moment before letting go. Lucy faked a smile before kissing Danny’s cheek and turning to duck the partition and join Valerie to watch Danny as he was ushered through the x-ray machines and TSA agents.

The first week without Danny was awkward and silent except for when he called a couple of hours later, as promised, and the girls couldn’t help but chatter with him excitedly and he would simply laugh as he could see the two of them fighting over the phone despite him being on speaker. Afterwards they would settle back into their mutual silence or simply return to their own room. Danny always tried to time his calls when Lucy and Val were both home so he could talk to both of them before Lucy would leave for work unless it was her night off. The night before Danny was set to return they gathered around Valerie’s phone to find out when they were to pick him up from the airport.

“Well, I’ve got good news and bad news.” Danny sighed heavily.

“Oh?!” Valerie and Lucy both prepared to tell him the coach was an idiot and that the team sucked anyway and it was their loss to cut him, despite neither of them knowing anything about football.

“Yeah.” Danny said, unable to hide the excitement in his voice anymore. “The coach told me and two other guys not to bother going home.”

“Why?” Val asked.

“Training starts in two weeks and he said it doesn’t make sense for me to fly back home just to buy another ticket to come back!” The girls could swear they heard their gentle giant giggle.

“What’s that mean?” Lucy asked desperately.

“It means I’m on the team! They can’t announce anything officially yet, but I’m on the team and I’m going to be practicing with professional players! And if I do good enough or if I’m really lucky next season I might be starting!” He cheered, his voice trembling with excitement.

"That's great!"  Val smiled. Seeing the stunned look on Lucy’s face she gave her a quick elbow.

“Ow! I mean, that’s awesome!” Lucy lied, rubbing her boob where Valerie had struck her. “Where–I mean, like, how…can you afford the motel for that long?”

“Oh, yeh! They moved out of the motel and got me set up in this really sweet dorm room.” The girls heard the distinct sounds of springs compressing and extending as Danny sat on the bed and bouncing up and down happily on the bed unable to sit still.

Lucy swallowed the rock in her throat and forced joy in her voice even as she pouted, “That’s totally great.”

“It really is!” Danny laughed. The sound of springs screeched once more before finally stopping, “And Lucy,” he took a deep breath in an attempt to steady his voice, “I just…I wanted to thank you for this. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”

Lucy wiped the tear from her eye, “N-no way. You’re just totally awesome.”

“I don’t know about that.” He laughed happily on the other end. The girls could see his beaming smile while he rubbed the back of his head the same way he always did when he got a compliment. “I should try and go to bed though. I’ve got an early day tomorrow.”

“Why?” Valerie asked.

“Well I don’t wanna lose my spot do I? I can’t slack off on training now.”

“I guess not.” She said.

“So yeah…I’m gonna go. Wish me luck on sleeping.” He laughed again.

“Good luck.” Val said with a laugh and hung up the phone. After the call they once again fell into a brief silence before Valerie spoke again, “You okay?”

Lucy bit her lip and nodded, “I’m fine.” She lied and walked off to her room.

For the most part everything continued on as normal. It took a couple of days but Valerie noticed that Lucy kept cleaning the already spotless house. One day after coming home from class she saw Lucy standing over the sink washing dishes by hand as she headed to her room to study and finish her homework. She thought nothing of it at first until she came out of her room an hour later and saw Lucy was still standing over the sink, vigorously scrubbing away.

“Lucy?” Valerie asked softly as she approached Lucy and saw that she was scrubbing the empty sink. “Are you okay?”

“Totally.” She lied as she continued to scour the sink with steel wool.

Valerie leaned against the counter and watched Lucy for a few moments before speaking again. “I think it’s clean now.”

“Oh…yeah.” Lucy giggled and hosed the sink out before inspecting her nails and pouting.

“C’mon, let’s fix those.” She said gently, leading Lucy to the dining table. Briefly leaving the room before returning with her manicure kit.

“Thank you.” Lucy said as she attempted to take the kit, only to have her hand slapped away.

“I got you, girly.” She said with a smile and took Lucy’s hand as she sat down. “You do me and I’ll do you.” Valerie giggled, “A little quid pro quo, yeah?” She winked happily.

Lucy's arched eyebrow stayed up as she took in how sexy Valerie looked today. Valerie wore a pair of denim short shorts that she and Naomi had years ago hand painted a vine of flowers that twisted around her thighs and further upward forcing the eye to follow to her exposed stomach that Lucy couldn’t help but linger on and watch its gentle rise and fall with every breath. Above her smooth belly Valerie wore a purple and white gingham button down blouse that she had chosen to unbutton at some point and tie it underneath her chest, exposing her flat stomach and her ample cleavage for all to see. ‘Or maybe, she, like, did it on purpose? For me.’ she thought.

‘I haven't been with a woman in...' Lucy wasn't sure how long it had been, but just thinking about sex brought the image of a hard cock to her mind and a creamy, salty phantom taste to her mouth.  'Finally!' Lucy mentally cheered, pushing the thought of cock to the side as she tried to focus on the pretty young woman in front of her while she unconsciously licked her bottom lip. And with great anticipation Lucy let Valerie take her hand, feeling an almost electric hum at her gentle touch.

It had been long enough that the feminized man's eyelids half closed as she imagined one scenario after another, paying little attention to what was in front of her. Being treated like a bimbo for so long had him practically trained to zone out when not engaged with something fun. No one expected him to pay attention and when he did no one wanted to hear what she had to say, only to look pretty. Still feeling the physical contact Lucy gave out a sigh of contentment as Valerie began filing her nails and rambled on about something that didn't sound important.

Lucy was not paying attention at all, feeling more than ready to be with her, causing Lucy's gaff to grow tighter and tighter from her arousal. ‘It totally makes sense though.’ She thought, ‘We’re both, like, crazy hot. Of course she wants a piece.’ Lucy then giggled at the idea that the only thing that would make things better was if Daniel was here and she were sitting in his lap.

Valerie took the beautiful girl’s hand, noticing the confused look on her face. "It just means I'll do your nails and you'll do mine. Yeah?" Lucy nodded and licked her lips. "Great." Valerie cheered before washing the previous color off of Lucy’s nails with remover. “That saves me from having to do it myself.” She said as she gently filed, “Besides, if I’m honest, I think you do it better. You’ve really come a long way from when you first started your transition. It’s weird to think that it wasn’t that long ago you couldn’t even do your lipstick on right and now your makeup is flawless every day.” Valerie caught what looked like a blush on Lucy’s cheeks. Which only reaffirmed that she thought her suggestion would go over well as she picked up a nail file to smooth out the rest of Lucy’s nail.. “And, you know, I was thinking since you’re kind of settled in now, it might be a good idea to expand your mind. What I mean to say is–” She said quickly before the other girl could interrupt–“that you’ve obviously come a long way and you obviously enjoy doing makeup and everything. So it might be beneficial for you to sign up for beauty school. That way you can get a job where guys aren’t constantly grabbing your ass. Not that it’ll ever gonna stop, you know how men can be, plus with how hot you are.” Val giggled and Lucy echoed her with a smile. “But yeah it would lower the occurrences of ass grabbery significantly. What do you think?”

“What do you think about a threesome?”

“What?!” Valerie asked, taken aback by Lucy’s  sudden question that came completely out of left field.

“Huh?” Lucy giggled nervously realizing she had accidentally said what she had been thinking. "Nothing." She pouted, "Nevermindit'stotallystupid." She added quickly.

Valerie pouted and thought for a moment, "I think threesomes can be incredibly fun if you have the right partners." 'There's definitely a few men and women I wouldn't mind being sandwiched between.’ Valerie bit her lip with a giggle

Lucy swallowed hard as Valerie slowly stroked Lucy's hand and bit her beautifully deep red lips. 'She totally wants me!'

“But anyway,” Valerie shook herself loose from the fantasy of Naomi and her ex-boyfriend,  “What do you think about my idea?” she asked pulling her hand away from Lucy’s to pick up two small bottles.

“Abso-totally!” Lucy giggled, “I’m all in!”

“Great–” Valerie smiled–“so we can start looking for some schools.”

“Wait, what? Why? And I, like, thought you were already going to school?”

“...For you.” Val said slowly. “Did you, like, space out?” Lucy's response was to bite her lip and giggle nervously. Valerie sighed, she knew Lucy could be a flighty airhead but didn’t think it was this bad, “Okay. We were talking about you going to beauty school.”

“Why?!”

“So you can have more opportunities and get a better job.”

“I like my job?”

“You like men grabbing your butt and flirting with you?” Lucy’s blush answered for her so Val tried a different tactic, “And working all night? On your feet? For very little pay.”

“I make good money!” Lucy countered despite the truth. Ever since she had been moved to the main floor her tips were greatly diminished. She had to work twice as hard for even half the tips she had received in the high roller area.

“Okay, but you can make better money, more consistently,…” Seeing Lucy’s pouting face she corrected herself, “You would make more money more often while doing something you’re good at and clearly enjoy, plus you can go to the club with me again.”

“You would go clubbing again? We had to drag you last time.” Lucy huffed.

“I will if it’s to celebrate you going to school or a new job.” Valerie’s voice softened as she gently rubbed Lucy’s silky smooth arm, amazed at the subtle ways estrogen can change a person.

Lucy bit her lip, she really liked the prospect of more money, but she knew enough to know that if she could get back in the high roller area she could make double whatever she would make doing makeup and nails without having to suffer any more schooling or fall further into femininity.

"But, like, Danny won't be gone forever."

"He's basically already on the team, right?"

"I guess. But he's, like, a super great guy so he'd still take care of us."

Valerie frowned as she slowly and carefully painted Lucy's clean nail with a clear coat. "Come on, we're big girls. We don't need no man to take care of us."

Lucy told Valerie the same thing she told her mom when she used to ask him if he was going to go to college.  “I’ll think about it.” Though just like Samantha, Valerie knew Lucy wouldn’t actually think about it.

Valerie’s smile sharpened into a thin line, nodded, and continued painting Lucy’s nails.