Ch. 8: Preview #2

It dawned on him that maybe Jen was right. That maybe he hadn’t been the best parent in the world. That in some ways, he maybe really had sucked at it.

Ow. This unprecedented thought made his head actually hurt.

Jen watched the string of reactions play out on her (ex-)father’s face. “Oh … that’s, um … I-I’m glad things are improving,” he blatantly feigned, once he’d recovered. It was so obvious he had no idea about the bullying. She used to come home unhappy and bedraggled all the time, and he never once thought to ask her what was wrong. Just griped at her more for ‘moping’ and ‘dragging her feet.’

Just as she felt her anger rising again, building up from years of frustration … a potato chip happened to slip out of his clumsy fingers and fall to the floor. She watched him lean down but fail to even reach it; he had to actually climb down from his chair then hop up onto it again. Such a simple, effective reminder of how tiny and harmless he was now. Not a father; not someone to get riled up over. Just a Mouse. Pliable. Well within her control.

She finished her last sandwich then pushed back from the table – and snapped her fingers loudly. Her pint-sized partner jumped in clear surprise, but actually kind of impressed her with how quick he recovered, sprang up, and arrived at her side.

“Gettin’ better at that,” she laughed. Then nodded toward the fridge. “Been keepin’ up with your daily log, yeah?” He clearly winced but nodded. “’K. Bring it here. Let’s see where you’re at.”

He dragged his feet a little, but she couldn’t actually see why – as she read the page he handed to her, he’d actually done like two-thirds of today’s chores already, and it was only noon! Vacuuming, mopping, laundry, tidying …

“You did ‘em good?” Jen queried, peering right into his eyes. He nodded and really looked sincere.

Daaaamn. She’d prolly spot-check him later of course, but what she’d seen so far had looked legit and that was good enough to convince her for now. He had clearly worked his ever-loving ass off since this morning. We’re talkin’ no-breaks, non-stop, full-out effort for sure. For like three hours straight! “The hell did Alice say to you,” she asked incredulously, “to get ya to shape up so fast?”

She saw a strained look come over his face, and—oh. Ew. “No, I, uh, maybe I don’t wanna know,” she grunted. He and Alice clearly had some sort of, like, BDSM thing going, and Jen had a feeling this was related. Uuughh. The less Jen knew, the better.

She thought of the perfect way to switch gears and get these regrettble thoughts out of her head. “Hop up,” she said brightly, patting her thigh.

Her teammate twitched, his eyes boggling. “Uh … why?”

Because no way could she associate grown-up notions with him while he was sitting on her lap. That was why. She didn’t say that, of course. Just lifted her hand again, and—Haha! He started movin’ even before her fingers rang out in another sharp Snap.

He started hoisting himself up, and she spun him around and did the rest, amazed again by his lightness. Her forearm rested loosely atop his knees, though he definitely didn’t need this for stability -- her quads combined were as wide as his hamstrings were long, giving him as much room to sit as a chair.

And wowww, yeah, she was right: good luck thinkin’ of him as a grown-up now! Ohmigod, she even saw him try to sit up straighter – even atop her thighs he was still just eye-level with her; and despite his embarrassed squirms and shifting, there was nothing he could do to change that. His self-consciousness about this was … well, what could she really call it except cute?

She let him know what the plan was for the rest of the day. Mainly: there was a pool party at Lola’s tonight (Alice’s text had just informed her), and so of course they’d be going. Oddly, he seemed kind of distressed about this? Anxious? Nervous? Weird – she’d’ve thought he’d be thrilled at the idea. But sitting this close to her, with her arm around his back, his protests were limited to just a few stilted words. Which she easily deflected aside, and then he fell silent after that. I’m tellin’ ya, she thought with glee, this physical contact thing is magic.

Anyway, she assured him that as long as he finished his last few chores, and gave a real effort during their team workout this afternoon, he could be officially back in her good graces when they left for the party. Which … well, if he did tick her off again before then, she wasn’t sure what she’d do exactly, but he would not enjoy it.

With that squared away, a strange impulse struck her – and she pinched his cheek. The type of good, vigorous tug that she’d only do to Amir or someone who gave her those same vibes.

Which apparently included him now too. Wow…

Even a slight, added lilt infected her tone as she nudged him off her lap and said, “Alrighty, hop to it! Make your”—big sister? Mom? lol!—“Make your Mighty proud.”

He caught this shift in tone, alright. Gained his balance and stare at her befuddled, troubled. But shuffled off without a word.

Theo almost collapsed once he got out of sight. He clutched a hand to his still-throbbing heart; bit down hard on his lip to shake it off.

Jen was intoxicating from that range. There was no other way to say it. Her face barely a half-foot from his, every attractive line and contour impossible to ignore. Her full, round breasts jutting even closer than that, pulling on his mind just as much as her warm, living thighs. Her perfume, same as yesterday and same as the show, stirring up-close-and-personal memories he’d tried to forget …

This damned chastity device!! He wouldn’t be half this addled, this susceptible, if only he’d gotten to cum by now!

He heard the heavy creak of Jen’s chair, and he didn’t wait to see if she’d appear. He fled to his room, trying to pull himself together.