Ch. 5: Preview #2

His arm was trapped beneath her breasts; her giant, warm, cushiony breast …

The moment he shifted, though, his shoulders flared up anew.  Owwww, they fucking stung!

“You’re hurt?” Jen gasped, seeing his wince.  “Is it your head?” she misdiagnosed.

Theo nearly swooned again as her hand shot at him.  But she only pressed it to his forehead, and gently.  “You’re burning up!  Shit, I should’ve caught you sooner!”

“I-It’s not my hea—”

“Are you dizzy?”  She pulled her hand back and swept it across his vision.  “Follow my finger.”

“I d-don’t need—”

“Hey, shush.  Just do it.”

He blushed, her pillowy breasts occupying an increasing proportion of his consciousness.  Her stern-yet-concerned face, framed in pleasing dimples and distracting green eyes.  He must be loopy indeed, to let his burgeoning attraction for her win out to this degree…

He gulped, tracking her finger with his eyes as commanded.  His satisfied daughter commenced lightly probing his head with her fingertips.  “Where does it hurt?”

The intense, intimate contact; the tone, almost like an overbearing mother; the breasts he just couldn’t scoot away from … It was WAY too much!!  “I… I’m…!”

“Here?”  She prodded the top of his forehead.

“No…”

“Here?”  His temples.

“N-No!”

“Well, then where?”  Her gaze bore down: intensity borne of concern.  “I can’t look out for you if you don’t tell me.  Come on: I saw you wince in pain.”  Her hands accosted; her body squished…

“M-My shoulders!” he confessed, reaching his limit.  “They hurt so bad!”

Jen reared back, confused.  “What?  But you didn’t hit them on anything!”  She gave an investigatory probe with one finger – but even that was more than his overstrained shoulder muscles could take.

“Ow!” he yelped.  Thrashing, heaving, and clawing away from her, he succeeded in landing on his feet -- though only because she allowed him.  “You squeezed them too hard!” he hissed, in red-faced embarrassment.

Jen was stunned.  “Me?  But I only squeezed them a few times.”

“Well, a few times was enough!”

His daughter shook her head.  “No, I didn’t even squeeze hard,” she insisted, adamant.

And that’s when he realized how little she understood own strength.  Or conversely: how astoundingly more fragile he was than her.  He watched this new recognition come over her eyes – and it hurt him to see that even more than her squeezes.

“I didn’t realize you were so—”  She cut of her last word, clearly to save his feelings.  “I’m sorry,” she assured instead.  “I’ll be more careful.”

Theo scowled in embarrassment, rubbing his shoulder and shuffling away from her.

“Oh, um … where are you going?”

A chill ran through him as he looked back and saw her beckon.  His throat tightened.  “I need … s-space.”

She seemed to consider this a moment – then shook her head and patted the seat cushion next to her.  “No.  We’re gonna talk this through.  That’s best.”

He sharply disagreed with that sentiment.  But as her expression shifted from compassion to concern to a sudden tinge of impatience, he bit the bullet and sat down nervously – absolutely as far from her as the couch would allow.

“Closer,” she prompted mildly.

He had the temerity to shake his head.  At least she only sighed – and, with a hand like a shepherd’s hook, swept him toward her until their thighs touched and his elbow was pinned to her hip.

Jesus Christ – her size was just as intimidating sitting down.  Her body distracting.

“I threw that at you too fast,” she admitted, her down-tilted eyes firm yet laced with regret.  “All these new rules and stuff – it’s a LOT to take in.”  She took a weighty breath, during which he tried not to outright stare at her rising chest … “And I realize now you’re way more fragile than I thought.  I’m gonna try real hard to be more careful with you.”

The eighteen-year-old’s words stung like a slap to the face.  “I … I’m not that fragile!” he protested.  But she bought it zero percent – and maybe for good reason.

Her hand rubbed his upper arm, carefully avoiding his sore shoulder. “It’s OK, buddy,” she soothed, sounding oddly protective again.  “You can’t help it.”

His voice turned shrill.  “I’m not your ‘buddy’!   I’m your fa—!"

He stopped himself just in time, the forbidden word on the tip of his tongue.  Jen’s warning frown made him glad he didn’t say it.

She caught his forlorn glance toward the kitchen island – and the House Rules – and sighed.  “Full disclosure: I’m worried about our chances next round.  Really worried.”  Her arm rolled his torso to face her more fully, so that he couldn’t look away.  “I happen to know one of our opponents personally, and if she’s any indication, man we are going to be in for the fight of our lives.  You have no idea.”

Jesus.  He sat here effortlessly constrained by this hulking girl – and someone had her scared?  “Who?” he asked.  When had she possibly met one of them?

“Not important.  I just want you to know why I’m making the rules so tough.”

He felt himself sweating again, the heat from her body getting to him.  “So we’re ‘a hundred percent ready’,” he sneered, paraphrasing her from earlier.

She either missed his sarcasm or ignored it.  “Right!”  Her arm squeezed even tighter.  Oh fuck.  “I’m not out for revenge!  This ain’t me gettin’ back at you for all those years of …”  Owwww, her grip!!  “… you know what?  No, I’m not gonna rehash that right now.  It’s not relevant.”

He could feel his arm going numb.  Could she not realize this!?  “S-So all that past stuff – I-I’m off the hook for it?”

“Oh, uh, no.  But that’s later.”

Holy fuck, that was ominous.

“Right now the show is our whole world.  There’s nothing past that.”

So why was the ‘after’ suddenly all he could think about?  And holy dear god, why was she doing to his arm what she’d just done to his shoulder!!

“Shit, I’m doing it again, aren’t I?” she finally realized.  “You’re feelin’ overwhelmed!”

A whoosh of air sucked into him as her grip released.  He hadn’t realized how much she’d been compressing his lungs.  He swayed in place, hand to his forehead, trying to stave off a panic attack – and only belatedly noticed Jen’s ‘I-knew-it’ nod of confirmation.  “Maybe I should let you unwind some,” she thought aloud.

He nearly jumped.  “Yes!”  God, he needed it desperately – he’d lose his mind after another minute around her!  “I … th-that’d be good, yeah!  I could really use …!  Y-Yes please!!”

Oh wow.  Jen saw blazing shades of Amir all over her Mouse’s spastic, eager response.  Yes, of course, she needed to not equate the two of them – but damn, between this and his shrill whining earlier, that was becoming real hard again.  She cracked a grin before she could help it, feeling just a little more endeared toward this squirrely-eyed guy.

“Ughhh,” she grumbled with a humorous roll of her eyes, “OK, fiiiine, you can chill for a bit.”

Awww, OK, his sudden big toothy smile was pretty cute.

“Uht!” she called, before he’d turned halfway toward the hall.  “On one condition.”

He froze like a mannequin, then turned his head back.

“You gotta stay in this room.  Not sure I want’cha leavin’ my sight just yet.”

Something like that would be par for the course with Amir.  But oh her Mouse did not like it.  “I … b-b-but … you said …”

“I said you can unwind, and you can do that here.  Watch TV or somethin’.”  She slid him the remote.  It fumbled right out of his grasp.

Dude – if he wanted her to take him seriously, he really needed to stop jutting his lower lip out like that.  A literal pout!

“Know what?” she said as a peace offering, rising, “I could use a drink.  You?  How ‘bout some wine?”