by Brent, Amy
“What did he do next?”
“You’ll have to ask him that,” I said. “Apparently, he didn’t stop to see if she was okay. He just went home and pretended like nothing had happened. Emily—his wife— found out about Bethany’s death from my friend, Quinn Blackwell, who was tracked down by Lieutenant Mason.”
“Okay, Mr. Ryder, that’s it,” he said. “You’re free to go.” He pushed himself up from the table and stuck out his hand. “And I’m sorry for your loss.”
* * *
“You okay?” Quinn asked as I slid into the seat of his Mercedes SUV and buckled in. Thank God, it was cool in the car. I felt like I’d spent the last few hours in a sweat box. I pointed the air vents at my face and took a few deep breaths.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “I just need to get home.”
Quinn pulled away from the curb and didn’t say anything until we were in the flow of the afternoon traffic. He glanced sideways at me and spoke sympathetically. “I’m sorry things worked out this way,” he said quietly. “I always thought Hank was a good guy.”
“He was at one time,” I said. “Pussy will make a good man do bad things he wouldn’t normally do.”
“I can attest to that,” he said, nodding as he stared out the windshield. One of my old girlfriends called it, The Power of the Pussy… or Pussy Power, something like that.”
I smiled. “Which old girlfriend was that?”
He shrugged and gave me a sideways smile. “Fuck if I can remember.”
“Yeah. Fuck the Force. The power of the pussy is strong.” I glanced out the window and thought of Lolita, so young, so beautiful, so full of life, so fucking sexy and hot… but then, so innocent and naïve in many ways.
I loved being with her.
I loved having her in my arms.
I loved having her body close to mine.
But the thought that I was just using this young girl to deal with the shit that was going on in my life kept bubbling to the surface.
Was she just a momentary distraction or was she really someone I could see myself with long term.
Was it just great sex or something deeper that was drawing me to her like a moth to flame—something deep that had been missing from my life for a very long time.
The gray sky opened up and a hard rain began to pelt the windshield. I leaned my head back against the rest and closed my eyes.
I had no answers when it came to Lolita and maybe that was okay.
Maybe I was overanalyzing things, as I was prone to do.
Maybe we could figure things out as we went along rather than lay things out point by point like a SEAL assault plan.
Maybe we could just be happy that we were together without worrying about the future.
Maybe I could stop asking myself so many fucking questions and learn to just enjoy life.
Maybe I could do that.
Maybe.
Lolita
It was nearly seven o’clock by the time Ryder made it home. He had called me earlier in the day to let me know what was going on. Holy fucking shit, I think was my response. He didn’t have time to give me much in the way of details. He just asked that I look after Cody until he could get home and I said I would, no problem.
I told mom what was going on when she got home after work and, of course, got another lecture. Thank God, she had plans with Otto, so she couldn’t stick around long to harp on me. I told her that I understood her concerns and loved her for wanting to look out for me, but this was my life. I would live it as I saw fit. I had learned that from her. That comment pretty much shut her up.
Cody and I spent the afternoon alternating dips in the pool with watching cartoons, playing with Legos, and scribbling in coloring books. I meticulously stayed within the lines. Cody, not so much.
I gave him a bath so he would be clean when his daddy got home, but exhaustion got the best of him and he fell asleep on the couch watching SpongeBob.
Ryder sent a text that he was on the way home. I was standing in his front door watching for him when the fancy black Mercedes SUV pulled into the drive. I didn’t run out and throw my arms around his neck like I wanted to. His friend, Quinn, was behind the wheel and I didn’t know if Ryder had said anything to him about us yet, so I didn’t want to create a problem. God knows, the poor guy had enough to deal with as it was.
“Oh, my god, are you okay?” I asked as he came in the door. I couldn’t resist putting my arms around his neck to give him a big hug. I ignored the twinges coming from deep in my lady parts. This wasn’t the time for sex, I told myself, although the way Ryder was pulling me to him and burying his nose in my hair made me wonder if he wouldn’t welcome the distraction.
“I’m fine,” he said as I pulled back. He put his hands to my cheeks and kissed me on the lips. “I’ll fill you in later. How are things here?”
“Good,” I said with a sigh of relief, glad that he was home. I waved a hand toward the sofa where Cody lay snoring quietly. “We had a big day. I think he likes his new nanny. And she certainly likes him.”
“I’m glad,” Ryder said. He took my hand and led me quietly into the kitchen. He sat at the table while I got him a beer from the fridge.
“You hungry?” I asked, setting the icy bottle on the table. “I could make you a sandwich or something. There’s leftover pizza?”
“Not now,” he said, picking up the bottle and tilting it to his lips for a long drink. He sighed and wiped his mouth on the back of a hand. I slid into the chair across from him and reached out my hand. He wrapped his fingers around mine and gave me a reassuring squeeze.
“So, did they arrest Hank?” I asked.
He nodded slowly. “Yes. They are charging him with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident, according to the detective I talked with,” he said. “He has a bail hearing in the morning. I guess he confessed to everything, although he still claimed it was an accident. The police brought Bethany’s car back to the impound lot and impounded Hank’s truck to collect evidence.”
“Wow, that’s just so…”
“Weird?”
“I was gonna say sad,” I said. “His poor wife. Does she know?”
“I think so,” he said. “I haven’t talked to her, but I assume she was his one phone call. I’ll call her tomorrow. I’m too beat to deal with her tonight.”
“Do you think she suspected anything?”
He shook his head slowly. “No, I don’t think so. When I talked to her a few days ago about Bethany she seemed pretty clueless.”
“Do you think they’ll get a divorce?”
“Who know? Emily is very religious, so maybe she can pray her way out of it,” he said, shrugging his big shoulders. I watched the muscles in his neck flex and tried to resist the urge to climb onto the table and beg him to fuck me. “I think being convicted and sent to prison is what Hank is most concerned with at the moment. If he was concerned about his marriage he wouldn’t have fucked my…”
“It’s okay,” I said, squeezing his hand. “You can say it. Your wife.”
He made a sad face and glanced away. “Yeah, my wife.”
We sat silently for a few minutes while Ryder sipped his beer and I stared at the table between us, thinking. I didn’t want to heap more shit onto his pile, but there were things I had to know.
“Can I ask you something?” I asked. I let my hand slide from his and leaned back with my hands in my lap. I laced my fingers together to keep them from shaking.
He mustered a smile and said, “Of course. Anything.”
“Am I just a distraction?”
He frowned. “Just a distraction?”
“Yes.”
“You are an amazing distraction,” he said, looking at me with a sideways grin that faded after a few seconds. “Are you just a distraction? Honestly? I don’t know.”
“Okay,” I said, staring down at my hands. “That’s fair.”
He dipped his head to get me to look up at him. “Am I j
ust a distraction?”
I let my shoulders slowly go up and down. “Honestly? I don’t know.”
He smiled at me and I smiled back. He said, “Well, I guess we are just two distracted people.”
“Apparently so,” I said. I was doing my best to keep the tears from my eyes. “So, exactly what does that mean?”
Cody stirred in the living room. I got up from the table to check on him. He had just rolled over and was already snoring softly again by the time I got in the room. I came back into the kitchen and started to sit in the chair, but Ryder scooted his chair back and held out a hand. I slid onto his lap and put my arm around his neck. He rested his hand on my leg. I felt a little tingle shoot from his fingers to my crotch.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about us,” he said, gazing into my eyes. He squeezed my leg. “About this. And I think maybe we should just…”
“You don’t have to say it,” I said. “I understand.”
“You understand what?” he asked, his eyes drifting around my face.
“I understand that you just lost your wife and we may be moving too fast. I mean, I love your little boy and I love our time together, but there is the age difference and, well, we don’t really know each other. I mean, we really just met a few days ago.”
“All true,” he said, nodding.
“And, well, I know how men are.”
He was trying not smile. “You do? How are we?”
“Yes, I do,” I said, bumping him with my shoulder. “You have needs. Especially now, with everything that has happened. You need a distraction. You need someone to support you and make you feel better.”
“All true again.”
“And I love being the one to do that, but I think we just have to accept this for what it is.”
“And what is that… exactly?” he asked.
I thought about it for a second. “Well, I guess it’s just sex. Great fucking sex.”
“And are you okay with that?” he asked. “For now?”
“Am I okay with just fucking you without strings?” I thought the answer would come quickly, but it didn’t. I felt my face melting into a sad clown mask. My lip quivered. My eyes filled with tears. God, I was such a girl!! I muttered, “I don’t know.”
Ryder looked deep into my eyes for a moment, then pressed his lips softly to mine. The arm around my waist pulled me closer. I cradled his head in my arms and pressed my cheek to the top of his head.
He said, “How about this… What if we distract each other and just see where it leads.” He pulled back so I could see his face. “I like you, Lolita. I really, really do. Do I think that we are soulmates and meant to be together? Fuck if I know. Do I think we’ll be sitting in this kitchen a year from now… two years… ten? Again, I don’t know. What I do know is that you make me happy and I don’t want to stop doing whatever it is we are doing. I like you. And I love this. So let’s just have fun and see where it goes. Fair enough?”
“Wow,” I said, snorting through my tears. “That would be…”
“Awesome?”
“I was going to say perfect, but yes, that would be awesome.”
“Good,” he said, nuzzling my neck with his nose. “Now, why don’t I put Cody to bed and meet you in my room. It’s been a very long day. I could really use a little distraction right now.”
Epilogue: Lolita
I grew up a lot that summer, taking care of Cody’s needs during the day and his daddy’s needs at night. I went from being an immature, naïve nineteen-year-old girl who was having hot sex with an older man, to being a somewhat more mature, slightly-less naïve twenty-year-old woman who was so in love with the man of her dreams I could feel it in my bones. The age difference slowly melted away and became a non-issue. Ryder said it was because I was an old soul and he acted like a kid most of the time. Somehow, we met in the middle, and we meshed perfectly. I had never been happier in my entire life and neither had he.
My mother was resistant to our relationship at first, giving Ryder the cold shoulder and me the heated glances, but once she saw how happy we were, and how wonderful Ryder treated me and his little boy, she came around. She even started babysitting Cody so Ryder and I could have our “quiet time” on the weekends. My mom knew the importance of pussy power when it came to keeping a relationship happy and alive.
The clincher was when Cody started calling her Nana. Mom was horrified at first, claiming, “I’m too young to be a grandmother!”, but soon she was as in love with that little boy as I was. And she proudly told everyone that she was Cody’s Nana.
Ryder went back to work for Quinn, but stopped traveling overseas and taking long-term assignments. He worked out of the DC office and only accepted assignments that let him be home most of the time. He still traveled some, but not like he used to. I don’t think he could stand to be away from Cody and me for more than a day or two at a time. When he’d get home, he would practically ravage me in the car on the way to our house. Yes, I said our house. I moved in with Ryder and Cody after a few months, with Cody’s permission, of course. It just made sense all the way around, especially at night when my boys needed me most.
Hank Perkins pleaded no contest and was found guilty of vehicular homicide in Bethany’s death. He was sentenced to ten years at Wallens Ridge, but could be out in five with good behavior. Poor Emily turned to Jesus and vowed to wait for her wayward husband who had been led astray by the power of her sister’s you-know-what. Her boys were devastated that their daddy had gone to jail. I encouraged their Uncle Ryder to spend as much time with them as he could, having them to our house for sleepovers and filling in until their dad could come home. I knew what it was like to grow up without a dad. Even a shitty one. I would have hated for that to happen to Hank and Emily’s boys.
Speaking of dads, my mom and I talked a lot about my dad, Pervy Percy Hall, and I learned about him through her eyes. When he knocked her up, he was forty-two, the same age as Ryder’s BFF Quinn (who mom thinks she knows by the way, how weird is that?).
Back then, Mr. Hall—Percy— had coal black hair and deep blue eyes, a Kennedy jawline and an athletic body from running track in college. She said he was funny, charming, witty, caring, and popular with all the high school girls. Mom said she didn’t really think he was a pervert. She just thought he liked young pussy. Hell, neither of us could really fault him for that now, could we. Neither could Ryder, who insisted on checking him out before agreeing that I should see him. If the guy had a history of having sex with young girls, Ryder warned, there may be other skeletons in his closet that I didn’t need to find. Ryder used his contacts to get the low down on him for me.
“He’s sixty-three and lives alone in a little house on Sutton Street,” Ryder said, handing me a single sheet of paper that had a grainy driver’s license photo of my father in one corner and the assorted details of his life covering the rest. “He’s never been married, no children on record, never arrested or convicted of a crime. He’s taught at Arlington High for forty years and is set to retire at the end of this school year. There’s never been a complaint filed against him with the school, so either he’s very lucky or very shrewd or wasn’t screwing everyone like your mom thought.”
“That’s good… I guess.” I glanced up at him with hopeful eyes. “Don’t you think?”
He gave me a sympathetic smile. “Maybe.”
“Should I call him?” I asked as I stared at the photograph, studying my father’s eyes. I resembled him around the eyes. I wondered what he looked like when he was my age. Mom said she bet he would have been quite the hotty…
“That’s up to you,” Ryder said, pulling me in for a hug. “Just don’t get your hopes up. And be prepared if he doesn’t want to have anything to do with you.” Ryder took the page and we stared at it together. “Some men have a hard time dealing with the past. They never quite learn how to get over it.”
He handed me the page, kissed the top of my head, and walked away. I wondered if he was talking about my
dad or about himself.
* * *
“What are you thinking about?” Ryder asked as he came out of the bathroom fresh from a shower and switched off the light. He had a wet towel wrapped around his waist. His hard body was damp with drops of water. He went to the bedroom door and listened for Cody for a moment, then quietly closed the door and dropped the towel. I kicked off the sheet to reveal my naked body and spread my legs for him. I had one hand on my breast, my fingers squeezing my nipple purple, and the other on my clit, rolling it around like a little pea under a silk cloth. Ryder gave me a devious grin and stroked his cock as he walked across the room and climbed into bed on top of me. I was ready and waiting for him, my pussy primed and moistened by the foreplay of my own fingers. By the time he moved in between my legs, his cock was hard and ready to invade my wet hole.
“I was just thinking about the past few months,” I said with a happy sigh. I put my hands on his cheeks and looked him in the eye. “It’s been such a wild ride.”
“And it’s just beginning,” he said, bracing himself on his thick arms and leaning down to kiss me like he was doing a sexy push-up. His mouth was warm and wet. His tongue parted my lips and slipped inside my mouth.
“You feel so good,” I said, reaching down between us to take his hard cock in my hand. I put my legs around his waist and guided his cock toward my pussy. I swirled the head of his cock around my wet hole to lube it up, then prodded him into me with my heels on his ass. I took a deep breath as his cock stretched my hole to come inside.
“You feel… so… fucking good,” he said, his hips slowly moving in and out, in and out. “Your pussy is so fucking tight…” He smiled at me. “Do you do exercises down there?”
I smiled as the heat from my cunt radiated through my body. “Yes, I do Ryder lifts,” I said, my breath getting heavy. “One… two… three… fuck… god… your cock is better than… some silly old… barbell…”
“God… I’m already… about… to cum,” he said after a minute or two. He stared into my eyes as his thrusts grew faster and deeper. My tits were bouncing on my chest. I clutched them in my hands to keep them still. “Are you ready… to cum…”
