Always Be the ONE

by Hadley Quinn

  “Yeah, well, I’d like to get my facts straight on that guy, but I really would just rather he didn’t come around. I can’t tell if he’s gay, bi, wanting in her pants, a mother bear, or just a weird fuck that likes to play Mr. Mom with Clare.”

  “Can’t he be all of that?” Trent snorted.

  I barely shrugged as I took a drink of my beer. My brother was at my house that night watching baseball with me. I hadn’t heard from Clare all day but thought maybe I should check in with her. I sent a quick text asking if everyone was okay and wondered if they’d caught enough sleep yet.

  She replied almost immediately.

  Clare: Yes, thank God. Girls just went to sleep and I’m drinking my second glass of wine. Maybe it’s my third. Maybe you should come over and take this bottle from me.

  I smiled as I stared blankly at the television screen. There was definitely a good game going on right now, but the idea of seeing Clare was more appealing.

  “Help yourself out,” I told my brother as I stood from the couch.

  “Wait, what? Where are you going?”

  “Clare’s.”

  He immediately started laughing. “Did you just get a booty call text from her? Hell yeah, brother. Go get it!”

  The fact that he was so excited for me was kind of pathetic, but I didn’t really care. I grabbed my keys and wallet and headed out the door. It was a beautiful clear night and still warm out, and as I passed my neighbor’s house, I wasn’t surprised to see Ollie sitting on his front porch. I was still a bit miffed that he’d said crap about me to Clare, so when he greeted me and asked where I was headed, I refused to freely give him information and just said I was going for a walk. I’m not sure if he saw me make a stop at Clare’s or not, but if neighborhood gossip was what he wanted, he could be my guest.

  She wasn’t at the door waiting for me this time, but after I lightly knocked, the door crept open on it’s own. Clare was sitting on the couch with her bare feet up on the coffee table and her head resting against a throw pillow. Late night television was playing on the tube, it being the only light that lit the room.

  “You probably shouldn’t leave your door open this late, sweetheart,” I said as I shut it behind me.

  She craned her head to look at me and gave me a sleepy smile. “I just opened it for you, silly. You seem to have this one-minute thing going on… I figured it was safe.”

  Her wit—despite her slow speech from the wine—was amusing. I took up a spot next to her as she sat up, handing me her glass of wine.

  “You have a lot of catching up to do,” she said.

  I took the glass from her but wasn’t interested in drinking it. I wasn’t a wine drinker to begin with, but this situation could go downhill fast if we were both drunk.

  I took a sip but set the glass on the table in front of us. Clare laid her head against me and turned her face to kiss my neck. It was a major turn-on, especially when she slid a leg over my thighs to straddle my lap. The feel of her body in my hands as her mouth pressed against mine heated me up instantly. Her skin was warm and soft under my fingertips as I inched them up her shirt—

  “That tickles,” she giggled, resting her forehead on my shoulder. “But God, you feel good,” she whispered, kissing my neck again. Her lips and tongue may have been a bit uncoordinated due to the alcohol, but her teeth grazing against my skin reminded me that I was a red-blooded male that didn’t require perfection.

  I actually liked seeing her loosened up a bit.

  “Will you take me to bed?” she asked softly, resting her head against me again. She nuzzled against my neck and sighed. “I want you to get me naked.”

  Smiling, I moved her aside so I could stand. “I think you might be a bit sleepy, babe. So yeah, let’s get you to bed.”

  I flipped off the television but wasn’t prepared for how dark the room got. After pausing for my eyes to adjust, I turned around to face the couch, ready to help Clare to bed. But I hadn’t realized she was standing right behind me and I bumped into her, sending us both onto the couch again because I tried to catch her fall.

  She started to laugh, a bit loudly, and I had to cover her mouth to shush her. Smiling I said, “You don’t want Thing 1 and Thing 2 to wake up, do you?”

  I could finally see her eyes in the dark. They were wide as they stared at me, and then she started to giggle again. This time it was muffled under my hand. “Noooo,” she whispered loudly after ripping my hand off her face. “No, they can’t be awake right now. I want to get laid. I want you to lay me. Wait, is that a word? Lay me?”

  She started laughing at herself again. It was hard not to smile because it was fucking hilarious seeing her like this, but I pulled her to a standing position and said, “If you shut up while I take you to your room, you can call it whatever you want.”

  She snorted. “Did you just tell me to shut up?” she hissed loudly, still with a giggle. “That’s not allowed in this house. Shut up is the s-word and you’ll go to time out.”

  Amused, I nodded my head before I could lead her to the hallway. “Okay, beautiful. Put me in a timeout. First let’s get you to bed.”

  “I hafta pee,” she whisper-shouted in my face. The smell of fruity wine blew across my nose and then she disappeared in the dark.

  “Wait. Clare?”

  “I hafta pee,” she repeated, the sound coming from across the room. Then I heard a thud and an “Ooof!” and another thud.

  I probably looked like a dumbass with my arms out, feeling for things in my way in the dark, but I made it across the room to find Clare on the floor after a run-in with the loveseat.

  “Clare?” I whispered, nudging her softly with my hand. I heard a light snore. Was she already asleep???

  Good grief, I smiled to myself as I scooped her up in my arms. Thankful I knew the layout of the house, I carried her down the hallway, only kicking what sounded like a plastic toy and stepping on another soft one on my way to the bedroom. I gently laid her on the bed, her head on a pillow. I could hear her sigh, and thinking she was going to be out for the night, I was prepared to head home.

  “Matt?” she called softly.

  I finished pulling the blanket over her. “Yeah?”

  She was quiet for a few seconds but said, “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” I asked as I sat at the edge of the bed next to her.

  “For being…not very useful right now.”

  Smiling, I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Get some sleep, beautiful. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Please don’t leave.”

  Her plea seemed meek and delicate, and whereas the alcohol may have had something to do with the vulnerability I was sensing, I truly felt she wanted me to stay.

  Without words, I slipped off my shoes and stretched out on the bed next to her. She turned into me, burrowed against my body, and commenced with the light snores five seconds later.

  ***

  I woke slowly and pleasantly, but soon realized that Clare was in my pants and my cock was hardening in her mouth. I couldn’t remember a time that I was ever woken up by a blowjob. Call me vanilla, and no big surprise, but Aubrey had to be bribed most of the time for any of that action.

  There was a bit of light in the room but not much. I couldn’t see the clock but could guess it was early morning, maybe sometime around five. Sunday morning was the only time I was able to sleep in during the week but I sure as hell wasn’t going to complain right now—not when I could feel the tip of my cock touching the back of her throat and her tongue pressing against the shaft as she pulled upward. She got into a smooth rhythm that I had no choice but to remain where I was and enjoy it along with the sounds that came out of her. Any second now I was going to blow and I could tell she wasn’t going to let me out of her mouth to do it—

  “Momma!”

  Giggle.

  “Hehehe!”

  More giggles.

  I froze, but so did Clare, just as I was about to come in her fucking mouth. I couldn�
��t now. It was like a stop order was slapped across my dick and it was no longer an option.

  “Mommy, hehehe!”

  The bed moved and I glanced to the side to see the two sets of eyes standing there staring at me. They froze, a bit of shock taking over their innocent little expressions when they saw me, and I wasn’t sure what the fuck I was supposed to do. Clare had gradually pulled away from me, and even though we weren’t entirely under the covers, I was sure glad my cock was.

  “Good morning, girls,” Clare addressed them, casually pulling herself up to a pillow and dropping down to face them. I used the moment to make sure my package was secured while she tickled both girls and asked why they were up so early.

  After a few minutes of toddler interrogation and side conversation with me, it was established that 1) I didn’t bother to shut the bedroom door when we came in last night, and 2) since the twins liked to climb out of anything that tried to contain them, it was a given that an open door in their own room would lead to an interruption of grown-up time.

  It was barely six in the morning and Clare was already putting kids in high chairs for cereal and fruit. She offered to make me breakfast too, but I decided to head home for some sleep. I wasn’t sure that the girls would care if I was there or not, but Mia seemed to be eyeing me now and then. She was sliding around a slice of peach with her finger, glancing up at me every few seconds.

  I sat down at the table next to her high chair and helped myself to a piece of fruit from the bowl on her tray. Pretending it was the most amazing thing to put in my mouth, I had Mia’s undivided attention. She finally smiled by the time I swallowed, and even Sadie was giggling from the spot next to her sister as she shoved a piece of food in her mouth.

  “Incoming!” I teased as I flew another slice of peach toward Mia’s mouth. She was trying not to smile when she squeezed her lips shut so the food couldn’t enter, but I made funny noises as I bumped her mouth over and over to get her to open.

  Finally she did, and man, the smile on that kid’s face… It was like the ultimate achievement. She took a bite but watched me carefully for a few seconds with that coy smile, and then she started to chew.

  I took another slice of her fruit, feeling like a dick for stealing a kid’s breakfast, but I was starting to get hungry and that peach was delicious. Mia ate the second half of the slice she’d started, and then picked up another one from the bowl.

  “I’m impressed,” Clare said from across the kitchen. She was leaning up against the counter facing us, a dishrag draped over her shoulder.

  “Impressed?” I repeated.

  She came across the room and dropped a couple more slices of peach into Mia’s bowl and she immediately grabbed for one. Sadie was still eating away, babbling to herself about watching cartoons soon, but she was only halfway done with her food. I guess because she didn’t have a grown ass man stealing from her.

  “I can’t ever get Mia to eat the fruit,” Clare informed me. “She’ll barely eat a few bites of the oatmeal, but never the fruit.”

  “How come?”

  She shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  I looked at Mia as I stood and said, “Eat your fruit, baby girl. It’s yummy.” Looking at Clare I asked, “Did I just say ‘yummy’?”

  She laughed and began wiping up Sadie’s hands and face. “You’ll be saying a lot worse if you hang out with us any longer, which means you should probably head home and save yourself,” she winked.

  I didn’t really have any plans that day except the basic stuff around the house, but maybe I had worn out my welcome so far. Clare didn’t seem like the type to need a man around, or at the very least, didn’t want it.

  I gave her a hug and kiss goodbye, said my goofy toddler-like farewells to the girls, and helped myself out.

  13

  “I don’t know, man. I just think it’s odd, that’s all.” Trent gave me a shrug of indifference and then launched a three-pointer from the line, missing for the third time in a row.

  “You just can’t comprehend anyone caring about anything but themselves,” I countered as I rebounded his shot.

  Trent chuckled. “Maybe. But you go from a cheating skank to a milf? It’s not exactly what I pictured.”

  “You’re the one that encouraged me to,” I protested. “What the fuck do you want me to do? I’m taking your advice and actually moving on. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

  “Dude, chill the fuck out. Yes, and you’re right. I did push you toward the mom-of-two but I didn’t know she was someone’s baby mama. And even so, I never thought you’d actually date her. Fuck her, yeah, but not date her like…dating people do.”

  I laughed at my brother’s inability to make sense, but maybe I did understand what he was saying. However, Trent failed to take into consideration that I wasn’t like him when it came to women. I couldn’t just hump and dump like he could. And I didn’t even really think Clare and I were ‘dating’, we were just…

  Hmm.

  “Let me be honest with you for a minute,” Trent said as he stopped all movement on the basketball court. He faced me with the ball under his arm. “I see better for you, man. You’re smarter than me, have more drive than me—definitely not better looking than me but you have potential…”

  He smiled when I did.

  “But you’re also more honest than me and have integrity,” Trent added. “That’s your true weakness.”

  “Weakness?” I scoffed. “Oh come on, don’t give me that bullshit. That’s just your way of making excuses for how selfish and immature you are.”

  “Exactly. And who knows how long I’ll use that to justify my poor behavior when it comes to women. But you, my friend, have way more options than I do. There are far more women than men out there that are actually decent, and I’d say you’ve got a pretty good chance at the pick of the litter. Don’t take it for granted and throw it away on the first relationship you’re in since what’s-her-face.”

  As much as I hated hearing those kinds of words out of my brother’s mouth, I actually understood what he meant. The thing was, I already felt like I’d held out for someone like Aubrey when she came along. I’d dated a few before her, but I really was particular when it came to women. Aubrey had fit what I was looking for.

  At least I thought she had.

  Trent’s words never failed to escape my thoughts for the next couple of weeks. I did continue to see Clare, but it still seemed pretty casual. I wasn’t sure what to classify us, or if I should at all, but I also knew I wasn’t ready to classify our relationship. I enjoyed her company, the sex was amazing, her kids seemed to like me, and most of all…neither of us demanded much from the other.

  We were friends with benefits.

  That conclusion kind of weighed on me for a while. I’d never had a FWB, and even though Trent claimed it was the greatest thing in the world, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. Clare didn’t seem to need anything more than that—she hadn’t requested it like my brother warned me to be wary of—but I also felt it wasn’t something she would be up front about. I guess I didn’t really know how she felt unless I asked, and being the pathetic, sensitive musician that I was, it was in my nature to be concerned.

  Trent called me a woman on more occasions than I care to admit, but really, how can you take much into account when it comes from a guy that’s always looking forward to his next lay? Maybe my brother was too far one way and I was too far the other.

  It was a miracle we were as close as we were.

  Clare and I were at the park one Sunday. We’d both been playing with the girls on the playground, each manning one of them at a time. At one point I was pushing both girls on the swing and Clare wrapped her arms around me from behind and laid her head against my back.

  There was something about that gesture—a simple action that wasn’t sexual in the least bit—but the feeling it gave me spoke quite a lot. I couldn’t help but feel that this was comfortable to her—having me in her life, helping out with her
kids—and it kind of made me nervous for a second. Was she slowly building that kind of hope? I knew she didn’t want random men in and out of her life because of the girls, but was she starting to expect more from me?

  I’ll admit…I did have a special bond with her kids. For some reason they both seemed to like a goofy, simple guy such as myself, and I was even getting good at handling them on my own while Clare ran a few errands or went grocery shopping. I didn’t mind babysitting them—I was the one that offered, Clare had never asked it of me—but when she was gone and it was just me with the girls…there was just something crazy about a man with out-of-control toddler girls.

  We did things that Clare was unaware of—things that I’m sure she would disapprove of, like jumping on the bed—and maybe I was a bad example for her kids, but she never really lectured me on much when it came to Sadie and Mia. It was like she completely trusted me with her kids, no matter what crazy mess or idea I got them into while she was away. I think she just appreciated that someone else enjoyed being around them, and best of all, I didn’t have to see David again.

  Clare’s arms were still wrapped around me when my thoughts returned to the present. I gave the girls one last push before I turned to face their mom so I could kiss her mouth. The woman had amazing lips, and even though we didn’t get mushy with affection in public, I could never resist kissing her.

  “Let’s grab dinner on the way and just couch-and-movie it for the night,” I suggested. I was tired just from playing at the park with the kids. There’s no way I felt like making anything for dinner and I couldn’t expect Clare to, either.

  Wait, was I really putting myself in her shoes more often? I mean I’d been trying to, but let’s be real here. Men and women just think about completely different things sometimes. Yeah, my thoughts had been on the baseball game that would be on later. My dilemma for the night would have been what type of pizza to order; Clare’s decisions probably consisted of ten times that.