She liked to push me and talk me back down ‘til I believed I was the crazy one, and in a way I guess I was!

“So? How was it?”

Cassie had wondered into the cafe a minute ago with a smile on her face, and it was all Kayla could do to wait for her to sit down before grilling her about her time with Bob.

“It was fun.” Cassie’s enigmatic smile drove the younger woman crazy. Of course it was fun! Bob was fun! But she wanted more than just ‘fun’.

“C’me on! Tell me the deets! I wanna know about every bit of it! Was he sweet? Of course he was sweet. It’s Bob. Did he hold you down and pound you until-‘

“We didn’t have sex.”

Kayla’s jaw dropped. Cass had the look on her face of a very well-fucked woman. “But… wait, you didn’t fuck? You spent the whole day and night together and there was no sex? He didn’t stick that huge-‘

Cassie’s laughter rang out through the cafe cutting off Kayla’s tirade. “He was sweet. We spent the day skiing, then we made dinner together. He was the perfect gentleman.”

“Did you at least get felt up? Give him some tittie?”

“He… I practically had to drag him to my boobs. He let me set the pace.” Just the thought of last night brought her a warm feeling inside. Then she laughed again, as if realizing something for the first time. “You know how he always jokes about strengthening his tongue muscles by using big words? He really hasn’t been joking all this time.”

“So… you dated him in high school?”

Morgan took her shot, sinking the 15 off two rails, then stepped back to look at the table.

“Yeah… for like three months. He was my only chance at prom so I broke up with Tony and played pretend with Bob.” KJ lined up her shot. An ambitious one; 2 and 3 combo. Both corner pockets. “Thing is, by the time prom rolled around I was starting to really like him. But I had to prove to myself that I was the one in charge. So I stuck with the plan. I dumped him after prom.”

She took the shot, sinking the three but the two bounced out of the pocket. “It was a few months later that I knew I’d made a mistake, but by then he was gone.”

Morgan nodded. “Seriously, he actually seems like a catch. Hell, I even eyeballed him when he was interacting with Grandma. And now that he’s slimmed down…”

KJ sighed and sipped her drink. “Yeah, I guess he might be. But being around him kind of made me feel dumb. He does this thing where he suddenly acts like he’s teaching a class. It’s not exactly mansplaining but I think the term is pedagogy. The thing is he was never… I dunno. I was young. I wanted to have fun. He just made we feel safe and cared for, and for whatever reason that grated on my nerves.”

“And now?”

“Now he fucking scares the hell out of me. Take your shot.”

“A straight A student?”

“Yes, indeed. Our Mr. Dobbs is a certified genius. He also demonstrated all the classic signs of severe ADHD. Even when he was bored though it never stopped him from being able to answer in class.”

Robin shook their head. They had done well in school and had a wide variety of interests, some of which spanned into the academic like chess. They’d stopped playing when one of their Moms had gotten frustrated after losing over and over to a twelve year old. Still if a subject bores them it was really difficult for them to apply themself to it. “Wow. He actually sounds really impressive.”

“That would be a good word for it.” Alicia sipped her tea. “He has a spectacular memory and an eye for detail bordering on the inhuman. It just seems that he sometimes looses focus and gets distracted by something else then wonder off to explore that thing. Sort of like the dog in Up.”

“Squirrel!” Robin giggled.

(Title: ‘Landed’ by Ben Folds)