Arriving Early

As I parked on the street, I felt a lump form in my throat at the sight of an unfamiliar car in the driveway. It was out of place in the posh neighborhood Kaylee lived in, looking like it was barely holding together. Glancing at the clock, it was ten till five. I was early.

I was thinking about taking a drive to kill some time when I noticed the garage door was open. Inside the garage was Toby. Shit, he’d already seen me. Leaving now would be awkward. Putting the car into park, I killed the engine and got out.

“Hey,” I said as I approached. I looked around. “What are you doing out here?”

“Rearranging the garage,” he answered with that laid-back grin I’d gotten used to. Eyes sweeping the garage, I found there wasn’t really anything to rearrange. Looked a lot like he was just standing by the freezer drinking beer. “Want one?” he asked, noticing me eyeing the open pack.

“Pass.” Alcohol was dangerous, especially in the hands of a minor who didn’t know when to stop.

He shrugged and took a long sip.

“Want to tell me why you are really out here?”

He sighed and pointed his bottle at the car in the driveway. “Kaylee has a guest over.” Pausing, his eyes rested on me. “Might want to give them some time to finish before you go in.” I wrestled my mixed feelings on that.

“What time did he come over?”

Toby took a drink, thinking. “Sometime around four?” He looked at me again. There was almost a painful look in his eye. “Did Kaylee tell you she was having a guy over?”

More like I told her to invite him. “Yeah. I’m a bit early.”

He let out a long breath, looking relieved. I was not expecting that. “Sure you don’t want a beer? You look like you could use a beer.” Before I could refuse, he dug a bottle out and popped it open on the corner of the freezer. It was in my hand before I could stop him.

What the hell.

Good god. The stuff tasted disgusting. My reaction must have been pretty extreme because Toby threw his head back with barking laughter.

Ugh. It didn’t taste any better the second time.

“Not going to lie, when he showed up I was a bit worried.”

“Why?”

“Because I like you. You are the first guy I’ve ever seen Kaylee take seriously and as a father, I couldn’t have asked for a better man to capture my daughter’s heart.” He paused to take a drink of his beer. “You are a good guy Scott, and the last thing I want to do is lie to you.”

Not knowing how to react to that, I bought myself time with the awful beer. “Lie to me?”

“This guy isn’t the only one she’s had over recently.”

I nodded. “Charles.”

“So she’s telling you about her other men. Good.”

“Was that really such a big concern?”

He didn’t say anything for a few seconds, purposefully taking a long drink. “Back in college, Lisa was…quite something. You might have glimpsed some of it at the party, but she has always had an inferiority complex with her sister. They are always in constant competition and Lisa has always felt a few steps behind. There was one area she always succeeded at though, and that was attracting guys. Lisa never wanted for companionship. Even when we were dating, it was never like what you and Kaylee have. I was only one of a dozen boyfriends she was seeing, all fighting for her attention.” He saw my expression and laughed. “Oh, don’t worry. I got plenty of action from a lot of different women. Lisa was the only one I really felt an emotional bond to and I always ended up coming back to her.

“Anyways, when she got out of college, Lisa got serious about wanting to start a family and took the boyfriend thing a lot more seriously. She went from having a dozen-plus boyfriends to a handful in a month. Got pretty cutthroat there. By the end of the year, I won her over completely and became her sole boyfriend—and shortly after, fiancée.”

“How did you win her over?” I was genuinely curious how he managed to elevate himself to the front of the pack. Maybe it was something that could help me with Kaylee—though I didn’t have quite the same level of competition as he did.

“Honestly? Of the six real contenders, I was the best lay. In her eyes, we all had the potential to be a good father for her children but I had the body, the goods, and the skills to keep her happy too.” He looked at me over his bottle as he took a sip. “You look disappointed.”

“Was hoping it would have been a bit less… practical.”

“Romantic you mean?” He chuckled. “Not my Lisa. At that time in her life, love wasn’t anywhere on her mind.” I didn’t see it. They had a quirky relationship, at least compared to what I saw with my parents, but I saw the genuine love and care they felt towards each other.

“Doesn’t seem that way now.”

“No. But that came later. I didn’t know it at the time, but when I was engaged to Lisa she hadn’t actually changed all that much. She cut her boyfriends loose, yes, but that never stopped her from sleeping with all the men she could.” His expression was hard as he took a drink. “We didn’t have that… Preference Profile?” He looked at me and I nodded in confirmation. “Right. We didn’t have that. So I had no idea she was actually sleeping with all these other guys. It wasn’t until she got her first big job out of state. I went with her and moved in. I was completely clueless until I came home one day and saw her with three other guys.” His hand tightened around his beer and I was worried it was going to shatter. “I’ll never forget that feeling.” He let out a breath, relaxing and the hard edge of his expression left his face. “I’ve done my best to nudge Kaylee on her own path, but she is her mother’s daughter. No matter how much she pretends to walk a different path than her mother, I know how much she looks up to her. Kaylee’s been sleeping with a lot fewer guys now, which I suppose is your influence, but when she suddenly started again I was worried she might be playing around without you knowing.”

I took a long drink of my beer. The bitterness was a perfect match for my mood. “She talked to me before.”

“That’s good. Communication is important.”

“Whatever happened?”

“Hmm?” he asked right before finishing off his beer.

“After you caught her.”

“She expected me to join in.” My eyes went wide and he laughed. “Wouldn’t be the first time I shared her with other guys like that. As I said, college was… wild. But we weren’t in college anymore and I don’t think she realized that.” He opened another beer. “She had this big old smile on her face as I walked over. Then I handed her my engagement ring and walked out. Seeing that look on her face…” He let out a sigh. Even all this time later, I could still see the hurt the memory brought. “Hardest thing I ever did.”

“Shit…”

“Yep. Flew back home that night and crashed with a college buddy for about a month. Basically fell off the planet. My pal didn’t tell anyone I was staying with him, so when Lisa called my mom’s asking where I was, they freaked out because I hadn’t told them anything.” He chuckled. “Lisa ended up begging her sister to hire a private investigator. I cannot stress how much the two butt heads, so that isn't something she did lightly. That’s how she ended up finding me.”

“And you ended up marrying her.”

“And I ended up marrying her. Lisa is very good at negotiating.” I had a feeling the negotiations got quite physical.

My stomach felt like a knot as I found myself with questions. “Before you caught her with the other guys, was she sleeping with guys you knew about?”

“Of course. She had a fiancée, a great paying job, and wanted to get a jump start on starting a family. We originally planned on two or three.” He chuckled at a memory only he had. “Only took one for Lisa to realize she did not like the pregnancy look. So before I caught her, she was sleeping with some fertile men pretty regularly. We even had some dates set up for her to be put into the A-rank rotation.”

“And you were okay with that?”

He looked confused. “Of course. She was trying to get pregnant.”

“But the other guys?”

“They were only for fun. I found out later one was fertile, but the others…”

“And what about now?”

“I suppose I mellowed out a bit. Back then, I was a bit of a hothead and was used to having a lot of women around me. I suppose one of the reasons why Lisa always had my attention was because she somehow always had men surrounding her. She was a challenge because I had to work for her attention. It’s why her still sleeping around regularly hit me so hard. I put that behind me, but she hadn’t.” He shrugged. “Now, I know she sleeps with other guys on her business trips. She knows to let me know when she is taking a new one and we don’t make a big deal out of it. It’s a balance we’ve come to accept. When she’s out and about, she is free to do whatever so long as she keeps me informed. When she’s back here, she’s mine unless we have our little parties.”

My eyes went down to my nearly empty beer. This was a level of conversation I knew I probably needed to have with my parents, but it was too weird. Too intimate. Mom giving me a peek behind the curtains was bad enough. I couldn’t imagine something back and forth like this—especially with Dad. He was just as awkward about sex talk as I was. Probably worse.

“Have you ever…” My heart thudded against my chest as I fumbled with the question. “Have you ever watched her with other guys?” I didn’t make eye contact, feeling super awkward. Toby didn’t seem to mind at all, sounding like such a question was perfectly normal.

“I suppose there were a few times where I was waiting my turn. Or recovering after my turn.”

“No. I mean… just watched.”

“And not participate?” I nodded. He took a drink of his new beer and thought. “Don’t think so.”

“O-oh.” Of course not. It was weird to do that. Toby was a lot like Sean. Why watch when you could participate? That’s what a real man would do because real men were men of action and real men were the type of guy Kaylee preferred in bed.

“Scott?”

“It’s nothing,” I said, finishing off my beer and setting it aside.

“Something you want to ask?”

“No.”

Reaching over, he rested a hand on my shoulder. “I know I’m not your father or anything so I don’t want to overstep boundaries, but you are more than my daughter’s boyfriend. You’re a good kid, Scott. If there is something I can help with, I’m here for you.” He smiled. “I may not look it, but I got some years on me and I may not be too terribly shit at advice. I’m also pretty good at just listening.”

“Thanks,” I said, meaning it. “But it really is nothing.”

“Okay, just so you know,” he said releasing me.

“Thanks for the beer, Toby.”

“I’ll pretend that you mean that.” We both had a chuckle.

I almost made it to the door leading into the house when I heard my name. Turning, I found him looking at me. “Don’t be afraid to like what you like. Me? I’ve found I rather enjoy eating out my wife after another man has been with her. I originally started it as a way to differentiate myself from the other guys and found that I actually enjoyed it. Some people think it’s weird or disgusting I like that, but really? I don’t give a shit. I like what I like, Lisa enjoys it, and frankly? It’s no one else’s fucking business.” He grinned. “Just… throwing that out there.”

Frozen, I felt faint. He knew. I guess that was expected. I was clearly shit at subtly. Face burning, I nodded and quickly went inside. Damn it. I met with him on a regular basis at the gym and he knew. Knew that I wasn’t man enough for his daughter.

For the moment, I was glad to escape the garage and the awkwardness that would undoubtedly reside whenever I was around him now. Unfortunately, I had forgotten why he was in the garage in the first place. I was reminded by a rather loud cry. A cry that was both familiar and foreign. I knew who it belonged to, but it wasn’t something I heard often.

“Cumming!” Kaylee cried out from above. “Oh fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! Derrek! Derrek! I’m cumming!” Her voice was climbing in octaves before she was unable to speak words. Instead, a general exclamation of pleasure echoed through the house. Deep breaths helped keep my emotions in check as I listened to Kaylee’s screams of passion and pleasure.

I had told her to enjoy herself, and it certainly seemed she took that to heart.

All at once, it was over and silence fell over the house. I let out a breath and focused on keeping my breathing steady. Yeah, I had the usual emotions, but I was ready for them. Not once did I feel them threatening to overwhelm me. The more I focused on the simple in and out of my breathing, the more control I felt.

It was the surprised shout, cussing, and the sound of things being knocked over that brought my attention outward. I frowned, looking up and wondering what the hell was going on. I didn’t dare go upstairs. Feeling fine at the moment, I didn’t want to risk this momentary balance by walking into something I wasn’t ready to see. A door overhead slammed and was followed by the sound of running water. Glancing down at my phone, I found it was ten after five. No wonder Kaylee was freaking out.

Finding a seat in the kitchen, I waited for her to finish her shower. Drumming my fingers against the table, I was about to get my phone out when he came down the stairs two at a time. He got to the bottom and froze as our eyes met.

Well. This was awkward.