Dad

"Forgot something there slugger?"

Your dad's strong voice broke your heat-induced daze. Making it feel like you jumped out of your skin. You turned to see your bemused dad, pointing at your naked body with a wrench. Your first instinct was to take the towel off of your shoulder and to cover your exposed crotch.

"D..dad! What are you doing home?" You manage to stutter out.

Your dad cocked his head, slowly approaching you. "I could ask you the same thing." His strong hands reached to grab the towel that was shielding your privates. With surprising ease, he took the towel swiftly from your hands and wrapped your lower torso with it.

Your dad, Stephen, was a good-looking man. And not just for his age, at 49. He was always the outdoorsy rugged type of man. And it certainly paid off. Over the years of hiking, golfing, and activity sports with his sons had paid off. Standing in front of you was an attractive man, with built arms, a strong core and legs, soft lines on his face from life over the years, and a little bit of a dad bod, due to your father's love of Miller. Your father, trimmed his facial hair down so that he had a permanent 5 o'clock shadow. But his body hair was quite thick, unlike your inability to grow much body hair. And because today was a hot day, it was certainly on display.

He was dressed in a pair of jean shorts, that he had cut up from a pair of jeans a few years ago. The kind of pair, mom definitely would not allow in the house. He was only designated to wear the pair of shorts in the garage, especially when he was working on vintage cars, a hobby of his. Over the years, there seemed to be more rips and tears than the actual fabric. But on a day like today, you figured that extra ventilation would be welcomed. You could just barely see the lining of his tight white briefs, sticking out through the fabric and on top he was shirtless. The sweat seemed to cling to his well-developed pecs, dad belly, and hair follicles. He had a battered baseball cap placed onto his head, wearing it backwards, probably to protect the back of his neck when he had to venture out of the garage to the tool shed. He seemed to have burned over the last couple of days, resulting in an awkward tank top farmer's tan. You thought though, that the darkened red arms seemed to have made them more buff.

"The office called when I was on the road, saying that there was no point in coming in today, as the A/C was on the fritz and the building would be too hot for the advisors and clients. Suits me just fine, I won't complain for a paid day off with some beer and a chance to work on this 59's mustang." Your dad states while turning away from walking back to the mustard mustang that was in the centre of the room. His black glistened in the hazy sepia light that filtered in from the large garage windows. You never were much of a car guy, but you appreciated the dedication your dad was to refurbishing vintage cars. A few of them won car shows over the years. Placed on the workbench was a cooler, opened with ice and a 6 pack of Millers.

"So what's your excuse slugger? And why were you butt naked?" He bemused while cracking open a beer and taking a large gulp.

You started to blush while coming up with a reason. You came to appreciate the nickname your dad called you. Once when you were in elementary school, you wanted to be just like your older athletic brothers and enrolled in baseball little league. Even though your parents had no expectations of you ever being good at the sport, they were the type of parents that would indulge in their kid's interests. This interest took them by a surprise, but nonetheless one weekend day you were outfitted with a baseball tee, a hat, and a glove. It was a silly game, mostly with the players having fun and learning how to play the game. You were up next to hit the ball. The pitcher threw the ball, you closed your eyes and took a swing of the bat.

*Crack*

Next thing you knew you were flooded with people clamouring around you hugging and shouting and cheering. You managed to hit a home run. On the ride home, after your dad bought you an ice cream cone, the nickname was coined. And even though your passion for baseball waned over the years (to be honest it was a hobby that was quickly replaced with other things) the nickname stuck.

"Same reason, actually. The air conditioning stopped working and for once they cared about the health of their students." You chuckle. "As for being naked? Well, I was going to go for a dip in the freedom I thought I had." You added sheepishly.

"No need to be embarrassed buddy, hell I would have done the same thing if I thought I was going to have the afternoon to myself." My dad had returned back to his task, he had the hood lifted up on his car and was back tinkering at the mechanics.

"Now that you know I'm home," he remarked straightening up to stretch a bit. "Did you want to keep your old man company or is that glassy cool water too tempting?"