Maing Home

AVERY

We were in Mr. Crawford's 'fun car' on our way to dinner. I had text Jess that we would meet them there and she agreed to get us a table. Her texts were a little more enthusiastic than I would have liked when I told her that Mr. Crawford would be coming along. She used a lot of emojis with hearts and winking, and I prayed that she didn't say anything to embarrass me.

We pulled up to the restaurant and Mr. Crawford helped me out of the vehicle. Instead of offering his arm like before, he grabbed my hand in his. I couldn't help but look down at where our skin touched, my awareness of his rough palm overwhelming.

"I guess I should have asked. Have you been in a relationship before?"

I swallowed. Oh crap. "I've watched a lot of rom-coms?"

"Avery..."

Right before we entered, he stopped on the sidewalk. "Come here." He pulled me into his chest and encouraged me to wrap my arms around his waist. "I care about you. Just hold onto that thought tonight. Do you care about me?"

I hadn't known him for very long, but he had already shown me so much kindness. I suppose I cared about him as much as my friends, which was at least more than strangers. I nodded, my hat threatening to come off as my head rubbed against his chest. He pulled away enough to press his lips to my forehead, and then we turned to walk inside.

There was a hostess at the podium, but Jess noticed us right away and waved us over. Her grin said it all as she took in my hand joined with Mr. Crawford's. As we approached, she sprung out of her chair and grabbed me up into one of her big Jess style hugs. I couldn't help but laugh and relax with the familiarity of her touch. I hadn't realized how nice it actually was, that I had missed her.

"Hello, my favorite awkward roomie."

"Hello, my favorite hot friend."

"Oooo, you think I'm hot, eh?"

I laughed. "That's not what I mean. You know what I was trying to say."

She gave me one last squeeze. "I'm just messing with you." She turned to Mr. Crawford and stuck out a hand. "I'm Jess." He took her hand and she turned to the other two women at the table, along with some guy I had never seen before. "That's Emily, Hannah, and Hannah's boyfriend Andrew."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm Avery's boyfriend, Elijah. Most people just call me Eli, though."

Boyfriend. The word sounded so strange to me, especially attached to me. I looked up at him and he just smiled, almost pleased with himself. He gave my hand a squeeze before moving to pull a chair out for me. I took a seat as he pushed it in and turned to watch him take the chair next to me. Like he had earlier that day, he draped his arm over the back of my seat, his fingers dangling above my shoulder.

"I want to thank you all for allowing me to attend on such short notice. I know it's not easy welcoming a stranger to a get together."

Jess waved a hand in the air and picked up her menu. "NBD, Eli." She perused the options in front of her. "NBD."

I fought back a smile. Well, she gets comfortable quickly. I picked up the menu, quickly looking at the prices of each entrée. It was habit by this point. What I really wanted was a cheeseburger with french fries, but a quesadilla was cheaper by a few dollars. And getting a soda was out of the question.

As I looked, warm breath fanned my ear, "Get whatever you want, sweetheart. I'm paying for it." And then he looked up and around the table. "Please allow me to buy you all dinner tonight."

There were awes and murmurs of thanks amongst my friends before everyone resumed looking at their menus. Of course, he would offer. He probably made three times what the bill would be per hour. I couldn't fathom making that kind of money. With his blessing, I set my menu down. I really wanted the cheeseburger and fries. The waitress eventually came and took our orders, then left and brought our beverages. I was the only one at the table who wasn't drinking alcohol, and it made me a feel a little out of place. Mr. Crawford began to absently rub the side of my shoulder and I was able to relax a little into my seat.

"So, how long have you known Avery?"

Jess leaned forward on the table, her breasts resting on her arms. "I've shared a room with her since Freshmen year. She was so cute." She chuckled while shooting me a glance. "Freshly sixteen. I was a bit surprised of her age and, honestly? I thought she would be annoying. But that all changed when she forged her mom's signature on the lease. It was then that I knew she had a bit of a wild side."

I looked over to Mr. Crawford and his jaw tightened, but he smiled. "That is interesting."

"My mom approved, of course," I interjected. "But she was so busy that it just slipped her mind."

Jess nodded. "Yeah. I never met your mom, now that I think of it." She shrugged. "But she must be busy if she produced a prodigy like you. PSEO for junior and senior years of high school. I don't know how you did it. I would have missed my friends too much. And I could never give up prom."

I just chuckled and played with my straw. I could feel Mr. Crawford's eyes on me, but he didn't say anything. His thumb had stopped rubbing my shoulder and instead he gave it a squeeze. I glanced at him before he pulled me closer to press a kiss to my temple.

"We'll talk later, sweetheart."

Crap. I promised I wouldn't lie anymore so could this technically be considered a lie? I decided that it wasn't since my past was my past. It was mine to keep and mine to reveal.

"Anyways," Jess continued, "Avery is solid. She pulls through if you ever need anything. And she's probably the kindest person I've ever met. Even if she is a bit weird." She nudged my shoulder with hers.

"That's all very good to know. Thank you for the insight."

"So, I have to ask, I thought Avery was moving so that she could work for you? I mean, it's none of my business if you two want to date. You seem like a very caring boyfriend, but you might want to check with your HR department on policies about relationships in the workplace."

Mr. Crawford chuckled. "I thought there might be a little confusion. I actually decided to ask Avery to enter into a relationship with me after we interviewed her. I was infatuated immediately, and I really liked who she was as a person. She does work for one of my companies, but I'm not directly her superior. Our HR department is aware, and the proper paperwork has been filed. But it's very good of you to be concerned for your friend. I appreciate that."

"Yeah. She's like my little sister." Jess nudged me again. "I didn't mean any offense. I just want to look out for her."

"Of course. None taken." Mr. Crawford relaxed in his chair and took a sip of his beer. "So, Avery told me that you all go to university. What are your majors?"

Jess spoke up first. "I'm majoring in business. I'm a senior this year, like Avery."

"I'm majoring in professional communications and relations." Hannah waved her hand to bring everyone's attention to her.

"Mass marketing and graphic design." Emily gave everyone a smile. "Andrew is majoring in business, like Jessie."

Mr. Crawford nodded. "Those are all majors I'm fully aware of. If any of you are looking for internships, feel free to put Avery down as a reference if you apply to one of my businesses. I'll put in a note to have your applications pulled right away for review."

Everyone grinned and looked at each other before offering me a friendly smile. I had a feeling that I had suddenly become the second to the most popular person at the table, my 'boyfriend' being the first.

The dinner went well, despite my anxiety about Mr. Crawford. Our entrées came and we ate, everyone conversing lightly about business practices and what their plans were post-graduation. Mr. Crawford's thumb resumed brushing my shoulder as he casually conversed with Andrew, whose father was actually involved in a multimedia company and working remotely. Feeling him touch me was actually reassuring, and I was starting to get used to the small amount of contact. But by giving in to his touch, I found myself also giving in to my attraction for him. I was having a harder time denying that his "practice" affected me in ways that I had never experienced before. With each look, a kind of electricity would start in my lower belly and grow with a strange kind of need.

Mr. Crawford glanced at his watch and smiled at my friends. "Well, it is getting late." He turned to me. "We should probably get going. We still have to stop at the store."

I nodded and swallowed. "Yeah, you're right."

The sound of chairs scraping the floor filled our assigned space as we all stood and said our goodbyes.

Jess pulled me in for another one of her tight hugs. "Keep in touch, will ya? Or else."

I laughed. "I will. Of course, I will."

She leaned in to whisper in my ear, "Oh, and let me know if he has a brother? Please?"

I shook my head but smiled at her. "Okay."

She smiled back at me with a wink and then turned to say goodbye to Mr. Crawford. Hannah and Emily also each gave me a small hug and wished me luck. We all walked to the entrance together, and my friends stood in the foyer while Jess phoned an Uber.

Mr. Crawford took my hand once again and tugged me gently toward the door. "Come on, sweetheart. I only had one so I'm okay to drive."

Elation filled me up as I felt his skin against mine. I turned back to my friends with, what I'm sure was, a stupid grin and waved one last small goodbye before we were out the door.

Sitting in the passenger seat with a Target bag on my lap, I was finally able to relax. The dinner went so much better than I thought it would, sans Jessie's little slip up. I debated whether I should bring it up myself or wait for Mr. Crawford to. After some deliberation, I decided I needed some kind of redemption, and maybe a demonstration of being proactive would be best.

"So, about my mom and having to forge her signature." I shifted in my seat.

Mr. Crawford's face turned slightly in my direction, but he kept his eyes on the darkened road. "Yes?"

I took a breath. "My mom is at often times... heavily medicated. I had to forge her signature because she couldn't drive to the house to sign the lease for me." Not a complete lie, though stretch of the word, 'medication'. "Once I turned 18, it didn't even matter anymore. It was only twice, once for each year I was a minor."

He nodded. "Why not just bring the lease to her, though? Something does seem right about it, Avery."

Crap. I could feel my palms begin to sweat. "Well, she's always heavily medicated around the clock. I don't think she could have signed it even if I had set it in front of her."

I snuck a peek at him and noticed his frown. "What does she have going on?"

"Fibromyalgia." This was an easy one. My mom actually claimed that she had fibromyalgia. Not enough was known about the condition and she was able to use everyone's ignorance to excuse away being high on her drugs all of the time.

"I see. Well, maybe we should go visit her sometime. Maybe there's something I could do to help."

"No!" The answer shot out of me faster than I would have liked. I clenched my hands into fists and dug my nails into my palm. "She's out of it most days, and I honestly don't want to introduce her to our arrangement. I don't think she would exactly approve of the idea of it, and I don't want to lie to her and say that we're in a relationship."

He sighed. "Fair enough."

Phew. Another bullet dodged. So, why did I still feel so uneasy about it all? I licked my lips and tried to refocus on the game ahead of us.

I looked over to Mr. Crawford. "Have you ever played Twister before?"

He shook his head. "I've seen it and heard of it, but I've never personally participated, no."

I nodded. "Wear comfortable clothes. I'm probably going to play in my pajamas if that's okay."

He swallowed audibly. "Won't you get a little cold?"

I felt a frown come over my face. "No. I usually don't get too cold in the house. And we'll be moving around."

"Good point." He pulled into the driveway, and the energy around us felt weird as we waited for the garage to open so he could park the car.

When we entered the house, it was empty; All of the staff had left for the night. I set the game in the living room and then looked back at Mr. Crawford as he set his belongings on the kitchen counter.

"I'm just going to run up and change."

"I'll be doing the same. You sure you don't want to borrow a pair of pajama pants or something? I wouldn't mind."

This man was so overbearing sometimes. I tried to smile politely. "I'm sure. But thanks."

"Okay."

We both climbed the stairs to go to our rooms. It didn't take me long to throw on my camisole and shorts, but I took a minute to debate whether I should keep my bra on or not. I bent to the floor and decided I was safe to leave it off, the camisole tight enough that there was only a sliver of exposure to my breasts. I recalled Jess and how her endowment had spilled onto the table. I wish I could do that. Looking down at my own chest, I almost felt in tears that I didn't have what men wanted. Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about Mr. Crawford. He agreed that our arrangement was a professional one, so his attraction for me, or lack of, shouldn't matter. Right? So, why did it feel like it should? With a shake of my head to clear my thoughts, I turned and walked downstairs and into the living room before trying to move the coffee table to the side of the room.

"Here, let me help," Mr. Crawford appeared next to me, his usual formal sleepwear donned, and easily pushed the furniture to the side.

"Thanks," I said before sitting down on the ground and pulling the box from the bag.

"I'm going to grab a drink if you don't mind. Do you want anything?"

I pulled the plastic wrap from off of the box and set it inside the bag. "Is that a trick?"

He chuckled. "For once, no. We're in a private residence and you're old enough to make that decision. I also know what I'm asking of you isn't easy, so maybe something to take the edge off. I'm not giving you enough to get you drunk, though."

I opened the box and took the mat out, unfolding it to spread on the floor. "I've never drank alcohol before."

He was silent as I smoothed out the game. Once it was positioned, I pulled the directions out and read through them.

"Well, maybe we better hold off, then."

I shrugged. "Okay."

He could be heard rummaging around, and soon he returned with two bottles of spring water. He handed one to me.

"Thanks."

He unscrewed the top of his and took a drink. "You're welcome." He sat down next to me and peeked over my shoulder. "So, how do we do this?"

I set the directions down and looked at the spinner. "Well, there are a couple of ways. Since it's just the two of us, we could take turns calling out a color and then a body part. Or we could take turns moving while the other person calls the color and body part. We could also take turns spinning the spinner, but that might be hard to do. I guess we could always do a variation and just call it house rules."

"Hm." He rested his chin on my shoulder. The contact felt a little forced, but I knew that it was necessary so that it soon wouldn't. "What do you think we should do?"

I sighed. "I think we should try to take turns moving and using the spinner. It takes out the cheating aspect and I think randomization would give us optimal results."

"Deal. House rules, it is." He stood up. "Let's do this." He held a hand down to me and I slid my palm into his. I gasped as I was hauled up a lot faster than I expected. "Sorry. You're lighter than I realized."

I made my way over to the opposite side of the mat, making sure to set the spinner down at the halfway point between us. "It's okay. Ready?"

He rubbed his palms together. "Ready."

"Okay. We start with one foot on yellow and one foot on blue." We each moved to set our feet down on the mat. On my side, I placed my left foot on yellow and my right foot on blue, where Mr. Crawford was the opposite. "The object of the game is to not let an elbow or knee touch the mat."

"Understood. You want to spin first, or should I?"

"You spin."

With a nod, he leaned forward and flicked the little black piece of plastic. "Left foot, green."

I stepped forward one row onto the green space to get closer to him. If the object of us playing was to get used to being near each other, I supposed we needed to be close for that purpose.

I reached forward and give the spinner a flick. "Right hand, yellow." I watched as Mr. Crawford leaned forward and chose a yellow circle close to the middle.

He spun the dial. "Right foot, blue."

That was easy. I stepped forward another space so that my right foot was matched up with my left. I bent forward and spun. "Left hand, blue."

Mr. Crawford bent to touch his left hand to the mat. He was on all fours now, his butt slightly in the air. I suppressed a giggle.

He spun the dial. "Left foot, yellow."

I was having good luck as far as the game went, but bad luck as far as forcing us into proximity. I sent up a silent prayer that the game would progress in the way we needed, and stepped my left foot in, but moved up one more row.

I spun the spinner. "Left hand, green." I watched as Mr. Crawford crossed his arm over the other to reach the color.

He grunted. "Mind spinning for me?"

"Sure." I gave it another spin. "Right foot, blue. Are you kidding me?" I laughed and stepped forward. I spun again. "Left foot, green."

He reached over crossing his left foot over the right in a new position on all fours. This time I couldn't suppress my small laugh.

"Yeah, ha, ha. Spin for me again, will you?"

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me, and flicked the spinner. "Left hand, green." I looked over to where Mr. Crawford was. I could either place a hand behind me or I could try to get closer to him. I decided to get closer and reached for the circle in between his hand and foot, my chest brushing against his back. I reached back and spun again. "Right hand, blue."

Mr. Crawford twisted in an impressive maneuver and reached for the circle left between his foot and mine. I was now standing over him slightly as he was in a crab like position beneath me.

He was able to reach the spinner this time and gave it a flick. "Right hand, yellow."

Uh oh. To get to a free space that wasn't covered up by his body, I was going to have to reach between his legs. With a swallow, I bent over and reached until I had a hand on the space. My thighs bumped into his forehead, and I prayed that he couldn't see up my shorts.

I used my foot to spin the spinner this time and ducked my head to look back at it. "Left hand, green." He shifted beneath me as he moved his hand up one space, his head coming to the left of my legs, fighting for space. The plastic whirled against the cardboard again.

"Left foot, green."

I lifted my leg as I searched for a space. The best spot was the one closer to my starting side of the mat so I I planted my foot there. I was now spread eagle over him, my limbs not quite long enough to allow enough space between us. Maybe Twister wasn't such a good idea after all. I suddenly grew self-conscious as I thought about his face so close to such an intimate area. Could he smell me? Could he see anything through my shorts? Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I looked down and noticed a swell in the front of his pants. Was that?

I tried to ignore it and spun with my foot again. "Right hand, blue."

Mr. Crawford moved up again and then spun the dial. "Right hand, red."

I lifted and reached my hand out for the red circle on the side of his foot, my face creeping dangerously close to his anatomy. I couldn't deny the bulge any longer. It was unmistakably there, and good indication that he was fully aroused. I figured that he was on the larger side as far as it went, the outline showed that the head seemed to reach up to the waistband of his flannel pajama bottoms. My mouth began to salivate, and I swallowed down the extra saliva. My arms stretched wide, and I felt as though I couldn't hold it any longer. It was too far, and I suddenly felt extremely hot. With a small grunt and jerk forward, my face fell flush against his manhood, and it gave a powerful throb as my fingers made contact with the color.