Note: This bit is a lot of set up. There are sexy moments, but no sex, so if that's what you are in the mood for, maybe read another story. Lots more sex awaits us in future chapters.
Ch. 10 - Shopping Trip
Despite spending hours in bed, Matthew neither spent half the night laying sleeplessly in bed nor having weird dreams. He drifted off, lying there using his winning lottery ticket as a bookmark, and drifted off into the void.
In the morning, he let himself sleep in longer than usual, too. For some reason, it was hard to get worked up about the prospect of yard sale loot or lawn mowing when he was already technically a millionaire. In fact, lying there, he could really only think about the essay he had to work on for his English class. He could just blow it off, of course, but somehow, that felt less right to him.
"Rise and shine, Tomé," he said, sitting up and flipping open the familiar red leather book. "What's on the agenda for today?"
'That's entirely up to you, master. Who would you like to seduce today,' was the book's response.
"I'll think about it and let you know," he said with a smile, feeling happier than he had in a long time. It was hard not to, of course. He literally had the world in the palm of his hand. "First comes breakfast, and then I might hit a few lawns before I start on my essay."
'Essay? Matthew - you hardly need to worry about such things anymore. I can handle that for you...' was the answer he found on the next page.
"Well, I don't want to drop out of college just yet," he answered, feeling defensive without quite knowing why he should. "Just think of all the beautiful women that are there every day."
This time, when he turned the page, there wasn't a cute little response. Instead, there were the first two pages of a completed essay on one of the books they were reading in class right now.
"Actually, I was going to write my paper on the other one, exploring the topic of..." Matthew's words trailed off as he turned the page and noted that she'd rewritten the new essay on the next page almost instantaneously.
"Thanks," he said glumly as he got up and put on some pants so he could go down and make some scrambled eggs. "I guess I'm going to grab a bite, and then I'll start typing this up."
He spent the next half an hour in the kitchen because he had to do his stepsister's dishes before he could even start on his own meal, but for once, he didn't mind. He was too busy trying to untangle his messy thoughts. Why would it feel bad to him to take this kind of shortcut when it came to his homework? It would save him literally hours, and no one would ever know.
No matter how he justified it to himself, though, it still fell flat. Helping him with things he could never do on his own was kind of awesome, but doing the things he could easily do for himself somehow took the thrill out of life. He didn't turn down the help, though. Instead, after he finished eating, he went back upstairs and knocked it out in about an hour, idly hoping that he'd spot Mrs. Hale during one of his breaks.
"Alright, homework is done," Matthew said, cracking his knuckles over his head as he stretched. "I was thinking - what else can I do to improve the odds with Jill tomorrow night?"
'Wait to ask her until just before her shift ends at four. That will give her the time to realize what just happened and increase peer pressure, doubling your chances.' The book answered helpfully when he flipped it open. 'Beyond that, we need to get you a new shirt.'
"What's wrong with my shirt?" Matthew asked, a little hurt by the words as he looked into the mirror.
'The women in your life largely agree that you're a pretty handsome guy, Matthew, but most of them think that you have the fashion sense of a teenager. We're going to have to fix that if you want them to want you back.' He was somewhat mollified when she put it like that. It probably wasn't even wrong.
"Alright then, I guess we're going to have to go shopping," he said with a shrug, trying not to be defensive. "How much are we talking here? Will I need to hit an ATM?"
'To get everything you will need over the next few days will cost $386.14, not including lunch. You'd find it creepy if I told you what you were going to get at the food court.'
Underneath that message was a list of items, including colors and sizes, all categorized by stores. It was like having one of those smart assistants that actually worked, and it was creepy enough even without telling him where he was going to eat.
She was right about that, at least, he thought with a laugh as he put the book in his bag and dug out the roll of twenties from his sock drawer. He'd been worried that she was going to want him to spend thousands of dollars on luxury suits, but her list was much more practical.
She just wanted him to get a new pair of tennis shoes, a few pairs of jeans from a store he normally wouldn't be caught dead in, and a couple other places to grab some shirts was almost reasonable. The outing seemed like an adventure, and it dispelled the gloom that he'd felt since he'd decided to cheat on his essay as he ran downstairs to head out.
Normally, Matthew hated shopping, and anything he had to get, he got online. It wasn't just because everything was so expensive, and he was cheap, either. It was also because he actually had to drive into the city and deal with all the people. Normally, there was nothing appealing about that to him, but today was different. Today, everything was a limitless possibility because he had a secret. Tucked away in his bookbag was a little spark of magic that might give him a chance with almost every woman he saw, and that power was intoxicating.
Should he try to flirt with that girl at the jewelry counter? How about the woman behind the cashier. For the first time in his life, his constant social anxiety was replaced by a feeling of limitlessness. Suddenly, anything was possible in a way he'd never considered before.
Or maybe it was because he finally got to fuck Mrs. Hale, he thought wryly as he watched a particularly busty woman walk by him on the way into the shoe store he'd just left. Matthew had no idea who she was, but he could find out.
He was pretty sure if he opened up the red leather book in his bag and asked Tomé about her there would be some winding path that led all the way to the woman's bedroom. He had no idea how long it would take, of course, but if he wanted to, he was sure he could see if those tits looked as good as he thought they would once she was completely naked.
He resisted temptation, though, and instead did some more shopping before he grabbed a bite. Life was about more than fucking random women. After all, there were some very specific women he wanted to bang first, he thought, laughing to himself. Maybe after he'd gotten all of them out of his system, he would play the field a little more.
"Or maybe I'll find something interesting to do that has nothing to do with sex," he said quietly to himself before he picked up another french fry.
Matthew's attempts to focus worked just fine until he got to the last store on his list and encountered a girl who just dripped sex appeal on the floor of the department store. She had a dark tan, big brown eyes, and just the faintest hint of an accent. Honestly, he wanted to fuck her the moment he saw her.
He wasn't weird about it, though. He said hello, and she was friendly enough while he was browsing the section near her, looking for the pair of jeans that Tomé had specified. He even worked up the nerve to get Natalia to help him out. Her accent told him that she was from somewhere in South America, but he could have guessed that from her complexion and her amazing ass.
When he went to the changing room to try on the outfit that he already knew would fit, he stopped and asked the book what he could do.
'Natalia isn't someone you're going to be able to have sex with after a single interaction unless you're out dancing. That girl loves to dance, but you're doing a great job already. Just be confident and bold. She loves it more than most.'
"Christ, I'm going to have to learn to dance, aren't I?" he sighed as he shut the book and put it away before he steeled himself to talk to the lovely saleswoman again.
Their second encounter was a little warmer if anything, and though she was very sweet as she told him that she thought his choice looked great, he never quite got the chance to ask for her number and went home empty-handed. Well, empty-handed except for three or four outfits, which apparently made him a lot more appealing to the sexy women in his life.
On the way home, he still felt like that was a pretty solid step, though. Having a magic book was cool and everything, but it would be a lot cooler if women wanted him for who he was rather than because he knew every little secret in their dirty little minds.
That night, he watched the lottery numbers as they were drawn on Livestream, and though he checked his ticket as his mother crumbled up hers, he was very careful not to give any outward sign that he'd just won a million dollars, even though it thrilled him to the core.
He'd cash that ticket later. Right now, all that mattered was getting Jill to help him celebrate in style tomorrow.
Ch. 11 - A Lesson in Love
That night when he slept, Matthew found himself back in the mall that he'd only just left, but this time instead of eyeing the women like he was browsing books at the library, they were all eye fucking him instead. They weren't any prettier than they had been in real life, but the fact that were obviously hitting on him made him more than a little nervous.
"Don't I know you from somewhere? The woman in the shoe store asked, feigning déjà vu.
