Ethan was on the couch flipping through the channels on the TV when Carrie got home.
"Hi Ethan," she said and tossed her books on the dining room table. "I'm sorry I'm late. I didn't expect rehearsal to take so long."
Ethan got up and met her in the short hallway between the living room and the dining room.
"Hi," he said, smiling as he saw her. She was wearing a thin, cotton summer dress that almost could have been illegal. The V in the front was cut low to show off her cleavage and the bottom hung only halfway down her thighs but the most shocking thing about the dress was that he could practically see right through it. He had to concentrate and kind of look at her out of the corner of his eye, but he definitely could see her white bra and panties through it. He put his arms out and she stepped right into them and put her arms around his neck. "You look so beautiful." His hands settled on her trim waist just above her hips. He could smell a powerful, seductive odor and it took him a moment to realize it was from her. She was wet. He wondered how long she had been in that condition.
"Thanks," she said, smiling. She tilted her head up and kissed him. She pressed her body against his to make her intentions as obvious as possible. Her soft breasts flattened against his hard chest and she pressed the mound of her crotch against the rapidly growing bulge in his groin. He was surprised to feel how warm she was. Her lips smacked with his and she sighed softly.
"Happy to see me?" Ethan said.
Carrie giggled. "You could say that. Where's my Mom?"
"I think she's in the backyard."
"Good. Kiss me some more."
Ethan dropped his hands to her ass and plunged his tongue into her mouth until they heard the back door open. They broke apart instantly and tried to play innocent. Carrie's light cotton dress was terribly wrinkled in the front and the skirt part was caught in the crotch of her panties. She quickly straightened it before her mother saw her in that condition. Carrie pushed past Ethan to disappear in the living room.
Ethan realized she needed a little extra time, so for her benefit, he went into the kitchen to try to head off her mother.
"Hi," Ethan said.
"Hi," she said back, smiling brightly. She was dressed in shorts and a blouse with her hair pulled back and looked like a happy suburban housewife again. It was impossible to tell from her appearance the illicit, adulterous affairs she had committed with him not more than an hour ago. She stepped closer to him and the powerful odor of his own semen assailed him. The sperm he had left inside her had soaked through her whole body and radiated from her every pore. It was a phenomenon he had become quite familiar with in the women he had known, especially his sister, but he was afraid of the disastrous consequences if Carrie were to get close to her mother and realize the source of the odor.
"You look really cheerful," he said, searching for a conversation to keep her occupied for a few moments. At the same time, he was desperately trying to come up with a way to keep Carrie and her mother separated.
"So do you," Claudia said. "What have you got-" She stopped abruptly and she looked behind Ethan. "Hi Carrie."
"Hi Mom," she said. Ethan felt her hand on his waist and made room for her in the doorway.
"When did you get home?"
"Just a minute ago."
"Did rehearsals go long?"
"Yes, really long," Carrie said, looking at her mother with curiosity. "Mom, you look fantastic. You're glowing. Did you get a facial today?"
"No, nothing like that. I was just out in the sun most of the day."
"I haven't seen you look so good in a long time. What's that perfume you're wearing?"
"Well, it's been a long time ..." She looked at Ethan then at Carrie. He knew what she was almost going to say before she caught herself. He almost wished she had said it. "Since I got a chance to work on my flowers," she said instead. "Ethan was waiting for you for a long time. I told him to go home and wait for you to call when you got here, but he said he wanted to wait."
Ethan looked at Carrie. She was smiling at him.
"That's so sweet," Carrie said.
Suddenly Ethan hated himself for playing along with this lie. He loved Carrie too much to do this to her.
"So what are your plans tonight?" Claudia asked.
"I thought we'd go get something to eat and maybe see a movie," Ethan said, and now he was lying to her as well. What was happening to him. How could he be doing this? Why couldn't he just tell her the truth? She knew as well as he did, and just as much as Carrie that he had no plans to see a movie that night. He knew that even if he had, Carrie wouldn't be interested. All three of them knew they were going out that night to have sex somewhere. Why did it have to be a big secret between them?
"It's getting late. What time does the movie start?"
"Around nine," Ethan said. "We'll have plenty of time." His heart was pounding. This had never happened to him before. Every time he opened his mouth he was getting deeper and deeper into the lie and there was no reason for it at all. Why couldn't they all be honest with each other?
"Goodnight Mom," Carrie said and went to her to give her a kiss. "I probably won't see you when I get home tonight."
Her mother kissed her cheek and squeezed her tight, as if she was sending her off on some dangerous mission, which, in a sense, after her recent experiences with Ethan herself, she was.
Ethan was glad to finally be in the car. The lie wasn't over, but at least it was behind him for the moment. He had no idea what he was going to say to Carrie when she found out. He did know, however, that if she didn't find out on her own he was going to have to tell her himself, because he couldn't live with deceiving her.
Carrie had asked him a day or two before to take her to the A&W for dinner. She had not been there yet that year and she wanted to make sure she got a coney dog at least once. Both of them ordered footlongs, but Ethan got a large mug of rootbeer while Carrie got a large Black Cow, her favorite.
Watching her suck on the straw, Ethan decided he would not have anything to do with her mother ever again, it would be that simple. He would end everything with her and the lie would be over. Then he could go on loving Carrie for the rest of his life.
Her eyelids flickered and she looked at him. She smiled with the straw between her teeth. He noticed that she had removed her bra and changed her white panties to black ones. He could see her nipples through the thin fabric that was stretched across the points.
"What?" she said.
"You're so beautiful," he said with a most wondrous look in his eye. "You're the most beautiful girl in the world."