Neighborhood Dad

Chap. 14 finished July with an average score of 4.76, making it the highest rated new story in July in the Mature category by one-hundredth of a point.

And Chap. 13 was the highest-rated new mature story in June, so thanks a bunch to all those who voted five stars. It certainly has been a boost to my confidence level and keeps me wanting to write.

I don't know if this chapter will score quite as highly, but it has a lot of necessary stuff happening.

And thanks for your votes!

*****

The next day we boarded the team bus and headed toward the mountains. We went straight to the gymnasium and walked through the facility to become familiar. Then we went to the motel to drop off our overnight bags.

I had spent much of the trip debating what to do about Lori. I still hadn't spoken to her about what I'd said to her in the kitchen that day. And she was still acting all out of sorts.

There would be plenty of time to talk after the game that night, but I couldn't risk that for the team's sake. If Lori didn't get back to playing like we all knew she could, then there might not have been a Saturday game to worry about.

Also, I could see that Paige was upset. She didn't know why Lori was staying away from our house or why she refused to talk about what was wrong when she was with Paige at school.

I decided to have that talk as soon as we got our rooms.

Charles walked with me to our room, and I gave him the speech that I'd prepared.

"Charles, if you don't mind, I'd like to have a private word with Lori. I know she's been a little off in practice and games, and I'm sure you've tried talking to her, but I'd like to give it a shot, too. Would you mind stepping out for a few minutes so she can feel free to be open?"

"Yeah, sure. You're right, she hasn't been herself lately, and with her struggling, I know you've got the whole team to consider. She hasn't said a peep to me, but maybe she'll listen to you."

I went to Paige's room to see Lori, but she wasn't there. Autumn, Tessa and Kim were sharing the room with Paige.

I could see the pain in Paige's eyes as she said, "She wanted to stay with Carrie and Crystal instead."

Walking to the next door, I knocked and Crystal answered. Seeing Lori sitting behind Crystal on one of the beds, I called out, "Lori, may I have a word?"

She made no move to rise. "Uh, okay. What about?"

"Let's talk over in the room your dad and I have."

She looked like a death-row inmate headed for the electric chair as she slowly eased up and puttered her way to the door.

I led the way to my room and pushed it open. I held it and beckoned her to enter. She hesitated before stepping in, like she was expecting me to take advantage of her. This conversation wasn't off to a good start.

"Where's my dad?" she asked, walking deeper into the room to check the bathroom.

"Checking on Heather. He'll be back in a few minutes. Have a seat."

I pulled out the writing desk's lone chair and she lowered to the edge of one of the double beds.

"We should have had this conversation a long time ago, but I was too embarrassed to bring it up," I admitted.

She didn't respond, and I ran through a whole laundry list of things I could say next - mostly truths but also some outrageous lies.

"I said something highly inappropriate to you, and I didn't even have the decency to apologize," I began. "The truth is that I was too shocked to say anything because I didn't know it was you."

Lori had been staring at the floor, but at that comment she looked up.

"What I said to you in the kitchen wasn't meant for you."

"It wasn't?"

"No. I thought you were someone else, and when you turned around, I was dumbstruck and mortified and about a hundred other emotions and I didn't handle well at all. I'm the adult, and I should have done a better job of communicating with you."

"Wh-who did you think I was?"

This was the question I knew she would ask, and the one I was dreading the most.

I went with a mixture of truths and lies.

"When Paige started dating Ricky a few months ago, she became worried about me sitting around the house by myself. She's been on my case about getting out and experiencing life. She even mentioned me going out on dates.

"But that felt wrong to me. I loved her mother very much, and nobody else even interested me. And even if I did find someone who caught my eye, I don't know that I could let Paige see me with another woman, even if she did suggest it herself."

Lori was eyeing me with a mixture of confusion and unease. Which was probably a good instinct because here's where the lies began.

"What I decided to do was reach out to some ladies in town without Paige knowing anything. I figured that I could casually date and I'd only let Paige know if I found someone worthy of meeting my daughter."

I could see Lori was curious now and wanted to know more.

"So I started going out when she was busy with Ricky or you girls, and I never said a word to her about it - and I still haven't. Paige doesn't know anything. And some of these women were interested in me in a physical way, and I'm an adult, so I went along with it.

"One of these women had been to the house before and shared the hot tub with me. On that occasion, she was wearing a red and black swimsuit. When I walked into the kitchen that day and saw someone with a red and black bikini, I naturally assumed it was her."

The story felt pretty flimsy, but I couldn't think of anything better, and I couldn't tell anyone the truth about Randi and me.

She looked like she was about to speak, so I shut up and let her build up to what she had to say.

"Wa-was it Gina?"

"Who?"

"Autumn's mom. I know we kid you about her sometimes; is that who it was?"

"Oh. No, not Gina. I haven't been out with any parents. I've been trying to keep the team and my personal life separate."

She mulled this over a few seconds and hit me with a question I wasn't expecting.

"If it wasn't a parent, then why would you think this stranger was with your daughter?"

Okay, maybe I should have anticipated this, but you see, this is why I never lie - I just stink at thinking up all the ways a lie can go wrong.

"Say what?"

Now she really looked suspicious.

"Paige and Tessa went into the house before me. You must have seen them, so whoever you saw drying off at the back door must have been with them. But if you haven't introduced any of your dates to Paige, then why would you think that one of your lady friends was at your house hanging out with your daughter when you weren't home?"

Shit, that was a damned good. I didn't have an answer.

"You know, that's a really good question, Lori. And all I can say is 'I don't know.' It doesn't make a lick of sense that I would think one of my, uh, lady friends as you called them, would be soaking with my daughter. I guess I wasn't thinking at all. I just made an assumption, and my mouth opened before my brain could process anything. I swear to God that I had no idea that was you at the back door."

"Well if that's the truth, then why didn't you say anything then or any time since then?"

I held my hands out to my sides and shrugged.

"Number one, I felt ashamed about what I said to you. I just couldn't bring myself to look you in the eye after that horrible day. Secondly, any explanation I gave would have to include me telling you about going on dates. I still haven't told Paige anything about lady friends, and I figured you would tell her since she's your best friend."

Lori genuinely seemed puzzled now. There were still holes in my lies, I'm sure, but enough of it started to seem plausible. And maybe she wanted to believe my story because it was easier to live with than what she had thought before.

"So you didn't think it was me drying off?"

I shook my head no.

"And you said something to me that sounded pretty ... I don't know. But I guess if you thought it was someone you've already slept with, it would only seem flirty."

I simply nodded and let her talk.

"Saying that to someone half your age - geez, I bet your face was really burning when I left the room."

"Oh yeah."

"And I totally misread the situation and freaked out. Oh my god, I'm so embarrassed now." She dropped her face into her palms.

"God, I'm so stupid. Of course you wouldn't be after some high school girl. What was I thinking?"

Just as she said that, the lock disengaged on the door.

Lori and I both turned to see her dad enter the room.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I come back too soon?"

Lori laughed, the first one I'd heard from her in a long time. "No, I needed to get going anyway," she said, rising up to give her dad a peck on the cheek.

Charles was completely baffled as Lori left the room.

"Is everything okay now? Did she tell you what was going on? Because she hasn't told me a thing."

"Nothing serious, just some misunderstandings. I think things will improve from here on out."

At some point during the talk with Lori, I'd felt my phone buzz quietly on my hip. I pulled it out of its holster and saw I had a text from Randi. We didn't usually send each other texts - maybe as some sort of secrecy thing so that there wouldn't be any evidence of our relationship. This one was innocent enough.

"Wishing you good luck with your game tonight."

After that stressful talk with Lori, I could have used some kind words, so I excused myself from Charles and walked outside to give Randi a call.

I spoke softly in case anyone came walking up to me. She was in the library working, so she had to whisper herself, which surely made us both appear guilty of some misdeed to anyone witnessing us. Therefore we only spoke briefly, but her voice left me feeling more relaxed and confident. And with Lori looking better, I liked our chances in the game that night.

Our opponent that Friday night was the same prep academy from our conference. That school had won two of the last three state championships in our small-school classification. Yet we had beaten them two out of the three times we'd faced them already this season and knew we could do it again.

Lori played the best she had in several games. She hit jumpers and drove hard to the basket. Carrie continued to play well around the basket and looked a frontrunner to follow Paige as player of the year next season.

When we hit a basket to go up nine at the half, the prep team looked defeated. I knew we had them. We won by 13.

That put us in the regional final the next night against another private team, a Catholic school called Cardinal Perry. The Lady Knights had lost to the prep school in the regional final last year and won the state title two years ago. They would be a tough opponent, but these girls were on a roll.

While waiting for the girls to come out of the showers, I made small talk with Ricky, "I wish we were going to Richie's to celebrate. It'd be good to share this with all the fans."

"Yeah, and Dad loves the crowd," he said. "And hey, I do, too. I've always loved helping out at the diner."

I checked back toward the locker room door, hoping the girls would be coming out.

"That's why I'm gonna major in business."

"Hmm?" I wasn't really paying attention then.

"For college. I'm going to be a business major so I can come back and help run the diner. I know Dad does okay with the place, but maybe I can learn some ways to make it more profitable. Maybe expand the enterprise."

"Oh yeah?" I realized in that moment that I really didn't know much about Ricky, except that he cared deeply for my daughter.

"Yes. And I want you to know that I truly love Paige and she loves me."

Suddenly this conversation had my full attention.

"You're not about to do something stupid like ask for my daughter's hand in marriage, are you?"

"What? Uh, um, no, not that. I mean, maybe someday, but not right this minute or anything."

I might have been glowering a little in that moment as Ricky stammered nervously.

"It's just that I know that Paige has been getting interest from some colleges. A few have even offered her a basketball scholarship. So just to cover my bases, I applied to all the schools that have been recruiting her."

My expression softened a little.

"I make good grades, so I got accepted at all of my choices. Whatever school that Paige decides to choose, I'm going to go there, too. That's one of the good things about being a business major - almost every school offers that."

This all began to feel very familiar. Déjà vu all over again. Beth and I chose the same college and roomed together. Then Beth became pregnant with Paige.

The idea of Ricky knocking up my daughter made me angry, but at the same time I recalled how deeply in love Beth and I were back then and how determined we were to make it work.

Opposite emotions tore at me like I was being drawn and quartered. I didn't speak again until the girls exited the locker room.

After the rush of the big win, I wasn't tired, but I knew the girls needed rest and hydration that night. I wanted to head for the hotel, but the girls were starving and wanted to find a restaurant. We compromised and grabbed grub at a fast-food joint and headed for our rooms.

I watched all the players going into suites before going to my own room to eat my sandwich.

"I already filled up on junk from the concession stand," said Charles. "If you guys keep winning, I'm gonna swell up like the Michelin tire man." He patted his protruding gut.

"You eat, and I'll make the rounds of the rooms," he said.

"I appreciate it. I'll check on them next."

By the time Charles got back, I had found a college basketball game early in the second half.

"Just about the whole team was crammed into one room," he said.

"Which one?"

"The middle one with Lori and Carrie."

When the game started to get out of hand, I figured it was time to tour the rooms myself. I left the remote with Charles and went over to the second of the three rooms we'd gotten for the girls.

Sure enough, the girls were piled on the beds. One of the two sophomores was sitting in the desk chair and the other was sitting in the floor.

"Where is Crystal?" I asked, surveying the room.

"Her mom wanted something, so she's down the hall in Donna's room," said Carrie.

"Autumn and Kim?"

"I think they are next door," said Lori, pointing her thumb toward the room she was sharing with them.

I walked down the hall and knocked on that door. Kim answered with a big smile on her face.

"Hey, coach. I was just about to join the others next door."

"Where is Autumn? Bathroom?"

"Yes, she'll be out in a sec."

Kim left and the door shut behind her. I wasn't going anywhere until I had spotted Autumn with my own two eyes. My first overnight trip with the team, and I wasn't about to sit back while someone tried to sneak out and meet guys. Kim and Autumn were good kids, but they both were a little boy-crazy, so if there were anybody I wanted to watch closely, it would be those two.

"Autumn?" I called out.

The bathroom door opened, and the senior stepped into the room on bare feet. She was wearing a tight, light blue tank top that dipped low enough to show off the tops of her firm breasts. It was obvious from the nubs sticking out that she wasn't wearing a bra. I would guess those breasts were a C cup, and they looked even bigger on her 5'5 frame.

She also had nicely shaped hips that were barely covered by the white stretchy short-shorts she was wearing.

I had been doing so much better about not staring at the girls during practice, but Autumn stepping out of the bathroom caught me off-guard, and I was staring.

"Hi," she said softly, which got my eyes to travel up to her face.

"I was just checking in," I said, reflexively speaking back to her in a low voice. "You okay?"

"Mmm hmm," she nodded, taking a couple of small steps toward me.

Since my eyes were now on her face, I noticed how nice she looked. Unlike the wet ponytail she had after the locker room shower, Autumn had styled her hair and applied a bit of makeup.

That set off warning bells in my head, and I tried to figure out why.

"You're awfully dolled up for bedtime," I said. "You're not thinking about sneaking out, are you?"

"Nope," she replied with a smile.

"You better not try something. We have too many chaperones watching the hall."

She took another small step forward. "I'm right where I want to be."

Autumn was trying to act cool, but her face blushed, and suddenly I realized what the warning bells were for. Oh crap. The tight top and no bra. The makeup. Kim leaving with a shit-eating grin on her face so that I'd be here all alone with Autumn. I'd been set up.

She was now close enough to reach out a hand and place it on my chest. I froze as her hand made a soft circle around my shirt.

"You're a really great guy, Coach. Henry," she said as her face grew even redder. But she didn't stop.

"I've caught you staring at me a few times. You try to do the right thing and not look, but sometimes you can't help yourself."

Now it was my turn to blush.

"At first I was a little embarrassed. A grown man looking at me. But it's a hot, mature, older man who's looking, and I found that I liked it. I wanted you to look, and I hated that you were trying so hard not to. So sometimes I would try to stretch and hold a position knowing you'd have a great view of me. And then I'd peek out of the corner of my eye to see if you noticed."

As she said that, she leaned forward so that I could peer down her tank top and see more flesh.

I needed to stop this before it got out of control. It already felt out of control, but it could always get worse.

"I'm the coach; I'm supposed to keep an eye on you," I muttered.

Autumn raised one eyebrow at that flimsy excuse. "Go right ahead. I don't mind."

She took a step back, and her left hand pulled back from my chest; I'd forgotten it was there.

"In fact, there was a time a few months ago when I got to see a whole lot of you."

She was referring to the morning after Halloween when she'd walked in on me getting dressed.

"I told you I was sorry. I should have locked the door."

"That's okay," she purred. "But the way I see it, I owe you one. I got to see your naked butt, so ..."

She turned around and reached for the top of her shorts.

I should have stopped right then and there.

When people say, "It just happened - it was an accident," that's such a crock. Things don't just happen. Lots of little things happen, and along the way we choose to cross a line - or choose to let someone else cross a line.

This was one of those lines. I'd never seen any of my players nude before, and I should have reached out and taken hold of her arms and stopped her.

But a big part of me had longed to see her body for months. Those big, firm tits and those curvy hips. That firm ass.

And at that moment, her thumbs hooked into the sides of her shorts and pulled. The material dipped lower, exposing the top of her crack. I could see now that she wasn't wearing any panties.

Out and over those firm cheeks slid the shorts before dropping down to her ankles. Autumn swayed slowly side to side, and my eyes remained latched onto that tight ass.

I registered movement somewhere up higher than her butt and wrested my eyes away with some difficulty to look up. Autumn was looking back over her shoulder and grinning at my obvious satisfaction.

She stepped out of the panties and continued, "Of course, to be perfectly fair, you were completely naked except for holding something over your crotch. So ..."

With that, she reached down and pulled her tank top over her head. Holding her shirt to her crotch, she turned around to face me as she said, "This makes us even."

Those full breasts stuck straight out toward me. With her hands holding the shirt, her upper arms pressed in on the sides of her tits, making them bulge out further. The nipples were so petite - delicate-looking points with tiny areolas that a nickel might cover.