Liv Franklin leaned against her van with lithe, unassuming grace, taking a moment to sun herself and relax as she waited for her son to get out of school.
Liv knew that she drew looks of envy from the other moms at school. Still in her mid-thirties, she had a tight, buxom body and a smooth, unlined face that was difficult for the other women in the pickup lane to match. Whatever. Liv didn't feel bad for them. If they wanted to be the young mother of an 18-year-old boy, then they should have been a teen mom like Liv.
She suspected they wouldn't like that trade-off.
It hadn't been easy. Liv felt like it hadn't been until the past few years that she had finally gotten her life in order. But things were good now. She had lucked into her job at the mayor's office a few years back, which let her and Elliot afford a better apartment. She was seeing a really nice guy. And, although she would miss Elliot terribly when he went off to college in the fall, she was looking forward to being an independent, childless woman for the first time in 18 years. Maybe things could really heat up with her new boyfriend.
Even marriage was on the table.
So the envious eyes of the old hags didn't bother her that much. Just as Liv opened her eyes from her brief reflection, she saw her son Elliot headed out of the school with his group of friends. She waved at him with a sunny smile, but her expression curdled a little as she glanced at his friends.
Liv could handle the negative attention from her fellow moms. But the positive attention from her son's classmates was harder to swallow. Even from this distance, she could feel their slimy little eyes crawling over her body. Didn't they have any shame? She was their buddy's mom from God's sake.
On some level, she understood, of course. There would always be an allure for some young men toward confident older women. Especially confident older women with lustrous raven black hair, visible tattoos, and a habit of overdoing their eye makeup a little. Her style and vibe scratched an itch for young men looking for something... a little harder-edged. She got that. She didn't even necessarily mind if the little pervs had sneaky jerkoff fantasies about their pal's young, hot mom.
She just wanted them to stop staring at her tits.
Liv's tits were magnificent. Fantastic. Incredible. All the superlatives that she had heard men say hundreds of times over the years. They should be. She had paid enough for them. 18-year-olds weren't known for their self-control, but these boys did such a bad job controlling their eyes that they had worn Liv's patience thin. She couldn't wait until Elliot was safely off to college and she never had to see any of these boys ever again.
Liv gave a thin smile to her son as Elliot held up a finger in a "one-second" gesture, deep in a conversation with his friend group. But the smile disappeared as Marco De Luca peeled off from the group and headed toward her.
Marco was living proof that you couldn't choose your child's friends for him. Because if Liv had her way, Marco wouldn't be allowed within fifty feet of her son. He was the kind of cunning, lazy boy who never succeeded at anything, but always found someone else to blame for it. In high school, that had translated to him being a burnout and a bad influence on Elliot. But Liv could see where it would lead him in life: a dead-end job at a gas station or autobody shop and a smoldering resentment toward anyone who had made something of their lives. It was probably a shitty thing to think about a kid, but Liv didn't care. She had already noticed Marco's resentment toward Elliot for going to college, and she was thankful that soon Elliot would be out of his "best friend's" influence forever. She knew Marco's type too well. She used to have to deal with shitheads like him all the time.
And he was the worst of the bunch when it came to staring at her chest as well. Even as he came sauntering up to her with an oily smile on his face, his gaze was locked onto her chest, shamelessly undressing her with his eyes. Liv gritted her teeth. School would be out in a few months. She probably wouldn't have to see this kid more than any handful of times ever again. Now wasn't the time to make a fuss.
"Marco," Liv said cooly. "How are things? Got your plans all lined up for next year?" she asked, unable to make herself sound interested.
Marco shrugged noncommittally. His muddy brown eyes finally slid lazily up from her chest to meet hers. "My Uncle owns a repair shop in town," he said in a voice already rough and deep from smoking. "I might try that out. See how I like it."
Liv had to keep herself from smirking. Well look at that, she had got it in one. She couldn't help tossing in a little barb: "What? No college in the fall? I thought a smart boy like you would be a lawyer or doctor for sure!" Marco's eyes narrowed, but for some reason, he didn't look mad. Instead, a nasty little smirk lit up Marco's face.
"Well, Liv," he said in an amused drawl. "I guess not all of us can be successful like your golden boy son." Liv felt a twinge of annoyance at being called by her first name. As if Marco was claiming to be her equal. It was another of his nasty habits. At least her son's other loser friends had the decency to call her Ms. Franklin. There had always been something insolent about this kid.
But suddenly, Marco leaned close, a look of hungry anticipation in his eyes. Even before he spoke, Liv felt a cold spike of fear pierce her heart.
This wasn't a good look to see on any man's face, her instincts screamed.
"We lesser folks need to know our place, and take whatever dirty jobs we can get." Marco's muddy brown eyes gleamed with perverse amusement even as his tone dropped to a murmur. "Isn't that right..."
"...Vixen?"
Liv felt the blood drain from her face, and she was suddenly grateful that she was already leaning against her van so that it wasn't obvious how weak and wobbly her knees had gotten. She didn't know how her son's little shithead friend had gotten that name, but he had to be bluffing. She had been careful.
There was no evidence.
Luckily, Liv had always been pretty good at bullshitting. "Who?" she asked casually. "Do you have me confused with someone else, kiddo?"
"Nah, Vixen," said Marco with a cruel sneer, "I don't think I'm confused at all." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He already had the video pulled up. This little ambush had been planned. His other shithead friends were probably stalling Elliot on purpose.
Liv looked down with sick fascination at the video playing on the screen, although she knew what she would see. She had fucking told Jerry that the promo video was a bad idea. She had known that someday it might bite her in the ass. The name "Vixen" appeared in tacky gold font on a purple background. How had Marco even fucking got a hold of this? She had called in some favors years ago to get this video scrubbed from the web completely.
On the screen, a sultry, top-heavy silhouette swayed onto the stage on ridiculously high heels. It was obvious that whoever it was was completely topless. "Put that shit away!" hissed Liv, eyes darting around to make sure no one else could see the humiliating video. But Marco waited a few seconds more, just long enough for a bright spotlight to illuminate the shadowy figure.
