"So, Julie, can I come over to study tonight?"
Julie rolled her eyes and looked at her friend. "Steph, we have nothing to study for school. We graduate next week. Our finals are done."
Both girls looked back at their small high school as they stood in the parking lot. "Who said anything about school?" Stephanie replied. "There is something else at your house I wouldn't mind studying."
Julie frowned at her friend's sly grin. "Tom?" she asked sarcastically.
"Ewe," Stephanie replied, reacting predictably to the mention of Julie's annoying 15-year-old brother. "I was thinking of Charles."
Julie sighed and rolled her eyes again. When her mother had remarried a younger man, her new step-dad had said the kids could call him Charles or Chuck, and Tom had taken to it quickly. Julie couldn't get the hang of it though. He was still 14 years older than she was at 32, and she had been calling him "Dad" for the past 4 years. Julie didn't want to know what Steph called him in her daydreams.
"What?" the friend scoffed. "Don't get mad at me if your mom has good taste. I hope I look as good as she does when I'm 40 so when my husband dies I can snag a young hottie like Chuck." As soon as she said it, Steph cringed at the casual reference to Julie's father's death.
It had been five years, and Julie had gotten over it a while ago. Her mom and she had fought for a while when she had started dating again, but when Julie saw how happy it made her, she felt differently about it. There had been the same age difference (8 years) between Julie's mom and her natural father. And at 43, he had looked more like 63. He had been over weight and bald with tufts of gray hair over his ears and much more on his back.
Julie knew that her mom had still loved her husband, but figured the spark had gone out of their marriage a long time ago. Plus, they ended up hanging around all of her father's friends, who were all also much older than her mom. She was 35 when her husband had died, but she felt much older. When she stared dating Chuck, who at the time was 28, she felt like she was in her 20's too, and Julie couldn't help but feel happy for her mom.
"It's okay," Julie said, assuring her friend she wasn't mad. "You can come over."
"You know, it's okay to think he's hot," Stephanie said. "He's only your step-dad."
"It feels weird, though," Julie replied.
"You know he checks you out."
"When?"
"Last summer when you invited me along with your family to go to the beach for a weekend. He couldn't keep his eyes off you."
Julie laughed. "You would know, once he took his shirt off, you couldn't look at anything else. And he was more likely checking you out. That was the skimpiest bikini I've ever seen you wear."
"You weren't exactly wearing a parka," Stephanie jabbed back. "He was checking us both out. And don't blame me if your dad has a great six-pack."
Julie was going to continue to argue but Stephanie caught her eye and looked over her shoulder. Julie turned to see her brother running from the school over to her car. "I'll see you tonight at 7:30," Stephanie said and jogged away to find her own vehicle.
Julie tried to think of a response, but her mind was filled with the idea of her step-dad checking her out. In a few moments Tom was yelling at her to snap out of it and drive them home. Julie shook her head and obeyed.
***
Charles Miner walked up behind his wife as she was preparing dinner. She didn't hear him over the sturdy floors and jumped a bit as his arms snaked around her slim waist. "Chuck!" she cried, nearly flinging spaghetti sauce all over the stove.
"Hello to you too beautiful," he said as he kissed her neck. His hands snaked up to cup her breasts through the apron.
"Down boy," she scolded. "The kids are home." His hands retreated reluctantly. "And don't think you can flatter your way out of the talk you're going to have tonight."
Charles hadn't even thought of that. He was just charged up. Elizabeth had been so busy at work lately that they hadn't had much time to themselves. He had promised himself when he married this beautiful woman that he wouldn't jerk off anymore. He shouldn't have to, but it had been almost a week now, and nothing looked sexier to him than his wife in a kitchen apron making dinner.
"What talk, Beth?" His hands had moved down, but he still nibbled at her neck.
Elizabeth turned around with a spaghetti fork in her hand to wave at her husband. "You're going to talk to Julie about boys."
"You don't think you should be the one to have that conversation with her? You are her mother."
Hadn't they been over this already? "I taught her how to insert a tampon, buy a bra, put on make-up, and half dozen other things you don't know about. You were in college 10 years ago and know exactly what a girl as pretty as Julie will be faced with. She's got 20 guys in her graduating class, and they are all typical Wisconsin farm boys. All they care about is football and heifers. Julie is neither, and they haven't paid her any attention yet. That will change, and I want her to be ready for it."
Charles frowned, but also knew she was right. Julie was extremely good looking, with the same great curves as her mother but much perkier. Charles had to remind himself on numerous occasions that he was this girl's father now and he shouldn't constantly try to stare down her shirt.
"It's also a good chance for the two of you to bond. She calls you "Dad," and I think she would respect you even more if you had this talk with her. I'm taking Tom to hockey practice tonight, and we won't be back until after ten. I've got some stuff to do at the office while he skates."
"Yes, ma'am," Charles said, defeated.
***
As promised, Beth and Tom left right after dinner, leaving Charles and Julie a chance to clean up. They stood at the sink together, and as Julie washed and he dried, he had to keep dragging his eyes away from the scoop neck sweater she wore. She was very attractive with her blonde hair pulled up into a messy ponytail so that a few strands fell lightly on her smooth neck and shoulders.
College boys would eat her alive, he thought, and he agreed they should have this talk. As Julie brought the towels downstairs to the laundry, he went to the fridge for a beer. He needed to calm his nerves down first.
Julie ran up the stairs and stopped in the kitchen. "I forgot to tell you, Steph is coming over at 7:30."
Charles glanced at his watch. They had an hour. "Good, I'd like to talk to you about something first if you don't mind."
Julie cocked her head at that. They never really talked. Their relationship had always been: You make my mom happy, and I won't get mad at you for trying to replace my real father. So far, that arrangement had worked out just fine.
They sat back down at the dinner table, but instead of sitting at right angles like half an hour before, Charles rotated his chair so he was looking right at her. She did the same. He set his half finished beer on the table to his left and tried to think of what to say. The pause lasted almost ten full seconds, and he took another large swig before finally trying something.