I met Tasha when my best buddy Tom called me and asked me for a favor.
"My cousin Natasha just moved to town and Gail (his girlfriend) and I want to show her around, but Gail thinks Nat will feel like a fifth wheel so she wants me to set her up with a date."
I was leery. I'd been on two blind dates and they both had been disasters. Tom and I being as close as we were he knew all about those disasters so he had to be desperate to call me. I found out later that because of what he knew he had called four other guys before having to resort to calling me. All four turned him down. I wasn't the only one leery of blind dates. I really, really didn't want to do it, but Tom was my best friend so I felt honor bound to help him. I figured that it wouldn't be too bad since it would be a double date with Tom and Gail. I resigned myself to a bad day and then I asked my mom to drive me over to Tom's. I had my license, but I didn't have a car yet and Tom's request came on too short a notice for me to arrange to borrow mom's car.
Mom dropped me of at Tom's and I took a deep breath and walked up to the door to meet my fate. Tom's mom answered the door and gave me a big smile.
"Hi Bobby. How are you?"
"Fine Mrs. Bagley."
"They are waiting for you in the living room. You kids have a fun time okay?"
"We will Mrs. Bagley" I said not expecting to have anything but a miserable time.
I watched her walk back to the kitchen and wished I was old enough to throw her over my shoulder and run off with her. She was the sexiest woman I'd ever seen and I'd beaten my meat with her on my mind more times than I could count. The Bagley's had a swimming pool and I'd seen Tom's mom dozens of times in a bikini and just remembering them gave me wood. I wasn't positive, but I think she knew it and made it a point to let me see her in her almost nothing suits. She turned as she reached the kitchen door and saw me watching her walk away and she gave me a wink and a smile. My cock almost ripped through my pants and I had to stand there until it wilted otherwise it would have been obvious to every one when I walked into the room.
I got myself under control and then I walked into the living room and got instant wood all over again as all thoughts of Mrs. Bagley disappeared. Sitting next to Gail on the couch was the most beautiful and sexiest looking female on the planet. Tom walked up to me and whispered, "Down boy" and then he introduced me to his cousin. I took her hand and I swear to God I don't know where it came from, but instead of saying "Hello" I asked:
"Will you marry me?"
Tom and Gail cracked up, but Natasha looked me right in the eye and said:
"I don't know. Are you a good kisser?"
"If I'm not I'll bust my ass working on it until I meet your standards."
She turned to Gail and said, "What do you think?"
"He's a nice guy and if I didn't already have Tommy I'd go for him."
Tasha turned back to me and said, "I hope you can handle a long engagement because I'm not getting married until I finish college."
"I'll get the ring as soon as you tell me your size."
"Enough of this heavy shit" Tom said, "Let's go show Nat around."
We left the living room with Natasha and I holding hands and I saw Mrs. Bagley watching us with a strange look on her face. Tom had his own car. He and Gail were both all ready eighteen. I was two months behind them as far as birthdays went. We got in the car; Tom and Gail in the front and me and Tasha in the back. Tom and Gail called her Nat, but I wanted my own name for her so I started calling her Tasha.
We drove all over town and pointed out things to Tasha. Where the high school was, the roller rink, the arcade and all the other places where kids hung out. She was particularly interested in the park, specifically the trails that led into the hills and fields behind it and the running track that ran around it.
"I run to keep fit" she said and then Tom piped up and said, "Then you and Rob have something in common. He runs track at school and runs all the time to stay in shape."
"Do tell" Tasha said. "We can run together then."
"You bet" I said, "The family that plays together stays together."
"The family?"
"Of course. We will have kids when we marry won't we?"
"I don't know. I'm sort of career oriented and I don't know if kids will fit in. I plan on being a lawyer like my dad and if the schedule he keeps is the same for other lawyers I might not be around much to raise them."
"Hasn't seemed to hurt you in any way."
"That's because my mom was a stay at home mom and she was there to see that I was raised right. You plan on being a stay at home dad?"
"No. I'm already slated to get a Business Management degree, go to work for my dad and then take over the business when he retires."
"Then it isn't looking to good for kids is it."
"It isn't a deal breaker, but I'll need to break it gently to my mom. She has her heart set on grandkids and since my sister and her husband found out they can't have babies mom is looking to me to provide them."
"Get off the subject you two" Tom said. "You have years and years before you start sweating that stuff."
Before the town tour was over I'd made a date with Tasha for the next day. Tom dropped me at my house and just before I got out of the car Tasha leaned over and kissed me. It was just a quick one, but it was on the lips and it was our first. The first of many I hoped.
+++++++++++++++++++++
When I got home I was in a great mood and my parents commented on it at supper.
"I met your daughter in law today."
"You what?"
"You heard me right. It will be a little while yet because she says she has to graduate college before we will get married. I'm seeing her again to morrow night and I might bring her by and introduce you."
Naturally they didn't believe it for a minute. To them it was just a teenaged son babbling about his newest crush. To change the subject my dad asked if I'd decided on what car I wanted for my birthday.
"It is only a week away so we are getting short on time."
"I know what I want, but I'm afraid that when I tell you I might be banished to my room until I'm twenty-one."
"It can't be that bad."
But it would be and I knew it. My dad was a dyed in the wool one hundred percent Chevy man. To him Ford meant 'Fix or Repair Daily' and MOPAR meant 'Mostly Old People and Rednecks.' I hesitate to even mention how he felt about foreign cars. When he told me that he was going to buy me a car for my eighteenth birthday he told me to figure out what I wanted.