I suppose it had to happen. We had been playing for a while. Then, away at a cabin by a lake, with the bikinis and drinking; well, it had to happen. But let's start at the beginning.
Hollie is my daughter. She's almost nineteen now and the spitting image of her mother. At five feet four and right around 100 pounds, she is also gorgeous. Besides that she's sweet, funny and compassionate. Of course, being her father, I'm a bit biased.
Hollie's mom died ten years ago and it almost destroyed both of us. We held each other and propped ourselves up until the hurt started to fade. After that, I devoted my life to making sure that hers was everything I could make it.
That meant a few sacrifices, including almost no dating. When she was fifteen, I brought a very nice woman back to the house. The next morning we were greeted by something in the kitchen burning and the fire department being called. The woman did the walk of shame in front of twenty firemen and a few police officers. She would not take my calls to even allow me to apologize. That ended my dating entirely.
The episode sent us into a difficult phase for Hollie, where she spent all her time at her second cousin's house. Megan was my own cousin Kendra's daughter. They had been BFFs since they were in kindergarten. They were only a few months apart in age. Megan's black hair was a contrast to Hollie's blonde, but both were slim and shapely. Hollie was also a few inches taller than Megan, who is 5' 1".
So for almost three years, Kendra basically took care of Hollie. She would come home for a night maybe once every two or three weeks. Kendra would keep me informed of how she was doing and I tried to connect with her whenever I got the chance. She was not interested in making amends and it put me into a funk. I started drinking. Kendra's husband Matt worked with me at a cabinet maker so we were already friends. He would come over and we would sit around and complain about the bosses and how they did not know what they were doing while we put away beer after beer.
Finally, at eighteen Hollie started staying at the house again. It was over last summer and she came back when Matt, Kendra, and Megan went to their cabin for two weeks. I took a week off and spent it with Hollie. We went to a water park, an amusement park, and a movie every other night. She seemed to enjoy it and our relationship got much better after that. Hollie still spent a night or two with her cousin each week, but Megan would now stay with us once a week or so.
This went on and soon Megan was over two nights a week. I loved having Hollie back, and Megan was fun to be around as well. She seemed a little wilder than Hollie, but not overly so. Everything seemed rosy. But I was still drinking and Matt was over a lot. We would still complain and it affected my mood most of the time. I did the minimum of work each week as did Matt. I could see the disappointment in Hollie's face when we sat around getting drunk and bitching, but could not seem to get myself out of the rut I was in.
Eventually Hollie approached me one day. She was wearing yoga pants and a sports bra and had just returned from working out at some local gym. She said that the boys at the gym were hitting on her and she wondered if I would go with her. I agreed immediately and was ready to gun down these assholes in the parking lot. Hollie grinned at me and gave me a quick kiss on the lips as a thank you. It lasted no more than a second, but it was the first since she was probably nine.
The next day we got ready to go to the gym. She had on more yoga pants and a tee shirt. She looked heavenly and I was so proud of my little girl and her work ethic for staying in shape. I drove her over and she spoke to me on the way.
"Dad, can I ask for a favor?" she began.
"Sure honey, what's up?"
"Um, will you pretend you're my boyfriend and not my dad when we get to the gym?" she asked.
I almost hit the car in front of us, "why would you want me to do that?"
She sighed before answering, "because if they know you're my father, they'll just bug me when you can't see them. If they think you're my boyfriend, they'll leave me alone," she said.
I felt bewildered hearing this. It seemed strange but who was I to argue?
When I did not respond she added, "please Dad?"
I could never say no to her, "of course sweetie, if that's what you want."
Her smile always kept me wrapped around her finger. We got to the gym a few minutes later and as we approached the door she wrapped my arm around her.
"Come on, Daddy," she purred.
I felt REALLY weird as we walked in. Several people looked at us and one guy actually dropped a dumbbell he was using for curls. Here was this old man, in terrible shape; with this gorgeous blonde almost wrapped around him. Not sure what I was supposed to do, Hollie took control. She slid in front of me and kissed me again. This one was longer, and much more passionate. My head was spinning when she pulled away.
"I won't be long baby, just wait over there," she said pointing at a few chairs along one wall.
Her grin was devastating as she turned and moved to the circuit weight machines. I sat down as she started on the first machine and watched her form as she executed the motions like she had been doing it for years. Maybe she had, I really did not know.
As Hollie finished her first set, I glanced around the room. There were a few other people there, and two guys were almost staring at me. I felt a rush of pride as if Hollie were my real girlfriend. I nodded at them and they both looked away.
I settled down and played with my phone until she walked up to me. She had an amazing sheen of sweat over the skin I could see and I was struck by her beauty. As I stood up she grabbed my arm with both of hers.
"I hope that wasn't too long baby," she said loudly.
I remembered the deal as she leaned in for another kiss and I returned this one. When she pulled away her smile reached her eyes and I could see her excitement. I wanted to say something, anything about her being mine, but did not know what. So I grabbed her hand and led her out of the gym.
In the car on the way home, she hugged my arm and said, "thanks again, Daddy."
I felt a rush hearing her and we held hands all the way home.