Lynne paid close attention to the knife in her right hand as she finished chopping some carrots that were to be part of supper later that evening. The short bladed chef's knife was very sharp and she did not want to cut herself so she managed to keep a close eye on her task although her mind seemed to wander to another topic a bit. It had been a couple of weeks since Sue's drunken admission of playfully trying to seduce her son Robbie but yet the tale still kept popping up in her mind more often than she would have liked. She had talked about it with Kat a couple of times and in the end they agreed that it most likely never happened at all and that Sue had made the whole thing up just to try and shock them. Sue seemed to like to tell them all about her sex life which included some S+M, bondage and role play. She seemed to enjoy Kat and Lynne's reactions which, over time, had lessened somewhat so Sue would try and amp up the stories some to try and increase the shock value. Her last story about parading in front of her son with a skimpy bathing suit and trying to seduce him under the guise of a "mother/son bonding experience" definitely had the desired reaction from both Lynne and Kat leaving both of them with their mouths gaping open in disbelief.
Lynne thought about that story a number of times since then and while the shock had worn off she thought that any mother who would even contemplate such a thing must have some serious problems. The more Lynne thought about it the more she thought that Sue should start seeing a counselor and, quite possibly, go through rehab due to her ever increasing alcohol consumption.
Lynne, Sue and Kat all had 18 year old sons that were good friends since grade school. Robbie, Sue's son, was the biggest and most muscular of the three and also tended to be the most impulsive. He had been in trouble at school a few times and didn't seem to care much what punishments came his way as long as he could continue to play football and wrestle for the school. Kat's son Kyle was more level headed and seemed to be more caring about other people's feelings. He was also athletic but focused on baseball instead of contact sports. That left Lynne's son Josh who ran long distances on the school's track and cross-country teams. He was also level headed, most of the time, but sometimes allowed himself to be talked into questionable situations without considering the consequences. Most of these incidents involved Robbie to some degree but since none of them resulted in property damage or possible jail time Lynne didn't make much of a fuss beyond grounding him or taking away some of his privileges for a time. Their boys were basically good boys that tested boundaries like nearly every teenage boy did. All of them were going off to the same college in the fall and it would be interesting to see how all of them fared. Lynne's hunch was that Kyle and Josh would do well but Robbie would most likely end up in the military or in jail without his parents to rein him in. Josh had an extra incentive since he had received a partial scholarship to run track contingent on his grades and behavior so Lynne didn't worry much about him going off to school although she would miss him terribly.
Lynne was divorced from Josh's father going on four years now and Josh was her only child. Josh had always done his best to help out around the house and worked part time to help bring in extra money even though it wasn't necessary. Lynne worked in commercial real estate and made a somewhat more than good living. Kat also worked in real estate but concentrated on residential properties so the two of them often crossed paths. With her own income and the money from the divorce and child support she was secure enough to tell Josh to take the summer off from work and concentrate on training for the fall cross-country season at college. Josh agreed and was in fact out on a long run right now. Lynne marveled at how her son, with his lean runner's body, could go out and run for miles in the summer heat but he seemed to do it easily. Since he usually ran shirtless in the summer she could also see changes in his body. He had gotten broader through the shoulders and thicker in the legs over the last year or so and while other mothers often told her how fit her son looked she continued to see him just as her boy although she did agree with other mom's view of her son.
Lynne heard the side door open and close along with some shuffling noises telling her that Josh was home and was kicking off his running shoes before he came in. These were the usual sounds she heard when Josh came home and she didn't think much of it. She kept on with her vegetable preparation, slicing and dicing them into different sizes but suddenly felt two strong arms wrap around her waist from behind and pull her in tight while wet hair slapped against the left side of her neck.
"Hi Mom!" shouted Josh.
Lynne's eye popped open and she shrieked loudly as she dropped the knife and grabbed Josh's arms pulling them apart as she spun around and reflexively pushed her son away. Her heart was racing as she stared at him in shock and disbelief.
"What are you doing?" she yelled. "You about scared me to death and I had a knife in my hand! We both could have been hurt!"
Josh stood there shirtless and dripping sweat after his run. His smile quickly faded, replaced by a more remorseful expression. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to surprise you."
Lynne picked up a handy towel and wiped her son's sweat off her neck and arms. She noticed that her back also felt wet and she reached around and could feel that the back of her shirt was very wet thanks to her son.
"Well you surprised me alright," she said with a smile as wiped her self some more. "More like you scared the poop out of me."
"I'm sorry. I won't do it again."
"It's OK; just give me some warning when you hug me like that."
"I will."
Lynne thought about stepping up and giving her son a hug right now since he seemed to truly be sorry about what he had done but he was sopping wet after his run and she didn't want more of his sweat on her than she had. "How far did you run anyway?"
"Only five miles but it's hot outside so I look like I ran more."
Only five miles Lynne thought. Paramedics would have to come and get her if she tried to run a half mile. But then her son was young and fit and, right now, very sweaty."You need to go change and shower before dinner and I need to change shirts."
"OK, what are we having?"
"Beef stew."
"Sounds good," and with that he bounded upstairs to clean himself up.
Lynne followed her son upstairs although at a much slower pace. Her heart had slowed down to a near normal rate although she still felt jittery after Josh's surprise hug. He had never done that before, come up behind her and grab at her like that. Of course they had hugged each other before, many times, but it was always like a mom and son should hug, affectionately, not nearly groping one another. She went into her bedroom and pulled the door to where it was almost closed. Closing it all the way caused feelings of claustrophobia so she always left it a bit open. She took her top off and used it to wipe away some of her son's sweat that had seeped through on to her back then tossed it into her laundry hamper. She turned to get another top out of her dresser and then shrieked for the second time in about ten minutes. Josh was standing in the doorway looking at her. Lynne immediately reached up to cover herself for she only had on a bra.
"Josh!" she shrieked again with more emphasis this time. "Are you actually trying to give me a heart attack? Close that door, now!"
With some hesitation Josh grasped the doorknob and quietly pulled it shut without leaving the room. Now he and his mother were alone in her bedroom with the door closed.
Lynne stared at him in disbelief as she continued to try and cover herself. She hurried over to the dresser and pulled out the first top she could find then turned around, away from her son and quickly put it on then spun to face Josh again
"What is wrong with you today?" she said loudly, this time with some anger in her voice.
Josh didn't reply right away. He seemed unsure of what to do or say next. He looked at the floor and off to the sides of the bedroom, anywhere but at Lynne who was staring at him.
"I...uh...you know...you look good Mom. I just wanted to tell you that you looked good."
Lynne heard the hesitancy in her son's voice as if he had no idea what to say next. He shuffled in place in front of the door for a moment then turned and left the bedroom, closing the door behind him then opening it a bit a second later. She heard his bedroom door quickly open and close a moment later then all was still and quiet except for the pounding in her chest which had returned. She sat on the bed for a bit until she calmed down somewhat, shaken up by her son's actions. There was a click behind her and she whipped around expecting to see Josh there again but she was alone. She realized she was not so much shaken up but actually scared by what her son had done. It was totally out of character for Josh and it both upset and scared her at the same time.
After a time she got up and walked back over to the dresser. There was a large mirror on top of it and she studied herself for a few seconds. You look good Mom, Josh had told her. What did he mean by that? He had complimented her that way in the past but only when she was dressed up for a special outing of some kind but never when she was in casual clothes and certainly never when she was wearing just a bra. She looked at her face and figure in the mirror. Her light brown hair came down past her shoulders like it had for many years. She wore it up when she was at work mainly because it got in the way more than because of any fashion sense. As she looked at herself she was reminded that she was heavier than she would have liked and more busty than in the past because of the extra weight. She put her hands on her hips and felt a small roll over her waistband and poked at it a little bit. Then she turned halfway and looked at her butt. It was bigger than it should be, more rounded due to her extra weight. Lynne thought that she didn't look bad by any means but she definitely wasn't centerfold material and never had been. So why was her son standing in her bedroom telling her she looked good for no apparent reason. Something was going on with Josh and she felt she needed to find out what very quickly.
She left her room and went down the hallway to Josh's room. As she raised her hand to knock on his door she heard him talking to someone on his phone. She listened as her son spoke.
"No dude, it wasn't good. She totally didn't go for it." There was a pause as the other person replied. "Yeah, I saw her in her bra but that was it," another pause. "No, I'm not going to do that, no way. I don't think she'll go for it. Yeah, whatever. Later Robot."
