Alex walked into the house, sighing to himself.
That wasn't bad...
Stacy was a friend of a friend. That friend, Manny from college, had told him that not only was she close to his age, pretty, and athletic, but also that her bubbly personality and straightforward attitude would complement his laid-back demeanor and thoughtful approach.
At first, the date had been promising. There had been definite chemistry, and their personalities had meshed well. However, Stacy had made it clear early on that she was looking for a future husband at this point in her life and was hoping to find one sooner rather than later. That topic had come up quickly, and when he had mentioned Carmen and Ariel in response, it had triggered interest in her.
I've seen it before...I've already been married, so I'm proven husband material, and I have a daughter, so I could be a guy to start a family with.
After the topic had been broached and discussed, Stacy had continued to work her desire to settle down into their conversation.
She would want to lock it down soon. And that's not really what I want...
Dinner had been pleasant enough, and the coffee they had agreed to get after had been similarly benign.
We're not looking for the same things in a relationship...it would be tough to hash that out.
After coffee, they had parted ways, with a vague agreement to keep in touch, but nothing definite regarding another date.
Sighing again, he trudged over to the couch and sat down heavily.
TV, porn, or bed...tomorrow is Saturday, so I could do the first two and then go to bed...
Footsteps pitter-pattered on the upstairs hallway floor, and then thundered down the staircase.
Ariel swung herself around the bottom of the stairs in her customary dismount, launching herself into the living room, standing expectantly before him, wide smile illuminating her face.
"How did it go?"
He sighed a third time, and her smile fell.
"What happened?" she asked, joining him now on the couch, folding her legs up underneath herself, fixing her quizzical stare at him.
He shrugged.
"That's not an answer," she told him sassily.
He replied with another shrug, and then dodged her playful whack.
"Daddy! Tell me what happened, I want to know."
"It was alright, but I don't think it would work out."
She frowned.
"How do you know if you don't at least give it a chance?"
"I just had the idea that it wouldn't work out. We're looking for different things. The date was alright, but that's about it."
She frowned again, and looked away, lost in thought.
Alex glanced at her, waiting the next question or comment, but was briefly distracted.
Sometimes I forget how much you look like Carmen...and then I look at you.
The two women shared the same olive skin tone, as well as dark brown hair, certain facial features, a short stature, and a curvy figure.
Although Ariel had always resembled her late mother from a young age, that last similarity had become noticeable once she had hit puberty. Now that she was nineteen years old, only a little older than Carmen had been when he had first met her, it was easy to take a quick, sidelong glance at her and mistake the daughter for the mother. Even her breasts, in their youthful pertness, and her ass, in its ripe roundness, reminded him of Carmen's.
He had seen her naked countless times when she was younger, being her father, but after she had reached a certain age, she had discovered shame, as many children did, and made sure to keep her clothes on around him as often as possible. Her reaction the few times he had accidentally caught sight of her in just her underwear had usually been a shriek of surprise and a hastily slammed door.
But then her sensibilities had changed again some time in high school. Suddenly, there were no shrieks and slammed doors when he caught her in any state of undress, only a breezy greeting. The first time she had padded into the kitchen in the morning wearing only a bra and panties had surprised him, and it had been then, given a few minutes to look at her body, that he had realized that she had gotten her physical attributes from Carmen. That realization had been followed swiftly by shame at how he was checking out his daughter, even if it was largely to compare her to her mother.
Now, as a young adult, she was just as open and comfortable around him. Although she did not go out of her way to wear just a bra and panties around him, the clothes that she did wear at home did nothing to hide her curves. That lack of modesty meant that he had plenty of chances to compare her figure to her mother's.
As if on cue, his eyes slide down to her breasts, covered by a thin t-shirt, their shape evident, the nipples slightly indenting the material, and further down still, to where her shorts were short enough to show off the bottoms of her ass cheeks.
Jesus Christ, I really shouldn't be checking you out...if only you had my looks and Carmen's personality instead of this...
His eyes now returned to her face, just as she swung her head back to look at him.
"I'm worried about you," she proclaimed solemnly.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Why? Because of tonight's date? It wasn't that bad."
She stared at him, a serious expression on her face that gave him pause.
"When was the last time you had sex?"
He was unable to answer for a few moments, thrown and taken aback by the painfully blunt question.
"That...that is none of your business," he finally was able to respond.
"Probably not since Maggie," she said. "Which would be at least June."
"That's none of your business," he repeated, eyes wide at the turn this conversation had taken.
"You're a grown man. You should be having regular sex, instead of just jerking off."
"Whoa, okay, no," he sputtered, shaking his head, "this is none of your business. This conversation is over."
"No, Daddy, come on! We need to have this conversation."
He was halfway off the couch but stayed there to shake his head again.
"No, we really don't."
"You've been on plenty of dates since Maggie, but nothing's come from any of them."
"Yeah, because those women weren't what I was looking for," he replied defensively.
"You never gave them a chance. Do you not want a relationship? Something, even if it's just a fuck buddy?"
He sputtered in confusion and frustration again.
"Wha...this is not a conversation we should be having! At all!"
She sat up, closing a hand around his arm, as if to keep him on the couch.
"Daddy, you're a grown man. You need sex."
"No, I don't, and even if I did, it has nothing to do with you."
"Why don't you want to have a relationship with somebody? These dates you go on, you're fine with them just being one-offs?"
"How many times do I have to tell you that this is none of your business?"
"I care about you. I want to know that you're okay, and that includes your love life."
"I don't know why it does," he said then, standing, wrenching himself as gently as he could from her grip.
"Can I take a guess?" she asked then. "Why you don't want a relationship?"
He hesitated, but the steely, stubborn look on her face was eerily reminiscent of one her mother had worn plenty.
If we don't discuss this now, she'll keep bringing it up. Best to just get it out in the open and hash it out now...
"Sure," he said, throwing his hands up in defeat and slumping down on the couch.
She took a moment to regard him seriously.
"See, I think there are two reasons," she said finally. "First, you feel like you don't need a romantic relationship. You're fine with what you have. You had a great relationship and life with Mom, and you have me to take care of, so you feel like you don't need a girlfriend or even someone to just hook up with."
She paused then, staring at him as if to gauge his expression, which he did his best to keep neutral, despite her guess being on the nose.
"Second, you don't have the energy or desire to get to know someone new and build a relationship with them. You loved Theresa, and maybe Maggie, but they didn't work out. Now you think about that when you're on a date, and it messes with your head, because you think 'this relationship won't work out, so why give it a chance at all?'."
She paused again, still gauging his expression.
"How did I do? Tell the truth, Daddy."
He sighed, slumping back into the couch.
"Not bad, honey. More on the nose that I really want to admit."
"Since you don't want a relationship, and you're not the hook-up type, you're stuck with jerking off."
He sputtered again, throwing his hands up in protest of the statement.
"I still fail to see why this is any of your business!"
"I have a solution," Ariel said then, staring at him with that solemn expression.
"What?" he asked. "You have a friend to set me up with? Maybe a pretty college professor?"
She shook her head at the snarky comment.
"Then what is your solution?"
"Me."
He stared back at her for a moment, with a complete and utter lack of understanding, that one small word inspiring confusion.
"You?" he finally said. "What do you mean, you?"
"You don't want to take the time to meet new people and build a relationship with them, right?"
"If you say so," he said in resignation, still watching her warily.
Oh god, she better not be suggesting what I think she's suggesting...
"Well, you know me, and love me. There's no threat of a relationship ending, so you don't have to worry about that. And we live together already. I'm the perfect fuck buddy."
Those words hung in the air. Alex stared back at her, searching for something that might reveal the joke, some giggle or grin that would let him know that this was all some twisted but ultimately harmless prank.
But there was only her solemn expression.
"You can't be serious," he finally said.
She frowned.
"Daddy, I am serious! It's perfect."
"It's incest," he replied simply, still staring back at her with a dumbstruck look on his face.
"So? Incest is only bad if you fall in love, which we won't, or if you have kids, which we won't."
He gaped at her, horror dawning on him as he realized something.
"My god, you've thought about this, haven't you?"
She nodded.
"After that date you went on with Becky, I started thinking about it."
"That was in October!"
"Yeah," she answered simply, "I was scared to bring it up for a little while. But now I know you need my help."
