We were on our second Margaritas when Melissa caught me looking at her cleavage. She smiled and leaned across the little bar table, her brown, curly hair hanging in ringlets around her pretty face: "Hey, can I tell you a secret?" She and I weren't really going out, not exactly. I didn't know what the heck we were, to tell the truth. I'd met her because I work with a friend of hers, and a few times she'd come out for drink...

“Thanks for this,” Lucia said as she stood up from the couch. “When do you both leave?” “In two days,” I said. “You could always drop by tomorrow.” “I wasn’t planning on making this a three-time thing, but we’ll see.” The three of us had gotten dressed, making things less awkward as she gave us both a hug. I walked her out, opening the door and finding my dad standing outside it. “Hello,” my dad said to Lucia as she passe...

“Good morning!” Jolene said as she opened the curtain. After my eyes adjusted, I looked out at the beach past our balcony. “Do you always sleep with a smile on your face, Dan?” “You tell me,” I said as I stretched. “I’m jumping in the shower. But I unlocked the door, and I wanted to warn you before your parents walked in.” “Good call,” I said. “Need company?” “Please, no! You wore me out.” “Alright. Go get clean, dirty gi...

Twenty minutes later, the girls returned. “Whatcha doin?” Jolene asked as they walked in. “You’d better not be jerking off. I want that dick all for myself!” “You’re going to have to fight with Lucia,” I told her. “Who?” “The girl from the gaming room,” Brandy told her. “I could take her.” “What did you girls get up to? You rent some bikes?” “Hell yeah!” Brandy said. “Wasn’t bad for a workout. But now I could use a drink....

I dragged our luggage up the path as my wife went on without me. “Come to granny!” she exclaimed, the moment our daughter opened the front door, holding our grandchild in her arms. I couldn’t help but smile, either. Billy was the cutest little bundle of joy I had ever laid eyes upon. The last time I felt that way was when Sam was a newborn, twenty years ago. Now she was a mother herself. A fully grown woman. That dark pul...

For two days I was successful in avoiding my sister and her friend. I wore my headphones on the plane ride, I read a book on the boat between islands, and I planned to wander off as soon as we unpacked our bags into the suite. It’s strange what time can change. Two years ago, things would have been reversed. I would have been avoiding my parents and spending most of my time with Brandy. Now I expected that most of my acti...

The Wait The sound of running water in the next room filled the air. Several computer screens filled a corner of an elaborate desk in the bedroom corner. Each screen showed another chart or graph that would lead their owner to a solid and stable financial future; stocks, business ventures, and budget plans. Around the room were the nearly bare walls of a person who had trouble with the idea of settling down or staying sta...

Casey really knows how to make herself at home. The Imp seems to leave a trail of destruction in her wake wherever she goes, and it often falls to either you or one of the other lodgers to clean up after her. She drinks straight from the cartons in the fridge, leaves cupboards open whenever she's raiding the kitchen, and seems to almost take a sick kind of pleasure in snooping through other people's things. Already you've...

A shaky, short, shallow breath could be heard in the darkness. What sounded like panting began to slow and become full breaths again in the night. A candle, sending the soft fragrance of chamomile throughout the room, which sits upon the dresser opposite the master bed, casts a beautiful illumination onto the bed, and even more impressive shadows on the wall behind the head of the bed. A deck of tarot cards sat beside the...

“Mommy?” “Hmm. Yes, Muffin?” “I have a stiffy.” “You always have a stiffy, Muffin.” I couldn’t focus on the alarm clock. “What time is it, Michael?” “I dunno.” The digits got less fuzzy when I squinted—4:12. “You couldn't wait? We have to get up soon anyway to go to work.” “It's really stiff,” he whined. I sighed. How could I say no, especially after all of the time, the years, that I had devoted to getting us here? “Okay...