Page 5 of Pressure

Well, that I thought I needed.

Forgetting how carbonated Coke was, I ended up coughing again and glanced at the bottled water he still held toward me. He looked me in the eyes for a few moments longer before putting the bottle of water in my other hand. He smiled and then reached out to playfully pat my upper arm.

“Have a good night,” Silver Fox Daddy said before he turned and walked away.

“Thanks! You too!” I called after him.

I slowly walked back to the cabin as I sipped on the Coke. I was still slightly annoyed and over-analyzed Quinn’s comment about me being happier if I had “Daddy radar.” But that was quickly overshadowed by my interaction with Silver Fox Daddy. It was a brief interaction, lasting maybe sixty seconds. Few words had been spoken, but his actions and expressions were something that I couldn’t figure out how to put in words. I ended up having a conversation with my rational and irrational sides the rest of the way to the cabin.

Was I overthinking this?

Yes, the dude handed you a can of Coke and a bottle of water.

Why did it feel like something else? Something more, maybe?

Because you’ve lost your fucking mind.

I was pretty sure I was out of my mind and decided not to tell Braxton or Quinn about my talk with Silver Fox Daddy that lasted a fragment of time. That was mine and not to share. I deserved to have this small fleeting moment of happiness and believed that it meant something, even though it didn’t.

But maybe I wasn’t destined to be completely unhappy. Maybe I’d just been looking in the wrong places. The places I’d only been shown were sources of happiness.

Before I let myself fall asleep, I jacked off while thinking about the Silver Fox Daddy and those gray eyes. There was something about him for sure.

3

CASH

“Cash.”

I rolled in the direction of the sound of my name. Braxton stood in the doorway wearing just boxer briefs.

“What?” I asked groggily as I glanced toward the window. It was still pitch dark outside. I reached for my phone to check the time. It was 1:30 in the morning.

“Quinn and I had a fight. Can I sleep in here with you?”

“Uh, yeah, but don’t you think that will just piss him off more?” I asked as Braxton pulled back my sheet and started to climb in.

“I don’t give a fuck. He can think I’m in here banging the shit out of you for all I care,” Braxton said as I moved over to give him some room.

“You know, the couch downstairs probably would be a smarter move for you,” I mumbled as I closed my eyes and faced away from Braxton.

“Then he’d know I didn’t have someplace to go.”

I was too tired to step into the relationship counselor role for him, but made a drowsy attempt.

“What did you guys fight about?”

“I jokingly commented that maybe when the summer ends he might consider looking for a job with that degree he’s in debt for.”

“Ah,” I said. As I drifted off to sleep, Braxton went on and on about his spat with Quinn.

Many hours later I woke up with a huge hard-on and felt Braxton pressed against me. He was still in his underwear, but feeling his hard dick pressed against my butt cheek had me going out of my mind. Thankfully alcohol was absent from my system, and I had enough sense to not quickly fuck him.

This behavior continued every time Braxton and Quinn argued. If they argued late at night at night, Braxton would traipse to my room. With their disagreements coming almost daily, I decided I needed to keep myself busy. Hiding out on the back deck wasn’t cutting it, and there were only so many hours a day I could paddle-board. I started taking longer walks each day with Beth until her family headed back to the Bay Area.

When Beth left with her family, I gave her a sketch that I’d drawn of her. She loved it and said she’d cherish the time we’d spent together. We promised to text, but I didn’t think it’d go anywhere.

I continued taking walks on my own and stopped to talk with Trudy and Frank, an elderly couple who were in the cabin furthest from ours. They were always outside on their deck and super friendly. Turns out they owned the cabin but only stayed there from spring to fall and then went back to Scottsdale for the winter.