A couple of years ago, I had an on-going relationship with a woman that I had known for a long time. Amy was about five years younger than me, and stunningly gorgeous.
We had met when I was coaching her son in football. At that point, we were both married. We got along quite well, and joked around together a lot. Even during the off-season, we would run into each other, at grocery stores, school functions, etc.
Soon, though, we were both divorced. We went out on a date, wound up sleeping together that night, and remained friends. Neither of us was looking for a serious relationship at that point, so we maintained a "Friends-With-Benefits" type situation.
Last summer, she had a chance to travel overseas to see her cousin. She was planning on taking both of her kids, so she asked me to house-sit for her. She needed someone to feed her pets, water her plants, etc.
When she asked me, of course I immediately agreed. My lease was just about up on my apartment, which I didn't plan on renewing, so staying at her house would give me a chance to find a new place while she was gone.
She had a nice sized house in a corner of a cul-de-sac. I always teased her by calling her street "Hottie Lane." There was a total of six houses in her circle, four of which were occupied by beautiful women, including her.
Her neighbor to her left, Adrienne, which was the first house on that side, was my age, early 40's, with two incredibly gorgeous daughters who were both in college. The neighbor on the other side, Mary Beth, was married, beautiful, in her early 30's, and not too bright. At the other end of the circle was Mary Beth's sister, Kate, who was in her mid-30's, widowed, and after Amy, the second most beautiful woman on the street.
A couple of weeks before she left for her vacation, Amy threw a cook-out for Memorial Day weekend, and invited all of her neighbors. I was running the grill and having a few beers while the women socialized.
Mary Beth's husband didn't attend, mainly because he was an anti-social asshole, but in large part, because he couldn't stand me. At Amy's last party, he tried making fun of me by mocking the fact that I was drinking top shelf bourbon and smoking a Cohiba. I retorted by telling him that it was hard to take someone's opinions seriously when they looked, and acted, like a cross between Larry The Cable Guy and Toby Keith.
Everyone else, though, was there, and a good time was had by all. At one point, Amy mentioned that I was going to be house sitting while she was gone. Mary Beth moaned that her husband was going to have a fit, with me living next door for a month, and Adrienne responded that she thought it would be nice having a man around for a while.
Towards the end of the party, while everyone was stuffed and either drunk, or almost there, Adrienne came up to me while I was making another round of Margaritas.
"While you are here, if there is anything you need, just let me know," she told me, speaking slowly and slurring a bit.
"Thanks," I responded. "I'll keep that in mind."
"I DO mean ANYthing," she told me, giggling, as she walked away.
As I watched her walked away, her hips swishing under her short jeans skirt, I saw Mary Beth walk towards me. I could tell that she was already drunk by the way that she wobbled on her feet.
"I just wanted to apologize," she told me, slurring heavily, "for what I said earlier. I didn't mean to insult you. I just meant that the asshole is going to be even more of an asshole with you here. Sometimes, I wish I wasn't married to him, he's such a jerk."
"Hey, no insult taken," I told her. "I have to ask though, are you ok? You seem a bit drunk."
"I am drunk," she responded. "But not drunk enough. I know that when I get home, the asshole is going to interrogate me, and then want to have sex. At least this way, I can just go to bed and pass out before he tries to stick that tiny little thing he calls a dick into me."
I was surprised that Mary Beth was speaking like that. She was usually very quiet and mousy, almost like she was afraid to voice an opinion. I knew that she was very devoted to her church, much like her sister. I just wrote it off as liquid courage.
At the end of the night, I had four drunk women on my hands, all to varying degrees. Mary Beth was obviously the worst off, but Adrienne wasn't too far behind. Kate was tipsy and slurring her words, but not too bad off. Amy was quite "happy", and I had to admit that I had quite a good buzz going.
I couldn't let these women walk, or rather stumble, home alone, even if it was no more than a few hundred feet at the most. I started walking them home, with May Beth first.
She was so drunk that I had to have her hold on to me. As I got her home, her husband opened the door and did not look happy that she was that wasted, or that I was walking her home, especially considering the fact that she was virtually hanging on me.
He started giving her grief, and I told him, quite simply, that if he had bothered to come over and visit, he would have been the one walking her home. His response was a basic and crude, "Fuck you."
"Oh," I responded. "How can I possibly recover from such a witty and biting comeback?"
He glared at me and slammed the door shut while I laughed at him, remembering what Mary Beth had said about him.
Next, I walked Adrienne home. As we got to her door, she thanked me for being such a gentleman, gave me a tight hug that lasted a few seconds, and reminded me that she was "just next door", in case I needed ANYTHING. I thanked her, and then went back to walk Kate home.
Kate, obviously, was the longest walk, although only a few hundred feet. As I walked her home, she hooked her arm in mine, and started telling me that she was glad that I was around. She asked me about my relationship with Amy, and when I told her that we were mainly just friends, I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was intrigued.
A couple of weeks later, I took Amy and her kids to the airport and saw them off. The last thing that Amy said to me before she went through security was, "Have fun while I'm gone."
I then went back to her house and settled in. That evening, I was enjoy the cool temps as I sat in the Tiki Hut that I had helped Amy put up the summer before.
It was a nice set-up back there. Sitting in the corner of the yard, along the fence separating her yard from Adrienne's, we put in a small refrigerator, a stereo, fire pit, and wicker seating. I was relaxing in a nicely padded chair with a beer and a joint. I don't smoke often, but I had taken some vacation time myself, and decided that this was a good time.
I hadn't lit up yet, just enjoying the breeze, when Adrienne showed up, wearing her usual mini-skirt, with a sleeveless button-down blouse and sandals . She walked into the yard and came right to the hut. "Making yourself at home already?" she chuckled as she saw me.
"Well, for the next couple of weeks, this is home," I told her. "What are you drinking?"
I made her a Margarita, and she sat next to me as we started to talk. She told me that her youngest daughter was gone on vacation with her dad and his family, and her oldest was working that night, waitressing at a local club.
As she went to put her drink on the table, she noticed the joint sitting there. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed. "I haven't seen one of those in years. I didn't know you smoked."
"I don't smoke often," I explained. "Would you care to join me?"
