I sit, holding the smoke in my lungs, feeling a wave of relaxation come over me, and then another as I exhale and the earthy smell of the weed fills the living room. This is what a Saturday home alone is for. Lena going to college is exciting, but I was more than happy to let Jen take her into the city to do all the shopping. The color of her dorm bedding makes no difference to me. There are whole seasons of shows I have to catch up on.
A slight panic hits as I hear a car pull up to the house. Perhaps they forgot something and came back? Jen will be pissed to find me smoking inside. I sit up to glance out the window. It's not Jen and Lena. I know that old silver Volvo. It's Chloe's. Sure enough, a moment later Chloe steps from the car. As always, I'm struck immediately by how much she displays her femininity. While half of Lena's friends ask to be
called 'they' and present themselves as androgynous as possible, Chloe had always been confidently female, and that confidence has only grown over the years.
But as she steps around the car and heads to the front door, it is clear she's not her normal, vivacious self. Something about her brow and her gate tells me instantly she is in some distress.
I stand and watch her as she takes a moment to collect herself before climbing the stairs and knocking. She always wears the same basic outfit and, to my silent pleasure, has for some time. A black hoodie that she would keep zipped up for school, but otherwise wore open, it constantly falling from her otherwise bare shoulders, as if she just wanted to strip it off completely but couldn't bring herself to it. Under that, she always had a tank top with many, like today's, riding up to show her the smooth pale skin of her belly with the two subtle vertical shadows defining her abdominals. And as always, she wears torn jeans, with holes at the knees and along her thighs. Perhaps they're the same pair I saw her in last summer, with holes revealing the undercurve of both her butt cheeks? One can always hope.
She takes one more step to reach the door and I have my hand on the knob before her knock is over. But I wait. It seems silly, but I don't want to give her the impression I am eager to see her. I hold still for a few seconds and she knocks again. I open the door and take in her pale olive face, framed by her raven black hair which is perpetually in a ponytail. She has always drawn thick black lines underneath her eyes, a look I was not generally a fan of. But on her, it worked. Today, however, the eyeliner which is usually so meticulous is uneven and her large grey-blue eyes glisten with tears.
"Chloe," I say with feigned surprise, motioning for her to step into the entryway.
She looks suddenly embarrassed as she enters.
"Oh! Hi. I was just looking for Lena. Is she around?"
"She's in the city with her mom, college shopping."
"Oh, right! Sorry..."
She takes a step back to leave through the still-open door and I instinctually take a small step forward in response.
"You ok?"
"Um... I'm alright, yeah."
I try to strike as warm and comforting a tone as I can.
"You don't have to tell me anything about it, but clearly something has got you upset, and there's no need to lie to me about that."
"I didn't mean to lie! Sorry... I just... I've just been through some stuff lately and wanna talk to Lena about it, that's all."
"Everything OK at home?"
"Oh, yeah. It's not like that. It's just..." she holds back a sob, "Brian and I broke up."
Thank God
, I think to myself,
Brian was a tool
.
"I'm so sorry, Chloe. These things can be really hard at first. I'm sure Lena would be glad to help you through this, but she and her mom are getting dinner in the city and probably won't be back until eleven, twelve tonight."
"That's OK. I'll talk to her tomorrow."
"Is there anything I can do for you?"
She glances at the floor and pulls her arms close.
"Actually, could you give me a hug? I could really use one."
I feel a warmth in my chest and forget to breathe for half a second.
"I would be happy to. Come here."
She closes the door behind her and steps up against me, throwing her arms around my waist and placing her cheek on my chest. I wrap my arms around her shoulders, my hands landing on her upper back. I feel her warmth against my torso and am utterly aware of her breasts against my ribs. They always looked ample and firm and now I can feel that to be true. I take a few deep breaths hoping she'll think I'm promoting calm for her sake, not because I am afraid of becoming erect. She would certainly feel it if I did. The seconds pass and she stays pressed against me, with no sign of wanting the embrace to end. I can smell her hair. Almond. Right now my hands are touching her hoodie, but I consider raising one up to touch the skin on the back of her neck. Before I do, she lets out an exhale with just the hint of a satisfied hum, the situation becomes overwhelming, and my cock twinges.
I gently grab her shoulders and move her back to create some distance. For the first time, she makes direct eye contact with me, her pale eyes still shining, but differently than before.
"Would you..." I begin to ask, in an attempt to say something, anything, to move on from this moment, "...like some tea?"
Before she can answer, I nervously explain myself.
"Lena has always liked tea when she's, ya know. When she's upset."
She smiles.
"Yeah, Lena does love tea. I'd be happy to."
"Great. Why don't you have a seat in the den, I'll go put the kettle on."
As she steps into the den, I am suddenly aware of my mistake.
"Oh wait!"
I step in quickly after her, but her eyes are already on the pipe and lighter on the coffee table. She laughs.
"It's OK! I could already smell it. You're an adult, it's legal. I'm sorry I've interrupted your Saturday afternoon."
"Oh, don't be," I say, picking up the pipe and lighter. "Like I said, they won't be home until late, so I'll have time for this later. Have a seat, I'll just be in the kitchen for a minute."
I turn and walk down the hall to the kitchen, set the lighter and pipe on the counter, reach down and adjust my half-erect cock. I shouldn't have invited her to stay. No, it's fine. I've known her for years, she's spent countless hours at the house. She can easily see this whole interaction in an innocent light, which she should. But what if she didn't?
As I plug in the kettle, I notice Chloe in the doorway. She crosses her feet and grabs her arms in a shy way.
"Sorry," she says, "it just felt weird sitting alone in there. I left my phone in the car."
"Oh no, that's fine. The water will be hot in a couple minutes. What would you like? We got ginger, lemon, Chai, jasmine-"
"Actually," she moves a little closer, "could I have a hit on that pipe? I know, I know I'm not 21, but I find it really helps when I'm this anxious. You know?"
I hesitate. She's not twenty-one, but she is an adult.
"I thought you and Lena didn't do this sort of thing?"
She gives a big, open-mouth smile as she rolls her eyes.