That night, Lily could barely sleep. Her mind kept replaying the evening's events in her head: their conversation at dinner that they couldn't continue this path; the touch and gaze that made a lie of everything he'd said; the feel of his fingers and lips on her. It set her brain aflame and her body to quivering. Long after midnight, she pleasured herself at the thought of it, just so she could relax enough to sleep.
Her last thought before comforting darkness overtook her was only that she wanted more. She knew that more than ever now.
Lily's sleep was dreamless and complete. She snapped awake to a weight on her body and the sound of birds through a cracked basement window. Natalie sat on the edge of the bed, snapping a picture with her phone.
"Quit it." Lily pressed a palm to the camera aperture.
"Don't even worry about it, you look beautiful," Natalie said with a grin. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail, catching the sunlight and throwing it back in luminous golden parabolas. "So, tell me how it went last night. I want to know everything."
Lily grinned and pulled the covers over her mouth and nose. Natalie gasped in mock astonishment and pulled them back down again.
"Slut! He came down here, didn't he? Tell me!"
"He did," Lily confirmed. "We talked a little. He said just what you predicted. About how we can't do this, about how it was wrong, and all that."
"And then what did he do?"
"He kissed me," Lily said, smiling at the memory of it. It made her heart quicken a little to think of it. Her own dad. "And then... he used his fingers on me."
"Oh," Natalie said, raising her eyebrows. "So he's going a little slow, then."
"It was really nice." Lily bit her lip and squirmed a little.
Natalie smirked, brushing Lily's hair back. "You lucky girl. You'll be unsurprised to learn he did everything by the book. He came in my room and tried to fuck me, just like I thought he would. I turned him down - sweetly, of course. But I could see the frustration on his face."
"So he'd rather have you than me?" Lily asked, only half teasing. She remembered the sounds she'd heard eavesdropping over the phone, her father bending Natalie over his desk and fucking her hard. She wanted that for herself, more than she cared to admit.
"No, he'd definitely rather have you," Natalie said. "You're just a lot more complicated. Lots of guilt and confusing feelings. That's why we have to make it truly unbearable for him."
Lily pushed her glasses up on her nose. "Natalie, can I ask what happened in your life to make you so truly fucked up?"
Natalie snorted laughter. "Sure. I might even tell you someday. If you're lucky. Oh! I forgot to tell you the best part."
"Okay, tell me the best part." Lily propped herself up on her elbows.
"When your dad went downstairs, I went snooping on his laptop, just in case he hadn't password-protected it... which he hadn't."
Lily's jaw dropped. "Nat, what the fuck! That's-"
"Invading his privacy blah blah," Natalie said, rolling her eyes and making a face. "Whatever. I just wanted to find out one thing, which I totally did. Daddy daughter porn all over his search history. Like, really specific searches and bookmarks."
Lily put a hand to her mouth. "What? Like what?"
Natalie turned away and gazed at her phone. "Oh, I can't tell you, that would be wrong, apparently."
"Tell me!" Lily punched her friend lightly in the side.
With a grin, Natalie got up and danced out of range of further blows. "I won't. You'll just have to invade his privacy yourself if you want to find out. But there's no two ways about it - he's interested. He has ideas, Lily. And he wants to make them real."
Lily put her hands in her lap, glaring at Natalie in frustration that was half real. "All right... so what do we do next?"
"He's at work today, right?"
"I think so."
Natalie locked her phone and shoved it in her pocket. "Then that's easy. You get dressed."
# Twenty minutes later, Natalie stood in front of Lily with arms crossed, nodding in approval. "Perfect."
"Seriously?" Lily stood in her bedroom dressed in a pink sports bra that zipped in the front and black mid-calf leggings, pink running shoes on her feet. The outfit revealed most of her body from her hips to just under her breasts. Her long hair was tied back with a pink scrunchie. "There is no way I'm going out running dressed like this."
"No need," Natalie said, reaching out to unzip the sports bra halfway, revealing the inner curves of Lily's breasts. "What you're going to do is send your dad a selfie saying you're going for a run, so he can see this outfit."
"God," Lily said.
"Trust me, he's going to love it. He'll be thinking about it all day. Shit, he'll probably cut his day short and come home early. Trust me, I have a whole strategy and this is guaranteed."
With a sigh, Lily picked up her phone. She spent a few minutes searching for the perfect angle that flattered her face, chest, and stomach, then took a few so she could pick the best one. When she was satisfied, she showed it to Natalie.
"Perfect," her friend said. "Send it."
Lily typed in a simple text message:
[going for a run dad!]
...and sent the photo. Her heart was racing again. She felt effervescent, powerful.
"Now what?" she asked.
Natalie retrieved a small spray bottle from Lily's dresser. "Now we spray you down so you look all sweaty and we send that to him in about an hour."
"Oh, shit," Lily laughed.