"You're whoring me out. My own Mom," I said, pouting from the couch. Mom just rolled her eyes, flustered.
"For Pete's sake, will you cut it out with the drama? I just asked you a question" she said, cheeks already flushed with embarrassment.
"And what happens if I say no? Oh, yeah: you lose your shot at your dream job, right?" I said. Mom just shrugged, pretending to look at something at her laptop, then finally said:
"You know what? I'm sorry I asked."
"You should be," I said, turning back to my phone. Mom wasn't done yet.
"I'm sorry I asked my attractive son to simply consider giving an older woman that liked him a chance. You know anyone else would give their left arm to be in your place?"
"Mom," I said, eyes glued to my phone, flicking away nonsense, looking at nothing.
"It's not like you have a girlfriend, either! Think about that: you're just going off to college at the end of summer without even having had..."
"Don't say it," I said, tapping at a stupid cat video, looking up to see Mom wiping crocodile tears from her eyes.
"I guess I shouldn't have asked for something for me in the first place," she said, pretending to wipe tears away from her face "I'm sorry, baby."
With a groan, I pushed myself out of the couch and stomped back to my room, shutting the door behind me.
***
"She's got some nerve," I told Dee, nodding patiently on the other end of the video feed. Her hair was still wet from her daily swim practice, preparing for her Olympic tryouts "trying to set me up like that."
"I mean yeah, you Mom trying to set you up with her boss after she saw a photo of you on her phone is kinda weird but I mean..." Dee said, then shrugged "it's also kinda hot?"
"Gross," I said, rolling my eyes at her. Dee stuck her tongue out, mocking me. She loved to do that when I was being, in her own words, "a prude".
"I mean, okay, I know it's because it's your mom but like, what if it had been me?" Dee said, "like, what if my boss wanted to hook up with you?"
"Why? Did she say anything?" I said, thinking back to Dee's Olympic swim instructor; her chocolate skin, those powerful thighs, an ass so tight you could smash coal into diamonds with "you showed her my good gym photos, right?"
"What I was saying," Dee said, cutting me off "is that it won't hurt to give this one a try. Hell, did you even check her out?"
"Ew, no"
"Pull up her LinkedIn. Let's see what she's working with," Dee said, fiddling with another window, before sending me a link.
"I'm not clicking that," I said. Dee simply shrugged, then began to fiddle with the other window, nodding suggestively at something just out of sight. I knew that look: it was the one Dee gave to women she liked on the street, men pumping iron at the gym. Even me, sometimes, when she thought I wasn't looking.
I clicked the link and Mom's boss' LinkedIn page came up. Her name was Nicole. She'd been a busy woman: running her own company, doing charity work. Had some cute dogs, too.
"Just click on her pictures, doofus," Dee said. I complied, clicking first on her profile picture, taking in her auburn hair, her emerald-green eyes, man-eater smile. Weren't those clothes a little too tight on her? I checked her featured photos, flicking through photos of her dressed in business attire, a sweatsuit for running, a formal gala dress that went a little higher on her thigh than it should, revealing a hint of her perfectly shaped ass; in another, she wore a low-cut top that revealed the side of her breasts.
"Okay," I said.
"Okay what, dingus?" Dee said.
"Okay, she's hot. What the hell does she want with me?"
"Well, she's obviously not looking forward to your scintillating conversation. She wants to bang you, man."
"Why the hell would she want to bang me? She barely knows me," I said.
"Maybe your Mom showed her a picture of your cock," Dee said, smiling evilly. I blushed; she probably had that dick pic I'd sent her back by accident. She'd obviously held onto it, ready to sprint it to the world when I'd piss her off.
"Disgusting," I muttered.
"Hardly. It's a nice cock. I'm sure Nicole would love it," Dee said "I didn't mind it much either."
"I gotta go," I said, too embarrassed to deal with it "talk later."
"See you tomorrow, virgin!" Dee said before I finally cut her off. I lingered for a while, thinking about nothing before finally drifting off to sleep.
***
I snuck out of the house and headed for Dad's gym at the crack of dawn. I'd told myself I was feeling the need for a workout when really I just wanted to avoid Mom, after yesterday's weirdness.
Or maybe I'm just looking to get in shape for Nicole, I told myself, feeling suddenly self-conscious in the empty gym. No one came here so early on a weekday, so I had the place to myself, working on too-heavy dumbbells, grunting like an animal with every rep.
"You're gonna tear something, if you keep going like that," Dad called out as he stepped in from the doorway, turning on the morning tunes.
"I can...take it..." I lied "trying to...bulk up..."
"Not how it works," Dad said, taking the dumbbells from my sore hands, then easing me down onto a bench "What's eating ya?"
"Nothing's eating me, I just felt like working out," I lied, again. Dad just cocked an eyebrow and gave me that withering 'don't give me that' look again.
"Your mother being weird again? Or is it a girl?" Dad said as he started his stretches.
"Little bit of column A, a bit of column B," I said "Mom's trying to hook me up with somebody. I'm not so sure though."
"Let me guess: she ain't the one?" Dad said, going for his first dozen crunches.
"It's not like that, Dad, I just...don't wanna be with just about anyone. If I do that, I might just end up like..." I said, stopping myself, too late.
"Me and your Mom, is that what you were gonna say?" Dad said, stopping to look me over. I blushed, not meeting his eyes, pretending to start a crunch "Look; I'm not gonna say we didn't rush into things and that we didn't both mess up. Maybe your mother more than me, maybe the other way around. But that doesn't mean you gotta live the rest of your life being afraid things might go sideways. Hell, you're already 18 and haven't knocked anybody up. That's smart."
"Well, I haven't been with anyone either..." I said.
"You ain't ever gonna be if you keep dragging them by the nose like that poor girl, Dee," Dad said.
"It's not like that, Dad. I've been friends with Dee since kindergarten. I can't risk messing up with her," I said. Dad shrugged, rolling his eyes.
"All I'm saying is, give that hookup your Mom wants to set you up with a chance. What's the worst that could happen?"
"Mom loses her chance at promotion," I said, bringing up my phone to show Dad Nicole's profile, her pictures "It's her boss."
"Right," Dad nodded, grinning. I could tell he'd also caught that hint of thigh caught that glint in her eye that I had also seen "well you damn well better give it your all, then."
"Are you seriously-" I began.
"Best get going. Regulars gonna start coming in soon," Dad said, dismissing me. I was at the door, my things packed, when I heard him call out "best shave, down there. She looks like a maneater."