Daughter's Best Friend Mia Ch. 09

This is Chapter 9 of an ongoing series, start from Chapter 1 or it will make no sense. ????

All the characters engaging in any kind of sexual acts are 18+. In this story and all my stories.

~~~

Note on dates, to avoid confusion: this is the day after chapter 7, when Ruby and Mia spent their day together at the spa and then at Ruby's house (which is, of course, also Jack and Beth's house).

Happy reading! ????

~~~

"You like his cock in your ass, baby?" Ruby asked Mia, without letting Mia answer, riding her face in their bedroom. Jack held Ruby's face, looking in her eyes. Ruby held Mia's legs up between them. Jack's cock was inside Mia's ass.

"Fuck her, baby," Ruby said to Jack, smiling at him.

"Yeah, fuck her, dad." Jack turned and saw Beth in the open window to his left.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Alarm blared.

"Fucking Christ," Jack whispered as the alarm yanked his body sideways out of the dream.

"What?" Ruby pulled down the blanket and turned her head, looking over at Jack's side of the bed through mostly shut eyes. Not sounding so much like she was asking what's going on but more like asking someone to repeat what they said? Probably woke her out of a dream too.

"Sorry, go back to sleep, babe. My bad."

"Love you." She pawed at him with a limp hand.

Jack sat in bed, head down, rubbing his mouth. "Love you too."

Roscoe was on the other side of their bedroom door, sniffing.

~~~

Friday, June 26, 2026. Maplewood, New Jersey.

-- 5:31 am

"Let's go, bud," Jack whispered, as he stumbled quietly out the room and down the stairs. Coffee on. The dog was never up with him. Why... Oh, right. "You heard the alarm, huh?" Jack knelt down in his undies, scratching Roscoe's ears, their foreheads together. Roscoe usually slept until Ruby and Beth got up. Jack's alarm barely ever got to ring.

He poured the coffee, got dressed. "Come here, boy." Jack pointed to the couch. Roscoe sat and watched. He patted the spot he knew was Roscoe's favorite. "Come on. Up! OK. Good boy."

Jack sat at the kitchen island, drinking coffee in silence. Supposed to be in the car already, but lately he was too distracted. And now, having heard what Mia and Ruby had done yesterday...

He checked his messages instead.

Ron Taylor: Sunday at 12:00?

Jack had not replied. Usually he and Ron played tennis every other Sunday. He skipped last Sunday. Ron wanted to make up for it this Sunday. Jack wanted to skip this one too.

~~~

Almost three weeks ago.

~~~

Sunday, June 7, 2026. Maplewood, New Jersey.

-- 12:17 pm

"Fuck," Ron said, looking up. He'd thrown the ball up too far in front of himself. Chased it with the racket and put the serve in the bottom of the net. "Come on!"

Jack bounced on his toes, loose, ready. Ron put his racket in the air. "Can I blame this fucking thing?"

The left side of Jack's face smiled. "Sure."

Ron picked up another ball. They had played enough that neither of them had to think much about what the other one was going to do. Ron liked the serve wide. Hated coming to the net. Tried anyway when he got tired because he'd watched some YouTube video and decided he was an 'attacking player' now.

Second serve came in. Jack returned it deep. Ron got it. Three, four shots. Jack put one in the open court and Ron didn't bother chasing it.

"Motherfucker."

"You almost got it!"

Ron walked to the fence for his water. Jack turned the racket over in his hand, looking at it. Mia's face, his finger in her mouth. Then in her...

He pressed the strings with his thumb. Hard. Ron drank, wiped his mouth with the bottom of his shirt. "Hey, thanks for letting Mia tag along with you guys to Fairleigh, by the way."

"Yeah." Jack looked up. "Of course." Whacking the racket against the side of one sneaker, then the other, because he'd seen other players do it.

"Seriously. Joan was going with this whole thing where maybe we should all go." Ron screwed the cap back on. "Fucking presidential motorcade for a college visit?"

Jack smiled.

"We'd never get out of Maplewood."

"That's what I said." Ron laughed. He came back onto the court. Jack walked behind the baseline, Ron saying "She likes you, though."

Jack bounced the ball once. "What?"

"Mia. She listens to you."

Jack bounced it again. "Don't know about that."

"More than she listens to me." Ron laughed when he said it.

Jack served. Long.

"Out," Ron said.

"I saw it." Jack got another ball from his pocket.

"She's said anything about it to you?"

"What? About what?" Jack swallowed, thanking God just then they weren't playing a close quarters game like table tennis or pool.

"About Fairleigh."

Jack shook his head.

"Been acting like she's maybe not too excited about it? Think I'm reading into it?"

"She'll figure it out."

"Yeah, well, when you're up there, can you talk to her?"

Jack looked across the net. Maybe Ron wanted Jack to fucking raise her for him, too? Maybe if he talked to his own daughter once in a while she wouldn't want to fuck one of his friends? Fucking asking him to talk to her?

Why was he angry at Ron? He'd been afraid just a second ago.

"About what?"

"Fairleigh. Life. Whatever. You're good at that shit."

"I don't know about that."

"Better than me." Ron got into position for the serve. Jack didn't. Ron stood back up.

"What?"

Jack had to fight himself not to walk to the net, drop the racket and confess to Ron. End it quickly. Let Ron react. Let him take a swing. Take the punches. He deserved 'em. "Nothing."

"Then serve, dickhead."

Jack bounced the ball. Served.

Ron got the racket up late. The serve caught the frame and shot sideways into the fence.

"Jesus!"

"Sorry."

"Fucking cannon - what are you sorry about?"

Ron. Laughing. God fucking damn it. You fucking moron, Jack thought, what did you do!?

"Seriously, though. If she starts getting stupid about school, tell her not to blow a good thing because she's young and cool and thinks she knows everything."

Jack rolled the ball against the strings. "Maybe she knows what she wants."

"Oh, fuck you." Ron laughed. "Beth came out the womb with a five-year plan."

Jack tilted his head looking down.

"With Mia, you ask what she wants to do, you get a set of four different answers each time."

"Could be worse."

"How?"

"She could have no answers at all."

Ron pointed his racket at him.

"See? That's the shit I'm talking about. Tell her that."

Jack looked at him. Ron's eyebrows up, looking at Jack, reminding him of De Niro.

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Alright."

"Thanks."

"Course."

"Come on, Federer," Ron said. "I got shit to do today."

~~~

Friday, June 26, 2026. Maplewood, New Jersey.

No fucking way. He can't face Ron.

Jack: Can't, sorry. Work. Nightmare. Wish I could.

Thinking then yeah, good, put the "wish I could" in there, an added little bonus lie. If you're gonna walk on ice, you might as well dance, huh? Fucking idiot.

Roscoe was on the couch, chin on the cushion, ears down, watching Jack, looking bored.

"Come on, buddy."

Roscoe's head jumped. Ears followed.

~~~

"Sit." Jack had the ball in his hand out in front of him, showing Roscoe. Roscoe sat. "Good boy!" Jack threw the ball down the empty street. Roscoe fetched and brought it back. "Such a good boy!" He did that about ten times, walking up and down the street, wrestling with Roscoe.

Jack was a grown man. The house was paid off, the company mostly ran itself, he had Louis. He had it all sorted, he could enjoy himself. Fuck, man, come on, when was the last time he enjoyed himself?

"Go on, boy, fetch!" he kicked the ball and it hit the Watsons' car. It started howling, emergency lights blinking. Roscoe barked at it. Jack looked at the scene. Chaos erupting over the quiet street. Roscoe doing what he's supposed to, being a dog. It made Jack smile.

"What the hell's going on?" A lady's voice. From the Ritters' house.

"Oh." Jack waved. "Sorry about that, Jan!"

"Jack?" She clutched her sleeping gown, "What's happening? Is someone stealing a car?"

"No, it's alright, just a little accident."

"Can you fucking shut up, for Christ's sake!" a man's voice yelled from the house opposite the Ritters'.

"Alright, alright, we're going," Jack yelled back. "Sorry, Jan!"

"You're alright, sweetie!"

~~~

Friday, June 26, 2026. Dauwalter Excavation, Vauxhall, New Jersey.

-- 8:15 am

Jack pulled up to the yard. He'd burned as much time as he knew how to burn. This really wasn't his specialty. This fucking, avoiding shit... Louis was standing outside the office with the phone against his ear and a sheet of paper folded lengthwise in one hand. He watched Jack park. Jack killed the engine and sat there another second. Louis was still watching.

"Yeah, he's actually pulling in right now," Louis said into the phone, as Jack was getting out.

Louis handed him the folded paper. "Congratulations."

"What'd I win?"

"Westfield. One o'clock."

Jack unfolded it. The engineer had moved the walkthrough up from three. Homeowner would be there too. Right. He remembered now. Agreeing to it yesterday.

"Fuck."

"Can confirm."

Louis went into the office and Jack followed him.

"What's Manny doing?" Jack asked.

"Summit until they're done. Then Roselle if the truck gets back."

"You?"

"Livingston estimate at twelve, then Westfield."

Jack looked up. "You're doing Westfield?"

"I am now, right?"

"I didn't even ask you yet."

Louis poured coffee. "I have a feeling."

"What feeling might that be, Lou?"

"Feeling you're gonna ask me to do shit. You know I'll do it."

Jack put the paper down on the desk. Jack could go to Westfield. Of course. There was no emergency. No reason he couldn't be there at one o'clock, shake the engineer's hand, walk the job, answer whatever needed answering. His name was on the sign, after all.

But he already had a plan.

"Can you take it?" Jack scratched under his chin.

"Yeah." Louis slurped coffee.

"Thanks, man." Jack tapped the keyboard on his computer to wake it up, then checked the board. "You got any more of that?"

"Yeah, the pot's on, should still have some."

"Excellent." Jack took down a cup from the cabinet and flipped it.

"You alright?" Louis asked.

"Yeah."

"You look like shit."

"Thanks."

"Welcome - seriously, man, you OK? You're never late, but lately..."

"It's a Beth thing," Jack said.

"Oh. Everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. Nothing bad."

"Whatever you need, man."

Jack nodded. "Thanks."

He left the office before Louis could ask anything else.

~~~

Friday, June 26, 2026. South Mountain Gymnastics, Maplewood, New Jersey.

-- 12:34 pm

Jack saw her come out. He was propped up against the hood of his car, Wendy's bag, a big Sprite in his hand. Mia had her gym bag on one shoulder, hair pulled back, looking at her phone. Gray shorts, hoodie despite the heat, must have been cold when she got in. She walked maybe fifteen steps before looking around, seeing him. They smiled at each other. Then she took the smile down about sixty percent.

Right. Public. Good call. Jack threw another fry in his mouth and tried to look like he belonged there and wasn't just some creep salivating over a girl less than half his age.

"Mr. D."

"Ms. Taylor."

"What are you doing here?"

"Having lunch."

Mia looked at the Wendy's bag on the hood. "In the parking lot of my gym."

"Is it?" Jack craned his neck over her at the building. "Oh! What do you know."

Mia bit the inside of her cheek. Jack could see her trying not to smile.

"Well, enjoy your lunch, Mr. D."

"Thank you." He smiled through his sunglasses. He'd gone shopping, new shirt and slacks, shoes. His work clothes made him feel too grubby for Mia. "Got any plans?"

"Today?"

"No, 2027."

"I think maybe I'm working on a plan in my head right now, Jack, yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Mhmm." She walked around him toward the other side of the car, opened the back door and dropped her bag in the back seat as Jack grabbed the Wendy's bag and got in the driver's seat. He looked at Mia, as she hopped in the front. She looked at him. "Is this brave or stupid?" Mia asked.

"Romantic?"

"Yeah, I meant besides that."

The car started rolling and they left. A minute or two later, they were stopped at a red light. Mia climbed over the center console and kissed him. They both smiled as they kissed.

"Hi," Mia said.

"Hi."

She kissed him again. She smelled like sweat and whatever girls put in their hair and that dusty chalk smell. Jack had one hand on her waist. She was half-way to kneeling on the console now, Jack wondering how she got up there so quick, but Mia pulled away. "You taste like fries."

"You're salty."

She reached in the Wendy's bag and munched on his fries. "Yeah," he eyed her up and down, "help yourself."

"Old perv tax, buddy."

"Excuse me, what?" Jack grabbed her thigh at the knee, playfully digging his fingers in where he hoped it would tickle her. Mia laughed and squealed and slapped at his hands. "I'll tell the IRS you're not declaring your coaching income, kid."

"OK, OK, you're not a perv! Drive!"

The light had switched and they moved. Jack and Mia chuckled. She wiped her hands against each other. He rested his elbow on the window. "You look good!" Mia looked him up and down.

"Thanks!" He gestured at his clothes, "all for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Went shopping."

"Why?"

"I told you, for you."

"Shut up! Why? What?"

"I was in dirty work clothes and didn't want to go home to change."

"Oooh," Mia pursed her lips, making eyes at Jack, "are you playing hooky?"

"Maaaaybe..."

"Did you ditch work to come see me?"

"I delegated some of my responsibilities."

"To come see me?"

"To come see you, yes."

Her mouth opened into a huge smile. "Jack!" she screamed.

"What?"

"You're so into me, guy!"

"Fuck off," he snorted out a laugh and drove forward as another red light turned green.

Mia reached across and squeezed his forearm. "Where are we going, anyway?" she asked. He had no fucking idea.

"Anywhere you want."

"OK," Mia said. "Just so you know, that's a dangerous amount of authority to just hand over like that."

"Don't let it change you, kid. So where do you want to go?"

"Hmm..." Mia squinted, thinking.

"'Cuz I was thinking maybe we could pick up some food, go for a hike in the woods, have a picnic."

"That does sound nice, yeah." But she didn't sound too sure to Jack.

"You're thinking something else?"

"I wanna go to the beach. Somewhere public, where nobody knows us."

"Beach, yeah, alright." Jack wanted to go to the woods, but as long as it was with Mia, he didn't really care. "Beach, beach... Asbury, then?"

"Yes!" Mia grabbed his arm. "Walk on the boardwalk, I can get something non-sweaty, non-chalky to wear."

"Yeah, we can grub and relax and do dumb shit."

Mia did a little shaky dance in the passenger seat and it made Jack smile. "Perfect," she said.

They got on the Parkway and drove toward Asbury. It was about an hour's drive. Mia put on music and they enjoyed the sun and the road. The freedom.

Jack was a little worried, though. He didn't know what to say. What if he's too old to actually talk to Mia? What if they can only fuck?

"Ruby told you about yesterday, huh?" Mia asked.

"Sure, yeah."

"That's your guys' thing, then? Tell each other everything?"

Jack laughed. "It's not so much a thing, as it's... umm..." He shot Mia a look, seeing her look at him then with a look that made him feel silly. "Shit, I guess it's our thing, yeah?"

"I gotta say, it's..."

"Weird?" Jack asked.

"Hot."

"You're hot!" Jack teased, tapping her leg and putting his hand back on the steering wheel. Mia took his hand and put it back on her thigh. She leaned on the door, settling in.

Jack had trouble keeping his eyes on the road. He looked at Mia. She was watching him. His hand moved higher. Mia shifted in the seat, opening her legs a little without looking down. Jack's pinkie grazed her shorts, riding up high on her in the passenger seat.

Jack kept his eyes on the road and just touched her leg for a while. Soft, smooth, warm. His cock was getting hard. He knew it was dangerous, to do this shit on the highway, so he really did focus on the road and only gave as much focus to Mia as he had left over. But no matter how little of his mind she was on at any time, it was overwhelming. She was... everything.

He traced the inside of her thigh, not sure who he was teasing more. He heard Mia's breathing change and it answered the question. She reached over, brushing the hair on the back of his head, running her fingers over his neck. It gave him goosebumps and made him harder.

"Take them off," Jack said.

"What?" Mia smiled at him, eyes wide.

"You heard me, kid."

Mia sucked in a breath, looking at him, Jack looking back at her, giving a nod at her shorts. "Fuck," she said, "OK."

She pulled the seatbelt up a little and pushed down her shorts, underwear going with them. Jack looked down at Mia's beautiful, smooth pussy. Somehow he didn't want to fuck her. He was so fucking hard, but all he wanted was to make her cum. To show her a good time. Not to make her like him or to ingratiate himself - he just wanted to make her cum. He wanted to please her.

Jack kept his hands on the wheel, eyes on the road. He could feel Mia looking at him. He looked at her. "What?"

"What do you mean, what?"

"I'm driving, kid, what do you want from me?"

"You fucking-" she slapped his stomach, then took his hand, opened her legs and put his hand over her pussy. She was wet, so wet, he thought he really should have put something under her, but saying it now would ruin the mood. Mia pressed herself against his hand, groaned and leaned back to grab a towel out of her open gym bag on the backseat. She stuffed it under herself.

"Good thinking, kid."

"Shut up and make me cum, driver."

"Yes, ma'am." Jack chuckled.

He pressed the adaptive cruise button and turned on lane assist. Jack kept his eyes forward, checking mirrors, traffic, the gap ahead. He wasn't a child. He still knew dying on a highway was not worth it just to finger a girl. Even if that girl was Mia. He paid more attention to the road than her, sure, but that was no easy task. Mia's breathing got louder as he slid his middle finger down from her clit to her taint and back, letting her pussy wet everything. She didn't even try to stay still, it seemed. Why would she? There was no audience to hide from. Grinding against his fingers, she grabbed his hand to either hold it in place or give herself something to hold on to.

Jack glanced over. Mia had her eyes closed now. She made a small sound and covered her mouth with the back of her hand, biting it a little. "Jack." He rubbed her clit, nice and light, same pace. Her thighs closed around his wrist and she screamed a little as the orgasm shook through her body, leaving her in an uncontrollable shiver.

He pulled his hand out and licked it. He liked the taste of her. Felt like a privilege. Having been alive long enough to know what novelty was, and that eventually it would wear off. At least right now being around Mia made him so light and happy. Hopeful.

She caught her breath. Jack had both hands on the wheel again.

"Haven't even had fucking breakfast yet, Jesus," she said.

~~~

Friday, June 26, 2026. Henry's Diner, Asbury Park, New Jersey.

-- 2:10 pm

"I'll pay you back for the clothes," Mia said, chewing.

"No talking with your mouth open, young lady!" Jack said, rolling the dice on a joke that he knew could ruin the day.

"Eww!" Mia threw a napkin at him, but it caught air, opened and floated down on his pancakes, getting stuck in the syrup. She chuckled.

Jack had watched her about thirty minutes earlier, pushing the curtain aside and looking down at herself before she looked at him. Coming out of the dressing room in a little green sundress, thin straps, bare shoulders, asking "What do you think?" He didn't know what to say, which seemed like the answer she was looking for anyway. Mia had walked over to him and bent over to whisper in his ear "Wait until you see the panties."

"You're not paying me back." He snapped out of it. "I kidnapped you. It's the least I can do."

"When you put it that way..." Mia looked at the waitress coming by and she stopped, "Can I please have another milkshake? Anything for you?"

"Coffee, please and thanks."

They looked at each other, smiling. Mia leaned across the table and he met her halfway. He could taste the blueberries from her milkshake. The smell of pancakes and coffee and syrup. The sounds of the joint. Kissing Mia, not caring who saw them. When the little kiss was over, Jack's mouth was moving to say something, but the only things he felt like saying were surely inappropriate and too big. Keep that noise in, bud, he advised himself. Mia was looking at him.

Fuck. The way she looked at him.

~~~

"How did you guys meet?"

"Ruby and I?" Jack bit his ice cream. They were out on the boardwalk now. "You're with me on a carefree stroll out in public, you could ask me anything, and you want to know how I met my wife?"

Mia licked her ice cream. "Yeah."

"You're sooooo into her, guy!"

Mia made out like she was blushing, then pinched his ass. "Come on, I wanna know."

"OK, well, Ruby was in college and I was working excavation and construction, taking an accounting class because I had this idea I'd work for myself someday and figured maybe I should know what the numbers meant. I met Ruby in that night class. I was twenty, she'd just turned eighteen, I think. She'd been in America maybe a year by that point."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"What?"

"Where was she before?"

"Ruby's... she wasn't born here. What, you didn't know that?" Mia shook her head. "Yeah, she's from Latvia, you know it?"

"Umm... heard the word, don't know where or what it is."

"It's a small Eastern European country. Across the sea from Sweden, borders Russia."

"Right," she dragged. "That's so weird. Had no idea. She's got no kind of accent at all," Mia said and Jack nodded, both eating their ice creams, walking along. "What about her family? Are they over here too, or...?"

"They're back in Latvia, I think, yeah, but they don't keep in touch."

"Oh, yeah? How so?"

He bit his ice cream, thinking. "You know, it wouldn't be right for me to yap about that. If you asked Ruby, she'd tell you, I think."

"Fair enough." Mia dropped it, but Jack thought she might feel brushed off and didn't want that.

"Hey." He stopped and stood in front of Mia. She looked up at him. "You having a good time?"

She put a hand on his chest. "The best fucking time." And reached up for a kiss. After the kiss, whispering "Just wondering why your cock is not inside me right now."

Jack's heart jumped. He smiled, not saying anything, just looking - really looking - at Mia. Her eyes. He'd not noticed before there were little golden flecks in her brown eyes. Her skin, hair, neck, the bit of cleavage he could see down the front of the dress. Stood there smiling at each other, he felt it. "Oh..." his face changed, Mia asking what is it, Jack saying they might be able to hold hands in public here, but these new slacks were not made for hiding erections, apparently.

Mia laughed, as he turned from the boardwalk to the beach and reached down to scoot the hardening cock somewhere down and back.

"I guess at your age you should be happy to still have something to hide."

"That's the second senior citizen joke you've made at my expense, kid."

"What are you gonna do, old man?" Mia walked up to him, as he turned back from the water. "Punish me?" She walked at him, Jack moving half a step back, his ass meeting the railing of the boardwalk. Mia pushed herself against his body. Her stomach against his cock.

Then she ran. Leaving Jack hard and confused. A lone old perv on the boardwalk, cock hard. A bench-full of teens had watched the whole thing, now looking at him.

Jack wanted to say something funny, but couldn't think of anything. He took off after her.

~~~

"OK, look, we'll have to set a ground rule."

Mia made a pouty face. "Oh, no! Rules? Mia hate rules."

They were standing on opposite sides of a little round high-top on the boardwalk, stopped at the patio of some bar they didn't bother to check the name of.

"Jack hate rules too, but rules keep Jack out of jail for whatever legal mumbo jumbo applies to having a hardon in public."

"What do you suggest?"

"A game."

"Mia like game."

"Jack like Mia."

Mia smiled and giggled, "Shut up! What's the game?"

"We keep our hands off each other."

"Mia don't like game."

"We can like hold hands and kiss, but nothing sexual. First one to break has to buy the other one whatever they want."

"Anything?"

"Anything under 20 bucks."

"Deal."

They shook on it.

"So, back to you, I want to know more about you," Mia said. "You've been in my life for so long now. I feel like I know you very well, but I'm just now realizing... I guess I only know you the way you are around your family and mine."

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

"I know you have a company. Excavation, right?"

"Yep."

"What is that? I mean digging, I get that, but like really what is it? And why excavation? You really liked it or was it just happenstance? Did you choose it or did it choose you?"

"Whoa," Jack smiled, thinking, "OK, a lot of questions there. So, what it is. Alright... Mostly, yeah, it's digging. But digging's not really the big deal. They're paying us to know where we can dig, what has to be marked and permitted, how deep, how to keep the hole from collapsing or filling with water, how to get the machines in and out without destroying the property, what to do when the ground at the site isn't what the plans said it was, and know not only that it's not what it should have been, but know what it is. Shit like that. Pretty boring, huh?"

"Not the way you tell it, no."

"As for the why... well, I kind of just fell into construction. Found out later I was sort of alright at excavation, problem-solving, and realized I wanted to do it for myself. That's about it. No big passion thing."

"Sounds awesome."

"Does it?"

"Are you kidding me? Yeah! Your own company, employees, financial independence, literally moving the Earth around. Yeah, very exciting stuff."

Jack chuckled under his breath. "And yourself?" Mia saying then she thought they'd talk about Jack some more, Jack saying "Alright, ask away."

"What were you like at eighteen?"

"Oh, uh... let's see. I was eighteen. I was finishing high school. I was a shithead. I played hockey."

"You were a hockey player? Ice-hockey?" Mia grabbing his arm.

"Not in any serious way, but for a while, yeah. Just enough to get my folks off my back for not doing anything with myself."

"That's so hot!"

Jack looked down at her hands on him. "You're gonna have to buy me a novelty Asbury toe-ring if you keep that up."

"Shit, sorry." Mia laughed. "I just had no idea about the hockey."

"Well, it was just for a bit, sixteen to nineteen, I think. I stunk. But I was big and liked to scrap, so they put me to some use, at least."

"You still skate? We could go skating sometime."

"Yeah, probably still could. Maybe? You know, I don't know, maybe I've forgotten how to do it at this point," Jack laughed, "but I'd go with you."

"Come here." Mia leaned up to him a little, both having naturally drifted closer to each other around the high-top over the course of the conversation. "Give me a little unsexy smooch, big man."

Jack leaned down, smiling, committed to the tame, buttoned down version, for the sake of the bet. Lips closed, just a peck. Mia stayed when he pulled back, looking up at him. So he kissed her again. A little longer. Her mouth opened a little. Jack put a hand around her. She made a little sound. Jack straightened out, his hand wrapped around her, he lifted her off the ground. She laughed, putting her hands on his face, giving him little smooches now, laughing. "You owe now, big guy."

"Oh, no," Jack said, long and slow, as he kissed her again. Then he put her down.

"God damn it, man," Mia said, shaking it off, speaking then to him through the corner of her mouth, "You really know how to make a girl wet in public, you perv."

"You're soaking through your sundress, and I'm the perv?" he said, which sent Mia into a spin, grabbing at her sundress, mortified, saying "No! Jack, really?" Jack laughing harder then, holding on to the table, "No, dumbass, not literally." Mia huffing at him, slapping his arm, Jack going "Ow."

"OK, take a picture of me. This thing's cute, right?"

Jack swallowed, looked at her and nodded, "Mhmm."

Perv. Jack didn't feel like one. He felt like he was on a date. A really fucking good one.

Mia handed over her phone with the camera open. She stood at the table, leaning on it with one hand, the boardwalk and the clear skies behind her. After a couple poses, she said, "Now let's do one together. So I can..."

She looked away. The smile turning into squeezed lips and a nod. Looking out over the water.

"Right."

Jack didn't say anything. Fuck. It had been a while. A good, long while, before they'd been faced with reality. Jack snapped a pic. "Now you got a sad one as well." Mia gave him what she could muster, a little smile. He handed the phone back. "You know what," Mia shook her head and smiled, "I'm sorry. That's on me."

"No, not at all, Mia. It's, uhh..."

"We're having a nice time, right now. All we have is right now, right?"

"Good way of looking at it."

She kissed him. His body reacted to Mia like she was magic or some shit. Jack's mind went to places when he was with her. Those places were more like young adult romance novels about vampires and princesses and wizards than they were the kind of places his mind normally lived in: practical shit, work, home, the girls, tennis, whatever.

"So, what about you, then?"

"What about me?" Mia asked.

"You're going to college on a gymnastics scholarship. That's very impressive. Are you excited about it?"

"No."

"Oh, OK."

"Wow, I'm sorry," Mia said, frowning. "I've never, uhhh... Answered that one honestly," she said very quickly and continued without pausing on it. "You know people keep asking me about Fairleigh and gymnastics and my future and whatever, and I am excited, for sure. But I'm not really excited about Fairleigh or the gymnastics."

"That's alright. You don't have to have it all figured out."

"You don't think I'm just chicken shit?"

"Nah. I mean, you said it, you're excited - what about?"

"The future, I guess? I like coaching, I love my kids. Going to Fairleigh to compete and train and study. If Beth wasn't going there too, there's no way I'd be going."

Jack listened.

"I mean, gymnastics is great, I genuinely love it. But competing..."

"Ahh... OK. Yeah. I get that. Sorry... to interrupt." Jack chiming in, then Mia saying "No, no, yeah, I'm just... yeah, I don't know." She laughed. "And some of the girls I've talked to from Fairleigh, they said the coach there's kinda weird. Whatever, I just... How can I back out now? My parents would kill me. My mom wouldn't, actually, she'd just give me a lecture. Then she'd forget what she's mad about in the middle, try to find a point to make and give up when she couldn't and then go bang a yoga teacher or a cooking instructor or whoever it is this week." Jack's eyebrows went up, but he didn't say anything. "Definitely don't want to be a fucking flake like her, and that's what she would do, quit it, do something else. My dad would be disappointed as hell, of course. Not that he ever asked me if I even wanted to go or anything. Just thinks I'm a fucking trophy for him. Like I need to do good, so he'd do good by proxy or something. Ugh!"

Mia stopped to breathe. Jack put a hand on her shoulder. "You've got a lot going on."

"Tell me about it, buddy," she said, and Jack smiled. Mia looked at him, her face softening. "Man, this is weird."

"What?"

"Talking to you like this. You're like my... uh..."

"Can we go ahead and not finish that sentence, please and thanks?"

"Yeah, no, I... Sorry. I wasn't going to say... I meant like a friend. AH! All this must sound so stupid to you."

"Not at all." Jack shook his head and paused for a bit. "Your dad, he, umm, I know what you mean about what you're saying, but... he doesn't think you're a trophy. He loves you. I know that."

Mia looked down, nodding a little with pursed lips, eyebrows up, not quite buying it.

"But anyway, what do you think you'd want to do instead, then? Coach?"

"Coach, yeah, or... I don't know. I guess that's the problem. I'm so excited about the future and I think it's gonna be fucking sick, but I have no idea what the future is. So am I just delusional, or what?"

Jack laughed. "No. Those are not bad things. Hope and excitement. In the face of the unknown."

"Poet ass mothafucka, aren't you supposed to tell me 'stay in school, don't do drugs'."

"Language, missy!"

"Ew!" Mia laughed.

"Whatever you decide, you're gonna be fine, Mia. You're smart." Mia responding to that with a loud 'Pfff!', Jack saying "Well, you are, whether or not you know it. You're, uh... You're really something, man."

Jack expected Mia to joke about it, but instead she just looked at him. Sweet, genuine. So fucking hot in that dress.

"Anyway, what about this coach?"

"What about him? Oh, in Fairleigh? I dunno. I met him, seemed fine to me, but some of the other girls said he's giving them weird vibes, says weird things. Maybe he's just awkward."

Jack imagined the coach. Sleazy, mustache, maybe. Sinewy ex-amateur gymnast burnout guy in a tracksuit. Giving the girls un-requested little shoulder rubs. Telling himself then alright, man, relax, guy's not even real.

"Watch out, OK?"

"What, the coach?"

Jack nodded.

"Of course, I can handle him." Mia flexed her arms in front of her, hunching her traps, pulling her head back.

Jack laughing, saying "Shit, yeah, you got it!" but also thinking about how strong she genuinely did look.

~~~

Inside the overpriced shop selling marked-up plastic shit to tourists, Jack pulled up his phone. A ton of notifications, most from Louis. He had a look through them, one hand on the rack of T-shirts, gripping it tight. "Fucking uhh..." he mumbled at the screen. "Louis, hey, man," he spoke into the phone, leaving him a voice memo, "listen, I'm sorry, I'm still caught up here, but I swear I'll get to everything. Just handle what you can and for everything else..." Jack looked at Mia, then noticed a group of three guys checking her out. "Well, you can either leave everything else to me or make promises in my name, I'll figure how to make it happen later. OK? Again, thank you and sorry, buddy. I'll make it up to you." He left his phone on mute and put it away again.

He looked at the guys and compared himself, knowing it was stupid, but that's how he felt, so fuck it. He didn't see it. He figured maybe he couldn't see it. But he knew they were tall and muscular and, most importantly, half his fucking age.

Mia looked around, holding something up. She saw Jack and smiled like she'd finally found him in a crowd. "Got it!" She came straight over. Hadn't even looked at the guys.

"What is it?"

She opened her hand. A cheap silver-colored anklet, little blue wave hanging from it. "Your tribute."

"That's what you picked?"

"Put it on me."

Jack crouched down and closed it around her ankle. Mia stood there looking down at him, smiling.

"You like it?" Mia turned her leg back and forth and did a little spin. Her eyes only on him.

"I like it on you, yeah."

"Alright, Billy big bucks, let's go settle up then."

One of the kids was still looking over. Jack found he no longer gave that much of a shit.

Mia put the anklet box on the counter and pointed at Jack. "He's paying." The woman behind the register smiled. "Dad gets stuck with the bill, huh?"

They both looked at the cashier. Jack looked down.

"He lost a bet," Mia said.

Back out on the boardwalk, Mia slipped her hand into his. "Can we go somewhere without people now?"

"Please."

~~~

Friday, June 26, 2026. Monmouth County, New Jersey.

-- 5:30 pm

They'd bought a bunch of stuff for a picnic from a Walmart: a bag of firewood, blanket, towels, water and food, a couple subs and a fruit platter thing. So far the only thing they'd used was the blanket. The shopping bags and their clothes were piled on it. Jack was in his boxer briefs, Mia changed into the black bikini she'd picked out earlier. Jack knew this place by happenstance, having done a job on a nearby farm years ago. He knew this pond was miles from the nearest house, very rarely visited, even on nice days like this. They went for a swim in the pond, washed the day off themselves, kissed in the water, joking, splashing. Jack carrying Mia around, Mia carrying him underwater.

"How are you going to explain a hernia, kid? Put me down."

"No way, this is too much fun. Now kiss me, like they do in the movies."

And he did, though it was more laughing than kissing: him in her arms, twice her size, being held like a bride carried across the threshold, his fingers locked behind her neck.

They dried off using the cheap towels.

"You wanna eat something?" Mia asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry," Jack said, rubbing his chest with the towel, looking at Mia bending over in her swimsuit. "Oh, you know what, I think I know," he said, as he dropped the towel. He walked her a couple steps to the nearest tree, hands on her waist. He got on his knees behind her and slid his palms flat under the sides of the bikini bottoms. Instead of pulling them down, he pushed them up over her hips, slow. Mia looked back at him. Her beautiful, soft ass in front of his face, framed by the black piece of fabric, pulled so far, she might as well be naked. Water droplets still running down her skin, the bit of sun through the trees warming their bodies. He ran both hands up and down the backs of her legs, over her ass, then spread her cheeks. Mia shifted her feet wider. Jack kissed one cheek, taking a bite, Mia moaning in response. Then the other, starting at the bottom of the cheek with his tongue pressed wide, licking it all the way to the soft middle, taking his time, ending in another biting kiss, sending Mia's hips into a roll.

He kissed and bit and vibrated a groan or two more. Moving closer to her asshole without giving her what he knew she was waiting for. He could feel her getting more and more impatient and desperate. She pushed her ass back at him. He held her down, pushed against the tree, hard enough to let her know she was not going anywhere, but he kissed her soft and slow. Saliva was pooling in his mouth. When he finally did rip the panties down, spread her ass wide and licked her asshole, Mia's whole body tightened and she let out a moan.

"No one can hear us, Mia," Jack said, barely moving away from her spread ass. When he licked again, she let out a groan of pleasure from deep inside her body.

"I want you to fuck my ass, Mr. D. Please, I need your cock in my little asshole. Please fuck me. Please, please, PLEASE!" Another scream. Jack saw what she was doing and he wanted to ridicule himself for loving it so much. But he could let go. With her, he could.

"You're not ready for my cock, girl." Jack ate her ass as he fingered her dripping pussy. Her palms slapped flat against the tree. Then her knees folded. Jack could not imagine himself ever getting sick of this. He caught her at the knees before she could fall. Making this perfect fucking girl cum as many times as he pleased. Her pussy clenched around his fingers. The scream she let out broke into little noises she didn't seem to have much control over. He kept licking until she started pushing her ass back up against him harder again.

"Stretch me out, Mr. D! I need to feel you in my ass, please!"

"Come here." Jack sat down on the blanket. The birds chirped, not a single sound that would remind them of humanity. Not even a little traffic hum. His cock was rock hard, he'd removed his underwear.

"God, that cock." Mia stood above him, touching her pussy.

"Come, let me fuck you, while we get your little asshole ready."

"Oh, my God. I love it when you talk to me like that," she said, as she squatted down, kissing him, taking the tip of his cock, "I want to be your little slut, Mr. D. I want to feel you inside me." She rubbed his cock on her pussy, his hands holding her by the waist, her legs doing little shivers from her sensitive, dripping pussy being touched.

"Sit on my cock, baby," Jack said. "Go ahead, put it in." His mouth open, watching it happen, still not believing he was really here.

He felt the pressure of her tight, hot pussy around the tip of his cock. She moaned so loud, their heads pressed against each other, both looking at her pussy being pushed open by his cock, he could hear her moans from inside his own head.

She did a couple tiny little squats. "Fuck, Mr. D." Just a little more than the tip, getting herself ready, moving her juices around his cock. "Fuck, Mr. D. That cock. That's the last cock I ever need. I want to be yours." She sat down, his cock sliding inside her all the way, feeling her hot skin all around the base of his cock now, her throbbing, wet clit sitting against him now. Her legs trembled and she exhaled.

"You are mine, Mia!" He lifted her body and put her back down. "You're mine." He took her face in his hand with a tight grip, and kissed her. Hot saliva moving from her to him and back.

Jack took her legs by the ankles and moved them behind his back. He wet his fingers with his saliva and, holding her ass with one hand, he found her asshole with the other. He rubbed it gently in circles, pressing on it a little. Mia's head was on his shoulder. She moaned in his neck. Her body had collapsed on him, relaxed, trembling. "Want me to stretch you, baby?"

Mia nodded against his neck, with a little whimper. He moved the tip of his middle finger against her asshole a little stronger now. Then backing off to let more saliva in, reaching around her ass over to her pussy, borrowing some of her juices, of which there was more than enough. Pressing the tip of the finger again, this time feeling it a little deeper. Mia surprised him - as his finger was against it, she shot her ass back an inch or two, as much as she could, given she was literally pretty much impaled in place. His finger pushed in, past the pressure. Mia groaned, flexing her body and relaxing into him even more. His big, thick finger now inside her little ass.

"Stretch me, Mr. D.," she said, taking his face in her hands and kissing him, looking in his eyes, then his lips. "I want you to stretch my ass, Mr. D."

He moved his finger in, slowly. She closed her eyes, pushing breaths out like they were poison, her eyebrows contorting in what seemed like pain.

"You OK, kid?"

She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "You'll be the first to know, if I'm not. Don't worry. I want this." She ground her hips into him, back and forth, her clit rubbing against him. "I want this... so... fucking bad." She ground harder and faster against him, his middle finger almost all the way inside her ass, him feeling it against his cock as she fucked him. "Fuck, Mr. D., your cock... I'm gonna cum." She wrapped her hands around his neck as she shook out another orgasm. Gasping for breaths, making little whimpers, her small body against his, both sweating.

When she calmed down a little, draped over him like a piece of cloth, Jack pushed his middle finger all the way inside her ass. With his free hand he grabbed and moved her hips back and forth on him, as she moaned and yelled. "Oh, fuck, fuck..." He fucked and fingered her to another orgasm. As she came again, he didn't move her. He held her against his chest, sitting up. He rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, while his other hand moved his finger, slowly, repeatedly, all the way out and back inside her ass again.

Mia was there in his lap, in his arms, shivers going through her body, but she no longer moved herself at all. She said, "Fuck, Jack. That feels so good. Please don't stop."

So they stayed like that. For a long time. He felt his own finger on his shaft going in and out of her ass. "You really like that, huh?"

"You have no idea." She sounded recovered to Jack, but still... dreamy? She kissed his neck, ran her hand over his face. His finger still going in and out, slow.

"Oh, you know..." she said, "we could take that picture now."

"What?" Jack laughed. "Now? Yeah, right!"

"I'm serious. Look." She reached to the pile of clothes next to them, grabbing at it, but not quite making it. Jack helped her, palming a fistful of her dress, his pants. "Yeah, thanks," she said, finding his phone, putting it up to his face, unlocking it, "Thanks, handsome. Look..."

"What the hell's happening right now," Jack chuckled.

"Look, look, we do..." She had gotten the camera app open and aimed it at herself. "Bodies only, no faces."

"I don't know about this, Mia."

"Put it in a secret folder, I will too."

"What if someone finds them? It's the same reason we didn't take a picture together earlier."

"No, it's not."

"How?"

"Think about it, big guy. If Ruby finds it... who cares, right?"

"Kinda, I guess..."

"You'd sooner show her yourself."

"Probably today." Jack laughed to himself, "She'll probably want copies."

"See? And if someone finds it on my phone... Which, why the fuck would anyone have my phone, anyway? But if they do, then, what? I fucked a man. Sue me. Don't overthink this, Jack, I want pictures of us when I'm home alone and you're home with Ruby." He heard a sadness in her voice. Then it changed to daring "Tell me you wouldn't jerk off to them later and I'll put the phone away right now."

"You got me there. Alright. OK." Jack sighed and gave in with a smile. Mia giggled, smooched him and got back up in a squat again. She held on by his neck with one hand, taking a picture of herself halfway down his cock with the other. She had a little trouble, being as sensitive as she was. But she got a few nice pictures.

"Can you... Can you put your finger back in my... I want to try to get a pic of that, too." God, she was all shy about it now, he thought. This girl... He gently pushed against her asshole again, easier this time, but she still had to take a breather when he pushed inside. Once she gathered her strength, she turned her head back and moved the phone as far back behind her as she could. He heard the little fake camera snaps, sounding multiple times. She checked the photos. "Holy... Jack. Look at that." Jack looked and, yeah, wow, OK, he thought, that's... his cock almost all the way inside her, her petite ass on his big hairy legs, his finger all the way in her ass, the rest of his palm covering a lot of real estate on her asscheeks. It was a picture he was excited to revisit. "Damn, OK, you're right, that's hot."

"Thank you for letting me take 'em." Mia gave him a kiss. She locked the phone and threw it at the pile of clothes. "Now, how about you..." she swung up on his cock, moaning and closing her eyes, then came back down with force. Then she did it again. "How about you try two fingers?"

Didn't have to tell him twice. He sat up a little, moving Mia's legs back behind him, her sitting down on his cock. Her body felt like it belonged there. Like Jack's frame was hugging hers in such a way that... Jack's silly thoughts came back in and he swatted them away. Fantasies. Of Gods and mystics, making the two of them in a cauldron and some other spiteful god separating them, them finding each other across lifetimes despite divine intervention.

Ugh, gay.

Jack pulled out his middle finger and pressed against her asshole again, now with his middle and ring fingers. It was easier now, but still a good amount of pressure to get through. But Mia... Man, Mia seemed to love every bit of it. He wondered if it hurt. But mostly, he was now wondering, how long he could keep going. He was pretty sure Mia was already full of ungodly amounts of his precum, and it wouldn't be long now until he had to cum, with all this sliding up and down, grinding, and his own fingers massaging his shaft through Mia's insides.

He focused on Mia instead. Mia moved her ass a little on him, and his two fingers slid inside her asshole. She moaned, scratching Jack's back. "Fuck, Jack, yes." She pulled herself as far up to his ear as she could and whispered, through heavy breaths: "No one's ever been there. Only you."

Jack used his hands to lift her up, his fingers going all the way in and stretching Mia in the process. Mia groaned, eyes wide, looking at Jack. He set her back down. God, he could keep this up for hours, he thought. He knew she wasn't completely weightless, but right now, fuck, did it feel like it. "You like me in your ass, baby?"

"Yes, Mr. D!"

"Look at your little pussy. Doesn't it look nice on my cock, baby?"

"Yes, Mr. D. Oh my God, your cock, Mr. D., it's so fucking big." She breathed hard. "How are you even inside me with that huge cock?"

He slammed her down faster and harder.

"Because your pussy is mine. Your ass is mine."

"Yes!"

"YOU are mine."

"YES!"

Mia shook as she came but Jack didn't stop. As her body tensed and relaxed and tensed again. As her hands grabbed around her for support, for relief, he kept lifting her up by her waist, his two fingers deep in her asshole, stretching her as he lifted her, and slamming her down. Feeling, every time, himself getting closer and closer.

"I'm gonna cum, Mia."

"Yes... No! Wait..." she tried to catch her breath. Her trying to stop him from cumming only made him cum faster. "Fuck my ass, Mr. D., please!"

"Baby, I..." It was too late, he was already cumming. He moaned out a deep sigh, leaning his head back, no longer lifting her up. "I'm sorry."

"It's OK, baby, come here." She grabbed his neck with both hands and with her last bit of strength and control over her body, she got up in a squat and finished him off. He watched her pussy slide up and down, his cock twitching cum inside her, deep. They kissed as she fucked the rest of the cum out of him. When he was done, he smiled through the kisses and said "OK, that's good, baby."

They both stopped and with his cock still inside her, they sat there, holding each other. Jack wondered what she was thinking about and was it anything as silly as his own thoughts.

They stayed like that for a long time. Breathing, kissing each other wherever their heads fell.

"Wanna go for a swim?" Mia finally asked.

"Oh, fuck yeah." Jack reached back for the shopping bag, grabbed a bottle of water. "You mind getting that open, my fingers are still inside you."

"Sure." She grabbed the bottle. "Are you just gonna keep 'em there all day, or...?"

"I was think-"

"'Cuz I don't mind if you do, of course."

"No, I was just. Well." He slowly moved his fingers in and out of her asshole, her moaning and arching her back in response. "I quite like it there."

"I quite like you... there, big guy." She smooched him and cracked open the bottle. They both drank and got in the water, him carrying her into the pond, Mia giggling, Jack's fingers still in her ass, her wrapped around him like a chimp. He felt his hot cum drip out of her on the way, landing on his abdomen, his half-soft cock, his thighs.

They washed up and swam around. Then they kissed some more. Jack was trying to remember the last time he was excited to keep fooling around right after sex. He knew there were a few times over the years with Ruby, but not a lot. Many times like that in his youth, of course, and in the first couple years with Ruby. Nothing had gotten worse with Ruby, just... he thought it was age. And just how familiarity worked, right? Over time the passion gets subbed out by things more permanent: trust, routine, love?

But now, shit, his hands were all over Mia. They were laughing, splashing around. He lifted her up, giving her tits a lick, throwing her back in the water. His fingers kept going down to her pussy and ass, "Let's wash you up real good, huh?" he repeated a version of the same joke for the third time and Mia didn't even point it out, just gave him half-hearted slaps and kisses and a "You perv!" and a giggly "Heeeeelp!" for good measure.

At one point, he had her in the water in front of him. "Relax, straighten out, just float for a bit, I got you."

She did. On her back, floating, him holding her up a little. Eyes closed, ears in the water. Jack ran his fingers across her naked body, light and gentle. The little goosebumps. Hard nipples. The lines in her skin made by the muscles under it, the shape almost guiding him down to her pussy. God, her pussy. Jack was obsessed. It was perfect. He slid a hand over her legs, not even looking at them. He knew what he wanted. He put his hand between them, rubbed lightly up and down her pussy. He looked at her face and saw her smiling. He rubbed her clit, making her stomach twitch.

Before long, he couldn't believe it - he was hard again.

"Ms. Taylor? Hey. Mia!" he yelled and she opened her eyes, not hearing him with her ears full of water.

"Huh?"

"Got something for ya."

Mia cocked her head, eyebrows up. "Really?" She reached in the water and found his cock, hard as a rock. "You really do, huh?" She leaned in. "You know what we're doing with this, right?"

"Come here," he said, lifting her up and carrying her a few paces toward the shore, where the water was just above Mia's knees. He put her down and spun her around. "Get your asshole nice and wet for me," he said, as he palmed saliva and stroked his cock. Fuck, he was so horny. How!?

"Jack, oh my God, I'm so..." She put her saliva on her asshole, rubbing it around, even pushing the tip of one finger in for a moment. "I'm so fucking excited."

"Good, baby, good." He took his cock, bent down a little and slapped her pussy with it, making her jump and scream a little, but not stopping him.

"Fuck my ass, Jack."

Jack took a little more saliva and fingered her ass with the slicked up tips of his two fingers. After a moment, he took his cock, spat on it some more, stroked the tip and pushed it against her asshole. That beautiful, perfect, pink little asshole. Mia said, hushed, almost a whine, "Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck... yes, please, fuck my little ass, Jack, please." She had a finger inside her pussy, he could see she was making circles with it inside herself. He pressed the tip hard and it went in. Mia pushing out a deep groan. The pressure around his cock was tight, but pleasant. He pushed it further, just a little. Then he spit on his cock some more, pulling out a little and back in.

"Jack, oh, fuck, Jack, that's..." Mia reached back for him with her free hand. "Fuck me, Jack."

Jack pushed, his cock going inside her ass about half way. Then back out, more saliva, more pussy juice. Then all the way in, steady and calm. Once inside all the way, he grabbed her by the waist, hard and Mia didn't make a sound.

Then he pulled out halfway and, after a little pause, pushed his cock, which looked too big for her ass and her body, all the way in again. Sending a shiver through Mia, and making her cry out a long "Fuuuuck."

Jack pulled her up, her face next to his, whispering in her ear. "Put your fingers in your pussy, Mia." And she did. "Do you feel it? On your fingers." He pulled his cock in and out, fucking her in half strokes, slow.

"Oh my God! Yes, I do!" A moment of lucidity flashed across her face and she looked at Jack. "Holy shit, Jack, that's crazy!"

Jack smiled, saying nothing, instead pulling out almost all the way and pushing his cock back inside, a little harder and faster than before. Mia cursed, closed her eyes and shook. Jack fucked her steady, but she asked for more. "Break me, Jack. Fuck me harder," she grunted.

He fucked her ass fast and hard, not stopping for a long time. At one point he fucked through a pain in his side so bad he thought he was going to pass out, but he kept going and the pain went away. Mia came again and again, squirting two or three times and Jack didn't stop for a second. He just kept fucking her through all of it until he could feel himself ready to cum again too. When he did, he lifted up one of her legs, hooking his arm under her thigh, holding her by the stomach with one arm, the other wrapped around her chest. She reached back with both hands, one of them finding his head, grabbing onto it. She had no words left and neither did he. He fucked her harder and harder as he came. It was painful, the second orgasm, sure, but he felt powerful. And lucky. So fucking lucky. He pumped his cum in Mia, feeling his cock through her abdomen.

When he was done, he put her leg down and held her. She was barely standing, but so was he. He wrapped her in a hug, cock still inside her. And carried her back a few paces into the water, letting his legs fold once they were deep enough that the water held up their bodies for them.

"God, Jack!"

"Yeah," Jack chuckled. "Good job!"

"Me good job? You good job!" Mia kissed him, still breathing hard, but longer breaths now. "That was..." she pushed a breath, shaking her head and not finishing the sentence.

"Yeah..."

They swam around a little, just churning water.

"Hungry?" Jack asked after a while.

"Bredda! Mi belly a touch mi back!"

"Sound like a... yes?"

"Ya Mon!"

Jack snorted out a chuckle and turned, "Alright, let's grub then."

~~~

They ate for a while. Italian sub for Jack, turkey for Mia. They said nothing. Except for food-caused moans and sighs. Jack got up to chop up some kindling from one of the logs in the bag of firewood. He ripped a couple pieces of birch bark from a nearby tree, lit it under the kindling and before long they had a nice little fire going.

"You don't stay still for long, huh?" Mia asked, wrapped in his big flannel work jacket and chewing on her sub.

"Guess not. Food makes me sleepy."

She patted the blanket next to her. "You can sleep."

"And miss this?"

He watched Mia watch him for a bit. Then she smiled and said, "You mean that, huh?"

Jack straightened out, looked around, looked at her. He nodded, smiling back at her. Jack saw Mia's smile grow larger. Her eyes looked a little wet, but maybe it was just the firelight bouncing off them. He dropped back down beside her.

They sat. He finished his sandwich. They didn't say anything for a long time. It was perfect.

The little anklet shining on her ankle. Jack zoned out, looking at it, feeling the warmth of the fire.

"You wanna run away?" Jack asked.

"What?!" Mia laughed.

"Let's ditch everything and fuck off somewhere. Belize? Canada? Cuba?" Jack was kidding, of course.

"Imagine?" She put her head on his shoulder, wrapped in his jacket, both of them staring into the fire.

"Yeah." Jack watched the fire. "Could do it, too," he said.

Mia lifted her head. "Hmm?"

"Nothing. I mean, shit, theoretically. Money's not really much of a problem. Company would survive. We could just..." Mia was really looking at him now, sitting up. Fuck. Jack laughed and rubbed his face. "I'm just kidding, of course."

"Jack, just so you know," she said, soft and slow. "I wouldn't."

"I know."

"No. I mean I wouldn't go. I... I wouldn't be the cause of... you leaving Ruby and Beth."

"No, of course. I'm not even serious." He laughed.

She settled back against him, sighing. "I could never do that to them. Neither could you."

Jack stared at the fire. His heart raced.

~~~

Friday, June 26, 2026. Garden State Parkway, New Jersey.

"Hey, umm," Jack said, not sure if it was his place. The sun slowly set as they made their way back to Maplewood on the Parkway. "Earlier, you talked about your mom."

Mia looked over. "Yeah?"

"You said she's fucking around?"

"Oh." She picked at the strap of her gym bag, back in the shorts and hoodie now, hair in a damp ponytail.

"If it's not my place, I'm sorry."

Mia shook her head, swallowing. "No, no, I mean... I don't know know, you know? But it's two plus two, kinda, right? Her and my dad are clearly not... whatever. And she's doing cooking classes with skinny jeans Fabio-Marios and private yoga classes with fuckin' Ashwagandha Patchouli Jared Jasper River Phoenix-es? If she's not fucking, what is she doing?"

Jack tried not to laugh.

Mia thought about it. "I don't fucking know. Sometimes I think I don't care. Then I think Dad probably knows and maybe doesn't care either? And that makes me mad for some reason. Then I think maybe he doesn't know, and that's worse, I guess..."

"I'm sorry, Mia."

"Thanks. You know anything about it?"

"Nah."

"Would you tell me if you did?"

He said yes, of course, but had to think about it after.

~~~

Friday, June 26, 2026. Maplewood, New Jersey.

-- 9:10 pm

"Honey, I'm hoooo-ooooome!" Jack yelled.

The house smelled like roast chicken and veg, smooth jazz coming from the kitchen. Roscoe jumped at him. He said hi to the boy, got his shoes off and walked in with him.

"You lookin' snazzy, bud!" Ruby smiled, eyebrow up, before she kissed him and looked him up and down, hand on hip. "What've you been up to?"

"Beth here? I didn't see her car."

"Sent her to get sour cream."

"I was with Mia all day."

"Oh?" Ruby smiled, picking up a spatula and putting it back down. "Right! How was it?"

"Good time was had by all, happy to report."

"OK, don't gloat," she teased him, "some of us have been hard at work here."

"I know, I can smell that. Smells delicious, babe." Jack gave her a peck. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Yeah..." Ruby said, wiping her hands, looking down at the monitor of the thermometer on the counter, the needle at the end of the wire inside the chicken. "This still needs time." She turned to him, sat down on the stool by the counter, next to where he stood. "What's up, buttercup?"

"You remember that accounting class from two hundred years ago?"

Ruby chuckled. "Sure."

"There were those nights we sat in my truck after. You were supposed to go home. I was supposed to go home. We just sat in the truck, sometimes for hours."

"You were trying to fuck me."

"Of course. I was always trying to fuck you." He laughed. "I stay trying, baby girl. But that wasn't why I didn't leave. I kept finding another thing to talk about. Every time it felt like the day was over, I'd think of something else. I didn't know what it was at the time, you know? Maybe you did, I don't know."

"Sure, yeah." Ruby smiled. "Good times."

Jack took her hand.

"I think I'm in love with her."