Rational Behavior Ch. 02

Mara checked her phone. Two hours until their noon lunch.

She heard the sound of heavy footsteps; someone took the few steps to her doorstep. Mara looked through the peephole, a smile breaking across her face.

One hand slicked back his red hair, slightly damp. He slouched. The collar on his denim blue button down popped up on one side, but laid flat on the other. The sleeves were bunched up to the elbow. She could just see the top of his khaki slacks. She sobered her expression before opening the door.

Henry squared his shoulders, giving Mara a once over. Her outfit-a white tank top tucked into teal high-waisted shorts-accentuated her classic curves. Her hair wasn't its usual lion mane, but teased into a pompadour style. The urge to touch it itched on his fingertips.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"I'm sorry too. I should have said what was going on before. I'm saying something now."

"But it's after the fact. After you made your decision and then let me in on whatever craziness is going on in your head. Seriously, what were you going to do? Just dump me one day out of the blue?"

"No...Well-I was going to tell you," she stuttered.

Henry scoffed. The disbelief on his face showed as blatant as the guilt on hers. "Jesus. You can't do this. This is not how relationships work."

"Don't treat me like I don't know how to be in a relationship."

"Don't treat me like I don't get how you're feeling. I'm worrying about the same shit."

"So why don't you say so?"

"'Cause we don't have time to focus on that."

"Not talking about it doesn't make the problem disappear, Henry. That's just doing to me what I did to you and saying it's better. It's not."

They stared each other down. Mara still stood in the doorway; Henry still stood on the porch. They were toe to toe, teetering on the threshold.

"I want this." She reached up, hooking her hands around the back of his neck. "I want to be with you. We'll figure out the other stuff."

Some tension left Henry's shoulders, but he remained quiet. Mara reached around, giving his ass a playful squeeze. A twitch of a smile flashed across his face.

"What are you gonna do about it?" she asked.

Henry finally broke, hoisting Mara over his shoulder. He promptly jogged them up the stairs, stripped them and got to work on making up. They fucked three times before ending up in her grey-tiled shower.

~

Mara watched the water drip from Henry's hair as stood under the spray of the showerhead. The rivulets slid down his neck, over his shoulders. They raced over his back, over the fresh welts.

Mindlessly, she lifted a hand, tracing a finger over the damage she'd inflicted. His shoulders twitched, but he didn't turn. She watched his ass as he shifted his weight, transfixed by the muscle that moved beneath the skin. She wrapped her arms around his waist; his stomach contracted at her touch.

Henry felt her nipples hardening against his back, heard her slightly laboring breath as she reached for his dick. He caught her hand and turned. "Give him a minute, will you?"

She relented with a pout. "Fine. Swap."

"I didn't even get to wash off yet."

"Swap."

They changed places. The hot water cascading down Mara's body immediately soothed her sore limbs. She pulled her hair back into a tight bun and picked up her loofah, but Henry grabbed the sponge from her hand.

"I'll do it."

He picked up the bar of soap and scrubbed the loofah against it. He smiled as the scent of vanilla and cinnamon filled his nostrils.

So this is where it comes from.

They hadn't showered together before, so this was new to him. He'd unlocked the door to a secret, one part of what made Mara who she was.

Mara moved from under the stream of the showerhead and Henry started on her arms, gently massaging, stopping for her giggling fits as he cleaned her underarms. Mara's back arched as Henry moved the rough, porous material across her shoulders, down to the middle of her lower back. The loofah dropped with a thud and Mara glanced over her shoulder, seeing Henry on his knees. The surprise of his fingers kneading her ass was merely pleasant compared to the jolt of fingers slipping between her cheeks. They drifted along the crack of her ass before sliding down to thoroughly clean her. Mara moaned and squirmed, but Henry focused on the business of the task. Then his fingers were gone and the loofah was back, buffing her legs, cleaning her feet. He couldn't help laughing as Mara started giggling again, curling and flexing her toes.

He stood and Mara turned so that he could start on the other side. He ignored his erection bobbing between them as he washed her breasts. He brushed her nipples until they were hard points before casually moved down to wash Mara's stomach. Her hands rested on his shoulders as he knelt in front of her. Again, he abandoned the loofah, lathering soap on his hands before letting his thumbs glide against her outer labia. They swelled with her building arousal. A calloused finger dragged delicately against her clit. When Mara started to wiggle, he lightened his touch. She'd start rocking, he'd stop 'cleaning'. After a couple minutes, Mara just stood passive and trembling with the need to come. Her juices mixed with the suds that seeped onto his fingers. Henry dragged his thumbs along the hood of her clit. Once. Twice. He dropped his hands and stood.

"All clean?"

With great amusement, Henry watched the spectrum of emotion that crossed Mara's face.

"If you won't get me off, I'll do it myself," she seethed.

"You won't. Kitty likes me better than you." He lifted his hands to pinch her nipples, but Mara smacked them away.

"Don't call my vagina 'kitty'. And, no she doesn't."

Henry wrapped a hand around the back of Mara's neck, turning her away from him. She propped herself against the back wall of the steam filled space. Her legs opened wider to keep balance. Her dripping wet pussy was exposed to the cooling air. Mara grunted, feeling Henry's other hand trace down her spine and over her ass. He parted her pussy lips with his fingers and lifted the glistening digits to her mouth. She sucked them clean before he took her lips in a soft, sultry kiss.

"It sure seems like she does." He pressed himself against her back. His dick slipped between her ass cheeks as he nibbled her ear. His large hands palmed her breasts. He plucked her nipples as she backed herself against him. He twisted them, feasting on her neck. "You're my good girl, aren't you?"

The steam and Henry's hands all over her were getting to Mara's head.

"You know I am. I'm already so wet for you. Please.Please. I can't wait anymore. I need to come."

He prodded her with the tip of his cock, pushing in just far enough for her muscles to grab him. One hand held the small of her waist; the other twisted her tresses around his hand. He planted his feet on the wet floor. Mara mewled as he cocked back his fist, jerking her head back as he speared her on his cock.

"Oh, just like that." She sighed with relief. He thrust into her with deliberate slow, deep strokes. "Yes. Oh, God. Yes! I love you so much babe."

Shit. No. No. No. He didn't hear that. He didn't hear it. I didn't say it.

His fist tightened in her hair, bending her back with another yank. "Show me."

A few deep, well angled strokes and she came, yielding in his grasp. That wave crested and another followed.

"Oh, what the fuck," he rasped, watching his pale, sinewy flesh appear and disappear beneath the almond hill of her jiggling ass. He traced her neck with his tongue, panting against her neck.

"Good girl. That felt so good. Do it again. Show me. Show me." He released her hair to clutch her hips.

"Motherfucker," She cursed under her breath, succumbing to another savage orgasm as Henry came inside of her.

~

When Mara felt her legs less like noodles, more the consistency of jello, they washed and dried off. Henry followed her into her room.

He hadn't said anything about her bathroom confession. He'd been mulling it over. Mara said that their flaws in communicating were the same, but they weren't. Not really. She'd been planning an escape route just in case shit went south. That was the real difference between them. He was really in it for the long haul while Mara had her emergency pack at the ready.

Will she bail when things get really hard?

Henry leaned against the dresser, bowing his head. "You weren't just saying it because I made you come?" he speculated aloud. Mara's tangerine colored toenails came into view.

"Well, you hadn't let me come yet." She caught him rolling his eyes. "No. Of course I didn't say it because of that." Mara's assuredness radiated through her eyes. She whispered in his ear. The steadiness and sweetness of her voice made his heart thud in his chest. "I love you. I'll show you. Really."

Henry cleared the catch in his throat and smiled. The smile elevated to a chuckle.

That has to be a good signshe thought, hopping up onto her dresser.

"Motherfucker? That's a new one," he said, preening. He parted her legs to stand between them.

"Well that's what happens when you give a girl multiple orgasms."

"Really?" He smiled wider. "That was just-I mean over and over. Ugh." His words muffled as he nuzzled his face against her neck. "What did it feel like to you?"

She tried to focus as his hands drifted along her thighs. "Like...Like a chocolate chip cupcake with peanut butter filling, topped with hazelnut frosting."

Henry's mouth fell open. "We should do that again. Like, now. Right now."

Mara couldn't help her hysterical laughter as he picked her up and carried her to the bed.

~

Terrance heard Mara's laughter and knew she was home. They were going to her favorite burger joint for lunch. He looked forward to their catching up. Like Dionne said,

"Of course she'll say yes," he repeated to himself out loud. He took the stairs two at a time, pushing the bedroom door completely open.

"Hey, sweetheart. You ready-"

And then Terrance saw them or they saw him. It didn't matter either way because Terrance was hollering and Mara shrieked, yanking the covers up around her. Henry launched himself off the bed, shielding his groin with his hands. Terrance slammed the door shut, trying to block the scene from his mind. He took a moment before speaking through the door.

"Downstairs. Now."

~

Henry and Mara sat on opposite ends of one couch; Terrance sat across from them on the other. Terrance had a terrifying calm about him that had Mara averting her gaze and had Henry sweating like he'd stolen something. Or-worse-been caught naked with his girlfriend by his girlfriend's father. It was Terry's body language. He leaned forward, forearms on his thighs. So chill.

"Dad, it's not what it looks like."

"This is completely my fault." They spewed at the same time.

Terrance shook his head and laughed. "That's bullshit," he said to the first and, "I believe that," he said to the second.

Mara jumped to Henry's defense. "He's lying. I started it."

Terrance waved his hands, gesturing for this madness to end. "I don't want to hear it."

He took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, bracing for this conversation. Even though he'd been preparing for this for 18 years, he wasn't prepared for it at all. His fear of Mara turning down his proposal disintegrated to nothing.

"Mara, will you excuse us?"

Mara looked from her father to Henry and back again before leaving them to it. Whateverit was.

"Henry, this is really hard for me. I know you and Mara are best friends, but I should have seen this coming."

Henry heard incessant tapping. A charlie horse seized up his left calf. He pressed his feet to the hardwood floor, focusing on the grooves in the grain. "I'm sorry Mr. Harper."

The formality tripped awkwardly off of Henry's tongue. He'd been calling Terrance 'Terry' for most of their relationship.

"How long has this been going on, Henry?"

His eyes squeezed shut as he recalled the information. "One month, one day, twelve hours and-" he looked at the clock, "sixteen minutes. Roughly."

Terrance straightened, his scrutinizing gaze intensified. "Are you taking care of my daughter?"

"Yes, sir."

Terrance was comforted, yet unnerved by the ease and confidence with which Henry answered the question. It was immediately clear to Terrance that Henry had serious intentions with his daughter. He was already deep in it.

"And this isn't just a summer thing?"

Henry said nothing, but his steady gaze was all the answer that Terrance needed.

"You love her, don't you?"

Henry ran a hand through his hair. He pressed his toes against the hardwood floor to stop his tapping feet.

"Yes, sir."

"And what will happen when school starts. You know she won't-"

Henry cut him off. "I know Mara. I would never-School is the most important thing to her. I would never distract her from that or try to take that from her."

He didn't add that he was afraid that, if it came down to it, she wouldn't choose him. But Terrance was thinking the opposite. If she felt as strongly about Henry as he did about her, she wouldn't need him to ask.

"Henry, if you hurt her..."

Henry ran a hand through his tousled hair. "The bullets in your gun will find a new home?"

Terrance guffawed. "Just be careful, son," he said, standing. Henry followed suit. Terrance gave Henry a firm pat on the back.

"And, Henry? Stop calling me sir."

~

Henry trekked out of the living room, reaching the end of Terry's interrogation, only to walk into another.

Mara came in from the back yard. "How'd it go?" she asked in an urgent whisper.

"Mara," Terrance called before Henry could answer the question. She looked to Henry for strength, for any indication of what she was in for.

"I'm gonna go. Call me." He gave her a reassuring smile and a little push toward the living room. Henry shook Terrance's hand before leaving.

Lead feet carried her to the couch across from her father. With enraptured focus she studied the patio furniture in the backyard. She adjusted her top, choking on the stifling heat that suddenly clouded her body.

Terrance's eyes trained on his daughter. "This explains why you've been so strange lately."

"I'm so sorry that you walked in on us. I'm so embarrassed," she admitted, burying her face in her hands.

"Yeah, well that makes two of us." There was a long pause. "Look, you're eighteen. I know that things are happening with you."

"Dad, don't. Really. The sex talk was awkward enough the first time."

"And it wouldn't do any good now," he retorted with the quick lash of his tongue. "I can't believe I didn't see this coming."

Mara shrunk to about four feet tall. She was eight years old and Terrance was scolding her for staying out playing after the streetlights came on. His stern expression, brows furrowed with worry, was the same look he gave her now. Only now, a sadness, a sense of loss loomed over the whole thing.

Mara couldn't wipe the tears away quickly enough for Terrance not to see them. He went to her, rubbing Mara's back as he gave her a bear hug.

"Sssorry-didn't tell you-disappointed in-in," she blubbered against his shirt.

"Honey, I'm not disappointed in you. I'm caught off guard. It's hard for dads. We know what these guys want." He shook his head. "If it were up to me, you'd be a nun or a lesbian."

Mara laughed against his chest. "He's a gentleman dad, I swear."

Terrance wiped Mara's face with the back of his hand. "He better be. Honestly, if you're going to get serious with someone, I'm glad it's him."

"So you didn't threaten him, right?"

Terrance cocked an eyebrow. "I didn't say that."

"I was going to tell you at lunch."

"Don't worry about it, kid," he said simply. "Is he taking care of you?"

Mara actually turned red with embarrassment, but her tone was bold. She stood, throwing her hands in the air.

"Jesus, Dad. Yes. Actually, no. I'm taking care of myself. You know that. You taught better than to be an idiot about it."

Terrance laughed allowed at the surge of shame he felt about asking her that question. Like she was the adult. Pride ran through him at this confirmation of him being a decent parent. If she approached this with maturity, then she could handle everything else. They stood and Terrance hugged his daughter.

"Just know that you can still come to me with stuff, okay? It might be awkward, but I'm still here for you."

"I know." Mara ran upstairs to grab her purse. She came back down just in time to catch him getting in his car.

"Hey wait!" She jogged up to the driver side window. "You aren't just leaving, are you? You said you wanted to ask me something at lunch?"

Terrance grinned at her. "Get in."

~

That night, Terrance recounted the afternoon's events to Dionne. Her expression went from shocked to nervous to happy in the span of five minutes.

"I told you she'd say yes. You know that Henry and Ben are coming to the 4th party, right?"

"Of course they are. They have the past two years. Plus, it'll give me a chance to berate Ben for letting his son near my daughter."

~ ~ ~

Mara's dress fluttered around her. Her wedge heels tapped and clunked as she danced around her room preparing for the party. She smiled and hummed as she looked in the mirror, swiping eyeliner along her lids.

"Are you excited?" Mara asked, ribbing him. She sat down next to Henry on the end of her bed.

It would be the first time she could introduce Henry to her family. Everyone already knew him, but she knew they'd have a field day when they found out that he and Mara were dating.

"Yeah," he dragged his hand across his face before pulling it through his hair. He was feeling the pressure. In hindsight, Mara's desire to keep things a secret seemed more and more like a good idea to him. Sure, everyone already knew him, but this would bring a whole new level of knowing. And PDA was not his thing.

This is what you wanted, he thought to himself.

It was so strange, this pull between wanting to hide from the attention and wanting to holler and shout that he had her. He imagined himself jumping on one of the fold-out tables set up outside and thrusting his clawed hands into the air, victorious and shouting. 'Yes! This girl." He'd point to her. "This girl right here. Dibs!'

He chuckled at the scenario. Mara would kill him. He'd suddenly be very single, he knew.

People trickled in over the next couple of hours, hugging and catching up with each other. Terrance let the cat out of the bag and then aunts and cousins were rushing up to Mara, asking for confirmation. Looking for Henry to help, she saw that he had already been cornered and congratulated by Uncle Bobby. Possibly even threatened, judging by his reddening cheeks and the somewhat defensive posture that he seemed to take on. But then they were ribbing each other. Play fighting the way that boys do.

Terrance provided the perfect excuse to escape from the cacophony of activity. "Mara, get more burger patties, will you?"

Mara gestured Henry away from her family with a wave of her hand.

"Why don't you kiss her? Give her a hug or something!" Bobby called, but Mara and Henry ignored it, heading into the house.

Henry took a seat on one couch as Mara went to the fridge, grabbing the pack of burgers. She watched him leaning back with his eyes closed, relaxing. The mere sight of him made her smile.

"Stop looking at me like that." He cracked an eye open, confirming his suspicion.

"Like what?" She asked, still ogling him.

"Your dad is going to come in here looking for those," he said, gesturing toward the abandoned burgers on the counter.

Mara sauntered toward him.

He sat up straighter. "Don't."