First and Last

The last Friday of the last summer break of my undergraduate degree and where was I? Backpacking through Europe? Hanging out with friends? Earning a little extra cash? No. I was running wind sprints in an almost empty recreation center. And why? Because my dad is an asshole, and I'm an idiot.

"Gabe! You should come visit this summer! We'll finally get to spend some time together." I should have known better. From the day he bailed on Mom when I was twelve, it's always been 'next summer,' and 'when things slow down at work,' and 'sorry, champ, I'll make it next time.' I thought that maybe, finally, now that the shine had worn off his new trophy wife and his second family, maybe he could actually make some time for me. That maybe, maybe, he really did want to make up for lost time.

Nope!

We wasted the first couple of weeks "catching up." This meant him awkwardly guessing which milestones I'd hit in my life and which I hadn't, then trying to give me "manly" advice. This from a "man" that had abandoned his wife and two kids and tried to screw us out of child support and alimony after Mom caught him fucking his secretary.

After our perfunctory "bonding" sessions, he tried to pawn me off on his vapid new wife and their spoiled kids while avoiding all of us at work; some things never change, I guess. But then came the indignity that finally drove me to tell him to go fuck himself and never call me again: the entire visit had been a pretense. He and Barbie were taking off to Europe for a month, and they wanted me to babysit my half-siblings. Not in Europe, which might have been acceptable. At their home, in a town I'd never visited, for no pay other than room and board. Mind you, I had spent all of maybe six hours around these kids before that summer. Yeah, no.

Hence my current situation: spending the summer at my mom's house, by myself. Mom and sis were off scoping out colleges for the following year. My high school friends all had their own things going on. My college friends had meticulously planned out their summers and were having all sorts of exciting adventures far, far away.

And me? I was trying to burn off anger at my useless sperm donor and at my own naive optimism through energetic cardio. Hoo-fucking-ray.

But sometimes things have a way of working themselves out.

My water bottle needed a refill, so I headed to the hall and the water fountain. Drenched with sweat, panting, and muttering to myself, I almost knocked down a young woman coming into the empty basketball court. Even in my pissed off state, I still managed to mutter, "Sorry."

"Just watch--" She peered at me, blonde ponytail bobbing behind as she did a double take. "Gabe?"

The girl was pretty, that was for sure. Deep brown eyes, button nose, and a girl next door face that looked so oddly familiar that I was sure I knew her. Then it hit me. "Jessica?" She nodded happily. "Jess!" I swept her up in my arms for a big hug without thinking, then stepped back and apologized. "God, I'm sorry. I'm so sweaty and--" She threw herself at me, enthusiastically returning the hug.

The last time I'd seen her, she'd been a scrawny, gawky fifteen year old with braces and a manner that had only started to turn away from the morose. I felt suddenly uncomfortable at the soft flesh pressing against me, making my own flesh not nearly as soft. Pulling away once more, I got a clear look at her for the first time, and while I might not have liked the way my little head reacted, I couldn't fault its logic.

Jessica's gawkiness had turned into athleticism. Her body had become lean and toned, muscular and soft in exactly the right measure. Hips, ass, and tits had grown to the perfect proportions. Jess's transformation since I'd trained her while a student coach three years previous had made her into the very definition of youthful femininity. I still saw the echo of the Jess I'd known when I was a senior leaving for college, though. The broad grin on her face was one I hadn't seen often back then.

"My god, Jess! It's been, what, three years?"

She nodded happily. "Yeah! Man, you're looking great! Still playing?"

I shook my head. "Not really. Been focusing on pre-med; not nearly enough time for anything more than a pickup game now and then. You?"

"Yeah! Got a scholarship to State!"

"That's great! I guess I'll be seeing you around campus."

Another nod, then sudden puzzlement. "Wait, I thought you were going to your dad's house this summer. I, uh, I mean, your sister told me you were- I wasn't..."

There was the Jess I remembered, the sweet, easily flustered girl with the crush. "I was. It..." I sighed and shook my head, an exasperated expression on my face. "It was a shitshow. So I'm spending the last few weeks here. Last weekend, now, I guess."

Jessica touched my shoulder and looked up into my eyes. She didn't need to look up nearly as much as she did before; she'd gotten tall, almost as tall as me. "I'm sorry. I had hoped maybe he'd changed."

"How about... did you ever hear from your dad?"

The look on her face told me everything, including the fact that I probably shouldn't have asked. "Nah. Trey is, was, and continues to be a deadbeat douche."

Jess and I had bonded over her father's abandonment of her family. Basketball drew us into each other's orbits, but my experience helped me help her through one of the most difficult experiences a kid can go through: finding out that Dad never loved you as much as he said. I spent a sizable chunk of my senior year over at her house. I worked with her mom, Sara, to get Jess through that trauma, both by sharing my experience and trying to present a model of a good man to her, albeit one scarcely older.

I chucked her chin, a gesture I'd often made back then, and she giggled, then turned a touch melancholy. "Thanks, Gabe. I never really got to... I know I was kind of a brat at the end there. I'm sorry."

"You were going through a lot. It's okay."

"It's not." Another beaming smile. "But of course you'd say that. That's who you are."

An uncomfortable silence fell over us for a moment, then she rallied. "So, it's been three years. Bet I can kick your ass now."

"I bet you can, too, Ms. College Athlete! You're not gonna snooker me."

"Come on! One friendly game. I'll bet you an ice cream."

It had been our standard wager back in the day. "Okay, okay. I give. But you better be ready to buy."

Jessica fucking smoked me. Wasn't even close. I'd kept myself in good shape, but she'd focused on conditioning even when she was fifteen; now, she had incredible stamina. I had a height and reach advantage, but not nearly the one I had before, and her skills, physical strength, and agility had all blossomed. I gave it my best, but we were 9-4 within a few minutes. Jess looked back at me as she went up for the final shot, laughing as she did so; that's when things went wrong.

She landed badly, her right ankle rolling as she yelped with pain. I rushed to her side and knelt down. At a glance, it didn't look like she'd broken, but she was hissing a string of expletives through her teeth with tears in her eyes. "Let me see." She nodded once, then moved her hand away from the injury.

"It doesn't look terrible." I gently manipulated her foot, looking for signs of various injuries. She winced and whimpered occasionally, but that was all. "I think it's just a sprain. Can you try to put some weight on it?"

"Yeah- ngh! Okay." I stood and took her hand, pulling her to one foot and letting her brace herself against me. Jess daintily put her foot down, then put it flat; that amount of mobility was a promising sign. But when she tried to put weight on it, she cried out. I grabbed her, but she stabilized quickly and pushed against my arm, signaling me to let her try again. Tentatively, she stood on her own two feet, but not for long. After a few seconds, she clung to me once more, and I to her; she didn't stop me this time. "Fuck!"

"Hey, it's going to be okay. It's not broken, I don't think there's any ligament or tendon damage and--"

"Yeah, but it was so stupid! I shouldn't have--" She shook her head. "And I can't drive like this. I'm not going to be able to work the pedals. Mom's out of town, so I'm going to have to Uber it and--"

"I'll drive you."

Jess gave me a pained smile. "I don't want to ask you to do that. I'm sure you have plenty to do."

"You didn't ask, I offered. And I don't, actually; I don't have anything to do at all." I chuckled. "Plus, I owe you an ice cream. You made the shot."

She laughed, seeming to forget the pain for a moment. "Okay. Help me gimp my way over to my car and grab my stuff?"

Once we had everything she needed, I got her settled in the passenger seat of my car. In the small first aid kit I kept in my trunk, I found everything I'd need to treat a sprain, at least temporarily: an ace bandage, ibuprofen, and a disposable ice pack. Thus fortified, we went in search of the promised ice cream cones; chocolate mint for her, rocky road for me. We sat in the car and talked for a few minutes as we ate.

"How's college life?"

"Overall? Pretty good. Less partying than I expected. Pre-med's rough, but my grades are decent."

Jessica nodded. "I heard that you, ah, were seeing someone. Your sister said she broke up with you after Christmas?"

"Yeah. Wish I'd been more surprised, but I wasn't. She didn't even call me while we were apart; got together with her ex back home." I shrugged. "Shit happens."

"Bitch." I snorted, but she said, "No, I'm serious! What kind of an idiot..." Jess shook her head. "I'm sorry that happened."

"Thanks." I took another lick. "How about you? School going good?"

"Yeah! 3.8 GPA!"

"Fantastic! I'm proud of you." Jess beamed at that. "What about, uh, guys? I'm sure you get hit on all the time."

The beaming collapsed into blushed stammering. "Oh, uh, no. I mean, sometimes? But no. Studies. Basketball." She looked away. "Not really any time for dating."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"You didn't." A chuckle. "Well, a little. But not much. It's cool." She sighed and turned back to face me. "I just... I'm really sorry about how I acted the last time I saw you."

"Don't--"

"Please. You were so good to me. Just, like, way above and beyond what anyone would have expected, and I... I had a crush on you. Which, of course, you knew. You weren't blind." She smiled sympathetically; maybe that sympathy was for me, or maybe it was for the fifteen-year-old girl who'd had her world upended. Maybe both. "And it wasn't reciprocated, because--" Jess laughed. "Well, because that would be pretty illegal, for one thing. But I didn't deal well with it, and... I'm just... I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

I patted her hand. "There's nothing to forgive, Jess. It was..." A little chuckle. "It was flattering. Really. But you're right, there's no way it would have worked out, and..." I let the 'and' hang there. I had meant 'and you were still a kid.' But that's not what she heard.

Jess chuckled ruefully. "And you were with my mom."

The hacking and coughing as I choked on my own spit bought me time, at least. Jess watched me, waiting for a response; when none was forthcoming, she said, "She didn't tell me. I figured it out. That's why I was so mad. It wasn't... If it had only been that you weren't interested in me, I would still have been disappointed. But it felt like..."

She looked out the windshield, studiously away from me. "I had lost my dad to another woman when he ran off with that slut. I know that's not- it's not exactly what happened, but it's what it felt like. Then I had this guy that I really liked, and he cared for me and watched out for me and connected with me, and-- and suddenly he started coming around when I wasn't home. And Mom was happier. And... Well, it didn't take a genius to put it together."

I rasped out, "Shit," then cleared my throat and repeated, "Shit. I'm sorry, Jess. I thought we were being discreet."

Jessica laughed, her glance drifting back towards me. "At first, maybe. Mom... I confronted her about it later. I guess it went on for a few months?" I nodded. "I didn't figure it out until near the end."

"Is... ah... Is that why...?"

"She didn't want a repeat when you came home that next summer?" She shrugged. "Partially. But I think she'd also..." She turned towards me and smiled. "You gave her what she needed after Dad left. It was so hard for her to... She thought their marriage was rock solid, and then he just up and leaves her for this bimbo with tits out to here, and it really crushed her. Not that Mom's a narcissist, but she's always been pretty." Jess was not wrong; Sara was like a MILF version of Jess, and that was quite a sight to behold.

"So this handsome young man comes around, starts taking care of her daughter, fixes stuff around the house, and just generally fills in the gaps that her husband has left and..." She blushed quite fetchingly. "And, um, then she decides she wants him to... to..." Jess snickered, then guffawed. "Fill another gap?"

I joined her in a good, long laugh before she continued. "She needed that. To feel appreciated. Sexy, I guess. That's why I was able to get over... you know. All of the feelings I had about it. I had a crush on you, but I love my mom, and she didn't do it to hurt me. But when she realized she had done just that, and once she got some distance..."

I nodded. "I get it. I mean, I thought it was just that she was done with me. Bored with me, even."

"No, not bored, I don't think. But she wanted to take care of me, and she didn't want you fixating on her and... and I guess she was just being the responsible adult in the room. Eventually, anyways."

We sat there for a while, each using our melting ice cream as a reason to not talk. There had been a weird tension before that was suddenly lifted. A new weird tension had replaced it, admittedly, but that new one felt less oppressive. I had a ton of questions I couldn't imagine asking her, and I'm sure she had the same. But, finally, we ran out of ice cream, and it was time to head out.

Unsurprisingly, the conversation on the way to her house felt stilted. When we got there, I focused on what needed to be done, rather than on the herd of elephants in the room. I assessed her foot again and became certain she just had a fairly mild sprain. We agreed that if it hurt more in the morning, I would take her to the hospital.

But that led to another big question: what to do that night? It had been three years since I'd been in their house, but I remembered--quite fondly--that Sara's room was on the ground floor, while Jess's room was upstairs. She could limp up and down it, but it wouldn't be any fun, and a bad step could cause a tumble. More importantly, she needed to stay off of her ankle and keep it elevated. I finally bit the bullet.

"Do you have anyone that can stay with you tonight?"

"No." She looked off to one side for a moment. "Look, I shouldn't ask, but can you? I wouldn't ask, but... I dunno. I just don't want to be here alone, especially without a car."

"I, uh." I smiled at her. "Yeah. I can do that. No one's expecting me back at home. How about I go grab a change of clothes and some dinner for us? I can be back in like thirty minutes. Sound good?"

That winning smile came out again. "Thank you so much."

"You kick back on the couch and keep your leg elevated. I'll be back as soon as I can." A big hug from her caused me to stir once more, so I extricated myself as quickly as I could.

I would have been fine without the change of clothes; I had some spare clothes in my duffel. I could have ordered dinner in, too. The car trip was purely a ruse; I don't know if she knew, but she's a smart girl. She probably suspected. As I drove, I mused over everything I'd learned that day and tried to come to some conclusions.

First, Jess was fucking hot now. Look, I was a twenty-one year old guy. Of course that was my first takeaway. As importantly, though, she kept referring to her crush as being in the past, but she kept acting like it was still ongoing. But was that just a crush, or did she want something more? And if she did, did I?

Yes. Yes, absolutely. One hundred fucking percent. I had lost my virginity to her mom, and it was fantastic. Who could blame me for wanting to get with Jess, too? It wasn't about banging both daughter and mother--well, not mostly, anyways--but because they were both incredibly sexy, gorgeous women, just in different ways. I really did care about both of them, though, and I didn't want to cause any strife. Sara had been the responsible adult before. Did I need to be now?

And there was also the question of whether it was a smart idea even ignoring the mom/daughter issue. I'd almost certainly see Jess around campus, and while I liked her and cared about her, I didn't know if it was going to be any more than that. Plus, my mom still lived around town, Jessica and I had a bunch of shared friends... A whole host of reasons that gave me pause.

By the time I got back to her house, I resolved myself: I was going to be a good guy. She'd be coming to State soon, and if she wanted to do something, we could explore it then. I felt good. Smart. Mature.

That resolution lasted about ten seconds after I opened the door. Jess sat on the couch, hair loose and wet from a shower. She wore a nearly see-through white t-shirt with no bra and plain, tight cotton panties. She looked simultaneously like the most virginal, innocent thing I'd ever seen and a monument to raw female sexuality. Her bright, flirtatious smile completed the effect, collapsing that particular waveform and leaving me with a boner that could have cut glass. "Hey, Gabe. Got something for me to eat?" Fuuuuuck.

I managed to get out, "Uh. Ah. Um, Chinese food."

"Fantastic! Put it on the table and grab some plates; I'll get us set up."

She hummed as she got the food out of the bag, one knee up on a chair to keep her balance and take the weight off her bad ankle. When she leaned over the table, I could see her pussy outlined by the tight fabric. Jess caught me staring, and I jolted, faced front, and started really, really looking for the plates.

Jess's voice sounded apologetic, not angry. "Gabe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put on a show. Really. I wanted to shower the sweat off, but I didn't think to look for clothes before I got in. All I could find were a few things that had gotten left in the dryer."

"It's, ah, it's okay." I turned around with a big smile, hoping she didn't notice the enormous erection her display had inspired. "Here you go, plates and forks."

She noticed. Her eyes went wide, her face turned red, and with a frozen, slightly dreamy smile, she murmured, "Go ahead and sit down, and I'll serve."

I have never been more glad to put my ass in a chair. Of course, this created a new problem: her pebble-hard nipples stared me straight in the face as she bent over the table.. Now both of us were trying very hard and very unsuccessfully to not notice each other's arousal.

We ate in an embarrassed silence. No more than a dozen words passed between us the entire time. That silence didn't help matters at all; instead, it acted as a sort of feedback loop. We both tried to ignore our attraction, which made us focus on our attraction, which made us more aroused, which led us back to trying to ignore our attraction.

By the end of the meal, I had managed to get myself under control enough to clear the table without poking her eye out, but that was a temporary measure. By the look on her face, we were going to have to clear the air.

I waited until we sat on the couch, near but not touching each other. "Jess..."

She looked over at me and licked her lips. Fuckfuckfuck. "Jess, I just... Look, I know this is a little weird. I hadn't expected to run into you at the rec center, and..." I laughed and shook my head. "I hadn't expected you to be so... well, so beautiful." She opened her mouth to speak, but I continued. "And, well, I'm a guy. I'm going to respond, whether I choose to or not. I don't mean to embarrass you or--"