Rooster & The Hot Tub

"Well kiddo, looks like you're all set. If you need anything, I'm not far away." I put my arm out for a hug that wasn't coming.

"Oh." Kassidy looked suddenly forlorn.

"Are you okay?" I was concerned at her change in demeanor.

"Well, I had thought I could stay with you tonight," she said quietly.

"I mean, sure, of course." I couldn't imagine her wanting to hang out with me again. "You wouldn't rather sleep in your own bed?"

"Well, yeah," she sighed, "but I'd rather not be alone. And I liked hanging out with you."

I smiled. "You're welcome to come over any time you want, kiddo."

Kassidy grinned at me. "Unless your hook up is there?"

"Claudia normally calls me a day or two ahead of time. So no, there are no plans for tonight."

Kassidy was beaming. "I'm going to swing by my apartment first and drop this stuff off, then I'll be over."

"I'll leave a light on for you."

Kassidy put her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. I felt her pressing her sexy frame into mine. Once again, I was reminded of Kate. She used to hug the same exact way. The realization both pleased and bothered me at the same time.

I stopped by the grocery store and picked up another case of beer. I had just stowed them in the fridge when Kassidy arrived. She dropped a shoulder bag on the floor by the couch and took a seat. I handed her a bottle and popped one for myself as well.

"Anything you want to do today?" I asked, not used to entertaining someone Kassidy's age.

"No," she said, tapping away on her phone. "I just don't want to sit alone at my place,"

Since it was a Saturday afternoon, I turned on a football game and we sat in silence for a bit.

"Who's playing?" Kassidy asked, looking up from her phone.

"Baylor and Texas Tech," I replied.

"Not SMU?" she asked.

"They're off this week," I said flatly.

"I didn't know that." Her attention was elsewhere. "Who are you rooting for?"

"I have forty bucks on Baylor," I said.

"Hmm. Mark went to Baylor I think," she said, seemingly aloud to herself.

I turned to look at her. "Who is Mark?"

"Julia's fiancé," she said, as if I should already know.

"Julia is the roommate?" I was trying to put the pieces together.

Kassidy nodded, then launched into how she and Julia had met. They'd connected on a roommate matching page sponsored by the school. She showed me some pictures of the two of them hanging out together.

Kassidy wasn't overly tall, probably 5'2 or so, but she towered over Julia, who was a plump, pretty, thick and curvy brunette with absolutely massive tits.

And I mean they were massive. They looked to be bigger than my head. Despite Julia's youth - she and Kassidy were only a couple of years apart - there was no way those things didn't hang down to her knees.

Apparently, my eyes gave away my thoughts. "Yeah, I know," Kassidy said. "Her tits are huge."

"I can see that," I said, trying not to sound as interested as I was.

"You should see her in a bathing suit," Kassidy mused. "Everyone watches her as she passes by."

"I can imagine." I was picturing that exact thing in my mind.

"Julia likes the attention," she continued. "She always wears revealing clothes that put them on display for the world to see."

I laughed. "Mark's a lucky guy."

"He's a sweetheart. Julia is really lucky to have him."

Kassidy went on to talk about Mark a little. He worked on oil rigs offshore in the gulf. He was a structural engineer. He spent six weeks at a time away from home. He and Julia had been together for almost two years at that point, and were, according to Kassidy, really good for one another.

"When's the wedding?" I asked absentmindedly.

"In a couple of months. Mark's contract runs out at the end of the year, and he's supposed to have an office job out of state somewhere after that."

"Good, good," I said.

"Do... do you think I could try out the hot tub tonight?" Kassidy asked timidly, finishing off her beer.

I laughed a little at her sudden bout of shyness. "Sure. I'll need to crank it up, and it takes some time to get warm. Best to wait until it cools off a little more. We can try tonight after dinner if you like."

"I'd like that." She smiled sweetly. Her green eyes sparkled at me.

Damn, I thought to myself, I could get lost in those eyes.

After the football game was over, we sat and had dinner. Kassidy told me about her recent-ish breakup with a guy named Dylan, his infidelity, and his temper. I talked about my divorce several years ago, and that I was glad my ex-wife and I didn't have kids together.

"Last I heard, she ran off to Tijuana to become an escort," I said jokingly.

"Oh. My. God, really!" Kassidy took the bait. I grinned and shook my head.

"No, she's a waitress somewhere outside of Houston." I laughed a little at her naiveite.

Kassidy giggled and smacked my arm. "That was so mean, Rooster!"

I cleared the table and then went out to turn on the hot tub. I came back in and told Kassidy we would need to wait an hour or so before getting in.

"Fun!" The enthusiasm on her face was palpable.

We watched some TV for a bit, then I excused myself to get ready. I put some beer in a cooler of ice and dragged it outside. I went back in and didn't see Kassidy anywhere. Her bag was no longer sitting beside the front door, so I assumed she had gone to change.

As I headed down the hall, I heard her moving about in the bathroom, I went to my room, put on a pair of swim trunks, and grabbed a couple of beach towels from the spare room.

I was on the back porch setting the timer when Kassidy emerged from the house. She was wearing a thin yellow T-shirt and some loose blue soccer shorts. She looked cute as hell with her hair pulled up.

I stepped in and settled down on one corner seat. I let out a contented sigh as the warm water attacked my back and thigh muscles.

"Come on in, kiddo," I said, gesturing for her to take the opposite corner seat from mine.

I watched as she stepped in, her smooth, tanned leg stretching out tentatively, searching for a stable foothold. I put my hand out and she took it, climbing and settling down in the swirl. I watched as her eyes rolled back in her head and she exhaled deeply while the jets did their thing.

"Oh, this is heavenly," she cooed.

"It's pretty damn close," I said, my eyes affixed to her wet shirt, which had become partially see-through. I knew she had a bathing suit underneath the yellow fabric -- I had seen the strings behind her neck earlier -- but still, I looked right at her tits, silently cursing myself for doing so at the exact same time.

"I might want to do this every night from now on." Kassidy's voice was low and sultry. I imagined she sounded just like that when she was turned on.

I laughed under my breath at her enthusiasm, stretching my arms out and letting the bubbles take my tension away. After a few minutes, I reached for the cooler and grabbed a beer. I nudged Kassidy's leg with my foot and silently offered one to her as well. She took it.

Kass's curiosity got the better of her. "When your Claudia comes over," she asked with a blush, "do you ever have sex in here?"

I took a long sip. "We have. It's fun and all, but not as exciting as it sounds."

"Oh. I would think it would be a lot of fun." Her voice was light and dreamy.

"It's a great way to set the mood and have a little foreplay," I said, feeling my erection grow. "That's for sure."

"Do the two of you come out here naked?" Her cheeks turned red as she blushed at her own question. Damn, she looked cute like that.

"We usually end up that way, but generally we start out clothed." I was getting the feeling she was buzzing a little from the beer and hot water.

Kassidy went quiet for a bit. I finished my beer and set the empty on the ground. I leaned back again to soak when she spoke up.

"So now will you tell me what happened with you and my parents?"

Dammit. I really didn't want to talk about that with her at all. I also got the feeling that she would keep asking. I leaned over and grabbed another beer from the cooler.

"I'm going to need to get a lot drunker before I can tell you about it," I said plainly.

"How bad could it be?" she asked innocently.

I silently cursed her adorable naivete. "Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you."

I took a long slow drink before speaking. "I was a shy, skinny little twerp in high school. No body, no definition, no personality. I met this girl who was perfect. Pretty face; attractive smile; bright, beautiful eyes; firm, perky tits; cute, round ass... basically, the perfect girl in my eyes."

Kassidy nodded.

"I crushed on her for years, hanging around, being the nice guy, talking with her, sitting beside her in class..."

"Basically friend-zoned," Kassidy chimed in.

"That phrase wasn't used back then, but, yeah, exactly that. I was kind of pathetic, really. Over the holidays of my senior year, I started to grow some. I got taller, filled out, my voice changed, that sort of thing."

"Aww, Rooster had a glow-up!" she giggled.

"Sure." I had no idea what that meant. "I wasn't Brad Pitt or anything, but I wasn't the ugly duckling anymore either."

"Aww, Rooster," Kassidy said. "You're not ugly,"

I waved her off and continued. "This girl I had a crush on -- she broke up with a boyfriend right after Valentines Day. She was devastated. I spent the next few weeks consoling her, and not long before Spring Break, I summoned the courage to ask her out."

Kassidy's eyes went wide, drinking from her bottle.

"To my surprise, she said yes."

"Oh wow!" Kassidy leaned forward, her cheeks a little red.

"So, we have this date, and it's great. We talk and laugh at the restaurant, go for a walk in the park and she holds my hand, all that kind of stuff. I'm head over heels, thinking that this might actually be the one."

Kassidy's eyes were locked on mine, fully engaged in the story. "After that, we go out a couple more times. I confessed to her I was still a virgin. She was very understanding and let me take things slow at first. She took the lead when I needed her to, especially when we made out. Everything was perfect. It was the best couple of weeks of my life."

"That sounds nice," Kassidy whispered.

"It was. Then, on the Wednesday of Spring Break, I came home from my part time job a few hours early. I was planning on showering, then surprising her with some flowers."

"How sweet." My niece smiled at me.

"When I got home, her car was already parked at the house. I ran excitedly up the porch and opened the door." I paused to take another long drink, finishing the bottle.

"And?" Kassidy's voice was eager to hear more.

I sighed to myself. I'd arrived at the part I was dreading. I popped another beer.

"I'm not near drunk enough for this," I said, chugging the entire thing.

"Tell me, please," Kassidy pleaded.

"I opened the front door and saw her, naked on our living room couch, fucking my brother."

"Oh no!" She covered her mouth with her hands, eyes full of shock.

"Yeah. Brady was screwing My girlfriend -- my very first girlfriend. The first time I got to see her naked, she was riding your dad in the living room." I regretted the words I'd chosen almost immediately. Kassidy was frozen silent.

"He couldn't see me, but I could see her.S was fucking him reverse cowgirl style, with her knees splayed open, just everything on full display right in front of me."

Kassidy's hand was still covering her mouth.

"So, she jumps down off of his dick and covers herself up. I ran out of the house. I couldn't hear her calling my name and apologizing. The only thing I heard was Brady laughing at me."

Kassidy finally spoke, dropping her hand down from her face. "That... must have been terrible."

"It was. I didn't go back home for hours."

"Did you ever talk to her again?" she asked quietly.

"Well, I didn't have much of a choice," I sighed. "She kept dating my brother after that."

"No way," my niece said disbelievingly.

"Yep. She sure did. She tried to talk to me about it a few times, but I shut her down every time. Eventually mom and dad told me I was being petty and that I should learn to get over it. But I was a stubborn son of a bitch and swore to them I never would."

"I don't blame you," Kassidy said, leaning forward and listening intently.

"Yeah, well, hold that thought." I popped another bottle open. "I mean, I get it; Brady was three years older than me, and he was the big-time college football stud. He had lots of fame, notoriety, and eventually, money. They ended up staying together for a long while."

"How long?" she asked without thinking.

"Twenty-eight years now." I chugged the bottle in my hand.

Kassidy's eyes went wide when she connected the dots.

"No... You mean..." Her voice trailed off.

"Yeah," I said flatly. "Your dad pretty much stole your mother from me."

"That's... That's unbelievable." Her voice was shaking.

"Believe it, kiddo. I was bitter and I held grudges, Shit, I still hold that grudge to a point. I moved away after college and never looked back."

"I didn't know... Oh my GOD!" she exclaimed, clasping her hand across her mouth again.

"Look, I didn't tell you that for pity, or as a dig at your parents. From all accounts, your dad turned into a stand-up guy, and your mom raised you kids right. It still doesn't mean that it hurt me any less to have to see them together." I took a deep breath." We were young and did stupid things. Your parents moved on and made a life for themselves. I never really moved on. I could never let go of the hate."

Kassidy went silent, her mind clearly frazzled. "Wha... How... Why..." She was just stammering in confusion. The jets stopped. I set another empty bottle down on the porch.

"You good or do you want me to crank it up again?" I asked.

"Could we sit for a little longer?" she asked quietly, her mind still clearly somewhere else.

I reset the timer and the jets fired back up. The look on my niece's face was making me regret my decision to tell her the truth. I felt like an asshole. "Hey kiddo. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put all this on you."

"No. I... I'm sorry Uncle Ross." It was odd to hear her call me by my actual name.

I opened another drink and took a swig. Kassidy looked at me inquisitively for a few moments before she spoke next.

"I get why you hate them, but why do they hate you?"

I let out a deep sigh. "Like I said, I held a grudge. They got married like a year later. I was home from college -- not by choice, mind you -- and was still being a giant prick to my brother and your mom every chance I had. When the wedding came around, my dad gave my best friend, Walter, a couple hundred bucks to get me drunk and keep me away from the wedding."

Kassidy nodded silently.

"His plan backfired. Walter passed out first, and I decided to crash the party. I was drunk off my ass -- so drunk that it is a miracle that I didn't die on the drive over there. I marched in and stood against the back wall unnoticed for a little bit. Then, the preacher asked if anyone had any objections, and to speak now or forever hold their peace."

"Oh no," Kassidy exclaimed, anticipating the worst.

"Oh yes," I said sadly. "I told my brother that I hoped the two of them had a miserable marriage. I called them both vile names in front of all our family and friends. I cursed them up one direction and down the other with every bit of venom I could put in my voice."

"Your dad tried to charge at me, but a couple of his groomsmen held him back. My dad came after me, and I hauled ass out of there. In my mind, I ran for miles and miles, faster than Superman could fly, until I collapsed from exhaustion."

I took another long drink. "It turned out I ran two whole blocks, tripped over some garden stones, and passed out face first in the dirt. Dad later said that later on, he found me, and instead of kicking my ass, just left me laying there in a pile of mud, piss, and vomit."

Kassidy giggled a little.

"I heard that they restarted the ceremony an hour or so later, after your mom re-did her makeup from all the crying she had done." I dropped another empty bottle on the ground.

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Jesus Christ, Rooster." Kassidy finally found her voice. "That's the worst thing I think I've ever heard of. No wonder no one talks about it."

"It was bad. I was out of control. For as wrong as you parents were for what they did to me," I said, "I was just as wrong to harbor the hate for so long and sabotage their wedding."

We sat together in silence after that for a while. Kassidy quietly got out of the tub and went inside. I watched her intently as she did, cursing myself for checking out her body. I finished my beer and turned everything off before going back inside myself.

Kassidy was sitting on the couch, having already changed clothes, when I walked back into the house. "Would you like me to go?" she asked quietly.

"You really shouldn't," I said, "with as much as we've drank today."

"I know, but I don't want you to hate me for asking you about everything." Her voice cracked a little bit.

I was a little taken aback. "Why would I hate you? You didn't even exist back then."

"I mean, you must really hate me." There was real pain in her voice. "I look exactly like my mom did back then. I've seen her pictures."

I paused. "You are as beautiful now as she was back then, that's for sure. But I could never hate you, kiddo."

"I don't want to remind you of her, either." Kassidy looked up at me with those doe eyes.

"You don't. Look, I was fucked up for a very long time because of all that. I did some terrible things and made some horrific decisions. I admit that. The few times I went back to visit, I was genuinely happy to see your brother and you. Me not being around wasn't because I didn't want to spend time with you. It was just foolish pride.

"Okay," she said quietly.

I pulled her to her feet gently. "Now, you go crash in the bedroom. I'll sleep out here tonight."

"I couldn't..." she started.

"Nonsense," I insisted. I would have given you the bed last night if you hadn't already crashed out watching TV."

I went to put my arm around her shoulder when Kassidy turned and hugged me full on. She exhaled loudly. I could tell she was still reeling emotionally from hearing about the past. I relished the feeling of her body against mine more than I should have.

I felt like an asshole again. "I'm sorry, kiddo. You deserved better than that."

She didn't respond, but just squeezed me tighter. I could feel her trembling a little.

"Come on, go get some sleep." I walked her to the bedroom and kissed her forehead.

Kassidy and I talked a little the next morning. She went home after lunch, needing to do some laundry before class on Monday.

I didn't hear from her for a couple of days. I didn't really know what kind of a relationship we would have after all of that, so I was happy when she sent me a text during the week.

- Could I come by tomorrow night? Maybe take a go in the hot tub? -

I replied quickly.

- Sure. I'll make sure it's cleaned and ready -

I smiled to myself and went about my day.

After work on Wednesday, I cranked up the heaters and made sure everything was ready to go. I changed into my trunks and sat around the house waiting for Kassidy to arrive.

She came in wearing the same outfit as she had last time, we'd been in the hot tub: a thin yellow T-shirt, and loose blue shorts. She had on her bikini top again as well. The green strings were visible behind her neck, and the silhouette of its top part was apparent under her shirt.

She gave me a hug and I walked us to the back door. She had a bottle of water with her since she intended to drive home.