Page 53 of Plaything

I was on my third beer and feeling slightly tipsy. Chester was showing me old photos of Wyatt and my other professors when they were younger.

He fixed the stove and even looked at the hot water heater after I mentioned our freezing water situation. He screwed a few valves, and messed with it for a few minutes, and said we should have more hot water now. He even helped me make dinner.

Wyatt was fortunate to have had such an amazing dad, and I was jealous.

“Wait, wait, so he went to school without clothes on?” I repeated, looking at the picture of Wyatt in nothing but his panties with a huge grin and an unamused teacher standing next to him.

Chester nodded, “Sure did! Of course, I didn’t send him out of the house like that. His mama would have beat us both,” he chuckled. “He stripped down to his tighty-whities, so he wouldn’t have to go outside in the cold for recess. That boy always had his head in a book,” he said.

I smiled, “Then it looks like he’s in the right profession,” I claimed.

“Pops?” I heard the front door open, followed by footsteps. “Where are you at?” Wyatt called.

“In the kitchen with some pretty young lady!” Chester called back, chuckling at his own teasing.

Wyatt opened the kitchen door, followed by the rest of my professors. He smiled at his dad, and Chester stood up to hug him. “Hey, what are you doing here?” he asked. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

Chester patted his back, pulling away from him. “You know me. I didn’t want you to go out of your way to make some fancy dinner for me like you usually do. I was just dropping off your shop vacuum; it works real good on car seats,” he nodded.

Chester turned to the other three men and grinned, “Hey boys, how’ve y’all been?” He gave them each a handshake.

Aiden grinned, “We’ve been doing just fine, Chester. How’s the shop?” He asked.

Dominic stood next to me, wrapping his hand around my hip and pulling me into his side. I smiled at him as Chester started talking about his auto shop. “He’s really nice,” I whispered.

Dominic nodded, agreeing. “Dinner smells good,” he complimented.

My chest filled with warmth, “Really?” I beamed up at him, softly giggling.

The corner of his lips lifted in an amused smile, “How many of these have you had?” He asked, grabbing my beer and taking a drink out of it.

“A few,” I raised my eyebrows.

“I see you’ve already met Odette,” Aiden said, capturing my attention.

Chester grinned, “She tried to assault me with meat grabbers, but other than that, she’s a dime,” he winked at me.

It felt like it was so long ago. Chester wouldn’t hurt a fly—I know that now. It seemed silly to think he would harm me. I chuckled. “You snuck up on me,” I defended.

Wyatt looked between the two of us and smiled, “You staying for dinner, Pops?” He asked.

Chester shook his head and held his hands up, “Oh no, your mama put a casserole in the oven this mornin’. I’m sure it’s about ready by now,” he nodded.

Chester looked at me, “Walk me out, Sugar. I wanna talk to you,” he started walking out the door.

I widened my eyes. Oh no. What did I do? My palms got sweaty as I stepped away from Dominic. “What does he want?” I whispered to Wyatt, trying not to panic.

Wyatt chuckled and shrugged, “Don’t be nervous,” he said, amused. “Go find out,” he gestured to the door.

I caught up with Chester, standing next to him on the porch.

He gave me a pointed look. “I ain’t seen those boys look so happy in a long time. I know it’s because of you, so don’t pretend it ain’t,” he said before I could argue. I smiled. “Don’t go breakin’ my boys’ heart, little lady; I saw how he looked atcha when he walked through the door,” he said.

My heart skipped a beat. How did he look at me? I nodded, not knowing what else to say.

He smiled, handing me a business card with his phone number, “If anything else breaks, you give pops a call, and I’ll be right over to fix it for ya, alright?” He said.

I smiled, his words filling my eyes with tears out of nowhere. It was a kind offer, and something about it simultaneously broke and fixed something inside me. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, “Thank you,” I said softly.

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