Page 107 of Mountain Daddy
My balls feel perpetually blue, no matter how much I jerk off.
And it’s getting harder to ignore the guilt.
And the guilt isn’t just about hiding the sex from Joe. It’s about hiding my emotions too.
If I were experiencing these strong feelings for anyone else, I’d talk to Joe about it. We’d sit here, at my bar, and talk it out.
He’d tell me to keep seeing her.
He’d tell me to keep having fun and let what happens happen.
But if he knew it was his daughter we were talking about… He’d punch me.
I’m sure of it.
“Marching band,” I blurt out, with a little more volume than I meant to.
Now Jessie is looking at me like I’ve completely lost the plot.
Probably because I have.
She slowly sets down the rag she’s holding. “You wanna talk about it?”
“Talk about what?”
Jessie sighs. “About your little one-night stand with Joe’s kid.”
My shoulders drop. “Who told you?”
I know she’s a good sister when she doesn’t laugh at me. I can tell she wants to. Know she will eventually. But I’m pretty sure she can see how not well I’m doing.
“One of the guys from the Lodge.” She doesn’t name names, but the list of suspects is short. “I wasn’t sure I believed them, but the description of the girl and your reaction just now…” She puffs out her cheeks, still fighting that laugh. “Man, Rock, that must’ve been a mind fuck.”
I don’t want to talk to my sister about my sex life. But with Joe unavailable for the task, I need someone to talk to.
“You have no idea.” I put the twice-cleaned glass back in the sink and drag my damp hand over my face. “I went over there for breakfast the next week before fishing, and… there she was.”
Jessie sucks in a breath. “Oh fuck.” Then she laughs. “Sorry. Sorry.”
I wave her off. “Just get it out of your system.”
She tries to school her features. “So, what? You walked in, and she was just sitting at the table?”
“Not exactly.” I don’t know if that scenario would’ve been better or worse. “I literally ran into her as she was coming out of the bathroom.”
“Bet that took you back a step.”
I recall the moment and let out a deranged chuckle. “I accused her of sleeping with Joe.”
Jessie’s burst of laughter is so loud it draws the attention of half the bar.
She slaps her hand over her mouth and steps closer, lowering her voice. “You didn’t.”
“I did.”
“Did she slap you?”
My mouth slowly pulls up into a smirk.
