Firefighter's Virgin

I thought about all the intimate details I had already shared with Natalie and wondered what it was about her that had caused me to open up like that. It was certainly out of character. I had to admit, that bugged me a little.

I wondered if Lindsey was right and after a few months my preoccupation with Natalie would wear off, too. Maybe all this was a simple matter of sexual frustration. Maybe once we’d slept together, I wouldn’t think of her nearly as much.

Even as I thought that, I felt a stab of guilt and it unsettled me. Why should I feel guilty? I haven’t made her any promises, and she hasn’t asked me to. We are two consenting adults who are having dinner on Friday night, and if we happen to have sex, then it would just be sex…right? I was well aware of the fact that I was starting to psyche myself out.

“Chance?”

“Yeah,” I said, looking back at Lindsey. “Sorry.”

“Where were you?”

“Just…thinking.”

“I can see that,” she nodded. “What about?”

I smiled. “Was there a reason you chose to honor me with your presence?” I asked pointedly.

She laughed. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m not going to try and pry your secrets from you. You are perfectly at liberty to share what you want with me.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

“I just wanted to thank you,” she said. “For agreeing to keep my secret.”

“Oh,” I said. “Well, no problem. Don’t worry about it.”

She rose to her feet and headed for the door. “Just so you know, if you have any secrets you want to share, I’m all ears.”

“I don’t,” I said. “But when I do, I’ll let you know.”

Lindsey gave me a wink and headed out, leaving me to my empty office. I finished grading the last five papers on my list and when I looked up again, an hour had already passed. I put away my files and headed towards the parking lot. I had agreed to join my sister and her family for dinner. Usually, I made an excuse at the last minute, but this time, I actually wanted to go. It would take an hour to get there, but the drive would allow me time to think.

Sophie lived in a quiet little suburb that was so quaint it was almost a cliché. She even had a white picket fence and a minivan in the driveway. I parked behind it and headed towards the front door. Before I could even knock, the door flew open and a tiny little boy with big red hair and freckles stared up at me with a huge toothless smile on his face.

“Hi, Uncle Chancy.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “The name’s Chance, kid,” I said.

“Mommy says your name is Chancy.”

“How about I tell you what Mommy used to be called in high school?”

“Careful, little brother,” Sophie’s voice was loud and firm as she appeared beside her son at the door. “You don’t want to go there.”

I smiled. “Are you going to let me in?”

She moved aside and Tommy grabbed my hand. “Do you like fish?”

“No,” I said.

His face dropped immediately. “But… But… That’s what we’re having for dinner.”

“Uncle Chance is only kidding, sweetheart,” Sophie said quickly. “Aren’t you, Uncle Chance?”

“Are you?” Tommy asked, looking up at me hopefully.

“Urgh…sure,” I nodded.

Again, the smile reappeared on Tommy’s face, and he zoomed off in the direction of the kitchen. I turned to Sophie, who was shaking her head at me with a reproachful look on her face. Sophie had been the one to take after Dad in looks, while I had favored my mother’s features. But every now and again, Sophie would do things that reminded me of Mom.