Mr. Roommate: Single Dad & Virgin Romance

“Dad!” She glared at him angrily and he chuckled.

I offered Mr. Smith some whiskey after dinner and he gladly accepted. I decided not to have any myself since I would be driving. Hannah went back to her room and we walked outside on the deck to enjoy the evening air. Mostly, we just talked business. He was in advertising, but he didn’t have any major clients in the small town he lived in. He had a lot of stories about the world of advertising—I was sure a few of them were embellished, but they were still funny.

I told him the rest of the details about my life, including my marriage which went down in flames. He nodded painfully at the intricate details. I had a decent job at least, and with Hannah staying there, I could start putting my life back together on the financial front. He finished one glass of whiskey fairly quickly and went for a second. As he drank, he seemed to loosen up a little bit. We had a lot in common, although we would have probably never spoken if we passed each other on the street or ended up on the same subway. Once the conversation started flowing, we talked like old friends.

“I guess I should get you to the airport.” I looked at my watch.

“Yeah, first my flight was late and now I’ll be rushing to get there.” He chuckled and finished the last gulp of his whiskey before walking inside.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go to the airport with you?” Hannah walked down the hallway when she heard us enter the house.

“No, you stay here and unpack.” He turned to Hannah and hugged her. “Be good. Don’t give Brent here any problems. I love you.”

“I won’t give him any trouble. I love you too.” She hugged him tight before letting him go.

It was a long drive to the airport, but I didn’t mind spending more time talking with him. The subject shifted to football and we were immediately on opposite ends of the field, passionately explaining why our team was better. We started running through lineups, calling out players that could stop the other team’s quarterback and agreeing we would actually put a wager on the game when our teams played each other. We got to the airport and he stumbled when he got out of the car. Apparently, the whiskey had hit him a little harder than I realized. I helped him get his bag to the gate and waited until he got checked in. He shook my hand again and pulled me close before he let it go.

“She can be a handful at times. If she gets out of line, just put her over your knee.” He gave me a wink and then turned towards the terminal.

I responded with a nervous laugh and a strange look. He walked towards the terminal and pulled his bag behind him. I started to worry that the alcohol had a lot more of an impact on him than I thought when I saw him stagger. I climbed back into my car and headed home—I was ready for bed.

Hannah

As soon as Brent and my father were gone, I went outside for a cigarette. It felt good after not being able to have one for the entire trip across the country. Brent seemed like a nice guy and he cooked an awesome dinner, so I was pretty sure I would like living with him, despite my original concerns. I returned to my room and continued the overwhelming task of unpacking my things. I worked for a couple of hours before I heard Brent’s car in the driveway. I was exhausted and I badly needed to take a break. I had managed to get the bed cleared off and most of my clothes unpacked, which I considered to be a monumental achievement. I walked into the living room and saw Brent pouring a glass of whiskey.

“Can I get one of those?” I bit down on my lip and smiled when looked my way.

“I don’t think so.” He shook his head. “I don’t think your father would be very happy if he found out I got you drunk.”

“Fine…” I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure there will be plenty of alcohol at all the parties I’ll be going to.”

“Yeah, about that.” He walked over and took a seat. “I don’t care if you go out. This is your house as much as it is mine while you’re here, but don’t forget who is paying your rent. I have a vested interest in making sure you do well in college.”

“I was kidding anyway. I’m not much of a partier.” I slumped down on the sofa across from him. “Do you have Netflix?”

“I do.” He nodded and picked up the remote.

We decided on a comedy that was a little raunchy, but it was the kind of movie I was used to watching with my friends. He seemed to enjoy it as well, even some of the crude humor that I would have been afraid to ever watch with my father. I figured Brent had about ten years on me, but he was unbelievably attractive. When he got up to fix another drink, I couldn’t help but stare. I wasn’t used to meeting nice guys that were so hot. The guys my age knew how attractive they were and flaunted it. Brent was more reserved and he was more of a man than any of them were. By the time the movie was over, we were both laughing—but we were also yawning. We called it a night and I got ready for bed. I would have some long nights ahead of me when school started, so I needed all the sleep I could get while my brain was still at peace.

After school started, Brent and I rarely saw each other outside of breakfast and dinner. We settled into a routine of him going to work and me going to school. I got home earlier than him, so if I didn’t have a lot of homework, I would try to put together something edible so he didn’t have to cook. He was a lot better at it than I was, even when I followed his recipes to the letter. He would usually arrive in time to bail me out. More than once he arrived when I was mid tantrum and contemplating the idea of burning the house down to hide my latest failure. Even when I thought the food sucked, he told me it was wonderful as he downed every bite—sometimes he even went back for seconds while I was gagging on mine.

“Seriously, this is just terrible.” I stared at what was supposed to be squash on my plate. It was charred and almost mush.

“Add a little salt—it brings out the flavor.” He winked and scooped it onto his fork. It hit the plate before he could get it in his mouth.

“At least the chicken survived.” I picked up the piece of meat that could have been used as a hockey puck. “Or almost.”

“It just means you have to chew it more. It’s fine.” He finally got some squash in his mouth and started sawing on his chicken.

“Maybe I should just leave the cooking to you…” I sighed and put down my fork.

“You’ll never learn if you don’t practice. Melody is coming this weekend. We can cook dinner together and I’ll show you a few tricks.” He smiled and started chewing his chicken.

Melody was adorable. She looked like a miniature version of the woman giving me an evil glare from the curb, except Melody’s face was lit up with a gigantic smile. She didn’t even know me, but she gave me a big hug the instant she met me. By the time I stood up from the hug, I saw her mother in the car and driving away. Brent was true to his word and we spent the evening in the kitchen, working on dinner together. He showed me how to use the meat thermometer to check the temperature on chicken and showed me the cheat sheet he kept in the drawer to determine when it was ready to be served. He taught me how to sauté vegetables instead of stew them in a pan, and he even showed me how to adjust the heat when things weren’t going right. Those were the things the cookbook failed to mention and when we were done, we had a meal that looked like it could have been in a magazine.

“Mommy says you’re Daddy’s new slut.” Melody grinned as I served her.

“Melody! That isn’t a nice word!” Brent glared at his daughter and looked at me. “I’m sorry. Melody, tell Hannah you’re sorry.”