Soft Body

24: La Famiglia

 Tucker did not often find himself sitting on the floor of the utility closet with an erection that wouldn't go away, no matter how much he tried to talk himself down.

He'd finally done it. He kissed her and she kissed him back.

Tucker had kissed some perfectly nice women in the time that he and Eve were separated. And the kisses were perfectly fine, adequate, did the job. But this one was different.

For one, she wasn't even expecting it. When he and Eve were together, she played games with her affection, using it as currency to get what she wanted. She had silently forbidden him to make any move on her unless she had explicitly initiated it, and even then, it was only to get him to do something.

He used to think that it made her worth it, like he had to work to earn her. But he knew now that it wasn't earning. It was appeasement.

His kiss with Ruby had no time for calculation or mind games. She did not lure him to the back. She did her job and spoke with him candidly, so he responded in the most honest way he could.

Perhaps too honest, as he didn't know how long he'd been sitting, but the concrete of the floor began to hurt his tailbone and he was still hard.

By the end of their shift, Tucker and Ruby had snuck two more kisses. By the last one, she was whimpering in his arms and he wanted to take her then and there.

He debated the idea more than once, ultimately resigning himself to his responsibility as a proprietor, as much as he hated that he had to.

Tucker couldn't wait to see her again that night.

But first, another woman expected him.

********

Tucker's mother had laid out a spread of breakfast for him, expecting him to eat far more than they both knew he would. It was all hearty and caloric, and so so delicious. Tucker made sure he chose his portions carefully.

"So, do you want to chat before your brother comes downstairs or after? I'm sure Rocco would have a nice laugh, considering he's the one who picked up the phone when your wife called."

Tucker's younger brother Rocco was twenty-four and still lived at home. He kept odd hours between his various jobs and university courses, so the fact that he even picked up the phone in the first place was somewhat of a surprise.

"Ex-wife," Tucker said with a firm reminder in his voice.

His mother sipped her coffee with raised eyebrows.

Tucker had made the mistake of marrying Eve in the Catholic Church, like the good Roman Catholic boy he was raised to be.

Their divorce was another story. He hadn't bothered with an annulment and so, in the eyes of his mother and the Catholic Church, for all intents and purposes, Tucker and Eve were merely separated. It was the only thing his mother was adamant about.

"So what'd she say now?" Tucker replied to his mother's subtle shade.

"That you were dating a teenager."

Tucker choked on his eggs and began to cough. He heard the creak of Rocco's bed and prepared himself for the inevitable roasting. A small smile creeped along his mother's lips.

"So this one is true? Not like the times she said you were in debt, or damaged her car, or locked her out of the house?"

Tucker took a drink to ease his throat.

"It's okay. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but she had better be legal. I didn't raise a pervert."

"Pssh, maybe you think you didn't." Rocco came sweeping into the room with his usual cloud of frantic energy. Even at the start of the day, he had a buzz around him of vital life.

Tucker nodded hello as Rocco poured himself a cup of coffee.

"I heard she's eighteen and super fat. Are you having a mid-life crisis this early? Is this what I have to look forward to?" Rocco made no effort to hide his obvious joy at the jab.

"Is this a police interrogation? Fine!" Tucker raised his hands in frustration. "What do you want to know?"

"Is she eighteen?" His mother and Rocco said at the same time, in different tones.

"Yes! Older!"

"But not so much older that your wife would think that you're corrupting a child?" Rocco grinned.

"Why do you even care? Don't you still go to high school parties?"

"Okay, okay. You two, stop." Tucker's mother turned to him, "Are you dating someone? A legal adult?"

Tucker exhaled. "Yes. She's twenty-one."

"Where'd you meet her?"

"The gym." Tucker had wanted to lie. He knew what would come next.

"Oh, the gym... Where you met your wife.. She just exercises there, right?"

Rocco sniggered. "Apparently not, if she's super fat."

Tucker rolled his eyes, ignoring his brother who had obviously not grown up yet. "No, she works for me."

"Oh... So just like your wife."

"Ma, I'm not married anymore, I'm an adult man, and I can date. If you even want to call it that."

"Don't get fresh, Tucker."

"You know what I mean! It's just not official yet," Tucker said, rolling his hand in front of him to emphasize the word official.

"Hmm."

"And Rock: You're a dumb ass. That's it."

"Yeah, we'll see." Rocco left with his plate to the living room.

"Yeah... We'll see." Tucker's mom looked him deep in the eyes.

When he was younger, she would tell him that she could tell if he had been bad by the color of his eyes. "If they're light, you've been good. If they're dark, you've been bad," she'd say. He knew now that it was all some gimmick to get him to confess but still, he hoped his eyes wouldn't betray him.

"Don't worry about it, Ma."

She scoffed and took her plate to the sink. "She'd better be an adult."

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