Page 29 of Before We Fell

Once this summer, after we moved to Carlton, I took her to the college campus in Lawrence where Amanda and I had both done our undergraduate work. We toured the campus and I showed her all of my favorite spots.

But beyond giving her what she needed for survival and setting limits, attempting to have fun, I didn’t know the first thing about having a little girl always in my house.

So yeah, learning the correct way to slide a comb or brush through a doll’s hair felt pathetic, especially considering Lauren obviously knew how clueless I was, but I had two goals in my life.

One, not screw up Riley any more than she already was, and

Two, make Amanda and Jake proud of the way I raised Riley.

If it meant drop-kicking my pride to the trashcan and picking up a doll, I was all for it.

Lauren’s hand was on my thigh, squeezing and I didn’t know if she realized she was still touching me as I gaped at her, the suddenness of her movement or the way heat spiraled down my spine and straight to my dick at her touch.

It’d been too damn long since I was with a woman. With Lauren sitting next to me, touching me and smelling like sweet flowers, it was almost too much. The encouraging look she gave me was so damn sweet, I wanted to sully it right off her face by doing incredibly inappropriate things to her.

She was pretty, in that innocent girl next door kind of way. It wasn’t what I typically I went for, but I could admit to myself I was attracted to her. Freckles dotted across the bridge of her nose and across the tops of her cheeks. Warm brown eyes blinked at me and as her lips stretched into a smile, I had the sudden urge to lean in and press my lips to hers, see if she’d taste as good as she looked.

She was a delicacy. A weird one what with showing up at a practical stranger’s house armed with dolls and combs, but it showed her compassion. How much she wanted to help Riley and maybe…

I shook my head and reached for the water bottle she’d used on her own doll. The move knocked her hand off my thigh and I grunted at the loss of contact.

Her soft voice wobbled as she spoke again. “Spray the ends if you’re brushing her hair when it’s dry. Riley’s hair is really thick so it tangles easier.” She pointed to the other bottle. “That’s de-tangler if you don’t have any. You can have that one because I don’t use it much. Spray it on her hair when she gets out of the bath and it’ll help, too. If you teach her how to do it, she’s old enough she can start taking care of that by herself, too.”

“De-tangler. Got it.” I was smart enough to know what it did based on the name. “What next?”

“Work your way up from the ends to the top. When you reach a knot or tangle, press your hand to her scalp and hold the chunk of hair, like this.” She gripped a section of the doll’s hair and tugged at the hair. “The pressure at the scalp will stop it from hurting her.”

I thought back to the first time I’d brushed Riley’s hair and how much she’d screamed and cried, running from me with monstrous teardrops dripping off her scrunched chin. If she ever let me near her again, it’d be a miracle.

A sigh fell from my parted lips as I concentrated on what Lauren had said.

I tugged at a sharp tangle in the doll and good God, when was the last time she had these out? The hair was a mess which meant it was a good teaching tool, but the clothes on them told me they were older.

“How long have you lived in Carlton?” I asked, the silence getting to me. I could have reached for a remote, turned on some music or the television.

“I did my student teaching here my last semester of college and was fortunate to be hired when another teacher retired, so…” She scrunched her nose as she thought. Her tongue slid out at the corner of her lips. I yanked my gaze off her mouth back to the doll. “Three years? Yes, three years this past July. Seems like I’ve always been here, though.”

“Is it different than where you grew up?”

“Towns are towns, I guess. It’s smaller, but the people…that makes all the difference.”

She laughed but it was almost sad, like she didn’t miss her hometown at all and to an extent, I understood. After growing up in a small town, I wanted nothing more than to live in a city. The thrill and excitement of a new bar or restaurant to check out every weekend and concerts, parks, and museums. I loved all of it. So much better than my parents’ habit of steak nights at The Tavern on Fridays, bingo at The American Legion on Saturdays, line dancing every other Thursday night.

Carlton had stifled me when I was younger, clipping my wings, and sometimes making me feel like my dreams were too big for small minds.

I didn’t even fully understand why I wanted to know more about Lauren except for the fact my dick liked it when I looked at her. He never needed small talk to be interested before though, just a nice pair of tits and a firm, round ass.

Both of which Lauren had.

Squeezing my eyes closed, I heaved another sigh and banished the thought from my mind. My dick needed to stop paying attention before he was at full attention, saluting her.

Just what I needed. Getting a hard-on while I played with a doll in my lap.

Oh, what the partners at the law firm or my opponents at the district attorney’s office would say if they could see me now.

I reached for the spray bottle that had ended up between us and my fingers brushed against her bare thighs as I grabbed it. Soft, soft skin. I wet down the doll’s hair. “What about your family?”

“Still there. Parents are married.” She shrugged, but her voice had gone tight, erasing her typical friendly tone.

---