Confidence Building 101 Read online

  “Hey, who knows, maybe one of your sleeper picks will hit and it’ll make up for losing him? It’s a long season,” Kevin told him.

  Scott shook his head. “Yeah, a long season of losing…”

  Kevin was still hung up on something as he glanced back at the kitchen to find Ms. B in her seat once again. “You really can’t name more than two guys in the NFL?”

  “She really only named one,” Scott jumped in. “‘Tom Brady’s backup’ isn’t exactly a name.”

  Lisa looked up from the last of the bills in front of her. “I don’t watch football. I’m a hockey girl. You know that.”

  Yeah, Kevin was well aware of that. In fact, it was the sole reason he started following hockey to begin with. There was something so captivating about a sexy, smart woman watching sports. But hockey? He never gave it a chance until he discovered that she was into it a few years ago, and it didn’t take long before he enjoyed watching the sport himself.

  “Hockey is so boring,” Scott commented. “You can’t even tell what’s going on.”

  Her eyebrows perked up after hearing that. How many times had this argument taken place in their house? “Yes, you can! Hockey is fun, exciting, and super fast-paced. It’s also the only sport that’s better in person, which is a bummer because I haven’t been to a game in forever.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  The mother and son both looked at the guy now lying on the loveseat, his long legs dangling over the edge.

  “You want to go to a hockey game with me?” she asked Kevin, surprised and somewhat flattered.

  Kevin attempted to play his offer off like it was no big deal. “I mean, if you don’t have anyone to go with…”

  Scott’s focus was back on his phone as he joined his friend’s positioning by also sprawling across his own piece of furniture. “I’d rather kill myself than go to a hockey game.”

  Two seconds later, Kevin was playing through a fictional night on the town with his buddy’s mom. He’d pick her up around seven o’clock, and they’d make the twenty minute drive downtown in his car. The ride would be full of laughter and good conversation before they strolled into the arena just in time for the seven-thirty puck drop. The idea of spending two and a half hours next to her was almost enough to kill him as is, but then he thought about how small and cramped hockey seats were. Her arm would be leaning against his! And her leg would probably bump into his as well! And maybe they would go out and grab a bite to eat after. Maybe he could have the world’s most perfect woman all to himself for an entire night.

  Or maybe he could keep dreaming.

  “Yeah, maybe we’ll go to a game this season,” she told her son’s friend with a smile.

  Kevin’s heart skipped a beat.

  Lisa let out a loud yawn and announced, “Alright boys, I’m calling it a night.”

  “It’s nine-fifteen, Mom…” Scott said, surprised by her revelation.

  “Long day…” she groaned, cracking her neck in the process. She journeyed back into the family room and headed over to the sofa, giving her son a kiss on the cheek. “Good night, baby.”

  “Night, Mom,” Scott replied with his attention still locked on his Twitter feed. He was urgently searching for a report that his running back had only suffered a knee bruise.

  “Good night, Kevin.”

  And just like that, Kevin’s mind was back to a foggy mess. Her butt had been staring right at him while she bent over to kiss Scott on the cheek. God, how good did that look? Her long legs pointing toward the ceiling, her ass was high in the air, and her back arched as she leaned down. He had a few ideas for some fun with her in that position; ideally, bent over anything in the house. The sofa, the kitchen counter, the bathroom sink—he really didn’t care. He just wanted to get behind her.

  “Good night, Kevin…” Lisa repeated.

  Once again, he shooed the mist out of his brain and attempted to focus. “Goodnight, Ms. B.”

  She smiled before heading toward the stairs.

  Kevin took a deep breath. He needed to stop doing this. That was his best friend’s mom—not some porn star. He shouldn’t be thinking about her sexually, and it’s not like she would ever consider doing something with him anyway. He was twenty years younger than her! And she’d known him since he was a little kid! He needed to grow up and stop being a piece of shit.

  Lisa strolled into the upstairs bathroom and locked the door behind her, her vivid blue eyes quickly finding the mirror. Her body turned, allowing herself to soak in the physique she worked so hard to achieve. The gym had been a priority in her life for as long as she could remember. She’d always made time for it, even back when she was juggling school into her already busy schedule. The vegan lifestyle came along later and she immediately noticed the results: both mentally and physically. She felt sharper and more alive after cutting animal products from her diet. She needed less sleep to feel great in the morning, her body no longer experienced soreness after working out, and her mind was more than able to keep up with the know-it-all guys in her office.

  She knew she looked good. Male approval surrounded her everywhere. Men both young and old would eye her when she walked past them. Simple trips to the grocery store resulted in an onslaught of looks and attention. Running into a coffee shop to grab a green tea usually resulted in someone making small talk and occasionally asking her out. There was even that time a couple of years ago when Scott had a few friends from school over. One of the boys slipped and made a comment about her being the “School MILF,” before nonchalantly changing topics. Scott wouldn’t talk about it when she asked him the following day, but Kevin opened up when she got him alone. Apparently one of the upperclassmen saw her waiting to pick Scott up in the parking lot when he was in ninth grade, and he was known as “the kid with the hot mom” from that point on. Part of her liked that, but she also understood that it was teenage testosterone. A slight breeze could turn an eighteen-year-old kid on; but as horny as high schoolers were, that didn’t even compare to the men at work.

  Dating inside the office wasn’t encouraged at her job, but that didn’t stop the assholes she was surrounded by from trying to fuck everything that moved. What happens to a man’s mind when he starts making good money? Does common sense and reason just vanish? She would watch new hires act sweet and generous during their first few years on the job; and it was like the instant they jumped on board the money train, they immediately turned into pigs.

  She’d been at her office long enough for most of the guys to leave her alone. Sure, some of them would still flirt with her—especially the extremely wealthy ones—but they usually went for the fresh out of college hires. Her distinct and clear lack of interest in anyone involved in her profession came through loud and clear. Well, except that time she kind of slipped.

  Mike had made a temporary stop in her life sixteen months ago. He was a good-looking, successful personal injury lawyer who worked in their Chicago office, and he happened to be in town for a conference when they ran into each other by chance down in the lobby. Something about his noticeably fit body under his sharp suit caught her attention. His distinguished salt and pepper hair made her bubbly inside as well; and on that day, she decided to look past her refusal to date anyone she worked with for a night out with this mystery man.

  The first red flag shot up when he invited her to a five-star restaurant. One, she was more of an Applebee’s kind of girl. Actually, her dream date was a guy who cooked for her, but he was in town for business so it was unfair to judge him on that. The high-end restaurant was still a bit of a turn off. How about a quiet place where they didn’t have to wait forty-five minutes for their ridiculously expensive food to come out? But she bit her lip.

  And that was a good thing, because Mike really liked to talk about himself.

  Money, money, money, money, money. Everything was about money. He bragged about the 1965 Shelby Cobra he had back home, the boat he took out every weekend during the summer, and the professional leve
l golf courses he would play. And then he finally asked her a question. He inquired if she played tennis.

  Because he could get her into a club if she wanted.

  Everything was a status symbol. Everything he owned was a way of flashing his dick to the world. Why would he have been any different? He was a lawyer. She was surrounded by them every day. They were all assholes, but she hadn’t been with a man in close to a year before that date, and Mike looked pretty damn good.

  She went back to his hotel room that night where they had mediocre sex. His selfish, arrogant attitude translated to the bedroom, and that was never fun for the lady on the receiving end. He told her that he would give her a call the next time he was in town for business; and right on cue, her phone buzzed a month later. It was another offer for a dinner date.

  He looked at her as a hook up.

  Lisa blocked his number and fortunately never saw him again, although she was waiting for the day when she bumped into him in the lobby. Maybe she would pretend to not remember who he was? It was her fault at the end of the day though. She fucked him. But she couldn’t help herself! She had needs! But that was what her vibrator was for. She should’ve known better by this point! She was almost forty!

  Her love life had been a bit of a mixed bag over the years. She’d never brought anyone around the house. Originally, she did it to keep boyfriends away from Scott. The last thing she wanted was for her timid seven-year-old son to grow attached to some boyfriend who wouldn’t be around six months later, and then it just kind of turned into a habit. It seemed strange to bring men home—not that there were a lot of them—but at the same time, she wasn’t excluded from the occasional relationship or even fling. She just made sure to do it at someone else’s place.

  Her last guy was a short lived romance which lasted only a few weeks. Eight months ago she’d received a Facebook message from a former college boyfriend, Andy. He was recently divorced, had moved back to town, and looked her up to see what she had going on. The two met up for coffee; and before she knew it, she was nineteen all over again.

  The emotional connection they once shared quickly rekindled after messing around for a few weeks, but then she learned about the reason for his divorce when his ex-wife sent her a message on Facebook to warn her. Andy was a serial cheater who had two kids behind his ex-wife’s back; and supposedly, he’d stolen her credit cards and racked up twenty-five thousand dollars worth of debt after their divorce was finalized. She couldn’t run away fast enough after he admitted to everything when she confronted him.

  But she knew a guy who didn’t cheat. He didn’t lie, steal, or only care about money. He didn’t spend hours bragging about himself, and he certainly wasn’t selfish in bed. No, he was absolutely perfect.

  He was her purple vibrator, and she was more than happy to call him her man.

  So, why was she still gazing at her reflection? Why was her back now to the mirror so that she could admire her perky backside? Why did she always have the greatest workouts of her life when she knew her son’s best friend was coming over later that night?

  Because deep down, Lisa was a bit of a tease.

  She’d never said anything to Kevin and she never would, but she’d noticed him checking her out more and more as the years went by. It was strange in a way. Part of her loved the attention. A guy would ask for her number or attempt to stop her in the street to talk, and she would find it flattering; but at the same time, it was somewhat annoying. She didn’t know that guy. He was a stranger. He could be a creep, or a serial killer, or a married man who was cheating on his wife. But she did know a certain guy who was respectful, polite; and if she was being completely honest, rather cute.

  She knew Kevin.

  And something about catching him checking her out caused an indescribable excitement to shoot throughout her body. Listening to him stumble over his words or zone out while he stared into her eyes made her feel silly. It was cute, but it was also charming. He almost seemed smitten with her at times.

  Bending over in front of him to give her son a kiss wasn’t an accident—she’d purposely done it. She couldn’t explain her behavior at times, but she found herself acting more and more flirtatious around Kevin over the years. Like when she would dramatically reach up to retrieve something, knowing that her actions would allow him to see the very bottom of her stomach as a result. It was fun!

  She slipped out of her clothes, hopped into a fresh pair of black panties, and slid into her black nightie. While her nightwear wasn’t overly revealing, she always wore a bathrobe over it when she was out of her bedroom. It just seemed appropriate to keep herself covered; but the more she thought about it, chances are Kevin would be over the moon if he got a peek at what was under the robe she’d just covered herself in. Maybe someday. Or maybe she should grow up and stop being a tease.

  The realization that her contact lenses were still in hit her like a ton of bricks. Just how tired was she? She couldn’t tell that everything was crystal clear despite her glasses being in her bedroom nightstand? And of course her contact case was in the downstairs bathroom. God, she was exhausted. All she wanted was to go to bed.

  She headed downstairs, slithering through the hallway before reaching out to grasp the handle of the downstairs bathroom door. It turned and slowly opened, revealing a rather peculiar sight…

  Three Minutes Earlier.

  A commercial overtook the screen immediately following Kevin’s defense intercepting a pass and returning it for a touchdown. The deflated huff from his buddy only made it that much sweeter. He was in prime position to win his week one fantasy football matchup.

  Kevin rolled off the loveseat and trekked for the bathroom. That liter of soda caused his bladder to bulge as he slipped inside the door and shut it behind him. Seconds later, he was peeing like a racehorse. He finished the deed and shuffled over to the sink to wash his hands, when a bottle of perfume caught his attention.

  A tall, skinny, eight ounce container of incense sat next to the hand soap. The bottle was clear; with fancy, baby blue lettering along the sides. Vanilla. God, did he love vanilla. And what caused him to hold that particular scent in such high regard? Well, it was the woman it reminded him of.

  Ms. B always smelled like vanilla.

  It was intoxicating. Her aroma was always so youthful and inviting. Nothing about her resembled a woman approaching forty. Her looks, her personality, her playful demeanor: she may as well have been one of his classmates. His own mom was quite the candle junkie, so there were always boxes and packages of them all over his house. Lighting a vanilla candle in his room for a few minutes before bed had grown into a steady routine over the years. He was teleported to his buddy’s house every time that spice came in his direction—to the place where the world’s most perfect brunette always greeted him with a smile. That smell put him at ease.

  He picked up the bottle and pulled off the cap. His finger found the top of the nozzle and he reached the container out before pressing it down, causing a spray of the stimulating scent to shoot out into the air. He immediately took a deep inhale.

  It was like she was in the room with him when he closed his eyes. Her beauty, sense of humor, and sharp wit held his hand. Her caring personality and nurturing instincts stood by his side. He sent one more spray of the vanilla scent into the air and took another long sniff.

  “What are you doing?”

  Kevin jumped and his eyes hastily opened. She was here! Ms. B was here with him—standing just feet away under the bathroom doorframe—but she wasn’t supposed to be!

  He panicked, realizing how ridiculous he must’ve looked. How long had she been staring at him? Seconds? Maybe even minutes? He was so lost in his own mind that it could’ve been hours for all he knew.

  Unkempt hair, little or no makeup, and a silk bathrobe completely covering her flawless body—yet, she looked perfect. Ten years wandering the desert and she would still be the sexiest woman on earth. But the curious look on her face was causing his stom
ach to churn. How would he explain what he’d been up to?

  “I uh…I-I used the bathroom and…um…”

  Lisa’s bewildered expression had yet to change as she listened to her son’s friend stammer in front of her.

  “I umm…the-the smell. I-I was covering the smell.”

  His stomach sank. Did he really just say that? That couldn’t have actually come out of his mouth. Had he seriously hinted at taking a stinky shit that needed to be masked by her vanilla perfume? He couldn’t have come up with something better than that?

  Her eyebrows perked up in response to hearing that. “Covering the smell?”

  “I um…”

  She giggled while pointing at a little blue case for her eye contact lenses on the bathroom sink. “I need that.”

  He reached out, his hand lightly shaking with embarrassment before collecting the case and handing it to her. There was a thousand-yard stare in his eyes, but it wasn’t from shell shock. It was from humiliation.

  “It would probably be easier to turn on the fan,” she told him with a smile. “You know, instead of wasting my perfume.”

  He silently nodded as he watched his long time crush leave the bathroom and head back up the stairs. He couldn’t see it, but she was grinning the entire way to her bedroom.

  Chapter 2 – Chicks Love Candles

  The Following Day. Friday. 3:15 PM.

  Embarrassment followed Kevin around all-day. Did Ms. B really think that he was trying to cover the smell from him using the bathroom, or was she more hip to what was really going on? Sometimes it felt like she was looking at him. Occasionally, those bends to show off her butt seemed intentional, but he also couldn’t trust his own judgment. How could he? His eyes were biased. Of course a smile from her would seem like something more than it really was. This was his dream girl, after all. But this was real life; not a porno. His friend’s mom wasn’t into him, and he needed to drop that ridiculous fantasy.