Family Ties

“Being alone with you is dangerous.”

She nodded and helped me carry the towels to the car.

My erection had softened to half-mast by the time we returned to the clubhouse. It was still full and thick, but not so stiff that it stuck out. Susan did her best to hide a grin as I returned her car keys. Christy seemed relieved when no one said anything about how long we’d been gone or why we were both flushed with excitement.

I sent her back to work with a quick kiss. Then I took the stack of towels to where Kirk and Doug had assembled a long table out of several smaller ones.

I walked around and dropped a towel on each chair. Most of them had padded vinyl seats, which were a nuisance with bare skin.

The women started bringing food over almost immediately. Dinner was simple but abundant: spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread, and a huge tossed salad.

Christy managed to hide her look of dismay when Susan handed her a plate of pasta with several meatballs.

“Let me know when you’re ready for more,” she said.

“I will, thanks,” Christy said. Then she looked at me with pleading eyes.

“What’re you doing, Paul?” Erin protested. “Those are hers.”

Christy looked at me again and begged me not to say anything. She even tried to push my hand away.

“Get your own,” Erin said.

Mom gestured. “Hand me your plate, Paul.”

“No, it’s fine,” Christy said. “He can have mine. I—”

“She doesn’t eat meat,” I told them. “And she’s too polite to say anything.”

“Oh, thank God,” Dawn said out of the blue.

Kirk looked chagrined.

“I thought I was the only one.”

Everyone shifted their attention from Christy to Dawn.

“I’m a vegetarian too,” she explained.

Then she looked horrified. “Oh my goodness! And I asked you to make the meatballs.”

It was Dawn’s turn to look chagrined. “It was all I could do not to gag.”

Susan turned her gaze on her son and glared. “Kirk Edward MacLean, why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been trying to feed this poor girl meat since I first met her.

Almost two years!” Her expression softened as she looked back to Dawn. “You should’ve told me. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all right,” Dawn said. “I didn’t want to make a fuss.”

“Bless your heart. But make a fuss next time! I don’t mind. I want you to be happy.”

I’d just started to relax when Susan turned her high-intensity look to me.

I felt a sudden fit of pique. “Why? Because we’re the men?”

“Oh, indeed! Did you think this was a man-woman thing? It isn’t.