The second I place my foot on the stairs though, a scream slices through the silence.
Lucy!
Immediately, I fly up the stairs, taking them two at a time. “Sweetheart!” I shout as I round the corner. “Are you—”
I blink as I register Lucy standing motionless in the doorway of my room, staring at something inside with horror.
“What’s happening?” I ask.
Lucy just shakes her head, brown curls bobbling. She gestures frantically, still unable to speak and I frown. What the hell is in my room?
Quickly, I crane my neck to peer over her shoulder.
Goddamn. My son is in my bed, with an older woman whom I’ve never seen before. The hell?
“What the fuck?”
Lucy jumps as my voice bellows over her shoulder. My son and the woman jerk apart, his cock emerging from her wet hole. It’s not a pretty sight because the woman is elderly with loose skin and saggy breasts, but she’s totally unconcerned. With an air of calm, she looks at us, clucks her tongue, and then starts getting dressed. What the hell? Why isn’t she screaming at the interruption?
However, my son’s another story. Jasper lets out a shrill shriek, and then pulls the bedsheet up to cover his lower half. I can see that his hands are trembling as he does so, and sweat breaks out on his brow.
Then, Jasper opens his mouth to speak, but begins to cry instead. His mouth opens and closes as blubbery pseudo-words emerge, and Lucy and I look at one another with horror.
My hands grip the doorframe. I should probably feel some pity for my son, but all I can feel right now is disgust. Jasper’s handsome face is contorted as huge tears dribble down his cheeks and off his chin. He looks so pathetic that honestly, it’s a bit comical. But then he takes a deep breath, summoning his courage.
“I know about you two!” he cries finally, jabbing his finger at Lucy and me.
Shit.
The older woman, now clothed, looks expectantly at Jasper, who continues weeping bitterly.
“It’s going to be three hundred,” she says matter-of-factly with her hand held out. “Sorry, no freebies.”
Oh shit, this woman is an escort? Quickly, I take some cash out of my wallet and hand it to the woman.
“Sorry about this,” I say in a tight voice. “My son’s not himself.” The woman merely shrugs and walks out the door. “It’s all part of the job. Let me know if you want a second time, sweetie,” she calls over her shoulder before disappearing down the stairs.
I turn to look at my son again. Meanwhile, Lucy stares too, her jaw on the floor. “Jasper?” she whispers. “Are you okay?”
My son lets out another blubbery wail.
“I can’t believe you’d do this to me,” he cries. “How could you? How could you go behind my back and date each other? You’re my dad and you’re my ex-girlfriend! Doesn’t that seem perverted to you?”
I had hoped that my son and I could have this conversation about Lucy in neutral territory, at the right time. This is definitely not what I had in mind, but the cat’s out of the bag now and I need to take charge and keep this conversation--and Jasper--from spiraling out of control.
“I understand that you’re surprised,” I acknowledge. “But after what you did to Lucy, you have no right to be upset with her. She’s an adult who can date anyone she likes, and we certainly don’t need your approval.”
Lucy grabs my hand, apparently thankful for my defending her. My heart is still pounding at three times its normal rate because I was so scared that something had happened to her after hearing that scream. Now, I’m relieved she’s safe, but I still have to deal with the insanity in front of me.
“Still!” my son shrieks. “I get Lucy dating someone else, but you? My own dad? Couldn’t you find someone else?”
I heave another sigh, massaging the furrowed space between my brows. What’s the best thing to say in this situation?
“I’m sorry, son,” I say quietly. “Again, I understand your point of view, but I won’t apologize for dating Lucy. I will apologize, however, for not telling you sooner. We certainly never meant to hurt you.” But then I cross my arms over my chest because there’s a much bigger elephant in the room here. “But answer me this: I don’t get what any of this has to do with you hiring an escort. Did you even have enough money on hand to pay her?”
Jasper buries his face in his hands and sniffles.
“I’ve always wanted to be just like you, Dad,” he whimpers. “I’m just following in your footsteps, don’t you see? I know you’ve hired professionals in the past, so I wanted to try it too.”
The statement cuts me to my core, and my heart folds in half.