one
Jay
“How did you let this happen, man?”
“I don’t know,” Doug answers, his voice anguished. “I swear it was a mistake, Jay. I borrowed the money from the company to tide me over until my next paycheck. I was going to put it back. I swear to God. You've got to believe me, man.”
It doesn't matter what I believe. I don't tell Doug that, though. Doug is my roommate from college. He was always a bit wild and irresponsible. Apparently, having a child hasn't changed him. Same old Doug.
I don't ask him how much he “borrowed” and forgot to put back. None of my business.
But why did he use me for his one phone call?
He gets to the point soon enough.“Will you watch my little girl for me while I'm in here?”
I pause.
“They’re taking the house,” he says into the silence. “My baby girl won’t have anywhere to go.”
“You don't have anyone else, man?” I ask him cautiously. I don’t mind helping him out, but Jesus, I haven’t seen his daughter since she was eight years old. What if she’s not comfortable with me?
“My parents are both dead, and my dead wife’s parents want nothing to do with us. Layla has never even met them, and you know I don't have any siblings, so there's no one else.”
My mind is spinning. I'm a certified bachelor. I know next to nothing about taking care of kids.
When I remain silent, still trying to wrap my head around everything, Doug adds with a note of desperation to his voice, “Please, Jay. Make sure nothing happens to my girl. I don't care about anything else. I don’t care about losing the house. I don’t care how long they lock me up. I need to know she's safe. And I can't think of anyone I would entrust her to more than you.”
Doug may have fucked up, but his concern for his daughter is genuine, and what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t help him?
“Of course, man. You know I'll do it.”
Doug and I aren’t as close as we were in college, but he's still an old buddy, and I can't in good conscience leave his daughter to fend for herself because of her father's fuck up.
Relief floods Doug's voice. “Thanks, man. You're doing me a solid. You have no idea how much this eases my mind.”
“You got it. Focus on getting your shit together, and don't worry about Layla. I'll take care of her.”
* * *
My first glimpse of Layla almost knocks me over. I don't know what I expected. Doug told me his daughter is now a senior in high school, so I knew she was eighteen, but nothing could have prepared me for the perfect blonde angel standing before me.
The last time I saw Layla, she was eight years old with big blue eyes and pigtails. She's still got the big blue eyes, but now they're framed by thick, dark lashes, and her blonde hair flows down her back to the top of a perfectly rounded ass. My mouth goes dry, and my cock rises in my jeans at the sight of it. It’s the kind of ass that turns men into animals.
“Uncle Jay!” she screams before she flings herself into my arms, wrapping her arms and legs around me.
And oh, sweet Jesus, her perfect little cunt, so soft and sweet, settles right against my nasty erection. It’s hard for me to breathe. I suck in deep, gulping breaths, but it only fills my nose with her sweet berries scent. She smells young and ripe and oh so fucking innocent.
I gently unwind her arms from my neck and set her on the ground.
I’m confused at her exuberance to see me. “Do you remember me, sweetheart?”
She bobs her head up and down excitedly. “Of course! I was only a little girl, but I never forgot you, Uncle Jay!”
She giggles. Fucking giggles, and my god, the sound is more beautiful than a choir of angels singing.
I swallow at the worship shining in her innocent eyes, feeling like a complete scumbag for the hard-on tenting my pants for this sweet girl. Doesn’t stop my eyes from sweeping over her tight, young body, though. She’s got a pair of lush, ripe tits peeking out from the top of a form-fitting tank top, and those little booty shorts barely cover her sweet kitty.
I tear my eyes from her body, completely ashamed of myself. I'm sick. Here I am, thirty-five years old, and this girl is eighteen. I have no business reacting to her this way—not to mention she's my buddy's daughter, for Christ's sake. Which means I'm old enough to be her father.