A FALL IN THE CITY
Chapter 23: First Date (Part 1)
"I slept with Blake."
I had practically run to see Olivia the next day and I told her point blank. Just like that.
I had not even walked inside her apartment when I stated my piece.
She rolled her eyes.
"Really, dad? This? First in the morning!"
"Good morning, Mr. Peterson."
Eric appeared behind her, in his usual tight boxer briefs. That was awkward.
He had spent the night at Liv's.
"Excuse me, Eric. My father has apparently something to tell me about fucking my ex-boyfriend. Again!"
Eric froze on the spot.
Good Lord, he must have been thinking that we were insane...
In all fairness, he might have had a point.
"Liv... Please, I just needed to make sure that there would be no secret or lies anymore. I wanted to tell you as soon as possible..."
"And what am I supposed to do with this information?"
"Damn. I don't know... I..."
It was not the first time but there, I felt absolutely dumb.
"Okay. And do you remember how I told you that I didn't want to know whatever was going on between you and Blake?" Olvia asked me, jaded.
I gulped.
"Yes, I do now."
It felt like I could not do anything right.
That being said, as long as I was fucking Blake, I was not sure that there could have anything I might have done to make things right.
She did not seem that mad though.
Olivia invited me in as Eric ran to the shower, probably to avoid the awkwardness of this conversation.
Smart man.
"Listen, dad. I'm not too surprised and in a sense, I guess it's better that you tell me rather than me finding out by someone else. But seriously, your relationship with Blake is your problem now. Certainly not mine."
"I had to make sure you could live with that before going any further with him... You remain my priority. You know that."
"Any further? What could possibly be further than sex?"
"A relationship." I simply stated.
She was startled.
No matter what, I thought that brutal honesty was the best policy.
"Wow. So, this is real, then?"
"I promise that I tried to fight back my feelings but..."
She sighed.
"Stop torturing yourself. If you want me to be happy for you two, that won't happen. If you want me to have family dinners with the both of you, that won't happen either. And if you want me to call Blake my step-dad, that definitely won't happen."
She chuckled at that last suggestion.
"Don't be ridiculous, Liv."
"But if your concern is that I would be suffering or that I would cut ties with you because of this, you can relax. I was miserable with Blake by the end. I tried to hold on to someone who was not real. Honestly, I feel liberated since we broke up. He's all yours."
"We'll see about that but... Are you sure?"
"Yes! Good luck with the cheater and the liar."
It looked like the bitterness was still there.
But what more could I have expected other than my daughter tolerating that I might get into a serious relationship with her ex?
It was such a miracle already that she was not downright hating me.
"We still have a long way to go before Blake and I get together but I... Yes, I guess I wanted to make sure you'd be all right."
"I will be. Do you want a coffee or something?"
I was stilling feeling like a proper idiot.
"I'm sorry to have barged in like that. I didn't know Eric would be there. I didn't want to intrude."
"That's okay. Eric's been hanging around here a lot. I guess this is getting a bit more serious with him."
She smiled at me.
Her smile was definitely the greatest gift she could have given me. It seemed sincere.
"I hope it will work out, that he will treat you right."
"He passed the first test; he didn't fuck with my father when he invited him to a gay orgy."
I gulped.
I was about to try to justify myself when she burst out laughing.
"Liv, that's not funny."
"I know, but I'm trying to make it funny! Better this than crying, right?"
We did not speak any more of Blake but Olivia had another concern to share.
She had called the insurance people for the farm and she was stressing about their refusal to cover part of the renovations' cost.
"It's not your place to worry about that, Liv. And I've got it covered."
"How? They're locking a third of the money because you haven't pressed charges. That's messed-up. I feel awful."
"And I won't, honey. I cannot press charges; you know that.
"I should be the one paying off for this... This is so wrong."
"I've told you; I've found a solution."
"Dad..."
"Don't make that face, Liv. I'm serious. I've already decided that I'll use Fran money to cover the costs. I don't want this money anyway; I don't deserve it."
"You could do much more stuff with it."
"I'm not broke. I've been living rent-free for months. I'll be just fine. Besides, I'd feel wrong using Fran's inheritance for anything else. I'm going to donate the remainder of the money to the hospital, it will help some people in need."
She smiled at me.
"You're really trying redeem yourself."
"Maybe. But truly, I'd rather work on the farm by myself anyway. I very much enjoyed renovating the barn back in the..."
I did not finish my sentence and I was already regretting saying that, it was definitely a most sensitive subject.
Eric got out of the bathroom at the same time and it provided us with a welcomed distraction.
He made sure to hold the towel he was wearing tightly and he ran to the bedroom to change before joining us. I barely caught a glimpse of his barely naked college jock's body.
He was right, let's not allow any more misunderstanding.
At the way they were looking at each other and giggling like teenagers during breakfast, I could tell that their feelings were genuine.
Obviously, who knew if this was meant to last, but for the time being, my daughter looked happy.
While I was talking with Olivia, Blake was talking with Zaid on his side, letting him know that we were starting something together.
I am not sure what it was about, and what had truly happened between them, but we both felt like it was important to close this chapter before moving on.
I was still feeling uncomfortable about that.
I hoped that Blake would not regret his choice.
Often, I was wondering. Why me, the mature selfish redneck, and not the young football jock?
The heart wants what he wants, I suppose.
Why was I so in love with Blake myself? Who fucking knew? But my feelings were definitely real.
We had made many mistakes, - well, I had made many mistakes -, and there was a lot of complicated history between us, but somehow, we decided to give ourselves a real shot.
Blake would have had hundreds of reasons to be mad at me but we allowed ourselves a fresh start.
To that end, I invited him on a date. A real proper one, as if we had never met before.
I was trying to be worthy of this relationship.
If you can believe it, I even dressed nicely, or tried to do so.
Yes, I went shopping beforehand!
I purchased the first formal white shirt and a pair of suit pants that I was buying since my wedding with Debby, more than twenty years prior.
Not that Blake or I was into this bull-crap but I wanted to show him that I was serious about this.
I had booked a table at the best steakhouse restaurant in Sacramento.
If there was one thing that I was willing to spend a good amount of money on, and dress for the occasion, it was a fine piece of beef. To eat rare of course.
Anyway, I picked Blake on his campus after his football practice and he hoped into my van.
"What the hell is that?" He asked.
Blake was not used to see me in a shirt, neatly tucked inside my pants. I had trimmed my beard and even tried to do my hair, somehow.
Let me reassure you, I was not wearing a tie and I had not buttoned my shirt all the way up. I was still Joe and I needed to freaking breathe!
"Wanted to look nice." I simply said.
He leaned over to kiss me.
His classmates were walking around, we were definitely trying something new here. Public display of affection.
Call me a damn romantic but I was definitely feeling the tingles as I kissed him back.
Could we be a normal couple?
That seemed so unreal and yet, it was happening.
"Should I go change before we go the restaurant?" He asked me.
"Nah, you look nice as you are."
He was wearing a pair of jeans and a grey sweater. To be fair, Blake always looked great.
"It's gonna look like you're my sugar daddy, taking me on a date." He spoke.
"And what would be the problem with that? I do intend to pay the bill after all."
He chuckled.
"Here I was, thinking I was going on a date with a farmer from Utah and now, I'm being chased by a white-collar man!"
"You don't know me, it's our first date."
He rolled his eyes.
"Okay, stranger. Where are we going anyway?"
"Surprise, surprise..."
"Just drive us there, idiot."
I winked at Blake.
We got to the steakhouse which was a pleasant surprise for my date and we had a great dinner.
Thank God, Blake did not order his food well-done.
This would have ended our relationship before it could even truly begin!
Aside from the few kisses exchanged in the car and the fact that Blakey had his hand on my thigh for the entire ride to get there, we kept the role-play of "meeting for the very first time" going for the first part of the evening.
"What are you doing for a living?" Blake playfully asked.
"I use my hands mainly. I own a farm in Utah, cultivating wheat mainly. I'm returning there next week."
"Sounds nice... I wish I could work on a farm. I'm pretty bored with academics."
His feet were already rubbing against my ankles under the table.
Okay, maybe we were not so good at role-playing...
What can I say? We were too attracted to each other to keep our hands off.
Blake went to the restrooms before the dessert and I almost joined him there. You should have seen his peachy ass walking towards the other end of the restaurant. Irresistible.
As I was waiting for him, I realized that I was not used to wearing suit-pants and that a hard-on in such pants was even more difficult to conceal.
My family jewels were on full display.
Without any underwear on, flaccid, the visible penis line had been prominent all night, - which may have explained why the waiter had looked at me strangely when we had first walked in -, but with the solid brick in my pants, if I were to stand up now, I think I could have literally been kicked out for indecent exposure.
Not to mention that I was already dripping and a stain was slowly, but surely, forming on my crotch.
I could really not be trusting going out...
Even when I tried to act somewhat civilized, my dick was untameable.
To be fair, Blake was not helping!
[Chapter 23 continues below]