Carly has been on my mind for a long time. Did that girl play me or what? Not that I don't appreciate it, I like to play games very much. The evening I've spent with her was definitely one of the best evenings before Memorial Day ever. I came, she came, we were satisfied and I wasn't forced to use loneliness as a way to work out with my arm. Yes, that's a poetic way of describing a guy jerking off.

It's been quite a novelty this past few days, or should I say nights. I've been sleeping like a little angel. One of rare things that managed to wake me up were Devon, myself and my phone. Alarm clock does not belong in that category.

I wake up to the sound of Bon Jovi rocking guitars and drums in one of their best songs, Bad Medicine.

It surprises me with what ease I open my eyes and sit up. Usually, I'd need three mugs of coffee or at least half an hour of rest after sleeping, but now I am shining bright like a diamond.

I check the name my phone has displayed and I recognise it's Austin's. What does he want? Help with one of his projects? Has he realised Caitlin is cold and merciless in her soul? She is a ginger...

"Yo." I respond and I want to cringe at myself. This was how I talked when I was in highschool, what the hell? Though, I do have regenerative speed of a teenage boy, ya know? I'm very quickly ready for another round, babe!

I expect Austin to be devastated for one or the other reason, which is not really important. Just because he's calling me this early has filled me with doubt of his happiness, but what I hear contradicts my expectations "Hey, Nate. Am I too early for you?"

"No." Yes.

"Okay, great. I tried to call you yesterday, but you weren't picking up your phone." He says questionably. Honestly, he could've guessed what I was up to, C'mon!

I chuckle when I remember the way Carly's tits jumped whenever I buried myself in her. My God, what a sight that was! "Sorry about that. I was busy. What's up?"

Austin's silent for a while. He probably just figured out what kept me so damn busy, but whether he figured it out or not, it doesn't matter, because he chooses to ignore it completely. "It's Memorial Day today."

"I know, I'm not at work. Kind of really makes it all very special." I am in a giggly mood apparently. I want to joke around and I'm just feeling good.

"Wow, you don't say!" He responds with a sarcasm and my face says Touche, friend. "It's also the reason I'm calling."

"I thought you aren't up for our tradition anymore, now that you have your dearest Caitlin!" I say and leave my bed. On my way to leave the bedroom, I try to make priorities. Devon's still asleep, so would it be okay to leave him at that and drink my coffee in peace or disturb him, cause ultimate chaos and then get coffee?

Austin sounds amused, maybe that's Caitlin's work. I sure did notice he's excited more than usual and ready to take up new challenges. Bravo, Caitlin. "I'm not. I'm spending the evening with her."

"Theeeeeen, why are you calling me? Do you miss me?" I just want to laugh at my own jokes. Today's a beautiful day and I'm aware how funny and charming I am. Ain't that great?

"I do."

Oh. "Oh."

Okay, I can work with that. Is he joking? That sounded way too sexual coming from his mouth. Why would he say that if not in a joke? Then why can't I hear the obvious amusement and the tone of voice with which he tells funny stories?

"Dude, you need a sex psychiatrist. You take everything in a sexual way. You're like Freud." He chuckles almost engrossed with me.

Ha-ha, fuck you. "And he was a wonderful man!" I say proudly and Austin starts laughing louder. I bet he didn't expect that coming. "But all jokes aside, what's the deal?"

I have to wait a minute or two to get over my joke. See what my confidence does to me? It makes me fucking irresistible. Even men want to fuck me. Now, if that's not a compliment...

Austin inhales sharply and when he finally speaks, his voice is interrupted by his light chuckles along the way "Okay, uh, I thought you could come over, you know? Watch a game, drink beer or whatever you prefer. Do things men do."

Keep up, Caitlin! "Why, aren't you a completely new man!" I laugh lightly, "Sure, I can come. When do you want me to be there and what do you want me to bring?"

"Dude, just bring your old charming yourself." Now, that's sarcasm.

"No need to worry about that, I can't seem to shake off that charming part. Really, it's a curse and a blessing." Austin and I share more laughs and I try to remember when was the last time I enjoyed a simple friendly conversation so much. You must've noticed it's been quite a year.

When the amusement dies down, Austin reassures himself about our meeting "I'll see you tonight then?"

"Right. 6.30 sound good?"

"Yeah, about right."

I type the engagement in my phone and put on an alarm "Alright. See you later."

"Bye."

I'm the one to hangup, while I'm on my way to the kitchen counter. I see the liquid of gods resting in the coffee maker and by grabbing one of the mugs with a bunch of black triangles and pour myself some. I am after all a god.

I bring the mug to my mouth and take a sip. It's warm, sweet and strong. I like my coffee like women like me.

I have hard time coping with the fact not a thing has gone wrong today. As I take another sip, I quickly knock on the wooden cupboard beneath the counter where I keep the largest pots.

When Daniel was in high school he had to go on an excursions to Europe. When he returned, he started knocking on the wood all around the place and it was only later when he told me it's supposed to protect you from jynxing anything.

I don't know if Daniel heard it right or if Europeans scored jackpot with it, but if knocking on the wood is the big secret, I as hell will use it. It doesn't really hurt to knock, though, what's the worse than can happen?

My thoughts travel back to today's evening, which I'm probably going to spend with Austin. It's been quite a while since we've spent an evening together, either we watched the game or went to the club to get an entertainment for the night.

But there's Devon...

Thank God I have a babysitter for him now. With Carly on my mind, I try to imagine what our 'relationship' will be like, since, you know, I fucked her.

Maybe I'm not so worried about her, but more about myself. When I'll see that young angelic face and remember how dark blush covered it when she screamed her orgasm... I have no idea how will I manage to contain myself without jumping her.

It's pretty early in the morning for me on a free day and given the exercise Carly and I shared less than 12 hours ago, I decide to call her later and wait a bit longer. Who knows, maybe she's still asleep or just resting. Either way, I do not wish to disturb her.

Since when I'm here on my own like this and just enjoying my morning coffee like a man should - without being rudely disturbed by some nagging babies - I stop thinking about Carly and try to focus my thoughts on something else. My morning wood hasn't worn off, no need to give it extra gas.

I like to imagine today will be pretty much all on chill. I'll relax, feed Devon or whatever he'll cry about, maybe I'll watch a movie, maybe get some work done, but all in a peaceful spirit. Then when the sun will fall, I'll meet with Carly who will stay with Devon and I'll go to Austin's place and enjoy the rest of the day.

Austin told me only to bring my charming self. That won't be too hard, since charming is my middle name, but I still can't come empty handed.

The thing that bothers me is Caitlin. I don't know what she likes and doesn't like. What if I buy some overpriced whiskey only to see her throw it in the trash, because she's strictly non alcoholic? I'd probably lose my shit.

Overthinking about so many things give me an idea. All I have to think of is a thing everybody likes and that's chocolate. Even women that are on a diet sin for a tablet of it.

Before Devon awakens and throws a big baby tantrum, I take my phone and dial Carly's phone number. Hopefully she's made zero plans and will be free this evening. She found Devon adorable so maybe taking care of him won't be as much of a problem as for me.

***

Only seconds away from Carly coming up to my apartment. I still have an hour to head out and meet with Austin at his place. You're probably thinking I've arranged my time this way because I am hoping to get lucky with Carly again. No, that is not the deal. Surprisingly, it isn't. For God's sake, I have Devon here!

I leave the door open for her to enter while I go and fetch Devon. I will place him right in her hands, so he will have all the needed attention to keep him away from screaming like a wounded animal.

Carly's here. Her entrance is loud with hellos and full of wide grins "Nathan!"

For my liking, she's too excited to see me. That, or she has no shame whatsoever. I gotta confess it, talking to a girl you've been with can sometimes be strange and tricky. Some expect you to stay with them, some want to blow you off as soon as possible and some are just normal and are cool with everything. Sadly, there is no rule that could help you recognise which type the woman is.

"Hey, Carly." I greet her and can't shake her off when she plants a wet kiss on my cheek. Very affectionally.

Devon is back in his basket and with an enormous amount of joy, I notice he's been very quiet for the whole few days.

"Oh, look at him!" Carly squeals and dismisses me to focus all her attention on the kid.

The baby is, of course, overjoyed. He seems to really like attention and given how evil he already is as only a small defenceless baby, I can imagine he will make one hell of a politician.

Carly makes cute and funny faces, at least that's what she's going for, and Devon is having the time of his life. He's not exactly chuckling like he did in the office, but a content toothless grin on his face is more than obvious.

"So, uh, till when are you free? I can imagine you have made some plans for tonight as well?" I ask just to know when I need to come home. It isn't my intention to hang out with my pal past eleven, so whatever Carly has planned for tonight, I think there will be no problem with our timing.

She's already cuddling Devon in her arms, softly pulling on and pinching his cheeks "My friends will be close to this neighbourhood whole night, so when you come back, I go to the party."

I'm aware she's young and full of energy, but does anyone even party anymore? I know for a fact that Carly wats to go clubbing tonight, which is what I can't understand. Clubs are nothing more than gathering places for sweaty douchebags begging for a rub or a blowjob. Honestly, how desperate can you bee?

As a very sexual man, I can relate to the dessert that rules my sex life every now and then, but I'd never go so low as to demand from a girl to suck me off and give me attention. I like girls, I adore their curves and basically everything about them, ut if I sleep with one, I don't fuck her so I can feel happy and accomplished. First, I respect a girl and her boundaries. I mean, it's really not that hard!

So, here's my question again; why would anyone want to go there to party, especially a bunch of young girls?

"Oh, great. I probably won't be too long, just a couple of hours." I tell her just to let her know I won't completely ruin this evening for her.

Carly looks at Devon who is drooling profusely. I am absolutely ashamed of this child. "It's no bother. I'll be spending time with this sweet cupcake!"

I still haven't recovered from this kid0s saliva breakage and I just murmur "Aha."

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of him." She probably took my engrossed 'aha' as a critic on her behalf.

I break from the stare and smile at her apologetically. I don't want her to think I doubt her. She's a sweet girl and babies like that, right? If I do, why wouldn't they?! "Oh, no, no, I'm sure you will."

Carly's hand slips from around Devon's belly to her shoulders and tugs on her dress' strap. I know what that means...

"Maybe if you come back soon enough, I could... tell you what the baby was like while you were gone."

She addresses my groin directly and I respond to her with a big ass boner. A lovely tall lady, but... Would I actually cut my evening short for this? Mmm, I'm closer to a clear 'no' on this one. I do one night stands.

"Uh, heh," I chuckle and try to come up with something that wouldn't insult her.

Carly smiles "Of course, it will depend if you'll be in the mood. If not, I'll put you in one."

A wink follows her words and I can feel the colour drain from my face.

I don't want you!

At least not now. Not yet.

"Well, we will see then." That is my smart response, but Carly accepts it with delight.

Now, I almost see why she wants to go clubbing. She's a perfect victim for those men. Sexual and... Kinda stupid.

I take in a breath so large I can barely speak "I'll be off then."

"Okay, have fun!" Carly replies and looks down at Devon "Say bye to Daddy!"

Looking back at my little guy as I am on my way out, I give him a small wave "Bye, kiddo."

Carly holds up his hand and waves with it in my direction - a very cliche, but a nonetheless adorable gesture.

I am opening my front door when I see Devon stretch his free hand towards me. He's no longer grinning, just staring at me with big baby eyes. I give him another wave and I completely overlook how Carly is still waving his hand. I only see the child's face reflection feelings of crumblings emotionally.

Is it because I'm leaving? No, bullshit. He couldn't have gotten so used to me after a week!

Honestly, that kid laughed at me when I was in the middle of crisis, like hell he got attached to me! His cuckling baby -uh sound fill my throat with a bunch of lumps. Though, I am too proud to look back.

Just a peek...

No! I must not! Jesus, he'll be cuddling with Carly's tits whole night, he'll have more fun than me!

I am defeated when I look back in the process of closing the door. Carly's been trying to get his attention, while Devon doesn't really mind her that much. He makes another attempt, stretches his hand furthers and even leans his body over Carly's grip. More sounds such as before follow and in the end I close the door.

When this wall separates me from Devon I feel how my chest is sagging rapidly. I probably just feel to responsible. In one of the books I've read about babies and how to raise your child, it said it's important to put distance between yourself and the kid. What I'm doing is nothing but beneficial! And come on, it's not the end of the world! This little prick shat all over my place, grabbed the cashier for boobs, cried tirelessly - on short: he's been killing me slowly from the very start! The fact I'm leaving him with Carly is fucking mercy!

Devon starts crying on the other side of the door and in sync with his please my common sense beats the shit out of me. It's a baby. Just a small baby that depends on me. For all I know, that God he is shitting everywhere, at least I'm aware he's not chronically sick or something!

This baby was abandoned for unknown reasons and he's calling out for me. Me! Nathan Price! The guy everyone forgot and abandoned as well! But not this kid. He wants me!

You know what? Fuck this!

I march back in, opening the door with determination. Carly's sitting on the couch trying to tend to Devon's needs and calm him down. The moment the baby boy sees me, he begins to cry louder and stretches hands towards me again.

Carly has no idea what's going on and looks at me like I've fallen from a sky. Never seen someone so sexy before? "Nathan? I thought you-"

"Yeah, I was on my way, but..." I glance at Devon and without giving her any chance to object I tell her and stretch my arms "Give him to me."

Without any questions, she lifts Devon and places him in my embrace. The poor little guy is shaking and screaming in painful longing so I hold him close and make a hushing sound. He starts to calm down. His crying is still present, but it's progressively getting quieter until it completely dies down.

I look at Carly who is still confused with this whole situation, even though she is sympathising with my boy "He really loves you."

I am taken aback when she says it. How do I respond to it? With 'I know' or 'Thanks' or what?

Because I am confused with myself, the kid and this remark I never thought I'd hear, I cut right to the slack "Carly, uh, I don't think babysitting him is a good idea."

"What?" She furrows her brows and glares at me. All the sympathy from before long lost.

"Look, he's obviously not comfortable or ready, I don't know what's going on, I'm not a baby expert, but I know something is wrong." I tell her with Devon peeking at her over his mini shoulder.

She lets out a chuckle of disbelief "Are you kidding me? You think I'm the wrong person to babysit him?"

What? "What? No! That's not what I said!"

"Oh, I know exactly what you said, even better: I know what you meant!" She's pissed, pissed like hell and I have no idea why. Is that a bad thing?

"Can we just-" I sigh, trying to figure out how am I going to handle a crazy woman "I didn't want to insult you. I'm just saying something isn't right. I never said it's you!"

As I try to calm her down, I come to a realisation it probably is her. She's gentle, she's loving and sweet, but something must've triggered Devon. I left him with a fucking Justine and he didn't make a fuss, that ought to tell me something!

"Okay, what do you want me to do?" She crosses her arms and glares up at me, daring me to say anything. Anything at all.

Shit.

"I don't know, I'm just as confused as you are." I reply and to me it sounds smooth, reflecting her feelings and all.

"I'm not confused. babies cry, it's what they do, I was going to calm him down." Carly says in her defense, keeping her arms crossed. She means business and she's not going to play nice, I can see that from afar.

I can't keep the irritated Nathan inside me. He erupts and gloriously rolls her eyes at her "It clearly wasn't working!"

Carly snaps as well, throwing both hands in the air "You were gone for less than a minute!"

Touche.

"Look, I want what's best for him. It doesn't look like this is going to work. I am worried about him and that crying didn't sound like he was just hungry!"

Carly steps closer like she's a dangerous mob boss and is going to threaten me "News flash, he would eventually calm down." She turns around on her heels and takes her purse "Oh, good luck finding yourself a new babysitter. I wonder if you'll fuck her too!"

With this bomb she storms out of my apartment and Devon and I stand in the middle of it, shocked and perplexed.

"What the hell happened?" I ask myself out loud.

Instead of feeling like a jerk or guilty about this, my heart is filled with glee when Devon leans his head on my arms and starts drooling on my shirt. It's not the most beautiful of the sights, it's one of those that would make me throw the kid across the room and clean my shirt, but nonetheless I feel priceless.

I cuddle him some more and wipe the drool off his plump baby lips when it really hits me I can't leave Devon on his own.

Well, fuck me. Again.

***

"Hey, what's up?" Austin greets me, but once he opens the door fully, his smile falls and a big frown replaces it.

"I'm sorry," I say and rush in. I think I ruined more than just Carly's evening tonight. Bravo me!

Austin closes the door and jumps in front of me, stopping me in my tracks "What's he doing here?!"

"Who?" I ask and pretend stupid "Oh, him?" I point to Devon who is playing with his dragon rubber toy.

"Yes, Nate! Him! I thought you got a babysitter!" He argues with me, obviously not please I dragged Devon along.

I bite my lower lip in frustration. He'll freak out if I tell him the truth, but so will if I don't. A benefit of having friends is that they know you very well. Sometimes you don't need words to communicate and at times like this, when I can't bring myself to tell my friend what's up, that comes very handy.

Austin's face drops even more if that's possible and I see the red colour washing over his face. I don't know if that's because of anger or embarrassment "You fucked her. Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

Definitely angry.

"She basically seduced me, okay?!" I fight back, 'cause honestly, I was an innocent victim of her charm!

Austin's eyes widen and with his hands in the air, he tries to sound really mean and unforgiving in a quiet manner "And that's supposed to make it alright? Nathan, as much as women, men have the power to say 'no' too!"

I roll my eyes at his remark. Come on! Like hell I am going to turn a deal like that down! Maybe one of Caitlin's magic spells on him include being a bigger wuss. "Look, this happened right before I left. I can't explain it to you right now, but I had to do it."

"What? You had to fuck her?" He crosses his arms as well just like Carly did before shit hit the fan.

I tilt my head to the side in that manner that says: 'I'm so fucking done with you' and say "No. Have her babysitting the kid! But hey, thanks for believing in me!"

Austin's face changes again. I think I have awaken a feeling of guilt in him and you know what? Suits him right!

I make an attempt to continue my way to his living room and to his most amazing couch - Mr Ritchie probably wouldn't agree though - but Austin stops me once again "You can't go there!"

"Dude, what? You invited me over! Do you expect me to stand here among the shoes for the rest of the night?" I stare at him, waiting to hear what his reasons are to say such a thing.

He looks absolutely embarrassed. Something is extremely off with him, but I don't know what. It looks like that silent communication with a friends only works if I'm the silent and secretive one.

When he doesn't say anything and glares back at me pleadingly, I do exactly the opposite. "Who cares!"

With that I march down the rather short hallway and walk in the living room like some crazy macho man only to see the couch is already occupied by a woman.

And it's not Caitlin. It's Annabelle.

A/N: So... Nathan made a tough fatherly call in this one! Was he just paranoid or did he do the right thing?

If you've noticed recent chapters have been published every 14 days on a Monday. What better way than to start a week with Nathan Price screwing up over and over again! I will try to keep up with a schedule, I'm aware that sometimes it takes me a whole eternity to write a chapter.

Join the Community Discord: https://discord.gg/W4CeMpYdkR (clickable link on my profile)

If you liked this chapter, don't forget to colour the vote star and leave a comment ^o^

~ Blackie