In The End

[Chapter 3]

Chapter 3

Derek

I'm a sick bastard.

I tried hard not to think about the stunning woman I had in the passenger seat next to me. I hadn't even recognized her when I first saw her. She had long, beautiful black hair and light brown eyes. I could see her breasts through her tank top; she wasn't wearing a bra.

Fuck, I felt awful for getting turned on. I couldn't decide if I was an old, sick bastard or just lacking physical intimacy. I hadn't had sex in almost three years, not since my wife passed away

"Home sweet home," I mumble as I pull into my house that's also a farm where I keep livestock.

"Um, you live in a barn?" I hear her sweet voice say next to me. I look over to see she looks confused. I let out a chuckle before putting the vehicle in park.

"It's a farm, sweetheart. It's how I keep away from the city. I have pretty much all I need here." I see her adjust in her seat to face the window. She's uncomfortable.

"Hey, what's up, kid? Talk to me," I said, softening my voice as much as I could. I knew I could look intimidating to most people, but the last thing I wanted to do was make this young girl uncomfortable. She looked over at me with tears in her eyes, causing my chest to ache. God only knows what this poor girl had been through.

"I just- I miss my mom." She says before letting out a sob. I pull her in for a hug, and unexpectedly, I feel her grip my T-shirt and cry into my chest. I have my hand in her soft hair as I hold her head.

"She was a great woman and an amazing mother, Eliana. I'll always remember her for that. She loved you very much." I tell her as I run my hands through her soft, glossy hair. She takes a moment before looking up into my eyes. Her beautiful, sorrowful eyes stared at me a little longer than suitable.

"Thank you," she mumbles softly as I lower my gaze to her lips. I muster up the will to push her away before acting on my irrational desire to kiss the delicate pinkness of her mouth.

"Let's go in and get you cleaned up," I said, not looking at her again as I jumped out of the car and speed-walked into the house.

I had to get this girl out of my head or else I was going to do something I would regret.

——-

We ate our dinner in silence, just the sounds of the silverware clanking on the glass plates. We hadn't spoken all day since that moment in the car. I hoped she realized that what she had tried to do was wrong and wasn't too upset with me.

Not like you didn't want to, dickhead.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your family?" She asked quietly, breaking the silence. She stared down at her plate, avoiding my eyes. I shifted in my seat at the uncomfortable topic.

"They were murdered by a gang after the city shut off our utilities." I won't explain more than that. I hate talking about it. I hate talking about those sick individuals who murdered my little angel and beautiful wife in cold blood. May they rot in hell for eternity.

I see her look me in the eyes with guilt and horror written all over her face.

"Oh God, Mr. Wright. I'm so sorry."

"Call me Derek. Let's just talk about something else, alright?" It sounded a lot colder than I had intended. It was just something I didn't feel comfortable talking about. We sat for a moment longer, just eating, until Eli broke the silence once again.

"Can you talk to me about my mom? How'd you guys meet?" That brings a smile to my face. I have nothing but amazing stories to tell about that woman; she was a firecracker.

"Well, I met your mom when we were fourteen in one of our classes, and we dated for the last few years of high school. She was very popular, and not the 'shitty mean girl' kind of popular - everyone loved your mother."

I couldn't remember the specific details, considering this was over thirty years ago, which makes me remember how old I am.

"So why did you guys break up?"

She is a very curious girl; I can see some people may get annoyed by all the questions, but I find it enjoyable. I feel like I could talk to her for hours and never get bored.

"We decided to go our separate ways when she wanted to move to California to go to college; it was what her parents wanted for her," I told her before taking my last bite of food, setting my fork down, and taking a sip of my water.

"Did you guys ever have sex?" I choke on my water mid-drink.

"Eliana," I say sternly, trying not to burst out laughing at her boldness.

"What? We are both adults and I am curious," she shrugged with a smirk before taking a sip of her water as if she had asked me to pass the salt. I paused to stare at her for a moment, still shocked that she had asked me that. I cleared my throat before continuing.

"Yes, we had intercourse," I clear my throat, feeling awkward that I even have to have this conversation with this person.

"Gross. I figured." She grimaces.

"We were young and curious, Eliana. You know how that goes; you were a teenager once too," I said, trying to make the conversation less awkward. She scoffed at my words.

Why do I feel like I'm being judged by this girl? And why do I care so much?

"Speak for yourself, I've never done anything like that before."

Did this girl tell me she's a virgin? I want to ask her so many questions. Why did she decide to never experiment at a young age? Including why she told me this information. Is she a virgin by choice?

Cause if not, I can help with that problem.

"Eliana, you're oversharing," I say instead of the actual thoughts going through my head.

I pick up our used plates and silverware before heading into the kitchen. This topic is getting way too inappropriate and I'm going to avoid it at any cost. I run the water in the sink that's connected to our well in the back and start to scrub the plates.

I promised Jennifer that I would take care of her daughter if anything were to happen to her, and I will do so no matter what. I am a grown man who can resist my urges out of respect for Jennifer and my wife. The shitty part is that I know plenty of women of suitable age in my town, yet I have never even considered finding one of them.

So what changed now?

"Fine, fine. I see we are not at the stage of sharing our life stories, so I will get out of your hair." She stood up abruptly before making her way to the back of the house. I resisted the urge to turn my head to watch her walk away, knowing I would just want to watch her ass as she did so.

I realize now that I am probably sounding more like a closed-off dick than I intend to. I know I am treating her like a child, but that is just the way things have to be.

"Just so you know, you will be learning yard work bright and early tomorrow morning," I yell to her before she gets too far.

"Sweet dreams, Mr. Wright," she responded, ignoring my statement.

And we're back to Mr. Wright. Which is probably for the best. We should keep things respectful while we live together.

Because I can't tell how long I can control myself around that girl.