Meeting Her Father (closed)

Casey had been told over and over that now probably wasn't the best time for her to be reaching out to her biological father. She was still finishing up high school, and after that she'd be heading across the country to attend college (though she had been saving up some money to visit Europe before going). In the back of her mind, however, Casey had always wanted to see her real dad, and the thought continued to gnaw at her until she couldn't stand it any longer.

It had taken a long time for Casey to pry the information from her mother, and t took even longer to accurately track down her father, and although she desperately wanted to meet him, actually meeting with him face-to-face scared her a bit. They had chatted several times online, but what if he didn't really approve of her? What if he didn't show up? Casey played over numerous scenarios in her mind, and each one of them made her incredibly nervous. After all... if he'd spent all this time out of her life, what would make her think that he'd want to be a part of it now?

"Get it together," Casey said to herself as she looked in the mirror.

She had spent quite a bit of time deciding on what to wear, and several outfits were already laid out on her twin-sized bed. Casey didn't want to show up in anything trashy, so most of her "usual" outfits remained in a heap on the floor: jeans with holes in the them, yoga pants, soffe shorts and designer tees along with tank tops that she usually wore to the gym.

In the end, Casey decided to wear a short white dress, but it was so tight that it could have been practically painted on. Her body had started filling out at a very early age, and she exercised regularly to keep her body in perfect shape. Her most prominent features were her incredibly large breasts, and the dress was scooped low enough to show off more than a generous helping of her cleavage.

It was, surprisingly, one of the more conservative dresses that she owned.

The eighteen year old tugged on the hem of her dress, flattening out some wrinkles, and then fluffed her dark hair so that it was off of her shoulders. She wondered whether she should keep the denim jacket on, and then spent another twenty minutes looking at herself with it on and then off.

"Okay. On. On... and... let's go," she said.

Casey finally grab her car keys and purse, and then she was out the door and on her way to the restaurant. She continued to glance at herself through the rear-view mirror, and she couldn't ignore the fact that her breasts, pressed tightly together inside her dress, stuck out like a sore thumb and looked like they were ready to pop out at any moment.

Just... get through today and you'll be fine.

After a short drive, Casey's pulled up to the restaurant and parked her car, then she grabbed her purse and willed herself to go inside. Supposedly he was already inside waiting for her, and the dark-haired teen asked the restaurant's greeter to point her to a table that was reserved for her and her father.

Matt found himself in a mental fog as he sat at the table for two, absently sipping at his glass of water while half-eyeing the restaurant entrance. He'd been in more or less the same state since he arrived, a good twenty minutes earlier than scheduled.

It felt a lot like the way he had felt when he first received Casey's email. His first reaction was disbelief -- surely it was some sort of joke, someone pretending to be his daughter to exploit him for... something? Matt wasn't wealthy, but he had enough to live comfortably. He had spent most of his post-college years working in, and later owning a stake in, a local real estate office. When the economy tanked and the bottom fell out of the housing market, he and his partners took the unconventional step of shuttering their real estate office and re-opening it as a popular local bar and grill.

Matt had almost disregarded Casey's email as a scam, but when he got to the part where she mentioned her mother's name, he'd stopped in his tracks. That was one woman Matt would never forget. Their relationship was never anything "official," but it was undoubtedly among the most passionate and heated on-again, off-again trysts he'd had. It never would have worked out long term -- hot as she was, she was too much of a control freak and possibly a little bit nuts. If anyone from his past would have kept a daughter a secret from him for 18 years, it was her.

Once he had gotten over his initial shock, Matt had replied to Casey out of a strange mixture of guilt and curiosity. They didn't talk much online, just a few chats here and there. And then one day, Casey proposed that they meet in person. Matt had stared blankly at the screen for what felt like a long time, just watching the cursor blink. When he finally agreed, it was as if the computer was typing of its own accord and he was just watching.

Now, as he waited in the busy restaurant for his daughter, he felt that same out-of-body feeling swarming over him. His eyes darted to the door every time a young woman walked in. He didn't even know who he was looking for; Casey had never even sent him a photo, since she was apparently the only teenager still forbidden from owning a smart phone.

He took another sip from his glass, willing himself to relax a little bit. He let his eyes drift to a flash of white at the edge of his peripheral vision, where the hostess was leading an attractive young woman in a tight white dress over to...

Oh, shit.

"Ah, hi," Matt said, scrambling out of his seat and to his feet.

He began to shakily extend his right hand before thinking better of it, instead opening his arms to offer an awkward hug.

"You must be Casey?"

"Hi, welcome to Luchia's. Do you have a party waiting?"

"Hi. Yes. Um... reservation for... Carlson. Two," Casey said, still sounding a bit nervous.

The hostess quickly checked a tab sheet and then smiled as she grabbed a couple of menus to bring to the table.

"Okay. Follow me."

Casey readjusted the strap of her purse against her shoulder, and then trailed after the hostess as she moved through the aisles and around a few tables before finally reaching the reserved table. Casey couldn't quite make out her dad's appearance with the hostess standing in front, but as soon as she moved aside the young girl looked up at her father as he scrambled up onto his feet.

Casey couldn't help it, but the first thing that really struck her was just how attractive her father was. She really had no idea what to expect, but all the images she'd put together in her head beforehand hadn't even come to close to what he actually looked like. She had to remind herself that this man was her father... and not just some guy she was meeting randomly for lunch.

He's your dad. He's your dad. He's your dad.

"Hi," Casey said as the hostess stepped aside, and at first she started to reach for his extended hand, but then her father opened up his arms to try and offer her a hug.

"You must be Casey?"

"Y-yeah."

It was undeniably awkward, but incredibly cute at the same time. Her dad was naturally quite a bit taller than she was, but the difference felt just right. Her head could rest comfortably against his chest, and his stronger arms could wrap all the way around her slender frame.

It took a lot for Casey not to break down into tears, but she did sniffle just a little bit when she pulled away and then sat down in her seat. The hostess waited and then set down the menus before saying that a waiter would be coming over shortly to help with their order. Casey continued to feel a strange tingling as she sat at the table, and although she didn't really have to, she leaned her chest forward while starting to remove her denim jacket, allowing it to fall off of her shoulders and expose the thin straps of her dress.

It was almost as if she were presenting herself to him, showcasing her natural assets and letting a stronger man know that here was a healthy young female for him to consider.

Thousands of years worth of biological instincts were simply too powerful to keep locked away... and whether she wanted to admit it or not, they started to come out as Casey sat down opposite of her father.

Casey held onto Matt's hug a bit longer than he had expected. He was surprised to realize that this must have been more than just a matter of curiosity for the girl, and tried to imagine what it must have been like for her, growing up without having or knowing a father.

He hadn't gotten a good look at her before they hugged, but as Casey pulled away to take her seat, he was struck by just how much she resembled her mother. They were about the same height, had the same long, dark hair and similar skin tone, and as the tight white dress Casey wore made abundantly clear, Casey had inherited the same lethal curves that Matt had so loved to hold onto when he was with her mother. He hadn't gleaned much of Casey's personality yet, but judging from the way she fluidly -- and subconsciously, Matt guessed -- presented her ample cleavage as she slipped out of her jacket, she had also acquired her mother's ability to use her physicality to her advantage, though Casey perhaps did not know it.

Matt realized that he was staring a bit, and quickly got back in his seat, taking another sip of his water to fill the silence. He stared down at his menu, not really reading the words on the pages while he gathered his thoughts. He hadn't really considered how things would go beyond their introduction. Was she expecting him to make conversation? Did she have questions she wanted to ask of him?

"So, uh, I..." he started, then trailed off when he realized he still didn't know where his thought was going.

"Sorry," he tried again, with a self-deprecating chuckle. "It's my first time."

He eventually asked the rather mundane question of how school was going for her. He didn't want to venture into sensitive territory too quickly, and he hoped that getting Casey to talk about herself a bit would give him some idea of where the evening was headed.

Casey looked up at caught her father's eyes staring down a bit lower than would be appropriate, and once she realized what she was doing and why he was staring, she quickly sat back and felt a bit of color rising to her cheeks. She tried as casually as she could to readjust the neckline of her dress, but it was almost impossible for her to adequately hide her body's natural curves. Her chest certainly drew a lot of looks at school, though Casey's mother practically refused to let anyone get too close to her.

The dark-haired teen watched her father for another few moments as he directed his "attention" to his menu, and then she looked down as well.

To be perfectly honest, she wasn't really hungry.

"So, uh, I... Sorry," her father said, followed by a cute chuckle. "It's my first time."

"I... um... w-"

Casey's train of thought was derailed once her father asked her how school was going, and perhaps that's all that was needed to make her feel a bit more at ease at the table. She put her menu down and started talking about how she was a senior now, and that she was starting to really think about where she wanted to go to college. Since she wasn't really able to spend a lot of time on the computer at home (aside from doing projects), Casey was forced to pass the time by polishing up on her other assignments.

"I was thinking about starting off at a community college, and then transferring once I'd worked out what I wanted to do," she added as their server finally made his way over. He started off by asking the pair what they wanted to drink, and Casey simply asked for some lemon water.

"... Dad?"

Saying that felt really... weird. Her mother had had a few flings over the years, but no one ever really stayed. Now that she was with her other parent, her mind started to wander. She was testing things out... and although the father piece ordinarily fit in with mom, Casey's mind wondered if it could fit elsewhere. Even after their waiter had left, Casey, like her father had done before, was simply staring.

Matt couldn't help but smile a bit as he listened to Casey talk about school and her plans for the future. When she described the spartan life she lived at home, he found himself reminiscing of the stupid little things that Casey's mother had always gotten on his case for -- having out of place silverware in the kitchen drawers, not clearing his more "adult" web browsing habits from his web history, and heaven forbid, forgetting to put down a towel on the bed before sex. In fairness, she had been right about that last one; Matt had thrown out more than one set of sheets that had been irreparably stained by their bedroom activities.

Matt was jogged from his solo trip down memory lane by the waiter, who took their drink orders. It was then that he realized Casey was looking directly at him.

"... Dad?"

The way she said it sounded as uncertain as the way hearing it made him felt. Sure, he'd been aware in the abstract that he was her father, in the biological sense, at least. But hearing it...

"Yeah, hun?" he replied without thinking, surprising himself at how naturally the term of endearment slipped in. "I'm sorry, it's just... God, this is all so crazy."

Realizing too late how that must have sounded to the girl sitting across from him, he quickly added, "Don't get me wrong. I wanted to be a father one day. When I was younger, I even believed once that maybe it would be with your mother, but she and I didn't... things didn't work with us. I just never imagined it happening this way. And your mother, well, she didn't say a thing to me. I never even heard so much as a hello from her after we ended things for good. I swear, Casey, if I'd known, I would've fought to be there."

He sighed. He hadn't intended for things to get so heavy so quickly.

"Look, I know that as a dad, I've been non-existent to this point. And quite frankly, the learning curve for me here is going to be ridiculously steep. I'm going to have to figure out shit that most dads get eighteen years to work on. To be honest, you sound like you've figured a lot of it out without me, what with school and college and what not. Certainly more so than I did when I was your age. But if you ever need help, advice, or just someone to rant to about, well, anything, I'll do everything I can to be there for you."

He looked at Casey and gave his most reassuring smile. He hoped that he hadn't freaked her out. And he hoped that he hadn't promised more than he could deliver.

"And I've got a computer at my place with no internet curfew," he added with a jesting grin.

Sometimes, when she was still growing up, Casey would often wonder just why her actual father had never been a part of the picture. Parent-teacher conferences were that much more awkward, and when she was doing a performance for the school, Casey only ever had to reserve one seat (and that was if her mother was even going to be able to make it). Blaming him would have been so easy back then, but now she had a better idea of how and why things turned out the way they had.

It would still take time, however, for Casey to really get to know her father. But this was a good start.

"I swear, Casey, if I'd known, I would've fought to be there."

"I believe you," she said.

And she wanted to take him up on his word. His smile was infectious, and the dark-haired teen couldn't help but smile back. Their waiter returned a few moments later, placing Casey's drink in front of her before doing the same for her dad. He then took a step back and pulled out a small pad of paper to take down their orders. She looked down at her menu for just a few seconds and then ordered a salad with slices of lean turkey breast.

After the waiter collected their menus and went to place their orders, Casey relaxed just a bit into her seat.

The thought of being able to stay over at her dad's was very enticing, but she knew that it was something her mom would almost certainly disapprove of. She supposed that she could swing a harmless white lie and say that she was going to be at the library...

"So... um... what do you do when you're not working? Do you, like, go to any of the gyms around here or anything?"

Although he hadn't meant to unload his emotions on Casey so soon, Matt found that having gotten the heavy topic out of the way seemed to ease the tension at the table. He could feel a sense of calm slowly steadying his nerves, and by the time the waiter returned with their drinks, Casey seemed to be a little more at ease, too.

Having spent most of the day worrying about how things would go with Casey, Matt had barely eaten lunch, so when it was his turn to order, he hungrily requested a burger with the works and a hearty side of fries. Moments after he placed the gratuitously unhealthy order, Casey asked him if he went to one of the local gyms in his spare time.

He let out a hearty laugh.

"Contrary to what my dinner order would suggest, I do have a membership at the club over on the corner of King and Wilkins," he said. "Though when the weather is nice, like it is now, I try to get most of my exercise outdoors."

He described his routine to her as they waited for their orders, explaining how his job had evolved from a 9 to 5 office gig into a restaurant job that gave him enough flexibility to exercise outdoors while the sun was up.

"What do you to to keep in shape?" he asked. "Do they still require phys. ed. classes at school? Or do you play sports?"

Matt very nearly commented that whatever Casey was doing was working well, but thought better of it. After the initial awkwardness of their meeting, it had become surprisingly easy for him to forget that he was talking to his daughter, rather than any other smart and beautiful -- albeit young -- woman.

Casey watched with mild amusement as her father ordered a rather large meal for himself, but it wasn't off-putting. Some people could eat fiberglass and their bodies would still be alright. But she knew a thing or two about metabolism, so she assumed that he had to have some sort of exercise routine. Her father was a rather fit individual, which was something that she found really appealing. She would have liked him no matter what... but at her core she liked that he w-

"Wait. The one by King and Wilkins? That's so weird. I go there too," the young girl said, and her eyes lit up a bit. "That's nuts," Casey added.

Had she seen him before?

Had he seen her before?

That would have been crazy. Casey only hit the gym three times a week, and usually wearing a tank top over a sports bra with either yoga pants on or matching shorts. She usually kept to herself, exercising for a bit before heading back home, so if she had seen him it had probably been a passing glance.

"Actually, um, you can opt of gym when you're a senior. I also like to go out for a run, but when I'm at the gym I'm usually on one of the treadmills or working one of the machines. I don't know. I like to mix it up a bit. I don't really have time for sports, so I try to get as much exercise done as I can."

And it had done wonders for her. That and eating right. Of course... stealing one or two of his fries wouldn't really kill her.

Casey knew (or at least really hoped) that this would be the first of many meetings for them, but she couldn't help but want to blurt every possible question that she could think of. She was really starting to like her dad, and it seemed like they had a really strong connection. It was a lot stronger than the one she shared with her mother at any rate.

"So... um... is there anyone else in your life right now? I mean, like, aside from work."

Both as a real estate agent and a restaurant owner, Matt had benefited from his ability to recognize people's faces, even those he had only seen once or twice. Still, the revelation that he and Casey worked out at the same gym caused him to wonder whether he had seen her before -- particularly since he had a habit of checking out the women there to pass the time while working out.

I'd probably recognize her ass before her face, he thought to himself, before scolding himself for having such an uncouth thought about his own daughter.

He breathed a small sigh of relief when she said she usually ran on the treadmills. Despite his penchant for jogging, Matt couldn't stand the treadmill; he always found himself bored out of his mind. He much preferred hitting the weights, or doing bodyweight work on the bars or on the floor. Plus, from the treadmills he couldn't see the shapely woman who was always in the squat rack, squatting all the way down low in her yoga pants.

As their food arrived, Casey surprised Matt again by asking if he had anyone else in his life. He couldn't blame the girl for being curious, but somehow he just had not expected that question to come up so soon.

"Mmmm, nobody serious right now," he answered, nibbling on a French fry. "Not for a long time, actually."

He paused, unsure how much he wanted to spill about his love life right off the bat. The only thing he knew for sure was that now was not the time to mention the blonde former waitress from his restaurant who spent the night from time to time.

"I'd hoped I would have settled down into something more serious by now, but I guess it just isn't in the cards for me yet."

"And what about you?" he asked, pointing a French fry faux-accusingly in her direction. "Any troublesome young men in your life I should know about? I don't have a shotgun to clean, but I can in... what's the waiting period here, 5 days?"

Grinning like an idiot at his own joke, he took a big bite of his burger to give Casey a chance to speak -- and to prevent him from getting too goofy with the daughter he had only just met. In the short period of time they'd been speaking, he had grown increasingly comfortable around her, as if he had known her for far longer. Still, he didn't want to let out all of his kid-in-a-grown-up-body personality all at once. As much as the local college girls found it charming, he was Casey's father, and that meant things had to be a little different.

The corners of Casey's lips very subtly curled upwards as her father told her that he wasn't actively seeing anyone, though given just how handsome he was she found it a little difficult to believe. In the back of her mind the cogs had already started turning, and she subconsciously told herself that she would be more than happy to go out with him... or at least attempt to pursue some sort of intimate relationship.

When it came time for Casey to talk about love life, the answer was rather simply.

"I'm not with anyone," she said.

And it was true. There had been a few quite a few guys to ask her out, but nothing serious ever really blossomed. There had been some bunts towards first base, and even a couple of hard sprinters running up the line, but no one was every really able to round up towards seconds.

Not that she'd tell him that.

"Just... I don't know. Most of the guys in my school can be real jerks," she admitted.

Which was also true. But, perhaps she wasn't meant to be with any of them.

That was a naughty thought. And one that stayed with her even after they'd left the restaurant. As she climbed into her car and slid the key into the ignition, she let out a squeal of childish delight before composing herself. There was no way that meeting her actual father could have gone any better. That sense of euphoria continued even after Casey had pulled up the driveway to her house, though after about a week of school and not being able to see her dad had started to wear her down.

Casey worked out even harder at the gym, even focusing more on her squats than she used to. She went out for a run whenever she could, trying to sweat away all the stress and negative emotions in her life. She was determined to keep up her spirits, and once Friday rolled around she was dead-set on going to see her dad. Getting into an argument with her mom only helped push her over the edge. Fuming, Casey got into the car and started to drive away, leaving her mother standing on the front steps.

The dark-haired teen focused on her breathing as she sped away, and once she'd collected herself she steered her car over towards the highway and started making her way over to the restaurant her dad said he operated. It wasn't too difficult for her to find, and the place was certainly hopping for a Friday evening. Casey was greeted at the door by a fairly attractive hostess, and the younger girl wondered if perhaps tonight wasn't the best night for her to go and crash her dad's place of business.

It was another busy Friday night at the restaurant, and Matt was out on the patio, greeting customers at their tables and making sure their orders were to their liking. It wasn't a strictly necessary part of his job,but he liked to make the effort. Without the support of the regulars, the place would have been just another casualty of the recent economic downturn.

Matt had just paused for a drink of water when Dean, his friend and one of the co-owners, approached and nodded slightly toward the entrance.

"Check out the pretty young thing that just walked in," Dean said. "Local college girl, you think?"

The girl had her back to them as she conversed with Tina, the hostess for the evening, but from what Matt could see she certainly fit the part, with a white fitted t-shirt and hip hugging jeans that showed off young but unmistakably womanly curves. But when the girl turned toward them in response to a gesture from Tina, Matt's heart sank a little when he realized it was Casey, whom he barely recognized in casual clothes.

"Aw hell," he said to Dean, one of the few people he had told about his new found daughter. "Pump the brakes, that's my kid."

Matt waved to Casey as he headed toward the front of the restaurant,making sure she saw him. The girl seemed to be not quite comfortable, though he couldn't tell if it was just because she felt out of place; although her choice of outfit fit right in with the rest of the crowd, there was a reason the bar came first in "bar and grill," and most of the Friday night crowd had a few years on her.

"Hey Casey," Matt greeted her, once he was close enough to be heard over the din of the crowd. "I didn't expect to see you here. Is everything okay?"

Now that he was face to face with her, he could sense that something wasn't quite right, and he assumed given her age that she wasn't just dropping by for a beverage.

"Is, um, Matt Carlson here today?" Casey asked the hostess.

"Yup. Right... over there," she said.

The older girl nodded her head, and Casey felt a tiny surge of relief as the hostess directed her attention towards another end of the restaurant. The curvaceous teenager turned and finally smiled as she saw her dad waving to her, and he moved to meet her halfway. Casey was dressed pretty casually, which, given the nature of the establishment, seemed to be the norm. The white tee she had on had a large 'Parental Advisory' warning label on it, but the impressive swell of her chest distorted the words slightly, making it almost impossible to read what was written underneath without being caught staring. And the jeans that were hugging her hips could have been painted on, held up over her tight ass without even wearing a belt.

"I didn't expect to see you here. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just... I dunno. Mom was giving me a hard time, and I just wanted to get out for a bit."

Casey took a quick glance around the restaurant, but her eyes mainly focused on her handsome father.

"This is a nice place. I can't believe I haven't been here before," she said.

The dark-haired teen received quite a few looks as she'd entered the place, mostly from most of the guys seated at the bar, but they tried not to stare at her for too long. The entire place was alive with music and televisions and couples seated at the tables, and her nose picked up the delicious and overwhelming scent of burgers and fries and other not-so-healthy food. Since she hadn't had anything to eat for dinner yet, Casey idly placed a hand against her belly.

As Casey explained the clash with her mother that had brought her to the restaurant, Matt felt his eyes gradually being drawn downward toward her chest -- first by the oddly distorted logo emblazoned across her shirt, and then by the prominent swell of her youthful breasts. He tried not to let his gaze linger for too long, but it took him awhile just to make out the words on her shirt.

Parental Advisory indeed, he thought, when he had finally deciphered the logo. There was something at once grossly inappropriate, and yet entirely appropriate, about having the words plastered across his daughter's ample breasts for all the world to see.

Matt noticed others in the bar -- men and women alike -- temporarily fixing their gaze on his daughter's body, and a momentary twinge of protectiveness jabbed at him from inside.

"Come on," he said, leading her away from the entrance and to a table by one of the fire pits on the patio. "Let's get you some comfort food and you can tell me all about it."

Ideally he would have taken her to a corner booth away from the predatory eyes of the college crowd, but with business booming, the patio was the best he could manage. The weather was warm, so the flame in the fire pit was burning on a low setting, just enough to keep everybody comfortably toasty.

Dean, the sarcastic bastard that he was, made his way to them as soon as they sat down.

"Matt, new woman in your life?" he asked, handing Casey a menu. "You sure know how to pick 'em young."

"I'm kidding, by the way," Dean added. "Your dad told me all about you. Glad you stopped by. What can we get for you?"

"Anything she wants," Matt interjected. "On the house."

"You heard the man. What'll it be, little lady?"

Once more Casey caught her father's eyes gazing at her chest, and while it was certainly possible that all he was doing was reading the words on her shirt, she couldn't help but feel that his gaze had lingered elsewhere as well. She wasn't entirely bothered by that, and for a fleeting moment she wondered if there may have been something wrong with her. A couple of weeks ago the very thought of that would have probably freaked her out, but that before she had actually met her father.

He was real, and she liked him.

Casey chose not to say anything, but her lips curled into a playful smile as her father led her away from the entrance and over to one of the tables on the patio. A fire pit nearby kept the outdoor area nice and warm, and there wasn't quite as much noise as there was inside. Not more than a couple of seconds had passed when someone approached the table, and the man handed her a menu and playfully ribbed her father by asking if she were the new "woman" in his life. Casey playfully chuckled, but his second comment caused her to flush red with embarrassment.

Casey was relieved to discover that her father had apparently told him about her, and that he was simply having a bit of fun at her expense.

They then offered to let Casey choose whatever she wanted from the menu... free of expense.

"I..."

Casey hadn't really had time to think.

"I don't know. I guess some iced tea. And... a burger and some fries?"

Casey rolled her eyes and then laughed as all the stress from the week began to melt away.

"Wow. I'm totally blaming you for this," she said as she handed her menu back and looked at her dad while she folded her arms across her chest. She sat back in her chair, feeling the gentle warmth of the fire caress her exposed skin.

Matt was happy to hear Casey order something far heartier than the greens she'd had the last time they sat across from each other at a table. He took it as a sign that she was comfortable enough around him to have an appetite.

"I'm totally blaming you for this," she said after Dean left to put in her order, crossing her arms. The movement further accentuated her chest, which required no emphasis as it was, and Matt wondered if the thin white tee might actually burst open right then and there.

"Oh, for what?" he replied, putting his hands in the air in a hands-off gesture. "Your waist is so tiny, I'd swear you were hiding a corset under that shirt. I bet I could lace my fingers together if I put my hands on your hips."

He held his hands up with his thumbs touching and his fingers crossed to demonstrate, peering at her through the "O" formed by his fingers. He paused for a moment as a mental image crept into his mind, unbidden, of him lifting Casey up by the waist to... do what?

"And besides, did you see all the looks you were getting as you walked in?" he added, shaking off the temporary mental distraction. "I think everyone who sees you knows you work hard on your body, and a burger and some fries isn't going to change that."

A waitress stopped by their table with Casey's iced tea and the glass of water Matt had started earlier. After a brief pause to rehydrate, Matt leaned back in his seat and looked across the table at Casey.

"I feel like I have to ask... what's going on at home? Does your mom know where you are? I don't mind at all that you came here to blow off some steam, but you know how she is. She'll flip out if you don't report in every few hours."

"Your waist is so tiny, I'd swear you were hiding a corset under that shirt. I bet I could lace my fingers together if I put my hands on your hips."

"I like to keep in shape," Casey said, defending herself with a playful pouting face. "I mean, I'm not that thin," she added as her father examined her through the opening his hands made when he touched his fingers together. Casey had looked at herself in the mirror many times before, and the only times she was able to see her ribs was when she really sucked it all in and held her breath. She wasn't ashamed of her body, and she wasn't starving herself. The young girl just chose to eat a little bit healthier than the rest of her classmates.

Instead of getting pizza at the cafeteria on Fridays, Casey would grab a salad. It was still cafeteria-food, but it was better than not eating anything at all.

But her dad was right. Eating a burger and some fries wouldn't cause her to blow up like a blimp. Perhaps she could relax her standards just a little bit. Meeting her father had really started to change her... if only in the slightest of ways at first.

Casey huffed a little when he asked how things were at home, and whether his ex-wife (her mother) knew where she'd gone off to.

"It's a lot of little things, honestly, and she'd probably flip out even if I came home right away. Like, the other day she flipped out because I had some clothes lying around on the floor in my room, and my bed wasn't made when I was getting ready to get to school. I caught her going through a few of my things, but she just said she was looking for something she said she thought she'd lost. Complete B.S., but she's got this thing where she makes it feel like it's my fault."

The way Casey pouted -- and the fact that she felt the need to defend herself against Matt's jabs at her waist -- made Matt's heart melt a little.

"Oh, no, no," he chuckled, "you're not that thin. Not in a bad way. You uh... well, you've got curves in all the right places, let's put it that way. But your waist is pretty damn narrow. I bet you're hiding some abs under there."

He laughed again, this time a little more sorrowfully, as Casey described her tribulations at home. He wasn't sure exactly how much of it was just the standard clash between a teenager and her parent, but he knew Casey's mother well, and could have counted off on his fingers the times she got on his case for exactly the same "infractions."

"I wish I could say this was unusual, but as you probably know, that's just how she is," he sighed. "She used to go through my shit too -- and I'm not her kid! It'd drive her nuts when I would leave my socks on the floor after a long day, and she was always looking through my mail. The worst was when she'd find porn on my... wait, is this appropriate father-daughter conversation? I'm guessing not."

He stopped to gather his thoughts.

"You can hang out here as long as you want. We don't close until the wee hours today, so there's no rush. I do hope you'll check in with your mom at some point, so she doesn't go completely off the deep end, but I'll leave that to you. You're the one who's had to grow up with her, and you seem to have good judgment."

They were interrupted by one of the waitstaff who needed Matt's help in the back, so he excused himself for a few moments and headed into the restaurant. When he came back, Casey's food had appeared at the table.

"So, how is everything?" he asked, taking his seat.

Her father pointing out that she had curves in all the right places only fed the growing attraction that was, for the time being, still in the back of her mind.

"I bet you're hiding some abs under there."

"Not really," Casey said, and she lifted up the hem of her shirt just passed her navel as "proof". The muscles around her belly were toned and firm, but they lacked the definition that most people had when they focused on their core. But Casey was still young, and she was pretty happy with the way her body had turned out. Her father had noticed, and that kept her cheeks looking as red as ever.

When the discussion had turned towards her mother, Casey's mood visibly soured. The dark-haired teenager didn't exactly hate her, but it would have been nice if she had been as cool as her dad. Casey smirked when he mentioned her having found porn on his computer, and she couldn't help but picture him sitting in front of a computer... pleasuring... himself.

The image was pushed back as her dad had to excuse himself from the table, and a few minutes later Casey's meal was brought out and served to her. She had only taken a few bites of the juicy burger and nibbled on some fries when her dad came back and sat down. She picked up a napkin and wiped her mouth, then took a sip from her iced tea and leaned forward towards the table to pick up her burger again.

"Good. Really good, actually."

Casey took another small bite, then set the burger down and chewed slowly before swallowing it. She sat back and thought for a moment, then folded her arms across her chest again.

"I guess I should call home and tell her that I didn't run off to Mexico, but I was wondering, since it's Friday and 'cause I don't have to go to school tomorrow, if I might be able to crash at your house tonight?"

Casey's request to stay the night at his house caught Matt off guard. He had expected that she would eventually head home after cooling off at the restaurant, but it seemed that perhaps things at home were a little more intense than he realized. He didn't want to seem like he was pushing her away, but the request still put him in a difficult spot - especially if her mother found out where she was. Casey was legally an adult and could choose where she wanted to go, but Matt still would not have put it past her mom to push for kidnapping charges against him.

"If things are really that rough at home," he said after thinking it over, "then I suppose one night would be okay. But you should probably not tell your mom you're with me. I don't condone lying to her, but I'm pretty sure it would just make things worse if she knew. Deal?"

As he waited for Casey's response, he ran through a quick mental checklist to see if there were any other issues he had forgotten. Dean was closing at the restaurant, and their third co-owner was opening the next day, so work was covered. He didn't have plans the next day other than working out and handling the evening shift at work, so that seemed manageable as well.

He would have to call Jenna, his current fling, to make sure she didn't stop by his house unannounced, which was unfortunate. He'd been looking forward to a little sexual relief from the long week, but if he knew Jenna, an extra day's wait would just make her more eager to please. he would not normally push her off for any little reason, but the opportunity to spend more time with his daughter seemed worth the delay.

Casey couldn't help but smile as her father acquiesced to her request to crash at his place, but only on the condition that she not tell her that she was staying with her father. The young teen didn't bother to finish her meal as she got up from her seat and planted a quick kiss on her father's cheek.

"Deal," she said, and then excused herself to use one of the phones to call home.

She honestly hadn't planned to stay at his place, and that meant she didn't have anything to change into, but that was a minor issue. Casey stopped one of the waitresses and asked for directions to a phone, and then she scooted off to make the call.

The first call went unanswered, but then her mother finally picked up as Casey tried again.

To say that she wasn't happy that Casey was staying over at her friend Jessica's house would have been an incredible understatement. But the young girl planted her foot down and reminded her that she was eighteen and that it wasn't even a school night. Casey reminded her that she was safe, and that she'd be back tomorrow before finally getting the O-K.

"Finally," Casey huffed as she hung up the phone. She went back to the table and then sat down, looking as if she'd just gone through a bitter divorce of her own. Eventually, though, as she reached for a fry, her lips curled into a smile.

Matt was still a little uneasy even though he had agreed to Casey's plan, but the look forward excitement on her face as she got up to phone her mother seemed to lighten the load. He almost expected her to start skipping as she headed in to find a phone. The kiss she had planted on his cheek made him feel lighter than air, too.

After what seemed an unusually long time for a phone call, Casey returned, looking a little more exhausted than when she had left. Matt imagined that getting her mother's go-ahead had probably been as straightforward as extracting wisdom teeth. Still, she looked satisfied, so the conversation must have at least had a pleasant end.

"I'm going to wrap up the paperwork and books in the back office so we can head out when you're ready," he told Casey. "Dean is in charge of closing, so we don't need to wait around for the place to close up. If you need anything, just let one of the staff know, and if you get any attitude, just ask for me."

He gave her a quick wink and a pat on the shoulder as he headed into the office. The paperwork was easy enough to do, so most of his thoughts were occupied by what he would say if Casey's mom got wind of his involvement in her plans. Yes, Casey had said she would cover for him, but her mother was a dangerous combination of tenacious and controlling, so he couldn't count out the possibility that she would dig until the truth came out. In the end, he decided that he could just say that it was clear Casey needed to be somewhere other than home, and it was better for her to be with him - her father, and a responsible adult - rather than out with her friends getting into trouble.

When everything was wrapped up to his satisfaction in the office, Matt checked in with Dean to let him know he was heading out, then returned to the table where Casey was sitting.

"Hey hun, ready to go?" he asked, noting that her plate had been cleared. "I figure you can just follow me in your car."

Casey nodded at her father as he told her that they'd be leaving before the place would completely shut down for the night. She relaxed in her seat and only a couple more french fries before her place was cleared away by one of the staffers. She leaned back in her chair a little bit more, and listened to some of the music coming from inside the restaurant. The fire in the pit nearby had almost been completely extinguished, but Casey could still hear a few snaps and crackles.

For the most part she was left alone, though some fresh water was brought out to her when she felt a bit thirsty. After a while, her father came back out and asked if she was ready to go. Casey sat up and then pushed up herself up from her chair before stretching her arms behind her back.

"Yeah, that'd probably be best," she said.

Casey reached into her pants and quickly found her car keys, then started walking towards the other end of the patio that was able to lead out to the parking lot. She waited for her father to get into his car before she pulled up behind him, and she followed after him as best as she could while he guided her back to his place. Casey was pretty excited to see where he was living, but she was almost certain she'd fall in love with it.

And a computer with no internet curfew? Well that was just icing on the cake.

When they had finally arrived, Casey remembered that she kept a small duffle bag
in the trunk of her car for when she went to the gym, but she wasn't sure if she'd taken her clothes out to wash them. She popped the trunk and ran back to check, and she breathed a sigh of relief as her fingers wrapped around a pair of athletic shorts and a spare tee that she could slip into. Casey thrust them back into the bag and zippered it up before slinging it over her shoulder, and her face was absolutely beaming as she closed the trunk before going to catch up with her dad.

"So, this is where you live, huh? I was expecting some kind of mansion," she teased.

Matt felt a small twinge of embarrassment at Casey's joke about expecting a mansion. Sure, Bruce Wayne wasn't going to take up residence in his home anytime soon, but Matt knew from his real estate days that he owned a pretty good little place. It was technically a single family home, but only by virtue of the small patch of lawn out front and the even smaller strip of concrete and grass in the back. In most other respects it resembled a modern townhome, with an attached garage and three-floor construction. The neighborhood was quiet and welcoming, with good neighbors and plenty of amenities paid for from their fairly modest HOA dues.

"Yeah, I've sold my fair share of mansions," he admitted, "but never managed to save up enough for one of my own. This place has been good to me, though. I hope you'll like it."

Matt led Casey in through the front door and up the first flight of stairs, which opened into the living room, dining area, and kitchen. He mentally patted himself on the back for having tidied up that morning in anticipation of Jenna stopping by. He was pretty sure the young blonde didn't care how messy his place was as long as they had a solid surface on which to have sex, but he still liked to keep things presentable, and in this case it paid off.

They continued up the stairs to the third level, where the two bedrooms were located. Matt started to show Casey into the second bedroom, which was both his home office and a guest room, but thought better of it moments before opening the door, remembering that the trade-off of his having cleaned the house was that he had unloaded most of the clutter into the guest room, which was presently a complete and utter man cave.

"You know, I don't think you'll be really comfortable in here," he said with a sheepish grin. "Why don't you take the master tonight? Here, let me show you."

He guided Casey down the hall into the master bedroom, where his queen sized bed occupied most of the space, directly across the room from a well-mounted television.

"The master bath is over there," he said, gesturing to a door just off from the bed. "It has a shower and a tub, feel free to use either or both. I don't know if you've got any pajamas in that bag, so..."

He rummaged quickly through the closet, and returned with some items.

"If you want, you can sleep in one of my old button-downs, or an old t-shirt if that suits you better." He held up both before setting them on the bed. "I unfortunately don't have any panties on hand."

He blushed slightly and offered a plain red pair of boxer shorts, the type with a button fly. It was actually a white lie that he didn't have panties, since Jenna always kept a pair or two in his bottom drawer in case things got a little crazy in the bedroom, but Matt had no idea if Casey wore the same size, and even if she did, he wasn't sure he'd want her prancing around the house in one of Jenna's g-strings.

Resisting his primal brain's efforts to betray him into picturing Casey's shapely rear in nothing but a skimpy, stringy piece of underwear, he looked to his daughter's face to see if she needed anything.

Like a kid in a candy store, Casey's eyes were wide open and looking around hungrily. She followed after her dad as they walked up to the main floor, and although the house was pretty clean, it was a livable kind of clean. It wasn't spotless, and that's what made her feel even more at home. Casey could see herself crashing on the couch after a long day and not having to worry about where her shoes landed after kicking them off.

On the third floor, Casey was treated to the master bedroom. She placed her hand down on the mattress and felt how comfortable it was, and then her dad came over and set down some clothes that she could change into. The young girl felt a little color rise to her cheeks when he mentioned some delicates (or lack thereof), and then offered up a pair of clean boxer shorts for her to wear.

Casey took another quick look around the bedroom and then set her bag down.

"This is perfect. I mean, I would have been happy just to sleep on the couch," she said as she looked down at the clothes he had set out for her, and she lightly fingered them to get a sense for how they felt.

"I'll probably just take a shower for now, but maybe after I'm done, we can watch a movie or something."