For once you find you’re not alone when you wake.
Ashley jumps away from your bed with a yelp. You don’t understand why until you notice you’ve startled upright like a man possessed.
“My bad, baby.” You read your alarm clock and yawn. Not an act; you haven’t gotten up this early since retiring the apron. “What’s up?”
She’s still wearing your black shirt from last night almost like a one-piece on her smaller body. You finally process what the flash of white fabric you’d caught as she stumbled backwards must be. Luckily, your sheets tented over your knees hide how hard you get.
“I need a ride to school,” she says.
Deep breath. You compose yourself to not betray arousal. “Didn’t your friend say she would pick you up?”
“Claire can be flaky like that.”
“Not very smart of you then, Ash. What if I had something very important to do in, say, thirty minutes?”
You leave her in suspense for a second before reassuring with a smile you’re not feeling. Your disappointment at her lack of responsibility is palpable. In those ten years Jessica’s also managed to undo one of the few good things you’d left all your girls with.