Steve was ready to come any second. He felt Kayla’s mouth around his cock, sucking and licking, taking all the beads of cum that he knew was escaping from his tip, all while he plunged his tongue into her soft and hot sheath. She moaned for him, and he wanted to feel her vagina pulse around his tongue as he used his thumb to rub her clitoris.
“You taste so good, baby.”
“Come, Steve!”
“Come with me!”
Finally, Steve erupted while he sucked on Kayla’s delicate lips, forcing her into an orgasm that gave him more of her wetness to take in.
Steve felt the pleasure radiate through him as he laid his head upon her thigh. “I miss you, Kayla. I miss you so much. When are you getting home?”
“Home?”
“To me. I’m home. When are you getting here?”
“I don’t know,” she answered sadly. “I just left, myself.”
“It’s been too long. I want to see your face.”
He turned around, on top of her, but she wasn’t there. “Kayla? Where are you?” She didn’t answer, but he continued to taste her on his tongue. “God I miss you,” he cried.
Steve’s eyes opened slowly. The first thing he realized after a moment of confusion was that it was still dark out, and this was still Roman’s room. The second thing he realized was that unmistakable feeling of having just ejaculated. “Oh sh*t,” he gasped. “What am I, 16?!” He felt down to his crotch, and sure enough, the tidy whitey underwear he wore in this time was saturated with his cum. He desperately felt inside his sweats – the only pair he had – and they were dry, but for good measure he turned on the light and searched the sheets. They didn’t give up any evidence, either. God, I’m a horny, f*cking teenager! I don’t believe this! Steve hadn’t had a wet dream in quite some time. My 50-year-old brain dreamed of 69 with my wife, making my 23-year-old body have a wet dream. He wasn’t sure if he should laugh or be disgusted. Steve looked at the clock. 3:12 AM. He took off his underwear, slipped the sweats back on commando (which was often how he liked it anyway), and quietly went to the bathroom where Kayla’s door was as closed as he’d last left it. Without turning on the light he worked hard to relieve himself through his still hardened cock. Then he cleaned up and got back in bed. “You behave, dickwad,” he whispered accurately to his penis.
Just a few hours later Steve woke up for the final time into Saturday morning. Kayla’s bathroom door was wide open, and she was missing from her rumpled bed. Some things never change, he grinned. He hoped she was still in the kitchen and not gone for the day. He was going to be a basket case if he didn’t know where she was going to be all day. The toilet was inset into a cubby type of space against the left-hand wall and couldn’t be seen from either doorway. He turned to pee for the second time that morning and was mid-stream when Kayla walked in holding a fluffy yellow towel over her arm. Stark naked.
“Oh—sh*t!” Steve choked out as Kayla gasped. He did what he could to stuff his penis back into his pants, and she clutched the towel to her body so that her front was obscured from the tops of her breasts to where the towel ended at the tops of her thighs. She gaped at him with wide-eyed shock, for sure, but also a curiosity that was so fiercely unexpected that she couldn’t tear her eyes away from him as she hid there behind her folded towel.
“I’m sorry!” he said, “I’m so sorry.” The last thing he wanted to do was scare her. How could he be so careless, this was her home, not his! But at the same time she was his wife! It was so damned frustrating he thought he was going to lose his mind!
“You’re sorry?” she said, her voice breathy. “What are you sorry for, I’m the one who just walked in on you!”
“No, it’s your bathroom,” Steve insisted as he turned to go, then turned back on a dime to flush. “You weren’t in there.” Then he kind of wandered in a circle for a moment not sure if he should stay to wash his hands. “I – I thought you were in the bed – THE KITCHEN! Oh, Jesus. The kitchen! I thought you were in the kitchen.” Steve did something he almost never did, and that was turn beet red. Then he purposefully put his eyes up to the ceiling as he waved his finger at her nakedness. “I shouldn’t be seeing this …”
“Steve—”
Oh, I miss her saying my name. “I’m …” he backed up toward his door. “… I’m sorry, Kayla.”
The sound of her name on his lips sent a shudder through her that he didn’t see. “You’re not seeing anything, I’ve got a towel, see?”
Steve’s eyes widened, and he let himself look at her just in the eyes.
“No harm, it’s ok,” she said nervously without moving a muscle. “I-I-I didn’t see you just now, either. A-a-and the doors were both open, so I thought it was safe to come in and shower.”
“You really should cover up, Sweetness.” Sh*t, don’t call her that while she’s naked! She doesn’t understand! “Kayla! I’m sorry, I mean Kayla, you should cover up, Kayla.”
“Well, I would, but if I move you’ll see something.”
Steve’s penis hardened. He couldn’t help it. “Sh*t,” he said out loud as he turned around. Ok, cover up.”
Weirdly, she almost didn’t want to. But Kayla immediately wrapped the towel around her and tucked in the corner at her sternum. “Ok, you can turn back aro …” Her breath hitched in her throat at the feeling inside her that she never really experienced before. “… around.”
Steve heard how nervous she was and how quickly her breaths were coming. It only served to harden him more.
“Nope, I’d better not. You go ahead and shower first.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind waiting. Women take longer, you know.”
Was his young body causing his more mature mind to devolve into a Neanderthal? Her last statement made him think of how long it takes a woman to come and not how long it takes her to shower. “God, what the hell is wrong with me?” He said that out loud, too. He didn’t care.
“Nothing! I feel so bad, I – let’s start over. You can look at me, really. Come on now.”
God, how that sounded like his 2009 Kayla. But it wasn’t, it was a 30 years younger Kayla, and she didn’t understand. His innocent wife didn’t understand that not turning around was not about her body but about his.
“Just get in the shower, Kayla, I’ll go when you’re done.”
“Please! I don’t want things to be weird.”
Ha! If you only knew! “I think it’s a little late for that.” He went to adjust a patch that wasn’t there and rolled his eyes as he plowed his hand through his hair instead.
“Just look at me, we’ll start this morning over, and we can just pretend this didn’t happen.”
Maybe she wouldn’t notice the bulge creating a tent in his sweats. Damned f*cking sweatpants, most stupid piece of clothing ever invented! How he wished he had on his underwear to help hold in at least some of his erection. But he wanted to look at her. He missed her so much he ached. It was not in this Kayla’s best interest to do as she asked, but it was selfishly in his, and he wanted to see her.
Slowly, Steve turned. She was a vision. He’d never seen her hair this long. Now that he saw it first thing in the morning all slept on and messy, he saw that it easily covered her breasts, which were smaller than he remembered but very pert. Her shapely legs supported very curvy hips that the towel couldn’t hide, and what he wouldn’t give to feel her feet nuzzle his in the night. He didn’t know what came over him, but he let his eyes size her up and down from the top of her beautiful head to the bottom of her toes and back up to her bedroom eyes.
Kayla did the same. His bright blonde hair was sticking up in a few different directions, and she wanted to run her hands through it. His green eyes were suddenly bright and full of something she couldn’t identify but it lit her on fire. It was longing, but she didn’t know how to put it into words. To his chagrin, he saw her eyes settle momentarily on his groin and then widen.
“Up here, baby,” Steve pulled her from her rapt attention to his crotch. It was too late to hide it, so he just decided to move her on. “You wanted to start over?”
Kayla nodded. “Uh-huh,” she said.
My God, she was turned on, Steve realized. He knew her body’s language, and it was turned on, even if she didn’t know it. Her cheeks filled with heat, he knew other parts of her did, too, and her parted lips were at a loss for words. Steve was turned on, too. He didn’t want to be, but he couldn’t help it, so he stopped trying and let himself want her.
“I’ll start,” Steve said, his voice like velvet in the small bathroom. “Good morning, Sweetness.”
“Good – good morning,” she said. Steve smiled, and she smiled back.
“Sleep good?”
“Yeah. I Slept like the dead.”
You sure did. “Yeah, me, too. Got a big day lined up?” She just nodded, her wide eyes unyieldingly locked with his. “Cat got your tongue, Sweetness?”
Kayla swallowed. “N-no. What did you say?”
“Got a big day lined up,” he repeated.
“Yeah, if you call fish guts and chowder a big day.”
This half-naked conversation in the bathroom was inappropriate at best, but Steve was all in now. “Fish guts?” Admittedly, that served as a decent mood-killer.
“My day to watch the fish market. Most Saturdays my folks go to see Grandma and Uncle Eric.” Uncle Eric. That got Steve’s attention. He’s the one who molested Kim for years, he was sure of it. That was enough to deflate his dick real quick. “They’re about an hour away. Someone has to watch the store, so I stay home on Saturdays. Been rough since Bo left. Kimmie started refusing years ago.” Of course, she did, “so it was always just me and Bo after Roman left home. Anyway, so, that’s my exciting day.”
“Well, you were here first, so please, go right ahead, and I’ll go in when you’re done.”
Kayla nodded and smiled shyly. “Ok.”
Steve finally moved the few steps it would take to put himself back into the bedroom; he never once dropped his gaze from hers. “And now I’m shutting this door.” He smiled just slightly wickedly, and Kayla ate it up with a giggle.
The door was closed now, and Steve almost fell over with the electricity coursing through his body.
“Ok!” Kayla said, “I’ll let you know when I’m done!”
“I think I’ll hear it!” he said from the other side of the door.
“Well, just in case!”
“Go!”
“I’m going!”
“You always need to have the last word when you were 18, baby?” he chuckled softly to himself.
Shortly thereafter, he was showered and about ready for the day. Bo poked his head into Steve’s room just as he was pulling his t-shirt on. He really needed some new clothes, because day in and day out of the same merchant marine uniform was getting really old. “Hey man,” Steve said, “I hear it’s over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go.”
“Yeah,” Bo said a little deflated. “I feel kind of bad dragging you there. Probably not what you had in mind for your visit.”
“Nah, I don’t mind,” Steve said as he sat down to put on his socks. But really he did. He minded. It wasn’t about Grandma, it was about the absence of Kayla. What if she jumped in without him? He wasn’t just shadowing her because he loved her, he was doing it to ensure she didn’t jump in all alone to this place that was going to blow her mind. And also? He loved her.
Bo sat down on the foot of the bed facing his friend and looked down at his hands. “I tried to get out of it, but she hasn’t seen me in so long, and she’s getting up there.” Steve knew when Bo was being less than truthful, and this was one of those times. He gave Bo a knowing look.
“Bo, it’s ok to want to see your grandma.”
Bo glanced up at Steve warily. “Yeah?”
“It’s your family. You’ve been gone for months. Go see your grandmother, Bo. You think it’s …,” he searched for an appropriate word for the time, “… too straight to want to see her?”
“You don’t?”
“Not at all, dude. Let’s go see her.”
“Thanks, man,” Bo said with a small bit of relief playing on his face. He got up to go and said he’d see Steve in the kitchen. He did a quick double take before he left, though, and said, “Only problem is they got no help for Kay today, and they don’t want to leave her all alone in the fish market, so we’re trying to figure out if Ma or Pop stay with her. They’re kind of fighting over it right now, so once they get that sorted out, we’ll go.”
Bo dashed back to the kitchen, and Steve had one hell of an epiphany. It was like the stars aligned, and he knew this was exactly the way it was supposed to be. He just had to play this right. A lot of moving parts here, but if he did it right, it would come together like every last gear of a finely tuned clock.
When Steve arrived in the kitchen, Kayla pretended not to notice as she put on her white apron. He smiled to himself and focused his attention on Shawn & Caroline, who were in a heated disagreement over whether it should be Shawn or Caroline staying to help their daughter downstairs, or if actually she could do the whole thing on her own. One thing was for sure in this conversation, Shawn was adamant that on no day of the year was the fish market a one-man job; someone had to stay behind, and it wouldn’t be Bo. When there was a decent opening, Steve piped in.
“Mr. and Mrs. Brady, I don’t know if this is overstepping, but I know a lot about fish actually have some experience behind a counter. I really don’t mind staying behind to back her up, then the three of you can have the family time with Bo.”
“Steve, no,” Bo immediately replied, “you didn’t come all the way to Salem on your shore leave to go right back to work.”
“Bo’s right, Steve, you deserve your break, and you’re welcome to be with our family.”
Kayla had frozen in her spot. Oh yes, please! She thought. Please, please, please!
“And it’s such a short break, it hardly seems fair,” Caroline added.
Bo shot Steve a look with that one, knowing that Steve wasn’t planning on going back. Steve wanted to just come clean about that to everyone, but he had to play this carefully, not just for himself, but for Bo, too. If he outed his plans, that might push Bo too hard, and he’d run back to the Alva for sure.
“Honestly, you’ve been so good to me, so I think it’s time for me to earn my keep here. Let me stay behind and work in the fish market, I’m a real quick study. I’ll do whatever Kayla tells me, she’s the boss. But, I don’t feel right taking so much from you and not giving anything back. It would really make me feel a lot better if I could give back, here.”
Shawn hadn’t said anything yet and listened very carefully to Steve’s request to let him help, watched his body language, and eyed him carefully over the arms he’d crossed in front of him. Shawn wasn’t born yesterday, he knew the boy was smitten with his daughter and she with him, and this whole thing was going to be a great way for the two of them to get to know each other a lot better. It’s not like they were going to get one over on him with that. The real question was how did he feel about that? Did he want a man five years older than his little girl to be involved with her? And this Steven was definitely a man. A full grown, experienced man. Kayla was not experienced. But, she wasn’t a girl, either. She was in college, and she was a woman, now, much as he hated to admit it. Bo, he was a boy, still. But Steve had taken care of his boy, cared for him like a brother, and helped grow the boy up a bit. He’d seen how the young man acted in his home. He’d seen the sad look in his eye at times, knew that he was looking for stability and had found some here in the last few days. There was also something very genuine about Steve. He felt a trust in him, as if he’d known the boy for years. The fact was that he liked the boy and decided to give him a chance with his daughter. Minding the store was critical in its own right, but at the end of the day he knew that the lad would do him right there and that this was really a question of giving the pair a chance or not.
“Caroline,” Shawn said. “I think young Steven, here, has given us a bird in the hand.” Everyone focused their attention on Shawn, who now had command of the room. “Ya say you know your way around a fish market?”
Steve’s hands were shaking from the adrenaline coursing through him. He tried desperately to control them. “Yes, sir. I know fish, and I know food service. I’ve worked in a deli before, and I know the laws and guidelines. One of my odd jobs.”
“How would ya clean a trout, then?”
Steve was being tested, so he respectfully rose to the occasion. Shawn taught him half of what he knew, so he impressed the man with the knowledge he, himself, infused into him, describing exactly which knife you might want use to descale the fish and how you would handle the rest of the unpleasant bits.
Kayla cringed and let out an unpleasant sound. “Kay never did want to do this part of the job,” Bo said with some sympathy for his sensitive sister. “She always wanted to throw them back.”
“Yes, like my lobsters, didn’t ya, lasse?”
Kayla smiled. “I really would like to not have to do that part if Steve wouldn’t mind.”
Shawn smiled. This would do quite nicely, he decided. “Alright, Steven, you’ve got yourself a job for the day. Like ya said, Kayla’s the boss, and she’s got the register. Ya got a problem with that?”
“Not at all, Mr. Brady, thank you for letting me help out.”
“Yes, well, we’ll see if you’re thankin’ me come closin’ time,” he laughed. Kayla was over the moon and expertly masked her excitement. Shawn shook Steve’s hand and quietly said to him, “Like I said, ya got a good head on yer shoulders.”
There it was again. The second time that Shawn looked at Steve in a way that clearly outlined an understanding that far outreached how things appeared. It was as if he knew that there was something afoot and was almost helping it along.
“Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.”
“I know,” Shawn replied. It was a statement of confidence. And also one of cautionary warning.
Bo didn’t ask if Steve was sure. He simply thanked him, because the fact was that Bo wanted to see his family, and Steve agreeing to stay and let both his parents leave the market at the same time was a big deal.
Before they knew it, Steve was in a very familiar spot that he’d worked many times before behind the counter with an apron on over his uniform sweater and black pants.
Kayla felt shy and awkward with him, but she was also giddy from the prospect of having the entire day to spend with him alone. Alone! Her parents weren’t watching, she didn’t have to do any studying tonight, and she had no other plans. It was just her and Steve. Kayla felt the butterflies in her stomach the moment Steve suggested he stay back to help, and they still hadn’t left her. Their little meeting in the bathroom this morning was driving every single thought in her head.
Steve saw how nervous she was, and he wanted to ease those nerves, but first someone had to ease his. They had ten more minutes until the fish market opened, and so Kayla started in on the crash course she had no idea he didn’t need.
“So, ah … I’m lucky to have you, because I don’t like to clean the fish. You sure you don’t mind?”
“Nope, don’t mind. I don’t get it, though. You’re going to be a nurse, so I’d think some fish innards wouldn’t bother you.”
“It’s just – well, they were alive a few hours ago, and now – now they’re dead.”
It was just like the lobster conversation. Poor Larry and Lucy. That was the last time Steve ever tried to feed lobster to his Sweetness. “Ok, baby, so what do you want me to know. Just lay it on me, I can handle it.”
“I can handle it, too.”
Steve stared. “What?” He knew what, but he was trying not to.
“I’m – not a kid.”
Steve didn’t smirk. “I noticed.”
“This morning?”
Steve’s heart pounded. “I noticed,” he repeated.
He was struck by just how like his Kayla she was even seven years younger. She knew what she wanted then, and she knew what she wanted now. She faced each of those times with equal amounts of courage, risking rejection, and without shame. Steve tried to resist her. But, dammit, he didn’t want to. He wanted to lean over and kiss her so badly. Feel her young lips on his and show her that he loved her, even if she wouldn’t understand. It was wrong, though. It didn’t feel very wrong, but he knew in his head that it must be wrong. It wasn’t her. Right? It was almost as if she were drunk; he didn’t want to take advantage of her without her full and complete understanding, which she couldn’t possibly have, so he continued to fight it.
“Your pop’s trusting me,” Steve said. “I don’t want to disappoint him.”
Rather than pursue him, Kayla surprised him with her next statement. “You really like my pop, don’t you? You care about what he thinks.”
“Yes, I do,” Steve answered honestly. “I feel like I know him from everything … I’ve been told, and he’s a very good man. I want to do right by him.” And by you.
Kayla was touched by what a noble person Steve Johnson was. She liked him so much. Not just with a crush, but she truly liked the person this man was. Noble, kind, responsible, but obviously not Establishment. And he meant it when he said he watned to do right by her father.
“Thank you,” Kayla said. “You’re a good man, too.” She placed her hand on his muscular arm as she said it, and it wan’t a flirty line. She meant it.
Before long, they unlocked the door and opened for business. Customers filtered in slowly at first, but by 11:30 the lunch crowd was in full swing. Steve moved around the counter with a fluidity that shocked the hell out of Kayla. He wasn’t kidding, he really knew his way around a fish counter. Not only did he know how to scale a fish, but he deboned a few of them with skill that her father would have beamed at. Kayla served up all the chowder that her mother had made that morning, worked all transactions at the register, and acted as the sole waitress for the people eating in.
On more than one occasion Kayla caught Steve watching her, and it sent a thrill through her every time. She loved how he looked at her like he wanted to kiss her like Burt Lancaster kissed Deborah Kerr on the beach in “From Here to Eternity.” And she wanted him to kiss her like that. She’d kissed boys before. Steve was a man. And she very much wanted to kiss this man.
For his part, Steve was at war with himself. He knew Kayla had fallen for him, and he saw how she looked at him. He recognized that look, it was the look that he’d spent a lifetime living for. But this was not his Kayla. His Kayla was somewhere in limbo waiting to arrive, and this little tryst Steve was on with the other Kayla felt wrong.
But … how could it be wrong? This was Kayla. He remembered kissing her in Italy before she’d arrived and talking it through with her after she got there. She said it was ok. That the other Kayla was still her. Maybe she is her. Them. She’s the same person, dammit!.
The bigger problem eating at him was the question he’d now asked himself a hundred times. When was Kayla going to jump in? Nine days. His greatest fear was that he would jump to his next destination before Kayla arrived at this one. That would be the worst possible scenario, and it wasn’t the first time he’d put that into coherent thought. It scared the sh*t out of him. If that happened, they ran a real risk of losing each other. He couldn’t bring himself to consider it. Homesickness stabbed though him. He almost fell over it was that strong. Luckily, it was one of the times Kayla’s eyes had not found his, as she was too busy ringing up a customer.
The whole problem was made worse by the fact that his jump was to this time. They had no common experience here. All their other jumps they knew each other. This one they didn’t, and he had to spend a lot of time pretending she was a stranger to him. But she wasn’t. And he was so swept up in missing her so much and feeling the real and true essence of who she was every time she looked at him, that he couldn’t turn away from her. Even if his Kayla wasn’t there, this was the person that would be his Kayla, and he needed his wife. Plain and simple, he just needed her so much that the war within himself was proving to be a losing battle.
Mid-day a few customers started to pile up while Kayla had stepped into the back room. He knew she hadn’t left, and it wasn’t like her to be away from the cash register. Steve kept an eye on it while he deveined a half pound of shrimp for a woman he actually recognized from the riverfront. Apparently, times got tougher for her between then and now. It wasn’t until the fourth person was in queue to pay that Steve finally got a bit concerned about her whereabouts. It had been almost ten minutes, and two of the customers waiting were getting very impatient. Despite his promise to stay off the register, someone had to check these people out, and he knew what he was doing. So, he washed off his hands, a pump of Purell would be nice right about now, and checked out all four people that were in line, plus two others who’d finished up their meals. That left no one in the fish market.
“Kayla?” he called out. No answer. He went to the swinging door, took a quick look at the front door, then yelled up the stairs, “Hey, baby, you up there?” Silence. “Kayla?!” Steve’s stomach turned over. Something was wrong.
The cooler! For most of the years Steve had known the Bradys, the meat cooler was a problem. He’d finally fixed it for Shawn in 1989 when he briefly managed the fish market. But up until that time, the door’s safety didn’t work. So, if the door closed on you, you were stuck in there until someone needed to be in there for something. Which in a fish market was rarely long periods of time. Rather than just fix it, the Bradys jury-rigged a piece of wood to simply wedge in the frame so it wouldn’t close. It was usually second nature to all of them to use the wedge, but people wound up stuck in there on more than one occasion, anyway. And now he was sure this was another one of those occasions. Because he was 100% positive that Kayla would not have left him in the fish market alone like that.
Steve hated to do it, but he turned the sign and locked the door, then ran for the cooler. Sure enough, when he got there he saw the damnable piece of wood that he assumed was the same one he’d discover in the mid-‘80s outside the door. Panic struck him. “Kayla?! I’m here, hold on!” When he opened the door, there she was sitting on a crate shaking with cold.
“Baby?” She looked just like she did when he found her on Orpheus’s boat, only without the tears. Fear, yes. But she wasn’t crying. “Oh, baby, come out of there, what happened, how’d you get stuck in here?”
Kayla stood up stiffly, and Steve reached in and grabbed her. She was ice cold. Literally, her skin was freezing.
“I’m so cold,” she said softly. She fought not to cry, she just refused to snivel like a little girl in his arms and look like some uptight head case.
“Let’s warm you up, come here.”
Steve pulled her out of there with his strong arms, shut the door, and clutched her to him as she clutched him back. It was the first time he’d done more than brush fingers with her since he’d arrived three days ago. Now he engulfed her in his embrace. She felt cold and stiff and scared and … wonderful. Oh, she felt so damn wonderful. He knew if he really touched her that he’d fall over the edge, and he was right. He felt her cheek on his chest, and she felt so good as he transferred his warmth to her.
This was not a manipulation to get Steve’s attention, either. If there was something Kayla didn’t want to repeat in her lifetime it was get stuck in the cooler. It happened to Kim a lot, and she always managed to come through with a joke and just move on. But Kayla only needed one time to ensure that it never happened again. Three minutes was all it took being cooped up in the cold when she was ten to never again forget to use the wedge. Was she just not thinking? Was she so head over heels for this guy and his bulging sweatpants that she forgot to screw her head on this morning? No, that wasn’t it, because she did just fine in the market, waiting her tables and ringing them out. And she was sure she used the wedge, right? But even her pop got stuck in there, and he never forgot, so it wasn’t like it was fool proof. Apparently, this was also one of those times. She felt like an idiot.
“I’m just so cold. I can’t believe I did that.”
Neither could Steve. He knew about her one and only bit of alone time in there and knew this was not a ruse to get him to worry about her. “Failure to wedge, huh?” That’s what Roman used to call it, and Steve always thought it was amusing.
Kayla nodded. “Something happened to it. I know I used it.” Her teeth chattered.
“Were you scared?” he asked softly.
Kayla nodded. “I don’t like being cooped up like that.”
“I know, shh, it’s ok, now.”
He did know, didn’t he? How did he know, she wondered? Steve stroked her hair, and she felt this amazing feeling come over her of safety and warmth. She was stunned that he knew where to find her and that he knew about the wedge, but right now, she just wanted to continue being held by this amazing man who’d just let her out of that box.
Within seconds, Kayla melted into him, her body molding to his as he held her. Steve was overwhelmed. She was smaller than he remembered, and right now she smelled as much like fish as he did. But as Steve ran his palms firmly over her arms and back in an attempt to warm her, she felt just as much like his wife as she ever would.
Kayla responded by pinking up quickly. She was warm enough to pull away now, but she never wanted him to let go. It felt so right to be in his arms, she wanted nothing more than for him to kiss her. Suddenly, she remembered the fish market.
“Where – is the market open?” She pulled away and ran for the door that opened from the fish market’s kitchen to the main area and found it empty.
“No, baby, I closed it up to look for you.”
“Where did the customers go?”
“I checked them all out.”
“You what?” Kayla was concerned, she knew her father wouldn’t like that.
“I knew exactly what to do, you can check the receipts for yourself.” Now Kayla felt bad for making him think she didn’t trust him after he’d just gotten her out of the cooler. “But I checked out everyone who was still here, and then I closed up and went looking for you. Better that than some guy comes in here and robs the cash register.”
“You’re right. No, that’s – thank you. Steve, thank you so much for getting me out of there. It’s only happened one other time, and I just don’t know how I could have forgotten the wedge.”
He saw her shudder slightly as they stood in the middle of the fish market. Kayla was still chilled, and Steve took off the apron and then removed the sweater that was layered over his t-shirt and offered it to her. At first she said no, but her eyes said she couldn’t wait to have Steve’s sweater on her body, so he happily obliged. She didn’t need any help but he placed it tenderly over her head, anyway, and held out the sleeves as she worked her arms into them. It was huge on her, and she was the most adorable thing he’d ever seen. Then for the first time as far as she knew, he took fingerfulls of her hair and untucked them from their entrapment beneath the sweater and arranged them affectionately about her face.
“You’re so pretty,” Steve said before he could stop the words from coming out of his mouth. Kayla’s lips parted slightly not knowing what to say to the words that made her heart fly in ways it had never flown before. Then he wrapped his hand around her cheek and rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip. “You’ve always been so pretty.”
Steve’s awareness had decent control of his body if not his mouth, but Kayla’s hormones were raging, and she wanted to kiss him. She wanted to kiss him so badly that she stopped waiting for him to do it and tried to do it herself. She stood up on her tiptoes and tried to brush her lips across his, but Steve came to his senses and stopped her with the firm hand that was still caressing her cheek. He wanted her kiss, and she could see that he wanted it. So, why was he resisting?
“Don’t you like me?” she asked, confused.
She was killing him. Steve didn’t want to hurt her. How did he get out of this. He smiled with pain and frustration at the absolute need he had to feel her in his arms and on his lips. “Yeah, I like you, Sweetness. I l-l-like … I like you. More than you know.”
“Then … why? Why don’t you want me?”
Steve gave up as much as he’d allow himself and swept his lips across her forehead. The effect was like a band-aid. It felt good for the moment, but it wasn’t real relief. Kayla, on the other hand, felt his lips on her and about jumped out of her skin.
“I do, Kayla, I know you don’t understand, but I do want you. That doesn’t make it right.
“Is it my folks?” she asked cocking her head to the side as she searched for an explanation for his rejection amidst his obviously feeling the same way about her as she did about him. “’Cause they really like you, I think my pop is kind of testing you today.”
That caught Steve short. “Really? You think he’s testing me?”
Kayla chuckled. “Yeah, he’s been eyeing us for at least a day.”
That was news to Steve. “Then all the more reason that we shouldn’t screw this up. Trust me, please?” Steve kissed her forehead again. “You ok now? You’re lookin’ a lot toastier.” He was pretty toasty, himself. “Next time you wanna hit the cooler, tell me, I’ll go.” Then without waiting for an answer he ran to the door, unlocked it, and turned the sign back. Kayla was relieved when customers didn’t immediately pour in; she didn’t want a lot of questions getting back to her father about why the market was closed in the middle of the day.
“Steve?” she called to him. She was standing in front of the counter, and he was still at the door. She sounded no different from the Kayla that would call his name hundreds of times in the future.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Would you like to take me out to dinner tonight?”
Steve couldn’t help but grin at her. She was really something else. It was no different today than it was in ’86. She pursued him unabashedly, and even as he fought it, he couldn’t find it in him to fight too hard, because he loved it. “Are you askin’ me on a date?”
“No,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m asking you if you’d like to ask me on one.”
No, dude! No, you don’t! “I’d love to ask you on a date, Kayla Brady” Johnson.
She loved the sound of him saying her full name and looked at him expectantly.
Steve’s heart swelled. “Kayla, would you like to go out with me tonight?” This was actually rarely-treaded ground for them. They didn’t really do that much dating in the traditional sense. They dated, but not like this Ozzy & Harriet stuff.
“Yes, I’d love to go out with you tonight,” she smiled. “Where are we going?”
Hell if he knew. “Anywhere you want.”
“Really? You want to see a movie?”
“Sure.” Odds are he’d seen it, but not in the theatre with his wife, so why not?
“Great,” she smiled. Then Kayla got more serious. “Don’t tell Pop about the cooler, ok? I don’t want to give him any reason not to trust us.”
Steve had to touch her. He got a taste of her at the cooler, and now he was having a hard time shutting Pandora’s box back up. He approached her in front of the counter and smiled mischievously as he took her hair in his fingers. “It’ll be our secret, Sweetness.”
She didn’t smile back; instead she leaned her face up toward him Steve instinctively pulled away, trying not to go there. But she gave him a look that would stop a clock, and he froze. He’d seen that face before. He knew what she was going to do. This time he let her lips make contact with him. His patch wasn’t there, but she kissed his cheek right below where it would have been. It happened exactly like the first time when he’d brought over Frankie and Max; and in the very same spot, too. Time absolutely stopped. It was like that moment in their lives was meant to be no matter what the time or the reason. That kiss upon his cheek was powerful. Something he’d done and the person he was touched her, and she had to show him how much, not just last time but this time, too. There was so much meaning in her lips upon his smooth, untouched skin, he felt it as much now as he did then. The love he felt for her threatened to overwhelm him. “Thank you for getting me out,” she said. Her face was so close. He wanted to just take her lips now, tell her he loved her, hold her close.
“You’re welcome,” he said softly.
Then Kayla took a step back, let her gaze settle upon him for another moment, and went to clear the tables and catch up on the backlog of the last 20 minutes.
Kayla grudgingly returned Steve’s sweater just minutes before Bo and her parents walked into the fish market, and the smile on Shawn’s face delighted Steve more than he realized it would. They closed up at 5:00 PM, and his smile only widened when he saw the day’s receipts. Impressive for such a freezing cold Saturday in February. And neither of them looked like they were doing anything other than what they were supposed to be doing. They assured him that there was nothing to report, and Shawn could not have been more proud.
“Nice job, man,” Bo said as he pounded Steve affectionately on the back. Then he screwed up his face. “By the way, you smell like fish.”
“Yeah?” Steve returned, “Well you smell like Grandma’s House.”
Steve and Kayla worked as a team to close up the place in record time so they could get to their date. Kayla helped Steve wrap up the fish, and she cleaned up the displays while he took all the cooler duty; she genuinely was done with that thing for a while. Kayla counted out the drawer, her father did the second count, and then she did the final, and all the numbers balanced perfectly each time. Shawn praised them both and headed upstairs for the kids to finish up.
Steve shocked Kayla when he got out the mop and did the floors, and it occurred to her that he really knew his way around. Maybe he saw the mop when he went looking for her?
“Steve? How did you know about failure to wedge? And where I was?”
Steve stopped mid-mop for a moment. “I think Bo must have mentioned it once,” he said. I saw the wood laying on the floor when I went looking for you, and I panicked that you might be stuck in there.”
It sounded more than reasonable to her, and she sighed inwardly.
Once the fish market was locked up tight, they went upstairs and found themselves in the same spots as they had first thing that morning. “That’s one thing about working the fish market,” Kayla laughed, “you’re gonna need a second shower when you’re done, because I promise you, we smell like the river.”
Steve laughed. “Yes, Bo was kind enough to point that out,” he smirked. “Ok, you go first, I’ll go hang with Bo.” He went to close his bathroom door, but she protested.”
“No, you can go first this time.”
Steve didn’t fight her. “Ok, baby,” he said. Kayla exited the bathroom closed her door, and Steve took his shower.
While Steve showered, Kayla found her parents and Bo in the livingroom. Dinner was more of an every-man-for-himself kind of deal on Saturday nights for the Bradys, so she wasn’t surprised to see them in there each doing their own thing. Kayla was a grown-up. She was old enough to vote, she was old enough to drink, and she was old enough to do whatever she wanted. That included dating men five years older than her. And if she was old enough to do that, then she was definitely old enough to be a grown-up about it all and not sneak around like a kid. So, she told her parents very calmly and rationally that she and Steve were going to go to a movie tonight. She didn’t ask, and she didn’t seek their approval. She did, however, hope no one would be upset. Like her brother that she knew felt an ownership over the Brady relationship with Steve.
Bo looked at Kayla, Kayla looked at her mother, Caroline looked at Shawn, and everyone waited for what he would say about the matter. At that moment when Steve entered the living room where they’d all converged, he wondered what the family meeting was all about.
“Did I, uh … walk in on a family matter? Maybe I should just go back to my room.” Interestingly, it was Shawn he looked to for what to do next, not his best friend or his wife.
“Come in here, son, let’s have a discussion.”
Steve’s stomach flipped. What did I do? “Is there a problem in the fish market?”
“I understand you’re takin’ Kayla on a date this evening,” Shawn said, not wasting any time. This threw Steve off; he’d wanted to bring this up with Bo carefully so he didn’t feel snubbed. Too late now.
Steve cleared his throat as his heart sped up. “I was hoping to, Mr. Brady, yes.”
“My girl’s 18-years-old, she don’t need my permission.” Steve stayed silent. “Have a nice time.”
Steve swallowed. Really? “I’ll have her home at a decent hour.”
“She doesn’t have a curfew, either. College girl and all.”
“Right. Well. Still, we’ll be home early.”
Kayla gave him a look that said, we will? But she quit while she was ahead.
“She’s a good girl, Steven.” Steve grew very uncomfortable with the meaning in that statement: She’s a woman, but she’s still my little girl, you’re a lot older than her, don’t take advantage of her, and don’t hurt her.
Steve nodded. “I know,” he said. He didn’t know what else to say, and for the second time that day the heat rose in his neck.
Kayla hugged her father and kissed Caroline on the cheek. Then she went to Bo, whom Steve could not actually read right now, and whispered something in his ear that her husband couldn’t hear. “I love you best, little brother,” she said and kissed his cheek. Then she threw a giddy smile to Steve that only he saw and disappeared into their shared bathroom for her own shower.
“Well, I’ll leave ye to it, then,” Shawn said to Bo as he and Caroline went to the kitchen to make themselves some sandwiches.
Now it was just the two best friends, and Steve wasn’t sure what to expect. He had a feeling Bo would be feeling a little pushed aside, and he was right. “So, what’s up with you and my sister?” Bo asked. He wasn’t mad, but his voice took on a slightly strained quality.
He didn’t want to hurt Bo. But Steve wasn’t here for him. He appreciated him, and these last three days had been an incredible experience for him. He had no idea just how much he’d needed his family around him right now, even if they didn’t know that’s what they were, and he loved Bo for it, he really did. But the bottom line was that no matter what, she was his wife, and he wasn’t going to give her up. So, Steve chose not to play any games.
“I like her, Bo.”
“Like you like her like her?”
“Yeah. A lot.”
“When did that happen?”
“The minute I saw her, I think.”
“You just stayed behind to work the fish market to be with her, didn’t you.”
“No,” Steve insisted, “I was all ready to go to your grandma’s house with you this morning, remember?” Bo realized he was right and shrugged a small nod. “Bo, you’re my best friend. That won’t change. But there’s something about her, I just want to spend some time with her. I’m ready to be done with the women here and women there thing. I want to just get a regular job, date a nice girl, have a life in just one place.”
“She’s a virgin, Steve.”
Steve’s eyes flared. He didn’t like talking about Kayla this way with other people “What’s your point?” Steve asked with irritation.
“You like ‘em with a little mileage.”
That struck Steve hard. What kind of guy did he used to be? He remembered what kind. And he didn’t like it. “I’m not gonna hurt her, Bo! What do you think we’re going to do, go to the drive-in and do it in the back seat?”
Kayla had been eavesdropping from her hidden spot in the hall, her wet hair still wrapped up in a towel. At Steve’s mention of “doing it in the backseat,” something happened inside her that made her gasp. It as desire. Before another word was said, she got hold of herself and went back to her room to dry her hair and finish getting dressed.
“She’s an adult, and so am I. I like her. I want to go out with her and hope she’ll like me back. That doesn’t mean I don’t like you, too. I’m sorry, I know we were supposed to hang out.” Bo was stone-faced. “Dude, come on, don’t be upset. Please? I didn’t plan it.”
Bo gave up and released a deep sign. “Nah, it’s fine.” His face relaxed and he let himself smile just a bit. “She’s crazy about you, I’ve known for days now.”
“Really?” The phone rang in the kitchen, and Steve realized that there were only two phones in the house, one there, and one in the master bedroom. The sound of the real ring from the real phone, which had a dial on it that would have confused his daughter if she had to try to make heads or tails of it, made him feel surprisingly good.
“No one in this family knows her better than I do, and I could tell right away that she liked you. Didn’t know you liked her back,” Bo snarked at him, “but yeah, I kinda knew. Like you said last night, she’s my best friend, man. Different from you being my best friend, you know what I mean. She might be older, but I’m the one with the experience.” He suddenly sounded a lot more grown up than he had since Steve arrived in this jump. He wasn’t acting like a jealous teenager, he was dead serious about the honor of his sister, and Steve had never admired him more. “I know what you’re like, so if you say you’re changing, then fine, I believe you. But she doesn’t know how to see anything but the good in people, and she’s too trusting. I just don’t want her to be hurt. So, you promise me you’ll treat her good, and we’re square.”
Steve was so proud of Bo. He smiled and took the kid in his arms and hugged him like the brother he was. “I promise, Bo.”
“Bo!” Caroline called from the kitchen, “It’s Bart!”
Bo was not used to Steve hugging him like that. “Alright, alright,” he said as he wrested himself away with a chuckle, “get off me, man.” Then back to the kitchen he yelled, “Tell him to hold on, Ma!”
Just then Kayla appeared in the living room looking … beautiful. She wore a flowing tan skirt that would have billowed out if she’d twirled. It came down to a respectable length just below her knees. Her bohemian-looking cream tunic shirt had a square neck with blue and brown flowers etched around it. Long billowy sleeves, and gathers at the waist so that it cinched against her smooth belly. She wore tall brown boots, as it was already snowing, and she really didn’t have the option of wearing heels or even flats at this point. Her long hair was down with fresh curls framing her impossibly young face, and she was absolutely the most beautiful thing in all of Salem.
Steve’s eyes fell to half-mast as he took her in. “You look beautiful, Sweetness.”
“Sweetness?” Bo said with a laugh. “Boy, she’s already got you wrapped around her little finger, doesn’t she?” Yep. Sure did.
“Thank you,” she said shyly.
“Ok, you two, go have fun. I think I’m about to make plans of my own.”
“Bo, do you wanna come with?” Steve asked at the last minute, feeling terribly guilty all of the sudden. Kayla’s eyes shot Steve a look that meant the same thing now as they always would, and that was that she wasn’t exactly in agreement.
“You’re a real trip, man,” Bo said. “No, I don’t wanna be your third wheel, the guys are on the line, so I’ll be hanging out with them, maybe pick up those chicks that were all over you the other night.”
“Chicks?” Kayla inquired.
“Relax, Kay, he only has eyes for you.” Then he smiled at Steve. “You’re the one who wanted to settle down, man,” he whispered in his ear. With that Bo trotted off to the kitchen to take his phone call.
Now that it was just the two of them in the living room, Kayla saw that he was looking at her with that intensity again. Like she had something he was trying to find. And she was right, he was looking for her. He realized what he was doing, and quickly looked away; the last thing he wanted to do was freak her out.
“You, uh … you ready?” He couldn’t believe how nervous he was.
“You called me Sweetness in front of Bo,” Kayla said.
“Sorry,” he said softly.
“Don’t be. I like it.”
Steve smiled. “Good. It just sort of slips out naturally.”
Without the benefit of a car, the nearest movie theater was almost a mile away. In the snow. Steve had snuck a quick look at the newspaper, an action he hadn’t performed since Fandango made that a thing of the past. Only now he was in the past. And old school actually felt really good. He laughed out loud at what was playing, he couldn’t believe it. Superman, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Love at First Bite, andThe Deer Hunter. Anything but The Deer Hunter, he prayed. He thought for sure she was going to go for Superman, but apparently she’d already seen it and opted for Body Snatchers. Now that he didn’t see coming.
“Really, baby?” he’d said as they walked arm and arm in the gently falling snow. “After your scare today, you want to get scared again?”
“Well, nothing else looked very appealing … and I figured if I got too scared you’d be there to put your arm around me.”
Steve smiled at her directness. “You want me to reserve an arm for you, huh, baby. Well, what if you don’t get scared?”
“Then you can put your arm around me, when you get scared,” she said with a confident gleam in her eye. “I’ll make sure the zombies don’t get you.”
“Oh you’re somethin’ else, baby.”
They stopped for dinner halfway there, and Steve was astounded at the price tag at the small Italian restaurant that Kayla wasn’t sure he could afford. $14.00. With the tip. He could really get used to the ‘70’s. And thanks to Rolf’s latest and not so greatest tweaks to this test of his quantum mechanical theory, he was going to get to, too.