“Daddy, I’m 18 now,” Zoey said. “I should be able to kiss boys.”
“Now you want to kiss boys? How many?”
“No, not boys, just one boy. Him.”
Ben smiled, but my glare made him look away.
“So you two just want to kiss?” I asked.
“Yes,” Ben said.
“No,” Zoey answered at the same moment. “Well, yes, that.”
“And?”
Zoey’s cheeks reddened. “Well, I, I… Daddy, aren’t I old enough to decide what I want to do with my body?”
“What?” I demanded.
“It’s just, like, Ben and I care about each other a lot, and we want to take our relationship to the next level.”
“Ben, let’s hear from you,” I said, gritting my teeth. “What do you want to do… with my daughter’s body?”
“Uh, uh,” he said, “well, I just want to, uh, express my affection?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
“Daddy, stop intimidating him!” Zoey said.
“Is that what I’m doing? He’s intimidating me, asking to fuck my daughter!”
“Daddy!”
“Hey, I didn’t say that!” Ben said.
“So you don’t want to fuck her?” I demanded. “Good! Here I thought you had the gall to come into my house and sit at my table and ask to fuck my daughter!”
Ben looked down, but Zoey looked angry. “Maybe we do want to fuck!”
“Excuse me?” I shouted.
“I’m 18 and if I wanna fuck, I should be allowed to!”
“Stop using that word!”
“You used it first!”
“I can’t believe you ambushed me with this conversation, asking my consent to have sex!”
“Well, I have to ask your consent to do anything!” she was yelling. “Daddy, can I go out with my friends? Daddy, can I go on a date with a boy? Daddy, can I kiss a boy? Daddy, can I fuck? You don’t let me do anything without permission!”
“So that’s what you want, is it? To be a slut? Like your mother?”
“I’m not a slut if it’s just one guy!”
“So how many guys is it, Zoey?” I demanded.
“Hey, hey, listen,” Ben spoke up. “Sir, I, I don’t know about all that. I just thought it would be nice if we could kiss, like a normal couple.”
I sat back in my chair and took a calming breath. “Kissing always leads to more.”
“Well, it doesn’t have to,” Ben argued. “Look, what if we promised to only kiss under your supervision?”
“Supervision? You expect me to watch you make out with my daughter?” I said, my voice rising.
“No, I just meant…” He looked to Zoey for help.
“Okay, yeah,” she said. “Daddy, what if we had just one kiss, right here, in front of you? It’s no big deal. And I promise not to kiss when we’re alone. Isn’t that fair?”
I looked at Ben. “You really want to kiss my daughter? Then you have to earn it.”
“How?” he asked.
“That’s what you have to figure out. You’re the one sitting at my table asking to kiss my daughter.” I pushed my chair out. “Tell you what, you give it some thought, and get back to me next month.”
“Next month?” Zoey cried.
“Wait!” Ben said before I got up. “Wait, I have an idea.”
“Yes?”
“Zoey tells me you’re a good card player. Is that true?”
“I suppose. Why?”
“What if we played for it?”
“Excuse me? Play for it? Play for my daughter?”
“Yes,” Ben said, swallowing. “You know, just a game. If I win, I get to kiss Zoey, just once, and if you win, well, I don’t know, whatever you want.”
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