From now on, we're dating

Scarlett held a glass in one hand and her forehead in the other, her face twisted in pain. "But he's still just a kid, this whole dating thing... it's absurd..."

"Come on, what's wrong with raising your own kid? He's an adult now, isn't that better? You get to mold him into exactly what you like!" Jessica clenched her fist, frustrated at Scarlett's defeatist attitude.

"You guys aren't even related by blood! Think about it, that slight sense of shame, doesn't it just make your blood boil with excitement?"

"Shut up!" Scarlett snapped, her mind flashing back to the times she massaged Ethan, which they jokingly referred to as 'Pecker'. Every time she thought about it, waves of embarrassment and awkwardness crashed over her.

Yet, she knew there was also a strange, indescribable thrill to it.

It was a forbidden thrill she hadn't felt in thirty years.

That's exactly why she kept her distance from Ethan.

Because she was scared.