18. November 24: Wilder

"That smells good, Heather," I say, my mouth watering. I'm not lying. It smells glorious. "Can I help?"

She waves me out of the kitchen and takes a large swig of wine. "Go spend time with Savannah. After all, you only have three months left before your contract is up," she says with a smile. "Everything is almost ready."

Is she happily teasing me, or was that a dig at the fact that I made her daughter sign a contract for our cuffing season?

I nod and grab a handful of crackers and olives from the charcuterie board before moseying into the living room where Savannah's watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with Aiden. Aiden sits in the recliner, waving like he's on a parade float and laughing hysterically at himself while Savannah simply stares at him. The look on her face makes a chuckle rise in my chest, and I cover my mouth to hold in the snort.

"Olive?" I ask, holding out my hand. She plucks an olive from my palm and pops it in her mouth.

"Please tell me my mother needs help in the kitchen."

"Nope." I shake my head. "She said to enjoy ourselves out here. You told her about the contract?"

Before she can answer, Aiden turns and smiles at me. "Next-level genius, bro. Clean break. I should have thought of that." He holds out a fist for me to bump, but I ignore him.

Savannah reddens and sinks into the couch cushion, even pulling a throw pillow over her stomach like she can hide behind it. "It's not a big deal that people know, Wilder. I didn't know it was a secret."

"It's not," I say, shaking my head. "Just out of curiosity, how many people we talking?"

"Mom. Melissa." She looks at Aiden and forces a smile. "Apparently, Aiden is aware of our situation."

"Do your people at work know?" I ask, suddenly curious how the holiday party with her coworkers in a few weeks will go.

"No," she snorts, and a little spit comes from her mouth. "God, can you imagine the gossip? You'd be the shining star of the holiday party. You probably will be, anyway. Lord knows, nobody there thinks I can pull someone so hot." She rubs her hand over my thigh, and my body tightens. "Incidentally, why does it bother you that my mother knows?"

Why does it bother me that Heather knows? I've never cared what a parent thought before, even if they did know about the contract. A lot of women didn't tell their parents about signing something so stupid, but I know 2022's mother thought it was juvenile and mean. Something about Savannah's mom knowing about the contract rubs me the wrong way. It feels a little like someone just slipped something cold down my back.

"It doesn't bother me." I shrug and sit next to Savannah on the couch, putting my arm around her and pulling her to my chest. "Did you think you were in trouble?" I whisper.

"Are you going to spank me later?" she asks and immediately blushes like she wants to put the words back in her mouth.

"If you want me to pull your panties down and spank you, I can make that happen. Look who's opening up a bit with me," I coo in her ear before kissing the tip of it.

Savannah really has opened up in the last few days. We've had more sex, and she's even let me teach her new-to-her positions. She'd never been taken from behind, and she now prefers it, begging and whimpering for me to turn her over. She's even wanton enough with me to rub her hand over her clit while I take her. I've learned her body and its reactions, just as she's learning mine.

"Dinner!" Heather calls, and the three of us get up from our seats and stomp into the dining room that's beautifully decorated for the occasion.

I've been in some nice homes for Thanksgiving over the past few years, but Heather's food is the most magnificent and decadent I've ever seen. The browned turkey practically weeps with glaze, cranberry sauce with whole berries sits in individual containers at each place setting of expensive-looking dishware, and two large vegetable casseroles, one green bean, one broccoli, are on either side of the pans of stuffing and mashed potatoes.

Heather passes me a breadbasket full of biscuits, rolls, and cornbread and smiles at me. "Are you having a nice cuffing season?"

Before I can answer, Savannah clears her throat next to me. "Are you, Mom?"

Heather's smile falters. "I'm just making conversation, Savannah. It's dinner."

"Yes, Mom, but you agreed not to meddle in my love life if I had a cuffing season partner. You're meddling."

I wisely close my mouth, happy to watch the exchange between Savannah and her mother and not be the center of attention. Across the table from me, Aiden loads a wad of mashed potatoes on his plate and then squirts ketchup on top of them, ignoring the gravy Heather attempts to pass him. The ketchup bottle makes a farting sound when he squeezes it. He looks around the table, giggles, and excuses himself as Savannah blows out a sigh. At the end of the table, Heather laughs like Aiden's fart joke is the funniest she's ever heard.

Once her laughter subsides, Heather shakes her head, remembering the conversation. "You're right, Savannah," she says. "I was just hoping you and Wilder are enjoying cuffing as much as Aiden and me."

"Oh, I'm enjoying it," Aiden says, talking with his mouth full. "Your mom is a hot piece of..."

"Ew," Savannah interrupts, making a gagging gesture. "Make it stop, God."

"Oh, the Lord has nothing to do with what he does to me," Heather says, reaching over to Aiden and running her finger up his jaw. He stops chewing and looks at her like an obedient puppy. She growls at him like a cougar in heat, which describes her perfectly. "What he does is of the devil."

"Let's change the subject!" I say, and Savannah squeezes my leg under the table in appreciation.

"Sure," Heather says like she just remembered her child is in the room. "What do you two have planned for the rest of cuffing season?"

"He's going to spank me tonight."

All heads, even mine, turn to Savannah, and every mouth stops chewing. Aiden drops his fork and mumbles something under his breath that sounds like, "Must run in the family."

"Excuse me?" Heather asks.

"Yeah, Mom," Savannah says, spooning broccoli and rice casserole onto her plate, tasting it, and giving a groan of pleasure. "You really outdid yourself on the food. I think after we eat, I'll take Wilder home, have him massage me in places you don't think I've ever been massaged in, and then he'll spank me like the bad girl I am."

Savannah finishes her tirade with a wink and takes another bite of the casserole as Aiden's mouth goes slack.

Heather sips her wine and nods like Savannah is the most interesting person in the world as my face reddens. I've never been shy about sex, but I've also never had a cuffing partner tell her mother and her mother's boyfriend about our special dirty times.

"Maybe he'll rub some honey on me. No!" she jabs her finger in the air like she just invented the lightbulb. "No, it'll be whipped cream. I have some in the spray can. Then, we'll put my shower curtain down on the ground and roll around in it a little. Get it good and soaked all over my body." She rubs her torso and clutches her boobs. My eyes widen and look between Heather and Savannah like I'm in the center row at Wimbledon.

Who is this woman next to me, suddenly free and fine with sex? I meant to open her up a bit, but I don't recognize any of her usual awkwardness or hesitation. I vacillate between wanting to put my hand over her mouth to shut her up and thinking that whipped cream on the shower curtain sounds fun. Something tells me she'd like both.

Aiden looks at me with new respect. "Cool, dude. That's the way to do it. I could learn so much."

"Then we'll get in the shower and use the pouf I know he likes but won't admit to liking."

Shit. Busted. I knew I used it too regularly there for about a month.

"Good for you, dear," Heather says, raising her wine glass. "I'm glad you're getting action and branching out. To say nothing of how you're learning to respect what your body wants."

"Are you fucking serious?" Savannah asks. "Your daughter is telling you the filthy things she's going to do with her boyfriend that is sitting right in front of you eating your giblets, and you're not offended or embarrassed."

"Just as long as he's eating your giblets dear." Heather bites her lip and shimmies her shoulders.

A laugh bubbles out of Savannah's chest. She looks down and picks up her fork. "Fine. You win, Mom. You got me to have a cuffing partner. You wanted me to get laid without having a long-term commitment. You always win."

She shovels food into her mouth and chews silently. The rest of the table eats in silence, so I hesitantly pick up my fork to dig into the pile of perfectly browned stuffing on my plate.

"Are you going to any parties before the end of cuffing season?" Heather asks like she wants more dirty gossip.

"We have my work holiday party," Savannah says, swallowing a bite of food. "Then, I assume we'll go through this same interaction at Christmas." She waves her hand at Aiden like he's an afterthought. "For New Year's, I'll let Wilder pick what we do since all the other holiday good times involve my mother and her special friend, and then we'll probably do something for Valentine's Day. Then, it's done. Over. Kaput."

She stops talking abruptly and covers her face before banging her elbows on the table. Her hair flops forward, and I stop myself from reaching out and pushing it back from her face.

Something about the way she said we would be kaput soon makes my heart clench. She sounds angry, and I can't decide if she's angry with me or Heather. Maybe both of us. Does she want out of the contract? Is she mad at Heather for encouraging a cuff partner or me for busting out the contract and holding her to it?

We finish our food, and I mull these thoughts over in my mind until Heather gets up from the table and announces it's time for pie. She takes my order for one slice of pecan and agrees to get Savannah's slice of pumpkin.

After Heather disappears into the kitchen, she sticks her head around the doorframe. "I assume you both want whipped cream?" she asks, winking.

Savannah drops her head to the table and groans while Aiden adjusts his balls across from us.