The afternoon sun hits my face as I walk across my front wn to Erin's pce. It's funny how this little arrangement of ours has become one of the highlights of my week. After a morning of dealing with Lara and thinking about the kids, there's something almost normal about visiting my neighbor for a haircut.

  I knock on Erin's door, adjusting my shirt colr while I wait. She opens it almost immediately, like she's been watching for me. Her tall frame fills the doorway, those green eyes crinkling at the corners when she sees me.

  "Hey, there's my favorite client," she says, her voice warm and deep.

  I can't help but ugh. "And there's mine. We really need to find new lines."

  She steps aside to let me in. Her pce is the mirror image of mine yout-wise, but that's where the simirities end. Where my house shows the wear and tear of raising two kids, hers is all clean lines and modern furniture. Professional, like her.

  "So," Erin says, closing the door behind me. She towers over me by a good five inches, but I've never found it intimidating. Not with her, anyway. "Do you want to have fun first or second?"

  "Come on, Erin," I say with a small smile. "Same as we always do it."

  Her smile widens, showing perfect teeth. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't change your mind."

  She doesn't wait for an answer. Her lips find mine with a hunger that still surprises me after all these months. I kiss her back, matching her intensity as her hands slide under my shirt. There's something about Erin that makes me forget everything else.

  We stumble toward her bedroom, not breaking apart. I know this dance by now. A haircut for sex, not that a haircut costs anywhere near what I'd normally charge, but it simplifies things.

  "God, I've been thinking about this all week," she breathes against my neck as she pulls me into her bedroom.

  We're stripping before we even hit the bed. My shirt goes first, then hers. I help her with her bra, and she ughs when I fumble with the csp. It's always like this with Erin, passionate but somehow comfortable. I don't feel like I'm on the clock here. Don't feel like a product to be consumed.

  With Erin, it's just two people who want each other. Because we do. That's the part that scares me sometimes.

  Her bedroom is bathed in afternoon light as we fall onto her bed. She's gorgeous like this, all confidence and curves, her freckles catching the sunlight.

  "Have you thought about it at all?" she asks, her voice casual despite our naked bodies pressed together. She's straddling me now, exactly how she likes it, her weight a pleasant pressure on my thighs.

  I know exactly what she's asking. The question she's been dancing around for weeks.

  "I can't be in a retionship right now, Erin," I say, reaching up to brush her hair from her face. "I want to at least wait for my kids to graduate first."

  She doesn't look hurt, just thoughtful as she leans down to kiss me again. "I'm not asking you to quit your job, Will."

  "Yet," I add softly. "But no one wants to date an escort, Erin."

  She gives me that look, part challenge, part hunger, then shifts her weight and positions herself above me. Without warning, she sinks down, taking me inside her with no barrier between us. The sensation is overwhelming.

  We both moan as she settles fully onto me. I grip her hips, my fingers pressing into her soft skin. She's one of only two clients who gets this privilege with me.

  "God, Will," she gasps, starting a steady rhythm that makes my thoughts scatter.

  She moves with deliberate precision, rising and falling on me with confident strokes. Her eyes never leave mine as she builds a pace that has us both breathing hard.

  "I like you a lot, Will," she says between breaths, her voice surprisingly vulnerable despite her dominant position.

  I reach up to cup her face. "I like you a lot too, Erin."

  She smiles, leaning into my touch as she continues moving. "Your kids already know me. They like me."

  It's true. Diane and Shane have both met Erin more than a few times over the st year since she moved in next door. They think she's just my neighbor and friend who cuts my hair. They have no idea about this part of our arrangement.

  And I appreciate that she's never once looked at Shane the way some women do, with that predatory assessment that makes my skin crawl. In this world, a woman who respects boundaries with young men is worth her weight in gold.

  "Ask me again in four years," I say, my voice strained as pleasure builds. "When both kids are through college."

  She slows her movements, looking down at me with an unreadable expression. "I don't know where I'll be in four years, Will."

  "I'm not asking you to wait," I tell her, thrusting up to meet her movements. "I'm just saying I can't give you what you want right now."

  She ducks her head and I feel her teeth graze my neck. The sharp sensation sends a jolt through me.

  "Hey, no biting," I say, keeping my tone pyful even as I gently push her back.

  Erin pulls away with a dramatic sigh, her lips hovering just above my skin. "Yeah, yeah," she says, that familiar understanding in her voice. "I know your rules."

  There's no real frustration there, just acknowledgment. She respects my boundaries, one of the many reasons I keep coming back. No marks where the kids might see, nothing to expin away at work. She gets it.

  She shifts her focus, picking up her pace instead. Her breathing gets heavier, more ragged as she rides me harder. The sight of her losing control, this tall, confident woman coming undone, is intoxicating.

  "Oh god, Will," she moans, her voice rising as she grips my shoulders. Her movements become erratic, desperate.

  I can feel her tightening around me as she climaxes, and it triggers something primal in me. I grab her hips firmly and start thrusting up into her, matching her intensity.

  "Yes, yes, yes!" she cries out, her head thrown back, neck exposed.

  I'm close now, teetering on the edge. "Inside?" I manage to ask, my voice strained.

  "Yes, please," she gasps, grinding down against me.

  That's all I need to hear. I let go completely, surrendering to the sensation as I explode inside her. My whole body tenses as the first pulse hits, a groan tearing from my throat that I couldn't hold back if I tried.

  "Oh god, Erin..." I gasp, my fingers digging into her hips as I thrust up hard.

  She moans loudly, grinding down against me with each pulse. "Yes, Will... give it all to me..."

  My vision blurs at the edges as I keep pumping into her. Every nerve ending in my body seems to fire at once, waves of pleasure crashing through me.

  Erin leans forward, her forehead pressing against mine as I continue to empty myself inside her. Her breath is hot against my face, her moans mingling with my own. There's something intensely intimate about this moment that goes beyond the physical act.

  "That's it," she whispers, her inner muscles squeezing me purposefully. "Every st drop."

  I buck up involuntarily, another surge rushing through me. "Fuck, Erin..."

  She captures my mouth with hers, swallowing my words as she continues to move in slow, deliberate circles. Each tiny movement sends aftershocks through my system. I'm still pulsing inside her when she breaks the kiss to look down at me, her eyes dark with something that looks dangerously close to possession.

  "You have no idea how good you feel," she says, her voice husky and raw.

  I reach up to touch her face, my hand still trembling slightly. "I think I have some idea."

  She smiles, a softer expression than before, and leans into my touch. We stay connected like this as our breathing gradually slows, neither of us wanting to break the moment.

  Finally, she shifts slightly, causing me to twitch inside her. "Sensitive?" she asks with a knowing smirk.

  "A bit," I admit, my hands moving to her waist.

  She dips down to kiss me again, then slides off with a contented sigh. I feel the cool air hit my skin as our bodies separate, making me shiver slightly.

  "Come on," she says, standing up and extending her hand to me. "Let's go take a quick shower before your haircut."

  "Yeah."

  *****

  The scissors make that satisfying snipping sound above my ears as I sit in Erin's bathroom, my body still humming from our second round in the shower. Water droplets slide down my neck, but I don't mind. There's something almost meditative about sitting here on this little chair while she works her magic.

  "You know," Erin says, her fingers gentle as they comb through my wet hair, "you always look so damn happy when I cut your hair."

  I gnce up at her through the mirror. She's focused, tongue slightly poking out between her lips as she measures the next section to trim. Her tall frame looms over me, protective rather than imposing.

  "Well," I admit with a zy smile, "we always do it after we have sex."

  She ughs, that deep, rich sound that seems to fill up the small bathroom. "So it's the afterglow, not my barbering skills? I'm wounded, Will."

  "Maybe a little of both," I concede, watching as she expertly snips away another lock. "Though I'm starting to think you only want me for my hair."

  "You're right," she says with an exaggerated eye-roll, snipping away at another section of my hair.

  We settle into a comfortable silence after that, just the rhythmic sound of scissors and our breathing filling the small bathroom. It's nice, this quiet moment between us. Different from the heat we shared earlier, but intimate in its own way.

  After a few minutes, Erin breaks the silence. "You know, it's not exactly common for a man to come to a woman for a haircut."

  I catch her gaze in the mirror. "Yeah, but you do all the fancy stuff for me that a man's stylist would do."

  She smiles, carefully trimming around my ear. "That's because I went out of my way to learn it. They don't exactly offer this stuff at my shop."

  "Well," I say, feeling the gentle pressure of her fingers against my scalp, "I like the way you do it."

  "I'm gd."

  "Today was Shane's first day at Boston University," I say, the words catching in my throat a little.

  Erin's hands pause mid-snip, and she meets my eyes in the mirror. "You must be so proud. Two kids at Boston University? That's something, Will."

  "Yeah..." I nod slightly, careful not to disrupt her work. "I really am. They're both so smart, way smarter than I ever was."

  She resumes cutting, but I notice her studying my expression in the reflection. "You're worried though, aren't you?"

  "Sick to my stomach," I admit, letting out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. "Before I came over here, I was just watching Shane's location on my phone. For like twenty minutes straight."

  Erin chuckles, her fingers gently tilting my head to get a better angle. "No one's going to kidnap him, Will."

  "Don't jinx him," I say, only half-joking. "You have no idea what it's like."

  "Isn't he chipped?"

  "No..." I shake my head slightly. "But he did let me throw an AirTag in his bag, and I track his phone. But it's just..." I trail off, not sure how to expin the constant knot in my stomach.

  "I get it," Erin says, her voice softer now. "I'd be scared shitless too if I had a son."

  "I track Diane's phone too," I add.

  Erin raises an eyebrow. "That doesn't annoy her?"

  "She doesn't compin. It's creepy, but it's the age we live in, you know?" I shrug, watching as Erin works on the final touches of my haircut.

  "There," Erin says, stepping back to admire her work. "All done. And for what it's worth, I think you're a good dad. Overprotective, maybe, but good."

  "I hope so."

  Erin: