Craving Sugar

Beau"I'm so screwed," I whined from my place, head down on the coffee shop's table. I'd just turned in my finals paper in this semester's Special Education: Behavioral Intervention course and was fried.Well, if you could call individual lesson planning that would benefit two kids the age of nine assigned to me a paper. It was more of a teaching assessment. Different needs - IEPs that were set at two different places of the spectrum.It was my dream to work with autistic children, and it all stemmed from my older sister's daughter being diagnosed with autism. Four years old and a total cutie, Aubrey was the light of the family. Loved her as if she were my own, and I needed to help out.To learn what I could and give back to a community full of vibrant children.A dream that now seemed millions of miles away.Tired. Exhausted. Plain old freaking the hell out, I was drowning.From my viewpoint, there was no escaping the dead weight I carried. The responsibilities.Other people's expec

Beau"Always the truth.""You two weren't exactly using your indoor voices for parts of the conversation that day."Heat bloomed across my face; I was mortified that she'd heard. Reaching over, Zoe squeezed my hand once before letting go. "Stop. Don't be embarrassed. I've been where you are.""What? How?" I wasn't at my most eloquent. The high pitch in my voice had caught the attention of a few patrons around us, and again I blushed."As you can see..." she tilted her head to the side "...that's a conversation best had in private." Sliding out of the booth, Zoe strode off toward the shop's counter. A few words were exchanged between her and the employee up front before she came back with a few to-go containers.After placing my untouched food in the Styrofoam, she handed me, I looked up. "I thought we were going to talk. Are you leaving?"She nodded. "I am, and we are." Her eyes pleaded with me not to argue. "Come back to my place with me. Let me show you my world and explain." Noddi

Beau"Honey, sit down." Dad stood up then and gave me his chair. Squeezed my shoulder as I walked over, and he dashed inside to pull out a stool for himself. He came back out before I could sit down with his seat in hand and a bottle of water for me. "Food should be out soon. Hungry?""Always." His mustache twitched at my response. Always claimed my sister and I ate like men. No shame. "And thanks for the chair.""Hush, kid."Once situated, I made sure Aubrey was comfortable before getting back into the conversation of her schooling. "So, you were saying about this school?""It's a privately run academy where our main focus is children with disabilities. Our program runs from Pre-K to 12th grade and works with a large array of social, behavioral, and learning impediments. From Autism to Dyslexia. We work with everything in between.""Impressive, right?" Gloria preened beside him, and I felt as though I was missing something important. What was the catch?Because if it seemed too good

Hendrix"Come again?" Walking back outside, I grabbed my open laptop and made myself comfortable on a lounger. The night was a bit chilly, but welcomed after the over one-hundred-degree day we'd just had. Felt good to be outside."I'm going to put this in a simple/vulgar way for you, Hendrix. That way you understand once and for all." He took a sip from his drink, the sound of him swallowing loud in my ear. "She - the girl you choose - will not suck your dick unless she wants to. Her choice to let you fuck her or not."I choked on the sip of beer I'd just taken. "What the hell, man!""The contract is very specific," he continued as if I hadn't just yelled. "Once you've chosen the one that catches your eye, a meeting will be held. All of this with her safety in mind, she will decide the where and when. Not you. Never you.""You are very protective." And that was putting it mildly. Fucker sounded about to have a coronary."I love Crystal and won't have you offending her. Best friend or

Beau"The nerve of that man." Running a hand through my hair, I pulled on the ends in frustration."Dick pic or obnoxious?" Zoe asked from her perch on my bed the morning after we'd set up my account. She looked so out of place. Nothing like the well-put-together chick from school; she was in sweats and an old tank top, having spent the night. "Bet you twenty bucks it was both. Am I right?"My mature reply, I flipped her off. "Shut up."We were eating breakfast from a bagel place down the street while she helped me navigate the mass of messages I'd accumulated since last night. Not even twelve hours into my sugar baby journey, and I was overwhelmed.Felt like cattle on display for the highest bidder. As if I had "fresh meat" tattooed onto my forehead.So far, I had looked at ten invites to connect, and all were creeps.Three pictures of small dicks offering a good time.One serial clinger who'd begun to plan our wedding.And six pompous I own everything jerks.All wrong and turned me