Over the course of his forty years, Ben grew to understand his insatiable hunger for the passion that comes from new relationships. He built his personal life around this need. Divorced at thirty-two, with no children, and more than enough expendable income, he entered the sugar lifestyle and hasn’t looked back.

Rule number one: a relationship lasts until it’s no longer fun.

Rule number two: if she wanted to, she would.

There is some theatre to the lifestyle. It’s a game played where everyone knows they are participants but the acknowledgment of the game ruins the experience.

Finding willing participants is actually fairly simple. There is an abundance of young, beautiful women stuck in boring, low-paying jobs, that will jump at the chance to go on a date with a moderately attractive, successful older man if it adds excitement to their lives.

~Prospect~

Ben entered the mall, his blood pumping with excitement at the prospect of finding a new sugar baby. He had a type. He preferred cute women with a geeky flair. Quirkiness, intelligence, and awkwardness were things that instantly drew his attention.

He stopped at the mall directory and did a quick scan, looking for boutique shops that catered to some facet of nerdy pop culture. “Geek Chic,” he said out loud. “Perfect.”

The store was laid out in sections, organized by various fandoms: Star Wars, Disney, Marvel, anime, etc. There were two employees, the young man that greeted him and another guy ringing customers up. Prospects weren’t looking good, but he decided to browse for a bit anyway.

While rifling through the t-shirt section, she came out of the backroom pulling a cart of merchandise to be stocked. She had her hair pulled to the side in a single ponytail like that girl from Napoleon Dynamite, and her lips shone with a glittery lip gloss that probably tasted like cherry chapstick.

“Hi,” she said.

Ben’s gaze lingered a bit before he responded. “Hi to you too. Got anything good there?” He gestured to the boxes on her cart.

“Depends on what you like I guess.” Her response made it clear the amount of excitement she found in her job was sorely lacking.

Ben was very interested. “What about what you like?”

“What do you mean?” She looked a little confused, maybe even annoyed. She obviously just wanted to finish her work and get out of there.

“You work here for a reason, right? There has to be some interest in what you’re selling. I’m looking for a gift for a girl. All I know is that she wants something geeky. I’m kinda lost. What’s the most outrageously priced thing here that you would like but just can’t justify spending the money on?”

She did a quick up and down glance, finally acknowledging him as a person instead of a customer. “Hmm. Well, it sounds stupid, but there’s this huge bean bag that’s shaped like cup noodles. I hate it so much that I love it.” And she giggled. “It’s like six hundred dollars though.”

She led him over to the display, and she was right. The thing was hideous but endearing. “It’s super comfy too. Sometimes I’ll take it to the back on my break and chill on it while watching tiktoks.”

“This is perfect. What’s your name by the way?”

“Oh, I’m Erin.”

“Nice to meet you, Erin. I’m Ben. So what’s got you working here?”

“Eh. You know. The usual I guess. Just trying to pay the bills while saving up for school. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have to be.” Her demeanor dimmed.

“Well thank you, Erin. Here. Take this.” Ben handed her one of his cards.

Ben had had these cards specially made. They were black metal, with the word Sugar gold stamped on the front. On the back was his phone number. They were cheesy, but they worked.

“Um. Thank you?” She looked very confused. But that was all part of the plan.

Ben went to the counter and checked out, purchasing the bean bag. Erin approached him as he was putting his card back into his wallet.”

“That thing is pretty big. Did you want some help getting it into your car?”

“No thank you, Erin. I bought it for you. I hope you enjoy it! Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”

She stood there speechless as he walked out of the store.

~Qualify~

It wasn’t long before his phone started buzzing with received texts from Erin. He let them come in for a bit without responding.

“Why did you do that?”

“You don’t even know me!”

“Who are you??”

“Thank you. But I think you should get your money back.”

“That was really nice.”

“Are you going to respond?”

“Is this a fake number?”

“I was having such a bad day until you came in. I’m home now. Sitting on my noodle bag. Look at me. I am the ramen now.”

“I don’t even know why I keep texting you. But you gave me your number. I hope that means you’ll text me back.”

“What does sugar even mean?”

“Like… sugar daddy?”

“You know. Most people have read receipts on. Not fair I can’t tell if you’ve read these messages.”

“This is me on my noodle throne.”

Attached was a picture of her in short pink pajama shorts, a crop top, and her hair in a drying towel. She was smiling, and Ben could almost feel the warmth of that smile as he absorbed every detail from the photo. This girl could be perfect, he thought to himself.

He typed a response. “You deserve to have things in your life that bring you joy. I’m glad to have been part of that. The noodle queendom deserves a just and benevolent ruler.” He added a few emojis.

“So this number is real! I thought you weren’t going to respond ever. Was it the pic that made you want to respond? Or did you finally have time away from the wife?”

Clever girl. She’s qualifying me, he thought. My turn. “Not married. Just giving you enough time to explain to your significant other where the expensive gift came from.”

“Touche, mister. I’m single AF. Who would want this??” She attached a pic of her making a contorted face.

“Thanks for my new wallpaper!”

“You wouldn’t dare, lol”

“I can show you tomorrow while we have dinner. There’s a cozy steakhouse not too far from the mall.”

“I.. uhh.. ok. I can do that. What time?”

The flirting continued for a few hours before they both called it a night.

Petrichor: the smell of recent rain was heavy that evening as Ben walked into the steakhouse. “Hi, I’ve got a reservation for two. I’ll go ahead and be seated while waiting on my date.”

Ben liked this place because it was fancy enough that some people would dress up for but comfortable enough where no one would bat an eye at diners in more casual attire. He chose to be casual this evening: loose-fitting button-up shirt, untucked, sleeves rolled up, and a clean pair of jeans.

Erin was led to the table a few minutes later. She was wearing a medium length skirt and a graphic tee shirt displaying some characters from an anime. “Am I underdressed? I feel underdressed.”

“What you’re wearing is perfect, Erin. I like the ghibli shirt. What’s your favorite of their movies?”

“Shut. Up. You like studio ghibli??”

“Yeah! You’d have to be some sort of robot to not enjoy those movies.”

Conversation flowed smoothly as they moved through appetizers and the main course. As they waited for dessert to arrive, she started asking more pointed questions.

“Why me? I’m half your age at least. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the gift and the dinner, and I actually think you’re pretty cool, but what’s this all about?”

“I’m glad you asked. I want to be up front and tell you that I will be completely honest with you at all times. You just need to ask. And why you? Well, I had a hunch that I’d really like you. So I wanted to spend some more time with you to see if I was right. So far, you haven’t been disappointed.”

“No, I mean… ugh…how do I ask this. Are you just meeting with me to, you know, get with me? Hoping that because you’ve got money I’ll be interested?”

“I see. I’m not a fan of long relationships. I like the fire, the passion, that comes at the beginning of a relationship. I crave it honestly. But it’s not just physical for me. It’s the whole thing. The emotional attachment, the physical attraction, the desire to be there for your partner’s needs. So am I looking for a long-term relationship with you? No. If you’re the girl for me, we’ll fall madly in love with each other, and a year later we’ll both walk away feeling fulfilled, ready for the next adventure in our life. Maybe for you, that means a host of fond memories coupled with the means for paying for your school.”

“My school?? That’d be like, eighty thousand dollars. I was just hoping to save enough to not have to get loans for housing and books. But wait. This is crazy.”

“It’s not crazy. It’s real. But I haven’t made my mind up about you yet. And you certainly haven’t made up yours about me. Let’s go on a few more dates and think about what this adventure means for each other.”

“I’m not even that attractive. You could have approached a supermodel. I’m just plain, goofy me.”

“I’m more attracted to you than any super model I’ve ever seen. I’m not interested in what society tells me I should want. I’m interested in the cute, quirky girl that rules atop her noodle throne.”

She reached across the table and placed her hand on his. He felt that lightning rush. The beginning of a new adventure.

They finished dessert and the conversation turned to lighter things. What she wanted to study in school, favorite music, what he does for a living, basic date stuff.

As they walked out of the restaurant, he asked “May I walk you to your car?”

“Yes please,” she said. And they walked, slowly, hand in hand until they reached her vehicle. She looked up at him, “This is surreal. But I like it. A lot. Is this the part where we kiss?”

“If you wanted to kiss me, you would.”

And she did. It was a light, brief kiss on the lips that set his blood on fire. Her lips tasted faintly of vanilla from their dessert. He took in every detail he could, from the way she stood on her tip toes, to how she closed her eyes, the warmth of her body, the smell of her hair, the way she almost lost her balance as he helped her into her vehicle, dizzy from that lightning strike of a kiss.

“Have a safe drive home Erin. You’ve made this night unforgettable.”

~Passion~

“Let’s spend a week in the keys. I’ll get us a beach front rental. It’ll be fun.”

“When? I’ve got to let work know.”

“We can leave tomorrow. And don’t worry about work. I’ve got some room in my budget for a travel consultant. I can meet you at the mall in an hour and we can shop for the clothes you’ll want to take with you.”

“Travel consultant? Like, you’ll pay me to come with you? And you’ll buy me new clothes?”

“And luggage. Hurry up and get ready. See you soon.“

“What do I tell work?”

“You don’t owe them anything. Tell them as little or as much as you want to.”

Ben and Erin had gone on a couple of more dates since their first. With each date, the intensity of their connection increased, but so far hadn’t moved to anything more serious than a kiss.

He found her sitting on a bench near the food court. She was wearing some tight fitting jeans and a loose workout shirt that had the words “lit and fit” proudly displayed in bold letters on the front.

“Why do you want to buy me new clothes? Do you not like what I wear?”

“I love what you wear, Erin. I’m not interested in changing your style. I’m interested in hanging out with you while you pick out some new clothes for our trip.”

“So you wanna be that guy standing outside of dressing rooms holding the bags?”

“No, I want to be the guy you invite into the dressing room with you.”

“Wha…” her face turned red. “You’re serious. I, uhh, let me think about that.”

The first store they entered had a focus on cute, comfortable clothes. Erin struck up a conversation with one of the employees while Ben wandered through the aisles. “Sorry about that, I hadn’t seen her in a while. See anything you like?”

“Do you want me to pick things for you? Or do you want to pick things you’d like to wear for me?”

“I like the idea of picking things I want to wear for you a lot. I thought you were going to want to pick out a bunch of revealing things for me or something.”

“While I definitely want to see more of you, I don’t want to see anything you don’t want to show me.”

“Ok, I’ll pick out a few things.”

They meandered through the store as Erin picked out several articles. “The dressing room is over there. Would you like to join me?”

“I would like that very much.”

They entered the dressing room together. Ben sat down on the bench in the corner after helping her organize the articles she chose.

“So. I’m going to undress now.” Shyly, she began removing her clothing, starting with her top. Her skin was smooth, not without flaws, but that only made her more attractive. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Her back to him, he could see the outline of the sides of her breasts. His breath quickened as she undid her jeans and slowly removed them. She was wearing striped panties. His gaze moved along her curves, taking in every detail.

“Do you like what you see?”

“I do. You have a gorgeous figure. I appreciate you showing it to me.”

She turned around letting him get a full view of her bare chest. Blood pumped through his veins, each heartbeat thunderous.

“I want to do more than just show. I want you to touch me.”

He placed his hands on her hips and brought her closer. Standing up, their mouths met. Their kiss spoke of a primal hunger aching for release. His hands traveled the curves of her body following the same path his eyes did earlier. She pushed him down onto the bench and climbed onto his lap, straddling him. He kissed down her neck and as she leaned back, he worked his way down toward her breasts. She let out a quiet gasp as his mouth closed over her nipple. She widened her straddle, and pressed herself into him, grinding slowly up and down. She whispered into his ear, “I have never wanted a cock so badly as I want yours, Ben.”

They stopped quickly as it was clear another customer was being led to a dressing room next to them.

Moving slowly, trying to regulate their breathing, she slowly untangled herself from him and began doing what they came for, trying on clothes.

The rest of the shopping trip went on similarly. Brief moments of unbridled passion interspersed between the minutia of the selection of outfits she wanted to bring to the beach.

That night, in separate houses, they both ached for each other.

The morning came quickly.

“I’ll have a car pick you up, Erin. They’ll take you to the hangar where we’ll depart.”

“Hangar? You mean terminal right? What do you mean hangar?”

“My company has a chartered jet share plan, we’ll be taking a private jet. There might be another person on it that is part of the share, but the flight will be pretty quick. No need to check bags or anything or worry about TSA checks.”

“Wtf man. You fly like that often?”

“Most of the time yeah, sometimes I have to fly business class. Excited?”

“Hell yeah I’m excited!”

Unfortunately, the plane was completely booked, so they had to share the cabin with five other strangers. Still a comfortable ride, but any hopes that either of them could be naughty, and they did hope, were dashed. The hand holding was vigorous, and the sexual tension built each mile flown toward their destination.

They landed, and a car was waiting for them to take them to the property Ben had rented. It was about an hour away from the FBO hangar.

The driver loaded up the luggage, and they both got into the backseat. Erin dozed off, head on Ben’s shoulder. He held her close and took in the smell of her hair. The sexual tension turned slowly into something more intimate, caring. It wasn’t long before he too was napping.

The driver assisted with getting the luggage out of the vehicle and into the property. The beach house was a two story home on stilts. It was painted pastel pink, and all of the decorations inside had an art nouveau theme. Erin loved all of it. She went from room to room, marveling at all of the art.

The master bedroom had access to a deck that overlooked the beach. The master bath had a huge shower with nozzles everywhere as well as a rainfall bar going the length of the stall. Erin had never seen anything like it.

“I’d like to take a shower. Now. Right. Fucking. Now. Want to join me?”

The master bath had light dimmers that when turned down caused soft red lights from each nozzle in the shower to activate. They stripped down and walked into the stall, under the rainfall bar. The water was softened and clung to their bodies without splashing. They stood there a moment taking each other’s nakedness in before closing the gap between them. Their kiss was just as hungry as it was in that dressing room the day before. She felt like she was in a movie kissing in the rain. His hands took every part of her as he spun her around. His hard cock pressed against the small of her back, he moved his hands downward until he felt the soft flesh between her legs. Gently rubbing, and teasing, she let out a moan, turning her face so they could continue their kiss as his fingers entered her. He felt inside of her, pressing on that knot of flesh as he moved his fingers in and out. Quickly she began shaking and let out the tiniest of squeals before her body relaxing. A few short breaths after she turned around and got on her knees.

Their eyes locked as she took him into her mouth. He fought the urge to lose himself in the moment, instead maintaining that eye contact. She lusted for him.

He placed his hands on her head, keeping the water out of her face as she took every inch of him into her mouth. She caressed his cock with her tongue and used her hands when she needed some air.

Standing up, she turned her back to him again and bent over, holding onto one of the many rails in the shower.

“Fuck me, Ben”.

He guided himself inside her and grasped her hips, thrusting forward as she let out a moan.

“Hard. Grab my hair”.

One hand on her shoulder and the other pushed up into her hair, pulling back, he began pulling her into him. Thrusting harder and harder. Grunting. They both were making guttural noises of pleasure. He felt the buildup to the release coming and pounded harder until releasing with one final push. He relaxed his hold on her hair and leaned into her her as they both caught their breaths.

He was right.

She was perfect.