Part One - Too close for comfort

She was the sort of girl who simply did your head in. Mine at least!

Part of it, of course was that I had known her almost all her life, she was after all only a month younger than my eldest son and had lived next door since she was eight months old. She was in effect the daughter I never had.

I had watched her grow and was almost as protective of her as her father, my very good friend and neighbour, Pete. Mia was almost sixteen and a half and although she often exasperated her parents she always seemed to have a smile and a wave for me. I guess I got the best of her without the “You just don’t understand me” tantrums.

The main reason she ‘did my head in’ was that she had blossomed into a young woman with a natural grace and a sensuality that exuded from, at least to me, every pore of her lithe body. Mia was hoping to study Dance and my eyes would often follow her across the small fence that separated our properties as she skipped or danced about their garden or the back kitchen. Sometimes it seemed as if she had a complete inability to walk anywhere. I had simply enjoyed the enthusiasm and the joy she seemed to share about life from the moment she first learnt to walk and explore the world and as she grew older the almost limitless amounts of energy she had infected all about her. But, over the past year any clumsiness she’d exhibited had evaporated to be replaced by a natural grace and her body had matured to that of a sensual and sexual creature.

She caught my eyes on her many times but would always happily wave or smile back in my direction seemingly with no idea of the dark carnal thoughts within my head. The smile I returned often concealed my inner turmoil I felt as part of my mind imagined my rough hands stroking her smooth skin as the other part balked at these inappropriate thoughts of my ‘surrogate’ daughter. Returning to whatever chore I had been focused upon before being distracted I was glad that it had been over four years since we had holidayed with our neighbours to anywhere hot as I imagined seeing her in a skimpy bikini (I dreaded the idea of seeing her topless) would have been absolute torture.

The day was warming rapidly without a cloud in the sky as I pulled my focus back to the lawnmower engine I was repairing on the garden table. Mia had just surfaced and skipped out into the garden in a baggy white T-shirt and pink shorts beneath to say good morning. Her shoulder length blonde hair, still ‘bed-hair’ bounced about her face as she laughed when I suggested that it only just qualified as morning by ten minutes, “Don’t you hate these early starts?” she quipped before dancing back into her house.

I stared at the valves exposed on the engine before me and all I could see were Mia’s long tanned legs and her pink encased ass appearing beneath the T-shirt as she bounced away. The day was hot and the humidity rising as I felt a trail of sweat trickle down my spine beneath the old tattered work shirt I was wearing. I knew Pete was at work and his wife, Jane, was off with Mia’s younger brother, Dillon, at some sporting event. My own two boys were away camping with the scouts and my wife, Gina, out shopping which could last anywhere between thirty minutes and three hours. I prayed to a God I didn’t believe in that Mia wouldn’t return to the garden to do any sunbathing even though that part of me hoped more than anything that was exactly what she would do. This was probably the first decent spell of weather for soaking up the sun’s rays and so far in Mia’s young life I had been exempt from that particular agony.

I heard her vaguely pottering about in the next door kitchen, singing to herself (though not particularly well) as she often did, before disappearing deeper into the house. I actually breathed a sigh of relief and shook my head at the swelling within my jeans and refocused my attention on replacing the lawnmower’s gasket.

I was just tightening the lock nuts on the engine housing when I heard a yelp from next door followed by “Shit! Shit, shit, shit!”

I dropped the spanner I was holding and moved towards the fence, looking into the kitchen next door through the open sliding door. “You okay in there?” I called.

Just before I heard another ‘shit’ echo out from the interior I noticed the lower half of a denim clad leg beneath the chunky wooden table. I vaulted the fence as Mia replied, “Shit… Kev, can you help…please?”

I walked quickly into the kitchen and around the table to find Mia lying on the floor, tears streaming down her face and her hands holding on to her left shin. Even though I’d only seen her less than forty minutes earlier she had changed into an entirely new outfit. My heart went out to my neighbour’s electricity bill as I had known the young girl to change her clothing six or seven times in a day. A tight pair of jeans clad her long legs with a pair of multi-coloured socks on her small feet while a fluffy blue jumper clothed her torso.

She looked up at me through eyes full of tears, “I think I’ve broken it” she whimpered.

I looked down at her ankle which was indeed swelling, noting a patch of liquid on the floor that she must have slipped upon. “Don’t panic just yet, let’s have a look” I offered sliding my hand beneath her calf gently up to the injured ankle. She winced in dread anticipation, “I’ll be gentle” I reassured her as I used my other hand to pull up the leg of her jeans. “Definitely sprained… can you move your toes?”

She whimpered quietly and I saw her small toes wriggle beneath her sock, “Okay” I said, “I’m going to be very gentle and remove your sock.” My eyes fixed on her foot I could hear her breathing deeply as I very slowly and gently pulled the sock free from her foot. A spot just beneath her ankle joint was starting to discolour but her foot was still aligned correctly with her ankle so if there was a break inside there was a good chance that it was a minor one. “Okay, Mia, you’re going to have to be brave now… I need you to try and rotate you’re ankle as best you can.”

“Do I have to?” she asked imploringly.

I turned to face her and my heart went to my mouth, the tears that had run down her cheeks had dragged her eyeliner down with them and her eyes begged me that she didn’t have to do what I asked her to. “I’m sorry, but yes” I reached to her cheek and wiped some of the tears away smudging her make-up further still, “we need to know if it’s just a sprain or a break and whether I’m gonna have to run you to hospital?”

“Okay…” she answered sniffing back the tears.

I turned my head back and watched as she slowly moved her toes around in a circle, a tiny whimper escaping her lips as she stretched her ankle to the left. “Try to stretch it a little more” I encouraged.

The circle she made was at least twice the first one and when she reached the same painful point as before I felt her hand dart out and grab my upper arm tightly although this time no sound escaped her pursed lips.

I ignored Mia’s fingernails digging into my bicep and told her to relax while I slowly rolled my thumb around her ankle, pressing slightly into the swelling till I felt her fingers grip me tighter. “Okay, I’m sure it’s only a sprain… we’re going to have to get you up on your feet and see if you can put any weight upon it, just a little, okay?”

Looking back into her eyes, I watched her bare her gritted teeth and nod. Gently I laid her foot on the floor and shifted around, “Wrap your arms about my neck” I told her and slipped my arms around her waist and cautiously lifted her up. I was amazed at how light she was as she stood tentatively with all her weight on her left foot. I stood to one side with one arm around her waist, “Okay see how much weight you can put on it?”

“A little without too much pain” she answered after a moment.

“Okay, I’m pretty sure it isn’t broken but the best thing is for you to get the ankle under a tap and run cold and hot water over it to reduce the swelling.” She nodded her approval and with my help she limped to the foot of the stairs.

We stood looking up the steep stairs, “I really don’t think I can manage those, Kev” she stated.

“Hmm… well, I guess” I slipped my arm beneath her shoulders as her own wrapped around my neck. Hooking my right under her knees I lifted her up and twisted her carefully sideways. She grabbed my neck tighter as we began to ascend. A flush of guilt washed over me as I felt her small breast press against my chest, I turned my face away ashamed of my feeling and carefully studied the injured foot making sure I didn’t accidentally knock it against the walls.

At the top of the stairs Mia asked, “I suppose it’s a few years since you carried me up to my bed, Uncle Kevin?”

“Yes it is,” I answered grumpily, “and you were a whole lot lighter then too!” I teased. She smiled back at me as I negotiated our way to the bathroom carefully lowering her down till she was sitting on the edge of the bath.

“So, cold water, as cold as you can take it and then as hot you can, repeat it a few times and finish with cold, it’ll reduce the swelling and alleviate some of the pain, okay?”

“Okay” she answered, “Don’t go too far, please?”

“I won’t. I’ll be just down stairs cleaning up the mess you made!” I replied with a smile.

I mopped up the spilled liquid, the fact that it was wine hadn’t escaped my notice and I wondered if Mia was allowed alcohol in any form when her parents weren’t about. I was just dropping the used paper towel into the bin when I heard call down to me.

I quickly made my way back up the stairs to find her in almost the same position as I left her. “I…err… I can’t…” she stammered, her cheeks red with embarrassment. I looked down and I could see that she had managed to undo her jeans but had only managed to pull them halfway down her thigh.

“Err… I’m… I don’t know…“ I stammered back, “Can’t you just leave your jeans on?” I asked hopefully aware that my crotch wasn’t agreeing with my head.

“Please, they’ll be ruined…” she implored.

“Oh f-“ I stopped myself before swearing, “crap!” I stepped forward and knelt beside her and hesitantly reached for the denim encircling the lithe thighs that I had often admired in the last few months. I struggled and got nowhere till I looked up at Mia’s face and saw a grin disappear from her mouth.

“I think you’ll have to pull them, I don’t think pushing is going to work, Uncle Kevin!”

“I’ve told you before, I really don’t like Uncle Kevin, makes me sound so old! Even if I am!” I rebuked her as I stepped into the bath and knelt carefully either side of her outstretched feet. It was a struggle for me not to let my eyes wander up her legs to her crotch, I was thankful that the baggy jumper she was wearing hung quite low so that her underwear was hidden beneath its shadow.

“You’re not that old, Kev” she answered as I pulled the denim from her good leg, the sock slipping off within it. I saw Mia’s knuckles whiten against the bath rim as I manoeuvred the other leg of the jeans over her injured ankle. With the task completed I quickly stood up and stepped by her to deposit the pair of jeans on the toilet seat.

“Can you manage now?” I asked.

“Hmm…” she considered, “I don’t really want to ruin this top…”

“That you can manage by yourself, young lady! I hope the pain is worth the fun you’re having at my expense!” I stepped out of the bathroom and headed for the stairs.

I know I shouldn’t have turned about and for a few moments I felt like Lot’s wife, frozen at the image before me. Mia locked eyes with me in the mirror on the back wall of the bathroom and then lifted up her jumper in one smooth action. Her movement broke my spell and I saw her naked back as the blue material rose and wrapped her head, no bra beneath it and just a faint tan line across her back. I was already halfway down the stairs before anymore was revealed, sweat once again beading my back although this time from terror rather than the days heat.

My heart was pounding against my ribcage as I stood at the bottom of the stairs looking into the mirror that stood there, staring at the man in the reflection who had been so close to abusing his friend’s trust and had been about to do what he knew was wrong on so many levels.

“You lucky bastard” I whispered to myself as I heard a key in the door to my right and in walked Jane with a muddy Dillon in tow.

“Hi Kev” asked Jane only slightly phased by my presence in her house.

“Hi Jane,” I answered a level or two more loudly than necessary, “just here helping that clumsy daughter of yours.”

A look of concern flashed across her features, “Is she okay?”

“I think so… pretty sure. Just a sprain I reckon and I’ve had enough of my own to recognise them. She’s upstairs in the bathroom doing hot/cold water treatments to reduce the swelling, just make sure she tries to use it as soon as possible or it’ll stiffen up”

“Oh thanks Kev, you’re a darling, you know that” responded Jane.

“All in a day’s work” I answered in my deepest baritone, “Off to save the world now see you later!” I grinned and looked down at a bored Dillon, “Did you win today?” I asked and immediately regretted it when I saw the eleven year olds face screw up into a ball of annoyance. “Better luck next time” I offered and made my way out back through the kitchen.

My heart was still pounding as this time I opened the small gate between our gardens and stepped through to my own. The image of Mia with her jumper wrapped about her head as she sat on the edge of the bath with the small white triangle of her panties encasing her ass was still etched in my mind’s eye. My cock, swollen and twisted within my jeans throbbed at the recollection. “Shit” I whispered to myself unable to imagine what Jane would have said or done if I had given in to my carnal desires. No shouts or screams came from next door so I assumed that Mia had heard me and at least pulled her jumper back on. I imagined/hoped that she had said that I had simply helped her to the bathroom and not pulled off her jeans. “Stupid fucking idiot” I muttered to myself wondering why I had agreed to do that even though I knew exactly why.

“Muttering to yourself? First sign of madness, they say!” came a voice from my own house.

“The second sign being answering yourself” I said to the lawnmower engine in front of me. I turned about to see Gina holding three bags of shopping beside our kitchen table. “Fun day?” I asked.

“So far” she replied with a grin, “Ain’t over yet though…” her eyes cast down my arms to see my oily hands, “If you get cleaned up I might show you what I bought!” she turned about and headed for the stairs.

I paused for a moment and looked at my filthy hands, not as dirty as they had been before I cleaned up the spillage next door but I did wonder if I had left any tell-tale marks where I shouldn’t have. I glanced at the house next door, chewing on my lip before I stepped inside and thoroughly cleaned my hands and arms.

Gina was upstairs in our bedroom when I stepped through the door, standing in front of the full length mirror attached to wall beside the window that looked out over the back garden. She was holding a deep red dress against her torso, slowly swinging from side to side to gauge what it would look like upon her. “Is it me?” she asked.

“I reckon so” I answered, smiling broadly as I knew what would be coming, “but to be sure I’m gonna have to see it on you!”

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