"I missed running my own store; calling the shots…"
"What you owned your own store before?"
"Well it wasn't exactly a store… But when I was younger and my mom's budget was tight; I wanted to find a way to make my own money… so me and my partner sold juice and water on the streets during the summers." He told her.
"What about your dad?" Jayden involuntarily flexed at the mentioning of his father.
"He wasn't there…" Was all that he said and Skip nodded his head in understanding.
"Hmm, I see… So are you planning on dating my daughter long or is this just a one-man stand thing?" Skip's forwardness surprised Jayden and caught him off guard.
"Well to be honest with you sir, I'm not sure how things are going to go with us."
"You got protection?"
"Always… Never been with a woman and didn't… Ahem can I ask you a question." Jayden finally found the nerve to ask.
"Go ahead…"
"I was just wondering… I mean how many dudes has she brought home like this?" The curiosity was killing Jayden and then her father broke out into a hearty laughter. Jayden was a little scared by his reaction.
"Can I be honest with you?" And that question scared Jayden even more.
"Of, sure…" he said hesitantly.
"To be the honest, you're the first that ever made it through that door. A lot of dudes got to the gate, but coming up the sidewalk and then those five steps; by that time they had chicken out and Mia never heard from or saw them again."
"So what you're saying is…"
"Yup you're the first."
Jayden sat their numb after hearing Skip's words. Mia was indeed a virgin and he would be her first. That was heavy for him to receive. He didn't know if he wanted to be her first. What kind of impression did he want to leave with her as a woman having never been with a man before? If he slept with her and then left would she become bitter like so many other women saying all men are dogs? Honestly thinking, Jayden knew that he wasn't looking for a wife. Did he want to tie himself down to one woman, taking responsibility of her for the rest of his life? Would she expect him to?
Suddenly he became weighted down with all of the concerns that he had always had about being in a relationship with a woman. However unlike before, Mia had a face, a name, an address and even someone in her life that he knew personally that cared about her. She wasn't some faceless random woman that he could easily discard walking away forgetting about her. He just couldn't walk into her life 'wham-bam-slam-fuck-me-ma'am' and then disappear again. This time if he chose to sleep with Mia, it would come with expectations, responsibility and accountability. Could he handle that?