"I don't usually like to bother the staff with lunch, so I was just going to make a turkey sandwich," Buffy said, cutting any preliminaries. "Is that all right with you?"
"Yeah, that's fine," William replied. "I can help you."
"No, I've got it," Buffy said, shaking her head. "Anything you don't like on a sandwich?"
"I'm fine with anything. I've never been a picky eater. Are you sure you don't want me to help you?"
"Completely sure. Just go wait in the dining room, and I'll bring it to you in a minute." Buffy had decided while she was changing that she wanted to go ahead and set the tone for their relationship. She didn't really see William as the type to be overly forward, but he was a teenaged boy who would be spending a lot of time alone with her. He was already checking her out, and she knew it wasn't beyond the realm of possibilities for him to develop a crush on her.
If she could establish herself in more of a caretaker position now, maybe he'd start seeing her less an attractive young woman and more as a step-mother. That would cut down on potential awkwardness.
At least in the nice plan Buffy had formed in her head.
Instead, when she brought him his lunch, the act seemed strangely intimate. She'd leaned over him to place the plate on the table and had brushed up against him in the process, sending a shiver through both of them. The lean muscle of his back as firm, and her nipple hardened from the touch, even with both of their shirts between them.
William swallowed, his cock immediately making its presence known again. "Thank you, Buffy."
She pulled back, reluctantly, before she snapped back to her senses and realized what was happening. "You're welcome," she said evenly before she went around to sit down herself.
They ate in an uneasy silence, and Buffy knew she couldn't let things start off this way. It was an awkward situation, but she felt sorry for William and didn't want him to spend the summer feeling alone and unwanted.
Buffy cleared her throat, then spoke up. "So, have you given any thought to a major for college?"
William swallowed the food in his mouth, then responded with a half-hearted, "Business."
"You don't sound overly excited about that," Buffy replied, wanting to keep the conversation going. Maybe if they could form some sort of friendship, then there would be less awkward tension.
"It's more what my mother wants than what I want. She says I need it if I'm going to take over for my father someday," William explained, even as he wondered why he was being so upfront with Buffy. Up until right then, he'd kept his ill will towards his major to himself.
"Well, what do you want?"
"Does it matter?" William muttered before he could stop himself, bitterness and a hint of anger in his voice.
Buffy frowned, his response taking her by surprise. She'd noticed from the beginning that he was quiet and withdrawn, but now she was realizing something else, too.
He wasn't happy.
"I think what you want should matter," Buffy replied. "I mean, it's your life, isn't it?"
"In theory." William sighed. "I don't mean to be a wanker, but I don't really want to talk about this stuff. The only thing I'm looking forward to as far as college is concerned is not having to deal with my mother as much."
"Oh. Sorry." The uneasy silence fell again, and Buffy sighed inwardly. There went her attempt to try to befriend him… Maybe they would do better just keeping their distance over the summer.
Buffy finished her lunch, then stood up with her plate. "I'm going upstairs to rest for a while."
William looked up. "Buffy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
"No, it's fine," Buffy said, cutting him off. "I just need a nap." She left William alone in the dining room.
He sighed heavily. "Bugger."
"I think you should spend time with William."
Liam pushed his shirt off of his shoulders and dropped it in the dirty clothes pile inside his closet. "Buffy, I'm really busy with work right now, baby. I don't have the time to go play mini-golf with the boy, or however fathers and sons are supposed to bond these days."
"I'm worried about him," Buffy replied as she picked at the coverlet over the bed. "I think he's depressed."
"Depressed?" Liam asked with a chuckle. "Why, because he didn't come down to dinner? Buffy, he's a teenager. They're anti-social and weird."
"No, not from that. Well, not just from that. I was talking to him earlier today, and he seemed…really sad."
Liam stepped out of his pants, leaving him only in his boxers, and turned back towards the bed. "Buffy, be careful around him, all right? He's caused trouble in the past."
Buffy frowned, her brow creasing as she tried to imagine quiet, unassuming William causing any trouble. "What sort of trouble?" she asked.
"A couple of years ago, he made advances on my then wife, Eve. She said she woke up one night when I was out of town to find him in the bed with her, touching her."
"Which one was Eve?" Buffy asked. "Was she the one who was sleeping with one of your business partners and the gardener?"
"Just watch yourself when I'm not around, Buffy," Liam replied. "I don't really like the idea of you being alone all day with him as it is, but since Darla dumped him off on me, I don't see a lot of other choices."
"Liam, honey, he's your son," Buffy said, surprised by her husband's response. "And I think he needs some family support in his life. He's obviously not very close to his mother."
"Well, no, she's a psychotic bitch. I need to get ready for bed, baby." Liam went into the bathroom and shut the door before Buffy could say anything else.
Buffy was at a loss. Even with the way William had checked her out earlier by the pool, she wasn't sure she could believe he had come on to Liam's ex-wife, at least not to that magnitude.
She hadn't felt threatened with him today. He'd made her…sad. She could tell he needed someone in his life, and she was hoping it could be his father.
Buffy didn't understand why Liam was being so dismissive of his son, but she figured it must just be because he was tired and stressed from work. He wasn't the sort of man who could care so little for his own child. Buffy was certain of that.
Liam turned off the overhead light and slipped into the bed, muttering a quick "good night," to Buffy as he rolled so he was facing away from her. Buffy leaned over and placed her hand on his arm, then kissed his cheek.
"Would you at least try to make some time for him?" she asked softly. "Please."
"I'll take a look at my schedule and see if I can work it in," Liam replied.
Buffy kissed him again. "Thank you, baby."
Liam replied with a non-committal grunt as Buffy returned to her side of the bed.
William had been trying for hours to sleep without any luck. He was hungry, though he wanted to just ignore it. When he'd found out his father was going to be home for dinner, he'd decided he'd rather be hungry than to have a "family" meal with Liam and Buffy.
It wasn't the hunger pains that made sleep elusive for him, however. It was her. Buffy. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her, lying under the sun in her tiny red bikini.
She was a bloody wet dream come to life—exactly the sort of women men like his father found for their beds.
William doubted Buffy was much older than he was. She was fresh faced, and still had a light in her eyes—one William knew would fade in time, the longer she stayed here.
At least on the outside, she seemed different from Liam's other wives. Lilah, Eve—even his mother—had all been coldhearted, cruel.
They'd been just like Liam...
Yet Buffy seemed different. She'd been nice to him, more than she really needed to be under the circumstances. She'd even seemed like maybe she cared.
But William knew what a woman would be doing with a man like his father, especially a young, beautiful woman. In Liam Angelus's world, it all boiled down to one thing: money.
William sighed, wishing he could just stop thinking about Buffy. He glared down at the tent in the sheet.
Things would be a lot less difficult at the moment if he would stop thinking about Buffy, too.
William sighed heavily, giving up on sleep without allowing himself some release.
"Just don't think about Buffy…" he told himself as he pushed the sheet down and freed his erection from his boxers. "Think about…Jessica Alba."
There, that was a nice, safe fantasy. It was perfectly healthy to fantasize about Jessica Alba. She had a good body—nice, firm tits and full, pouty lips.
He spit into his hand for lubrication, then began stroking his cock, pulling images of a scantily clad Jessica Alba into his mind. With a groan, he focused on her, moaning softly as he thrust into his hand.
Into the Blue… Yeah, that had been a movie with some nice eye candy. Jessica Alba in that tight little bikini…
Bikini…
Buffy…
The thoughts he'd tried to shy away from were there in full force now, and William was too far gone to fight them anymore.
He saw her in front of the pool, her bronzed skin oiled and glistening. The triangles of her bikini top barely covered her perky breasts, the nipples straining against the fabric.
And lower… In his mind's eye, she rolled over, giving him a look at her barely-covered ass. So tight and firm, making him just want to…
With a strangled gasp, William shot into his hand, coming much harder than he was used to. When he finally stopped, he was panting.
He knew he could sleep easily now, his body finally drained of tension, but he rolled over and pulled a wad of tissues from the nightstand, cleaning himself up as best he could. Some had gotten on the sheets, but he couldn't find the energy to care. If the maids were shocked to find that on an eighteen year old's bed, well, they'd lived overly sheltered lives.
He threw the used tissues into the waste basket, tucked his cock back into his boxers, and fell asleep.
Buffy knocked quickly on William's door before she had the chance to talk herself out of it. Sure, they'd had a bit of a rocky start the day before, but she still wanted to try to extend a hand of friendship to the boy. It broke her heart to think of him being so alone.
He opened the door a few moments later, and Buffy realized she'd woken him up.
Right before her brain shut off.
She'd noticed he was attractive, though she hadn't given it a lot of thought. He was Liam's son, so how could she? But now… He'd answered the door in nothing but his boxers, and between his lean but well-muscled chest and tousled brown curls, she decided just-woken-up William was downright tasty.
Her eyes moved downwards on their own accord and widened when she saw the outline of what was in his thin shorts. That must skip a generation…
"Can I help you?"
Buffy blinked, her eyes darting back up as a blush spread across her face. Right, she was here to say something…using words. Words were good… "I, um, I…" She swallowed. "I was going to go out and get something for brunch, and thought maybe you'd like to come with me."
There. She'd said it, and she was right proud of herself for it, too.
William frowned at her bizarre behavior. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she'd been checking him out, but he knew that couldn't possibly be the case. Why would a woman like Buffy be interested in his skinny, pale body?
He also didn't think he should accept her invitation, given the way he kept seeming to react to her. Even now he was feeling his cock stir, and he hoped she didn't look down and see it in his boxers, since he didn't exactly have a lot to hide behind at the moment. He should just distance himself before she caught wind of his attraction and went to his father with it.
At least this time, he'd be guilty, unlike when he'd been punished for his supposed indiscretions with Eve…
However, his mouth seemed to be going faster than his brain, and before had the chance to formulate an excuse, he was saying, "Sure. Just give me ten minutes, all right?"
Buffy nodded. "Okay. I'll meet you downstairs."
As soon as she was gone, William sighed.
He knew that somehow, this was going to lead him right into trouble.
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