The Playground

Author’s note:

Graphic descriptions of sexual actions and violence. Please respect the 18+.

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“Cilly! Look at me! Look what I can do!”

I smiled and cheered at the little boy in front of me, who showed me he could ride the spring rider without holding his hands on the handles. He’d done it several times before. But in his fantasy world, he did it in different ways each time, one more daring than the other, and the joy in his eyes was contagious. He was my little happy pill. And even though he wasn’t mine, it felt good to be the one who took him to things his parents didn’t have the time to do, such as the playground. How they could prioritize everything else before their own son was a completely different question. But at least he was happy when he was in the park with me.

“Wow, Lucas! That’s great! You’re the bravest little man I’ve ever met.”

He grinned proudly from ear to ear.

“Thank you. Are you coming to my birthday party tomorrow? We’re gonna have a piñata and everything!”

“That would be fun,” I said and helped him down from the duck shaped figure and made sure he didn’t hurt himself. “But are you sure your parents would want that?”

“Of course! I already told them you’re coming.”

“Really?” I giggled, but it wasn’t really a question. And he didn’t take his time to answer either, because he was already on his way to the sandbox where he sat down next to another kid. A boy with dark blond curls, bright green eyes, and a few freckles. Lucas looked at him for a while, clearly wanting the little car he was playing with. But instead of asking if he could borrow it, he suddenly grabbed it out of the boy’s hand and started driving circles in the sand. I hurried over to correct him.

“Lucas! That wasn’t nice! Give him his car back.”

I reached for his hand and was so focused on returning the toy before the boy started crying, that I didn’t see the person who came rushing from the other direction. We crashed into each other, and I apologized already before I saw who it was. Of course, it was the boy’s dad. I’d seen him here several times before, and he seemed to be the father of three. Two of them, a boy and a girl, looked so much like him it was almost scary. The third child, also a boy and obviously the youngest, was probably more like his mom. It was difficult to tell though because I’d never seen her here, and the boy was too shy to really look at anyone. However, I knew his name was Julian because his sister often called his name to make him come and join their game. Surprisingly, he rarely did.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you,” we exclaimed almost simultaneously, and I blushed all the way up to my hair roots. Thank God for the high dosage of melanin in my skin, so it wasn’t so obvious.

He was tall and pretty handsome, and even more now when he was smiling at me. He could easily fall under the category DILF, but only for those who liked hairy and tattooed guys. I didn’t. Besides, I already had a boyfriend, and we’d been going steady for almost two years. It still felt natural to take his hand when he helped me up, though, and to continue holding it when we greeted each other.

“Harvey,” he said with a charming wink, and I gently shook his hand. It was a lot larger than mine and had a firm grip that somehow spoke about integrity and something else I couldn’t quite define.

“Madison.”

We looked at each other a little too long without saying anything more, and I actually felt relieved when Lucas shouted my name.

“Cilly! He won’t let me have the car!”

Then he screamed.

“He hit me, Cilly! He’s mean!”

I quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him away, and I scolded him a bit for stealing the other boy’s toy. Harvey did the same with his son, even though it wasn’t really his fault. Then he handed the car back to Lucas and went to find a little tractor from a bag on the bench he’d been sitting on before the kids started arguing. Soon after, the two boys were playing peacefully in the sandbox.

“I thought you said your name was Madison?” he asked curiously and hinted for me to follow him to where he’d been sitting. I reluctantly did, but I kept the bag as a safe barrier between us. He was a stranger, after all.

“Oh. Yeah, it is. He just calls me by my middle name, Cilyah, because it sounds like ‘silly’. It’s just this funny thing...”

I stopped myself before I started ranting about things that weren’t interesting and bit my lip. I didn’t understand why I suddenly felt nervous.

“Cilyah,” he said thoughtfully and looked at the kids while he nodded. “I like that. Do you mind if I call you that, too?”

“Cilly? Or Cilyah?”

He laughed.

“I meant Cilyah. It’s beautiful.”

I blushed and studied the tip of my shoes intently. Then I tucked a stray curl behind my ear and shrugged.

“Sure. I don’t mind.” Then I suddenly became bold. “How about you? Do you have a middle name, by any chance?”

He gave me a little smirk and turned towards me, while he leaned back and rested his arm on the back of the bench.

“Actually, I do. It’s Jacob. Harvey Jacob O’Halloran. Nice to meet you.”

His voice was deep and authoritarian, and I giggled at his slightly cocky attitude.

“Madison Cilyah Rockwell,” I answered and finally dared to look at him again. He had a massive mane, pulled back into a low man-bun, and I could see he’d shaved his head far down on the sides when he turned. What wasn’t shaved, though, was his face. He had quite an impressive beard, a well-groomed one. It still made me shudder. I hated beard, and I was absolutely positive he would look better without. But since that wasn’t any of my business, I decided to ignore it. He seemed like a decent man, no matter what he looked like.

“Nice to meet you too, Jacob.”

I bit my lip again and turned away so he wouldn’t see me blush. Why did I do that? And it didn’t make it any better that I felt his eyes on me until his daughter came running with tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Dad! Julian pinched me!”

I heard a deep sigh and saw Jacob lean forward on his elbows.

“I told you to leave him alone. He’s... Just stop bothering him, okay?”

She sniffled a little and squinted at her brother.

“Go play with Zac.”

“He’s stupid,” she mumbled. “He’s always playing with that dumb car, and...”

But Jacob interrupted her with a strict voice.

“Nobody’s stupid, Matilda. And if you don’t want to play anymore, we can just go home.”

“No! Not yet! I wanna try the swing again. Can you push me?”

Jacob turned to me and smirked.

“Don’t go anywhere,” he said, obviously believing that I would stay put until they were done. Maybe he was used to women swooning at his feet? The ones who gladly followed his commands without hesitation? Probably. But guess what? I had other plans. And right now, they consisted of bringing Lucas home in time for dinner.

So that’s what I did.