A Loving Home Environment

George is sitting there "teaching" his stepdaughter when the damn doorbell rings. Social worker. Some busybody neighbor called it in. He’s sweating bullets when Madi skips over in her tiny shorts and opens the door herself, all innocent smiles like nothing’s wrong. Sean walks in with that fake polite smile and starts firing questions. First couple answers make it pretty clear she’s clueless about real life. Doesn’t take long before Sean clocks the way she keeps touching George’s arm, how George flinches every time Sean looks at their big shared bed through the open door. George stumbles trying to explain it away, stammers out some lame cover story, and Sean’s still nodding like he buys it. But he doesn’t. Madi catches the change in Sean’s eyes, the way his stare lingers on her bare thighs. She knows if he reports this she’s gone, so she leans forward, sweet voice, and asks him real soft if there’s anything they can do to make sure everything “stays between us.” That’s when Sean drops the act. Grin turns mean. He stands up slow, already unbuckling his belt, and tells George to stay exactly where he is while he “checks things out personally.”