A Son for the Weekend

Ever since the day a hungover Ted made up a story about his son as an excuse to skip work, he’s had to dodge questions from coworkers, give noncommittal answers, and change the subject to cover up the fact that he doesn’t even have a son.

Now, long past the point of telling the truth, Ted’s boss invites him to his lake house for the weekend—an important, off-the-record step on the path to a promotion—and tells him to bring his son along. Unable to come clean and unwilling to miss out on the opportunity to impress his boss, Ted convinces Matteo, a down-on-his-luck barista, to play the part of 22-year-old Teddy, Jr. Ted’s attraction to Matteo makes it hard to keep up the ruse at first, but as the weekend progresses, all Ted wants is for the hunky stud to call him “dad.”

A Son for the Weekend is a 7,700-word short story. All content in this story is fictional and describes activities between consenting, unrelated adults who are 18+.