“Come on, Van, it wasn’t that bad” Cheyenne tried to assure as she and her husband walked through the front door. “Yes it was Cheyenne! You know how much I hate anybody messing with my feet - UgEehh!” Van doubled down with a disgusted sound to shake off the lingering feeling. “What’s going on, guys?” Brock asked from the couch. “Oh hey, Dad. I took Van with me to get a pedicure and he’s just being a big drama queen” Cheyenne answered. “I still can’t believe people go do that for fun!” Van added with an uncomfortable contorted face as Brock laughed at his son-in-law’s reaction and Reba walked in from the kitchen. “Reba! Just the woman I wanted to see” Brock greeted. “Well I guess that explains why you’re in my house” Reba answered with a less than enthusiastic expression. “Has Barbra Jean said anything to you about our man cave problem?”

“A ‘man cave problem’? No, it doesn’t ring a bell” Reba assured with a disinterested look. “Cheyenne? Did BJ happen to mention anything to you??” Brock asked. “What ‘man cave problem’?” “I recently turned our guest room into my man cave; you know sports stuff, a TV, a mini bar. But Barbra Jean thinks I’ve been spending too much time in there and put a padlock on the door” Brock explained, a little embarrassed but obviously frustrated about it. “None of us have heard anything, dad” Cheyenne added but Van was not so smoothly trying to slip out of the room. “Van…why are you sneaking away?” Reba asked. “Who’s sneaking?? I’m not sneaking” Van tried to assure with a goofy forced smile. “Van, what do you know?” Brock pressed. "…Barbra Jean may have mentioned a little something to me but I’ve been sworn to secrecy” Van reluctantly admitted.

“What?! What did she say? Did she tell you the combination of the lock??” Brock questioned more intensely. “I mean…I uhh…maybe” Van danced around answering. “So tell me! Come on, we go way back; you’re closer to me than Barbra Jean!” Brock tried to persuade. “Yeah but she did promise me a batch of her famous cookies every month for a year if I didn’t tell anyone” Van explained. “Are you kidding me?! Van, the big game is this weekend and I need to watch it on my new flat screen in the man cave!” Brock stressed. “Just watch it in the living room” Cheyenne suggested. “I would but then BJ talks the whole time and makes me pause it to see if she recognizes any of the cheerleaders – I need my TV!!” Brock explained. “Sorry, Mr. H…those cookies are just too good to throw away” Van refused and Brock steamed with mounting frustration. “I would invite you over here to watch it, Brock but I don’t really like you” Reba added, prompting her ex-husband to storm toward the door. “I hope your cookies suck!” Brock announced from the front door before heading back home.

“Alright, Van, I’m going to Jake’s school for that meeting” Reba announced around 11 the next day as Van sat stretched out on the couch. “When is Cheyenne supposed to be home?” “I don’t know; she said something about a sale at the mall so it could be a while” “Yeah you’re probably right. Well, just don’t burn the house down while I’m gone” Reba added as she left and Van turned up the TV some more. The 20 yr. old ex-jock wrapped his arms around the pillow against his chest and watched the screen until his eyes got heavier and heavier, incredibly comfortable on the couch with his socked feet resting against the other end and the sound of the TV relaxing him until he fell asleep. He hadn’t planned on taking a nap but with the house so quiet and his belly full of 2 grill cheeses, it was only a matter of time before he was out cold.

Close to 30 minutes later a knock at the door failed to get Van’s attention and then so did the second knock, prompting the door to open and let Brock walk on in. “Reba? Cheyenne?” the dentist asked until he found Van knocked out. “Nobody’s car is home so I guess it’s just Van. They’ve really got get better about locking the door” Brock concluded as he shut it behind him and turned the lock. “Van? Van??” he tried to greet but Van just turned a little bit in his sleep, causing one of his socks to roll down a bit until his heel was exposed, triggering a light in Brock’s head. “…he’s gonna hate me for this” Brock said to himself like it was a necessary evil before getting to work on his idea. “Van…Van! Van – wake up, the pizza is here!” Van announced, knowing that would be enough to wake him up. “Did we get the stuffed crust?!” Van asked half-asleep as he tried to sit up but couldn’t.

“Wha…Mr. H? What’s going on??” he asked while pulling on the jump rope around his wrists and trying to jerk his legs back only to see they were also tied to the couch, his feet situated at the top of the arm rest and locked in place by a rolled up sleeping bag under his knees. “I didn’t wanna have to do anything dramatic but I NEED the combination to my man cave” Brock explained. “Come on, Mr. H – this is crazy! Untie me!” Van argued. “Sorry, Van but I can’t do that until you tell me” Brock doubled down as he moved around in front of Van’s feet. “Hey…what are you doing??” Van tried to figure out with his eyes on Brock. “Just what I have to” Brock answered with a sudden pull on the half-on sock to yank it the rest of the way off. “Hey! Don’t do that!” “Do what?” Brock asked to mess with him more as his socked foot tried to protect the naked one until Brock started trying to steal the second sock, forcing Van to switch his defense to avoid losing that one too. “Mr. H – seriously! Don’t take my socks!!” the nervous goofball protested until both tube socks were sitting wrinkled on the floor, leaving his feet totally bare and painfully vulnerable.

“One more chance; just tell me the combination” Brock encouraged. “I told you I can’t!” “You’re not giving me much of a choice here, Van” Brock answered before spidering a few fingers up the left sole. “AAHaH! What the hell are you doing?!” Van asked with a wide-eyed look of horror. “Getting that combination” Brock answered as he went in for seconds, dragging up and down the top halves of his super shy feet. “AAHaoaNNOoNNOO!! HoaoAAMMRR.HH! AhAohAohAANNOOTTTthhAATT!! AhoAHAOhAAANNYyTTHHIInNGGbBuUTTThhAAATT!!” Van erupted on the couch with obvious panic as high-pitched squeals and hardy laughter proved Brock’s hunch right. “I didn’t actually know if you were ticklish but I figured any guy who’s that weird about his feet has to be” his determined father-in-law explained while Van desperately tried to get away. Van was pretty strong but couldn’t seem to get out of the jump rope knots and no amount of wiggling his feet around could keep Brock from getting at them.

“AAoAOhaPPLlLLEEAASSE!! AhoAhAAhaCcoOMMEEOOnNN!!” “Just tell me what I’m here for and I will” Brock reminded before taking both big toes in one hand and scratching down the pair of strawberry soles with short back and forths all the way down. “OOHOHAohAOhASssHHIIIT! AhoAHAOhAAhNnOONNoAHoaohA!!” barreled out of Van with another surge of laughter as he started pin-balling atop the cushions. “I don’t wanna have to do this but I really need that combination” Brock tried to reason with another long raking across the helpless feet. “AAhoHOAHAYyOOUukKnNoOWwiIICCAAnNNTT!! AHoAHATThHEECcoOOKkIIiEESS!!” Van held out the best he could but Brock had no plans of abandoning his mission just because he was being stubborn.

“I hope your precious cookies are worth it” Brock added as his technique shifted and he focused just on the low arches, scratching along the pale stretch of both soles at an angle. “OOOhAOhOOHAAAOAHAOhAAOoohmMYyGGOoDD! AHohAoAHNNoOnNOAohAOHAAGGEETTooOFFF!!” Van howled with misery in his voice, the kind that only real tickling could elicit. “Are you gonna tell me?” “AhoAHAhTTHIiiSSiIisSTToORRTtTUURREe!!” “Then tell me the combination!” “AhOAaohAoAIiIIMMNnOoOTtTAAALLKKKiinNnGG!” Van refused with every bit of resistance he had. “Fine; I guess I’ll just keep teasing these big bare feet of yours. They’re so soft and smooth; my fingers just glide right across them…and they’re all mine to play with” Brock taunted to get at Van’s foot shyness and mess with his head. “AHAOSSTTTOOOPP!! AHoHAALLEAAVVEEmMyYFFEeEEtAALlOoonnEE!!” Van demanded, hating every second of his feet being so unprotected and totally at Mr. H’s mercy.

Van was close to breaking a sweat by the time Brock actually stopped tickling him but any relief was undercut by him moving around to straddle Van’s legs, now facing his feet. “Mr. H this is insane! Untie me!! Just go talk to Barbra Jean!” “Obviously she’s not willing to reason with me so now you’re going to tell me” Brock answered as he finished tying a rubber band around Van’s big toes. “What the hell is that?! What’d you do to my toes?? I can barely move my feet!” Van protested. “Really? That’s too bad” Brock answered before scribbling all over both supple soles now that they were even more immobile. “AAAH! AAHH!! AHAOhAohAOhAoHAAAhohHHOOOLlyySSHHIITT! AHoHAoHAAhoAANNOnNNOOO!! AHAaHAHAhAAhAHA!!” shot out of Van with newfound hysteria while Brock ravaged the handsome pair with rapid fingers in every direction, exploiting how extra sensitive years of hiding his feet in shoes and socks had left them.

“What about we try somewhere else? Your feet can’t be the only spot you’re ticklish” Brock decided nearly 10 minutes later as he moved around to face Van. “Oh my God…you’re gonna kill me” “I’m not gonna kill you, not if you tell me what I wanna know” Brock answered before plunging into both unsuspecting armpits. Van clenched his jaw and looked like he was holding his breath as Brock wiggled and dug around in his wide-open pits, “Looking a little red there, Van” he taunted as Van’s face tightened and his arms tried to pull down until he couldn’t keep it up any more. “AAooHAOAHaOhAahAOAAOADDAamMMNNiitTTT!! AoHAAGGEetToOoFFFMmmEE!! AhoAhAohAEEnNOOouUGGHh!!” Van broke as laughter poured out harder than he could even try to control it and Brock dominated his hairy pits through the t-shirt. “You know the whole lock thing is ridiculous so just help me out here” Brock encouraged with one hand jumping up to tease his neck at the same time.

“AhAOAOhAohAAOhAOOkoOOKK!! IILLLTTEEELLLYyOOUU!!” Van answered a few minutes later and Brock pulled away for a moment. “Alright; what is it?” “The first two numbers are 09…now let me go! You can probably just figure out the rest!” he attempted to convince after giving in a little. “No, no. I want the whole thing” “Seriously?!” “Seriously” Brock assured as straddled the legs again to face the other direction and grabbed one of Van’s dirty tube socks from the floor. “Hey…what are you doing with my sock?? Dude, just tell me!!” Van questioned, unable to see what he had planned but Brock kept him in suspense until slipping it between two of his middle toes. “OAEOhEY! What? Are you gonna clean between my toes now??” Van challenged as if to mock him. “Yeah, something like that” Brock answered before taking the ends of the sock in his hands and pulling back and forth. “WWOoAOhAOhAAohAOHAWWHHAATThHEEHhEELL!? AhoAHohAOhAAOhAnNooNnOOoCCCuUTTiIITToOoUUUTT!!” Van shouted with a look of confused disbelief, shocked by the strange approach and how uniquely unbearable it was.

A brief moment of hope teased Van when Brock slipped the sock out but it went right back between two smaller toes to saw back and forth at just the right speed to get Van squealing again. “AAHAH! AHAOHAaAH!! HAOhOhAAOhAOAohAOhAOOOHmMyYGGoOODddjJUUSSTSSTTOOoOPPP!!!” “Haha thanks for helping me out” Brock added even though Van didn’t understand, unaware wiggling his feet the little he could only forced the sock between his toes even faster. Van thrashed around under Brock and yanked on the jump ropes as hard as he could while his old football coach continued cleaning between his long toes just like he said he would. “What about two socks, hm?” “What?! No! Not both socks!! Mr. HHaohAohAohAAAOhAoAAHoOhAOhAohAOhAA!!” Van couldn’t even finish before Brock had the second smelly sock between two of his left toes and was pulling both of them back and forth at the same time.

Brock watched Van’s strong toes curl and fan out trying to lessen the steady tickling but he made sure the socks never slipped out and refused to let up on the incredibly ticklish feet. “Come on, Van…you know you wanna tell me the combination. You’d hate to tell Reba you peed on her couch” Brock teased. “AAhAohAOhAAOAAOHAAMmMEERRCCCyy!!! AhoAohAohAoHAAANnoOOmMMooOORREETTiICCkKlliinNGG!!” “Sorry, can’t hear you!” Brock lied and forced the white socks between four different toes before pulling a little faster this time, quickly proving this particular set of neighboring toes were the most ticklish of the bunch. “OOoHAohAoHAAHAoAahoHANNoO! NNOO!! AohAohAAOhAOhAAhoHAOOOhohAOhAOHAoHAaALLRRiIIGGHHTT!! AAALlLRRIIIGGhhTT!! IILLllTEEElLLYyyoOUUU!!” Van gave up after only about 20 seconds with a sudden ticklish scream but Brock didn’t stop. “What was that?” “AAHoAHOAAOhaOAoaHAAIIIILLlTTEEEelLyYYOOUUTTHhEECCoOMMMBBiiInNAAATTIiIIOOONN!!” Van forced out through his desperate laughter until Brock pulled the socks out but didn’t get off his legs just in case.

“I’m listening” “0922…that’s the combination” Van confessed as he caught his breath, obviously exhausted. “0922…why does that sound familiar?” Brock asked. “It’s your anniversary date…now can you get off me?” Van answered. “Damn. Why didn’t I think of that?” Brock asked while standing up from the couch. “Sorry to have to do that to you, Van but I couldn’t miss that game this weekend” Brock added while untying Van’s ankles and wrists. “Really?? You didn’t seem that torn up about it” Van replied with a bit of a bite as he sat up and ripped the rubber band off from around his big toes. “If it helps I can just tell BJ I figured it out on my own. That way you’ll still get your cookies” Brock offered while Van grabbed his socks and happily slipped them back on his feet.

“Whatever. Just don’t tell anyone about my feet, alright?” “What? That they’re super ticklish?” “Yes that! Don’t say anything about that and I won’t say anything about today. Deal?” “Yeah it’s a deal” Brock added as he started back toward the front door. “You’re welcome to come watch the game with me on Saturday in the man cave if you want” “…I might” “But I should mention that BJ’s got this new thing about everybody leaving their shoes at the door” “Nevermind.”