by JA Huss
He pulls the car into a parking spot and turns it off. Smiles at me. “And done. Now let’s go buy a house.”
Buying a house cash is actually not that big of a deal. Like… it took twenty minutes. There were a few papers to sign—and yes, my name is on that deed. There were some handshakes. There was a little bit of talk about money, but not as much as I thought there’d be. Because the money was wired first thing this morning. The whole thing was pretty much done before we arrived.
When we get back into the car and start making our way over to the new house none of what happened this morning has sunk in yet.
Hell, yesterday hasn’t even sunk in yet. But it makes more sense than today does. Because yesterday Joey Boston felt like a stranger and today… well, he doesn’t.
And that’s the truly weird part.
“Here,” Joey says, handing me his phone. “Text Wald and let him know we’re on our way home. And give him the address.”
I look for Wald’s name in his contacts, but there is no Wald. I’m just about to ask about that when Joey laughs. “Oh, he’s in there under Dickface.”
“Oh, man,” I say. “I will never get tired of the antics of boys. Dickface it is.”
See, this is what I love the most about people. Little inside jokes. Ways in which you’re familiar with them and they’re familiar with you. Being able to call someone Dickface and everyone who matters understands it’s not an insult, it’s a term of endearment.
Because that lady at the Big Pharma company I was trying to lie my way into—I’d bet the new ring and the new house no one in her inner circle calls her Bitchface. Not to her face. And they certainly don’t put it in their phones unless they truly hate her.
She is not my people.
These guys are my people.
I text the address to Wald. Which I only remember because it’s one of those super simple, yet totally pretentious ones. Three nine Cherry Street.
That’s it. Three nine Cherry Street.
That’s my new address.
I sink into my chair and stare out the window as we make our way through the heavily-treed neighborhood to our new house.
When we pull up to the gate and I gaze up at the hillside house and the terraced gardens overflowing with greenery and flowers, my chest gets tight and my throat starts to ache.
The fairytale.
I know it’s not my fairytale, it belongs to Maisy Kane. She is the reason for everything today. But… I’m invested in it. I want her to have the best life ever. The one I never got. If I can’t get the fairytale, then my new mission is to make sure she does.
She’s so lucky. I don’t know what her life looks like right now. I have heard of the Kanes the same way I have heard of the Bostons. They’re in the media. They make headlines. Things like that.
But this… this is every girl’s dream.
And her father, Joey Boston, is the one making it happen.
Joey doesn’t notice my sudden silence because he’s punching in the gate code. And then we’re driving up the hill.
But it feels so surreal.
“Which parking space is mine?” he asks.
I sit up and snap out of my introspection. “Well, there are four of them.”
“I’m gonna take the second one. You can have the first. The hotel is gonna drive your car over here tomorrow. They didn’t have time today, but—”
“No, it’s fine. I don’t really need it. But… I get the closest to the house?” I ask. Because it seems like prime real estate.
“So you can bring in all those groceries.” He laughs.
“Fuck that. I’m using the secret passage dumbwaiter.”
“That thing looks like it’s more hassle than it’s worth.”
“And creepy as fuck. I mean, I didn’t want to say anything yesterday because Mr. Burkhart was so damn excited about it. But I don’t know, man. I’m not sure we should look too hard at that thing.”
“We don’t even know where the secret passages are,” Joey says.
“I’m sure Wald will have a digital map of them in no time.”
Joey laughs. “Oh, you have no idea how true that is. But you’re gonna find out.” He reaches for my hand and holds it. “Thank you.”
“Fuck. Are you kidding me? Thank you.”
“No, really. You’re helping me out. Not many women would do this for a total stranger. Or… do it for the right reasons and not for the money.”
I smile at that. “My reasons are right, aren’t they?”
He nods. “Come on, all the new memories are waiting to be made.”
“We should take a picture at the front door,” I say. “Then we can post it today.” I consider that. “No, like right now! People do that, right?”
“I think they do,” Joey says. “Wait, wait, wait! We should do a video!”
“We should do all of that!” I say.
And we do. We shoot the video of Joey opening the door. We take a selfie on the front porch. We even video ourselves walking around the house looking at people’s shit that is now ours.
We’re upstairs in one of the bedrooms looking out on the back yard when we hear a honk.
“Wald,” I say.
We go back downstairs and find him and Huck already coming up the porch carrying boxes.
“We don’t have much,” Wald says. “Didn’t even fill up the whole truck. Which way to my room?”
Joey and I look at each other and shrug.
“There’s two upstairs, but they’re kids’ rooms,” Joey says. “So probably one of the two downstairs.”
“Gotcha. Come and show me the secret passageways,” Wald calls, heading down the stairs.
Joey follows him down and then I notice Huck is staring at me. He sets the boxes down just inside the doorway. “What?” I ask. “Oh, are you looking at my ring? It’s too big. Is it too big?” I hold my hand out so he can see it.
Huck glances at it and then walks over to me and takes my hand. “It’s very pretty. Do you think it’s too big?”
“A little bit,” I admit. “But I really like it.”
“Then who cares?”
“Right,” I say, smiling up at him.
“Hey…” he says.
“What?”
He’s still holding my hand. And then he’s holding both of them. “I’m glad you’re here, Brooke.”
“Me too,” I say. And still, he’s looking at me. “What’s going on?” I ask.
He smiles a little. Then drops one of my hands and tugs me into the sunroom off to my right.
“What are we doing?” I ask.
“Sitting,” he says. “Enjoying the new view.”
“It’s a really nice street, don’t you think?”
“It’s fuckin’ beautiful,” he says, waving his hand at the small love seat in front of the window. “Sit with me, Brooke.”
“O-kay,” I say, wondering what he’s up to. But I sit. And he sits next to me. And this couch is small and he’s kind of the size of a bulldozer… so we’re pret-ty close. “What’s on your mind?” I ask. Because clearly, something is.
“Nothin’,” he says. “Just kinda wanna… take a minute, you know. Enjoy it.”
“Yeah,” I say. “I get it.”
“Things are gonna change pretty fast.”
“I think they already have.”
“For sure,” he says. “But can you imagine a little kid here with us?”
It would be easy to just say… No. Or Yes. Or I don’t know.
But instead of automatically replying with the standard non-answer, I consider it for a moment.
“How old is she?” I ask. Because I don’t even know.
“Like five, I think. Maybe a little older than five. But not six.”
“OK.” I chuckle.
“Parents count the age of kids in months. I just don’t know her months. Or her birthday, for that matter.”
“We’ll have to ask Joey when he comes back.”
“Why do you want t
o know?”
“Oh… you asked me if I could imagine her here. And now I’m trying to imagine her here.”
“I bet she rides her bike down that hallway,” he says.
“It goes around in a loop,” I say. “So she’s totally gonna do that.”
“Or roller-skates. Do you think she roller-skates?”
“I dunno.”
“Well, I’m gonna buy her some roller skates.”
“I bet she has dolls,” I say. “Not crappy ones, either.”
“Did you have crappy dolls?”
“Ummm…” I don’t really know how to answer this. So I say, “Yeah. You know. Off-brand Barbies or whatever.”
“Dollar-store stuff?”
“What do you know about the dollar store?” I ask, turning to look at him.
“I get it.”
“You didn’t grow up poor, did you?”
“No. Not rich like Joey. No one is rich like Joey. But my parents own a whole bunch of go-kart places.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Like we have two dozen of them in like five states in the Midwest.”
“Hmm. That’s kinda cool. I bet that was a fun childhood.”
He thinks about that I guess. His childhood. Because he’s quiet for a while. Then when he does finally say something his voice is low. Soft, even. “You remember that time,” he says, “when I took you go-karting in Tokyo?”
“What?” I laugh.
“Street Kart. That’s what it was called. And they let us take those custom karts out onto the street. But first we had to dress up like our favorite superhero because that’s like… the law there.”
I laugh. “You’re nuts.”
“Remember I dressed up like…” He pauses to think.
“Mighty Mouse,” I say.
He snorts. “Oh, I’m gonna make you pay for that.”
“You can change it.” I chuckle.
“No, I can’t. Now it’s in my head and I’m picturing myself dressed up like stupid Mighty Mouse.”
I laugh again.
“But you… you were—”
“I was—”
“Oh, no. Fuck you!” he says, cupping a hand over my mouth. “You don’t get to put me in a Mighty Mouse costume and then make yourself Wonder Woman.”
I try to talk but his hand is too tight so my words are lost.
“You were dressed up like Sailor Moon. And fuck, you looked hot.”
I grab his hand and push it down so I can say, “Sailor Moon is sexy.”
“She so is. And now I’m totally picturing you in a hot cosplay outfit.”
“Oh, Huck.” I laugh.
“Anyyyyyway. That go-kart day was fun.” He turns his head to look at me. “Wasn’t it?”
I nod. “You bought me popcorn. And then we went to the park afterward and fed the ducks.”
He smiles. It’s a crooked smile. One half of a smile, really. But it’s sexy, and devious, and maybe even a little bit evil all at once. “You sure do like to feed things. Ducks. Fish. What else?”
I laugh.
“Then I took you back to the house. We’d just gotten home from Singapore.”
“Where was Joey?” I ask.
“Gone.”
“Wald?”
“Also gone.”
“So we were alone?” I ask.
“Mmm. We were.”
“What’d we do? Did you make dinner?”
“No,” he says, shaking his head. Then he leans over and kisses me.
“Huck,” I say, pushing him back.
But he doesn’t let me. He just kisses me again and his hand is suddenly on my thigh easing its way under my dress.
“Huck,” I say through the kiss. Because I’m kissing him back. “Joey’s gonna see us.”
“That’s the whole point,” he says. “I want more of last night. Don’t you?”
I know the right answer is no. I know that’s what I should say. But his fingers are pulling my panties aside and I’m automatically opening my legs wider to give him access, and there’s just no way I can deny it.
“Yeah,” I say, telling the truth.
“He’s not gonna do it again unless we make him.”
“But—”
“Shhh,” he says, opening his mouth wider so his tongue can play with mine. “I can hear them coming up the stairs. Let me make you come.”
And before I can say anything, he’s on the floor in front of me. Pushing my knees up and open as he leans forward and begins to lick me.
“Fuck,” I say, grabbing his hair. “Fuck.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN - JOEY
I leave Wald in the basement to map his new secret passageways and go back up the stairs.
This house is fancy. Because the stairs leading to the basement are wide and have the same custom wrought-iron railings as the ones that lead to the second floor. And they curve a little. Like the basement in this house was no afterthought, but a major part of the design.
I’m about halfway up when I hear the telltale sound of kissing and stop, leaning forward to listen.
They’re in the front room with all the windows, whispering something.
Brooke moans and I catch Huck growling a little.
Very quietly I continue up the stairs. The front door is open. Boxes of stuff just inside. Like Huck was going to go back out to the truck to get more but got sidetracked.
I walk down the hallway and peek around the wall into the sunroom. It has no doors. Just an extra-wide arched opening.
They’re on the loveseat facing the window and in profile from my view. Huck is down on his knees, head between Brooke’s legs. She’s gripping his hair, head thrown back, eyes closed, and her plump mouth open to allow the moans to escape.
Huck reaches up, grabs the front of her sundress, and drags it down so her bra is exposed. He does that again with the bra, and her tits bounce out. All the while he’s licking her pussy.
One hand grabs one breast and squeezes. Hard. Hard enough to make Brooke whimper. And the other one slides between her legs.
He fingers her as I watch, my dick getting hard at the sight of them.
Footsteps on the stairs make me look over my shoulder. Wald comes up around the banister. Saying nothing, but looking me dead in the eyes.
He licks his lips and I turn back to keep watching.
Wald’s hands slide around my hips and his chest presses into my back as he reaches for my already hard cock beneath my slacks.
“Wald,” I say. But it’s so soft, I don’t think he hears me.
Lie. It’s a lie. He hears me.
They planned this.
He and Huck planned this on the way over.
Wald grabs my hand and reaches for his dick, placing my palm over his growing hardness under his pants. He squeezes himself using my hand to do it and I fucking moan. I can’t help it.
Then he’s kissing my neck, whispering, “Come on, dude. Play along. You know you want to,” in my ear as he begins to unbuckle my belt.
I suck in a breath of air, thinking up a reason why I should stop him.
But there’s no good reason. We’ve already crossed the line again.
Where did I really think this day would end up?
I brought a girl in. I let them both have their fun. And I had mine too. Then I gave her a ring and bought her a house and told them they were staying here with us.
I can say it’s all for Maisy. And that might still be true.
But this is the real me, isn’t it?
This is the reason why I never settled down. Why I let Charlotte leave me behind the day Maisy was born. Why I never came back here to the city where I was raised. Where my brothers still live.
It’s because I have always wanted more than I have.
I’m a selfish, greedy motherfucker and that’s never going to change.
Wald has my zipper down now. I’m still holding his cock through his jeans. He’s hard, and I’m hard, and there’s no way we’re not doing this.
“Come on,” he says.
I turn my head a little. I can feel his breath on the side of my cheek. His lips drag along the stubble of my jaw until he catches the corner of my mouth with his teeth.
Brooke is moaning in the other room and I turn my head back to watch. Huck is climbing up her stomach, kissing it as he unbuckles his belt and gets his pants open. He pulls his cock out and fists it, her looking up at him. He takes her hand and wraps it around his shaft and gives her a little push. A little encouragement.
Brooke begins to tug on him, their eyes still locked together.
Wald squeezes my dick, reminding me who I’m with right now.
I lean into the doorjamb. My right hand behind me, squeezing Wald’s dick as he gets his pants undone and pulls himself out. He hands it to me.
That’s the only way to describe that move. He takes my hand and places it over his cock and I automatically begin to mimic Brooke as she jerks Huck in the other room.
She’s got her mouth open now. Still looking up at my friend like he’s got all the answers.
Wald’s hands are on my hips. He presses forward until his cock is rubbing up against my ass. One hand slides down along the diagonal muscle of my waist and grabs my balls.
I suck in a breath of air and close my eyes. Holding in the moan that wants to escape.
But Brooke is giving Huck a sloppy blow job and I want to watch it.
So I open my eyes and see Huck staring back at me.
“Come here,” he whispers.
Which makes Brooke look over with surprise. “Holy fuck,” she says.
I can only imagine what she’s thinking.
Her with Huck’s fat cock in front of her face.
Me jerking on Wald as he leans into my neck, breathing hard with heady lust as his hand massages my balls.
“Come here,” Huck says again.
Wald lets go of me and presses his chest up against my back as he maneuvers around and walks into the sunroom, whipping his shirt over his head as he walks towards them. I follow. Because I want to see this.
I take off my suit coat and frantically undo the knot of my tie, whipping it through the collar. Huck reaches for me and starts unbuttoning my shirt.
