"What are you guys talking about, weapon?" Daniel walked in.
"Your cock, she associates it with a weapon. I'm guessing that's why she doesn't like anal," Jerry said, like he was talking about dinner entrees.
Daniel looked flustered again. "Can we not talk about anal? I don't want to…"
"So, you were just watching it for laughs?" I asked.
He tipped his head back, groaning. "Christ, Gabby, drop it. I don't want anal with you, and I love your boobs."
"Promise me, no more porn."
"A man can't promise that. He has needs," Jerry cut in.
"I have a pussy to meet those needs," I glared at Jerry and then pointed at Daniel, "No more porn."
He put his hands up like he conceded. "No more porn. Now, is my shower clean? I didn't get a turn last night, because it was contaminated."
"It was washed down the drain. You act like I was killing someone in there. It's not like you never did it, Bro. I'm sure you do it plenty with that tight little ass bouncing around."
"You can leave now," I said flatly.
"I'll check out that new trail you cut. It's been a while since I communed with nature. Go ahead and have make-up sex while I'm out, unless you want me to join you and help you both with your anal issues."
"God, no, Jerry, I told you no!" Daniel snapped, exasperated at him. Apparently, Jerry had been harassing him about it.
Jerry shrugged and walked out, like he hadn’t just propositioned a threesome and letting Daniel screw him in the ass. My mouth was hung wide open. Once we heard the back door shut, Daniel lay into me. "I can't believe you accused me of wanting anal! Didn't I tell you he was a sick bastard? You just had to keep pushing it. I was scared he was gonna join me on the couch!"
"I thought he was into women?"
"He is, and whoever else is involved with one. He's bi, and I usually don't have a chick around, so him trying to hump me has never been an issue. We should've gone with the dog. In fact, that's what we're going with tonight. You can't have a puppy, so get over it."
He stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door. I had a feeling that bathroom was going to be staying clean. I dressed before heading into the kitchen, surprised to find Jerry leaning on the back door. "So, no make-up sex? I was looking forward to listening to that."
"Nope, apparently his friend pissed him off and creeped him out, when he offered to let him fuck him in the ass."
"That sounds so deliciously dirty coming from your mouth."
"The only thing going in your mouth is breakfast. Get out of my kitchen so I can cook."
"I can help you."
"Really, dude? Go play with yourself in the forest if you can't handle being around me."
"I can…"
"Don't finish that."
"So, how'd you meet Danny?"
Then it clicked in my mind. Maybe if he thought I was in with the Valente’s, he would leave me alone. "I was brought out here to lay low."
"Lay low?"
"You know he's related to the Valente’s." Jerry paled, so I continued. "Yeah, his brother-in-law and sister, Ann Marie, just adore me and really appreciated me helping them out. They'd be upset if I was unhappy here. She comes out to check on me. She only trusted her little brother to look after me."
"Daniel's not in with them."
"And that's the point. Like I said, lay low. The Feds won't look here, right?"
"You…you gotta be lying."
I scrambled to find a way to prove it and decided to show him my trust papers. They were drawn up by Victor Bartoli. "Do you know how involved Daniel's family is?"
Daniel stepped out, looking between the two of us. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Dude, you said you don't get involved with that part of the family."
Daniel's eyes darted to me. "Don't you know the meaning of laying low?"
"Shit!" Jerry swore.
"Do you want them to move you?"
I realized that my telling might not have been a good idea. "I didn't think…I thought he'd leave me alone."
He glared Jerry down. "I told you to leave her the hell alone!"
"Fuck, I didn't know she was a Valente!"
"You keep your mouth shut, or so help me god, if anything happens to her, I'll let them know you were the leak," Daniel jabbed him.
Jerry nodded his head, backing away slowly. He was quiet the rest of the morning. Daniel announced that we had to go into town to buy more seed. He wanted to hit a feed store for something called sweet feed.
I sat between him and Jerry, and I had to say, I was impressed with Jerry's restraint. He actually kept his hands to himself. His thigh kept rubbing against mine, but that was it.
Daniel nodded to a man as we walked in. The guy nodded back and then went back to staring at a customer down the next aisle. You could tell he thought they were a shoplifter. Daniel grabbed the guy's attention and went to talking about feed, and I wandered down an aisle that had poultry feed. I was halfway down it, when I heard a woman moan, "My god, your ass is beautiful." I turned around to see a tiny woman covered in piercings and wearing a short leather dress. She had a riding crop in her hand and slapped it against her palm as she leered at me.
"Um, thanks?"
"I'm Amy, Amy Brannock, and I'd love to show you some real appreciation."
"That's…nice. I'm not…I don't…I have a…" I pointed in the direction of Daniel.
I heard Jerry chuckle and turned to see him leaning against the shelf. "It's a shame she's your cup of tea, darlin', because I truly believe you're mine, and I'd love to drink you down."
Amy smiled and began stalking…yes, stalking…up to him, still snapping that riding crop in her hand. "You look delicious as well," she purred and traced the riding crop down his chest. His breathing was heavy, and hers was starting to match his. I decided now would be a good the time to leave the aisle.
I found Daniel at the front of the store, and I did my best to look innocent and in no way involved with what I was pretty sure was going on in the poultry feed aisle. There wasn't any sound coming from there, and I thought maybe they had snuck out. Then there was a loud snapping, and Amy was shouting at Jerry to go faster. Or I should have said we heard a snap of the riding crop and her shouting, "Ride, stallion, ride!"
Daniel made to go see what was happening, but I grabbed his arm. "Don't, you really don't want to go down there."
The shop owner came around the desk, as we heard some more shouting. Once I saw he was going down that aisle, I figured it would be safe to follow. Jerry and Amy were stretched out across a pallet of chicken scratch.
Amy ran her fingers through Jerry's hair. "Such a good pony," she cooed. I think he had just met his freaky match. The shop owner was pissed, but they bought the top several bags of chicken scratch and the riding crop, along with a whip and chaps. I had a feeling there would be no animals actually involved in the use of those items. At least I hoped not.
Amy followed us back to Daniel's, where Jerry picked up his car and then followed Amy back to her place. I suspected we weren't going to be seeing Jerry anytime soon.
I plopped on the couch, relieved he was gone. "I don't like you having friends," I complained to Daniel.
"Why is that?"
"'Cause you're my friend, and I don't like to share. Besides, your friend's a douche."
"Yes, he is, but we all have to learn to share."
I sat up pouting. "No, we don't, you're my best friend, and you're not allowed to have another best friend, so get over it."
He smiled, highly amused. I didn't think he realized I meant it. "So, I'm your best friend?"
"Yup."
He walked over to the couch and grabbed my foot. "You're my best friend, too, and that means you're my birdfeeder helper, too."
"Yeah, I am, so don't bother with anybody else. I don't like it."
"Okay." We headed for the back door, when he stopped me. "Just so you know, I don't like it when you bother with other people, either."
I looked at him, checking to see if he was teasing me, but he didn't seem to be. I nodded. "Okay, no bothering for either of us."
His grin grew wide, and mine matched. "Sounds good."
"No anal, either." I just had to go there one last time.
"Christ, woman, you're worse than my brothers."
I shrugged. "If your best friend doesn't tease you, then who will?"
"Fine, turn around and fuck that way."
"What?" I nearly screeched.
"I said turnabout is fair play. What did you think I said, Gabby?" He gave me his "I'm so guilty but playing innocent" look.
"Oh, you think you're all that, but you'll see, I'll get you back, and you won't even know it." I was plotting my towel and silverware rearranging in advance. The fool would go mad. I so was going to put the cups on the wrong shelf, too!
"Hey, I thought I was your best friend?" He gave me that smile, that sweet cheeky one.
I hip checked him with a grin of my own. "You are, you really are." And I meant it. The sweet boy blushed, and I knew I was in trouble then.
Chapter 17 – Bothered
That last joke in the kitchen was all he had dished out. I would admit I was a little nervous, worried he would go back to being distant dirty Daniel with a beard, but he was shaving, and he hadn't told another dirty joke since. I was pretty sure it had been just in retaliation for me tormenting him with my teasing about anal sex.
There was a change between us, though. We were happier than before. We talked with ease, and there was little to no rambling. We both still did it when we were caught off guard, but it was a rare occurrence. We settled into a relaxing friendship, and I liked it, but I was starting to feel restless.
It wasn't so much that I wasn't happy, just antsy with our mellow lifestyle. I decided to shake things up a bit. He hadn't noticed my mischief, when I had messed up his forks and towels before. I wondered how long I could continue to do it, until he caught on that I was doing it on purpose.
I started with just what I had been doing before. I mixed the big and small forks, and I put the towels and washcloths on the same shelf. They were fixed in short order, but not a word was said. I decided to get crazy. I put the towels on both shelves, and then I put a couple of washcloths on top of the towels. I chuckled a little, when I heard him huff about that.
I thought finally, we were getting somewhere, and so I mixed up all the big and little forks, as well as the big and little spoons. I sat on the back porch giggling, as I heard them clanging around, while he fixed them in the drawer. I wondered if he would catch on soon. I decided to get crazier. I moved the cups to a different shelf.
I was getting out of the shower, when I heard him find those. I heard him shuffling around, while I hid my snickering. I felt bad, because he seemed to be a little irritated about the whole mess at dinner, but he didn't say a word. I washed the dishes and set them out to dry. I did arrange them the proper way in the drainer. I figured he'd had enough already.
The next morning, I made breakfast. Daniel still seemed to be in a pouty mood. "Are you alright?"
He looked at me, and his face softened with a sweet smile. "Yeah, I am." It was genuine, and I was kind of relieved. I was worried he would snap at me and kick me out. It was time to come clean.
I did the dishes after breakfast and started to put them away. I worked very slowly, hoping he would feel my eyes on him and turn around. It worked, and I put a cup on the wrong shelf right in front of him. He took a deep breath, but didn't lose his smile as he came up to me, taking the next cup from my hand and putting it on the right shelf. Now that I had his attention, I was going to hit him with the big guns. I opened the silverware drawer and got right to mixing them up.
He fixed what I put in there and grabbed the few I had in my hand, but there was more, and I blatantly put them in the wrong place right in front of him, wearing a big grin.
He picked it up, frowning. "Gabby," he whined.
"Yes?" I said oh-so-innocently, as I placed a spoon in the wrong place.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing, I'm just putting away the silverware," I replied, while sticking another in the wrong place with a bigger grin.
"Why are you putting them in the wrong slots?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Gabby…"
I poked him in the chest with a fork. "Am I forking with your head?"
He scrunched up his face, trying to figure out what I said. It hit pretty fast, and his eyes went wide. "You're doing it on purpose!"
I burst out laughing at him. "I was bored, and I didn't like the whole turn around and fuck that way thing. I told you I'd get even."
His shoulders sagged, and his head tipped back. He was laughing, though. "So, the towels, the cups, the silverware, socks and shirts…"
"Socks and shirts?"
"You messed up my socks and shirts. You hung the long and short-sleeved shirts mixed together, and my socks were in their balls, but not in rows."
"You seriously keep your socks in rows?" He blushed and shrugged. "I'm not sure if I can remember to make rows, but I'll try and hang your shirts right."
"You will?"
"What would you have done if I'd kept mixing everything up? What if I wasn't doing it on purpose?" He just shrugged. "Daniel, if I'm driving you nuts, you have to tell me. You're my best friend. I love you and want you to be happy. If I'm upsetting you, you need to be able to tell me so I can fix it."
He looked like he was holding his breath, and I was worried I had really upset him. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Breathe, Daniel. Come on, let's have a chess break. We need to talk, and that seems to be the easiest place to do it."
We set up the chessboard and got right into the game. "Is there anything I do to bug you?" he asked.
I shook my head no. "You're cool. I just got a little bored and decided to play with you. It's a good thing I did, because we needed to get this out. Why didn't you confront me sooner?"
He shrugged. "I'm happy."
"Happy?"
"Yeah, you make me happy, so a little fixing here and there is no big deal."
"I'm happy, too. Remember that I want you to be happy, too, Daniel, so talk to me if something's bothering you."
He blushed a little, but nodded in agreement. "So, there's nothing?" he asked.
"Well, I don't like that you stopped taking your shirt off to shake out the birdseed, but that's neither here nor there. I can live without it."
He laughed out loud, and that was what I wanted to hear right now. I knew we were okay, and things could only get better from here on out.
That weekend, I was cleaning the pond and held back my giggle, as he spilled some seed on himself. I was going back to work, when he called my name, "Hey, Gabby." He had that mischievous grin, as he whipped off his shirt to shake the seed out of it. I wolf whistled, causing him to laugh. He was hot, that was for sure, but he was still my best friend.
"I'm not flashing you back," I teased.
"That's not fair."
"Life's not fair, now is it?"
That smile stuck on his face all through dinner, and that night when I slept, I dreamt of Daniel in a way I hadn't before. In this dream, I didn't mind flashing him, and he didn't mind taking off a lot more. It was one of those dreams that had you needing a change of underwear. I was flushed and embarrassed, when I woke up the next morning. As usual, Daniel was at his desk working, and I really hoped I hadn't talked or moaned in my sleep.
He didn't look away from his monitor, when he heard me get up and put my bed away. "Good morning, breakfast is in the oven waiting for you," he said, before I stepped out of the study.
I hadn't realized it, but I had slept in later than usual. "You can wake me. I like eating with you," I offered, hoping he would.
After my meal, I picked one of the several books Mrs. Valente had left for me. They were all trashy romance novels. I had left the really scary half-naked-pictured one
s for last. Unfortunately, I was starting to make my way through those, and I didn't think that would end well with me dreaming like that and reading like this. Nothing good could come from me being horny around Daniel. He was a beautiful sweet man, but I lived with him. If I messed things up, there would be no going back. I would be screwed. God only knew where I would go after that. I knew I couldn't go home.
It took me a moment to remember I had that money in the trust. I could go somewhere else if I needed to. I just really didn't want to. I wanted to stay here. I didn't want to leave, or worse, be asked to leave by Daniel because he was upset with me. I wasn't sure I could handle that.
His phone rang, breaking the silence. I watched his expression to see how he would react. He smiled, so I figured it wasn't his family. I was worried Jerry might be calling for something, though.
"Hey, Janey," he answered smiling, and my heart twisted in my chest. "Sure, I'll be by this afternoon. Thanks for calling." He hung up, and my eyes were stuck on him. He went back to working, but I was silently begging him for some sort of clue as to who this Janey person was, and why he would happily be by this afternoon.
"She's not a bother," he finally spoke, still not looking at me.
"What?"
"There'll be no bothering with Janey, like we promised." He finally looked at me, and I caught what he was saying. My look of relief must have been evident, because he gave me that big grin. "You gonna come to town to meet her? I've got to pick up my mail."
"I've been here nearly three months, and this is the first time you're picking up your mail?"
He shrugged. "I don't get a lot. Janey calls me when my box gets full. I need to stop by the fire station, too, to let them know I'm going to burn the trash. The pit is getting a bit full."
"Where is this pit? I've seen you walk out the door with the garbage, but I don't see where you dump it or smell it."
"About one hundred feet past the edge of our yard is the hole that was dug by the backhoe that cut the road. It's pretty big, and when you burn trash down, it breaks down really well. I only burn every few months, usually when I have to go get my mail."
"I'm guessing this is not a marshmallow roasting fire?"
Straight Up Interfererence Page 12
