The Better Brother

by Rye Hart

  Those thoughts were shooed away, though, when I heard the distinct sound of Gabriel’s belt and zipper being pulled down. His cock, thick and hot, nudged me intimately, drawing a gasp from my lips. He slid into me with one easy thrust. I gripped the wall even harder as pleasure shot through the center of my belly.

  “Fuck,” Gabriel groaned, gripping my waist with one hand. His other hand smacked into the wall above my head as his hips rolled again. “You feel so good, Penny. You feel so fucking good, it’s almost painful.”

  Desperation filled me, and the pressure in me began to mount when he thrust hard into me again.

  “Harder,” I panted. “Please, Gabriel. Please. It feels so good, baby. Fuck me harder.”

  I didn’t even cringe at the words coming from the tip of my tongue. All I cared about was the slick sensation of Gabriel’s dick sliding in and out of me at a desperate pace now. He leaned over me as he fucked me. His hand reached in front of me and slipped into the top of my dress. His warm palm cupped my breast, scraping deliciously over my hard nipple.

  I moaned at the feeling of it. The sounds of my pleasure seemed to spur him on, and his cock pounded into me faster and harder. Every stroke of him inside me found my most sensitive places, and soon, I was bucking my hips back into him, meeting every thrust of his hips, as he buried his cock into me as deep as it could go.

  My body jolted every time he plunged into me, making me pant and moan every time. I could feel the sensations building up inside me again, overwhelming my senses and erasing all rational thought. The only thing in the world that mattered was the feeling of our bodies coming together on that snowy rooftop.

  Gabriel carried us both higher and higher, filling me with tension, and together, we exploded in a release that left both of us shuddering in response. The sound of our panting breaths mingled together on the quiet roof, and Gabriel held me tightly as we basked in the pleasure pulsing through our bodies. We stayed that way for a moment longer, until the cold was too much to take.

  My fingers were trembling as I turned to look back at Gabriel. He tucked himself back inside of his pants. Sweat glistened at his hairline, and clouds puffed out in front of us while we gazed at one another.

  “I don’t know why this keeps happening,” he said, smiling and shaking his head. “I tell myself to stay clear, to keep away from you, but I find myself coming back to you every chance I get.”

  “I know the feeling,” I admitted, adjusting my nylons over my legs. “It doesn’t make this any better, you know? We are going to hurt people if we keep going at it like this.”

  “I know, but God Penny, I don’t know if I can give you up.”

  I smiled as I pulled my skirt down over my legs. I felt the same way, but I was still so conflicted. I knew that I was falling for him, but was his love worth devastating my best friend.

  “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked, reaching out to tuck my hair behind my ear.

  “No,” I assured him. “I’m fine. I think it’s a good idea to get back downstairs before someone comes looking for us, though.”

  “You’re right. It’s cold up here too. Hold on.” He reached out to grasp me by the elbow to gently pull me back into him. “I just want you to know that we—”

  The door to the rooftop opened suddenly. We jerked back in surprise to find Alyssa standing there, hurrying over the snowy rooftop with worried eyes landing on where stood.

  “There you two are!” she exclaimed, huddled against the cold wind. “Someone mentioned they saw the both of you come up here. What the hell are you two doing?”

  My heart raced as I pulled back from Gabriel completely to avoid suspicion. I started across the slick ground in Alyssa’s direction. If we hadn’t finished a few minutes ago… The thought dashed through my mind uneasily while I listened to Gabriel’s footsteps crunch in the snow behind me. I couldn’t keep doing this anymore, not if it meant risking my friendship with Alyssa. “He wanted to show me the view from the rooftop,” I said, breezing by her into the stairwell. “I’m cold. Let’s get back to the room to warm up.”

  I felt Alyssa’s gaze resting on my back as I hurried down the stairs. The bright lights of the hallway nearly blinded me when I pushed the door open. I didn’t wait for either one of them as I hung up my coat and ventured down the hallway quickly to the privacy of my guestroom. I kept the door cracked open, though, because I knew closing it shut would only bring more attention.

  A few minutes later, Alyssa slipped through the crack in the door. She didn’t close it all the way, a sign that she didn’t intend on staying long. She looked down at me where I sat on the bed, her expression unreadable. I steeled myself for the inevitable accusation that I was fucking her father behind her back. When she spoke, I could barely hear her over the sound of my jackhammering heartbeat.

  “Is everything okay with you?” she asked. “I know that dinner was a bit rough with your mom and Dylan.”

  I nodded, relieved that she hadn’t asked me about her father. “Yeah, I’m ok. I just don’t like being around either of them.” “Penny,” she said firmly. I stopped to look at Alyssa as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I want to make sure that you’re truly okay, you know? I didn’t like the vibes that Dylan was giving off. My dad even noticed it.”

  I turned my back on Alyssa while I swallowed the lump in my throat. Seeing him for the first time in a few months only deepened the weird feeling I got whenever he was around. I didn’t like the way his eyes lingered on me or the comments he directed at me. He was always right on the edge of the line of what was appropriate, but he never crossed it, so I could never call him out on anything.

  I didn’t want him around at all, but my mother was determined to keep him around at all costs. No matter what I said. She had made that clear when I told her about the excessive phone calls and messages coming from her phone when it wasn’t her. It was clearly him, even though she refused to admit it.

  “I’m fine,” I said, and turned to look back at Alyssa with a forced smile. “It doesn’t matter anyway, because they are going to be leaving in a few days. Tomorrow will probably be the last time that we even see them.”

  I hoped at least. I didn’t want either one of them lingering throughout the rest of my winter break, just because my mother had a blind hope that I would change my mind and come home.

  “I just wanted to make sure,” Alyssa said. “Get some rest. We’ll go do something fun tomorrow afternoon. Maybe head to another museum or he mall. Whatever you want to do, once your mom leaves.”

  I nodded mutely as Alyssa retreated from of my room. Guilt gnawed at the pit of my stomach. No matter what happened, I couldn’t shake the feeling of Gabriel still clinging to every bit of my being. I could still smell him lingering on my clothes when I shrugged out of them. He was a part of me in every single way now, but having him would come at a cost.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN – GABRIEL

  What the hell am I doing to myself?

  I ran an exhausted hand over my aching eyes while I paced the confines of my bedroom. I could hear Alyssa and Penny’s voices coming down the hallway from the kitchen while they enjoyed their morning coffee. I couldn’t bring myself to go out just yet. I wasn’t ready to face either one of them.

  Last night, I had caved in. Again. I had told myself that being with Penny one time was more than enough to keep me sated for the rest of my life, but clearly, one time wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more. I wanted her. All the damn time. We were crossing too many lines now; dangerous lines. I knew that Penny respected Alyssa with every fiber of her being. Penny didn’t want to lose her best friend by starting up a relationship with me. Not that we could even call it a relationship. We hadn’t had a chance to discuss what the hell was going on between us. Every time we tried, we were either interrupted or ended up fucking.

  We had to put a stop to this. It couldn’t keep going on because Alyssa was bound to find out sooner, rather than later. My daughter was no fool. She already suspected that
something was going on, but lucky for me, she didn’t have any idea what it was.

  I hated lying to my daughter. Sure, I’d always kept my personal life private from her. She didn’t need to know what her father got up to with random women, just like I really didn’t want to know details about her dating life. But this situation was entirely different. I wasn’t hooking up with some random chick. I was fucking my daughter’s best friend, which would ruin her if she found out.

  I just needed to end things completely, but I couldn’t control myself when it came to Penny. The woman had a hold on me like no other woman had in the past, and I didn’t quite understand why. Penny was gorgeous, of course, but I’d been with plenty of beautiful women before. So, it wasn’t just the physical attraction that kept me coming back to Penny. There was something else, something deeper that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. But I desperately wanted to explore things further with Penny so I could find out.

  Penny was right, though. If we kept letting ourselves give in to temptation because we both wanted to, it was only a matter of time before we would get caught and then, things would explode in my face. But even though I knew that, I was compelled to keep pursuing her. My time with Penny would be over before I knew it. Winter break for both of them would come to an end soon, and that only added to my desire to get closer to Penny before she left, probably for good.

  It was one fucked up situation, and I had no idea how to resolve it. Having Nikki Lewis, a once-close friend, coming over in a few hours didn’t help matters, either. After she trusted me to watch over her only daughter, I didn’t know how I was going to face her again.

  And that prick of a boyfriend that kept staring at Penny the entire time during dinner.

  My fingers clenched into fists at the thought. Not once had he really paid much attention to Nikki sitting next to him. His gaze had been focused entirely on Penny, who seemed very uncomfortable with the attention. It was like Dylan felt relieved to be around her again and that only made the alarm bells in my head ring louder. Something wasn’t right about the younger boy toy that seemed to follow Nikki around for one specific reason—to get close to Penny.

  I made a mental note to talk with Nikki about it later, since Penny had retreated to the guestroom the night before without saying a word. I knew she was worried that one of these times, we were going to be caught. Damage control wouldn’t be easy on either side of the spectrum. Both Alyssa and Nikki would feel betrayed, and I couldn’t imagine coming back from that kind of disaster.

  The sound of footsteps approached from down the hallway. I held my breath as shadows danced in the crack between the door and carpet.

  “Dad?”

  I let out a pent-up breath at the sound of Alyssa’s voice calling out gently. “What is it, honey?”

  “Can I come in for a moment?”

  “Of course,” I said, smoothing a hand over my face to get rid of the anxiety playing out there. “Come in. The door is unlocked.”

  I forced a smile on my face when Alyssa opened the door to step inside my room. She closed the door behind herself as she approached me.

  “I’m going to go out for a little bit to do some shopping,” she said, and caught sight of the look on my face. “And yes, I’m going to see Scott, too. I just wanted to see if you would like to come with me.”

  “To meet this Scott?” I asked in shock. “You really want me coming along for this trip?”

  “I mean, I’d like you to meet him eventually. He’s a really nice guy. I’d like to get your opinion on him at some point.”

  I smiled down at Alyssa, who looked nervous about my answer, but I didn’t like the idea of leaving Penny alone with her mother and Dylan while we were away. They were due to show up at any moment to come chat with her.

  “Maybe another time, sweetheart,” I said, wrapping her up into a hug. “I appreciate the offer, though. Penny’s mom is coming by at some point this morning. I don’t want to miss out on that.”

  “You mean you don’t like the vibes off of Dylan, either, right?’

  “I don’t,” I answered her.

  Alyssa looked slightly relieved that I was staying behind to make sure Penny was alright.

  “I tried to talk to Penny last night about it,” she said. “I didn’t get much out of her, besides that Dylan sometimes makes her uncomfortable. She’s tried talking to her mom about it, but her mom is in total denial.”

  “I’ll make sure nothing happens while they are here.” I held up my hand to do the universal sign of scout’s honor, which brought a smile on my daughter’s face. “Scout’s honor. You can trust me with your friend.”

  Can she? Guilt crept over me. I looked away from Alyssa, who nodded. The more I wanted Penny, the more lies spilled from my lips to the one person in the world I never once lied to.

  “Thanks, Dad. You’re a good guy. I appreciate you looking after Penny.”

  Alyssa left my room. I rubbed at the back of my neck where the muscles were tense and sore. I waited until I heard Alyssa go through the front door before I ventured down the hallway in the direction of the kitchen. I found Penny standing at the kitchen sink. She washed a few coffee mugs in hot, bubbling water.

  “Penny,” I said.

  She turned around to look at me with her hands still submerged in the bubbly water.

  “We need to talk about what keeps happening,” I said, handing her a dish towel to dry her hands with. Penny took the towel and dried her hands before answering. “I don’t know what to say,” she finally said. “I know that we shouldn’t be together, and not because of our age difference or any other bullshit reason like that. Alyssa is the best friend I’ve ever had and I really missed her all those years we were a part. When we met up again at school, I felt like I got a part of myself back. The thought of betraying her makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. But the thought of not being with you is just as bad. You’re all I think about,” she admitted, taking a step toward me.

  I let out a breath that I’d been holding. “I know I feel the same way—about all of it. Honestly though, Penny, I think it’s best if we—"

  The doorbell chimed, interrupting me. I frowned and glanced at Penny, still wanting to say more to her. But the doorbell was followed quickly by insistent knocking on the front door. I gritted my teeth in aggravation because it seemed that no matter how hard I strived for privacy, it wasn’t going to come easily.

  The color drained from Penny’s face, and she reached up to smooth a hand through her tangled blonde locks. Mascara was smudged beneath her eyes in a dark ring. She hadn’t slept well the night before, like me.

  “I need to get in the shower,” she said. “Do you mind entertaining them while I shower really quickly?”

  She didn’t give me a chance to answer. Penny darted out of the kitchen, hurried down the hallway, and slammed the bathroom door shut behind her. I couldn’t tell if she was really worried about getting cleaned up, or if she was just trying to delay seeing her mother and Dylan. I was left to play the charming host for a while. I wouldn’t have minded at all if it was just Nikki stopping by to catch up. I liked Nikki, and we went way back. It was fucking Dylan who I didn’t want to see. At best, he was a useless gold digger, going after Nikki’s money. At worst, he was a creepy pervert who was just interested in Penny. The thought left me seething inside.

  I smoothed out a few wrinkles in my shirt, and I forced a smile on my face, even though I was still annoyed that my conversation with Penny had been cut short. I took a deep breath to calm the irritation bubbling inside of my chest, then, I opened the door to greet Nikki with a charming smile.

  “So glad you could come by,” I said. “Please, come in.”

  Nikki squeezed my forearm and flashed a smile as she stepped inside and shrugged out of her coat. I caught Dylan’s eyes as he scanned the empty hallway behind me. Nikki turned to look back at Dylan, who lingered outside the front door.

  “Are you coming, darling?” she called out sweetly. “It’s r
ude to sit at someone’s doorway like that.”

  I was tempted to slam the door in the prick’s face. I didn’t like the look he gave me, one full of thinly veiled contempt. He stepped inside, though, before I could shut the door to lock him out of everyone’s lives.

  “Where’s my Penny at?” Nikki asked. “She just hopped into the shower,” I said. “Alyssa has gone out to do some shopping. We can have some coffee in the living room while we wait for Penny to come out.”

  Nikki smiled. “That sounds lovely, Gabriel. I could use some coffee.”

  I left the two of them to wander about the living room while I made a pot of coffee. I could still hear the shower pipes running down the hallway as I walked into the living room with a pot and three mugs. Nikki stood next to Dylan in front of the living room windows that overlooked the entire city of Chicago. The sight of her arm looped through Dylan’s made my heart seethe with contempt. They both turned as I set the items down on the coffee table.

  “It’s beautiful here in Chicago,” Nikki said with a wistful sigh. “I loved living here. I’ve thought about returning several times, but I just fell in love with New York over the years. And in my line of work, that’s where the action is.”

  “I can’t ever venture far from here,” I said, pouring everyone a cup. “It’s a nice place to live year-round, and it’s just home to Alyssa and me.”

  “Cheers to that,” Nikki said, picking up her coffee and lifting it.

  Dylan didn’t pick up his mug of coffee. He smoothed his hands over the front of his dark colored sweater as he looked over at Nikki.

  “Is there a bathroom open by any chance?” he asked. “I’ve already had two cups of coffee this morning.”

  “Down the hallway,” Nikki said. “Right, Gabriel?”

  “There’s one right before you hit the bedrooms,” I replied tightly.

  Unease filled me when Dylan left the living room. I turned to look at Nikki, who sipped at her coffee with a happy smile, blissfully unaware of the tension I was feeling.