by Ami Snow
She gingerly shifted onto her back, arm flopping over and touching something distinctly not-blankets.
She patted it, yawning and trying to blink the sticky sleep from her eyes before turning to investigate visually.
It was a man.
A rather attractive man, perhaps. High cheekbones, with a broad nose and full lips. Broad shoulders with lovely sloping collarbones, and enough of that bronze-brushed dark skin showing that it was very obvious he was not wearing a shirt.
He opened his eyes, cracking a mischievous smile and practically purring.
“Good morning, beautiful. Didja sleep well?”
She stared at him for a second, her mind mulling over this turn of events.
Something clicked.
“WHAT THE FUCK!”
She shrieked, lashing out with a half-formed fist and ended up bopping him on the chest instead of the face like she intended. It got him away though, sitting up and scrabbling backwards as the blankets fell away to reveal chiseled abs and a slender build.
“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU, GET OUT OF MY ROOM!”
Dannie wobbled unsteadily, the room starting to swirl as he raised his hands, laughing and apologizing.
“Sorry, sorry! It was a joke! You’re fine! It’s okay.”
“What the fuck… get out… the fuck…” She groaned, tossing her pillow at him before bracing herself against the mattress to avoid falling over. Ugh, she felt gross.
She heard footsteps approach the door, and a familiar voice.
“What’s going on?”
Dannie swiveled slightly, talking more to the wall than her friend.
“Tell him to get out. I don’t wanna… I don’t know this guy. Who is he? Who are you?” She glared weakly at the man still patting the air with an amused air about him.
“Deshawn, go eat breakfast or something. Dannie, sorry, this asshole is my cousin, you met last night. You didn’t do the nasty with anyone last night, you passed out after getting really drunk in my living room.”
She could vaguely recall yelling at the microwave for cooking her hot pockets unevenly, and counting wine bottles.
“... I feel sick.”
Tucker’s face dropped into horror, and he lunged for the trash can while his cousin ambled out of the room with a ‘nope’ kind of expression.
Two purges and a few dry-heaves later, Dannie had the thought to mumble thanks to her friend for pulling her hair out of the way.
“Happy birthday, by the way. Officially 21, puking into a trash can. What will she do next?”
She moaned, spitting again and scrunching her eyes.
“Probably get a summer job to pay for my drinking habit.”
He chuckled.
“You don’t have a drinking habit. This is like, the second time you’ve ever gotten drunk.”
“SHHhhhh.” She raised a hand, flopping it against his face like a dead fish. “I’m trying to sound tough. don’t ruin this for me.”
He leaned his face away, grimacing at it.
“Is that the hand you wiped your mouth with?”
She shook her head slightly, waving the other hand.
“What a way to start the day, huh? Oh - Your parents called, by the way. They want you home by noon.”
She spat again, leaning back and contemplating how settled her stomach was getting.
“What time is it?”
“Eleven.”
“Ugh.”
--
“Ugh!”
She announced her entry with an over dramatic groan, shuffling up the stairs and straight toward the shower.
“Honey, you’re home?”
Dannie paused, breathing out through her nose to fend off the pain still pulsing behind her grey matter before exclaiming in return. .
“Yeah!”
Door clicking shut behind her, Dannie practically ripped her rumpled clothes off, flipping on the shower and waiting for the water to heat. She took a cursory glance at herself in the mirror, turning around and making sure everything still looked normal.
Ten fingers, ten toes, a silver lightning-strike birthmark resting on each hip as always. Lovely curly hair. She squeezed the softness of her belly, looking down at it and entertaining herself by smushing it into shapes. With the right corset, she could turn these cute rolls into the most kickass 50’s style hourglass figure. With the right sweater, she could be the most huggable motherfucker on the block.
God, she was still drunk, and the mirror was already starting to fog up.
Just as she stepped into the shower and dunked her head under the spray, her mom started knocking on the bathroom door.
“Happy birthday sweetie. Come downstairs when you’re done, we have a guest over that we’d like you to meet.”
“Yeah, sure.”
One lovely shower later, and Dannie was pulling on a light blouse, already anticipating the heat wave that would seep through the walls later this afternoon. They might have air conditioning, but that didn’t mean his parents liked to pay for the whole house to be blasted with it.
She fought back a yawn, her stomach settled but head still not quite on straight as she descended the stairs.
Her dad was bent over the table, clumsily going through a photo slideshow on mom’s tablet. Mom was in the kitchen, talking to their apparent guest.
“Ah, there you are. Dannie? This is Antonio Masters. He’s an old college buddy of your father’s, used to work on cars together. He’s an automotive designer now. Antonio, this is Dannie, our youngest daughter.”
Antonio Masters practically oozed charm. From his long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail to his immaculate business suit, Dannie was pretty sure he was breaking a few laws of physics being that pretty for an older guy. He reached out for a handshake, friendly voice somehow giving her a shiver.
“A pleasure to meet you, Danielle.”
A hint of a southern drawl curled over his words. What big shoulders you have, mister Masters. What big hands…
“Likewise.”
She took his grip, pumping it a few times and trying to ignore how dry and warm his palms were.
He even had one of those useless handkerchiefs tucked into a breast pocket.
She wanted to call him a loser in her head - what kind of idiot dressed to the nines just for meeting old friends?
She couldn’t deny that it was a fantastic move, if he wanted to seduce everyone around him, though. Antonio turned to her mom and started talking about some sort of business thing, cocking a hip to lean against the kitchen table and showing exactly how perfectly tailored his pants were as they hugged his rear.
“Dannie!” He exclaimed. “Have you met Tony yet? He just got flew from Kentucky.”
Apparently he hadn’t been paying attention.
“Er- yeah. Just met. I mean, I just met him.” She glanced at the man, who was watching the exchange with no small measure of amusement. “He’s… cool?”
Her dad boomed with laughter.
“He sure is! I just knew when I met him that he’d get into some great things. My old buddy, a Millionaire.”
“Likewise.”
“FOUND IT!”
Her dad jumped up from the table, brandishing the tablet at the taller man.
“See, Tony, I told you I designed that bike. I even have a picture of me working on it!”
The man, Antonio, stepped sideways to see the picture and raised an eyebrow at something.
“So you did.” Leaning back onto the edge of the counter, long fingers tugged at his cuffs in an absent gesture.
“That’s actually why I decided to visit now, of all days. I heard you had gotten into the business of motorcycles?”
Her dad grinned his wild grin, slinging an arm around his old friend’s shoulders and wrinkling the immaculate cut. Dannie picked up odd vibes coming from his mother, something vaguely amused at Antonio’s expression.
“Thanks for thinking of me, Tony! While I usually do repairs on classic cars, old bikes have be
en rolling into my garage more often than not these days! I’d love to check out one of yours.”
The pained smile remained on Antonio’s face as her Dad continued into the various types of bikes he worked on lately, the engines models, and increasingly obscure terminology that flew right over Dannie’s head.
Feeling a little merciful, she interrupted the small rant.
“Do you have a plane?”
Antonio’s thankful expression made her want to laugh. Her dad really could be overwhelming at times.
“I do, actually. Have a plane, I mean. I could take y’all up in it if you’d like. I hear the Michigan countryside is beautiful this time of year.”
Every word of his mouth seemed to lick like gentle tongues of flame over her skin, heating it in a low blush that she was certain anyone could see. It didn’t help that he wasn’t wearing shoes. Somehow the clash of white socks against his dark grey slacks was doing something strange to her brain.
This made no sense! It was just clothes!
(Tailored clothes on an older hot guy, though.)
He’s old enough to be my father! He was Friends with my father!
Yeah but his ass, though..
Dannie feigned a smile, trying not to look like an idiot.
“I’d love to ride in a private plane. How big is it?”
The man stroked his chin, a twist appearing in the corner of his lips.
“Big enough for the five of us. Where is Jasmine, by the way?”
Her mom slid into the room, carrying a giant casserole pan of what looked like lasagna.
“She’s taking summer classes at college. No rest for future doctors, apparently.”
Their guest had the audacity to lean over and try to help cut the food, and Dannie had to look away.
“Hey mom, would you mind if I ate dinner in my room?” At the frown coming on, she hastily added; “I was working on a project with Tucker, and said it’d only be a minute.”
She needed to get out of here before she said something dumb like ‘Your ass is grass and I’m going to mow it’
She’d been watching too much television.
Her mom nodded, frowning a bit.
“We’d hoped that you would stick around and get to know him. He hasn’t seen you since you were just starting middle school.”
Wow that was a long time ago. No wonder she didn’t recognize the man. It also put a weird spin on the strange romance dance her pants seemed to want to do.
Down, girl. He’s too old for you.
“Oh, don’t worry Maddie, I’ll be here for another two days. We have plenty of time to get to know each other.”
With a reluctant nod, her mom handed her a plate of steaming lasagna, shooing her back up to her room.
Mmm extra garlic and cheese.
Chapter 2
Of course, since there was no project, Dannie spent her time getting her mind off the stupidly attractive man eating dinner downstairs.
(Was he prim and proper when he ate? Did he get his fingers messy then lick them off?”) Mostly unsuccessfully, but it did send her back to an old online friend for some competitive Defender.
Only ten minutes in, and her fingertip was already getting sore from mashing the ‘Fire’ button.
“What convinced you that ‘Survival Horde’ mode was a good idea?”
From her headphones, a mocking laugh answered her.
“What, getting tired?”
“Tch.”
Dannie maneuvered her ship around the oncoming asteroid, blasting through a group of alien ships and swinging around for another pass. Rockets hissed out, exploding with a satisfying animation across her screen. She muttered a quiet curse as one of the alien’s lasers damaged her hull, bringing her shield down long enough for a second volley to hit her.
“Hey, what are you wearing?”
Shields came back in a few seconds, but the fact that Sam’s ship was still in perfect condition just ticker her off. She rolled her eyes at the comment.
“You’ll see me tomorrow. I’ll show you a pictu- AHHHHHhh nooooo…” Her cry of despair trickled off, a horde she had missed swarming over the broken pieces of her ship. Sam blazed through them, continuing the level. Dannie sighed, leaning back from the screen.
“I can meet up with you at the next save point – try not to die?”
“Pfft. As if. This is only level five.”
A creaky stair dragged her attention away from the battle her friend was waging against the floods of alien ships. Someone knocked on her door.
“Come in.”
“This is your room, then?”
Antonio pushed the door open, but hovered in the doorway to lounge against the frame. The guy sure did like to lean on things, she noticed. That pose certainly did cast him in a certain (flattering) light. She could see muscular thighs and calves hinted at through thin dress pants, arms outlined by clean lines in the suit jacket.
“Your parents tell me that you enjoy games?”
She nodded, tapping a quick ‘afk brb’ to Sam before swiveling her chair to face the guest. His eyes were lingering on her walls, scanning over posters and the many diagrams of her favorite characters or levels that dotted her walls. Of course there were posters from her favorite shows as well, but the central peice was a signed print of Zelda wielding a flaming sword.
“I know it’s getting late, but your parents already gave the O-K. I’d like to show you around my plane. I already gave my pilot the night off, but you can still check it out.”
He clapped his hands together, taking a few steps into her room and turning right around, gesturing for her to follow. She obeyed out of curiosity, and he began talking once they reached the front door.
“What, seriously? That’s awesome!”
She followed him eagerly into the car, realizing quickly that she really didn’t know this guy, and had very little to talk about on the way to the airport.
Still, she couldn’t help eyeing him in her peripherals, taking mental snapshots of his profile, and the way he gripped the wheel to use in her imagination later.
“So you’re in college?”
“Sorry, what? Oh! Yes. Yeah, college. I’m studying Marketing.”
Antonio nodded.
“Every business is better with a good marketing team.”
She hummed in agreement, the conversation sort of petering out after that.
Stars already shone above the airport when they arrived, clouds wispy and tinted silver by the nearby moon. His long legs ate up the tarmac, and Dannie struggled to keep up while appearing to be at ease.
“Here she is!” He exclaimed, gesturing grandly. “What do you think?”
“It’s… big.”
Understatement of the year.
What looked like a half-size commercial jet plane was parked grandly to the side of the runway, wheels anchored and white body practically glowing in the moonlight. She could only imagine what it looked like inside, if it really was a personal plane.
Weren’t those usually bedecked with like, a hot tub and full sized beds?
How would a hot tub even work in a plane? What if they had bad turbulence?
“Would you like to see inside?”
She nodded furiously, making an impressed sound when a click of a button sent the door of the plane angling and sweeping down into a short stairway.
“After you.”
Unfortunately, there was no hot tub. However, there was a plethora of other sweet things. Color-changing LEDs lined the top of the cabin, currently casting the entire area in a warm red glow. The seats were enormous compared to economy class, full leather monstrosities that looked like they could eat her whole and spit back out an unfairly relaxed version of herself.
Even the windows were amazing, larger than she’d ever seen on a plane, with actual opaque shutters. She wasn’t sure why she had gotten so excited about that, but it struck her fancy.
“You’re a rather bad liar, miss Danielle.”
Dannie stopp
ed, scratching at the window frame with the edge of her fingernail. What an odd segue.
“What do you mean?”
“I can see the way you look at me. I’m not blind.”
She tried to force a scoff, folding her arms.
“You’re way too old for me, dude.”
He just sent her a sly smile, stalking closer.
“Is that what you think, or is that what you think other people will think?”
Already she could feel arousal coiling through her guts, eyes focusing despite themselves on the way his lean legs moved, on how lovely his hands looked when they braced on the seats to each side of her, trapping her in the little space.
She didn’t answer, but did lean in toward the hand reaching up to brush against her face, her blue eyes staring up into his own brown ones.
“Come out and play, Danielle. No one is watching.”
Dannie felt her eyes droop closed, lips falling slightly open as the pad of his thumb stroked ever so feather-light against the corner of her mouth, across her plump lips. It felt like electric fire was pulsing through her veins, every whisper of sound or touch was amplified to her senses.
Something touched her hair, fingers combing into it and angling her head upwards.
Oh god, was he going to kiss her?
She couldn’t help but lean into it, heart jackrabbiting behind her ribs.
Abruptly, he dropped his hand.
A cheerful jingle interrupted them.
Dannie’s eyes shot open, breath sucked out of her at the sudden change of mood. Antonio seemed slightly flushed, his eyes dark and hands clasped behind him.
“Going to answer that?” He murmured, watching her behind dark eyelashes.
She scrambled for her phone, swiping to answer and holding it up to her ear with adrenaline-shocked hands.
