by J. S. Cooper
“I’m not pretending anything.” I frowned. “Where is he? And if you knew he wasn’t here why would you say he blew me off?”
“Don’t play games with me, Liv. I’m not the sort of guy that takes kindly to games.”
“What games?” I said in a heat. Did he know that I had no interest in Henry? How embarrassing.
“Look, I know this is an uncomfortable situation and I know that your feelings are likely hurt, but I made a promise and a commitment to your sister. Even if I wanted to back out, it wouldn’t be the gentlemanly thing to do.”
“But you’re not a gentleman.”
“I wasn’t one, no.” He sighed. “I’m used to getting what I want when I want it and if it doesn’t come easily I just take it, but life is about more than my ego.”
“Okay.” I took a step away from him as he looked as if he were going to kiss me again. “Good for you and your perfect life.”
“Liv, I’m just saying there’s no need to pretend you’re into Henry.”
“I’m not pretending.” I shook my head at him, annoyed by his arrogance. “He’s handsome, single, by all accounts a lovely man. I’m interested in getting to know him. What’s so hard to believe about that?”
“He’s my brother.” He frowned, the smug smile completely gone from his face.
“So? Gabby’s my sister.” I looked him in the eyes. “You didn’t seem to have a problem with that. I find it hypocritical that you would have a problem with me dating your brother.”
“Why date my brother when it’s me you want?”
“I don’t want you. You seem to be the one that wants me. What do you think Gabby would say if she knew you had just kissed me?”
“I do not care.” He growled. “What Gabby and I have is a business relationship.”
“Well good for you.”
“You don’t understand.” He shook his head and grabbed me around the waist and pulled me to him. “What happened to the carefree fun-loving girl I met last weekend?”
“She left the building when you were introduced as my sister’s fiancé.”
“What can I do to change this?” His fingers brushed the loose hairs away from my face. “I don’t want us to argue about this anymore.”
“I’m not arguing, I’m just stating facts.” I shrugged and tried to push him away from me, but this time I couldn’t move his body. My hands were flat against his naked chest and I swallowed hard. Why was he making this so difficult? Why wouldn’t he just leave me alone?
“We still need to be friends, Liv.” His fingers traced my lips. “We’re going to be family.”
I nearly vomited at that point. I mean, was this guy for real?
“Xander,” I looked up into his eyes. “I don’t intend on ever seeing you again after this weekend, asides from at your wedding. We do not need to be anything.”
Our eyes met and we looked at each other for a few seconds and I could see that he was thinking hard. I waited for him to tell me that I was being stupid. That of course we’d see each other at other times. I waited for him to scold me and tell me I was being immature. I waited for him to tell me that I was acting like a silly schoolgirl. I knew that there was obviously no way I’d only be able to see him at the wedding. For all of our squabbling and quarrels, my family was close-knit and my parents would not allow me to blow off every dinner and get-together, even if I wanted to. I stood there with my shoulders squared and waited for him to tell me off for being immature, but instead he started laughing. I stared at him in amazement and shock as I watched the laughter fill his face: his eyes were bright, his mouth was wide and his head fell back as he laughed his head off.
“What’s so funny?” I asked him softly, feeling even more annoyed at him. I hated that I didn’t understand him and I couldn’t read him. I hated that I loved that about him. I hated that I wanted to get to know him better. I hated that I would never have the chance to be more with him.
“You.” He took a deep breath and finally stopped laughing. “You’re a breath of fresh air.” He smiled at me. “Yes, you’re also a pain in the neck, but you’re also a breath of fresh air.”
“Okay, thanks, I guess.”
“I want to make love to you again.” He groaned, his expression turning to one of lust as he took a step towards me.
“No, we can’t.” I bit down on my lower lip.
“Oh, but we can do whatever we want.” He grinned and turned around and locked the door before coming back to me.
“What are you doing?” I said in shock as he pulled his briefs down and stood in front of me naked; his cock already standing at attention.
“I’m showing you that I’m not an F in bed.” He grinned and took another step towards me. “I like a good challenge.”
“Xander.” I groaned as he pulled me towards him. My body was trembling in anticipation and I felt guilty and confused. “We can’t—” He cut me off by picking me up and throwing me onto the bed. His fingers pulled my shorts and panties off and he fell on top of me and kissed my neck. “Xander.” I moaned and wriggled against him. “We can’t do this.”
“We can.” His fingers slipped down my legs and rubbed me gently. I closed my eyes for two seconds and enjoyed the feelings of excitement as they swept through my body and then I pushed him to the side and rolled off of the bed. “What are you doing?” He blinked up at me in surprise as I picked my panties up off of the floor.
“I’m leaving.” I rubbed my lips to get rid of his taste. “You can’t just have me whenever you feel like it.”
“Why not?” He frowned and I was about to protest when he laughed. “I’m not being serious.” He sighed and sat up. I looked down and saw that his manhood was hard and sticking up. He looked down to see what I was staring at and he grinned at me. “Yeah, that’s what you’re leaving me with.”
“Ask Gabby to help you out.” I spat out, annoyed.
“This is always going to be an issue between us, isn’t it?”
“What do you think?” I looked at him incredulously. For a smart man, Xander could be a real dummy sometimes. I watched as Xander jumped off of the bed, bent down, picked his briefs up and pulled them on. He then looked at me with a lazy smile and shrugged.
“So your parents seem nice and I think they like me." He said casually as if that were the most normal thing to say next in this situation.
"They are nice." I stopped myself from saying they wouldn't be so nice to him if they knew what kind of guy he really was.
"I think I'll quite like having them as parents."
"That's good."
"They'll make good grandparents."
"Yup." I looked away from him then as I wanted to slap the smug look off of his face. What was his problem? How could he try and sleep with me and then talk about my parents.
"You don't have anything else to say?" His eyes narrowed as he studied me.
"What else do you want me to say?" I looked back up into his face then.
"I don't know, something telling me I'm making a mistake." He shrugged nonchalantly.
"It's your mistake to make." I wasn’t going down this road again. I wasn’t going to make him think I wanted him.
"Ah ha, so you do think I'm making a mistake?"
"I don't care what you do." I lied and turned away. "I'm going to go back to my room now."
"But Alice is in there with Scott and Aiden."
"So?" I looked at him with a question.
"You don't want to cock block."
"Excuse me."
"Alice has a crush, doesn't she?"
“How did you know that?”
“It was obvious from the way she was beaming from ear to ear.” He shrugged. “I didn’t presume to think it was because of me.”
“Not that that would be a problem for you right? You’d love three of the women in this house wanting you.”
“So, are you saying two women in this house currently want me?” He smiled and raised an eyebrow at me.
“No.” I
said hurriedly. “Now tell me, who do you think likes Alice back in return?”
“Who?” He laughed. “I think Alice has herself a little problem.”
“Oh?” I frowned and rubbed my forehead. “So you don’t think Scott or Aiden likes her then?”
“Oh, quite the opposite.” Xander rubbed his palms over his stomach as he stood there. “I think they both like her.”
“What?” I frowned and looked into his eyes to see if he was being serious.
“I think both of your brothers have an interest in Alice.” He nodded seriously. “Hopefully, they both don’t make a play for her. She has an interest in one of them, doesn’t she?”
“Yes.” I nodded and bit my lower lip. How did he know that my brothers liked Alice and what did that mean? How would Scott feel if Alice and Aiden started dating because Alice liked Aiden and that was obviously who she would choose, wasn’t it?
“Are you going to tell me which one?”
“No.” I shook my head and turned back to the door. “That’s none of your business.”
“Are you always going to be like this, Liv?” He grabbed my shoulder. “Can’t we just be friends?”
“No, we can’t.” I said as I opened the door and walked out of the room. Who the hell did Xander James think he was? Did he really think I could just forget everything and just be friends with him? Did he really think that was possible?
“Morning Liv.” A soft husky voice made me jump and I blinked as I stared ahead of me. “Sorry,” He smiled at me widely. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay.” I smiled back at him. “Good Morning to you too, Henry.” I looked into his eyes and I noticed that they were actually a lighter green than Xander’s.
“Everything okay?” His perfect white teeth shone at me as he spoke and I really began to notice the subtle differences in his appearance to Xander’s. Henry had slightly thinner pink lips and a rather deep-set dimple in his right cheek. His hair, though also dark, held light streaks of brown as well and it was slightly more unkempt than Xander’s was.
“I’m fine. It’s just been an exhausting morning already and we haven’t even had breakfast.” I laughed and rolled my eyes.
“I am hungry.” He nodded. “I’m just coming back from my morning run and am ready for pancakes and bacon.”
“That sounds good to me.” I nodded eagerly. “Banana chocolate chip pancakes with lots of syrup and bacon.”
“I’m a blueberry pancake guy myself.” He smiled and ran his hand through his dark hair, “Though I wouldn’t mind some chocolate chips. Maybe we can share?”
“Sounds good to me.” I said and adjusted my top as I stared at him. “As long as you don’t want some of my bacon as well.”
“Don’t worry, I never attempt to take bacon off of anyone’s plate.” He laughed and I stared at his lips for a few seconds as I laughed along with him.
“Good or I’ll have to kill you.” I giggled and poked him in the shoulder with two fingers sticking out like a gun.
“Uh oh, the warning has officially been issued.”
“Yup.” I said and winked at him.
“What’s going on here?” Xander’s deep voice was directly behind me and I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t heard him come out of the bedroom and down the corridor.
“Liv is going to share her pancakes with me, but she’s warning me to stay away from her bacon.” Henry answered his brother with a laugh. “I said that’s a fair price to pay to share breakfast with a beautiful woman.”
“Hmmm.” Xander said in reply as my stomach flipped. Henry had called me beautiful. I had to admit that his words made me happy. Maybe I would try and get to know Henry a bit better this morning. “Maybe you shouldn’t be sharing everything with everyone, Liv.” He said to me obnoxiously as he looked down at me with a sneer.
“Excuse me?” I glared up at him, my mind off Henry as I gazed into Xander’s dark green eyes.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be so easy and willing to give it up.” He said softly as I gasped. He paused as he looked me up and down and then he grinned. “Your pancakes I mean. I wouldn’t be so easy to give them up. Henry’s a pig. He’ll gobble them all down before you can blink. And then you’ll regret having given them up.”
“I don’t think I’ll regret sharing my pancakes, though there are other things I regret.” I tried to remain civilized, though it was difficult. I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of Henry or make him suspicious, but I so badly wanted to smack Xander. Hard.
“Oh?” He cocked his head. “Like what?”
“Xander, don’t badger the girl.” Henry gave his brother a reproachful look. “She just woke up.”
“I’m not badgering her.” Xander gave his brother a sharp look.
“I’m just saying you just met her and she doesn’t know your sense of humor, so go lightly on her.” Henry grinned at me. “We’re not family yet.”
“Thanks Henry, I appreciate it.” I smiled at him warmly.
“Shouldn’t you be getting in the shower or something?” Xander’s eyes narrowed at me. “We wouldn’t want you to hold up our getting pancakes.”
“I’d worry about your fiancé, as opposed to me.” I looked at him distastefully. “I’m pretty sure she’s still in bed.”
“Well I do wear women out.” Xander said smartly and I gasped, all color leaving my face as jealousy stirred in my stomach.
“Xander.” Henry chastised his brother. “Ignore him, Liv. Xander and I shared a room last night, he wouldn’t dare disrespect your parents in their own home.”
“I wouldn’t be shocked if he did.” I gave Xander a disparaging look and then looked back at Henry. “It’s good to know one of the James brothers is a gentleman. Thank you.”
“Any time.” Henry bowed his head down and grinned. “Now hurry and shower so we can go and get those pancakes.”
“Will do.” I giggled and then hurried off to my bedroom. I could feel both brothers staring after me as I entered my room.
“There you are.” Alice said melodramatically as I walked into the bedroom. “Where have you been?”
“You do not want to know.” I closed the door behind me and fell to the bed. “You will not believe what just happened.”
“What?” She stood next to her overnight bag and gazed at me with questioning eyes.
“Well—” I started.
“Oh my God, Aiden looked so hot this morning, didn’t he?” She cut me off before I could tell her what had happened. “I need to change. I can’t let him see me in the same clothes I was wearing this morning.”
“He won’t notice or care.” I said quickly. “But get this, Xander pushed me into Henry’s bedroom and threw me on the bed and—”
“Should I wear a skirt or a dress?” She held up a short black skirt and a red slinky dress as she cut me off again. “Or are they both too trampy?”
“Yes, they are both trampy.” I nodded and continued. “He threw me on the bed and pulled his boxer shorts off and then he pulled my panties down and—”
“Okay, what about this blouse?” She held it up to her face. “And a nice pair of white pants? Or should I wear my black skinny jeans.”
“Then he shoved his cock up my ass.” I said loudly as I jumped off the bed. “He ripped my clothes off, threw me on the bed, turned me over and fucked me up the ass.”
“So you had anal?” Her jaw dropped. I had her attention now. “Did it hurt?”
“Alice, get it together.” I walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders. “Your response to me telling you that my sister’s fiancé threw me onto his bed naked and penetrated me is to ask if it hurt?”
“Well, I’ve always wondered.” She shrugged. “I figured I might as well find out, so I know whether or not to have anal with Aiden.”
“Oh my God, Alice.” I groaned at her and she gave me a small smile.
“Sorry, I’m going crazy aren’t I?” She let out a long sigh and gave me an apologetic face. “
I’m just so excited. I’m finally an adult and he can take me seriously now. He can see me as a woman.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I made a face. “I was trying to tell you about Xander.”
“I know, sorry.” She dropped the blouse down. “Tell me about Xander and the anal sex, then I’ll tell you about Aiden and ask you for advice.” She walked over to the bed and sat down. “Now spit it out.”
“We didn’t have anal sex.” I walked back over to the bed and lay back on the mattress. “He did take my panties off though and he was naked and I felt him right there.” I gulped. “Ugh, he was so close to being inside of me, but then I felt guilty and jumped up and pulled my panties on.”
“That’s funny.” Alice giggled as she looked down at me.
“What’s so funny about that?”
“You most probably left him with blue balls.” She giggled some more. “I bet he’s got to go to the shower so he can whack himself off.”
“Oh Alice.” I started giggling as well. “You think so?”
“Of course.” She nodded. “He was naked right? And his cock was right there?”
“Yup, his fingers as well.” I sighed as I remembered the touch of his fingers as they’d rubbed me. “I wanted him inside of me so badly, but just felt like it was wrong.”
“So imagine how bad it must have been for him? His dick was a mere centimeter, or even just a millimeter from entering you and reaching the Holy Land and instead of being taken to paradise, he found himself in blue ball hell.”
“Oh Alice.” I started laughing. “I love you, you know that? I’m so lucky to have a friend that I can talk about sex with candidly.”
“So am I.” She grinned. “How else am I supposed to know the difference between a circumcised penis from one that hasn’t been circumcised?”
“The internet, silly.”
“That’s not as fun as having you describe the difference.”
“I only knew from looking it up online.” I rolled my eyes at her.
“I wonder if Aiden—”
“Stop.” I held up my hand. “I’m cool, but I’m not that cool. I do not want to talk about my brother’s penis or how good he is in bed. And I never want to hear about him going down on you, you hear me?”
