Six
Austin
I’m pilfering my brother’s wardrobe again. I need something to wear to my parents’ house tonight that doesn’t say delinquent which apparently everything I own does to my dear mother.
I grab a pine green polo shirt and a pair of khaki pants from Drew’s closet. Luckily we wear the same size. I also borrow a pair of his loafers because my biker boots just won’t cut it with the conservative clothes.
After I get changed and look in the mirror I hardly recognize myself. There’s an old saying that clothes make the man. Well the clothes I’m wearing now make me look like a preppy prick just like my brother. And my father, too, come to think of it.
I take in a deep breath. You only have to stay a few hours, I remind myself. Just long enough to be seen by the right people and get a few family photos taken.
I can’t stop thinking about lovely Mazzy and that amazing kiss. If George hadn’t walked in on us maybe there would have been more?
How pathetic is it to lust after your only brother’s fiancée? Of course she’s not a real fiancée, but in some ways it seems like that should be beside the point. It’s not like we could ever go on a proper date or been seen holding hands or touching each other in public.
But now that I’ve had a taste of Mazzy I want more. I crave more. I just wonder how difficult it will be seeing her tonight and knowing I can’t have more.
***
By the time I arrive at my parents’ house the place is already packed with guests. Even with a few hundred people milling around it doesn’t seem crowded. That’s how large their mansion is.
My parents have spared no expense for the reception. Not that they ever do. Every event they host is an occasion that they make truly unforgettable in every way. They strive to have every other party at every other politician’s home pale in comparison to theirs.
As soon as my mother spots me she hurries over to my side and gives me a slight peck on the cheek.
“I’m so glad to see you, Austin.”
She makes a point of looking me up and down then gives a slight nod of approval at my attire. She hates the fact that I prefer to ride a motorcycle and she hates the biker clothes I wear even more. She says they make me look lawless.
“Have you met your brother’s fiancée yet?” I’ve never heard so much happiness in my mom’s voice. My generally churlish mother sounds almost giddy with excitement and what I thought had become a dour expression on her face has been replaced with a brightness I haven’t seen in years.
“I have,” I reply evenly. I do my best not to give away my growing feelings for Mazzy.
I scan the well-dressed crowd for any sign of Drew and Mazzy. Finally I spot them in the corner of the room talking with several well-connected New Jersey couples.
As I head towards them I grab a flute of champagne from a waiter holding a tray filled with champagne glasses. I down the contents of the flute in one gulp and then leave the empty glass on one of the folding tables set up for used plates and glasses.
When my brother notices me he gives me a quick nod. He never actually gave me permission to take more of his clothes, but I also know he won’t mind. I’m sure he’d much rather I wear his clothes than my own to the engagement party.
“I’m glad you made it,” Drew says as he pats my shoulder.
“Wouldn’t miss it.” I try to sound as chipper as possible, but there’s an edge to my voice that I can’t quite shake.
Then I make the mistake of glancing over at Mazzy and I’m completely undone. She looks more beautiful than I’ve ever seen her before. She’s been completely made over from head to toe. Not that she wasn’t utterly attractive before. She’d be a knockout in a gunny sack. But she looks so completely captivating that my breath is nearly knocked out of my lungs.
Mazzy’s hair is pulled back in a loose ponytail away from her face and she’s wearing a black cocktail dress that shows off all of her curves without being too revealing. It’s the perfect combination of sexy and sophisticated. And the heels she’s wearing make her lovely legs look a mile long.
It’s taking every ounce of restraint I have not to grab her, take her into one of my parents’ guestrooms and have my way with her all night long.
“Have you met Drew’s fiancée yet?” my dad says as he joins our small group.
“Yes,” I manage to croak out as I see a sly smile cross over Mazzy’s face.
I want to kiss her again so badly that it hurts.
“Austin is staying at the lake house,” Drew says through clenched teeth.
My dad furrows his brow clearly puzzled. “Isn’t Mazzy staying at your place?”
“She prefers to stay at the Lake House. She’s from Old Town and that’s where her sister lives. They’re very close.”
“Nearly identical,” I blurt.
My dad’s face is now twisted as if he’s trying to figure out some kind of subtext, but failing miserably at it.
“I’m a twin,” Mazzy says finally and it’s like a light bulb goes on right over my dad’s head.
“I went to high school with twins,” he comments. “The Baxter boys. One of them died in the military. The other was never the same after that.”
We all let that hang in the air for a few seconds before Drew says, “I really don’t mind staying at the lake house. I need to do a lot more campaigning in Northern New Jersey anyway.”
“We’ll see how the poll numbers look this week after you announce your engagement. I’m willing to bet you’ll get a nice bump. Maybe even a few points lead.”
Drew just smiles and nods, but I can see there’s a lot going on behind his bright green eyes. Knowing my brother as well as I do he’s probably already imaging what he’s going to take with him when he moves into the Governor’s mansion.
I know he won’t be taking Mazzy with him, that’s for damn sure. I need to remind myself that I can’t get hung up on my brother’s fiancée, but I know it’s already too late. I’ve already taken a bite of that forbidden fruit and all I can think about is when I’ll get to take my next mouthful.
I have a feeling Mazzy might be having similar sinful thoughts. She keeps sneaking peeks at me and every time our eyes meet I can feel the sizzle between us. To say the two of us have chemistry would be the understatement of the century. The pull between us is so intense it’s like the drag of a raging ocean undercurrent. And once you’re caught in the undertow it’s impossible to get out alive.
When Drew takes Mazzy’s hand I have the overwhelming urge to pull her away from him. I’m actually a little surprised by the intensity of my feelings. I’ve never been the jealous type. But I’m also willing to admit that as many girls as I’ve been with I’ve never felt the all-consuming desire I feel for Mazzy.
My feelings are actually starting to scare me a little. Not only because of the obvious—her fake engagement to my brother and its importance to the election—but more because of the implication for my personal life. I’m a traveler. I like to be able to go where I want when I want and be completely unencumbered by anyone or anything.
Falling in love was certainly never part of my life plan.
Maybe love is too strong of a word for someone I’ve just met. But I’m definitely feeling a lot of things I’ve never felt before. And they’re things I want to keep feeling. And the only way I can keep feeling them is to be with Mazzy.
“Austin,” Drew says, and it jostles me out of my thoughts. “Mom wants us to join her for a few family photos. But first I want to make my announcement.”
“Sure,” I say absently.
He now has his hand on the small of Mazzy’s back as he leads her to a podium that my parents have set up for the occasion. I know I shouldn’t, but I allow myself to think about my hand being there instead of his. But I’m not leading her into a press conference. I’m leading her upstairs. And I’m not standing with a puritanical arm’s length between us like my brother is standing from Mazzy. I’m close enough to her that I can smell the hint of the sweet
scent she’s dabbed on that long lovely neck of hers. One that I’ll be kissing as soon as we reach one of the bedrooms…
The boom of my dad’s deep voice knocks me out of my fantasy. “Thank you for coming here tonight. We’re so happy all of you could join us here on this joyous occasion.”
Photographers are already going trigger happy as my dad speaks. Drew and Mazzy are standing right next to him and it makes for a great picture. There will be even more shots taken when Drew takes center stage with Mazzy.
Just as I predicted as soon as my dad gives the customary Rick Graham hand wave that he’s known for, and Drew takes the microphone, the press photographers get really click happy with their cameras again. I have little doubt that Drew and Mazzy will be plastered on the front page of every newspaper in New Jersey. A story this big might even make the national news because my good-looking and charming brother has become a bit of a celebrity. He’s like a Young Republican version of JFK Jr. when he went from the Most Eligible Bachelor in politics to a married man and Mazzy is very much like his Carolyn Bessette.
“Thank you for being here this evening.” Drew addresses the crowd.
I’m always equally amazed and envious of his ability to woo any crowd in a matter of seconds with little more than his striking good looks and charm. There’s little doubt that he won the genetic lottery in nearly every way. But he seems to be under the impression that being gay is something he can quash like a small insect that one stamps on with his shoe. I’m going to venture a guess that he won’t be able to will the gay away as easily as he wants to.
If only it were that easy to quell one’s sexual desires I wouldn’t have a raging hard on every time I glance in Mazzy’s direction and she gives me one of her coy smiles.
Drew continues. “I wanted to take this opportunity to announce my engagement to the beautiful woman standing next to me today, Miss Mazzy Olsen.”
He gives Mazzy the slightest peck on the cheek. Almost as if he’s afraid of catching some kind of disease. She’s a trooper though. She smiles and gives a quick wave to the crowd as they snap photos of her. For someone who has never been in the limelight she seems to have adapted to it like a duck to water.
I notice that she’s looking everywhere but directly at me. It’s almost as if she’s intentionally looking anywhere but at me. I try to will her to look my way just once. The more she ignores me the more I yearn for her attention. I feel like I’m a different person in Mazzy’s eyes. As if she can see the good in me that no one else can see because it’s been hidden for so long. And when I see myself reflected in her eyes I see someone actually worthwhile for once in my life.
“Do you have a wedding date planned yet?” someone yells from the crowd.
Drew grins. “We’re still working out the details. Of course it won’t be until after the election. Wouldn’t it be great to have a wedding take place in the governor’s mansion?”
The crowd roars with applause at the idea and my stomach sinks at the thought of Mazzy marrying my bother. Rationally I know there is no way he’d ever actually go through with it. A sham engagement is one thing, but I don’t think he’d go through with an actual marriage just for show. I hope he wouldn’t do something like that to Mazzy, or anyone else for that matter.
When my mom and dad join Drew and Mazzy at the podium there is a frenzy of applause and photos. Then my dad motions for me to join them and I begrudgingly concede. I make my way over to the podium with the rest of my family, but I make a point of standing right next to Mazzy. Extremely close. Much closer than my brother is standing on her other side. I’m so close our arms are touching and there’s so much heat being exchanged between us she sucks in a breath before she glances in my direction.
Neither one of us takes our eyes off of each other for a long moment. I feel like we’re frozen in time and I’d be glad to stay this way, but we both know there are about a hundred people all staring at us, some of them still snapping photos. A picture of the two of us eye fucking each other with my brother standing right next to us really isn’t the image we want to portray to the conservative party. That’s an image even the liberal party in our country would probably have a hard time accepting.
“We have plenty of hors d'oeuvres and even more to drink,” my father announces to another round of thunderous applause. If he hadn’t run against such formidable opponents when he made his bids for governor Drew may have been a second generation candidate to hold that office. I think that’s one of many reasons why it’s so important to my dad for Drew to win. He’s been waiting for the day when he can live the life as the governor vicariously through my brother.
Once the grand announcement fervor has died down a bit I make my way over to the bar for something a little harder than a flute of champagne.
“Gin. On the rocks.”
The bartender is a cute blonde with stunning blue eyes and a big smile. She’s the type of girl I’d normally go for and would probably have little trouble bedding, but I’m so caught under Mazzy’s spell the bartender pales in comparison. My dick doesn’t even twitch when she bends down to fill my glass with ice and I catch a glimpse of her ample breasts in the V of her open neck shirt.
When she hands me the drink she makes a point of giving me what is probably her most seductive grin. “Aren’t you Drew Graham’s brother?”
I nod. Whenever anyone asks me that question it makes me feel like she’ll settle for me if she can’t have my brother. I never want to be someone’s second best.
I down the drink in one big gulp and order another. The bartender is quick to pour me a second, but she lingers holding the glass when I reach for it. When our eyes meet she says, “I get a break in about fifteen minutes, if you’re interested.”
“Sorry,” I tell her. “I’ve got my eyes on someone else.”
“Too bad,” she says before she finally releases the glass. “If it doesn’t work out, you know where to find me.”
“Thanks,” I say, but more for the drink than anything else. I have absolutely no interest in pursuing anything with anyone but Mazzy.
I glance around the crowds that are mingling, eating and drinking. I have a feeling it will be a pretty late night. Now that the engagement announcement has been made I have no doubt that donors are lining up to support the campaign and that Drew is lapping up all of the attention.
I finally spot Mazzy in a corner of the room standing by herself eating a cocktail shrimp. She is not actually eating it, not the way I would anyway, she seems to be nibbling on it.
I waste no time making my way over to her. “What are you doing to that poor shrimp?” I ask as I sidle up to her.
“I can’t decide if I like it or not and I’m really not sure where to put it if I don’t want to finish it.”
I laugh then hold out my hand. “I’ll take it from you.”
I’ve never seen a person get rid of a shrimp so fast in my life. She practically tosses the offending food into my palm. “Was it that bad?”
“Kind of,” she says. “I’m not sure why. It has a weird sour aftertaste.”
“I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”
She holds up a hand. “I promise. I’ll stay right here.”
I hurry over to one of the small return tables that’s set up for dirty dishes and toss the shrimp onto a plate to join several of his half eaten friends. Apparently the shrimp isn’t too popular.
Mazzy has her eyes firmly planted on me as I make my way back over to her. I scan the room for signs of my brother and parents. Mom and Dad are talking with one of their old friends, which should keep them occupied for a while, and Drew is holding court with a handful of big donors, no doubt asking them to reinvest in his campaign.
“I need to show you something upstairs,” I whisper as I glide right up to Mazzy.” Follow me, but not too closely. I don’t want to arouse any suspicion.”
When she nods I make my way out of the room as swiftly as I can and head towards the back staircase. My parents’ house was
once owned by a former President of Princeton University. When the house was originally built in the late 1880s they had what was known as servants’ quarters built for the help. The back staircase was meant to accommodate the servants so they could go up and down to their quarters without disturbing the master of the house and his family. My parents never had live-in servants. My mom occasionally employed housecleaners, particularly for special occasions. But just as often my mother liked to handle the cleaning herself, with the help of me and my brother of course. My mother liked to brag that she could clean a house better than someone she had to pay for the service. She’s always been quite fastidious so it’s no surprise that she had a difficult time finding housecleaners who could live up to her demands and expectations.
When we were kids my brother and I spent a lot of time playing on the servants’ staircase. Because the mansion was so old we often pretended it was a haunted staircase and we’d have contests to see who could scare the other one the most.
Before I head up the stairs I turn to make sure Mazzy is following me and she nearly bumps into my back.
“Sorry,” she says. “I didn’t think you were going to stop like that.”
“I wanted to make sure you were still behind me.” Then I look past her just to make sure no one else is in the hallway.
“Is the coast clear?” She giggles.
“All clear.” I start laughing myself. I don’t want to keep my hands off her so even though there’s a bit of risk, I still grab her hand.
It’s even better than the first time. I feel like our hands were made to be entwined. I quickly pull her upstairs and into the first available spare bedroom. I make sure to bolt the door behind us and wiggle it a few times just to make sure it’s locked.
I study her for a long moment. How is it possible that she’s so much more beautiful than the last time I saw her? She’s a feast for the eyes. I want her to be a feast for my hands and other parts of my body as well.
When I close the distance between us there’s a hint of hesitation in her eyes that concerns me. “What’s wrong?” I whisper.
Another Mazzy Monday Page 8
