I relaxed and replied, “I invested in it, didn’t I?”
Brad smirked. “Sure, but there are different levels of confidence. Is this like a lottery ticket to you, or are youconfidenther business idea will gain traction?”
I rose from behind the car and wiped my hands on a rag. “I don’t know anything about jewelry. But I know your sister. When she gets an idea, she’s like a dog chasing a tennis ball. She’s not going to give up until she catches it. That’s what I’m investing in.”
Brad laughed at that. “You’re right about that. She’s always been that way, but now she’s older. She’s smarter, and more mature.”
Tell me about it,I thought to myself.
“I’m really proud of her,” Brad went on. “And I want her to be successful in whatever she does. I’m glad you think she will be. You probably don’t know this, but she’s always cared about what you think. Even when we were kids.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I said nothing. The urge to tell Brad about my feelings for his sister welled up inside me like a geyser, sudden and strong. We could get it all out in the openright now. Brad was my friend. We were adults. He would accept it.
But Erica had made me promise to wait untilshethought he was ready, not before. For a few seconds I was tempted to break that promise, but then the moment passed.
Brad’s phone buzzed. His eyes scanned the screen for a few seconds. “I just got invited out for dinner and drinks with some work people. My boss is picking up the tab and calling it a team-building exercise.”
“That’s awesome,” I said. “It seems like work is going well.”
He nodded. “It finally is. Going out can be exhausting, though. I’m on conference calls with these guys all day, so by the time five o’clock rolls around I’m kind of tired of talking to them.”
“Trust me: networking is a good thing,” I replied. “Building these personal and professional relationships will pay off in the long run.”
Brad nodded slowly. “You know what? You’re right. I’ll go out. Besides, it’s tough to say no to free food.”
While his fingers tapped on his phone, I casually asked, “Where are you guys going?”
“A place called Martin’s Pub,” he replied. “Never heard of it.”
I Googled the place. It was on the other side of Columbus, almost half an hour away depending on afternoon traffic. On the outside, my face was as calm as a Tibetan monk, but on the inside I was breakdancing with excitement.
I spent the afternoon sitting at the dining room table with my laptop, editing videos about the Mustang renovation. At a quarter to five, Brad waved me goodbye and headed out the door.
Erica got home fifteen minutes later. Fifteenlongminutes. When she came through the front door, she found me smiling at her from the dining room table.
“Where’s Brad?” she asked. “His car is gone.”
“He just left,” I said. “Dinner and drinks with people from work. We’ve got the whole place to ourselves.”
A smile of her own spread across that beautiful heart-shaped face. She rushed around the table and plopped down on my lap, planting kisses all over my face.
“We should probably be careful,” I said. “In case he forgot something and comes home.”
Erica pulled out her phone and called her brother. “Hey, Brad! I’m headed home from work. Do you and Hunter have dinner plans? Oh. Oh, yeah? That’s great! Have fun.” She hung up and narrowed her eyes at me. “He just got there. We can doanythingwe want.”
“Anything?”
She arched an eyebrow at me. “Anything.”
I held my palm up to my mouth and stifled a yawn. “In that case, I’m going to take a nap. I’ve had a long day.”
Erica laughed at the joke and said, “Shut up and fuck me.”
I definitely love this girl,I thought as I picked her up and carried her to the living room couch.
It was nice to not be in a rush. We made out on the couch for a while, clothes coming off slowly and naturally, one item at a time in between kisses. I buried my face between her legs and ate her out, taking my time. My tongue and fingers worked their magic on her steadily, until she was bucking against my face, tightening her fingers in my hair and screaming my name, no longer burdened by the need to be quiet.
Then she pushed me back on the couch into a sitting position, straddled me, and impaled herself onto my swollen cock. I leaned back into the cushions and sighed while she rode me slowly, grinding her hips into me like we had all the time in the world.