“Yeah, I thought it was,” she says and laughs, the sweet sound wrapping around my dick and squeezing. “Who doesn’t want to be compared to an ant. They’re a…oh what’s the word…nuisance.”
“I mean, you’re just…” I motion with my hands, trying to say she’s small. “You’re little.” She cocks her head and waits for me to continue. “And you’re strong. You know like an ant, they can carry more than their body weight.” Her lips turn up at the corner and I hold my hands up, palms out. “It’s a compliment, I mean it.”
She shakes her head, but her eyes are full of laughter. “I’ve been called a lot of things before, Alek, but an ant was never one of them.”
I exhale a breath. “Can we start again?” I ask.
She puts her hand on my arm, and my dick twitches. “After today and all your help, you can call me whatever you want.”
“Even Aly.”
“Even Aly,” she says. “But just so you know, that privilege doesn’t go out to just anyone.”
“I’m honored. Come on, I’ll give you a tour.” We leave the kitchen and I take her into the ginormous dining room, a table that seats twelve. “So why don’t you like your name shortened?” I ask.
“Stupid boys at school. They used to call me Alley Cat.”
“You didn’t like that?”
“I don’t think they meant it in a flattering way, Alek. Alley cats are animals that have been abandoned because no one wanted them.”
“Okay,” I say, and my chest tightens, because I suspect she’s telling me something very personal. “I promise never to call you that.”
I stand back as she runs her fingers over the long table, and glances at the pictures on the walls. “Oh my God, is that you?” she asks and steps up to a pic of Tyler and me, dressed in our swim shorts, no front teeth, and ice cream stains on our faces. She chuckles as she looks back to me. “It is you, isn’t it?”
I groan. “I was seriously hoping you wouldn’t notice.”
“You were adorable, Alek.”
“Ah, what do you mean were?”
She laughs. “Was your ego big back then or did you grow into it, like you did your teeth?”
“Excuse me?”
“It was a compliment,” she teases.
“Yeah, it sounded like one.” She examines all the photos. “Tyler’s sisters were always taking pictures of us. One of these days I expect a blackmail letter. They were huge pains in my ass.”
“You guys sound like you are so close. I love that.”
“Did you miss the part where I said they were a pain in my ass.” She grins at me. “I take it you didn’t have siblings?” I ask. “If you did, you’d see things differently?”
Her smile falls and she turns from me. “No, just me,” she says. “Do you have brothers and sisters?” she asks, and I don’t miss the redirection of conversation.
“Big brother, also a pain in the ass.”
“Oh, that’s right. I remember you saying something about a niece.”
“That’s right. Trevor is married, and they have a daughter. She’s sweet, unfortunately.”
“What?” she asks, as we walk through the house, going room to room.
“It’s a problem because now my parents are down my back, wanting me to settle down and give them a grandchild, a boy preferably.”
“Ah, I see, and that’s not something you
’re interested in?”