“James,” she whispers as I capture her lips.

  “Yes, angel.” I grab her hands, lacing our fingers and dragging them above her head as I continue to kiss her like I’ll never see her again. Her tongue twists with mine, giving just as much as she takes as I begin to fuck her slowly. I pull one of my hands out of hers to grip her throat and a serene smile finds her face when I squeeze it the first time.

  “You’re a fucking God, James.” Her eyes flutter shut. “I love when you do that.” She mutters, but her words come out slightly slurred like she’s intoxicated. Drunk on this just like I am. My cock throbs at her words and I’m desperate to drain my dick inside of her but I want her to come first. “Harder,” she mumbles and I squeeze her slender throat as I take to nibbling on her ear. I squeeze it again and I notice that her hot cunt squeezes my cock when I do it, so I do it again and again as I grind my pelvis against her with each thrust, trying my best to stimulate her clit.

  I pull back and look down at her before letting go of her throat. “Look at me,” I command and her eyes pop open, wide and unblinking. “I love you,” I tell her and a bright smile finds her face. Her now unrestrained hands find the back of my neck, pulling at the hair there. “But it’s late and as much as I want you to stay in this bed with me forever, you have to go upstairs.” I continue thrusting, so she gets the point. “I need you to come.” I press a kiss to her lips before getting up on my knees. I pull out of her and she whines at the disconnect but that whine quickly turns to a whimper as I rub the tip of my dick on her clit. I’m close to coming and if I want her to come first, I need to slow this ride down. I drag my cock over her sensitive spot over and over pulling the sexiest sighs and sounds out of her. Her hands run up my torso, tapping her fingertips over my abs as her eyes flutter closed. She can’t reach but so far, given how much smaller she is than I am. She drags her fingers as far as they can before dragging them down and running her knuckles over my hard dick.

  “I’m memorizing every inch of you. So, I’ll know you by heart,” she tells me.

  “You already know me by heart,” I tell her and her eyes fly open at my words as a gasp leaves her lips. One hand grips my forearm while the other grabs my dick and pulls me back inside of her. Her feet wrap around my back and push down and I oblige, beginning to fuck her wildly as her teeth sink into my neck.

  “Fuck me.”

  “So fucking perfect,” I murmur in her ear as I feel myself spilling into her. My eyes slam shut as the feeling pulls me under. I shudder, wanting to get even closer to her if it’s possible. I let out a low moan in her ear. “Your cunt is so hot and slick. Fuck, I could live inside of you.”

  My eyes are closed and I’m not entirely sure I’m in control of my own body, but somehow my lips are on Gabrielle’s. Our bodies are still connected in the most intimate way as I soften slowly inside of her. But our arms and legs are intertwined as well as our lips that continue to make love to each other. “James,” she moans against my lips. “I love you too.”

  “You didn’t come.” I frown as I pull myself off of her.

  “That was really hot.” She giggles. “But I’m an eighteen year old woman and have had sex, what, like five times? How is it that I know that it’s a little harder for a woman to climax during intercourse but not the guy who’s had sex…” She trails off as she gets off the bed and begins picking up her discarded clothing. “More than five times.”

  “Well, yes, I know that but usually—” I stop immediately knowing that this is not where I want this conversation going.

  She pins me with a glare. “Care to finish that one?”

  I shake my head. Not in a million years. “No,” I tell her as I get off the bed and make my way to the door.

  She pulls my hoodie over her naked chest and a pair of joggers up her legs and then she’s in my arms. “I love you.” She presses her lips to mine and I smile just as I always do when those words leave her lips.

  “I love you too.”

  I open the door to let her out when she turns back to me and cocks her finger at me. “You know those usually people I assume you were referring to that I believe you think you made come every time during intercourse?” Her lips form a thin line. “This doesn’t necessarily say anything about you as a lover but…more than one of them faked it,” she says with a wink, and then she’s tiptoeing through the basement common area and back up the stairs.

  My mouth drops open at her cheeky comment but I’m pretty sure I saw a hint of humor in her eyes…I think.

  It’s nearing noon when my eyes open again and I can’t remember the last time I slept this long. I guess probably because I haven’t slept much the last few nights with these new developments with Gabrielle. I grab my phone and bypass all of the work emails and immediately open the text message from her. After she went upstairs last night, we FaceTimed until she fell asleep, and then I sat on the phone watching her. I ended the call just before my eyes closed for the night.

  (10:04) Gabrielle: Going to the mall with Mon and Mom… I had fun last night. I love you

  (11:24) Gabrielle: You aren’t up yet? Also, do you like this? Mom thinks you will, but I don’t think so.

  She sends me a picture of a black sweater which looks okay but I don’t particularly care for the cut.

  (11:30) Gabrielle: I think you’ll like this one better. I’m getting it!

  I look at the sweater my mother picked out for me followed by the one Gabrielle liked better and, of course, Gab was right.

  Me: I love the sweater you picked out, baby. If you like it, I like it. Yes, I just woke up. How do you have so much energy? I could sleep another four hours.

  Gabrielle: I’m eighteen.

  My dick jerks at her words as visions of her pert tits, her round ass, and wet pussy come flying through my brain. I groan as my hand finds my face.

  Me: Ha Ha. Cute.

  Gabrielle: My man certainly thinks so.

  Me: Your man, huh? I thought we weren’t doing labels.

  Gabrielle: I didn’t say we weren’t, I said I didn’t know. I didn’t want to freak you out.

  Me: Please. Like you could.

  Gabrielle: I needed some new bras, and I bought a little something extra…want to see?

  Me: Of course

  She sends me a photo, of her in white practically sheer lingerie that makes her look ethereal. She’s biting her lip in the picture looking so fucking sexy, I wish I could climb through the phone and fuck her in the fitting room against that mirror she’s standing in front of. A second picture comes through and I almost drop my phone when I see her topless form staring at me blowing a kiss.

  Me: Jesus, Gab.

  Gabrielle: You like the lingerie?

  Me: You look edible, Gabrielle. I can’t wait to rip it off of you with my teeth. When are you getting home?

  Gabrielle: That sounds promising. And probably a few hours. Mom is like Santa Claus on crack this year.

  Me: When is she not?

  I go back to her picture.

  Me: And I need your nipples in my mouth, five minutes ago.

  Gabrielle: Aaaand now I’m wet.

  Me: Show me.

  An hour later, I haven’t moved from my room and barely from my bed, enjoying a rare lazy day. I’ve answered a few emails before making a few calls and turning on my out of office automated reply. It’s four days until Christmas and it’s been nice to take some time off for once. I finally make my way upstairs to look for some food but I still don’t hear anything. I assume my mom, Monica, and Gabrielle aren’t back yet because I don’t hear an abundance of chatter. When the three of them are together, I don’t think anyone takes a breath.

  “Dad?” I call out into the kitchen before starting the Keurig to make a cup of coffee. “Dad!” I call again, this time up the stairs towards his room. I peek my head into the garage and notice that it’s empty, meaning he’s out too. I walk back into the kitchen to get my coffee when I hear the doorbell. I roll my eyes at the idea of yet another package. Our family room looks like an Amazon distribution center blew up inside a West Elm. “Alexa, show me the door,” I call out and I see that it’s not a delivery person when I take in who is standing on my porch.

  This fucking kid again? Annoyance claws up my back and the thoughts take flight that he’s here for Gabrielle. To talk to her. Flirt with her. Ask her out.

  Fuck that. It’s time this kid got a clue.

  I waste no time moving towards the door and opening it to take in Brandon Woods. The guy seems to think he might have an actual shot with Gabrielle. In theory, he isn’t a bad looking guy, I guess. He’s completely shaven, which is a point for me because I happen to know that Gabrielle likes facial hair, particularly mine and how it feels between her legs. His light brown hair is slightly messy like he either just woke up or he’s trying to look like he’s not trying so hard. He’s a few inches shy of me but still relatively tall and built like he’s not exactly familiar with the gym but not too lanky. He’s wearing an Oxford University hoodie and a pair of sweatpants tucked into boots and in his hands he holds a few packages.

  “Can I help you?” I raise an eyebrow at him and he smiles revealing perfectly straight teeth.

  “Hey, James, how have you been?”

  Not interested in chit chat, tool. What do you want?

  “Busy but good. Glad I got to spend a little extra time at home with everyone.” I’m so annoyed I have to be polite and neighborly and not tell him to back the fuck off Gabrielle. My eyes narrow. But don’t test me, I try my best to warn him.

  “Yeah, it’s definitely great to be home this year and not spending it in England in my studio apartment with fish and chips and a bottle of Jameson.”

  I nod. “So, what’s up?” I ask, wanting to know why he’s here and how soon he can disappear.

  “Oh, uhhh they accidentally delivered these next door,” he says nervously as he holds up two packages and I frown at the carelessness of the delivery drivers especially this time of year where people can be less than honest about wrong deliveries. A cynical thought floats through my head. He wouldn’t have swiped these off our porch just to have a reason to come over again, would he?

  No.

  Right?

  I take the packages from his hands. “Thanks for bringing these over.”

  “No problem. I was actually hoping to see your sister too, if I’m being honest.” He chuckles. “Is she home?”

  Keep it together. This isn’t a random guy at a bar who doesn’t know the woman in question is your sister. I decide to fuck with him because I can’t say what I actually want. “Monica? No.” I shake my head before leaning against the door jamb.

  “Oh…” He scratches behind his head and looks off towards his house, probably feeling awkward and regretting opening this door with me. He seems slightly intimidated, which I’m not sure why because this might be our fourth ever conversation and there’s never been any problems. Although that could change if he’s going to be pursuing Gabrielle this aggressively. “I meant, Gabrielle.” He smiles again. “Is she home?”

  “Nope,” I say, not offering up any information about where she is or when she may return.

  “Okay, well…tell her I came by? I would just text her but I got a new phone a while back and don’t have all my numbers.” He pulls out his phone. “Can you give it to me? I’d love to grab a coffee or—”

  “You’re not actually using me as a middleman to ask my sister out, are you?” I cock my head to the side. Just as I said yesterday, zero fucking swag. Even if Gabrielle wasn’t mine, this is just embarrassing.

  “No, I just…” He shakes his head. “Don’t bust my balls alright? Can you just give me her number?”

  “No, I can’t. I’m not in the habit of giving either of my sisters’ numbers out without their consent. But you can leave your number if you want. I’ll see that she gets it.” Maybe.

  I can tell he’s getting irritated, but to be honest, I couldn’t be bothered to care as he’s on my porch trying to score a date with the love of my life. “Okay, well do you have a pen and paper?”

  “I’ll remember it.”

  “Will you?”

  I resist the urge to let out a very exasperated sigh. “I work with numbers but you know what, here.” I grab the pad from off the table next to the door and the pen and hand it to him. I could have recalled the ten numbers he spit out as I am actually good with numbers, but fuck it. I haven’t decided if she’s getting the message regardless.

  He hands the pad to me and nods. “Thanks.”

  “Not a problem. Merry Christmas,” I tell him. I barely hear him reply, “Merry—” before I shut the door.

  “I should tell her about this. She’s not even interested,” I say aloud as I hold the paper in my hands, struggling with the idea of ripping it to shreds and throwing it away. I hear the garage door closing and my cock springs to life thinking about Gabrielle and I wonder how I’ll be able to get a personal show of what she bought at the mall today, particularly the lingerie. My cock deflates as I think about the fact that she’s not coming in alone and Monica and Mom would probably wonder why we were in my room with the door closed. Fuck. I feel like I’m a teenager again and I can’t be in my room with a girl with the door closed.

  Would they even think anything of it if we were in there with the door closed?

  Maybe. It’s a little odd.

  My inner monologue is interrupted by my father coming in the door dressed like he’d gone into work.

  “You’re working this week?” I ask, shoving Brandon’s number in my pocket.

  “My job doesn’t stop four days before Christmas, Son, we aren’t even closed Christmas Eve.” He chuckles. “My hearing got cancelled because the judge can’t get out of his neighborhood with all the snow which is the only reason why I’m home.”

  My father works at the largest law firm in Connecticut of which he’d been offered partner twice. He rejected the offer, valuing time with my mother and us kids above anything and knowing that becoming partner is a strain on all relationships. Now that he’s older, he wants to spend more time with my mother and his future grandchildren he’s been begging Monica and me for. Not to mention, he already makes more than enough money.

  “And two of the three partners already fled the Connecticut temperatures. Landon took Serena and their new baby to Arizona to some spa for Christmas. And Preston and Vi went to D.C. to be with Skyler and her fiancé.” Landon and Preston are both partners at the firm and two of my father’s oldest friends, both of whom I’ve known since I was young. Serena and I sort of grew up together with her being about three years younger than me. She always seemed super innocent but then she started messing around with Landon, her father’s best friend which kind of threw everyone off.

  To be honest, I thought it was kind of badass.

  “The girls not back from the mall?” He looks at his watch. I shake my head and my eyes dart to the door, as if my brain was suddenly convinced by my father’s words that Gabrielle was about to walk through it. “I don’t even want to look at the credit card statement.”

  He makes his way towards the steps and stops on the bottom one. “I’m starving, you want to order some food?”

  “Sure, how’s pizza?” I ask, knowing that my despite how well he eats all the time, it’s one of his weaknesses.

  “Put the order in, I’m going to go shower.” He says as he makes it to the top of the stairs. “And text Gabrielle to see when they’re going to be home and how much damage they’ve done.” He chuckles.

  I’m sitting in the backseat scrolling through TikTok as Monica drives my mom and me around doing some last minute Christmas shopping. Even though I’m probably going to have to go back again because it’s impossible to buy a gift for the boyfriend no one is supposed to know about. I couldn’t tell them it was for a boyfriend without an inquisition and I couldn’t buy an intimate or remotely romantic gift and say it’s for James. How would that look?

  So, I’ve bought James two sweaters, both of which I know he’ll like and some lingerie for myself that’s mostly for him. I smile to myself at the reaction I got when I showed him and more importantly the topless picture. I do know that I’m being risky, texting him when Monica could easily grab my phone or happen to just see that I’m texting him. I should probably consider at least changing his name.

  I pull up his contact and the first thing I notice is our picture. It’s a picture of us when we he took me to the infamous 230 5th which is a rooftop bar and also has the best view of the Empire State Building. I remember we were getting ready to take a picture when my favorite Beyoncé song started playing and I immediately cheered and began dancing. James started laughing and the girl snapped the picture. We ended up getting one where we were posing and smiling for the camera, but something about this candid picture always makes me smile. I know the picture is saved in my phone but part of me doesn’t want to remove it from his contact photo.

  Well, if you’re going to be sending him nudes and sexting him, while you’re home, it’s probably for the best. Change it back when you guys are back in New York and can keep your familial relationship more of a secret. I remove the picture and then erase his name, wondering what I should call him. I opt to use his middle name, Michael, for now. It’s common and I’m not about to make up some fake nickname for him.

  “So, Gab, I have to ask. Did you lose your v-card this semester?” Monica asks and my eyes fly to the front of the car where both she and my mother are seated. Really Mon?

  A gasp from my mother stops me from answering, thankfully. “Monica!” I can tell that she’s shaking her head before she turns around and looks at me. “Baby, you don’t have to answer that.” She turns back to the front but then turns back around just as quickly. “Unless you want to.” She lowers her sunglasses and raises her eyebrows a few times. “Is there a boy catching my girl’s attention? Are you being safe? I mean…STDs, sweetheart, and don’t get me wrong, I would love any little baby you brought home but maybe not—”