Hollywood.

  I close my eyes with my headphones on, trying to drown out the aircraft noise. Not long after, there is a gentle tap on my shoulder.

  “Sir, would you like a drink?”

  I open my eyes to be met by a sexy red-haired stewardess, waiting to serve me with a flirtatious smile. Fuck, those lips. Red lipstick . . . my weakness.

  I’m not thirsty, but decide that I need to leave a good impression on her, and order a scotch. I’ve never fucked a stewardess. God, it would be so damn hot if she left that uniform on while I fucked her from behind.

  She pours the scotch into the glass, trying to disguise her smile. I know she’s feeling it. Through her white blouse, her nipples are practically teasing me. Noticing my tray table isn’t down, she leans forward, her tits so close to my face, and opens the table, accidentally brushing my cock in the process.

  Well hot damn.

  “Here you go, sir.”

  “Thank you, Ivana,” I say, eyeing her nametag.

  Only lingering for a moment, she turns her body in the opposite direction, purposely bending over to serve the gentleman across the aisle from me. Fuck, what I would give to stick my fingers in her sweet pussy right now. I bet it’s tight too. Barely touched from all the travelling she does.

  Control yourself. Miss Goody-Two-Shoes next to you would have a heart attack if she knew what your dirty mind wanted to do to Ivana right now. What was that about controlling my dick? Who fucking cared anymore. New place, new set of women.

  Perfect.

  The remainder of the flight is uneventful, and Ivana, much to my disappointment, hasn’t come back for round two. With only an hour left until we descend, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes decides to strike up a conversation. Another reason I despise flying—small talk with random strangers beside you.

  “Sorry about the blubbering mess,” she apologizes while placing the book in the pocket behind the seat in front of her.

  “Must be a good book,” I respond politely, not interested in making conversation.

  “Good as in eye-opening. I feel much better now. I’m Amber, by the way.”

  I smile back. “Noah.”

  “Noah,” she repeats. “Cute. Are you from LA?”

  Cute? This isn’t going anywhere. Time to terminate the conversation. I wasn’t moving to LA to meet friends. Especially ones that thought my name was ‘cute.’

  “No, just moving here for a few months.”

  “I live not far from Santa Monica Beach with my two roomies,” Amber informs me. “LA is a nice change if you’re from the East.”

  “I like warmer.”

  “I miss the cold winters. When I stayed in Jersey with my girlfriend . . . I mean, my ex . . .” And there it was, the reason why she’s been a trainwreck this entire flight. I just never took her for a lesbian. It’s kinda hot. Damn, she eats pussy. We have something in common.

  “I loved being inside and watching the snowfall. Helps if you’ve got hot chocolate and are having wild sex in front of a fireplace,” she reminisces.

  The scotch swirling around in my mouth almost splatters onto the chair in front of me. She said what?

  “Uh, yeah.” I laugh nervously, unsure of where to go from here. “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a wild-sex-in-front-of-a-fireplace type of girl.”

  “Well then, Noah, it’s amazing how looks can be deceiving.”

  Her eyes dart back and forth, scanning the passengers around us. With most people asleep, she slides a little closer to me and rests her hand on my thigh, inching it closer until it’s sitting on my cock. Stroking it softly above the material of my pants, I allow her to continue until she suggests that we should take this out back.

  “Back where?” I ask, wondering what she has in mind.

  I turn my head, noticing the back of the plane isn’t full. I enjoy fucking in public, but this . . . this seems risky. Don’t be a pussy, Noah. You’ve jerked off watching several pornos with girls getting off on airplanes.

  I unclick my seatbelt and stand up, walking towards the back where the larger restroom is located, assuming that this is where Amber wants to fuck. Ivana is standing against the wall, eyeing me as I walk down.

  Oh shit.

  With Amber following close by, Ivana tilts her head and watches her walk behind me.

  “Well, this is a nice reunion.” Ivana grins, eyeing us both from head to toe.

  “Just using the restroom.” I smile back.

  “Let me open the door for the both of you. If you need any assistance, please, don’t be scared to ask.” Ivana bites the corner of her lip, gazing at me with her sultry eyes.

  “We could use some help,” Amber whispers, latching onto Ivana’s arm.

  Ivana pulls a piece of paper from her pocket, taping it onto the restroom. The words Out of Order, printed and stuck on the door.

  “Ladies,” I murmur, running my hand along Ivana’s collarbone. “We need to get creative with this space.”

  Ivana places her juicy red lips on mine, rolling her tongue around while moaning in my mouth. I can feel a hand stroking my cock. I don’t know who it belongs to, nor do I care. Ivana continues to kiss me with deep penetrating moans, almost biting my lip in the process. I pull away and see why.

  Amber has shifted Ivana’s dress up, past the top of her garters. She pushes Ivana’s black lacey panties aside, exposing her beautifully shaved pussy. Fuck. I watch in awe, waiting for her to slide her tongue against her clit. I’ve been with two women before, but never in a restroom of a plane. This, here, is fucking heaven.

  “If my ex could see me in here with the both of you, she would die,” Amber moans loudly.

  Without any further delay, she shoves her head between Ivana’s legs as Ivana curses at her, begging her to suck her pussy and stick her fingers deep inside. I’m at a slight loss for what to do, caught up in the excitement of it all. But time is of the essence; this plane wasn’t going to stay in the air forever.

  My cock is throbbing, the blood pumping hard as I restrain myself from blowing too quickly. Knowing that I don’t have a rubber on me, I settle for a blowjob while Amber finishes Ivana off. It doesn’t take me long; two women staring up at me with wild eyes, fighting to suck me off the hardest.

  Fucking.Suck.Harder.

  “Sir.” A voice calls to me. “Sir, please fasten your seatbelt. We are descending into LAX.”

  Startled and confused by my surroundings, it takes me a moment to realize it was just a dream. And Ivana, ironically, is the one who bursts my pornographic bubble. Still standing over me, she notices the hard-on and walks away with a satisfied smile.

  Cock tease.

  The girl beside me begins a conversation, introducing herself as Erika. Funny, I didn’t peg her for an Erika. Much like my warped dream, she asks the same questions, buying time with mundane topics. When the wheels of the plane begin to drop, loudly echoing through the cabin, Erika drops the bombshell.

  “I broke up with my boyfriend because he cheated on me with one of my friends. And you know what makes it worse? They’re still together!” she cries loudly.

  I want out of this plane. Out of this conversation. So being the dick I am, I don’t say anything else and pretend to be enjoying the view through her window as the plane hits the ground and screeches to a halt.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Los Angeles,” the pilot announces.

  I give myself a moment to take it all in. The fact that I’m here, beginning something new. Embarking on a new adventure. It would have been nice just to have a moment of serenity as we taxied into the terminal, but Miss Chatty next to me takes the opportunity to go on about her ex-boyfriend.

  She turns to face me, staring me down behind her glasses. “Give me your honest opinion, you’re a guy, I need a guy’s perspective. If I hooked up with someone else, say, like a rebound, would that make him angry, you think?”

  Oh sweetheart. You’re asking the wrong guy. It’s like dangling a bottle of vodka at an AA meeting. Here she is, dangling her frigid little pussy in front of me. Clenching my fist, I try my hardest to answer her question without insinuating we should meet up so I can show her that a real man shouldn’t be cheating on her sweet pretty ass.

  “Erika,” I say, standing up to open the overhead locker and remove my bag, “do whatever it is you need to do to move on. Don’t waste your time worrying about someone that doesn’t feel the same.”

  Pat on the back for that mature response. The chaos begins, passengers scrambling to grab their belongings to exit the plane. Erika thanks me for the advice and I say goodbye, following the line that begins to move towards the exit.

  Along with everyone else, I walk through the corridor, then turn the corner and see the crowds of people waiting at the gate.

  Charlie is standing at the front with one of her daughters. I immediately recognize her even though I hadn’t seen her in years. Her normally brown hair is slightly darker, chopped into a shorter style that reaches her shoulders. Back when we were younger, she was a lot paler, but I’m assuming that living in California is why her skin is so olive. She was always a beautiful girl, a reason why every boy in town wanted to date her when we were young.

  I wave hello, distracted by a tap on my shoulder. I turn around as Erika hands me a piece of paper. “My number. I’m taking your advice. Make sure you call me, okay?”

  Wow, so even when I’m trying not to be sexy, I must come across that way. Talk about an ego boost. I wink back at Erika, following with a smile, shoving her number into the pocket of my pants.

  “Uncle Noah!” The little girl runs towards me, wrapping her tiny arms around my leg. What the hell was I supposed to do? I don’t even remember her name. She looks exactly like her dad—mousy brown hair with bright green eyes. I would expect that a little girl would be dressed in some frilly dress, but not her. She’s wearing a white t-shirt with #Superhero on it in bright green, along with a cape. Okay, seriously, the kid already rocks.

  “Well, well, well. Look who finally made it to LA.” Charlie grins.

  “Hello, cuz.” I smile back, placing my bag down as I lean in to hug her.

  I may have left my mom behind, but Charlie is family. A sister-like figure that I had grown up with until my mom and I moved when I was fourteen. Something about her made me feel at home. Perhaps it was the years of torture she inflicted on me when we were growing up. Tea parties, wedgies . . . you name it, she made me do it.

  Pulling away, she holds onto my arms to look at me. Her eyes glass over, on the verge of crying.

  “You’re a man now.” She smiles proudly. “And I see you made a friend on the plane already.” Raising her brow, she waits for me to respond.

  “Californians are very welcoming.”

  The timing is impeccable. Ivana, the stewardess from the flight, walks past and stops just shy of where Charlie stands.

  “I’m staying at this hotel, call me.” She slides the paper into the breast pocket of my shirt. Charlie frowns, shaking her head back and forth.

  “Let’s go, Noah. We have some rules we need to set in place if you’re staying with us.”

  I let out a groan, a gesture that Charlie’s daughter notices.

  “Uncle Noah, you won’t get bored at my house. We have a ton of things to do! Maybe your girlfriends can come visit too?”

  Leaning over to Charlie, I whisper, “What’s the name of this daughter?”

  “Amelia.” She reprimands with an annoyed look. “She’s the oldest.”

  “Right,” I respond, smiling back at Amelia. “Uncle Noah is not used to being around kids so you have to be patient. Do you know what that means?”

  “Well, duh,” she responds with a bored look on her face. “I am in kindergarten. Daddy says that men like you only have women friends, not boyfriends. Unless of course you’re like my Uncle Eric. He has boyfriends, he is gay.”

  I stop mid-step. “Uh kid, should you be knowing that at five?”

  “Daddy also says that for a five-year-old I’m super smart and one day I’ll run his company. He also says that if I’m the boss, I can make everyone wear capes to work.”

  “That’s a pretty awesome idea,” I tell her. “How about if you become the boss, I’ll come work for you. I’d like to wear a cape to work every day too.”

  “Deal.” She smiles, happily skipping beside me.

  Charlie directs us to the baggage claim area. Along with the hoard of people, I wait until my suitcases move towards us. The rest of my stuff is on a truck headed here. I didn’t know what I would need to survive living with Charlie and her family. A move in my life that I had never expected to make.

  On the car ride to Charlie’s house, Amelia falls asleep, giving us time to chat.

  “Your mom told me about what happened back home.”

  “My mom has a big mouth,” I tell her, staring out the window.

  “Are you okay? It can’t be easy to just lose your friends like that. Especially the ones that were like brothers to you.”

  Putting on a brave face, I follow with a smile, “I’m fine. I’m ready for new things anyway.”

  “Good.” She hesitates, turning her blinker on and driving up the ramp to another freeway. “You have Lex. He’s going to enjoy having you around. Being in a house with all girls and working himself crazy, he doesn’t get much chance to bond with other guys.”

  “Is he into sports, specifically basketball?”

  “Uh yes.” She laughs. “He has courtside seats to all the Lakers games.”

  “Sweet. Maybe living out here ain’t gonna be so bad,” I mumble to myself.

  And just for a moment, when things had looked bleak, the promise of courtside tickets perks me right up. And then, I remember my golden tickets.

  The one sitting in the pocket of my pants, and the one sitting in the pocket of my shirt.

  To fresh starts, a new career, and Californian babes.

  Life is starting to look sweet—again.

  Chapter 3

  There is nothing worse than being woken up to the sound of a crying child. A sound so irritating that you wish you could grab one of those heavy duty headphones to block the noise, similar to those used on an airport runway.

  Comparing a crying baby to a plane should tell you how much I dislike children. Okay, maybe dislike is too strong of a word to use given that it is my niece screaming down the house. Annoying; that seems more fitting.

  But who would have thought that there is something more annoying than the sound of a crying baby at five in the morning?

  There is—the constant movement of your bed from two kids jumping up and down relentlessly.

  “Uncle Noah, wake up!”

  I let out a frustrated moan, turning my back towards them as the mattress moves underneath me. For fucks sake, the girls had a trampoline outside. A massive one, at that. To think of how many times I annoyed my mom in the same way when I was a kid. Karma is really late on delivering. She’s found me, stuck with me—and of course I’m a sexist, assuming karma is a she.

  Pulling the covers over my head to block out the noise, my niece Amelia pulls it back off immediately.

  “You’re going to be late to work. Daddy says that people that are late to work slow your business down and therefore create less productivity.”

  For a five-year old, this kid has way too many brains. Though Daddy did have a point, probably why he ran one of the top empires in the United States.

  “Girls, as much as I love your morning wake-up calls, how about you give me five more minutes?” I offer nicely.

  “That’s what you said yesterday, Uncle Noah,” Ava, my four-year-old niece, reminds me, placing her hands on her hips.

  Argh! How can I resist their cute faces? It doesn’t help that I’m massively hungover from a club I hit last night with Erika and Ivana. Yes, I fucked the both of them. Yes, I do believe my dick is also hungover. I think I’ve only gotten two hours sleep . . . if that.

  “I promise, only five more minutes,” I beg kindly.

  “Okay,” Ava says. “But I’m watching the cock!”

  “Clock, Ava,” Amelia corrects her. “Cock is a rooster. Daddy always says to Mommy that she likes big roosters, remember?”

  I snicker, realizing the girls are standing beside me, watching as I laugh with confused expressions on their faces. Amelia leans over, whispering into Ava’s ear, then pulls away as the both of them stare at me sternly.

  “Five minutes, Uncle Noah. If you’re not out of bed, watch out,” Amelia warns me.

  They both jump off the bed and run out of the room, finally leaving me alone. I throw my head back into the pillow, drowning out the persistent headache.

  Today, of all days, is the first day at my new job. Lex, Charlie’s husband, owns a publishing house in downtown LA. I hadn’t worked in publishing, most of my career focusing on marketing, but he had an opening which seemed like a good opportunity.

  I wasn’t exactly strapped for cash after selling my car back home and renting out my apartment till I decided if I would move here permanently. I’d managed to save some money over the years, even after our wild trips overseas. But even with the money I had saved, it was insignificant compared to Lex’s and Charlie’s wealth.

  They were fucking millionaires, if not billionaires.

  According to an article I read, Lex was one of the youngest self-made millionaires in the United States. Only yesterday, Charlie had taken me on a tour through the property. Acres of land with luscious gardens and a massive garage holding all their babies. My jaw had literally dropped to the ground when I saw the cars sitting in there. One of which, Charlie had offered to let me drive during my stay.

  I felt on top of the world. Life just kept getting better and better.

  “Uncle Noah!” My name is yelled through the house, and before they get to me, I pull myself out of bed and make my way towards the kitchen, still dressed in my sweats and tee.

  The aroma of pancakes lingers in the air, drawing my attention as I enter the kitchen. Charlie is standing by the stove, pouring batter onto the frying pan. Amelia and Ava are sitting at the table, tapping away at their iPads. My youngest niece, Addison, is sitting in her high chair, throwing cereal at the ground while Charlie cooks.