in S.F.,
probably just starting his day since it was only around one o’clock
on the west coast. I wished I were back with him instead of about to
head out to the chopping block.
Except if I were in
S.F. I wouldn’t have met Ana. Anika. That brought a smile to my
face. I hadn’t met a girl that delectable in a while. I couldn’t
remember the last time. Those mile-long legs, the swell and curve of
her breasts above her trim waist. Even that prim and prissy collar on
her high-necked dress got my motor running. It made the thought of
undressing her more fun. Her pretty little dress and trim cardigan
left more to the imagination, more wrapping to remove. What I could
see I definitely liked, those wide, light toffee-colored eyes, her
silky brown hair that slipped through my fingers. The way she opened
up those lush dark pink lips for me, giving me full access.
I wanted a lot more of
that. Tonight, I’d see her again. The thought of that would get me
though our cozy family get-together. Then Ana would meet me at the
hotel, first in the lobby and then up in my room. I couldn’t wait
to see her naked, feel her beneath me, see if she liked it rough the
way I guessed she would. I wanted to mark her, take her, fill her,
hear her pant and scream and beg. How quickly could I melt that
chilly exterior? She had a lot of heat right beneath the surface, a
swift running stream just under the thin layer of ice. I couldn’t
wait to break on through.
And get her to agree to
pretend to be my girlfriend then fiancée and dump me publically,
that too. That was the most important thing, of course, because
nothing mattered more than my image, my reputation. But the second
most important thing was Ana, her scent, her mouth, her skin, all of
her, all mine.
§
I paused in front of my
grandmother’s building, standing under the awning with the doorman.
I didn’t want to go inside. I wished I hadn’t quit smoking. A
cigarette would have given me the excuse to loiter.
“Cold tonight,” one
of them noted.
“Yup.” I didn’t
really know what I’d just agreed with, I just knew I needed another
minute before I went in and up. They’d all be inside, all the
beneficiaries of my father’s will. And me.
My father had passed
away four months ago and you’d think that might have brought us
together as a family, but, no, a massive inheritance brought out the
worst in us. Aunts and cousins and people I’d never even heard of
were all clamoring for a piece of the pie. Some guy claiming to be
his out-of-wedlock son had even surfaced, a ranching dude from
Montana. What a fucking circus. No wonder my younger brother stayed
the fuck away from all of it, a mountain man in a cabin with a beard
the size of a watermelon. He’d turned his back on it all the same
as me, only where I’d sought the spotlight, he’d retreated as far
as he could.
My older brother, well,
he’d done exactly what Daddy had wanted. He’d gone to Harvard
Business School and now stood at the helm of Kavanaugh Incorporated,
the massive empire our father had built. Did he enjoy doing it? I had
no idea. My older brother was a complete mystery to me. Except for
what he thought of me, that he made crystal clear. I was a screw-up,
an embarrassment, a child masquerading as a grown up, yada yada.
The only two people I
enjoyed seeing were my little sister Gigi and my grandmother. They
could do no wrong. At 19, Gigi had everyone wrapped around her
finger, myself included. She didn’t even try to do it. That was her
secret. She’d clearly taken after my grandmother who always got
exactly what she wanted simply by being the kind of person you really
didn’t want to disappoint. She believed in me. She always told me
that at exactly the right moment, as if she saw right into my soul
and discerned some quality of character or potential even I didn’t
recognize I had.
With one last deep
breath of cold, fresh air, I told myself there was no time like the
present. I bit the proverbial
probably just starting his day since it was only around one o’clock
on the west coast. I wished I were back with him instead of about to
head out to the chopping block.
Except if I were in
S.F. I wouldn’t have met Ana. Anika. That brought a smile to my
face. I hadn’t met a girl that delectable in a while. I couldn’t
remember the last time. Those mile-long legs, the swell and curve of
her breasts above her trim waist. Even that prim and prissy collar on
her high-necked dress got my motor running. It made the thought of
undressing her more fun. Her pretty little dress and trim cardigan
left more to the imagination, more wrapping to remove. What I could
see I definitely liked, those wide, light toffee-colored eyes, her
silky brown hair that slipped through my fingers. The way she opened
up those lush dark pink lips for me, giving me full access.
I wanted a lot more of
that. Tonight, I’d see her again. The thought of that would get me
though our cozy family get-together. Then Ana would meet me at the
hotel, first in the lobby and then up in my room. I couldn’t wait
to see her naked, feel her beneath me, see if she liked it rough the
way I guessed she would. I wanted to mark her, take her, fill her,
hear her pant and scream and beg. How quickly could I melt that
chilly exterior? She had a lot of heat right beneath the surface, a
swift running stream just under the thin layer of ice. I couldn’t
wait to break on through.
And get her to agree to
pretend to be my girlfriend then fiancée and dump me publically,
that too. That was the most important thing, of course, because
nothing mattered more than my image, my reputation. But the second
most important thing was Ana, her scent, her mouth, her skin, all of
her, all mine.
§
I paused in front of my
grandmother’s building, standing under the awning with the doorman.
I didn’t want to go inside. I wished I hadn’t quit smoking. A
cigarette would have given me the excuse to loiter.
“Cold tonight,” one
of them noted.
“Yup.” I didn’t
really know what I’d just agreed with, I just knew I needed another
minute before I went in and up. They’d all be inside, all the
beneficiaries of my father’s will. And me.
My father had passed
away four months ago and you’d think that might have brought us
together as a family, but, no, a massive inheritance brought out the
worst in us. Aunts and cousins and people I’d never even heard of
were all clamoring for a piece of the pie. Some guy claiming to be
his out-of-wedlock son had even surfaced, a ranching dude from
Montana. What a fucking circus. No wonder my younger brother stayed
the fuck away from all of it, a mountain man in a cabin with a beard
the size of a watermelon. He’d turned his back on it all the same
as me, only where I’d sought the spotlight, he’d retreated as far
as he could.
My older brother, well,
he’d done exactly what Daddy had wanted. He’d gone to Harvard
Business School and now stood at the helm of Kavanaugh Incorporated,
the massive empire our father had built. Did he enjoy doing it? I had
no idea. My older brother was a complete mystery to me. Except for
what he thought of me, that he made crystal clear. I was a screw-up,
an embarrassment, a child masquerading as a grown up, yada yada.
The only two people I
enjoyed seeing were my little sister Gigi and my grandmother. They
could do no wrong. At 19, Gigi had everyone wrapped around her
finger, myself included. She didn’t even try to do it. That was her
secret. She’d clearly taken after my grandmother who always got
exactly what she wanted simply by being the kind of person you really
didn’t want to disappoint. She believed in me. She always told me
that at exactly the right moment, as if she saw right into my soul
and discerned some quality of character or potential even I didn’t
recognize I had.
With one last deep
breath of cold, fresh air, I told myself there was no time like the
present. I bit the proverbial
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