To My Brother's Cocky Best Friend

by J. S. Cooper

  "Oh, really?" I asked him with a small smile on my face. “So then you wouldn't care if Olivia made decisions that you didn't like?"

  "What'd you mean? What decisions?"

  "I mean, what if she dated a guy that you didn't think was right for her? You'd be okay with that?"

  "No. Who the hell is she dating?"

  "She's not dating anyone from what I know, but I'm saying what if she did date someone and you weren't exactly a fan of him? Would you be okay with that? Would you accept that decision?"

  "Dude, I don't know what you're talking about. Olivia has no man, and I don't see any men coming in the future with her attitude."

  "Wow, dude, that's harsh."

  "I'm just saying. You know, these women, they've got to be more honest about what they want. Like Tiffany. She tells me exactly what she wants and I do it and we're happy."

  "Dude, you've been with her one night. That doesn't count."

  "Hey, it was one night of super sweet loving."

  "Too much information. Too, too much."

  "What can I say? I'm made for loving, you know. All the women love Big Derrick."

  "No one has ever said that to you, Derrick." I ignored the fact that I had just called myself something similar to his sister.

  "How would you know, Tyler?"

  "Because I've been your best friend for over 20 years and I have never once heard a woman say 'all the women love Big Derrick.'"

  "Sorry. Yeah, they say King Derrick."

  "You wish."

  "Ha ha. That's right. I do wish." He laughed and slapped me on the back. “Let’s eat and then figure out a plan for the afternoon.”

  "We're just going to show up at Olivia's office? Does she know that we're coming?" I asked as we left the restaurant. Derrick’s idea of showing up at her office didn’t seem particularly smart to me, but I would be happy to see her.

  "Dude, I'm her brother. She'll be happy to show me around."

  "Yeah, but doesn't she have to work? Like, will her boss be there? Is her boss going to be okay with us just showing up?"

  "She works in a small office, and she's always talking about how much her boss loves her and how cool her coworkers are, so I think we're good."

  "That's true. She was telling me last night that she really liked the people that she worked with."

  "Oh, yeah, you never told me what happened last night. How did that go?"

  "Nothing much happened," I said, maybe a little too quickly. "We went to bed right after we got home."

  Derrick gave me a sideways glance then shrugged. "Okay, then. So, have you come up with any plans now that we're in San Francisco?"

  "What'd you mean?"

  "I mean, are there places you want us to see?"

  "I don't know. I was thinking that perhaps we could go to Golden Gate Park. Maybe we could go out to Alcatraz Island. It'd be really cool. I think Al Capone was there at one point."

  "Really? Al Capone?" Derrick looked surprised. "I didn't know that. Yeah, that sounds cool."

  "Oh, yeah, and I was thinking maybe we could do a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge."

  "Dude." Derrick looked at me with a smile on his face. "I'm not riding a bike across Golden Gate Bridge. I'm out."

  "But it looks like it's going to be so much fun."

  "Then find a girl to do it with. I am not riding a bike with these thick thighs and thick calves across Golden Gate Bridge. Ain't going to happen. That’s not a comfortable ride."

  "I bet if I was Tiffany, it would happen," I laughed.

  "Yeah, dude, but you're not a cute blonde. You're just my friend."

  " I'll have you know people do think I'm a cute blond."

  "Yeah. But you're male. I like females."

  "Ha ha, I get it. I get it. So you're not going to ride across the bridge with me?"

  "Nope."

  "But you want to go to Alcatraz?"

  "Yeah. That sounds like it would be cool. Would you mind if Tiffany came?"

  I blew out a breath and tried not to sound annoyed. “Does Tiffany really have to come?"

  "Dude, ask Olivia and then we can make it a foursome."

  "A foursome?" I looked at him and smiled. Little did he know how much I really wanted that to be true. Well, not a foursome, per se. I meant I wanted to be in a couple with Olivia. Not that I could let him know that.

  "Yeah. Yeah. I know. It's not the same as if you had a real girl there, but Olivia will be cool. And maybe she can even bring some of her friends. Maybe you'll get on with one of them."

  "Yeah, I guess so."

  "I mean, didn't she say she had some single friend at the office? Maybe we'll meet her right now. If you like her, tell Olivia to bring her as well."

  "Yeah, sure. That's something to think about."

  We continued walking towards Olivia's office. All I could think about was the kiss last night, the way Olivia's lips had felt on mine. I was hoping for a repeat tonight. I wanted to go further, but I didn't know how Olivia felt. This morning had been awkward. She'd avoided eye contact with me, and the only reason I knew she wasn't completely mad was because she'd been singing in the shower. "You're So Vain” had made me laugh. Never had I loved a song more.

  And the fact that it had been about me? Well, that was even better.

  "Okay, I think we're here," Derrick said. "It's Cool Credit, right?"

  "Yep. That's the name, Cool Credit."

  We walked inside. I looked around the building as we headed toward the elevator. It seemed nice enough, nothing fancy but it was clean. We got off at the fourth floor and looked for the entrance to Cool Credit. The door was open and I could see a cute redhead standing there chatting to someone. I put a smile on my face and hoped that Olivia wasn't going to be mad when she saw us. Derrick strode ahead of me into the office.

  "Hey! Hey! Olivia, I'm here!" he shouted.

  I groaned inwardly. Only Derrick would do something like that. He didn't care how inappropriate it was.

  "Hi. Can I help you?" The cute redhead walked over to us.

  "Yeah. I'm looking for my sister, Olivia. I'm Derrick."

  The cute redhead’s face broke into a wide smile. "Oh, hi, Derrick. It's really nice to meet you. I'm Millie. I'm one of Olivia's friends. I work here as well."

  "Nice to meet you, Millie. I think I've heard a little bit about you," Derrick said with a huge smile. "Is my sister here?"

  "Yeah, yeah." Millie then looked over at me. "Ooh, and you must be Tyler, Derrick's best friend. I've heard a lot about you as well."

  "Oh, have you now?" I said, winking at her. "All good things, I hope."

  "Well, you know," she giggled. "Kind of. Olivia! Olivia!" she shouted. "Your brother's here."

  Wow, this office really was casual. There was no way someone could come into the law firm and start shouting for me. The partners would have me up in their office within five minutes, telling me off. Then Olivia appeared, a frown on her face.

  Uh oh.

  "What are you doing here?"

  "We wanted to visit you," Derrick said. "This is where you work, right? Didn't you say we could come and see you?"

  "I said you could come and see the office, but I assumed you’d give me some notice so I could let everyone know." Olivia’s frown deepened. "You can't just come and barge into my workplace like this, Derrick.” She shot a glare in my direction. “I thought you would have known better, Tyler."

  "How is this my fault?” I protested. “This was Derrick's idea." But she just ignored me.

  "Derrick, I really—"

  "It's okay. It's okay, Olivia," Millie interrupted her. "You know we're cool here."

  Olivia sighed. "I know everyone's cool here, but Derrick didn't know that. What if I had a mean boss and mean coworkers? He could have totally got me fired."

  "Well, I didn't get you fired, did I?" Derrick grinned. "So shut up and show me around."

  "Did you just tell me to shut up?" Olivia folded her arms across her chest. "Do you really t
hink that’s acceptable?"

  "I'll say it again if you keep talking," Derrick said with a laugh.

  Millie giggled. "Wow. You guys have the most fun brother and sister relationship."

  "I don't know I would say it was fun," Olivia said with a snarl.

  "I think it's pretty fun," I said. "I'd love to have a sister like Olivia."

  "Well, she is like your sister," Derrick said.

  I just smiled at him. You wouldn’t say that if you knew the thoughts I had about her.

  "Let's take them to the kitchen first," Millie said. "We can all have some coffee and they can meet the other girls."

  "I would die for a cup of coffee," I admitted. "Is that okay, please, Olivia?" I said in my nicest voice.

  "Fine. Come on then, guys. You will get to meet the others. I guess they'll be happy."

  We all walked down a small corridor towards a big kitchen that had big windows. There were three other girls sitting in there, and I smiled at all of them. All of them were absolutely beautiful, but none of them held a candle to Olivia.

  "Hi. Who's this, then?" A tall girl stood up with a pretty smile and long brown hair.

  "Hi, I'm Derrick. I'm Olivia's brother. I'm sure you've heard lots about me. The rumors are all true. Any women who want to go on a date, just let me know and I'll see if I can work it into my schedule." Derrick chuckled and all the girls laughed.

  "You didn't tell us he was such a flirt," a dark-haired girl said.

  "Just ignore him,” Olivia told her. “He's got more women than he can count."

  "Hey, hey, hey, come on now, Olivia. Don't be spoiling my game."

  "No one spoils your game, honey. You spoil your own game." Olivia smirked. "But guys, this is Magnolia, this is Jane, and this is Birdy. Guys, this is my brother, Derrick, and that's his best friend, Tyler."

  "Ooh," one of the girls with long blonde hair and a decidedly curvy figure came over to us. "Hi, I'm Birdy, and you can call me anytime." She giggled, and Olivia rolled her eyes.

  "Hi there, Birdy. Nice to meet you," I said.

  Derrick gave her a big hug. "Hey, Birdy. I've heard so much about you. It is nice to finally meet you."

  "Nice to finally meet you too, Derrick. I was wondering when we'd meet." Her eyes never left him. "You're so big and tall. Wow. You were a football player, huh?"

  "Yeah. I played football in high school and college," he said in his deep voice. "You know, I'm kind of a big deal."

  Olivia cut him off. "Well, you're not exactly a big deal because you didn't make the pros, did you, brother? Okay guys, do you guys want some coffee? Tea? What do you feel like?"

  "I'll have a cup of coffee, please," I said.

  "Yeah. Make that one for me as well," Derrick added.

  "Three coffees, then. Milk and sugar?"

  "Yeah. I'll have milk and sugar, please."

  "Same for me," Derrick said.

  I watched Olivia as she turned on the kettle to boil water and walked over to her. "Are you making us tea or coffee?"

  "I'm making coffee, but we have a French press here, so I'll put the ground up coffee beans into the French press and then I'll pour the water into it. Haven't you used one of those before?"

  "We don't have those fancy things in Florida."

  "Oh, my gosh, Tyler. It's not fancy. You can get a French press at Target for like $10."

  "Oh, I didn't know that. I just use the Keurig."

  "Oh. I don't really like Keurig coffee. It doesn't taste good to me."

  "It tastes okay to me, plus it gives me the fix that I need real quick. I always do the espresso. Espresso goes right to my head, and it gives me lots of energy. And you know I need energy."

  "Oh, yeah. Because you go all night long with all of your women," Olivia replied, her voice dry.

  "Actually, no. It's because I work 80 hours a week at a law firm, and I need to have my brains and my wits about me when I'm going through all that paperwork."

  "Oh, yeah." She looked sheepish. "I kind of forgot about that."

  "You really do have a poor opinion of me don't you, Olivia? And I don't know why. We haven't seen each other in years. You don't really know my life, yet you still seem to be judging me based upon something you thought you knew."

  "Well, I guess that's true." She sighed. "You're sounding too reasonable. You're making too much sense. I'm confused."

  "Why are you confused?"

  "Because Derrick is obviously still a player. Look, he was with that girl, Tiffany, last night. Now he's flirting with my friends, and I'm sure he would love to take Birdy home if she said yes."

  "I don't know about that. He seems like he's kind of into Tiffany," I said slowly.

  She grimaced. "What do you mean he's into Tiffany?"

  "I mean I feel like he possibly could get serious with her."

  "No way. Derrick does not do serious."

  "Well, maybe that's about to change."

  "There's no way in hell that he's going to change to do something serious with someone like Tiffany when he's dated so many more intelligent girls."

  "Sometimes when the chemistry is there, it doesn't matter how intelligent they are."

  "So you admit Tiffany isn’t that bright, right?"

  "I'm not saying anything," I chuckled.

  "Oh, Tyler, come on! You know she's a ditz. My brother deserves someone better than her."

  "Why do you care so much, Olivia? You know, sometimes when love hits, you've just got to go with it."

  She looked at me for a few seconds, her brown eyes thoughtful, and I wondered if we were about to have a moment of mutual understanding.

  Then she looked away. "I don't know anymore," she sighed. "Let me get some cups. Hold on." She walked to the side and opened a cupboard and pulled out three cups. "Any of you girls want some coffee as well?" she asked her friends behind us.

  They all chorused their no’s.

  She closed the cupboard and brought the three cups back over to me. I looked at her long, slender, well-manicured fingers, and I wondered what they would feel like on my body. Would they feel warm sliding up and down my cock? I shifted as I stood there. I needed to get my mind out of the gutter or I was going to be walking around the office with a massive boner.

  Olivia handed the coffee cups to me and Derrick. “Okay, guys, you can have a coffee and see the office, but then you have to go. I have work to do.”

  “But we’ll see you tonight, right?” Derrick asked her. “We going to paint the town red.”

  She shook her head. “Birdy and I have plans tonight.” She turned away. “Let’s figure out something for tomorrow instead.”

  She turned her back on us to grab some milk from the fridge and I wondered why she was being so cagey about her evening plans.

  Exactly what were she and Birdy up to?

  Chapter 9

  Olivia

  * * *

  There's nothing quite like getting ready for speed dating. I wanted to look pretty and I wanted to look hot and sexy, but I didn't want to look too sexy. If you look too sexy, the guys think you're only out for one thing. As much as I enjoyed sex, I wasn't looking for a one-night stand.

  I knew that Birdy was going to be dressing pretty damn sexy, though. She didn’t care what the guys thought. She'd already shown me the dress that she planned on wearing. It was black, short, and clung to her petite figure. While I wasn't a huge girl myself, anything that clung to my figure made me feel like I was showing off every little piece of fat that I had. Tight clothes made me feel exposed, and I knew that men saw them as an invitation to try and have meaningless sex.

  I could hear Tyler in the bathroom singing to himself as he brushed his teeth and got ready for the evening. I knew that he was going to laugh when he found out I was going speed dating, but I didn't care. He had to know that he wasn't the only man in my life just because we’d shared a kiss. That didn’t mean anything.

  Oh, my God, what was I thinking? He wasn’t any man in my life. He was no one. He
didn’t mean anything to me. I had to keep reminding myself of that; otherwise, I was going to do something that I regretted. And if I did that, I knew Derrick would be really upset.

  "Be cool, Olivia. Be cool," I whispered under my breath as I looked through my wardrobe.

  Finally, I found a slinky red dress that I'd gotten the year before at Macy's. It was short, but not too short, and it was made of a nice, soft material that flattered my body and the fabric felt silky to the touch—not that I wanted any guys at the speed-dating event to touch me, of course.

  "Hey, hey! What you doing there, Olivia?" Tyler came out of the bathroom, a towel around his waist and his eyes upon the dress in my hand. I couldn’t help but stare at his naked chest. He was perfection in person. "You wearing that tonight?"

  "Yes, what do you think?"

  "Oh, wow, you're really getting dressed up for me?"

  "No, Tyler, I'm not getting dressed up for you. I have other plans tonight, remember?"

  "What plans have you got?"

  "I'm going out with my friend, Birdy. You met her at the office this morning, remember?"

  "No, I don't remember her particularly. Where are you girls going? Can I come?"

  "No, you can't come. It's girls only."

  "Girls only?" He made a face. “Boring.”

  "I’m sorry you feel that way, but, yes, it’s just girls only."

  "Well, can I come for a drink after the girls-only part?"

  "No, I don't think so."

  "Aw, why not, Olivia? I haven't seen you in such a long time. I'd love to hang out with you and your friends, see what you talk about when I'm not there."

  "There are a lot of things I talk about when you're not there, Tyler. I don't think you really need to know all of them."

  "Ooh, someone sounds very defensive. What's the issue? What’s going on?" Tyler came closer to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “Do you talk about me a lot, then?”

  I looked over at him and into his deep blue eyes and swallowed hard, "Nothing is going on, Tyler. And no, I never talk about you."

  "I think something's going on. You can tell me."

  "Fine, I'm going speed dating with Birdy."

  He looked surprised for a second and took a step back, "You're going speed dating?" His lips were twitching slightly.