I felt like I was going to come any moment, the pleasure in me quickly reaching its climax. I brought my hand to her pussy and stroked it, kissing her neck like a man who was just having his final meal.
A couple of seconds later, her pussy contracted and pulled me further in, followed by a series of spasms, which triggered my own orgasm. Holding her against me, I thrust one last time and sent all my sperm into her, feeling like the luckiest guy alive.
CHAPTER 20
Joanna
“We really have to cut this out,” I said, pulling my dress back on and feeling a hysterical laugh threatening to break free.
Anderson grinned as he finished buttoning his pants and pulled his suit jacket back on. “Hey, you started it.”
“I did not!”
“Yes, you did. You challenged me, and I just rose to the occasion.” He winked, and I laughed at the pun. Well played Anderson.
“Whatever,” I said and then gave him a peck on the lips. “How’s my hair?”
“Not a strand out of place, from what I can see. It is pretty dark in here though…”
I ran my hand over my hair self-consciously, hoping it didn’t look too disheveled. “Do you think anyone noticed us missing?”
Anderson shook his head. “No. People are dancing, and everyone’s bound to have had several drinks by now. No one should have noticed anything unless they were spying on us all along. And I don’t think anyone would have had a reason for that.”
“Let’s hope not.”
“Why? Do you want to stay here for the rest of the night?” Anderson asked, the devilish grin spreading across his face.
“You’re just asking for trouble, aren’t you?”
“I’m asking for whatever it takes to give me more time with you,” he said, and then kissed my earlobe.
I laughed and pushed him away. “Stop it! Seriously, we have to go back out there and be decent.”
“Yeah, I guess…” He sighed. “Oh shit…”
“What?”
Anderson pulled up his sleeve to glance at his watch. “It’s almost time for your brother’s speech. He’ll definitely notice us missing if we aren’t back out there.”
I swore. “I almost forget he was giving one,” I said, feeling slightly panicked. It was preposterous that I’d nearly forgotten, for I had seen him writing and practicing it all throughout the previous week. I sighed. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Yeah,” Anderson said, resigned.
I recalled that the bathrooms were just down the hall from the closet we’d snuck off to, which was perfect. I needed to make a stop in the ladies’ room to make sure I still looked presentable, and that there were no signs of what had just transpired.
I reached for the doorknob.
“Careful,” Anderson warned. “Make sure no one is in the hall.”
I cracked the door open just slightly, peeking out into the hall. “The coast is clear,” I said, seeing no one in the hall or exiting the restrooms.
Anderson stepped up behind me and slid his hand onto my waist as we exited the closet. “Let’s just try to get through a couple more hours, and then maybe we can sneak out of here altogether,” he said.
I was just about to respond when the words froze right in my throat.
The door to the men’s restroom swung open, and out walked none other than my brother.
He paused, staring at the two of us exiting the closet, and at Anderson’s hand on my waist.
Anderson instantly dropped his hand and took a step away.
It felt like time was suddenly standing still. Tobias stared back and forth between me and Anderson, and the two of us stared back at him, terrified and at a complete loss for words.
My mouth dropped open, but I had nothing to say. I merely watched the varying expressions dashing across Tobias’s face. Surprise, shock, confusion, disbelief, disgust, anger…
“What the hell?” he said, when he was finally capable of speech. The restroom door swung open again. He momentarily stepped aside, permitting another man to exit, and then turning his icy gaze right back at us. “What are you doing?” he demanded.
I wanted to sink into the floor and disappear at the way his eyes trailed me from head to toe. Or at the very least, I wanted to make a run for it and hide in the women’s bathroom, where I would be free from the scrutiny of his gaze. I knew how incriminating Anderson and I looked, just like I knew there was nothing either of us could do about it.
After all the sneaking around, we had finally been caught red-handed, in the worst possible way.
“Please tell me that this isn’t what I think it is,” Tobias said, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes for a second.
Anderson gave a nervous laugh behind me. “It isn’t what you think it is,” he said, unsuccessfully trying to make his voice sound light.
“Then what the hell is it?” Tobias said through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing angrily.
I averted my gaze to the floor, feeling like a child in his presence. He may as well have been my father, catching me sneaking a boy into my room.
“Tobias, man—chill,” Anderson said.
“Excuse me?” Tobias said, incredulously. “What even gives you the right to speak to me right now? I do you a favor and find you a date for tonight, offer to let you take my own sister, and you do this? Have you lost your goddamned mind? That’s my sister, Anderson!”
“Tobias,” I said, casting a nervous glance down the hall and hoping no one could hear him. “Please, not so loud.”
“My voice level is the last thing you have to worry about, Joanna,” he said, his voice deadly serious. He shook his head and sneered at me. “I can’t believe you, Jo. I thought you had class. And here you are, running off with him during the middle of a gala.”
“Hey,” Anderson said, his voice suddenly stern. He stepped forward, no longer cowering behind me. “Don’t you dare talk to her that way.”
“And don’t you dare put your filthy hands on her again,” Tobias growled. He laughed mirthlessly. “I honestly cannot believe this. She needed a break Anderson, you knew that! She needed a moment to breathe and be herself, alone. But instead you sleep with her! I never thought that my best friend and my little sister would sneak off to screw in the middle of my company’s event, right before I’m set to give a speech!”
“Tobias, we’re sorry,” I said, trying to hold back the tears. I had never seen Tobias so angry. Anderson and I had both knew he wouldn’t take it too well when he found out about us, but we could have never expected this level of anger…
“You are beyond sorry,” Tobias said. “You are so reckless. And Anderson, this is just disrespectful. You’re supposed to be my partner.”
“All right, Tobias, that’s enough!” Anderson bellowed. “Cut it out! We get it, already. You’re pissed. We’re sorry, but you have no right to talk to us this way. You don’t control our lives.”
“No, I don’t control your lives. You do. And what’s pathetic is that I’m standing in front of two so-called adults who don’t even know how to control their own hormones! Even if you wanted to sneak around behind my back, did you have to do it here? Right now?! Does the word ‘discreet’ mean anything to either of you idiots?”
“We’re sorry! What more do you want us to say?!” I yelled.
A hush fell among us as several others passed through the hall, entering and exiting the restrooms, casting curious gazes at us along the way.
“I’m so disgusted right now, I don’t know what to do with myself,” Tobias said. “The two people I trust the most, and you go off and do something like this? Just get the hell out of my sight. Both of you.” Fuming, he turned around and stormed down the hall.
I stood, trembling on the spot and listening to Anderson calling after my brother.
The ‘big reveal’ for Anderson and I had gone ten thousand times worse than I could have ever anticipated. I was shaken to my very core. But on some level, I couldn’t entirely blame Tobias for
being upset. It was incredibly stupid and inappropriate for Anderson and I to have snuck off in the middle of the gala like we had.
Our whole relationship thus far had been irresponsible.
Anderson chased Tobias down to the end of the hall and then swore at the top of his lungs. I watched as he disappeared back into the ballroom.
All the while, I continued standing in front of the closet, at a complete loss for what to do. My heart shattered into a million pieces at the mere thought that I had potentially caused such a riff between Anderson and Tobias. The two of them had been lifelong friends, and I’d never known them to be seriously upset with each other.
I felt sick to my stomach.
Anderson rounded the corner, coming back towards me. I suddenly felt a powerful wave of nausea that sent me running to the women’s room. I reached a toilet just in time. Every ounce of the fancy food that I’d consumed came pouring out of my mouth. When I was done, I almost felt too weak to stand.
Thankful the bathroom had emptied as everyone prepared to listen to my brother’s speech, I went to the sink, washing the tears and vomit from my face with cold tap water. I then stared at my reflection for a moment, seeing that I looked worse for the wear. My hair and makeup were ruined, making me look just as bad as I felt.
How could I have messed up so badly? After all Tobias had done for me in the aftermath of Zander—opening his home and workplace to me, loaning me a car, giving me the opportunity to have a safe haven and get back on me feet…
“And the worst sister award goes to…” I said, and gave a laugh that quickly shifted into an ugly cry.
I reached for paper towels to dry my face, and then realized I couldn’t stay. I needed to leave.
With trembling hands, I reached into my purse and ordered and Uber.
When I finally left the bathroom, Anderson stood right outside of the door.
“Joanna, are you all right?” he asked, rushing toward me.
I held my hand out, stopping him.
“Joanna—”
“No,” I said. “Just leave me alone.”
“Let me take you home.”
I shook my head. “I’ve already got a ride.”
“Uber? Why? I’ll take you home. I don’t give a damn about your brother.”
His words sent another pang through my chest, forcing me to realize once again the damage I had done to their friendship.
“I’m so sorry to come between the two of you like this,” I said, tears coming to my eyes once again.
Anderson shook his head. “Don’t you dare take all the blame. I’m at fault too. And Tobias, he’ll get over it. Don’t worry about him.”
Anderson may as well have been talking to a brick wall though, because I wasn’t in the mood to be comforted. I just wanted to get out of the building and put the whole miserable night behind me.
“Goodbye, Anderson,” I said, and rushed passed him. Just as he had chased after my brother, he began chasing after me. But I didn’t look back, and I ignored the stares I got as I rushed through the ballroom and toward the exit.
“Joanna!” Anderson yelled.
But I hopped into the car that was waiting for me without looking back.
CHAPTER 21
Anderson
I got to work early Monday morning, determined to catch Joanna when she entered the building and insisted that the two of us approach Tobias together and get him to see reason. From the moment she ran out of the gala and hopped into the cab, I had been trying to call her repeatedly. But she wouldn’t accept any of my calls. She wouldn’t even answer any of my texts…
And neither would Tobias, for that matter.
I never knew how much losing both of them would impact my life until I was faced with the reality of it happening. The Gentry family had been in my life for decades, and I had taken for granted how important they were to me. Now, with neither Tobias or Joanna speaking to me, it felt like my whole world had been shifted completely upside down, and if things stayed this way for much longer, I didn’t know how I was going to possibly carry on. A deep depression was starting to come over me, something I had never felt before in all my life. I could hardly even bring myself to get out of bed.
When my alarm clock went off Monday morning, I’d just lied there, letting it screech, unable to muster the energy to turn it off. I only turned it off when I heard the angry thumping from the tenant below me who had undoubtedly taken a broom to bang on her ceiling to send me a message. I already felt like shit, so by no means did I want to hear Ms. Ryan’s angry mouth, or find out that she’d complained to the landlord about me over a damned alarm clock.
When I finally managed to sit up in bed, I instantly reached for my phone—hoping that I had a message from Joanna, or even Tobias. But of course, I’d had no such luck. Besides, I had barely slept to begin with; if either of them had tried to contact me, I would have known immediately.
With a sigh, I figured that I was just going to have to talk to them in person when I got to work. That thought alone was the only thing that encouraged me to get out of bed. I was determined to get them both together in the office so that we could all talk like the rational adults we were supposed to be.
I forced myself through my morning routine, showering, dressing, eating a bagel, and getting to the office, determined to accomplish my task. Yet when I got to work that morning, I quickly learned that I was in for a rude awakening.
Joanna never showed up.
Tobias did though.
“Tobias!” I said, seeing him walk down the hall to his office. But he didn’t even bother to turn around, as if he was deaf to my voice.
“Come on, Tobias. Don’t be like that. Let’s talk about this,” I said, but still got no response. “Really? Are you honestly going to give me the silent treatment? Aren’t we too old for this, man? Tobias! Tobias! I’m your best friend in the world, and you’re going to treat me like this?”
“Were,” he said quietly, although he still wouldn’t look at me. “You were my best friend in the world. I don’t know who the hell you are now. My best friend wouldn’t treat my sister like one of his sleazy conquests, in the middle of our firm’s gala, no less.”
“I’m not treating her like a conquest! Come on, now! You should know that I have too much respect for Joanna to do something like that.”
“Oh yeah? I bet you respected the hell out of her in that closet.”
“Look, we were being stupid. I know that. But I swear, it’s not what you think.”
“Get the hell out of my way, Anderson. Go do your work and just get out of my sight.” With that, he turned and I knew that I had essentially been dismissed. I watched him storm off and disappear behind his office door with a slam.
“Shit,” I muttered, turning around and seeing several employees passing by, giving me scolding glances as if they’d never heard an expletive before. “What the hell are you guys looking at?” I said, agitated. “Are you done with your reports?”
“Ah…N-no,” one of the stuttered. “They’re not due until the end of the week though, right?”
“Doesn’t mean you have to wait that long to finish,” I fussed. “So stop looking at me and get to work.”
“Y-yes, Mr. Anderson.”
I watched them hurry away, feeling mildly guilty for bullying them for no reason. But I couldn’t help myself. When I felt bad, I tended to act bad. It was a habit that I had yet managed to get control over.
I glanced back to the door Tobias had disappeared behind, tempted to bang on it until he opened up and heard me out.
I tried to recall the last time Tobias had been seriously mad at me. It had seemed like a lifetime ago. We’d been fresh out of high school at the time. He had let me use his car for a date. I had stayed out longer than normal with for that particular date, and hadn’t returned Tobias’s car for two whole days. I’d been careless, taking my date on joyrides, stopping here and there to drink and make out.
In the end, I’d left it far from
the pristine condition Tobias had initially lent it to me in.
“Where the hell have you been?” Tobias yelled when I finally returned with his car. “And what the hell happened?” His gaze had raked over his car, seeing that it certainly looked worse for wear on the outside. That was nothing compared to what it had looked like on the inside though. Unfortunately, it was like I had been wearing beer goggles the whole time that had left my vision distorted; I hadn’t been able to see the damages I’d done to his beloved car until that very instant, right as he was pointing it out.
It was like watching in slow motion as he approached his car, his keen vision seeing every speck of dirt, every scratch, every smudge… He opened the door to the reek of the wine coolers my date had spilled all over the cloth seats. I still remembered the way he had closed his eyes, keeping them shut for a moment as if hoping that when he reopened them, his car would be restored to new.
“Anderson, so help me god… You did not mess up my car like this. You. Did. Not.”
I had stood there, sputtering and trying to figure out what to say. Wishing I had a magic wand to repair the car Tobias had worked so hard to acquire.
“Anderson!” Tobias had yelled, demanding an answer.
I flinched, not having a single idea what to say for myself. “It’s nothing, man. Don’t worry about it. I’ll fix it…I’ll clean it and it’ll be good as new before you know it,” I had said, trying to act as if it was no big deal.
“You damn straight you will, you jackass,” Tobias had growled. He didn’t speak to me for two days after that, and those had been two of the longest days of my life. I had managed to scrape up every penny I owned to fix his car.
Things were different this time though. Joanna wasn’t a car that I could just run through a wash and repair to restore to new. And as much as Tobias had loved his first car, he loved his sister more. It was going to take a lot more to make it up to him. And if I didn’t figure out how to do it soon, I was at risk of losing my best friend forever.
My stomach twisted painfully at the thought.
Baby Makes Three: A Brother's Best Friend's Secret Baby Romance Page 11