by Annie Green
“Where are you off to?” he asked, his eyes sliding over me. I hadn’t heard from him since our sexting conversation two days ago.
“Nowhere,” I replied hastily, trying to scoot around him. I tried to ignore the thrill coursing through me just by being near him. I had to focus on my date tonight, and more importantly on what I was going to wear.
He mimicked my movements, trapping me on the sidewalk. “I don’t believe you.”
I huffed. “Fine. I’m off to buy a dress for a date I have tonight.”
“A date?” He seemed surprised, which really offended me. We may have texted a few times and he may have been abnormally nice to me recently, but months of torment weren’t going to just disappear overnight.
“Yes, a date. Now get out of my way.”
He didn’t listen to me. “Do you know what you’re going to buy?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t tell me you’re running down to Kohl’s to grab the cheapest dress you can find.”
That’s exactly where I was going. Not that I’d admit that to him. “Good guess, but no,” I replied.
“Liar and because I find myself free right now, I’ll help you out.”
He swiped my keys from my hand and made his way toward my car.
“And I’ll drive since I’m pretty sure you’d ditch me the first chance you got.”
“I don’t need your help,” I said sternly, following him to my car. “Just give me my keys.”
He opened the driver’s side door and let his eyes slide up and down my body. “Trust me, Janet. You do.”
I didn’t have time to argue because I was already running late, so I let Adrian have his way.
“Don’t tell me this is a store owned by one of the girls you’ve slept with,” I stated, as he pulled away from the curb.
“It’s my brother’s shop actually,” he said and I flushed at my accusation.
“Oh, cool,” was all I could mutter as he turned onto the main street by our houses.
“So who are you meeting tonight?” Adrian asked.
“Some guy named Rob.”
“Rob. And what does Rob do?”
“Rob’s in real estate.”
“Real estate,” he said and I shot him a look.
“Why do you say it like that’s a bad thing.”
He shrugged. “It’s not.”
“What are you not telling me? Do you happen to know a Rob who works in real estate?”
“No,” he said as we came to a stop at a red light. My cell phone vibrated in my pocket and I silenced it.
“Who was that?” Adrian asked and when I didn’t reply he asked, “Craig wasn’t it?”
“Did you look at my phone?”
Adrian shook his head. “No, but you have the same look on your face you did when I was standing naked in front of you…”
“Don’t remind me about that, please,” I said, glancing out the passenger side window so he couldn’t see me blush.
“This doesn’t happen often, you know? Usually girls remember everything about this,” he said, waving his hand in front of his body.
“Humility. Does that word even exist in your vocabulary?”
“Of course it does and so does ‘truthful’.”
I exhaled loudly and fought to exorcise all thoughts of Adrian from my mind, hot sexting and all.
“So what’s it about Craig that still has you aching for him? Does he have an extra large dick or what?”
“What? No.”
“No, he has a large dick or doesn’t?”
“What? His dick is average, I guess. And I meant ‘no’, girls don’t think like that, okay?”
“I know they don’t and I don’t get it. It’s such an important part of our anatomy. It should matter.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter to me,” I replied, watching as he drove me into Brea, a large city in Orange County that abutted Fullerton.
“So then why are you all hung up on him?” Adrian asked after a moment of silence.
“We were just together for a really, really long time.”
“How long is long?”
“Eight years. We were together since high school.”
“Ah,” he replied as he steered my car into a parking spot. “Well, that is a long time.
“Thank you for understanding.”
“So I’m guessing you’re not totally over him then?”
I shrugged, remembering his text to me. “I don’t know. I think I am, but it will take a long time before that totally happens. It’s not something someone just gets over.”
Adrian nodded quietly as he parked the car. Then he hopped out and opened my door. This little gesture surprised me. Perhaps he wasn’t such a barbarian after all.
“Ready?”
“I guess.”
“Don’t be nervous. Gabe is the best at what he does. And don’t get too turned on by what you see. He’s gay.”
And with that proclamation, he led me into a small shop lined with unique clothing that I’d never seen before. This was definitely not Kohl’s.
“Hey, Adrian. What a surprise. Why are you visiting me?” a handsome man asked from behind the counter. The longer I stared the more I saw a resemblance between the two of them. I could definitely tell they were brothers even if Gabe dressed considerably better than his brother.
“Bringing a friend in for some fashion advice,” Adrian said with a smile as he gestured to me.
Gabe seemed surprised by Adrian’s admission and ended up staring at me for a few minutes. I shifted awkwardly where I stood, not sure if I should hold out my hand or wave when Adrian snapped his fingers in his brother’s face.
“Gabe. Stop gawking.”
Gabe shrugged dramatically. “Sorry, but you’ve never brought a girl here before. So excuse me for staring.” He lowered his voice and asked in an exaggerated whisper, “Are you two…dating?”
“No,” I said much too loudly. “Nooooo.”
Adrian shot me a look. “You don’t have to be rude about it.”
“We’re just…” ‘Friends’ wasn’t the right word, so I shrugged and explained, “He’s my next door neighbor and he bugs the crap out of me most of the time.”
“Oh,” Gabe said, his eyes widening slightly. “Oooooh. So you must…”
“This is Jane,” Adrian said much to quickly and if I hadn’t been so surprised that Adrian introduced me by my actual name I would have wondered what Gabe was going to say.
But I didn’t have time to analyze it. I needed to be home soon to get ready for my date. I tapped my wrist and shot Adrian a glance.
Adrian nodded, turning toward his brother. “Look, bro, she needs to get going so could you pull a couple dresses that would make her look less…”
“Don’t say it,” I interjected, holding up my hand, not wanting to hear the insult. I turned toward Gabe and explained, “I have a dinner date tonight at Giovanni’s in Orange.”
“Oh, nice place,” he replied, slanting his brother a look. Adrian just turned away and glanced at a rack of shirts. “Let me pull a few things and I’ll bring them to the dressing room.”
I nodded and a few minutes later I was undressing and shimming into a dark green silk dress. The dress hung off my shoulders and hugged my every curve, not to mention made my boobs look enormous. With some high heels I could be model material.
“Could you help me zip this up?” I asked, stepping out of the dressing room.
Adrian spun around and stared for a moment before nodding.
“This is a nice dress, right?” I asked, trying to divert my attention from the feel of his fingers gliding across my skin. “Makes me feel really pretty.”
He let his eyes roam my body in the mirror before he shook his head. “No. This isn’t you.”
My heart dropped and I, disgustingly, felt ugly. “What? Why not?”
“Because it’s too…” he thought for a moment before he waved his brother toward us. “Gabe, what’s wrong with this dress. I�
�m not gay so I can’t quite seem to find the words.”
“Gosh, Adrian is such an insensitive bastard sometimes,” Gabe said as he strode toward us, rolling his eyes to the ceiling in exasperation.
“Tell me about it,” I said, liking Gabe immensely.
“And I don’t know what he’s talking about. This dress is superb.”
“No, this dress is slutty,” Adrian said. “Which is definitely not a bad thing, but we don’t want to give Rich a bad impression.”
“You mean Rob,” I muttered as Gabe spun me around, his eyes moving over my form in contemplation.
“And why does it matter if I give Rob the wrong impression. What if I want to give him the wrong impression?”
No, you want to give Adrian the wrong impression, you little slut.
“Fine, do what you want, but it looks tacky,” Adrian replied.
“Nothing in my store is tacky,” Gabe said, staring angrily at his brother.
“I agree,” I said.
Adrian shoved his hands in his pockets, looking defeated. “Fine, but can you try on something else, just to keep your options open?”
I don’t know why I found his insistence so cute when it should have bothered me. And apparently Gabe thought so too because he held out a navy blue dress and said, “This one is probably more you.”
“So it’s drab and boring,” Adrian teased and unlike before where this would have rubbed me the wrong way, I merely shrugged it off.
“Let’s see, shall we?” Gabe suggested, pushing Adrian away from the dressing room so I could have my privacy
“I’ve already seen her naked,” Adrian insisted.
“He’s been spying on me,” I interjected loudly, pulling the sleek blue dress up my frame. Unlike the green dress, this was a little more my style. It was graceful, but still a little risqué.
I stepped out of the dressing room and watched as Adrian’s eyes widened before narrowing to slits.
“Wow,” Gabe said, turning to look at Adrian. “It looks good on her, right?”
“It’s still a little too revealing,” Adrian said with a shrug.
“What?” I asked, my brows coming together in confusion. “How is this too revealing?”
He gestured toward the dip at the front of the dress that, while it may have been low, didn’t show off too much of anything.
“I’m just saying you’re going to give Rob the wrong impression.”
“Oh whatever, Adrian,” Gabe said with a snort. “You’re such a hypocrite.”
“Right?” I said dramatically, turning toward Gabe. “Thank you for understanding.”
“How am I a hypocrite?” Adrian asked, his eyes locked on mine. “I just know you and I know you won’t want Rich looking down your dress the entire evening.”
“He won’t be.”
“If I were on a date with you and you were wearing that dress all I’d be looking at is your tits.”
“That’s all you do anyway!”
Gabe choked back a laugh, earning a glower from Adrian.
“Whatever. It’s your funeral,” he muttered, folding his arms across his chest.
“Exactly. And I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.”
Adrian shrugged his shoulders like he couldn’t give two shits about me before thoroughly examining a rack of pants.
“I’ve never seen him like this,” Gabe whispered to me. “He must really like you.”
“Stop talking shit, Gabe,” Adrian said before turning to me. “Just buy the damn dress. I have plans later and I don’t want to be late.”
I shot him a glare, annoyed that he made me feel like I was wasting his time. He was the one who’d insisted he come help me find something nice to wear. It wasn’t like I’d dragged him here. I also didn’t understand his sudden change of mood. He was the one who wanted to take me shopping and now he was acting like he had better things to do.
Glancing at my phone, I realized it was growing late, so I quickly undressed and made my way to the cash register.
“You sure you want to wear that tonight?” Adrian asked as I laid the dress on the counter.
“Yes. Why do you care anyway?” I asked.
“Hey, just letting you know how it will be with…”
“Rob,” I interjected before he could make up another name for my date tonight.
“…Roger,” he said, barely containing a smile.
“Stop messing with her, Adrian,” Gabe said as he rung me up. “You’re such a prick.”
“Shut up,” Adrian said as I nodded adamantly.
“That will be two fifty,” Gabe said as he folded my dress and placed it in a bag. I clutched the counter, nearly having a heart attack when I heard the amount. I couldn’t afford that at all.
“This is really embarrassing,” I began, my cheeks reddening. “But I can’t…”
Adrian moved next to me as he reached into his back pocket.
“Yeah, don’t finish that sentence,” he said with a knowing smirk.
“What are you doing?” I asked, as I watched him hand his brother a credit card.
“Doing you a favor,” he replied as if he did this for me everyday. To be honest I was flattered at his sudden kindness and completely confused by it at the same time.
You like him. You like him. Jane and Adrian kissing in a tree…
“You don’t need to buy this for me.”
“Yes I do.”
I glanced down at the floor as he handed me the bag. His fingers brushed against my hand as he leaned into me.
“It’s really more for me anyway,” he said lowly, avoiding his brother’s stare. “I’m hoping once you get laid by Ralph you won’t be such a harpy.”
“It’s Rob, you jackass,” I said loudly before swinging my bag and pummeling him over the head.
***
The date was terrible. I hated every minute of it. Not only was Rob a complete narcissist, but he was a misogynist pig as well. And, even though I hated to admit it, Adrian had been right. Rob hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off my boobs the entire night, making me incredibly uncomfortable.
When he’d suggested I go back to his place, I didn’t hesitate to decline.
Which only made him mad. Apparently I’d been leading him on the entire night, starting with my choice of outfit.
The only thing that made the entire evening bearable were the inappropriate texts from Adrian. And while I didn’t reply to them, they still made me smile.
Thankfully the date ended early and I drove home, relived to know that peace and quiet was awaiting me. I walked up to my front door, my shoulders slumped in exhaustion, and nearly dropped my keys when Adrian appeared at my side, wearing only plaid pajama bottoms.
“How’d it go?” he asked as he followed me into my house. “You didn’t answer my texts.”
“I know and I’m sorry I didn’t respond. I was too busy trying to figure out if the guy was for real or not,” I replied walking up the stairs. “Do you even own shirts?”
“Yep,” he replied before asking, “So was Rich really a sixty-year old fat man?”
I shook my head. “No, he was hot, just a dick…” I paused and turned toward him. “…kind of like going on a date with you, actually.”
He smirked. “So you think I’m hot?”
I sighed heavily as I dropped my purse on my bed, too exhausted to banter at the moment. “Why are you in my room again?”
“I wanted to see how your date went and since you didn’t answer my texts, here I am…But really I want to see if I was right.”
“Ugh,” I grunted, wanting nothing more than to just slide beneath my covers and sleep. But first I needed to change.
“So how was it?” he asked as I walked into my closet and tugged off my dress and shoes before pulling on an oversized t-shirt and walking out. Adrian was lying on my bed holding the vibrator he’d bought me.
“God, are you seriously going through my drawers?” I asked, feeling my cheeks go all red.
; He peeked up at me and shrugged. “Yeah and I’m happy to know that this little guy isn’t in the trash.”
“Well, he should be,” I replied, swatting at Adrian’s leg in an effort to get him to move off my bed. He didn’t, of course, so I just flopped down on my mattress next to him and buried my head in my pillow.
“I still think you’re using it wrong.”
“Don’t care,” I said, my words muffled.
“Maybe I should show you how it’s done.”
I glanced up at him. He was leaning on his side, looking down at me, the pink vibrator lying on the bed between us.
“And how would you do that?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“I’d get you turned on and show you how to use it. I think you’ll like it once you figure out the mechanics of it.”
“And how do you plan on getting me turned on?” I asked, confused as to what he was saying.
You’re not confused. You want to know how he’d do it. You really, really want to know.
Adrian glanced down at my chest before his eyes met mine. “I don’t know. What turns you on? I could go down on you…”
“Oh God,” I muttered, shoving my face in my pillow once more. For some reason his suggestion really turned me on and I hated that I wanted him to do it.
“Or I could suck your tits a little,” he went on and I groaned into my pillow.
“What?” he asked, clearly annoyed. “I’m not that repulsive am I?”
I looked up at him again before turning onto my back and addressing the ceiling. “Of course not and you know it. Although your personality is lacking, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, but I bet I could still get you nice and wet,” he added and I slapped my hand over my face.
“I’m sure you could, but no thanks,” I said, fighting the urge to let him do as he suggested.
Let him. Please. Please!
“Fine,” he said with a slight pout. “Since you won’t let me have any fun, why don’t you bore me stories of tonight?”
“I don’t really want to.”
“That’s because Rob was staring at your tits like I predicted, right?”
I sighed heavily and glared at him. “Yeah, okay? You were right. Is that what you want me to say?”
He smiled widely. “Yes.”