LITMIR.BIZ

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“Is she coming?” “No. She has a date.”

      “Really?” Aleks was just as surprised but shrugged his shoulders, feigning indifference. Since he was twelve years old Carrie had been around, tagging along, the annoying little third that situated herself between the two best friends. Over the years they had spent a lot of time together. The Taylor house was his second home. A real home compared to the loneliness that had plagued his own.

      “More beer for us, I guess.” Rob held up his bottle in a cheers position, and Aleks met it with his own.

      Aleks slumped back against the couch and contemplated his life. He was thirty years old and living with parents. Not even his own parents but the Taylors, the family that had welcomed him into their home so long ago. But he had to admit, it was an opportunity too hard to pass up. Especially since Carrie still lived at home. He took the initiative and moved out of his condo shortly after Rob’s girlfriend Martina moved in. Aleks knew Rob and Martina wanted their privacy, and he was glad to leave. There was nothing more important than Rob finally finding his happily ever after. Which was another red flag. Since when did Aleks care about happily ever after? His own or anyone else’s.

      That evening Aleks watched from the doorway as Carrie re-applied her lip gloss in the hallway mirror. The blush pink goop slid along her kissable lips.

      She stopped mid-swipe. “Must you stare? Again.”

      “Let me guess, he’s not coming to the door to meet the parents?”

      “Last time I checked this wasn’t 1952, Aleks.”

      “I’m only looking out for you, Care Bear. You shouldn’t make it too easy for him. A guy

      doesn’t buy the cow if he can get the milk for free.”

      “Thanks, but you’re not my daddy. Or part of this family for that matter.”

      “Ouch!” The shocked sound came from Rob who had entered the hallway, bowl of cereal

      in hand. “That’s a low blow. You know Mom would kill you if she heard that. She loves this guy more than me.”

      Carrie slid on a sweater and buttoned it, covering her luscious breasts. She addressed her brother, “What are you doing here anyway? You really are taking advantage of the parental units not being home all the time.”

      “Mom and Dad love it when their little boy comes back to the nest.” Rob shoveled in another spoonful. “Besides,” he spoke out of the side of his mouth, milk squirting down his chin, “Aleks is the mooch living here when, like you said, he isn’t even family.”

      Again with the low blow. That hurt. Aleks had been hanging around the Taylor’s since childhood. He was part of the family, damn it.

      Aleks smacked Rob upside the head.

      “Oww, what the hell?”

      “That’s for the family comment.”

      “All right.” Rob turned to Carrie. “Martina wanted me out for the night.” “Trouble in paradise already?”

      “No. I vaguely recall hearing something about the matrix and then drinks. Amie was on her way over.”

      “They must be practicing their Blue Energy Matrix,” Carrie said.

      Aleks had no idea what Amie and Martina talked about half the time. Carrie was the only one who listened when the two of them went on a holistic rant.

      “I think it’s an excuse. He just misses me,” Aleks piped in.

      “Still haven’t grown up, have we, boys?”

      Aleks watched Carrie take one last look at her appearance in the mirror. “Just be careful with this dude, Carrie. We don’t know who he is.”

      “Really, Aleks, are you feeling all right?” She looked at him with her deep chocolate eyes. Eyes that he had been thinking about lately, in bed, with his hand around his erect... Focus. Carrie was going on a date. A date with a guy he didn’t know, and Aleks was jealous. Jealous that he hadn’t realized what was right in front of him all this time.

      “Aleks, she can take care of herself.” Rob continued to talk with his mouth full. “Did you make a new outfit to get him revved up tonight, Care?”

      Carrie’s disgust came across on her face even before she said a word. “First of all...” She looked at her brother. “Ewww. Second of all, that is none of your business.”

      Aleks could only imagine what she was wearing beneath that little black dress. A lacy bra and matching underwear, a teddy, or maybe the thing she was wearing earlier when he walked in on her. No matter what was hidden under that dress, she would be beautiful.

      “Later, boys. My date is waiting for me,” Carrie yelled as she walked out the door into the

      cool evening air.

      Aleks pulled aside the lace curtain and watched Carrie through the side window. She opened the car door and got in. The guy couldn’t even open the car door for her? What a douche. “You okay, man?”

      “I’m good. Just watching out for your sister, that’s all.” “Right.”

      Did he suspect? The inquisitive look on Rob’s face made Aleks second guess his words. “I can’t believe you let her go out looking like that.”

      “Looking like what? She was dressed perfectly acceptable.”

      “You’re right,” Aleks admitted reluctantly. But he cringed at the thought of that guy watching with lecherous eyes as she sat across from him at dinner. His eyes latched on to the beautiful swell of her plump breasts. The hourglass shape of her body fitting every inch of that black dress. And oh, the possibilities of what lay underneath that fabric.

      “Come on. We’re already three beers down.”

      “Yeah, coming.” Aleks let his hand fall away from the curtain and contemplated his next move.

      Coveting his best friend’s sister. Not the smartest idea but it was something he needed to come to terms with. Carrie had managed to weasel her way into his life. At first, she’d been like a little sister–a pain in his side–then a best friend and confident. Someone he could rely on. To his dismay, the older she got, the more enticing she became. He put off his feelings as natural. What normal guy wouldn’t react to a beautiful woman? Lately his thoughts had taken a lecherous turn. Carrie was all woman, no more pigtails and tomboy overalls. No more baseball caps and braces. She had developed into a sexy bombshell, not to mention, she knew him better than anyone else in the world. Even Rob.

      Aleks had had his fair share of female partners, but for some reason none of them stuck. He always ended up back at the Taylor house with his two best friends, watching a UFC fight or hockey game.

      Carrie always heckled his choice of females. Aleks knew he had a type, but she called him out on it. Blond, perky and petite. Something Carrie was not. With her curvy, sensuous body and dark features, she was nothing like the cheerleader types he’d dated.

      There was something different about his feelings toward her. Aleks wasn’t looking to lay her...who was he kidding, of course he wanted to lay her. But more importantly, he wanted to be with her. Just be together. She knew his fears, his desires, his dreams. Carrie was there when he fell out of Mr. Crawford’s oak tree and broke his arm. She cried all the way to the hospital, stroking his back and reassuring him that everything was going to be okay.

      He didn’t know how she felt about him. When they were younger her puppy dog eyes told him she was enamored, but as an adult she had developed a sarcastic, distant attitude. Was that to shield her heart?

      “Dude, are you coming or what? She won’t be home for a while if you plan on waiting.” “I’m not waiting. Just thinking about something.”

      “A certain female.”

      “Something like that.”

      Thankful

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