19. Julian
JULIAN
I wake up the next morning, staring out at the city from my bed. I need to get up and go workout, but all I can think about is her.
Before I know it, my hand wraps around my cock, hard as a brick with just the thought of her. Those dark-green eyes beneath those thick lashes, not a drop of makeup on her skin, and she’s the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen. Her tight little body, hot as hell in her little dresses or in one of my t-shirts. I picture the way she looked, sprawled out on that bed underneath me yesterday. The way her skin smelled like lavender. Her short, dark hair splayed out behind her. The way her nails dug into my arms, her legs wrapping tighter and tighter around me.
I close my eyes, imagining her tight little body wrapped around me. I picture tugging her little jeans down, just low enough for me to be able to get to my destination. I pump my hand faster and faster, picturing her shoving her head back into the mattress as I work my magic. Then I pull them down a little farther, and— errrrrrrr. Errrrrrr. Errrrrrrr. My goddamn phone vibrates around on my nightstand.
“ Fuck,” I groan as I sigh, reaching for it.
“Hey, Keat,” I say.
“Hey,” he says. “Did I catch you workin’ out?”
I close my eyes, trying to slow down my breathing. Fucking embarrassing.
“Just a warm-up,” I say. “What’s up?”
“You still want to get breakfast?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I say. “What time?”
“I want to be wheels up by eleven. I have some shit to do at home tonight. Can you meet in an hour?”
I look at the clock. Eight a.m.
“No problem. Need me to send a car for you?”
“Nah, I’ll walk,” he says. “Dino’s?”
I smile. Some things never change.
“Dino’s. See ya soon.”
I get up, put on some shorts and sneakers, and walk down the stairs and through the apartment to my gym. I get through a quick lift, do a few sprints down the turf I had installed, and take the fastest shower known to man. Then I’m out the door with Tyler, on my way down to the car. I look down at my phone, but there’s nothing there, and I should be embarrassed at the way I can’t stop hoping she will text me.
Normally, I’m not shy about it, but she’s with her mom.
I get to Dino’s and park around the back. Marlo, Dino’s son who owns the place now, spots us and opens the kitchen door. I give him a hug.
“Happy Thanksgiving, brother,” he says with a hearty hug. Dino used to keep the place open late for my dad and his associates back in the day. My dad used to pay him to keep the food coming, letting Dino make more in one night than he’d make in a weekend. My dad is not all bad. He just doesn’t know it.
When Dino died, Marlo took over, and his relationship with my brothers and me resembles that of our fathers’. My brothers left, but Dino and I stayed close. Some nights, I’ll have Tyler or Russ drive my down here for a quiet dinner alone, after most of the city has gone home. It’s a tiny little Italian place that has four tables. Most of their business is done at the deli counter. During COVID, Marlo discounted everything on his menu. He made breakfast free for healthcare workers, and paid people who had lost their jobs to deliver food to his vulnerable patrons. I had heard a mysterious donor paid his rent for three years after that. Never confirmed it, though.
“Just you today?” Marlo says, bringing me a hot pot of coffee and my favorite chocolate breakfast pastry he makes. I shake my head.
“Got a special guest today, Marlo,” I say just as the bell dings. Marlo looks up, his thick black eyebrows jumping up.
“Keaty!” he shouts, running to my brother and picking him up. Keaton grunts as Marlo squeezes him, and I see him laugh as he pats his back.
“Happy Thanksgiving, Marlo,” he says as he sets him back down. “It’s good to see you.”
He sits down as Marlo has his staff bring a spread, all our favorite dishes that we have ordered throughout the years, shooting the shit as he goes back and forth. Finally, my brother and I have a few minutes to ourselves.
“So,” he says, taking a sip of his coffee and looking up at me through his big dark eyes, “who was the girl?”
I smile and shake my head, taking a sip of my own.
“Not you too, Keat,” I say with a chuckle. He laughs and shrugs. I look up at him. I want to tell him—I really do. I want to get this off my chest. Let someone else sit with it. Figure out what the fuck this is. But I can’t. “I can’t, Keat,” I say. His eyebrows shoot up as he chews his hashbrowns.
“Damn,” he says.
“What?”
“Brooks the Gossip Queen isn’t even here. Just me, and you still won’t spill. She must be special,” he says. I smile, but it runs away from my face quickly. I clear my throat.
Fuck. She’s special.
“I don’t know, Keat. I don’t know what’s going on,” I say. “If the time is right, I’ll tell you.”
He nods and smiles.
“If the time is right,” he says with a smile.
The rest of breakfast is good. We’re full and stuffed, and Keaton has spent the last twenty minutes telling me about a new sustainable energy startup he’s planning to fund this year in California. My brother is so noble. He took his freedom as the second born, and he ran with it. He ran with it in the complete opposite direction as my father did. As I did. And I envy him that. I’m so proud of him.
We say our goodbyes, and he promises to make time to come back over Christmas. And just as I get back in the car, my phone vibrates. When I see her name, I melt. I fumble the phone as I am trying to open it so quickly.
I’m on the beach with my mom in November. Thank you again.
I smile. But I wish she’d stop thanking me.
Hope it’s going well. She leaves tonight?
Unfortunately, she types back, as if my people weren’t the ones who bought her ticket.
Do you ladies have any dinner plans?
There’s a pause, and I feel myself get nervous.
Nothing in particular. We were just going to grab a sandwich on the way to the airport.
How about I take you two out, and we can drop her off together? I type back.
We’d love to.
I can’t contain my smile.
See you around four?
We’ll be ready.