Page 34 of Conception
Not that I’d push her too far, too quickly. Hell, whether Amelia wanted to just make out or go further, I was all for it and I’d respect her wishes. Respect her.
But when push came to fucking shove, I walked away—boner raging—because my brother was waiting on me. Not that he appreciated it.
“What the hell are you doing back?” he asked, nearly jumping off the couch when I came through the garage door.
I sighed, throwing my keys on the counter and pouring myself two fingers of Grandad’s favorite whisky, which Dad had sent along with Clay. Gotta love my old man. I took a swig then dropped onto the couch with my brother, glancing at the television then back at him.
He simply shrugged. “What? Can’t a guy catch up on old episodes ofDallaswhen he’s home all alone?”
I stretched my arm out on the back of the couch. “Sure, Clay. If that’s what you’re into.”
“It’s not,” he mumbled. “But Maria loves it, so what can I say? Might as well figure out what she’s talking about when she rambles on with her theories of who shot some J.R. fella.”
I tipped my glass to him. “The things we do for love.”
“Speaking of, why are you here? I figured after your date you’d be all hot and heavy, staying at Amelia’s place.” He held his beer up to return my salute. “Who, by the way, is a smokin’-hot babe if I may say so myself.”
“Pretty sure you’ve told me that a time or ten already in the last day, asshole.”
“Just saying. Things not go well?” he asked, and I stared at him as if he’d grown two heads.
“Things went swimmingly. In fact, the sooner you get outta town, the better. I’ll be seeing a lot of Amelia this summer, and unless you bring Maria up here to entertain you, your ass has to go.”
Clay grinned at me. “Ah, how the mighty have fallen.”
“No fallin’, Clay. Just a summer fling. That’s all it is, all it’s going to be.”
“Amelia clear on that?”
I thought back on what we’d talked about. In hindsight, I realized it wasn’t so much a discussion as much as it was me telling Amelia how it is and her agreeing. I made a mental note to be explicitly clear one last time. Except I thought that might be overkill, so I decided to just play it as it came.
“Yeah, she’s clear.”
“So, again: Why are you here?”
“Because I told you I’d come back so we could smoke those cigars Dad brought us back from Peru. Remember earlier? You gave me shit because you were afraid they’d go stale.”
Clay nearly spit out the beer he’d just drunk. “You came back here to smoke a cigar? Damn, bro, you really are new to this.”
I rolled my eyes. “I told Amelia earlier that I always keep my promises. I’m not gonna prove myself a liar the very first night, jackass.”
He stood, chucking his beer bottle into the trash can and poured his own whisky, topping off mine in the process. “Then, by all means, let’s go out back and light up.”
I don’t know if it was the whisky, the semi still in my pants, or just the feeling of brotherly bonding that had me suddenly asking for his advice. “Can I ask you something?”
Clay, leaning back in his rocker, puffed his cigar then pointed at me. “Shoot.”
“So, uh…” I cleared my throat. “You know I don’t exactly have much experience when it comes to women.”
He laughed, and I pierced him with a glower that only made him laugh harder.
“I mean a variety of women. Things with Gwen were…easy. They just kinda happened in a natural progression. With Amelia, it’s different. I want it all, right fucking now. Like I’m crazed. Like I won’t ever be able to get enough of her, and all I’ve done is kiss her. That’s normal, right?”
“Fuck yeah, it’s normal. She’s new, she’s exciting, and she’s the first chick since Gwen you’ve wanted to fuck, so yeah. Especially since your time is going to be limited. It makes sense you want to jump straight into her Daisy Dukes.”
“I want to. Fuck me, I want to. But hell, I also don’t want to freak her out by moving too fast.”
“So don’t.” His words were so matter-of-fact that I had to lean forward and study him.
