“I’m okay with whatever you want to do,” Piper says diplomatically.
“What did you have in mind, your highness?” I ask my sister.
“Well, let me think.”
She putters around the bedroom, unzipping her suitcase and putting things away as she chatters about some temporary exhibit at the Met and a maker’s market in Union Square by the Barnes and Noble. I smile and nod, thinking to myself that it’s nice having her here. When I bought this place, it was important to me that she knew it was a safe space, somewhere she could come to when Connecticut and our parents got to be too much. Their constant fighting and mistreatment of each other would be enough to weigh on anyone, but for us kids and the live-in staff, it was frequently overwhelming.
I think the only reason she didn’t move in with me permanently is because our mother threatened to cut her off. And since Eliza had her heart set on going to college abroad, she really took the threat to heart. She shouldn’t have. I would have supported her in any way she needed or wanted, tuition included. I still will, should the need arise.
Eliza and I are all we really have in the world.
Eliza’s phone rings and she curses under her breath.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Mom.” She pouts. “I already talked to her twice. Do I have to answer?”
She turns hopeful, pleading eyes on me as if I have the right to make that decision. If it were me, I would ignore it. But Eliza has a different relationship with our mother than I do. The expectations are different. Our mother was always harder on her thanshe was on me.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” I tell her.
The phone rings and rings. Eliza huffs in frustration. “That’s not an answer.”
“Don’t answer it,” Piper says gently. “She might not give up easily, but eventually she’ll get the point. Overbearing parents can be hard to handle. I would know.”
Eliza tucks her phone away. “I like how you think. Thanks, Piper.”
“You’re welcome.”
Piper looks at me covertly for my reaction. Leaning in, I give her a small kiss on the top of the head the way a doting boyfriend would.
Eliza finishes unpacking with a bit of help from Piper, and then the two women brush past me and go back downstairs, chatting away about some indie rock band as if I’m not even there. Eliza leads the way into the kitchen and pours us all glasses of iced tea, then leads Piper to the living room sofa, leaving me standing there holding my glass like an outsider as they converse like old friends, laughing and cracking jokes. It happens so fast I barely process the way they’ve instantly bonded. I guess they are about the same age, but I had no idea they’d get along so well so quickly.
“So, how long have you and my brother been dating?” Eliza probes. “He’s never serious about anybody, and then you’re suddenly living with him.”
I was heading into the kitchen to leave them alone but divert when I hear the question. Striding to the couch, I put my hands on the back and lean between the two women.
“Let’s go to Chloe and buy you that Marcie bag you wanted for your birthday,” I interrupt.
Piper looks over her shoulder at me. Our eyes catch and there’s a glimmer of amusement in her gaze that I haven’t seen before. My behavior with my sister is out of character for me in Piper’s eyes, I’m sure. This is a look behind the scenes that I wasn’t expecting her to witness.
“I knew I loved you!” Eliza sets her glass down on the coffee table and pops off the sofa. “I’m going to go change real quick. Give me a few minutes.”
“Do you think your sister suspects anything?” Piper whispers nervously.
“Nope. You’re doing great.”
I reach over the back of the sofa and put my hands on her shoulders. Gently kneading the muscles between her neck and shoulders, I lean low and whisper in her ear, “Keep putting on a good performance and I’ll reward you later.”
She sighs softly and I’m not sure if it’s from the massage, or my promise.
“You mean, like you did last night?” she asks.
My cock twitches. “Better.”
Leaning her head back, she looks up at me and whispers. “What could be better than an orgasm marathon?”
“My cock in your?—"