“Rocky was okay until they tried to catch him. I can still hear the critter-catcher guy screaming as Rocky bit him. Something I could never figure out was how you lured him into Chelsea’s bedroom. I know for a fact you would never have picked him up.”
“Marshmallows,” Brook said, obviously proud of herself. “I left a little trail, and he waddled right in. All I had to do was shut the door. You’re lucky it wasn’t the skunk. Rocky scared him off when he saw free food.”
“Bitch,” Chelsea said, which made us all smile a little more. “He was sort of cute.”
It was going to be a perfect weekend with these two around.
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Chapter 3 – Too Big Saturday January 21
Brook’s parents had moved into an attractive three-bedroom home across the street from her grandmother’s place. Cassidy slept in Brook’s room while I got the next room over. I snuck into Brook’s bedroom before her parents had awakened.
I found Brook awake, and she smiled at me. She put her finger over her mouth and pointed to Cassidy, sleeping next to her like a baby. We’d been up late with Brook’s cousins and the rest of her relatives. I learned that Brook wasn’t the only prankster in the family as they told stories of what they’d done to each other growing up.
Last night had put me in the mindset to have a little fun myself. My sleeping friend Cassidy gave me the perfect opportunity. I also owed her because she’d gotten a little too comfortable bossing me around.
It never really bothered me because I knew that Cassidy didn’t have a mean bone in her body. Yes, she would occasionally make a boy squeal in pain, but that was because she felt she was righting a wrong. Cassidy never did anything more than some light teasing.
There were two reasons for her being bossy with me. First, she knew I was a softy and would do absolutely anything for her; I’d made it clear that all she had to do was ask. Unlike my other friends—Wolf and Pam were good examples—she took me at my word and would just tell me what she wanted.
Wolf had grown up without much and didn’t ever want to accept what he considered charity. I hoped that on our last trip, he’d started to get past that attitude. Pam liked to get my attention, and we played a cute game of her coming to me with requests for my son. I sometimes had to reject her requests because I think she liked to see how far I would go.
The second reason that Cassidy acted bossy was that she was trying to find a balance between her job as my security and us being close friends. I realized that once she figured that out, things would be easier for her … and me.
Brook’s eyes got big when I stripped off and slid into bed behind Cassidy. She was sleeping in a flannel pajama set that kept her toasty warm. My well-thought-out plan was for her to wake up when I snuggled up to her. But she kept on lightly snoring.
I decided to up the ante and slipped my hand inside her top and put my palm on her tummy. When she still didn’t wake up, I pulled her tight against me.
Luckily, Mr. Happy was being well-behaved. He seemed to understand that Cassidy was a no-go zone for multiple reasons. I decided to wait Cassidy out.
◊◊◊
I woke to Cassidy looking me in the eye. She leaned forward and kissed my nose.
“As enjoyable as it would be to have you in my arms all day, we need to get up soon,” she said and then smiled. “And you better take your hand off my butt.”
Yep. Somehow my hand had found its way under her pajamas, and I had a handful. I just left it there.
“We should talk,” Cassidy said.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Brook is having some problems with the girls at her school, two in particular. They’re implying that she’s a slut because that would be the only way she could land you as a boyfriend.”
“What am I supposed to do about it?” I asked.
“I don’t think she wants you to do anything, but we’re going to a party they’re throwing tonight. You should be aware in case she gets mad and takes them out,” Cassidy warned.
“Destiny Crown learned the hard way not to mess with Brook,” I said with a little smile at the memory. “I can’t really see her doing that at an all-girls boarding school.”
“No, she probably won’t. You can help her by being Mr. Charming and winning over her classmates.”
“That I can do,” I agreed.
“There’s something else. Brook doesn’t want to have sex with you this weekend.”
I stuck my bottom lip out and pouted. Cassidy patted my cheek.
“It’ll be okay. She doesn’t want to make leaving you any harder than it already is. She misses you,” Cassidy explained.
“Her cousins are cute,” I said, perking up as dirty thoughts of a threesome ran through my head.
Cassidy glanced down because someone decided to poke her in her stomach.
“You do that, and I’ll snap your little friend off,” Cassidy advised.
Just like magic, my swelling went away. The next time I had a problem at school, I would go find Cassidy and have her threaten to rip my manhood off. Who was I kidding? That would be a terrible idea. She might take me at my word.
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