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“I didn’t know I was kidnapping you.” His voice held a tone of humor that I wasn’t sharing.
We’d dropped Mom and Dad off at the airport that morning. I hadn’t even bothered getting out of the car to see them off. Now Austin and I were headed toward North Carolina where he was meeting with one of the companies who had an offer in for his gaming stuff.
North Carolina? Really? I sighed against the window and watched the scenery go by on the other side.
“Nina,” He kept trying to start conversations with me. He wanted to talk about my friends, he wanted to hear all about my art, he kept asking if I had a boyfriend. I wasn’t falling for any of it. He didn’t give a shit about me or what I wanted to do with my life, he was on Mom and and Dad’s side, so convinced that his way was the best way and that money was the equivalent of success in life. “It wasn’t my idea, you know.”
I was listening, but I didn’t want him to know it.
“They’re just worried about you. They don’t understand the art thing. To them, that stuff is just a hobby. It’s not a job. They don’t see how it’s going to pay for you to make a living.
When they started talking about leaving you with me for the summer…” He sighed deeply in sudden frustration.
Silence hung between us for awhile before he started over. “They thought I would be a good influence on you if you stayed with me over the summer.”
I leaned back in my chair and shifted my sullen gaze to the windshield. I sighed.
“I thought it was important for you to spend the summer with your friends.” Austin’s voice was low, almost sad, “I never really had that chance, you know? I just hit the ground running and haven’t stopped.”
He sounded sincere. Maybe I’d stop giving him the silent treatment. I turned to look at him. He was concentrating on driving, his eyes locked on the road ahead of him. Up close he was more than just sexy, he was beautiful. I wanted to reach over and run my fingers along his jawline where I could see the muscles tensing. “They never even talked to me about it,” I said. “They don’t talk to me about anything. They don’t know anything about my plans or what I want to do with my life. All they talk about is you.”
Austin glanced at me for a moment and then smiled kinda apologetically, “Yeah well, if it makes you feel better, they don’t think what I do is a real job either.”
I laughed. A genuine laugh that escaped me despite myself, “I heard that. Last night at dinner. Jesus, Austin! You could be a fucking billionaire by just saying ‘yes’ and Mom still thinks you need to ‘get serious’ about your career!”
We both laughed, a mix of empathy and conspiracy with a tinge of irritation to it. It was good to laugh with him. It felt like we were on the same team. We were finally starting to get to know each other.
I had no idea that Austin felt like he was just as big a disappointment to the folks as I did. At least he was going to be stinking rich. Turns out, that wasn’t really enough for them though. They’d been hassling him for years to stop “playing games” and “get serious” about his programming career. They didn’t care about how much money was in the gaming industry, they didn’t see it as a real job. They were actually worried about his offers, they thought if he made so much money so young that he wouldn’t stay motivated to continue working. They worried he’d end up some billionaire playboy, gallivanting around the world sleeping with a thousand bimbos and doing cocaine on his private mega yacht.
I laughed at the notion. Even the new, super-hot Austin didn’t really seem the cocaine-snorting mega yacht type. He was still passionate about his work. He really did it because he loved it.
“What about you?” He turned the conversation to me. We were finally enjoying our road trip. It felt great to laugh and joke and really talk to the mysterious genius I’d never really gotten to know. “Seriously, Neen, why don’t you have a boyfriend?”
I shifted uncomfortably in the bucket seat. It’s always struck me as a stupid question. I have no idea how to answer it, “Umm. Because boys just don’t like me?” I offered it as a reason, but it really was a question. I had no idea why I didn’t have a boyfriend. Somewhere, deep down, I suspected it was the truth— boys just weren’t into me.
Austin flat out guffawed. He actually made a noise that made me realize I’d never really known what a “guffaw” was until just then. “Nina, are you serious? Why wouldn’t boys like you?”
“Hello? Have you seen me? I’m a troll!” I was laughing, but at the same time, this was uncomfortable for me. After all these years, my geek brother had turned into a sex god— a soon to be filthy rich sex god. But me? I was just the same dopey little girl I’d always been.
Austin had stopped laughing. He eyed me sternly for a moment before he turned his attention back to the road, “Nina, you are not a troll.” He said it seriously. Very seriously. With the same tone I imagined a doctor would use when telling a patient they had cancer.
“Gee, thanks, I think? You don’t have to sound so disappointed about it.”
We had reached our destination; a small bungalow style house on a large lot that ended in the Atlantic Ocean. Austin parked the car in the driveway and began hauling our luggage inside. “It’s only got two bedrooms,” he called out as he headed down the hall with my bags.
I stood in front of the French doors in the living room that opened onto a large wood deck and looked out on the beach. It looked like a cottage from a postcard or something. Maybe staying with my brother all summer wasn’t going to be so painful after all.
I followed the sound of Austin’s voice down the hallway to the room he’d designated as mine.
“It was built with three bedrooms,” He was explaining as he set my bags on the double bed. Another set of French doors were in this room. They opened onto a private patio on the side of the house, overlooking a little garden area. “…had the third room converted to an office since I’ll be able to work from home mostly. It doesn’t have it’s own bathroom, but it’s got a big closet.” He opened a small door to reveal a walk in closet that was big enough to be used as another bedroom.
I was impressed. I’d have never guessed that skinny little door hid such a huge closet. I started rearranging my bags and unpacking clothes, “Wait.” Suddenly what he was saying was sinking in, “You own this house?” I asked.
He looked at me sheepishly, “Yeah, I bought it as soon as WPA made an offer.”
“You already accepted, didn’t you?” I accused, mockingly. “You big liar! I can’t believe you told Mom and Dad that you hadn’t made up your mind yet!” I was laughing at hi
m and throwing socks and shoes at him from my suitcase.
I liked this sneaky Austin who wasn’t busy kissing our parents’ asses. Maybe we had more in common than I thought.
He laughed and tried to dodge a pair of canvas tennies, “I told you!” He blocked the swipe I took at him with my arm, “Mom doesn’t think playing video games is a career.” He’d caught me by my wrists and was trying to pin me so I couldn’t kick him, “She wants me to get a real job.” I managed to pull one of his feet out from under him, causing him to lose balance. He begin a slow fall toward the bed with my wrists still held fast against his chest.
I felt the weight of his body pressing me into the soft bed as he landed on top of me. Our hands were trapped between us, I could feel the definition of his abs. I could feel the beat of his heart against my breasts, which were smashed against his rock hard chest. One of his hands was pinned in an awkward position that almost— but not quite— put it directly on my boob.
I felt my nipples harden against him. I felt the heat pooling between my legs. My giggles caught and lodged in my throat somewhere between my gasp of surprise at the fall and my gasp of surprise at my arousal.
For a moment, his eyes were on mine with that same intensity as when he’d seen me walk in at the banquet hall. I’d have expected any other boy to kiss me right then, I almost thought Austin was going to kiss me right then. I thought I felt him starting to get hard against my thigh.
We both went silent while we stared at each other for an amazingly awkward, suspenseful, erotic eternity. And then he was back on his feet and walking out the door like nothing had happened. He was saying something about checking into dinner. He sounded so casual, maybe I was imagining the slight hoarseness in his voice?
I collapsed back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to quiet my pulse while wondering if that had really just happened? Or almost happened? Was it possible that I wasn’t the only one who was feeling some sexual tension here?
