I’ve heard of Jack, but he’s certainly not a *little* cousin. *Younger* or *youngest* cousin would be a better term for the big boy. At eighteen, he stands well over six feet and with his broad shoulders heavily muscled, I’m guessing he’s over two-hundred pounds, maybe even closer to three-hundred.
“Hi, nice to meet you, Abigale.” He smiles on one side of his mouth and holds his big hand out to me.
I take it, my chest tightening as I prepare for a tight squeeze, but he applies a firm yet gentle handshake.
I smile up at him. Being five-one always has me looking up at people, but being over a foot shorter is pretty rough. “I’ve heard so much about you. These two are always saying you’re getting away with murder over at your grandparent’s.”
Jack laughs, a deep rich tone. He glances at his cousins, Rebecca and Vicky. “They’re just jealous since I’m the favorite.”
My best friend, Rebecca rolls her eyes. “Babies are always the favorite.” She launches into a story about Jack doing the exact same thing she had done a year prior and getting no flack while she’d been grounded for a month.
Jack laughs along with her story and takes his bar stool seat at the kitchen countertop. He glances at me several times during her story and his honey-brown eyes rapture my own. His gaze so intense, I have to look away.
Vicky, Rebecca’s younger sister, also chimes in with an example of her own.
The way they both referred to him as a baby or little comes off strange. The two of them are tall and athletic girls, both five-ten, and Jack’s older sisters, Cassy and Erica, who I’d met a couple years ago are also five-eight or nine, again, athletic. I suppose the family has some strong genes.
When Becca and Vic finish teasing him, they move into the kitchen and start making lunch.
Jack pulls the seat next to him and nods. “Have a seat.”
“Thanks.” While he can reach the ground with his feet, the stool is far too tall for me to reach anything other than the foot rung. “So, you’re out here for two weeks?”
Jack shrugged. “I might stay longer, but I have to be back by August at the latest.”
“Your parents didn’t buy your return ticket?” I chuckle.
He laughs again.
This time, being so close, it rumbles through me, tensing my spine since it also warms my core. *Jesus, Abby. He’s a fucking kid. Get it together.*
“My parents didn’t buy my plane ticket out here.”
“What? Your grandparents then?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “No. I bought it.”
I whistle. “Wow. I’m sure that’s not cheap. Halfway across the country.”
“First class.”
“What? No. Why?”
He shrugs his well-built shoulders. “I’m a big boy, need my leg room.”
I laugh at that. “I guess that makes sense. What do you do for work? Mow lawns or something?”
Jack and his cousins laugh.
Rebecca smiles at her younger cousin, beaming pride. “Jack’s kind of rich because of some website thing.”
“Elegantly said.” Jack turns to me with a winner’s grin and a mountain of confidence in his eyes. “I made a website when I was ten, and I sold it at sixteen for a hefty amount, invested into another site that I run now with a subscription service.”
“Really? What website?” I ask.
“The one I sold was a little game site. Got a few million for it.”
“A few million!” I interrupt. “You say it like it’s nothing.”
“I mean, if I had kept the money, I’d say it with more gusto.” He smiles and shrugs. “But I put most of it into the other site.”
“What’s that website?” I ask.
Vicky stops with the food prep and flicks her long turquoise hair over one ear. “Yeah, Jack, what is that website?”
Rebecca stops cutting the bell pepper in front of her and eyes Jack.
Jack shrugs. “I’m in a contract that I can’t say the name of the website or any of its affiliate sites, which I am allowed to say there are none at this time, but plans are in the works.”
Rebecca and Vicky groan.
“You’re going to tell us what it is.” Rebecca says, pointing her knife at him.
“Don’t you own the site?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
“Doesn’t that mean that you’re in a contract with yourself?” I raise a brow.
“Well… Yes and no. I mean, legally speaking, I’m in a contract with the company. Now, I *own* the company, so the only person who’s going to be able to reprimand me for breaking company policy would be me, *but* I have a little something called integrity.” He shrugs again.
His cousins huff their frustration.
I giggle at how silly it is to be in a contract with yourself. “That’s no fun.”
“Legal shit is hardly ever fun but remove the legal stuff and I’m a ball.”
“Oh? A ball?” I laugh.
We eat chicken and rice with an Asian sauce for lunch and the conversation shifts from one thing to another.
When we finish, Vicky gets a text.
“Fuck,” she shouts. “Becca, can we go get Tyler? His fucking car just broke down and he’s stranded at work.”
Rebecca laughs. “Damn. Right after yours breaks?”
“That’s a sign.” Jack moves over to the couch and turns on the tv. “God doesn’t want you with that guy.”
“Shut it.” Vicky frowns.
Jack chuckles and flips on the tv. When the TiVo profile loads, he tilts his head back and laughs. “I could take a whole hour making fun of this recently watched section. You guys actually watch this kind of shit? *Ha-ha*!”
“Shut it!” The sisters say in unison. They’re three years apart, but before Vicky dyed her hair, they could be mistaken for twins with how in sync they are.
Rebecca sighs. “Fine, let’s go get him. Abby, you mind watching Jack while we’re gone? I’d take you but it’d be a tight fit with all five of us.”
“Watch me? The fuck?” Jack scoffs. “Am I twelve? Why don’t you just let Vic go if your so worried about me?”
“No one drives this bitch’s car, but this bitch.” I grin at her as I take a seat on the end of the couch. “You’re cool to go. I charge 15 dollars an hour for babysitting.”
Rebecca rolls her eyes. “Okay, we’ll be back in like an hour or something.”
Once they’re gone Jack flicks through the selection on the screen. “What do you think? Super dark and overcast day like this would be good for a horror movie?”
I shrug. “Sure. Why not?”
Jack gets up from the couch and opens the top of the coffee table that doubles as storage. “Only one way to watch a scary movie and that’s huddled in fear under a blanket.”
I giggle. Jack huddled if fear? Yeah right.
“*Oooh*, you want to play a little game while where at it?”
“What game?”
Jack goes to the kitchen and pulls out a bottle of rum. “Every time we yelp or scream, we drink.”
I burst into laughter. *Jesus Christ! This kid is bad.* “I think not. Put it back.”
His grin doesn’t falter, as if he somehow got what he wanted. “You’re right. It wouldn’t be fair.” He turns and puts the booze away.
“Unfair because you’ve never tasted alcohol and I have?”
He chuckles. “Trust me. You sell a company for 3.8 million and no one gives a shit how old you are.” He sits next to me on the couch and throws the blanket over both of us.
“A little close, don’t you think?”
“You need something to grab on to when you get scared.” His sly grin would have me cuddling up to him if he weren’t a kid.
I know he’s not actually a kid, he’s eighteen, but with my thirtieth looming in a couple months, anything under twenty-one is like a kid to me.
“I’m not making a move on you, Abigale. Bec and Vic will be back before I’d finish teasing you into a frenzy, let alone started anything more serious.” He gives me a nudge with his elbow. “It’s just for the movie. It’s fun to be scared and hold on to each other as if we were there. You know?”
Alarm bells blare but his soft, warm eyes silence them. For some reason, God only knows why, I trust him.
“Okay. But one ‘*mistake*,’ one little slip up, and I’m beating your ass and then telling your cousins so they can beat your ass, too.”
“I most certainly don’t want that. You can trust me.” He wiggles his elbow. “Arm’s right here when you need to hide like a wuss.”
I frown at him. “I won’t be needing it.”
An hour in and I have my face buried in his massive bicep while I cling to the rest of his arm. *Shit, this is terrifying!* Even Jack got scared enough to jump once.
I can’t help but shake like a leaf against him. Possession stories always get me the worst. During a small lull in the drama, I realize how much I’ve clung to him.
My fingers dig into his bulging bicep and the crook of his elbow, while my legs wrap around his arm and hand. His fingers grip the back of my thigh while his other hand holds my wrist.
If it weren’t for this shit being truly scary, I’d slap him for his hand on my thigh, but that really is more my fault from seeing the demon pop out of the dead caretaker. Still, he’s ten years younger than me!
I move off him and he holds on for an extra second before glancing at me and then his hands. “Oh! Sorry.” He lets go of my wrist and thigh. “Shit’s crazy, right?”
I’m thankful he didn’t try to push it. It’s clear he has the hots for me, most guys do as long as they like dark hair, tattoos and piercings, but I appreciate his willingness to let go seeing as he got further than he ever should have.
“Yeah. This is going to give me nightmares.”
Jack chuckles. “You don’t want to go to sleep when Vezzial-fuck is around.”
I laugh, but twenty minutes later, I’m nearly pissing myself, clinging to Jack with my eyes peeking up behind his shoulder, ready to bury my head into his back if I need to.
And I do. The demon, Vezzial jump scares us and I dive behind Jack, screaming like a bitch. The movie ends with a fucking cliffhanger, and I sigh in relief and dismay. “Fuck! Do you think he got Monica?”
“Was that the blonde or the brunette?”
I smack his shoulder. “The blonde, you dummy.”
He chuckles. “Sorry. I’m fucking horrible with names. Uh… Yeah, I think blondy got got.”
“No! She doesn’t deserve it!”
“We can find out.” Jack nods to the screen and it shows part two is available.
I bite my lip and give in. “Okay, but wait. I have to go to the bathroom.” I hop off the couch and take care of business. When I come back out, Jack is in the kitchen eating from a little Tupperware container. “What’s that?”
“A little snack.” His eyes land on me like a predator about to attack his prey. He grins and chuckles, hanging his head and eating more.
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
I come into the kitchen with him to get the bowl of grapes I saw earlier. “It’s not nothing. What?”
Jack grins at his food. “I almost said something I shouldn’t have. Sorry.”
I should leave it. He said sorry and he even restrained himself from saying whatever it was. No need to scold him or ask, “What we’re you going to say?” *Fuck!*
“I wanted to say, that this is a snack, like you.” His eyes drill into me and I nearly drop the bowl.
“Jack!” Heat splashes my checks as I save the grapes.
Confidence radiates from him and he chuckles again. “Yeah, that’s why I didn’t say it. But I’m guessing you know what you look like, so, that wouldn’t be news to you.”
I pop a grape in my mouth. “Stop thinking about what I look like.”
“But there’s so much to think about. Is that a full back tat I see peeking out?”
“Yes. But you can forget about it.”
“I have most of my back done already. Wanted to get it done first since it would take the longest.”
My eyes narrow. “There’s no way you have a back tat.”
He turns his back and pulls the collar of his shirt to show the ink down at his hips. “Don’t tell Bec or Vicky. We’re going swimming on Tuesday, and I want them to be shocked along with everybody else.”
“Let me see.” I rush up to him, my love of tattoos overriding my sense of caution. I lift the hem of his shirt to reveal an incredible work of art. It’s a fine line, black and grey woman’s face with a skull morph off the back. Tombstones, dead trees and swirling leaves make up the background. “Holy fuck! How did you get this?”
“Money.”
“You know what I mean! You’re only eighteen. You’re a kid!”
He turns his head over his shoulder. “I’m not a kid.”
I frown up at him before going back to his marvelous tat. “I know you’re not really. But a whole back piece?”
He scoffs. “Yeah, I like tattoos.”
“What else you got?” I pop another grape in my mouth, letting go of his shirt and leaning against the counter.
He turns all the way around. “I showed you mine, you show me yours.”
“Jack!” I smile and eat another grape.
“What? Fair is fair.”
“Life isn’t fair.”
He grins that crazy cocky smile of his. “Not all trades are one-for-one, I get that. What do I need to give to get to see that ink?”
“What’s that website you run?”
“Well, my current site is a bit…” He leans down to me a blocks his mouth from one side with a hand. “…risqué. So, I don’t know if you want to hear about that.”
“Oh? I’ll listen, what is it?”
He waves his hands and shakes his heads. “No, no, I can’t. I’ve said too much.”
“Oh, come on. You can’t tease me like that?”
He steps forward. “How can tease you?”
*Any way you want.* I snap back to my senses and grab onto my inner bitch to keep him at bay. “Jack. It’s not happening.”
He fucking smiles as if that’s exactly what he wants to hear! He reaches into the bowl and takes a grape. “That’s fine. Seeing you blush is fun enough.”
“I did not blush! You wish.”
He leans down to me his eyes digging into mine, spreading heat throughout my body and across my face.
His smile is to die for.
“I see a little color under that moon kissed skin.”
“Moon kissed?” I don’t know what that means but it sounds nice.
“It’s a term for sexy pale skin.”
I can’t keep the smile off my face. “You’re so bad.”
He stands upright and walks to the living room. “You want to talk about bad? Vezzial is bad. Let’s watch the next movie.”
I restrain myself from running to the couch and the extra moment brings up a question. “Geez, where are your fucking cousins?”
I flip my phone open, but no messages show up.
*Me: Where the fuck r u?*
I wait a moment and my face drops in dismay at the response.
*Rebecca: Shitfaced*
*You fucking dumb bitch!*
*Me: what the fuck am I supposed to do w/ Jack? u shouldve been back 30min ago!*
*Rebecca: don’t bring him here. Take him to grandparents house then get over here. Tyler has moonshine!*
*Me: u fucking owe me. And more than just gas money.*
“Looks like your cousins got dunked in moonshine so I’m taking you back to your grandparents.”
“Why?” Jack pulled the blanket up, offering me my spot. “We can’t go without finding out what happened to Monica.”
“Maybe I want to get dunked in moonshine.”
Jack laughs. “With the same people you see every week, when you could hang out with someone new? And if it’s booze you want, rum is better. Moonshine will get you drunk faster, but the spices in the rum will make you feel more alive.”
“I’m not drinking with you, Jack.” I frown at him, masking my face’s desire to smile. *God, he’s a silver-tongued devil.*
“Right, because you’re more scared of what you’ll do to me after getting drunk you are the crazy sleep demon.”
“No, the crazy sleep demon is way worse.”
He nods to the cupboard above the fridge. “Prove it.”
I pout my bottom lip. “Awe, too bad I’m so short. Can’t reach.”
He stands with that delectable grin. “Good thing you have a big, strong man to help you out.”
I bark a laugh and put the grapes away. “What does strong have to do with picking up—”
Jack’s hands grip my waist and lift me up to sit on one of his bulky shoulders. “I’m just here to help. Like that little angel on the side of your shoulder, when you have to make a decision, except in this case I have you on my shoulder.”
My hand grips his chin, but with one of his hands on my back and the other on my legs, I’m not going anywhere. “You, Jack, are the fucking devil.”
He barks a laugh. “No. I’m the angel.”
“Telling me to get drunk with my best friend’s, eighteen-year-old, baby cousin?”
“You forgot ‘fun’ in there somewhere. Come on. What’s it going to hurt? We’re not going to fuck, or anything like that. I’m flirty but it’s just for fun.”
My hand pulls on the cupboard, and I take the rum out. “I swear. You get a little too handsy, you whip your dick out or try to brush it against me, anything, we’re done, and I’m telling Rebecca and Vicky that you lied and tried to fuck me.”
“Deal.”
“No deal.” I pull the rum to my side as if he’s not already holding me and can take it if he wants to. “You are going to tell me what your website is.”
He lowers me to the ground and pulls out shot glasses. “Then we’re changing the game. Or playing another one on top of that. We’ll play a modified truth or dare. The modification is we can only dare after five drinks.” He grins that mother fucking, perfect, movie star, cocky fucking grin. “No sex dares, either. Okay? Can’t dare me to show you my dick, I can’t dare you to walk around with your tits out, none of that. So it’s more like Truth and sometimes non-sexy Dare. You down?”
Source: reddit.com/r/Erotica/comments/vlb09s/my_best_friends_baby_cousin_ch_1_plot_teasing_age
More please