Estranged Siblings: Ep7
A little more than ninety minutes after he got home, he heard keys in the door and wandered over to greet her.
“Seriously, piss off, TJ!”
“Come on, don’t be so cold, bitch.”
Andre frowned and yanked the door open. Cassandra gripped the handle tight, so she stumbled inside, away from their neighbor and into Andre’s arms.
He noted the big man had been standing entirely too close to Cassandra. TJ shifted his bleary eyes to look into Andre’s dark eyes.
“Don’t call Cassandra a bitch. Don’t touch her. Never again. Do you hear me?” Andre growled menacingly as he gently eased his sister behind him.
TJ blinked at the rage he saw building in those dark eyes. Even baked as he was, he recognized the threat of the smaller man. It felt like he was facing down a rabid animal, one twitch away from ripping his face off with his teeth! He raised his palms in surrender as he leaned away and stepped back toward his door across the hall.
“It’s cool! Jus’ trying to be frien’ly. Shit,” TJ grumbled. He never looked away from Andre’s eyes until he closed his door between them.
Intensely aware of Cassandra’s hands resting on his back, Andre carefully stepped back and closed the door to lock it. She rested her forehead on his shoulder and released the breath she’d been holding.
“Are you okay, Cassandra?” Andre asked.
She sighed and stepped back from him. “Yes. Sorry. I just didn’t need to deal with that asshole at the end of my day.”
Andre nodded as he turned to face her. He struggled to keep his eyes from roaming over her body. She sighed and took her jacket off. His resolve crumbled as her heavy breasts pressed tightly against her cream blouse. He drank in the sight, then raised his eyes to hers and caught the tail end of a little smile as she turned and headed for her room.
“Dinner smells fabulous! I’ll be right out. Thanks for saving me from TJ,” she said over her shoulder as she away walked down the hall. Andre’s eyes were trapped by the sight of her ass in the tight skirt. Then she closed her door behind her, and Andre was freed from her spell.
He picked up her purse and placed it on the kitchen counter. He pulled her cell from it to plug it in.
Going back to the hall, he took her dress shoes from the carryall and cleaned them with an old rag from the hall closet. The carryall went into the kitchen, where he pulled the lunch bag from it.
The carryall was stored on the corner of the kitchen counter for the morning.
He washed his hands, then the spoon from the lunch bag. That went back into the lunch bag with another pudding. This went into the fridge for now. He’d finish making his sister’s lunch from the leftover roast later tonight.
Dinner was almost ready, so he put the breadstick into the oven next to the roasting pan. He heard the bathroom door close and glanced at the clock on the stove. He hoped she wouldn’t be long as he didn’t want to overcook the roast.
Everything had to be perfect for her.
-=-
Cassandra washed her face and tried to shake off the tingles her body was still going through after teasing Andre. She dried her face, then looked in the mirror with an angry scowl. How was she treating him any different than Gloria had? He was a young male. His hormones probably controlled him, and she was teasing him? What the fuck was wrong with her?
She needed to stop thinking of him in terms of being male. He was her brother! They may have had different mothers, but they shared the same demon as their father! She grit her teeth as a flare of rage shot through her. She’d promised herself she’d stop thinking of that monster.
The way Andre came to her rescue tonight returned to her thoughts unbidden.
The moment she’d reached her door, TJ stepped out of his and began pressing himself against her. When her door suddenly opened, she’d fallen in, landing against the solid muscles of Andre’s chest. His powerful hands and arms guided her behind him as he faced off against the bigger man without hesitation. She’d immediately felt safer.
She saw the look on her neighbor’s face. Even stoned as the big man was, he was frightened of Andre! That sent a surge of lust through her, and she’d rested her hands against her brother’s back. The hard slabs of muscle in his back were trembling with restrained power, and that felt… so good!
When the danger was over, she knew she had to rein it in, but she couldn’t stop herself from arching her back as she took her jacket off, which pressed her girls tight against her shirt. She caught Andre’s wide-eyed appreciation of that. Another flash of lust shot through her and put a wiggle in her hips as she walked to her bedroom.
Andre never shortened her name. Never Cass or Sandy or even Sandra, always Cassandra. She loved the way he said it, too. Like she was royalty or someone significant. Hearing her name from his lips made her feel special.
It was only once she was behind her door that her guilt crashed through her. Her sexual frustration must be getting out of control. She’d glanced to her bedside table where her rubber friend waited in the drawer for their next date.
She’d pulled off her clothes and put on her comfy clothes, yoga pants, a tank, and a t-shirt. As she hated wearing bras at home and her girls couldn’t go without some support, she’d taken to wearing tight tank tops under the loose t-shirt. She’d run out of her own tanks, so she’d borrowed one of Andre’s.
As she now stood in the bathroom, giving herself a troubled look in the mirror, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about how his tank top was squeezing her breasts so well.
“Dinner!” Andre called out from the kitchen.
She sighed and left the bathroom.
The scent of the roast pork was accompanied by the delicious aroma of… fresh-baked bread?
She went down the hall and avoided walking through the tiny kitchen by walking through the living room to get to the table next to the window.
“You have classes tomorrow night, right?” Andre asked. She nodded. “You didn’t update the calendar,” he gestured to the fridge where they kept their schedule.
“Sorry. I’ll do it after dinner. It smells amazing, by the way! You’re going to make some lucky girl a wonderful househusband.”
He glanced at her in confusion, but she just shook her hand with a gesture to say ignore her.
She sat in her customary place, and he set her plate down before her. Her mouth watered as the delicious smells reached her nose. The pork looked juicy and tender, as did the carrots and potatoes. Then he brought a basket of baguette pieces, fresh-cut and steaming. He brought out the butter for the bread and veggies. He poured her a glass of water and one for him.
She watched him with a smile as he finally sat across from her. “Above and beyond, Andre!”
He smiled at her, and she saw him relax a little with her compliment. They’d been living together for two years, and it worried her he still seemed to expect criticisms and cruel insults. The damage Gloria caused ran deep.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
She turned to her plate and began eating. The roast was perfect, as were the veggies. She slathered some butter on the bread. The crust was crispy, yet the inside was so soft. “This is so good!” she sighed, and Andre smiled as he turned his attention to his own plate.
They enjoyed the meal in comfortable silence.
“Is there anything good to watch tonight?” she asked.
His face fell. “I forgot to look at the listings.”
“It’s cool! We’ll look after dinner,” she hurried to ease his mind.
He nodded and looked in the bowl for another piece of bread. Only the two end pieces remained. He glanced over at Cassandra, who was enjoying the last slice. He smiled and buttered one of the remaining pieces and popped it into his mouth. He took his plate and cutlery to the sink and quickly washed them.
When Cassandra pushed back from her plate, he looked at her to see if she was done. She nodded with a blissful smile, so he immediately collected her items and washed them as she wandered into the living room and dropped herself onto the couch with the TV remote. She flipped through the limited channels they had. The selection of shows was pretty slim. She finally settled on a crappy movie where young teens got into mischief as they tried to lose their virginity. She swore there must be thousands of similar films, and all were bad! But it was this, sports, news, or some religious channel with an old guy wailing about sinners going to hell.
As she waited for Andre to join her, she evaluated the actors’ looks in the movie. The main male lead was attractive enough in a pleasant way. The female lead was a goddess disguising herself behind bad hair and thick-framed glasses. It was one of those right in front of your face stories.
“Anything good?” Andre asked as he sat next to her. He glanced at her curiously with an eager smile.
She snorted. “TV and good are mutually exclusive terms tonight. All we have is this teen comedy.”
They sat together quietly, watching the high school seniors navigating their way through the warped reality of their final year in school.
Cassandra glanced over at Andre, and his eyes flicked to her. A wicked thought slipped into her head, and she grinned mischievously. She moved closer and gently pressed against his side. That felt good!
“So, is this how your senior year is progressing? Are the cheerleaders all chasing after you, trying to steal kisses in the hallways, pull you into the locker room?”
Andre’s eyes widened as he shook his head vehemently.
She gave him a skeptical look. “Oh, come on! They must melt like butter when they eye this beefy body of yours!” She poked a finger against the thick, hard muscle of his chest. D-did it feel harder tonight? She trembled and struggled to hide her need.
Andre’s eyes fluttered when she touched him, then he was looking at her with an intensity that sent tingles through her.
“No–no, they don’t look at me like that. I sit next to some of them in my classes, and they don’t talk to me. But I don’t talk to them either,” he admitted.
“You should talk to them! You should ask one out on a date!” she insisted, wanting her brother to find happiness, even as it evaded her.
He shook his head. “I can’t. They have boyfriends. Besides, I don’t think they like me,” he replied.
Movie forgotten, Cassandra turned to face him on the couch, her legs pressing against his, and looked into his eyes with a troubled expression on her face. “How could they possibly not like you! You’re a wonderful person! You’re also so handsome, smart, and… built!” She bit her lip as she let her eyes drink in his powerful arms.
She wanted them wrapped around her, but that was wrong!
Wasn’t it?