In a small red coupe at the far corner of the street, Brian was doing his best to avoid getting lucky.
"We have to see my family in a minute. I can't go in there blushing and sweating and... I'm trying to get him down," he groaned.
Toni nodded thoughtfully, then ran her tongue up his neck. She pressed her soft breasts against him and moaned into his ear, "I know how to tire him out, lover." Her lips found his again.
She was well-practiced at this sort of thing, but he was practiced in shooting her back down. He held firm. It was a debate they had been having for the better part of an hour.
With her white blouse, and skirt, and little panting breaths, it had been a debate she was very nearly winning.
Brian glanced down at his pants. "Toni, God... Now look, I'm already leaking."
She pulled her mouth away to see, then leaped for it like an animal. He caught her and pulled her back into the seat. He locked her in with the seatbelt for good measure.
"We're going to sit here and we're gonna talk about something real dull until it goes away."
Her chest heaved as she pouted. She arched back as she caught him looking, and he forced his gaze upward, searching for safer harbor.
Toni's cheeks were as red as his were. Her eyes had a glassy, absent look to them. She was in no state to meet the family yet either.
"We're going to go in, say hi to my brother, and be gone. Ten minutes, at worst," Brian told her, his fingers dancing against the dashboard. It was the fourth time that day he had said it. "In, out, done."
Toni eyed him silently from the side, the color in her cheeks already fading.
"In, out, done: That's what I've been begging for," was the joke she had used at breakfast. He hadn't found it very funny then. She hadn't tried it again.
"I don't mind meeting your family," Toni told him, her voice level. "It's a nice little change for us. It means we're moving forward."
"I mind," he grumbled. "I don't like change."
"I know," she said, patting the back of his hand. "But change isn't all bad. I didn't let used to let you play with these, and then that changed." She arched her back again for him to see.
He shut his eyes quickly, grabbed the meat of his thighs, and twisted with all his strength. "Go down" he groaned
After a few minutes of it, and some worried looks from Toni, he gave a shaky nod. "I think that's the best I can do. Let's go."
They emerged into a crisp Fall day and made their way down the sidewalk of an ordinary suburban street. Brian's childhood home was a two-story place. It wasn't an impressive home, but it was a well-kept one.
Too quickly for his liking, they were up the front steps and knocking at the front door. A handsome, squared jaw appeared from the other side.
"Little brother," he nodded. "Little brother's date," he added, nodding again.
Brian pulled open the screen door and ushered his girlfriend through. "Toni, Jonathan. Jonathan, Toni."
His brother and his girlfriend inclined their heads toward one another politely. Toni eyed the kitchen over curiously, taking in the place. Snacks and bags lined the counter, evidence of the gathering to be.
Jonathan, however, had a different expression. He studied the girl for a moment. And his eyebrow rose higher.
"Bathroom?" Toni asked, tugging her skirt back straight.
The boys flicked their heads toward the hallway and watched her vanish. Jonathan turned to Brian and, carefully, he slid a step closer, his eyebrow still lingering upward.
"Well, well, well."
Brian raised an eyebrow back at him, taking crackers from the counter.
"Well, well, what?"
Jonathan gave a slow, dramatic shrug. "I never realized you were so... progressive."
Brian chewed for a moment.
"It is an election year."
His brother took a step closer again, tilting his head the way Toni had gone.
"What does that mean?"
"It means I know. About..." Jonathan tilted his head a little further
"About what?"
"Toni," he whispered. "Her history," he added suggestively.
"Like, she's Italian?"
"That she was a dude in high school," Jonathan groaned, not bothering to whisper.
A thump rang out as the bathroom door opened. The boys jumped as Toni strode back into the room. She slid to a halt, eyeing between them.
"What?"
The brothers shook their heads in unison.
"Could you give us a minute?" Brian asked her.
Jonathan swatted his brother on the shoulder. "That's rude."
Another creak rang out from the other side of the house. A hunched, wide form came into view -their father.
The old man snapped a nod of his head to Brian, then turned toward the newcomer.
"Hey there, dear," he said, shuffling forward to take her hand. "I'm Peter. And you are?"
"Toni," she said with the hint of a curtsey.
"Toni, lovely. Brian, how ya been?"
"Fine. Just wanted to say bye before Jonathan ran off," he added, nodding to his brother. "So, bye," he added flatly.
"Ah, well. He won't be gone long," their father shrugged. "Your uncles should be here in a minute."
Brian pulled his brother by the elbow toward the stairwell. "Uh-huh. Well, we'll be right back."
Toni made to follow and he held up a hand. "It'll just be a minute. Brother stuff."
Reluctantly, Jonathan was dragged up the steps, back toward Brian's old bedroom. The door snapped closed and Brian's eyes promptly bulged from his face.
"What?!" Brian began.
"What?"
"Are you screwing with me?"
"Oh, that? No. Was I not supposed to know?" Jonathan scratched at his chin. "I don't know what you're embarrassed for, I'm the last onethat would care. And Dad... Well, after the things he's caught me doing, he's never disowned me. I think you're safe enough. He did cry a bit once, that was awful, but-"
"Toni's not a man!" Brian hissed.
"I didn't say she was."
Brian grabbed at his hair. "Then what-"
"I just mean that I know she has a penis. Or had? I don't know."
Brain's cheeks glowed red again as he shook his fists at the ground. "No. She. Does. Not."
His brother scratched at his chin. "How sure are you?"
"I'm sure."
"You're not still a-"
Brian pointed a finger at his brother, shutting him up. He hesitated for a moment.
"I am more or less sure."
"Well, I'm almost certain Toni used to be called Max, who was two grades above me. Kind of a lady's man, too, from what I recall. That's a strange turn..."
"So, then it's obviously not her! It was probably her brother, you idiot."
The door cracked open and Toni peered her head inside, blinking at them with wide eyes. She looked around and took in the place.
"Is this your old room?"
"Yes, but check out that other room!" Brian shouted, rushing to turn her back around.
"Rude!" Jonathan cut in, slapping his brother on the shoulder again.
He pulled the door open wider and tugged her inside by the hand. "Come on in, dear. He's just embarrassed. I don't know why. All these adorable little figurines. This library of cartoon books... Not just some childish collection, mind you, those ones he got last year."
"Boys!" their father shouted from the stairwell. "Come help me set the table!"
"We're not staying!" Brian yelled.