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.
"Bah!"
"You guys should stay for dinner," Jonathan whispered, throwing his arm across Toni's shoulder. "I'm going to be gone at least until Christmas, after all."
Toni shrugged. "I wouldn't mind."
"We'd have to change our plans. I don't like-"
"Change, I know," Jonathan said. "But she doesn't mind change, Brian. Think about Toni."
"Is it okay? I can go help set up," Toni said, brushing herself softly against him. "I'd like it."
His jaw quivered and, reluctantly, Brian nodded. With a grin, she stretched up and kissed him on the cheek. "Great!"
As she pulled herself away, she saw his white-knuckled grip on the bedpost. She saw his wide, frightened eyes on hers. She raised a questioning eyebrow and he turned away. She slipped from the room more concerned than ever.
A whispering argument broke out as soon as she went down the steps. The door clicked shut and the sound cut off.
Were they fighting? It was hard to tell with families.
"Hello again, dear," Pete rumbled to her, cutting off the line of thought. "Don't you try helping now. That's for those monkeys. Where'd they go?"
"Just catching up, I suppose" she frowned. "Can I get you another?" She asked, nodding to his empty glass.
"Enh, the red, would you?" He nodded to a bottle of wine behind her. "Gotta have wine with dinner. Healthier, you know? Well, you don't know. You two are still kids."
"I think your whiskey sounded better," she said, flashing him a wink.
She turned a corkscrew into the bottle. With a click of her tongue, she began to muscle out the cork.
"Careful, that bottle's old-" As he spoke, the cork crumbled apart. "Ah, yup. No worries, kid. It's my fault, letting it sit around so long."
"Is it ruined?"
He shook his head and pulled a penknife out from his pocket. He worked it in while she watched. In a moment, he had it.
And, in another moment, he lost it again.
"You... little..." he panted, digging in harder. "Ha! Got it!"
With a hard tug, the last half of the cork snapped across the room. Half the bottle came with it, slapping a wave of red wine down the length of her.
"Ah," the old man gasped.
Toni spat out a mouthful of wine onto the ground.
"Well, you got it open," Toni said, blinking through the mess.
"I'm so sorry about that. What do I-"
He searched around for a moment, then dabbed her dry with towels. When the worst of it was off, he dragged her down the hallway, past the bathroom, and toward a back bedroom.
"I don't have any girls' clothes around anymore, you understand, but I think I at least got something dry."
"Something less red, by chance?"
Pete grunted a laugh. "The color looks nice on you, kid, but I'll see what I can do."
Down the hall and up the stairs, Brian was shaking his head at his phone.
"Just because she doesn't have a brother on social media doesn't mean she doesn't have a brother. I'm not on there either."
Jonathan shrugged, looking quite pleased with himself. "She's the right age..."
"Twins exist."
"Max definitely didn't have a twin."
Brian slipped his phone away, still shaking his head. "You can't even remember the names of half our cousins. You don't even talk to anyone from high school." He pulled open the door and stomped through it.
"I only lose track of the very forgettable cousins," Jonathan said. "I don't know what you're making such a fuss about, though. Does it really matter?"
"It doesn't matter if it matters, because it's not-"
Brain stumbled to a halt at the bottom of the steps. Toni stared back at him from the other end of the hallway. She wore a white work shirt beneath a man's jacket. She had wide, khaki-colored pants and was pulling her already short hair into a shorter bun. She looked like any other man on his way to the office.
Brian's argument faded to a mumble.
