7NoelleI stand in the mirror staring at myself. Over my shoulder Josh lies in all his naked glory on my bed. If you had told me this would be my life months ago I never would have believed you. I grab my brush, trying to make myself look somewhat presentable. My stomach feels a little squeeze. I don’t know if it’s the baby or my nerves. I’m going to have to come clean sooner or later.
I flip off the light, creeping out of the bedroom in pursuit of food. I settle on orange juice and toast. I hear a door open. I lean back to see Daisy and Eric coming down the hallway together holding hands.
“You guys have no idea how happy I am for you two.” Daisy lets go of Eric’s hand to bounce over to me. She throws herself at me, giving me a hug and almost knocking us both out of the chair.
“He waited,” she whispers in my ear. She pulls back to look at me. “There something you want to tell me?” She lifts an eyebrow. I pick up the piece of toast and shove it in my mouth, making her laugh. “At least tell me how long.” She drops down in the other chair.
“He made his intentions clear at our graduation party.” Daisy’s eyes go round. “But I gave him a good chase. Now he’s kind of pinned me down.”
“This is going to be so weird talking about my brother’s sex life.” Eric sets a glass of orange juice down for Daisy before venturing over to the couch.
“We don’t have to talk about it.”
“How are we not going to talk about our sex lives? That’s what girls do!”
“Well, we haven’t up to this point.”
“Only because neither of us had one.” She throws her hands up.
“How about you pretend it’s someone else when I’m talking about it?”
“I guess.” She steals a piece of toast off my plate.
“How are you doing?” I ask her, watching her cheeks turn pink. “Oh, I heard some of that last night. I know that went great. I’m talking about your brother.” Her face drops. I reach out and grab her hand.
“I’m not mad, to be honest. I'm just hurt. I think that’s the right word. It’s hard because I know my brother would never do anything to intentionally hurt either one of us. So whatever reason he came up with in that thick skull of his must have been a really good one. Because I know the only way he would have done something like that was because he thought he was doing the right thing. Josh always does the right thing.” That was true. No one screams more all-American cowboy than Josh. He could be the poster boy for it.
What no one else knows is that Josh has the dirtiest mouth I’ve ever heard in my life. When it comes to sex and me, Josh holds nothing back. He gives me this dirty side to himself that’s only for me.
“He was pretty torn up this morning. You two are going to need to talk. Maybe before the moms get here,” I suggest.
“Yeah, we’re adults. Josh and I should be able to handle this on our own.” I know they will. Those two are the Cleavers of brother and sister.
“How’s he handling it?” I nod at Eric, who is leaning back with his hands behind his head, his eyes closed. “It looks like you wore him out.”
We both burst into laughter. Eric opens one eye to look at us, only to shake his head and close his eyes again, mumbling something about us being a handful together. I don’t know why this would shock him. Daisy and I have always been thick as thieves.
My bedroom door opens. I hold my breath as Josh heads down the hallway toward us. His hair is a mess and I know it’s from my fingers. Damn, he looks good. No wonder every girl in school wanted him. Now he’s mine. Well, at least for now. That thought threatens to sour my mood.
He heads straight for me, putting his hand on the back of my chair to lean down and kiss me. I have no doubt Daisy is likely staring in shock. It’s one thing to hear that we’re together. It’s another to see it.
“You need anything, baby?” he asks me.
“No, I’m good.” Always worrying over me. He tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear.
“I’m going to steal my sister for a bit if you don’t mind.”
“I think that’s a good idea.” The sooner they make up the better. It’s inevitable.
“Come on,” Josh says to Daisy. She gives me a look before following her brother into her bedroom. Eric sits there calm as ever. He can be so hard to read sometimes. I think it’s why he and Daisy work so well together. He’s stoic and she’s full of light. He’s there to make sure no one fucks with her light.