Page 124 of Just This Once

“What is so funny about my brother?” I demanded.

Oaklynn sobered instantly. “I—I—nothing. I love Alec. He’s the best. I just didn’t realize he would be open to—you know—that kind of…arrangement.”

“I thought he was a damn virgin,” Faith said bluntly.

Raina nodded, pointing at Faith. “Same.”

“So what if he is?” I countered, lifting my brows in warning. Then I turned to Xander. “Just think about it. If he’s never been with a girl before, then he’d besuperwilling to please you…howeveryouwanted. You could train him to do whatever youliked. You could go at any pace you wanted because he wouldn’t know the difference. You’d haveallthe control. And he’d happily follow your lead. He’d be like a fresh piece of clay that you molded into any shape you wanted.”

“Oh, I’d mold him a big dick,” Oaklynn decided with a nod. “Definitely.”

As the rest of us laughed, Raina tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“I mean, Alec definitely wouldn’t be a jerk afterward,” she allowed with a shrug. “While Keene would probably pester you for more, and Parker would cut out before you were ready for him to go, Alec would just…be grateful for whatever you gave him.”

“Huh,” Xander murmured with a slight squint. “I never thought of a virgin that way.” Then she glanced at me suspiciously. “Are you sure he’s never been with anyone else, though? He seems way too nice and good-looking for someonenotto have snagged him yet?”

A slow grin spread across my face. I bet Alec would have heart palpitations if he heard that his dream crush had just called him handsome.

“I mean, Iamhis sister, so it’s possible he wouldn’t tell me,” I answered. “But yeah, I’m pretty sure he’s still carrying his V-card.”

“Yeah,” Oaklynn piped up. “I’ve lived with him for nearly a year now, and I’ve never caught a girl sneaking from his room,norhave I seen him stay anywhere else overnight.”

“Huh,” Xander repeated before going thoughtfully quiet.

Seeing her actually give Alec the consideration he was due, I was compelled to boost his image just a little bit more. “You want to know what the most amazing thing about Alec is?” I started. “His compassion. When I was fourteen, and he was thirteen, he donated some of his liver to me because mine was failing, and I was going to die without it.”

“Oh goodness,” Xander murmured with wide eyes.

“But that’s not even the best part,” I warned with lifted brows. “Afterward, we were put in the same recovery room together, and when I woke up from my surgery, all I could hear was him crying on the other side of the room. I guess he had it stuck in his head that giving me some of his liver would kill him, so he was upset to wake up alive.” Lifting my brows, I added, “He thought I must not have made it sincehehad.”

“Holy shit,” Xander breathed. “He’d been willing todiefor you? At thirteen?”

When I nodded, Faith whistled. “Damn, girl. Why didn’t you sharethatpart of the story last week at supper?”

I shrugged. “Alec gets embarrassed by it. He thinks he should’ve known better. So I leave it out around him, even though I think it’s the sweetest part.”

“Hell yes, it is,” Oaklynn agreed, and the others nodded along with her. “I had no idea he was so selfless.”

“Gah.” Raina shivered. “I can’t even imagine how scared he must’ve been going into that surgery, thinking he was never going to wake up again.”

“Or how brave,” Xander murmured, looking awed and impressed.

I hid my smile, glad my plan to warm her up to him seemed to be working, just as Faith announced, “Done,” and lifted her arms as if she’d just hog-tied a steer at a rodeo.

“Ooh, me too,” Raina said.

“I just have one more fingernail to paint,” Oaklynn reported as she finished the job.

“Well, I could be done if everyone else is,” I chimed in, lowering my clippers.

Curious about the overall outcome, Faith, Oaklynn, Raina, and I stood together and backed about six feet from Xander to examine our masterpiece.

“Damn, are we good or what?” Faith asked, nodding her approval as she lifted a hand to her left so Raina could slap it.

“We really are,” Raina agreed.

“This kind of work can’t just go to waste, though,” Oaklynn announced with her arms folded and one hand propped under her chin as she shook her head. “We need to take her out into public andflauntthis.”

---