Page 53 of Crash

I’d prefer it if she went with me to this party, but I know that will be an issue. It’s only been two weeks, so I need more time, but this secrecy is not working for me.

“Hey,” Troy says as I make my way towards the receptionist’s desk. I went to the luncheon expecting Vivienne to be there, but since she wasn’t, I decided to go search her out. “You’re going the wrong way.”

My world stops when I make my way around the corner and see the desk. The UPS guy is looking at my woman, and I come to an abrupt stop as I take in the scene. He’s leaning casually against the desk, a predatory smile on his face as he looks down at her breasts. I loved the tight red V-neck sweater, but the secrets underneath that sweater are for me, not this fucker looking at her like she’s his last meal.

“What the fuck?”

The asshole just asked her to a movie tonight. Fuck that shit. I start to walk towards them, but Troy grabs my arm. I pull out of his grasp, but he’s fast. Before I know it, he’s pushed me against the wall and holds me in place.

“Don’t you do it,” he warns. “Don’t be so fucking impulsive.”

I stop and turn my head towards the scene. Vivienne stammers, turns her back, and leans down to put something in a drawer. When he stares at her ass, I push Troy away so hard, he stumbles, but I only take two steps before he grabs onto my wrist in a vise-like grip.

When Vivienne turns back to the asshole, she looks from him to me. She looks away from me as she puts a piece of her messy hair behind her ear and nervously licks her lips. She starts to sputter out a response to his question, but before she gets any words out, Troy interrupts.

“Hey, Viv, we came to get you for lunch.” He walks away from me, goes behind the desk, blocking the man’s view, and waits for her. “Are you done with the deliveries, Larry?” Troy asks. “If you are, we’ll see you Monday. Have a great weekend.”

Troy holds Larry’s glare until he gives up and starts to walk away, but not before he tells Vivi they’ll talk on Monday. Troy walks back to me and stands next to me until Larry walks out of the building.

“Hey, guys,” Vivi says as she walks briskly from the desk to me and Troy. “Let’s go. I’m starving, but you guys didn’t have to wait for me.”

For someone with short legs, she walks fast, quickly passing me and Troy, leaving us to follow behind her. I watch her ass the entire way to the break room.

“Oh my god does it smell good in here,” she says, and I finally look away from her to see the Italian food spread out for us.

“I changed my mind about taking you to the mall at lunch,” I whisper as I pile my plate with ziti.

“Oh? I seem to remember telling you I wasn’t going.” She chooses the sausage and peppers dish. Without even asking me if I want any of it, she puts some on my plate. In fact, she fills my plate for me, never once asking me what I want. Instead of being annoyed by it, I love it.

“No. We won’t have enough time. I’ll take you after work instead. We’ll have dinner and then shop.”

“Are you asking or telling?” she challenges.

“Whatever will get you out of the house. If you want to believe I’m asking fine, but it’s happening.” We reach the end of the line, and she stops in the middle of the room.

“That’s not what we agreed to. Dinner? Mall? You’re blurring the lines, rich boy. Furthermore, I can buy my own dress, not that I need one,” she says.

I take a step closer to her, lean down and whisper in her ear, “I’ll pick you up at six, and in case you haven’t noticed yet, the lines are so blurred, they’re practically unrecognizable.” She opens her mouth to give me what I know would be a smart-ass response, but Juan and Colleen call her over, and she leaves me to join them

Instead of following her, I join Troy and Jake at their table at the back of the room. Jake’s oblivious as he types on his phone, but Troy won’t take his eyes off me.

“Tell Sandy I said hi,” I say to Jake.

“We’re going out tonight,” he says, then he looks up at me and says, “alone.”

“I’m going out too.”

Jake doesn’t bother to respond.

Troy shakes his head at me in disbelief. I ignore him as I eat my food, only to turn around occasionally to look at Vivienne. As if we’re connected, every time I turn to look at her, she turns her head to look at me, a small smile on her lips.

I don’t even need to look up when I hear the door to my office open and close. I finish typing my text, hit send, and finally look up to find Troy hovering at my desk, arms crossed as he waits for me to speak. This is when I’d start talking. This is when his quiet older brother stance would take effect, and I’d spill all my secrets and tell him the entire history between me and Vivi. These are the dynamics of the Clark brothers. Despite Troy being the oldest, Jake is the alpha amongst us. Despite my age, they always see me as the baby. I’m still the little boy they took care of growing up. I’m still the teenager they gave the sex talk to, talked to about girls, taught to drive.

Until Jake and Troy’s relationship severed for those five years, we were the best of friends. Despite the huge age gaps between me and my brothers, we were always extremely close, but the hierarchy always remained.

When the relationship between them went to hell, and I stopped speaking with Jake, things between me and Troy changed too. We were still close, but things shifted. He attempted to take on more of a father figure role, from giving unsolicited advice to practically ordering me to start speaking to Jake.

“Explain yourself,” he finally says.

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