Page 37 of Joint Custody

Chapter 26

Mario

Icouldn’tkeepmyeyes off Tiffany, but it seemed like she could keep her eyes off me. In fact, it was like she was making great efforts to.

I’d left the office early, hoping to meet up with her and Chris at the bar. When I heard she wasn’t coming, it was a huge disappointment, to say the least. I decided to make the most out of it with Chris because hanging with my buddy was always a good time. But when he suggested showing up at the office to surprise her with the drinks, I was in my car driving us over here before either of us could blink. I was thinking of ways to excuse ourselves from the group with so many places to sneak away into this large building.

Yet, when I showed up, I wasn’t too sure she was happy to see us, me included. I took one look at Anthony and thought, damn. He’d done it, hadn’t he? He made his move. And by the looks of it, she didn’t turn him down. I was almost certain something happened in this office, and that’s when I saw it; that black lace panty I had in my mouth earlier peeking out from behind the accent chair where Chris was sitting.

I rubbed my hand over my face. They could’ve at least done a better job of hiding it. A feeling I found hard to distinguish between anger and fear rumbled in the pit of my stomach. The thought of being replaced in the blink of an eye filled me with the fear that I wouldn’t be able to spend the night in her bed again, rolling around in her sheets, my face in her thighs, tongue on her skin. I wouldn’t have showers with her sweet pussy and ass drenched with water, pouring off her body into my mouth as I drank from her.

I’d never have the privilege of pulling her to the side and seeing her willing eyes and nods as I took her in secret in some room at this firm, in the car, day or night, on our lunch break, at the restaurant, anywhere our bodies desired. Those moments would have been taken away from me, and there would be nothing I could do about it. I’d had less than twenty-four hours with her, and I worried that I wasn’t enough; that she’d found something better with Anthony and had no need for me. I had my shot and I lost it.

The thought was maddening, but if that was her choice, then I’d respect it. I had to. It was her body that she chose to share with me. She could choose not to, and I wouldn’t be entitled to it. Ugh, it was agony, thinking that at the snap of a finger, everything that I’d been imagining and hoping for on my way here just got thrown out the window. Oh, I had to know if I was just going out of my mind with unnecessary worry. I had to find out from Anthony if something happened. With all the women Anthony slept with at this firm, I lied to myself, staring at the panty bunched up, comforting myself with the thought that the familiar-looking underwear could have belonged to any number of women. Maybe it was there before tonight and I just hadn’t noticed it until now.

I approached Anthony, the lie playing the role of a sense of security the closer I got to him with my drink in hand. I needed to remember where we were and who we were with. This was not the time and place for a show of my ego. No one here could know that I’d slept with Tiffany. Not Chris, of course, and also not Anthony because if something did happen, as my gut was shouting out to tell me, busting through the facade I’d created in my mind to act as a shield, then he’d have a reason to blow my secret, even if we were best friends. We’d never been attracted to the same girl. This was new to me.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” I spoke low, coming up next to Anthony as Tiffany looked over at us both in shock before turning her head away to refuse the drink Chris had poured for her, explaining something to him I wasn’t sure about.

Anthony looked up at me, swallowing a sip of whiskey as he nodded. “Yeah, sure thing, bro.”

We took a step just outside his glass walls, and I fought my jealousy, fixing my face to ask, “So, what did I just walk in on?” I put the glass up to my mouth to hide the curl of my lips as I saw his eyes lingering on Tiffany. “Hey,” I said to get his attention.

“What do you mean?” he asked, one hand in his pocket, so casual as he raised his drink to take another sip.

“Yellow chair, back leg. Look on the floor,” I said.

His head spun around so fast, I could almost hear his neck pop as his face reddened at the sight of the underwear on the ground and Chris sitting on the same chair, his feet only inches away from the evidence. I saw his eyes widen before he turned around to look at me with a cool expression, although he almost choked on his drink, taking quick, worried glimpses at Tiffany. Chris noticed us looking at him, and I saw him start to make a move toward us.

“Must be Anne’s.” Anthony cleared his throat just as Chris came up behind him.

“Hey, stop ogling my kid sister.” Chris landed a playful blow to Anthony’s shoulder with just enough oomph to warn him.

It felt like little spiders were crawling up my spine as I saw the protective look in Chris’s eyes.

Anthony jumped in shock, rubbing his shoulder with the knuckle of his thumb still wrapped around the glass in his hand. “I wasn’t ogling her,” he said. “Besides, she’s not a kid. She’s a grown woman.”

Anthony said that last part under his breath as he took another sip to silence his words, but oh, Chris heard them loud and clear, moving to stand in front of Anthony to look into his eyes.

Something he saw there caused Chris to hand me his drink before he gripped Anthony by the shirt, startling him, and his glass of whiskey fell, crashing against the tiles, causing everyone to look around at us.

Oh, fuck. I backed away. Maybe it was because Chris had a little bit too much to drink. Or maybe he saw the same look in Anthony’s eyes that he had back in law school when he hooked up with his ex, but his voice grew deep and threatening. “I don’t want to have a fall out with you again, Anthony. We’ve come a long way, but I will if I find out you’re messing around with my little sister. Because then you’ll be messing with me, and I won’t hesitate to beat the shit out of you.”

“Dude,” Anthony said as he tried to pull his shirt out of Chris’s hold without success. He placed a hand over his knuckles and looked him in the eye. “Chris, listen to me. You have nothing to worry about. I’d never do that to you, man.”

Chris’s hand loosened, releasing him as Anthony turned to shout toward the group. “Everything’s okay, guys. Just a misunderstanding.” He smiled, but I could see the sweat on his forehead.

Guilt coursed against my skin like sandpaper, and I took Chris’s words as if he were holding me by the neck, threatening me, because I knew for sure that even if in some strange world Anthony was not guilty and he had just been innocent in helping Tiffany and that pair of underwear in the corner just happened to belong to one of his other hookups, that I for sure was one billion percent guilty.

My perspective shifted in that instant and jealousy seemed nothing more than just a frivolous thing. I was also now fine with the whole dodging of eye contact. Tiffany was on to something. I was going to be dodging eye contact throughout the rest of our night in this office together because that had become my means of survival.

I tucked my head into my glass and backed the fuck up, going to sit next to Jared who was taken aback by the accusation, shaking his head, no doubt thinking that if Anthony had hooked up with Tiffany, he’d crossed the line this time. I imagined he thought that she would be the one woman in this office that Anthony could’ve found the restraint not to sleep with, knowing that it was his best friend’s sister. And I looked anywhere else but at Tiffany, knowing that he was unaware that next to him, sat someone who’d been the insane one to do it.

Chapter 27

Christopher

Ididn’tknowwhatto believe as I released Anthony. My brain was foggy from the alcohol and the red I saw when I caught Anthony even glimpsing in Tiffany’s direction. Anthony had only two rules when it came to hooking up with a woman: that she was an adult and she was willing. That was all it took. And I knew that once those criteria were met, nothing, not even friendship would stop him from going for it.

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