Stepbrother With Benefits (11 page)

Ellie smiled lovingly. “Thanks, Jack. That really means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome, sis. I’ve missed you so much these past few months, I’m thrilled we’re finally able to spend some time together.”

“I’m just glad you finally agreed to come! I was really worried you wouldn’t,” she admitted with a curious twinkle in her eye.

“Nah. I just didn’t want to be a bother.”

“You’re never a bother to me.”

“Thanks, El. Not all sisters feel that way about their brothers. Especially steps.” Jack paused for a minute, chewing on a piece of steak. “But moving back to awkward subjects... about what happened in the kitchen this morning...”

“For goodness’ sake, Jack! I already told you. I was just helping you out with something I know you’d never do yourself. What’s the big deal?”

“Please don’t get defensive, El. It’s just that I’m your brother, and that kind of—”

“Stepbrother,
and you know that makes a big fuckin’ difference. But I like to think that lets us be even closer, because I don’t have the genetic compulsion to rebel against you!”

Despite the serious subject matter, Jack snorted. It was true: Ellie, even at her absolutely worst, had always been logical and well grounded, and never flighty or mindlessly rebellious. Or, for that matter, do anything without a good reason. Maybe he should cut her some slack.

“Well... okay. I guess we can treat that as a one-time event. And before you ask, I’m man enough to admit that – although horribly ill-advised – it did actually help.”

“See? What’d I tell you?”

“Yeah, well... don’t go making it some kinda thing, okay? Steps or not, folks just wouldn’t understand. Anyways, there’s still the question of you and your friends. I know this is college, and god knows I did some crazy shit when I was in college, but please be honest with me, El. Is there anything I should be worried about?”

Blushing again, Ellie took a sip from her drink. “No.” She didn’t elaborate further.

“And if you did, uh, hook up with Mark, or anyone else, you’d be sure to use the proper protection?”

“Jack!”

“I just want you to be safe, Ellie. You’re the most important person in my life now.”

Ellie smiled softly and reached across the table to hold her brother’s hand. “You know I’d never do anything to hurt myself, Jack. And this might be considered too much information, but I haven’t actually slept with anyone since back when I was going steady with Adam.”

Experiencing a confusing mixture of both relief and discomfort, Jack placed his other hand on top of his sister’s. “Okay. Just be sure to always use your head.”

“Of course. But enough about my sex life, okay? I say it’s high time we talk about yours.”

“Oh, sis, I don’t think—”

“Hey Jack, fair is fair! You talked about me, so now I get to talk about you. Have you been seeing anyone since I left for college?”

Jack sighed. “No.” He knew she wouldn’t be happy with that terse answer.

“But you promised, Jack – promised that when I left home for college, you’d start dating again!”

“Oh, Ellie. You know how much Johanna means... how much she meant to me. Somehow, even thinking about dating another woman feels like I’d be cheating on her.”

Ellie frowned and laid down her fork. “You know that’s not logical.”

“But it’s how I feel, and I can’t help that. Friends keep trying to set me up on blind dates, and I keep turning them down.”

“But that’s not right!” exclaimed Ellie, banging her hand a little too hard on the table and rattling the plates. “It’s been well over a year since Johanna passed away, and I know for a fact she wouldn’t want you sitting alone at home completely consumed by work. You are kinda handsome, you know, so you need to get out there and get on with your life.”

Jack grunted. “Uh, ‘kinda handsome’? Thanks for that...”

“Okay then,
very
handsome! But you’re still a guy, and if being around Mark all this time has taught me anything, it’s that guys have predictable physical needs. I think it’s totally unfair that you’re making yourself
suffer
like a monk.”

Jack now knew exactly how Ellie must have felt when he was talking about
her
intimate life: embarrassed and uncomfortable. “I’m not suffering, sis. I’m okay by myself. Really. Besides, when I’m at home I have the internet and two hands, so I’m definitely no monk.”

Ellie wrinkled her nose. Jack thought she might be showing disgust at the idea that her big brother might actually
masturbate
like every other guy on the planet, but then he realized she was merely being playful.

“Well, yeah, there’s that... but self-help can only get ya so far before you need some action with the real thing. When’s the last time you even spoke with a woman who didn’t work for you?”

“Does tonight count?”

Ellie laughed and resumed eating. “Okay, you got me there. Still, you know I’m right, Jack. Mom doesn’t like the idea of you being all alone either. More than anything she wants you to be happy again – just as much as I want you to be happy.”

Jack sighed. Ellie may have been right, but it was hard to hear advice on his sex life coming from his own little sister. “I know, I know, sis. But I have no choice but to wait until the time feels right for me. So I can’t make you any promises.”

Tossing her golden blond hair, Ellie grunted. “Well, I’m gonna be holding my breath ’til I’ve heard that you’ve finally gone out on a nice date with some beautiful woman.”

“Well then, breathe, Ellie... because I have good news. I’m on one of those right now!”

Ellie grinned wide and pushed her empty plate aside. “My god, Jack, I can
so
tell that you’re in marketing... because you always know exactly what to say!”

Jack chuckled for a few seconds, and then sighed. “Yeah, well... I’m not so sure about that anymore.”

Ellie looked at Jack with concern. “Oh? What’s wrong? I thought you said you thought that revised campaign would go over well. How’d your presentation to those electronics guys go?”

Jack clenched his jaw and occupied time by sawing the last few inches of steak into tiny strips. “It was actually pushed back to tomorrow.”

“Oh? Isn’t that even better then?” When Jack didn’t answer, Ellie sighed. “Okay, c’mon bro. What the hell’s up with you? Didn’t your boss like your idea?”

“Let’s not talk about that now, okay, Ellie? Let’s just enjoy ourselves.”

Ellie glared at her brother. “Tell me, Jack.”

“They... they liked it fine.”

“C’mon, don’t be like that. You know I can tell when you’re lying. You say you want to be there for me, then how about letting me be there for you too?”

Jack sighed and pushed the remainder of his steak away. It was mostly fat left anyways. “You want the truth, sis?” he said, refusing to meet Ellie’s intense gaze. “It went
horribly.
They’re going with Tom’s idea – and frankly, everyone knows it’s a shitty one, which says a whole ton about the shittiness of
mine.”
Jack had ranted enough about Tom during his chats with Ellie for her to know who that was. “And if the client doesn’t end up going with
his
idea, which they would be idiots to do, then chances are I’m going to be out of work for good.”

Ellie spent a moment running her tongue around the inside of her mouth. “Well then, it’s a good thing they already paid you that big bonus, right? You remembered to cash the check?”

Jack’s eyes darted up. “This isn’t funny, El. That money didn’t exactly go all that far once I’d paid off my student debt, our parents’ mortgage, bought that overpriced house... and never mind the taxes.”

“You paid off mom and dad’s mortgage? I didn’t know that!”

“I didn’t want them to say anything. But the thing is, if I lose my job, then I lose my reputation and credibility... and I’ll be lucky to get a marketing job higher than curbside sign spinner.”

Leaning back, Ellie frowned and crossed her arms. “So you’ve given up, then? Is that it?”

“Haven’t you been listening to me, El? They’re going with Tom’s idea. I’m on the sidelines now. There’s nothing more I can do.”

“But they’re not giving the presentation until tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, but...”

“But nothing!” exclaimed Ellie loudly. “That gives you all of tonight to get off your ass and fuck Tom over with one of those brilliant snap ideas of yours. I know you can do it, Jack – because you’ve done it before!”

“No, Ellie, I’m honestly not up to it. These days it seems like I can’t even think straight, never mind think brilliantly, and if there were some great idea buried in my brain... then I’d’ve already thought it up and used it.”

“For fuck’s sake, Jack!” screeched Ellie, causing multiple heads to turn and frown in their direction. “Stop feeling so goddamned sorry for yourself! You had something great with Johanna, yes, but now that she’s gone it doesn’t mean your entire life is over. You have people around you who love you, who care deeply about you... and who would be willing to help you with anything,
if you’d only just man up and ask them!”

“You don’t mean...”

Reaching out, Ellie grabbed her brother’s hand. “Look, I know how you think. I know what you’re capable of. And right now, it seems like I know you better than you know yourself. So, take me back to the apartment, and let me see what you’ve got so far. Let me be your sounding board. Your muse for a night. Just let me
help you,
Jack, so you can help yourself.”

“You wouldn’t like some dessert first?” he asked meekly.

“Screw dessert! There’ll be time enough for sweets later on... right now, we’ve got serious fucking work to do!”

W
hen Jack
woke up on Wednesday morning, he almost dreaded the thought of opening his eyes. What sort of shocking sights would he be subjected to today?

Peeking through slitted eyelids, he found... absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. No naked bodies hovering over his head. No teens engaged in coitus on the opposite couch. In fact, judging by the apartment’s eerie level of silence, it appeared that he was completely alone.

Thank god!

Greatly relieved to begin the day in something other than a heightened state of sexual arousal, Jack sat up and stretched his arms, yawning noisily.

What a brutal, and yet strangely satisfying night! He’d been up until two AM working with Ellie on his new, edgier advertising campaign, and then even after she’d gone to bed, continued working for another two hours until his eyes were burning and he could no longer focus on the screen.

The clock on the wall read nearly eight o’clock, well past the time that everyone else would’ve headed off to class. Jack didn’t need to be at the office until nine this morning, and had mentioned as much to Ellie when she went to bed. Still, he was amazed that he’d managed to sleep through the morning bustle of four rowdy teens, who from experience were anything but quiet! He must’ve been truly exhausted.

Stiff and groggy, Jack got up and shuffled down the hallway. All three bedroom doors were closed, and when he knocked on Ellie’s just to double check, there was no response. Following a quick trip to the bathroom, he wandered into the kitchen and found a yellow sticky note on the refrigerator door.

“Jack – didn’t want to wake you! Breakfast in microwave. Everyone going”

The note cut off abruptly, but after a groggy moment of confusion, he flipped it over and found the rest scrawled on the back.

“to big party tonight. Back by 12. Luv u & good luck @ work! —El”

Popping open the microwave door, Jack smiled. Under a clear plastic cover was a ready-to-nuke plate heaped with scrambled eggs and sausage – awfully considerate of them!

Putting on a pot of coffee to brew, Jack wandered back to the bathroom to shave and get dressed. Lathing his face with shaving cream, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. His big presentation was as good as finished: handouts printed and collated, PowerPoint perfected, talking points memorized, video reworked with all-new narration... although, this time he had to settle for using his own voice.

It had been several months since Jack last met face-to-face with a major client, partly due to his own internal wrangling, and partly because his bosses had stopped bothering to question his lame excuses. Jack suspected they might have begun to suspect that he was no longer the best man for the job. But, now he was fighting for his very survival. Ellie appeared to have complete and utter faith in him... and he just needed to have that same faith in himself!

Bless Ellie!

Jack’s hand paused, the disposable razor sitting just under his nose. He hadn’t realized it until this very moment, but working with his sister last night had been one of the most enjoyable experiences he’d had in the past year. Despite their age difference, the two of them clicked perfectly – like she knew exactly how to direct his train of thought until the ideas just poured out of him. The two of them had worked so well last night, he almost wished he could have Ellie around permanently.