No One in the World (19 page)

Afterward, when Blac went out in the backyard to catch a breather and vent in private, his cell phone rang.

It was Eric saying that Cobi wanted the three of them to get together and have dinner tonight.

Blac walked back into the house and told Theresa he was stepping out. She nodded her head as though it made her no difference.

T
he dinner meeting was at a new spot called Histrionics. Blac had never been somewhere that looked as much like money as this place. There were white tablecloths, the waitstaff wore white waistcoats, and most of the diners looked like they were millionaires.

If Blac hadn't had as much self-confidence as he did, he probably would've been punked by all that money, bitched up, and not been as cool as he was tonight. But that wasn't him. Ex-con or not, Blac carried airs like his time behind bars had been time at an Ivy League institution, walked as though his jeans and T-shirt were the finest ever made.

When Blac and Eric were led to their table by the hostess, Blac spotted Cobi across the room right away. How could he have missed him? Blac had been looking at the identical face for two years now. But what he also noticed was how Cobi's eyes immediately locked on him.

“Pleasure to meet you, Blac,” Cobi said, standing, reaching out a hand, when Blac approached the table.

Blac took it firmly and shook. He made a point of maintaining eye contact with Cobi. Maybe he was wrong, but he thought he felt an immediate longing from the man.

The three men sat down.

“So how do you two know each other?” Cobi asked, opening his menu.

Eric looked over at Blac. Blac recited the story Eric had prepared, of him being an old high school buddy and an out-of-work Ford autoworker.

By the end of dinner, Blac had Eric and Cobi laughing so loudly at made-up stories of family members that the hostess had to come over twice and ask them to quiet down.

Later, out of the corner of his eye, Blac noticed the long gazes Cobi was taking at him. When Blac looked at him while telling one of his stories, he saw Cobi's eyes watching his lips, and Blac made a point to run his tongue across them, keeping them shiny and moist.

He felt an instant connection with Cobi. The man was definitely checking him out and seemed interested in finding out more. Blac just needed an opportunity to push a little harder to see if he was right.

Eric slapped Blac on the shoulder. “Man, you are too funny sometimes. You got me about to piss my damn pants,” he said, pushing away from the table. “Going to the men's room. Be right back.”

As Eric walked away, Blac and Cobi now sat at a very quiet table.

Blac knew the next few steps would be crucial in whether he was to succeed with his plan.

He let another moment pass. “When Eric told me he had a twin, I told him I had to meet you.”

“Well, what do you think?” Cobi said.

“I think you're very interesting; quite handsome and extremely sexy.”

If Cobi hadn't been drinking, Blac wouldn't have been so aggressive. But because of the tipsy glaze over Cobi's eyes and the limited amount of time he had to work with, Blac knew he had to move fast. He saw a suppressed, surprised reaction from Cobi, but it wasn't a negative one. Blac had not blown it, but he would have to continue very carefully to ensure he didn't.

Blac pulled his cell phone out and looked at it as though he was confused by the device. “I just got this phone, and I still have no idea what I'm doing with it. Do you have as much trouble with yours?”

“Nope,” Cobi said. “Mine is pretty simple,” he said, digging inside his breast pocket.

“Can I see it?”

Cobi handed his phone over.

Blac punched a few buttons. “This is a nice one. I wonder if I dial my number into your phone, and press Send, would my phone ring?”

This was the moment Blac would see if Cobi actually had an interest in him, or if it was just his imagination.

“Why don't you try it and see?” Cobi said with a drunken smile.

Expecting Eric to come back any moment, Blac hurriedly dialed his cell number into Cobi's phone. It seemed to take forever, but when his phone finally did respond, he smiled, and handed Cobi's phone back to him.

Cobi grabbed the phone, but also Blac's hand. He squeezed both extremely hard.

Now looking very sober, Cobi said, “Did my brother tell you anything about me?”

That caught Blac off guard, but he told himself to remain composed. “He told me you were a lawyer.”

“Anything else?”

“That your family made the pomade I used to always use,” Blac said, smiling sheepishly.

Still squeezing his hand like he was trying to crush his bones, Cobi said firmly, “Is that all?”

“That's all.”

After a second, Cobi released Blac's hand. “Then how did you know?”

“Really?” Blac said. “You don't think people see, but we can see you.”

“Who is ‘we'?”

“We. You, me—us,” Blac said, talking softly out the side of his mouth, watching as Eric made his way toward the table. “If I was wrong, I'm sorry. You can just delete my number.”

Cobi was silent.

Eric was fifteen feet away, then ten, and at five feet away, Cobi said, “No. You weren't wrong.”

I
smiled as I walked down Rush Street.

I loved this street, with its bars and restaurants and the fun-loving people who partied here. It was close to the feeling I got when I walked through Times Square in New York, my favorite place in the world.

I stopped in front of a bar, looked through the window, and saw people laughing, drinking, and having a good time.

But I felt lonely at the moment and knew that was why I even flirted with Blac. I'd been pretending for so long not to be who I know I am, and instead, listened to Tyler, kept things a secret, and only saw him when he allowed.

It wasn't fair, I told myself. I had fallen in love with him but couldn't outwardly express it.

Couples walked past me on the sidewalk, enjoying the beautiful night. I envied them from my perch on the corner.

I snatched my cell phone out and punched in Tyler's number.

The phone rang four times, and I knew on the fifth it would be retrieved by his voicemail.

I stood there, angrily pressing the phone to my face, and listened to Tyler's recording telling me to leave a message. I thought of the evil things I could tell him, but when I heard the beep, I stabbed the End button.

I turned and aimlessly started walking slowly. The phone felt as though it was tingling in my hand.

I stopped at the next corner to wait for the Walk signal. A picture of Blac popped in my head. He thought he was too sexy for his damn shirt prancing around in that skintight deal, but he did look good.

I thought of giving him a call, but what would I do if he picked up? Most likely nothing. Say hi. But that could lead to something else, which could lead to still something more, which could then lead to what I wanted to be doing with Tyler tonight but was unable to.

I shoved the phone back in my pocket, then turned completely around, because I had gotten the haunting feeling that I was being watched. I turned in a slow circle, scanning the area, as if expecting to find some weirdo, staring right at me, but no one was paying me any mind.

A
fter his shower, Eric brushed his teeth, ran his brush over his buzzed hair, and then toweled off. He wrapped the white bath towel low around his waist, grabbed his toiletry bag, and gathered his clothes before opening the bathroom door.

Remembering he forgot his toothbrush on the edge of the sink, he went back to grab it. His hands were full, and he felt the knot in his towel slowly loosen. Eric managed to grab the toothbrush with one finger without losing his towel or any of what was in his arms.

When he turned around to exit the bathroom, a beautiful woman wearing nothing but a long T-shirt and white ankle socks was standing in the doorway.

Startled, Eric dropped the toiletry bag. As he tried to catch it before it hit the floor, he dropped his clothes, then the toothbrush, then the towel, leaving him completely naked.

Eric's eyes ballooned. He heard the woman gasp as he quickly bent down, snatched up the wet towel, and struggled to wrap it back around his waist.

When he looked back up, the woman was gone.

Either his mind was playing tricks on him, or Cobi wasn't as gay as he said he was.

Eric stepped out, only to see the woman leaning up against the wall, blushing, just outside the bathroom.

“I'm really sorry about that, Cobi,” the woman said. “I didn't know you were in there.”

“I'm not Cobi.”

The woman smiled oddly, as if waiting for the punch line of the joke. When it didn't come, she said, “What are you talking about?”

“I'm not Cobi. I'm his twin brother, Eric,” he said, trying to keep his focus on her eyes. He could see the roundness of her ample breasts, the shadow of her nipples, and her legs, which were smooth and shiny. The last thing he needed was to pop a rod wearing nothing but a bath towel in front of this woman.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” the woman said. “I didn't know he had a twin. Cobi didn't tell me.”

“Well, he does,” Eric said, definitely feeling himself coming to life down there. “I'm gonna go to my room now. Good night, okay?” Eric said. He wanted more information, wanted to speak to the woman more, but he didn't want to be accused of trying to come on to his brother's girlfriend, or piece of ass for the night, or whatever she was.

“Okay,” the woman said. “Well, my name is Austen. Yours?”

“I already told you. Eric. My name is Eric,” he said, smiling.

“Well, it's good to meet you, Eric,” Austen said, holding out her hand to shake.

Eric looked down at it. If he tried to shake it, there would be a replay of what just happened in the bathroom. He smiled bashfully. “Uh, don't think I can do that without flashing you again.”

“And who says that would be a bad thing?” Austen said, smiling slyly. “Good night, Eric.”

A
s Austen sat down in the kitchen preparing to have breakfast that Stella made for her, she wondered if her encounter last night had been a dream.

It hadn't felt like it. She believed she had actually been standing in that bathroom when that man's towel fell, exposing that beautiful body, those tight pecs, those chiseled abs, and his long, thick manhood. No, that wasn't a dream, nor was the conversation afterward. Neither was the gigantic orgasm Austen gave herself, later in bed, while thinking about the mysterious twin brother named Eric.

Austen slept like a baby sucking on a bottle, although, during her fantasizing last night, she imagined herself sucking on something else.

This morning, she awoke to a soft knock on her door.

When Austen answered it, Stella, the kindly older woman, asked her if there was anything she needed. And if she would like to come downstairs, either before or after she showered, Stella would be more than delighted to make her whatever she wanted for breakfast.

More than once, the thought had crossed Austen's mind to ask Stella if she knew Cobi had a twin brother, but she didn't want to seem crazy. So instead, she bit into a succulent strawberry and let her mind drift back to the image of Eric she had burned in her brain.

“Good morning, Mr. Winslow,” Austen heard Stella say.

Austen snapped out of her thoughts to see Cobi walking into the kitchen, wearing a gray business suit.

“Good morning, Stella,” he said.

“What would you like for breakfast?”

“Nothing for me, thank you,” Cobi said, resting his hands on the chair back adjacent to Austen's. “But if you wouldn't mind, would you excuse us for just a moment please, Stella?”

“Of course,” Stella said, wiping her hands on a towel and pulling the double doors closed behind her.

Cobi smiled at Austen. “First, let me apologize for not being here to welcome you on your first night here in my home.”

“No problem. Sissy took me on a tour yesterday and introduced me to Stella and some of the other staff. Everyone has been wonderful. And something told me I'd be bumping into you sooner or later—today, tomorrow, or maybe on our wedding day.” Austen laughed, trying to bring levity to the awkward moment.

Cobi joined her with an uncomfortable smile. “So everything is to your satisfaction, then?”

“No complaints.”

“Okay. Good, then I guess I'll be heading—”

“But I do have a question or two.”

“Okay,” Cobi said.

“What am I supposed to be doing here? I mean, like during the day?”

“You own a real estate business, right?”

“Yes, but my office is in Hyde Park. I don't have a car.”

“Then I'll have Sissy arrange for you to buy one. Then you can come and go to your office as you please, or do whatever else you'd like.”

“So that's what this mainly is? Me doing whatever it is I want to do? Are there any obligations, any demands that must be met that I should know about?”

Cobi smiled. “I thought Sissy went over what was expected of you the other day when she—”

“She did. But what do
you
expect of me?”

Cobi paused, appearing clueless. “What I expect is just for you to do what Sissy expects.”

“Okay, I can do that,” Austen said, taking a bite of melon and crunching it between her teeth.

Cobi turned to leave.

“Oh, and one more thing. Do you have two names?”

“I don't understand,” Cobi said, turning back to Austen.

“Is your middle name Eric, or are there two of you? The reason I ask is because I ran into someone in the hallway last night who looked just like you, and I almost had a heart attack when he said he wasn't.”