My Sister Made Me
Chapter 23
Dane
Thursday Night
"I wouldn't say it was brilliant, but okay," he said, looking at her in confusion.
Her smile grew wider, and soon she was nodding and chewing her lip in thought.
"I'll have to talk to Zoey for sure," she said, her voice a little quieter.
Dane was familiar with the look that his sister had on her face in that moment. It was how she looked when she was concentrating on working out a problem or trying to understand something complicated.
"First, I have to talk to Dr. Sanderson and let him know that Zoey will be joining me. That also means that I'll have to check that she's actually going to go through with it."
Dane listened, nodding along for a few seconds before realizing that Sam wasn't really talking to him. It seemed like she was just detailing the steps out loud, though if accidental or intentional, he couldn't say. Instead of interrupting her, he simply elected to remain silent.
"As long as Dr. Sanderson is fine with it and Zoey doesn't chicken out, I can tell Mom and Dad that someone else is behind the door. That way, I don't have to make things weird with Dr. Sanderson by letting him know that the new guy at his sex club is my father."
He thought for a moment about mentioning that their dad was really only Sam's stepfather and not blood related, so it wasn't nearly as taboo as folks might think. He decided to keep his mouth shut, not wanting to look like he was trying to get her to revisit what she'd done before. He'd initially thought about bringing that point up when she was freaking out about what had happened but couldn't see a way to do it tactfully.
What's more, he could understand that Dr. Sanderson wouldn't have known that Sam was related to their father as well. She generally went by Samantha Andresani, but on legal documents and medical records, her last name was Carroll. It stood to reason that he only knew her as such, or "Mystery-Girl".
"Mom and dad will still get to go have fun with their friends, I'll still get to do what I want with fresh anonymity, plus, I have someone there to deal with daddy if he..."
She looked up at Dane with sudden realization.
"I didn't realize I was thinking out loud," she said, blushing slightly and causing him to smirk.
"You seem to have everything figured out."
He smiled at her, happy that it seemed like she had.
"I need this, Dane," she said, frowning at him.
Shaking his head, he held up a hand to stay her protests.
"I know you do," he assured her. "I get how difficult it is for you, Sam. If being the girl behind the door helps, then I'm glad you're finding a way to keep doing it."
A look of affection and happiness came to her, and he was struck by how pretty she really was. They stared quietly at one another for longer than expected before realizing what they were doing and laughing at themselves. Clearing her throat, she looked back at him with a wry smile.
"So... are you staying with me tonight?"
A playful wink was followed by a mischievous smile and she made a show of looking down toward his crotch.
"Tempting as it is, I think I need to go and talk to Sally, and maybe Hannah."
She shook her head immediately.
"I'm not breaking up with her. I just haven't spent much time with her, and she's been wanting to spend time together," he explained.
"Oh," she said, an awkward silence following.
He looked at her, trying to see if he'd hurt her feelings.
"Do you want me to stay?" he asked.
"No," she said, then sighed and shook her head again. "I promise I'm not trying to sound jealous. I'm just riding high from the whole 'Zoey' idea and sex just sounds like a good idea at the moment."
"Doesn't it always?"
She snickered and gave an acquiescing shrug and nod. Looking up at him a moment later, she cleared her throat and reached out to caress his hand.
"I'm honestly fine at the moment," she said. "The uh...
hunger
isn't really that bad."
"Sam," he said, smirking in disbelief.
"I'm being serious," she said. "You need to go and pay attention to the other women in your life, Mr. Studly. We," she said, gesturing to herself and then to him, "decided that we'll be there for each other when we can, and that you're not going to break up with Sally. That means you still have to be a boyfriend to her."
He stared at her quietly for a few more moments, trying to gauge if she was really okay and ultimately deciding that she was.
"I'm fine," she said, rolling her eyes and waving a hand his way dismissively. "Go! Fuck your girlfriends."
He chuckled and shook his head at her in mock dismay. "In all honesty they're probably doing that right now."
Standing, he leaned over and kissed her on the head, then turned and left the room without another word.
***
Sitting in his truck at a stoplight on the way to Danny and Hannah's apartment five minutes later, Dane found that he really wanted to just go back and be with Sam. He felt like a lovesick teenager and couldn't get her beautiful face out of his head.
When he'd left, he'd started to text Sally to find out where she was but saw that she'd sent him a message earlier detailing her plans. Unsurprisingly she was with Hannah and Danny. He fully expected to find the three fucking each other's brains out when he got there, so it was an understatement to say that he was surprised to find them doing the opposite. Hannah and Sally were talking to one another on the couch and Danny was watching TV from his recliner.
"Hey babe," Sally called out, looking up.
He must have had a perplexed look on his face, as she did a doubletake before she asked, "what is it?"
"I just expected to find you guys all fucking," he explained. "I'm surprised, I guess."
"They wanted to start fooling around earlier, but I made them wait," Danny said, turning and flashing a wide smile.