“She’s a Sinclair? So what?” I’m baffled. “What the fuck’s the problem?”

“So…her father’s Carson Sinclair. You know, of Sinclair’s Auto Supply? The biggest auto parts dealer in the state, remember? Dour, grumpy dude? Doesn’t take any bullshit. You don’t want to piss him off.”

“I don’t? I mean, I don’t want to piss anyone off, but what’s that got to do with Marie? Do I need to ask his permission to date her?”

“No, Meathead, but you might want to step carefully. She’s the only girl out of five or six brothers. A lot of them work there, too. I’m just sayin’. You need this company for your business, don’t you?”

“Yes, but it’s way too early to be worrying about that. Come on, give it a rest, Slick.”

Turning into Mom’s street, I pull up in front of the house.

But Rob doesn’t move to get out of the truck.

“I think you should consider how her family might view you. What if they think you’re dating their only daughter because of her family’s money?”

Groan! This Big Brother stuff’s getting old now. “Robert. Since when do I care what people think? Look, I have an account with Sinclair’s. One of the dudes, Hamish, came out to the shop and set me up. We got along like a house on fire. He’s a gym rat like us, we talked about that as much as we did about auto business. I didn’t even know he had a sister.”

I’m trying not to become irritated now, with limited success.

“Yeah, well, they’re all gym rats like us, doesn’t mean they’re gonna like you any better.” He heaves a sigh and shifts uncomfortably in his seat. “Look, Mark, I don’t care who you like or who you want to date. I’m just suggesting you consider all the facts, out of brotherly concern. Take it or leave it, alright?”

Now he’s irritated, too.

“But you’re making these people sound medieval,” I say. “I mean, do they lock her up at night or something? She has tattoos, for Chrissakes. She drives a muscle car that she said they bought for her and helped her restore. She’s not exactly chained up in the basement.”

“I’m just trying to give you fair warning about getting into a… well, a thing with someone in Marie’s situation. You need what her family is selling to get your shop off the ground. You need their goodwill! They can hurt you, or help you. That’s all I’m trying to get through your thick skull, for fucks sakes.”

Jesus! First, the loan thing, now this. As if I asked for his help or advice!

Gritting my teeth, I say, “How about you drop the Big Brother shit now? Look, all I know is, I met a super-hot girl tonight and I’m interested. If I want to ask her out, nothing’s gonna stop me. Not her father, not her family, not you…nothing.”

He rolls his eyes but my glare warns him it’s not open for discussion anymore. I open my door and jump out.

Walking up to Mom’s door, he says, “You’re too stubborn for your own good, Markus. But, look. I’m sorry I said anything. Let’s just have a nice night with Mom, okay?”

I take a deep breath and let it out. “Thank you. That’s what I signed up for in the first place.”

* * *

And we do exactly that; have a nice night with Mom. She did up a roast beef with mashed potatoes and all the trimmings for us. The food’s delicious, and being around our mom and good food makes both me and Rob mellow out.

After dinner, Rob and I do some yard work for Mom. Trimming the shrubs, a bit of weeding and raking. Mom’s getting on in years, but with our help, she’ll be able to stay in her home–our childhood home–for as long as possible.

There’s something good about being able to come “home” once in a while. And Mom’s happy, surrounded by familiar things, and people, and neighbors who look out for her.

While we work, my mind keeps returning to Marie. That smile. Those track pants showing off that muscular ass, so round and firm! I picture it, and imagine what it’d feel like to squeeze those high, strong buttocks, preferably as she was sitting on top of me, naked…aaaand, shit, now my dick’s waking up in my pants.

Oops.

After the chores are done, we watch Rogue One, the new Star Wars movie. It’s epic but still, I can’t stay focused on it.

My mind keeps showing me flashes of Marie.

I wonder what her nipples are like. Are they tiny and round like pea-gravel, or long, thick ones that look like pencil erasers when they’re hard? What color are they? Are they rosy red or pale pink or maybe, honey-brown, like some girls have? They’re all so yummy, I can’t decide which ones I like best.

But I already know that whatever Marie’s got, I’d like ‘em just fine.

And that smile…I see it beaming up at me; and somehow that images morphs into an image of those muscular legs wrapped around my waist while my cock…dammit! There I go again.

I shift in my position on the couch, then grab a throw pillow and put it on my lap. It takes concerted effort to focus on the movie again. It’s a great movie, but when it’s this hard to concentrate, time seems to crawl by.

Finally, the movie’s over and we watch the news. I hear a soft snore and look over at Rob and Mom. Rob’s slouched in his chair, his head resting on his hand, but his eyes are open and he’s watching the TV.

Mom’s head has lolled back against the cushions, her mouth open, fast asleep. “Pssst,” I say, and lift my chin towards her for Rob to take a look.

“Alright, it’s time to get going,” he says. “Lemme text Brenda and see if the coast is clear.”

He texts back and forth with Bren for a few minutes before standing up and putting his phone in his pocket. “We’re good to go.”

I wake Mom up. “Hey, Ma? You fell asleep.”

She lets out a sleepy snort and sits up. “Time izzit?”

“It’s almost twelve thirty. We’re gonna get going.”

“Okay, guys.”

She walks us to the door. “This was fun, we’ll do it again soon. Nite nite, drive safe.”

We say our goodbyes and head out to the truck. The ride back to Rob’s place is peaceful, the little tiff we had earlier, forgotten.

I pull into his driveway and he gets out of the truck. “Alright. Have a good night,” he says, and makes as if to shut the door.

Then he stops, leans back into the cab and says, “Oh, by the way. I debated not telling you this, but…Marie’s staying the night now. She wants you to come in for coffee.” He grins at me, shuts the door and makes a run for the house.

In a flash, I’m out of the truck and racing after him. Catching up, I shove him playfully off the driveway onto the lawn, trying to knock him off balance. He almost goes down, but he recovers and shoves me back.

Laughing, we wrestle and play-fight all the way up to the house.