Just Joe ~ Jen Luerssen Read online

  “You are super talented. Maybe we can collaborate? A friend and I are working on a game. I make bank writing health care software, but it’s pretty boring. We need an artist if you’re interested.”

  Jack’s face is beaming. He leans in and hugs her. “Please live here forever.”

  She smiles at me over his shoulder and winks. The saucy minx.

  “Okay, enough of nerd boy’s room. Want to see a real man’s room?” I ask. Now it’s her turn to roll her eyes.

  “If I could only find a real man,” she opines and I put my arm around her neck, coaxing her to my room.

  “Just this way, madame,” I say and we walk to my room, Jack following right behind.

  I open the door and she gasps. I’ve got her now. My room is a sumptuous feast of comfort and sin. At least that’s what Lia said when she saw it for the first time. I took it as a good thing. In the center of the room is my California king with sturdy dark wood frame and canopy. My comforter is off-white and fluffy, topped with a red cashmere throw. The rest of the furniture matches the bed and I know the minute she spots my reading spot because she sighs.

  “Joe Davis, is this really your room? This bed is ridiculous. I feel like it’s hitting on me, it’s so aggressive. Oh my god! I can’t look at this chair and ottoman next to the window with the giant bookshelf right behind it without getting tingles in my lady parts.”

  “Yes, it is my room. I’m not sorry about the aggressive bed and please elaborate on these tingles.” She smacks my chest and then skips over to the chair.

  She settles in and picks up the book resting on the arm. Her eyes light up and then she smiles wide at me. “Quoth, the Flamingo,” she says with a flourish, then puts down my copy of The Raven. “You may regret the day you asked me to move in, Joe, because I may never leave.”

  My heart flips and oh crap, I may never let her.

  Just Roomies

  THIS WAS A GIANT MISTAKE. Having Betsy live here seemed like a fantastic idea but now that she’s here in my space, I know it was a bad, bad idea. First of all, she and Jack are chatting like they’ve known each other for years, she’s been in his room for the past hour arguing over Marvel versus DC and who has the better female heroes. After we finally got to her room and she gushed over the ocean theme, she unpacked with Jack for company. He hasn’t left her side since. I’m in my own room with my dumb aggressive bed who seems to have gotten further with Betsy in one moment than I have in weeks.

  Whoa, is that how I’m thinking about her now? I thought we were friends, I mean I flirt with her as much as anyone but I had her firmly in the friends column. Seeing her in my space, relaxed and when she teased me right before Jack walked in. Her job as a burlesque dancer made me see her a little differently too. I’m glad she has a creative side. I find her fascinating and I want to know everything about her. Which is why I’m annoyed she is hanging with Jack.

  I creep to his room, hoping to eavesdrop a little. Maybe she’s confessing her lust for me.

  “You’re lucky to have a parent who supports your talents,” Betsy says to Jack and it’s weird to hear someone call me a parent. It’s not the first time but it’s still strange. I’ve tried to be a brother to Jack more than anything else. Maybe that was a mistake, but it was the only way I knew how to be. Fortunately for me, he is an easygoing kid. Sure, he acted out here and there, but it was never unmanageable.

  * * *

  When he was nine, he ran away from home and that was probably my lowest moment. I woke up in the morning as usual and started making us breakfast. Once I had the coffee going, I noticed the note. He wrote that he didn’t want to be a burden to me and he was going to go live in the woods with the fairies. Panic seared through me but I knew exactly where he would be. I rushed out of the house and down the block to the end of our street. Behind our neighbor’s house was a small copse of trees and Jack loved to sit back there and draw. I found him there with a box of Ritz crackers, two bags of Doritos and a family size pack of Oreos. He had his sleeping bag out and he was leaning against a tree drawing with his colored pencils.

  “You been here all night?” I asked, startling him.

  “Yep, I set my alarm for three o’clock and then headed here. It’s a good spot, I think I can make a rustic shelter over there and then forage for food when I run out of this stuff.” He gestured to the pile of junk food.

  “What about me? What am I going to do without you? I’ll be so lonely in our house by myself. Plus, you took all the good food.”

  “I heard you say to Uncle Frank that I was the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do. I don’t want you to have a hard time so I’ll live here and you will have an easier time.” He hung his head and broke my heart.

  “Just because I said it was hard to be your parent, doesn’t mean anything. You are the best thing in my life and I was just frustrated about forgetting your permission slip for that field trip you almost missed. I can’t do any of this without you. Please come back, I’m making pb waffles,” I added knowing that would get him.

  “Well, since you don’t make them right, I’ll come back. It’s okay about the field trip, Hayley’s mom forgot too.” I helped him with his snacks and sleeping bag and we headed home. I never forgot another slip, and he never ‘ran away’ again. It wasn’t always perfect, that’s for damn sure, but I’ll do anything for him and I’d like to think he feels the same, even though he gives me a load of shit daily.

  * * *

  “I am lucky to have Joe, even though he picks his nose and eats it, has incontinence issues, and there’s the chronic halitosis. We are brothers, so I’m able to look past his disgusting habits and love him anyway,” I hear Joe say and I will be killing him in his sleep later.

  “Oh man, tell me about it, does he even own a toothbrush? Tell me more about the incontinence. Is it a number one or number two problem?” Betsy asks and yeah, this is not going on any longer.

  I take the few steps to Jack’s room and clear my throat. “Hey, how’s it going in here? You nerds working on that video game?”

  “No, we were talking about you, darling brother,” Jack says smiling, and I look to Betsy and she is barely containing her laughter. Fuck, they knew I was in the hall. I feel relief but now it’s on.

  “Oh yeah, did you tell Betsy about the time I had to pick you up from school in 4th grade because you had the flu and shit your pants?” I ask.

  “No, but I was just about to tell her about that time you shit your pants at Alicia’s,” he says, giving me an evil smile. Everyone loves that fucking story.

  Betsy slides down the side of the bed and ends up in the fetal position laughing her beautiful ass off. “No more shit stories, I can’t take it,” she says holding her hand out to us.

  I grab it and haul her up. She has tears in her eyes and is glowing with happiness. It’s quite the sight and it makes my new feelings sit up and take notice. I am fucked.

  “Thanks, you guys, for making me feel so welcome by not censoring your insults. I have to get ready for work,” Betsy says and now I’m thinking about her in her pretty lingerie.

  “Work?” Jack asks. “It’s like 8 pm, I thought you were a programmer?”

  “I am, but I have a night job too. I’ll let your brother fill you in,” she says, patting his cheek, then leaving.

  Jack turns to me and I shrug. “She’s a stripper,” I say loud enough so I know she’ll hear me.

  “I’m not a fucking stripper, Joe, I’m an artist!” she shouts from the hallway.

  “I can’t wait to see your art,” I mumble and Jack raises his eyebrow at me.

  “You like her?” he asks. I sigh and he pats me on the back. “Brother of mine, you are fucked.”

  “I know.”

  * * *

  Jack and I are watching baseball when Betsy comes downstairs to head to work. She is wearing a pretty conservative wrap dress but it’s a pretty green and it makes her tattoos pop.

  “You look nice, Betsy.” Jack smiles at her and wave
s. “Have fun at work.”

  She smiles back and turns her shoulder to us and peels her dress down a tiny bit. “I always have fun at my job,” she says and pulls her dress back up. “Don’t wait up for me.” She holds up the key I gave her earlier. “Any other thing I need to get back in here, alarm code?”

  “Nope, how you getting to work?” I ask, standing ready to give her a ride.

  “Sit down, I called a Lyft and it will be here in five minutes,” she says. “You’ve already offered your home to me, you definitely don’t need to offer me rides.”

  “Best friends, remember?” I gesture between us and she rolls her eyes. “Fine, see you in the morning.”

  “Maybe,” she says and saunters out. I watch her go and when I turn back to the game, I notice Jack watching her too.

  “Bro,” I say, smacking his chest. “Just no, she’s our friend.”

  “You keep saying that and yet you watched her leave too,” he says and I hate that he knows me so well. “Get your shit together and figure out what you want from her. The way you look at her seems more than friendly.”

  “I’m just going to see what happens, but yeah, today something changed and I’m definitely seeing her in a new light.”

  “Did you just find out today that she dances?” he chides.

  “Yes, but it was before that. She is so easy going and free. Having her here in our space has changed my feelings. Just seeing her in my room was a wake-up call.”

  “Well, if you have feelings for her you might want to stop calling her your friend, the more she hears it the more she’ll believe that’s all you want to be,” he says and he’s making sense.

  “Ugh, you are probably right,” I admit. “I’ll just start calling her my girlfriend like it’s an out loud vision board and if I wish it into existence it will happen.”

  He shakes his head and shoves my shoulder. “Dude, how do you ever get any woman ever?”

  “Excessive charm and these guns, son,” I say obnoxiously flexing.

  “You’re hopeless,” he says.

  “And you’re forever stuck with me.”

  Just the Human Form

  IT’S EARLY BUT WHEN YOU work in construction you wake up early and it’s a habit I can’t seem to break on the weekends. I’ve been very careful to be quiet and not wake Betsy. Our home is relatively large for San Francisco, but it’s still close quarters. I’ve ground the beans for coffee wrapped in a towel but it’s still loud. I hear someone upstairs moving around but I can’t tell who. Jack could sleep until noon or later if I let him. It’s my pleasure as his older brother to not let him. I spend a good chunk of my early mornings coming up with new ways to wake him up.

  It backfired on me a few times. One morning Jack set his alarm and got up before I did. So, when I went in to attach clothespins to his toes, he was pretending to be asleep. Before I realized what was happening, he had me briefly pinned to the floor and attached the clothespins to my earlobes. The best wake-up ever was when I had Frank help me carry him outside to one of our loungers and it started to pour rain. Jack is a heavy sleeper and is easily moved while sleeping. I found this handy when he was little and would fall asleep in the car or in a restaurant or anywhere really. I’ve never known anyone as good at sleeping as Jack.

  The coffee machine beeps and when I turn to get milk from the fridge, I see the person who is awake and it’s not Jack. Betsy stands in front of me in pajama pants with an X-Men print and a white tank top. I’ve been cataloging her tattoos when I see a new one and this morning, I’m seeing a whole new sleeve. Her right arm is free of tattoos and her left is full. There are all kinds of flowers intertwined along her arm, leading to her chest. What I’m seeing for the first time as well is that there’s a hidden black snake woven throughout the blooms.

  My head lifts from its probably inappropriate perusal to find her smirking at me. “Morning, Joe,” she says and yawns. “You are too cute down here trying to be quiet. Please don’t worry about waking me. If I’m up, I’m up, if I need to sleep, I won’t wake up even if you’re banging pans together.”

  I smile. “So, you’re like my brother then. He can sleep through a chainsaw if he’s tired enough.”

  “Is this something you know from experience or hyperbole?”

  “Let’s just say I’ve had to come up with some creative wake up calls for my dear bro in order to get him to school on time,” I say. “There was one time with a chainsaw and I put safety glasses on both of us before I fired it up. Didn’t work until I turned it off. He woke up because of the quiet.”

  “You guys are extreme,” she says.

  “I guess.” I shrug and pull out two mugs for coffee, fill them and hand her one and the milk. “We basically were without parental supervision and even though I was the guardian, I wasn’t all that responsible. Kept him alive though.” I blow on my coffee and take a sip.

  “You did a great job, Joe, don’t let anyone ever tell you differently.” She takes a sip of her coffee and beams a smile at me. “Joe makes some good joe.”

  “Thanks, you want some cheesy eggs?” I ask. “You can tell me all about burlesque dancing while I cook.”

  She sighs and shakes her head. “I had a really great night last night, I normally dance to Portishead or Massive Attack, but last night I broke free of my trip-hop ways and shook my ass to some Prince.”

  “Are you serious about me coming to see you?” I ask, cracking eggs into a bowl. “I’d love to see you dance, but I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

  She slaps her knee and bends over laughing. Eventually, she slides to the floor from her stool in hysterics.

  “Oh, Joe, I’m sorry, but I forget that we don’t know each other all that well,” she says this as she stands, pulls her tank over her head and drops her pants. Betsy is completely nude in front of me.

  I’m speechless and I’m sure that was her goal. I’m not sure where to look so I focus in on her ear. That’s a lie, I totally check her out. She is curvy and smooth and so colorful, everywhere. Her tits are so perfect that it’s hard to believe they are real, but they are. I find the head of the snake, jaws wide open set to strike her perfectly pink nipple. Below her navel is where the garden of delights begins. All of her tattoos “root” here. Below is her bare pussy and I only take the most cursory glance at it but it’s just as beautiful as the rest of her. When you see her with clothes you can tell that her ink is gorgeous and well done. With no clothes, it’s a revelation. She is a living piece of artwork. Her legs are covered in an intricate web of roots and they look very realistic, a contrast to the dreamy watercolor of the florals that decorate her chest, back and left arm. She spins in place and I get a fast glimpse of her fantastic heart-shaped ass, I’m not sure what I did to deserve this display, or Betsy as a friend, but I’m thankful.

  “My first impression stands,” I say. “Visual feast.”

  She curtsies and picks up her clothes, slowly and un-self-consciously puts them back on. “As a dancer, that’s exactly what I’m going for. I don’t want anyone to take their eyes off me when I’m dancing.”

  “Clearly you are achieving your goal, especially by disrobing suddenly,” I say, not sure what to do with my hands.

  She gives me a pitying smile and pats my shoulder. “Get used to it, I told you I was one of those kids that ran around the house naked and have just never stopped. My parents were horrified but eventually ignored me. I think I’m a nudist at heart. I’m most comfortable wearing nothing but I do love clothes and lingerie that accentuate my body,” she yawns again and takes a big swig of her coffee. “So, you don’t need to worry about me feeling weird about you coming to see me dance. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want you there.”

  “Noted. I will make an effort to come see you when I can,” I say, knowing I’ll put it off, I’m having a lot of feelings right now after seeing her nude for like 15 seconds. I’m having a hard time (mentally and physically) wrapping my head around seeing her dance and be partially u
nclothed for a longer period of time. “You should come see my band when you can too. We are playing this Tuesday at Bix if you’re free.”

  “I only dance Thursday through Saturday so I’d love to come see you guys play.” I dish out the eggs I’ve made along with some partially burnt toast.

  “I’m not the greatest cook, but I am a master griller,” I say as I hand her the plate.

  “This looks great, thanks so much, Joe, for everything. You’re saving my ass a ton of money and I get to pretend that I have brothers.”

  I place my plate on the island bar that took me three weeks to build and turn to her with my hands on my hips. “You can pretend to be related to Jack, but you and I are not siblings. Especially now that I know what you look like naked,” I wink and I don’t care that I’m not allowed.

  “Noted, but I’m over here waiting for you to show me yours,” she says with a shrug and shovels a mouthful of eggs into her beautiful mouth.

  Well, what do you think I’m going to do? Of course, I pull my tee over my head and drop my sweats to the ground. She swallows her bite of food and I can tell she didn’t think I had that in me.

  “Dude, I hope you’re a grower because that’s embarrassing to the family,” my brother says as he walks into the kitchen, grabs a mug and fills it with coffee. I give him a sheepish smile as I pull my pants back up and tuck my definite non-embarrassing dick into them. “Good morning, adults, what the fuck is going on?”

  “Just some show and tell, Jack, but maybe with a little more show than tell,” Betsy says with a chuckle.

  “Ugh, you two are weird. Wait. Did I miss you showing, Bets?” he asks, eyes wide.

  “You did, little bro and Betsy won’t be repeating hers.”

  She shrugs, “I’ll try to keep my nudity to my room but I make no promises.”

  Jack’s eyes are still wide and he looks a little stunned. “I just turned 18 so I’m sure that’s kosher.”

  Betsy covers her face with her hands. “Now I feel like some old lady perv.”