The Man of the House

Chapter 18

"Your hair is so pretty. It’s like you don’t even try!”

“…”

“S-sorry, he’s shy,” London said stiffly, cracking open a beer and taking a sip.

“C-can I have a sip?” I asked.

We were sitting in their family room now. London was on a recliner, while I sat next to her boyfriend on the couch. He still had a fake smile on his face and was trying to carry on a conversation, all while seemingly sending veiled insults my way. I didn’t know if London picked up on them, but she seemed to be willfully pretending they weren’t there. This was going to be a long day, so I asked for a drink. London tilted her drink my direction. I went to grab it, but her boyfriend grabbed it first and immediately took a sip.

When he pulled it away from his lips, he shot me a quick smug expression and then London a glare. “He’s too young to drink! You should know better.”

London gave a helpless shrug and then me an apologetic look. “Sorry, he’s right. Besides, alcohol isn’t good when you have a brain injury. It might cause depression.”

I’m depressed now! I felt like chucking that bottle at her, so it was perhaps best that I didn’t have it.  

“Oh, do you want a juice box? I think I have some left from my old job.” The guy asked, standing up and going to the fridge.

“Dan used to do a little babysitting to help bring in some money,” London explained to me.

Dan grabbed a small juice box from the fridge and then came over and pulled the straw off and even put it in before handing it to me. I had a deep frown on my face. I really wanted to smack this guy. He gave me an ingratiating smile before sitting on the other side of the couch. London just nodded like this was normal.

“I think I’m just going to lie down,” I said while holding the juice box in my hand. “I have a bit of a headache.”

“Ah, that’s fine!” London stood back up. “You can use my guest room over here. Actually, I do need to go for a bit.”

“What, you just came back? Where are you going?”

“Just work, honey.”

“B-but you have off!”

“I know… but I wanted to look at some patient records. It won’t be that long, okay?”

“You’re always working…” Dan pouted.

It was truly strange watching a woman sooth over a pouty man who was a head taller than her. I could only walk away and head to the guest room. I was especially trying to avoid the sneering look that Dan gave me over London’s shoulder. This guy was really something else. In my old world, he was a piece of shit. I mean, I didn’t know him much personally, but you didn’t need to know a guy to be able to tell he was crap. Now, he didn’t seem much better in his new form. Different, but still a garbage human being.

Well, it wasn’t my business who London wanted to be with. Someone might think I should fight for her or at least make Dan get his comeuppance. London was just my sister, though. We had shared a few strange moments in the last few days since I woke up in this world, but that didn’t mean I was ready to throw caution to the wind and start a conflict with her fiancé. Plus, this guy seemed to be the type who would make my life hell if I got in his way.

Guys getting with toxic women was normal. So, the opposite was probably true here. Above all that, there was nothing that I could say. London saw me as just a little brother and would toss away anything I tried to say as just some kind of jealousy or something. On top of all that, I was already a bit pissed at London for embarrassing me in front of Anna and dragging me here in the first place. Now, she was just going to leave me with this guy who hated me, so I was also a little pissed at her.

I went into the room she indicated and closed the door. The room was small, and the guest bed was uncomfortable, but it was better than dealing with the nasty looks and sneers from Dan. I just had to kill a few hours until mom got home. Then I could call and have her pick me up. That was as good of a plan as any.

As I lay down, I considered the events that had transpired during the last few days. I had to think about things carefully because everything had felt like a dream. It didn’t feel real to me. I had lost my virginity, slept with a stranger, and had even gotten a few handjobs. My mom, my sisters, everyone was different than they used to be. I let out a long breath and then closed my eyes. Eventually, I went to sleep.

There was a thumping noise, and then the giggling of a woman. My eyes opened groggily. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my cellphone. It had only been a few hours. It was in the afternoon now, around 2 pm.

“Shh… my fiance’s little brother is in that room!” The words were at the edge of my hearing, but as soon as I heard it, I sat up, and my eyes widened instantly.

I went from half asleep to awake like that. The voice had distinctly sounded like Dan’s. I stood up and went to the door, only to hear another giggle. That giggle was a girl. Was London flirting around with Dan? I made a face. I really didn’t want to see that. I thought of just bursting into the room and breaking them up. It’d piss Dan off, so that was already a good reason to do it. However, I hesitated and instead continued to listen.

“When is she getting home again?” A female voice asked.

“I just called her. She said they tossed some work on her and she’s out until 5.”

“Plenty of time. You’re so damn beautiful, boy. I can’t wait to get you out of those clothes.”

“I already said, my fiance’s little brother is here, you need to be quiet.” Dan hissed in a loud whisper.

“You said he’s sleeping though.”

“Yeah, he shouldn’t hear anything from our bedroom. I’ll just turn the tv up high.”

“You slutty little boy, can’t even wait, you have to let me give it to you even while you have company.”

My eyes began to widen. Was I really hearing what I thought I was hearing? Dan was out there with another girl. That meant that he was having an affair on London!

“Sh-shut up! You’re the one who came over even though I said it wasn’t a good time.”

“Haha… that’s because that dumbass woman of yours can’t please you as I can.”

“She-she brought home that stupid little brother of hers. This was supposed to be our night together, but she left that boy and then she ran off to work again. She’s always busy with work, and when she’s not busy, she’s always over there at her mom’s house. She keeps going Noah this, and Noah that. She’s totally obsessed with her little brother!”

“Hehe… incest… nice. Maybe I should knock on his door and see if he wants to join in. I’ve never tasted a little brother before.”

“Gross! Don’t be a pig, Regina.”

“Don’t you like me cause I’m a pig. I eat you up all the time.” There was a snorting noise followed by giggles and then kissing noises.

“Ahn… damn, I’m so hard when you kiss me that way.” Dan said, pulling away from her kiss.

“Hehe… I’m better than your fiancée, aren’t I?”

“Mm…”

“Say it!”

“Y-you’re pussy is way better than London’s.”

“Damn right! Go in that bedroom and strip for me. Get started too. I want your dick stiff when I go get on it.”

“Wh-where are you going?”

“Haha, what? I got to take a piss?”

“He’s in the bedroom right next to that bathroom!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be quiet. Won’t even flush. Haha. Just go.”

“P-please do.”

I heard a door open next to my door and then footsteps into the room adjacent to mine. A moment later, I heard another door close on the other side of the family room. That would have been Dan going into the bedroom. I heard the sound of this girl named Regina humming. She wasn’t trying to be conspicuous at all! I mean, they weren’t loud. If I was a heavy sleeper, I would have slept through all of it. However, I was actually a very light sleeper.

So, Dan was having an affair. From the sound of it, this had been going on for a while. I didn’t know this Regina girl. I didn’t really know anything, other than that while London was out, he was fooling around with other women on their bed.

I pulled out my cellphone. I immediately typed for London. I told her I’d like her to come home immediately. If I could get her to walk in on him having sex, that would be the best. However, it was only fifteen seconds later that I got a return text.

Sorry, I’m busy. I’ll be home in a few hours.

I texted back, declaring it an emergency. She responded, ‘If Dan can’t help, call mom.’ Damn it! Why does she have to suddenly be like this now? I could try to get pictures, but that would be difficult to do without getting caught. If I just told London everything without evidence, I already could imagine what would happen. Dan would feed her some sob story about how I must not like him to make up such a cruel thing.

London, who already was putting off everything on my concussion, would just say I imagined it, or maybe I really am trying to slander, Dan. It was his word against mine, and he was older and had my sister by the pussy. Even if I told the truth and she believed me, there was a good chance that Dan would get London to somehow forgive him just on principle. He would use the fact London is trying to get her medical license as a means of guilting her into staying.

Yet, if I did nothing, I’d be condoning my sister to getting cheated on by a scummy guy. I needed more time. I needed to come up with a way to expose Dan for who he truly was. Did that mean I needed to stay quiet and pretend I didn’t hear them having sex? No… I wasn’t thinking this through.

Dan was not thinking right now. He was horny, and he was willing to cheat even with me here. He had convinced himself that I didn’t hear anything. However, once he came and started thinking logically, he’d realize that I had totally heard everything. Once he comes to that realization, he won’t go easy on me. Knowing that I know, he’ll immediately start trying to set up ground work to ruin me in London’s eyes. He might say something like I stole his jewelry. Maybe a lie or something he swears I said about London. It would build and build until my relationship with London was destroyed. If I allowed that to happen, then it would be that much harder to separate them.

I heard the toilet flush. I looked over at the wall, where the bathroom next door had this stranger, Regina, in it. Suddenly, a plan started to form in my head. I couldn’t let Dan know that I knew he was a cheater. If they ended up having sex, the news would definitely be out. However, if Regina never made it to his bedroom, then maybe…

It was crazy, but then another thought came to me. Dan liked to cheat on my sister? How would he like it if the same happened to him?

I slid out of my door quietly, making sure to make no noise. I went into the bathroom just as quietly. I saw Regina for the first time. She had her back turned to me and was washing her hands. She didn’t seem to have heard me slipping in. I took a breath to steady myself. It was time to give Dan a taste of his own medicine! I reached back and locked the bathroom door with a click.