Taboo Pleasures

My Brother's Forbidden Touch>:Ch-13

"You're such a thoughtful man, little brother. Why didn't you let me help decide on a place for us to live?"

"Um, I..."

"Is it because I'm invisible?" Raven accused me before she stepped off the elevator.

She only took a couple steps into the middle of the hallway, then stopped. Boston looked up at her face for some hint of direction from her.

"Sorry, Raven. I swear, you're probably the least invisible person in the world. You're just wrong about me being so thoughtful, but I hope it won't happen again," I told her as I gently took her hand to put it on my arm.

"Someday I'm going to be able to actually pull off a dramatic exit without getting lost immediately."

"We take a right out of the elevator, then another right right away, then a left almost right away again."

"Right, right, left. Right?"

I looked at Raven, and couldn't decide if her expression showed humor or frustration.

"Right."

"Right, right, right? Right?" she scowled.

"No, right, right, left, then it's on the left."

"Okay, so right, right, left, left? Right?"

"Right, right, left, and the door is on the left."

"That's what I said: right, right, left, left. Right?"

We were standing outside our new door, and I had a strong feeling she was doing this on purpose.

"It's right, then right, then left, and the door..."

"I get it, Dan. Are we there now?" Raven laughed a little, but sounded nervous at the same time.

"We're here," I told her and lifted her hand from my arm and put her fingers on the number plate on our door.

"I see they have our Braille plate installed, and they said they would do the rest of the floor as soon as all the plates came in, then do the rest of the building over the next few months."

"Four oh one," Raven murmured.

"They're doing the whole building with new numbers?"

"Yep. You know, accessibility and the ADA, Rae. I had to remind them, and explain why the entire building needed to be done."

Boston started to go in when I opened the door, but then sat down next to Raven and looked up at her. She made no attempt to move.

"Danny, I was used to no black holes. Living...at Mom and Dad's, all the regular places I went in Columbus. I didn't even think about it until we got here."

"Black holes, Rae?"

"New places, Dan. I've been in a black hole since we got out of the car. It's supposed to be home, but it's just a void to me. It's a little overwhelming."

"I'll help you, Rae."

"I don't even feel right teaching Boston a new place. He's only gonna be here a few days. It's so unfair to him."

Raven's chin started to quiver, then her pouty bottom lip joined in.

I knew she was fighting a losing battle.

I led her in, then wrapped her in a gentle hug and let her cry against my body.

"Sorry," she murmured when she pulled away from me.

"It's a lot, more than I thought. I know he needs to retire, but that doesn't mean I need to like it," she sniffled.

"I'm going to miss him, too," I tried to comfort my sister, still with my arms around her a little bit.

"Is that all that's bothering you?" I asked her.

"I wish! Moving in with a man is f*****g hard!"

I was shocked, both by her language and the context.

"Am I really that bad, Raven?"

She snorted, then giggled, then moved right into a real laugh.

"No, but just 'cause you're the only man I'd ever consider living with doesn't make it a f*****g walk in the park."

"You have a little bit of a potty mouth, Rae."

She grinned in my general direction.

"If I'm grown up enough to live with a man, I'm grown up enough to cuss. Saying 'f**k' once makes me a potty mouth?"

"It's three times now for 'f**k', and twice for 's**t'," I corrected her.

"Doesn't it fit me?" she shrugged.

"Not really, especially since you have to make the effort."

"Fine. Those words don't taste that good in my mouth anyway," she giggled.

"Good. Those pouty, kissable lips should have stars and rainbows, glitter and kittens coming off them to fit you."

"I guess it's true what they say. You really do know how to make a girl feel good."

She was blushing again, just as much as she had the first time I told her that her lips were pouty and begged to be kissed.

"You want to relax while I bring the luggage up, Rae?"

"Where's my bedroom? I want to feel it, and we might as well know where our clothes are going before you bring them up."

"That depends on which one you want."

"Is the invisible girl going to get to choose?"

"Rae..." I started to object.

"I'm not serious, Dan. You never make me feel invisible. You always make me feel like the most important person in the world, because you never let me forget that I'm the most important person in the world to you. It's the rest of the world that doesn't see me.

"I'm just acting like a whiny, little girl because my life is being uprooted. Get used to it."

"Okay, Rae. The invisible girl gets to choose."

"Thank you," she smiled. "Let's have the tour then."

I ended up giving her the in-depth tour of the whole place, all six rooms. She didn't even bother bringing Boston around with us. He kept tabs on us from the living room. He could watch most of it from there anyway.

"Which one do you want, Rae?" I asked after a mostly silent walk-through. Raven only gave me a few 'mhms' and 'okays'.

"Which one has the best view?" she giggled.

"The first one."

"The big one has the best view? Great. That one's yours. I don't need much room, and I definitely don't care much about the view. I'll take what's behind door number two, please."