“Casey, don’t please, it’s over now, they know about us, so it’s all done now. Now it’s you and me. Your father paid for doing that to you, now he knows what the score is, and we’re free. Casey, I know this seems like a weird time to talk about this, but now that there’s no more to say, will you do one thing for me?”
Casey smiled at him, wincing as she stretched her bruised cheek.
“Ouch! Of course, baby, anything for you!” she grinned, “including taking a punch!”
Robbie grinned. “I’m sorry about that, I took my eye off him for just a second, I guess I just never thought he’d do something like that to you, of all people!”
Casey grinned smiled a little wistfully.
“I guess, at bottom, I still believed he’d be dad enough to stop and listen to me. Mom almost did, I almost got to her, but him, I never…” She shook her head, and smiled back up Robbie.
“What did you want to ask me, baby?”
Robbie flushed, and knelt down by the bed, to put his head on level with hers, so he could look into her eyes.
“Casey, you know how I feel about you, and you know more than anybody what we’ve got, and I wanted to ask you if, when you’re ready, you’d consider… maybe… I don’t know, umm… marrying me, perhaps?”
Casey was thrilled, moved, and almost overwhelmed by the rush of love and trust she felt for him, tinged with amusement at how quickly he’d changed from being her confident and competent defender to this tongue-tied blushing teenager.
She sat up and cupped his face in her hands, to speak directly to him.
“Baby, thank you for asking me. I would be honored to marry you, to be your wife, and have your children!”
Robbie smiled slowly, his smile transmuting into a wide happy grin. He leaned in and kissed her once, softly, and took her left hand. “Mom gave me this ring, it was her grandmother’s ring, and she told me I should give it one day to the girl I marry, so now I’m giving to you, for you to wear as my wife to be. I love you Casey Roisian Dolan!”
“And I love you too, Robbie Anderson!” she grinned back.
Robbie slid the antique diamond engagement ring onto Casey’s ring finger, watching as she smiled wistfully.
“I used to daydream about this moment when I was younger,” she smiled, “I just never dreamed I’d be saying ‘yes’ to my hottie big brother!”
Robbie grinned and leaned in for another, longer kiss.
“Joey and I were planning on taking you, Karen and Mom out to dinner, I’ll tell Joey to go ahead without us, unless…” said Robbie, and Casey grimaced.
“I don’t think I want to be seen looking like this, if you don’t mind; my face hurts, but you go, Sarah wants to have dinner with both her boys, I’ll be fine.”
Robbie shook his head. “I’ll tell them to go ahead, we’ll order in, or raid the fridge; besides, we’ll have her to ourselves later tonight and tomorrow morning anyway, so no harm, no foul!”
Robbie went in search of Joey, to tell him of the change of plan, while Casey lay back down and stretched her hand out, admiring her ring.
Shortly he was back. “All arranged, Joey and Karen will bring mom home, and we’ll order in, or you can have a dig through the fridge later, see what turns up. You rest now, I need to go and talk with Joey for a few minutes, don’t go away!”
Joey was lounging on the porch, idly watching the street when Robbie caught up with him. Joey looked up at him and grinned.
“So tell me, butthead, how did it feel, kicking daddy’s ass for him? I hope you got as much out of it as I got watching it!”
Robbie grinned. It had been kind of satisfying, but in a small, mean way, and he didn’t want to go there or get to liking the feeling; that was kind of how this all started in the first place. He decided instead to change the subject, he had something important to think about, and he needed advice.
“Joey, I needed to get a smart opinion, but I couldn’t find anyone local, so I thought you’d do!” he smiled, plumping down onto the porch seat next to Joey
Joey grinned and lazily flipped him a finger.
“So talk to me, butthead! What’s so all-fired important you have to disturb my bout of medically-sanctioned lazing while I reminisce about daddy swan-diving face first into the sidewalk?”
Robbie looked pensive, his silence catching Joey’s attention, causing him to slide upright and sit still, waiting for him to marshal his thoughts. At last, Robbie stirred.
“Joey, last week I had a conversation with Steve Vargas, about where I was going, what I wanted from GameStx, what I wanted out of life, and he kind of made me an offer I really need to talk to you about. He seemed to think I was getting ready to jump ship, although I don’t know where he could have got that from; after you guys, Mom, Aunt Kat, everyone, I love that man more than anyone in the world and I wouldn’t hurt him to save my own life. He’s the one who gave me everything I have, and more, but he was so concerned I’d leave he offered to make me a partner with him and his brother, Elio. I would never leave Steve in the lurch, but I don’t know if I could be a partner in what we look set to become; a software mill, just churning out this year’s version of last year’s hit, so I told him I’d think about it, and being here, with you, Mom, Karen, and Casey, has helped me to come to a decision.”
Robbie paused, taking a deep breath.
“I’m going to accept his offer, not because of the money, you know me, I don’t really need money, but I’ll only accept on one condition; that you come with me as part of the deal. I think together we could turn GameStx into an innovator, instead of just a market responder, but we’d need someone like you to push us into the spotlight. I know I’m asking a lot, but before you say no, please, just think about it, talk it over with Karen, whatever you need to do. Steve’s given me a month to give him an answer, and two weeks are up already.”
“However things go, I’m not leaving Steve, but I think GameStx needs to move forward, and I know Elio is behind me on this; he sees the need for us to step up and start taking on EA and Activision and all the other big boys at their own game. If we don’t, we disappear, and we do good stuff, too good to just disappear into the background. I think you can help us do that, but only from the inside, so please, a slow yes is better than a quick no, so think it over, please!”
Joey looked him over slowly, seeing the concern there, and the plea for his older brother to help him out, and to be honest, the idea appealed; the company he and Karen worked for had offices in San Francisco, if she agreed, she could transfer and remain in full employment while he took a chance with Robbie.
Joey stood up and stretched, and grinned down at Robbie’s anxious, open face.
“Looks like I’m taking mom and Karen to dinner solo, so wait up for us, I think Karen will want to talk to you as well, this is a decision that affects us both, so you be up and around when we get back, OK?”
Robbie grinned.
“I’ll be here, count on it! And… thanks, Joey! Now, I think Casey needs me, so if you’ll excuse me…!”
He went back upstairs, to find Casey examining her reflection in the mirror, gently touching and mapping out the pain spots in the bruise forming on her left cheekbone.
She looked up as Robbie came in the room, and tilted her head back to look up at him.
“He really did a number on me, don’t you think?” she half-smiled, making Robbie smile back. “I’ll have to borrow some Concealer from Karen or Sarah tomorrow, but you know what, it’s not that painful now!” She skittered her fingertips across the bruise and winced, giving lie to the words.
Robbie sat down next to her and pulled her close, examining her features, admiring her hair, her profile, her pale, translucent skin. He thought to himself how lucky he was that someone like her could want to be with someone like him. Casey meanwhile was thinking pretty much the same thing.
On impulse, she pulled his head down and found his lips, kissing him tenderly, happily while his arm tightened around her as he bore her backwards. He lay on his side, Casey in the crook of his arm, his head turned to her so he could continue to kiss and nuzzle her. Casey kissed him back with equal enthusiasm, her hands coming up to hold his face as he showered her with kisses.
Casey grinned and bit her bottom lip, something wicked dancing in her eyes, and she reached for his jeans, popping the button and tugging the zipper down in one move. Robbie’s eyes widened, then he too grinned and returned the favor, his hands grasping the waistband of her jeans as he pushed them down and tugged them off her.
Casey slid her hand inside his open jeans and took hold of his burgeoning erection through the material of his shorts, squeezing him rhythmically as he began to rub and caress her panties where they stretched around her damp pussy lips, now clearly visible through the thin material. Casey moaned and shut her eyes at the pleasurable sensation, humping her crotch back against his fingers as he drew her close to lick and nibble and kiss her neck, her throat, her chin and her lips, his lips feeling like they were coated with fire as they burned and sizzled across her skin.