Series: Peach State Stepbros Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79283 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79283 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Brenner glances my way, a warm smile spreading across his face. He rests his hand on mine, rubbing gently, which is the assurance I need—a reminder that this isn’t the old Brenner who would just run around looking for the next guy or girl to mess around with. That while we’re messing around, he’s mine.
“What is this?” Colin asks, and suddenly, as if out of thin air, his boyfriend/stepbrother, Ash, materializes at his side.
“Holy fucking shit, it’s contagious,” Ash says.
Not surprised that half of one of Alpha Theta Mu’s boyfriend-stepbro couples would say some shit like that.
I wave toward myself, inviting the shit-giving. “Come on.”
“Yeah,” Brenner adds. “Get it all out of your systems while you can.”
“What is everyone talking about?” Marty asks, earning a few glances.
“Brenner and Taylor are an item,” Lance explains. “And they’re also stepbros.”
Marty winces. “But they aren’t stepbrothers.”
“They’re going to be, though.”
“Wait…but Taylor isn’t queer.”
“Um…” I say.
Marty blinks a few times. “Seriously? Is this a joke? Did Payton put you guys up to this?”
“Me?” Payton asks.
“Marty, you could be a little more supportive,” Lance says in a tone.
“Oh fuck,” Marty says. “I’m sorry. That was a dick move. I just…whatever makes you guys happy, and I don’t want you to think just because I’m surprised… I don’t have any judgment or anything. If you guys are boyfriends, that’s—”
“We’re not boyfriends,” Brenner clarifies. “But we’re seeing what’s here. Be cool.”
“Shit,” Marty says. “I’m fucking it up again.”
Brenner and I share a laugh. “Relax, Mart,” Brenner says. “It’s cute that you care.”
“Your parents know?” Colin asks.
“Eh, we’re gonna wait until after their wedding,” I tell them. “For obvious reasons, this could make it weird.”
“Weird? Really?” Ash says. “I can’t imagine how that would make things weird.”
That gets everyone laughing, and as it settles, I say, “Now can we just party and get over this awkward bit?”
Everyone’s on the same page, and after a few more jokes, they let it go. Brenner and I grab drinks at the bar before running into Troy and Atlas, who catch Bren with his hand on my ass.
“That’s so cute,” Atlas tells me. “I got taken, and then you had to settle for Brenner.”
I burst into a laugh. Brenner’s pretty damn confident, but Atlas definitely rivals him in the cocky department.
“I’m thinking we wasted a couple of years,” Brenner says. “We could have all been messing around with each other the whole time.”
“What makes you think Taylor and I would have let you join in?” Atlas jokes.
“I know for a fact Taylor would have let me join in,” Brenner says.
Troy growls, reminding me of the way Brenner gets all greedy for me, and then Troy pulls Atlas close. “Well, looks like you all missed the boat because this one’s all mine,” he says before taking a kiss from his man, like he’s marking his territory in front of us.
Brenner and I exchange a look because it’s kind of hot.
As they get caught up in a make-out session, Brenner leans close and says, “You think we’re gonna end up with tattoos of each other?”
We share a laugh.
Atlas has one that says Troy under his pec, and Troy has Atlas on his wrist. Because these guys are ride or die for each other.
“It’s hot,” I admit.
“But not really us.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think messing around with you was really us before either.”
“True,” Bren says with a chuckle. He looks too adorable to resist, and I take my opportunity now that our friends are distracted, wrapping my arm around him and stealing a kiss.
I hadn’t realized just how much I missed it until our lips met, our tongues teasing at each other’s.
And when we pull away, someone steps up beside us, and we turn at the same time to see Dax glancing between us.
“Mmmm-hmmmm,” is all he says. “Saw this one coming from a mile away.”
Brenner leans closer to him. “Pretty confident you saw the coming closer than that.”
“Just so you know,” Dax says, “I’m adding whatever-this-is to my CV.”
“CV?” I ask.
“Oh, you guys don’t have a clue. This slutty gay fairy has powers that bring guys together, apparently.”
I can tell there’s a story there, though knowing Dax, we’ll probably never know what it is.
“Does a slutty gay fairy have a CV?” Brenner asks.
“’Scuse you,” Dax says. “I am not a slutty gay fairy. I am the slutty gay fairy.”
We all share a laugh.
Really, not just at Dax’s joke, but at how wild and ridiculous this thing that’s going on between Bren and me is.
Still, strange as it is, I know the fun’s just getting started.
18
Brenner
So…I’m definitely enjoying this whole see-how-things-will-go situation with Taylor. I don’t know what to call us, but we’re not boyfriends. We’re fuck buddies, though that doesn’t seem the right qualifier either because over the past few weeks we’ve also started sleeping in the same bed every night, even when he doesn’t fuck my brains out. And we’ve done so much cuddling. Like, all the cuddling. We do it when we’re talking and when we watch movies. We sit close, our legs entwined, when we’re playing video games. He plays with my hair sometimes while I’m doing homework, and I tickle my fingertips along his nape because I know how much he enjoys it.