Series: Peach State Stepbros Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78418 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78418 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“Of course you did, Col, but that was a lot. He knew that.”
“I know. It’s just not how a developing brain processes that shit, right?”
“Too well,” I say, reflecting on my parents’ split.
“But I decided that I’d make the best of it, and then one day, Lauren brought you over.”
“I remember that day,” I say, rubbing my face against his palm.
Colin’s lip twists up as he runs his hand up my cheek, until his thumb is over my temple. He strokes so gently. “Do you remember you wouldn’t even look me in the eyes? And they left us together in the living room for a bit—I’m sure so we got to know each other. And I was trying to make conversation with you, just being friendly, and you had your head in some game on your iPad—”
“Pokémon Gold,” I mutter.
He snickers. “Yeah. And I thought, this is gonna be a nightmare if they stay together and I have to be around this guy all the time. I figured I’d turn on the TV to have something to do, and do you remember what you did?”
“Asked if you liked Pokémon.”
Colin’s eyes widen ever so slightly, and I notice the way the room light sparkles in his irises.
“You showed me the different ones and which were your favorite,” he says. “Even let me play a bit. And then you couldn’t stop talking about Pokémon, and you were so excited to talk to someone about it, and just kept on and on, and I remember thinking you were the coolest kid in the world.”
I laugh, not because it was particularly funny, but because it reminds me of what was going on in our lives at the time. “It was really hard back then. I don’t feel like Mom or Dad were able to really teach me how to interact with people.”
“No shit.”
“Right? I was awkward. Didn’t know how to make friends. And by the time we met, I had guys being mean to me on the bus. At school. There was a guy who wore glasses who called me four-eyes. I just didn’t understand. And when Mom and Dad were having more arguments at home, it felt like the kids got even meaner at school, like they could feel I was having a hard time. When we came over that day, I was so annoyed with Mom. I didn’t want to meet anyone. I just wanted to stay home and hide. And when you were trying to talk to me, I thought, he’s gonna realize who you are and be mean like those others.”
Colin must feel how hard it is thinking about those painful times because he rubs my temple again.
“You looked so cool with your backward cap and your Nike sneakers,” I say. “I didn’t understand why you were trying to talk to me. I don’t even know why, but I just looked over and thought, he seems nice. Maybe just try. Worst he can do is be an asshole. And then when we talked, you were actually interested in the things I was saying, and you were listening, and it felt so good. I’d never felt that way before. And I was so pissed when Mom said we had to go because we’d barely covered the second generation.”
Colin grins. “Fortunately, you had plenty of time after that to educate me.”
“What a relief. You would have been such a loser if it hadn’t been for me.”
Colin studies my expression, his jaw tensing. “I wish I’d known you were going through all that bullying shit a lot sooner. I would have protected you.”
“I know that now,” I assure him.
“Ash, you’ll never know how much you helped me back then. Before the divorce, I was easygoing and chill. Laughed and smiled all the time. Didn’t really need a reason. Then there was this heaviness to everything. I didn’t really start laughing and smiling again until we met. Hanging with you made me feel like at least something good came out of that whole mess.”
“I feel the same.” I relax my weight against him, hooking my arms under his to pull him closer. “I remember how you and Steve gave these great hugs—and you did it as easily as saying hi, and it felt so good. Mom and Dad didn’t do that, but fuck, those hugs made all the shit we were dealing with a little less shitty.”
He wraps his arms around me, tugging me close. “I made you a hugger.”
“You did.” And I’m proud of that. “I can’t imagine what my life would have been like if I hadn’t met you that day.”
“I’m glad we don’t have to imagine that.”
I lean close to him, taking another kiss, something deeper, more meaningful than the playful ones we shared when we first came into his room.
I couldn’t have known that day how much that kid in the backward cap would come to mean to me. Couldn’t have known how many years we would laugh and play, oblivious to what was in store for us. Couldn’t have known that one day he’d be watching me live stream myself jerking off. Or that we’d be fucking around in a bathhouse together. Or asking to be each other’s boyfriends.