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)
The group heads into the kitchen, and I give my attention back to Ash, where it belongs.
Chuckling, I press my forehead to Ash’s, his hand coming up to cup my face. “You’re going to make me wait now, aren’t you? Just to be mean.”
Ash grins. “You know me so well…and you fucking love it.”
“Love it. Love you,” I reply.
“I know…and it might not always be easy, but I believe in us.”
There’s a good chance my heart actually melts. “I believe in us too. Now let’s go hang out with our friends, so you can sexually torture me before dragging me to our room and having your way with my cock.”
Ash beams. “I can’t wait.”
“Me neither.”
EPILOGUE
Ash
Early summer
Lance and I set up a fold-out table in the yard at Mom and Steve’s place, while everyone else tends to their pre-party duties. Several Alpha Theta Mu guys are in attendance, but we’re not prepping for a frat party—it’s a surprise birthday party for Atlas.
Once Lance and I get the table up, we put a black cloth over it and place on top the speakers we borrowed from Payton.
“Okay, so the DJ stand’s all set,” Lance says as he syncs his phone up with the speakers. “Crisis averted.”
“This is what happens when you Uber,” Marty calls from the bar as he frantically pulls liquor bottles from a box he brought with him.
He and Lance ran a little late, and though it’s not a huge deal, I’m sure this is like the apocalypse for Marty’s anxiety. Lance and I don’t intend to make him suffer, so we hurry over to help him through his mini crisis, unloading the box.
“That was cool of your mom to let Ellie have Atlas’s surprise birthday here,” Lance says as he passes me some mixers.
Ellie is Troy’s mom and Atlas’s stepmom. She’s been friends with our parents since we were in high school, when Troy and Colin played for the football team.
“Yeah, it is. I was surprised my mom suggested it—she tends to be a bit oblivious to this kind of thing. And Ellie can’t really do something like this at her condo, while we have the perfect yard for it.”
“Can we have more work and less chitchat?” Marty says.
Lance glares at Marty, then shakes his head. “No.”
Marty rolls his eyes.
“Troy just texted!” Ellie calls to us from the back deck. “They’re almost here.”
“Fuck,” Marty mutters.
“Language, Mart,” Lance says. “There are parents here.” Marty’s brow creases before Lance adds, “You self-centered bastard.”
That gets us all laughing before Ellie says, “Oh my God. You guys, this is really too much. I can’t believe you’re doing all this.”
“We’re Alpha Theta Mus,” Payton calls from the volleyball net he’s setting up with Colin. “This is what we do.”
I mean, it’s a far cry from the usual parties Alpha Theta Mu guys are accustomed to. Atlas doesn’t exactly have a ton of friends, though he’s made more at our frat since he and Troy became an item. So really, it’s those of us who are local, who live within a few hours of Mom and Steve’s place. Ellie also invited Taylor’s mom and Brenner’s dad. Atlas is cool with them since Brenner and Taylor have been his crew since freshman year, but Ellie probably thought it’d be nice if it wasn’t just her, Mom, and Steve hanging out with a bunch of frat guys all day.
And I’m sure Ellie was thinking it’d be low-key with just a few of us here, but like hell we’re not gonna fucking bring it.
As we all head to the deck, Colin sidles up beside me. “How’s the bar coming along?” He hooks his arm around me and kisses my cheek.
This kind of shit has become the norm for us. Shamelessly grabbing each other, kissing, holding hands in public. We’re probably that annoying PDA couple who have our tongues down each other’s throats a little more than we should, but it’s probably not surprising that I enjoy that kind of thing.
Despite the little hiccup drama right before finals, I’ve been relieved with how things have gone right back to normal. No, better than normal.
The future is scary, neither of us knows what it holds, but I can’t spend all my time stressing about what may or may not happen. I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t need them, not with Colin.
We head inside with the rest of the gang and gather in the living room. Colin’s right behind me, his hips tucking close to my ass, his arm around my waist. I rock my hips back slightly, glancing over my shoulder, and he fucking beams but remains cool, not drawing any attention to us being a little naughty.
Brenner glances around. “Isn’t Atlas gonna know something’s up when he shows up here and there are all these cars?”
Taylor winces. “Bren, you think Troy told Atlas that it was gonna be a nice, quiet dinner over here?”