Anti-Stepbrother

Caden’s chapter reached out, so the chapter there was taking care of finding a rental house for everyone to stay in. The list of travelers kept getting longer and longer, but I figured if there wasn’t room at the house, I could crash on a couch in Clarissa’s dorm.

“Like fuck you are.”

That was Caden’s response when I told him my plans. We were at his place, and two other guys were sitting in the living room with us. They’d been talking about a football game, but quieted after Caden’s statement.

I sat up on the couch, squaring my shoulders. He was at the other end, a beer in hand. He’d been half watching the game with his brothers, and half listening to me talk about the road trip.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“You’re not going off and sleeping at your friend’s place. We’re all going with you.” He gestured to the others with his beer. “Almost the entire house is coming. You gotta stay where we are.”

“But there’s so many people coming now.”

Avery was adding one or two more people every day, or so it seemed. I half expected her to reveal she was friends with Maggie again, and Maggie wanted to come. That hadn’t happened, so far.

But Avery didn’t say much about her ex-friend, and I knew her well enough to know that wasn’t good. She was probably talking to her again. Which reminded me that I wanted to ask Claudia about it. Despite my issues with Claudia, she was a pit bull when it came to Maggie. She hated her more than anyone.

“It’ll be fine,” Caden assured me. “A third of the people will be sleeping together. People can bring sleeping bags.”

“The guys will crash wherever,” one of the guys added. “Don’t be surprised if you find people sleeping on top of tables.”

“Or below them,” the second one grunted. “Shit, I woke up outside last weekend. Best sleep I ever got.”

The first one laughed. “That warm bed of grass and sprinklers?”

“It was nothing. Cold water on my face. It was a nice alarm clock.”

They snickered, turning back to the game.

Caden was watching me and suddenly, he pointed to the door. “You two, get out. I need some privacy.”

“What?”

The first started to protest, but the second slapped him in the chest and gave me a meaningful look. Whatever the message was, he got it. They stood and headed out.

Caden continued to focus on me, a deep frown on his face.

I sighed internally. God, he looked beautiful. He’d been working out more so he’d trimmed down a few inches, giving him a leaner look, but his muscles hadn’t gotten smaller. They seemed bigger, sculpting his body so he looked more and more like a Greek god or something. When he wore tight-fitting shirts, like he had today, I was having a harder and harder time remembering what kind of friends we were. We hadn’t held hands again, but even thinking about it, my hand itched to touch a different part of him. I wanted to trace some of his tattoos, find out where they ended.

I tucked it behind me. “Why are you mad at me?”

“I’m not.”

He was. I could hear it in his voice.

“Fucking hell.” He gripped the back of his neck. “I am.”

“Because I said I’d stay at my friend’s place if the house gets too full?”

“Yeah.” He shot me a dark look. “I don’t want you staying somewhere else. We’re all coming because of you. You should be where we are.”

“Well.” I lifted a finger in the air. “I don’t really think I’m the reason everyone’s coming. I think I’m the excuse for a road trip.”

“Exactly.” His jaw clenched.

I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. I leaned forward. “Exactly…what?”

“Why are all these stupid fucks coming? I thought this was going to be small. You. Me. Avery. Marcus, maybe a few of his friends. Now it’s thirty plus idiots joining in.”

“Most of those idiots are your fraternity brothers.”

He bit out a curse, adjusting his hold on the back of his neck. “And how the hell did they even get invited? I didn’t say anything to them.”

“Wait.” I sat back. “You don’t want your fraternity brothers to come? I thought you invited them.”

“I didn’t.”

“What?” My mouth was on the floor. I remembered the first night I met Caden. He’d sounded irritated that he was in a fraternity, but since then I’d realized he did everything they asked. He was present when the fraternity had events, and if they had a party, he went, but he called me later. We’d watch movies in his shed while music blared from the house.

I was stunned to hear he didn’t want his brothers on the road trip.

“I didn’t invite them,” I said. “So who did?”

“Fuck if I know.” He grabbed another beer from the fridge, sinking back down on the couch.

I pulled a pillow into my lap and hugged it to my chest. He stretched his legs out, placing them on the coffee table right next to mine. I gulped, feeling his leg graze against mine. My fingers sank further into the pillow, and I struggled to keep from moving my legs on top of his, nestled between them.

I could’ve. Caden wouldn’t have cared, but I held back. I’d want more. That small touch wouldn’t be enough.

I felt my body warming so I spoke hurriedly. “Can I ask you something?”