Admittedly, it took me a while to accept my new brother and father. I still missed my dad, a man I’d barely gotten to know before he died of a massive heart attack at the age of thirty-eight. I was fully prepared to hate the two intruders, no matter how happy they made my mother. But I found it impossible to dislike Richard, who never tried to coax me into being more active or interested in sports. He seemed to understand my need for solitude when I’d lock myself away with my father’s books and records, poring over his keepsakes. Matt had lost his mother in a car accident when he was still a toddler and had no memory of her, so he immediately embraced his new family, including an older brother. It must not have taken long for him to realize that I wasn’t what he’d hoped for, seeing how I didn’t play sports or care for things like camping or fishing. Still, he’d always been there for me, even protecting my scrawny self throughout high school when he towered over me despite being two years my junior.
Now I could hardly remember a time when they hadn’t been there, and I knew I was lucky to have both of them in my life. Of course, that didn’t mean Matt didn’t drive me crazy most of the time. In that respect we really were just like true brothers. In fact, we always had been. It was stupid to keep referring to him as my stepbrother when we were a lot more than that.
“Stephen, so good to see you, son,” Richard said, standing up as I entered the living room.
As usual, he completely ignored my outstretched hand and instead drew me into a hug.
“Hi, Rich,” I mumbled, patting his back.
Whereas Matt had called my mother “Mom” for as long as I could remember, I had never gotten past calling Richard by his actual name—or at least an abbreviated version of it.
“Sit down,” he told me. I turned to avoid getting my shoulder punched by Matt as I sat on the couch next to him.
“So, how was class today?” My brother’s query was innocent enough, but his motivation for asking couldn’t have been more obvious to me.
I glared at him before answering with a noncommittal shrug.
“Did anything…interesting happen?” he asked, grinning.
Well, my annoying student, whom I’ve slept with, incidentally, pointed out that my life’s been predictable and boring. Does that qualify as interesting to you, soon-to-be-dead brother?
“No,” I said.
“What’s going on?” Richard asked.
“Nothing,” I assured him with a forced smile.
“All right,” he said, regarding both of us uncertainly. “I think I’ll go help your mother in the kitchen.”
The second he was out of earshot, I turned to Matt.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I hissed. “It’s one thing to say something like that when we’re alone, but to actually ask me about Ms. Wilde right in front of Rich is stepping over the line.”
“What makes you think I was referring to your dear Ms. Wilde?”
The Cheshire Cat had nothing on his grin.
“I…you…shut up, Matt!” I spat. “And stop calling her ‘my’ Ms. Wilde all the time. It’s completely inappropriate and, furthermore, she is completely inappropriate for me, so can you just drop it?”
“I don’t see why you’re fighting this,” he said, holding up his hands in defense. “Just fuck her once, don’t get caught, and get her out of your system.”
That didn’t work!
“Then you can move on to your ‘appropriate’ women,” he added, making quotation marks with his fingers. “Whatever that means.”
“Can we please just change the subject?” I asked wearily.
“Aw, come on! You’re not even going to complain about her outfit? I’ve gotten used to it now.”
“Fine,” I said. “She was wearing black ripped jeans that were much too tight, hideous sneakers, and a red T-shirt with a skull on it. A skull!”
“And her hair?” he asked with hope in his voice.
I rolled my eyes and groaned. “Some weird, uncomfortable Mohawk-looking thing, but she probably did that because she’s going to a rock show tonight.”
Matt’s eyes widened and his face lit up.
Oh, no.
“You talked to her, didn’t you?” he said with a grin. “You asked about her weekend plans and everything!”
“No, I, err…” I stammered, trying to think of a convincing lie.
“I totally knew that you liked her!” he exclaimed with unmasked glee.
“I don’t!” I said helplessly. “I, uh, I overheard her telling some of the other students before class.”
“Uh-huh,” he said. “Sure you did.”