“We’re fine, Mom. It was just an accident. You and Uncle Victor go home and rest,” Clay said and tried to herd our parents toward the door.
I leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and watched them. I didn’t miss how Clay still chose not to call my dadlao-baeven after I told him to.
God, what a fucking mess.
I hadn’t expected Clay to try to kiss me, especially when our parents were here. It was like he didn’t care if they found out, which couldn’t have been it. He had to care, especially when I caredsofucking much.
Them finding out our relationship might have gone beyond just stepbrothers was all I worried about for years. Them finding out I’d been in love with my stepbrother the entire time we’d been playing happy family kept me up on many sleepless nights, and yet Clay was socareless.
He probably thought kissing me was nothing. It was just a form of comfort, like a kiss on the head or a hug.
Not having a guilty conscience must be great.
“Okay, but call us if you need anything,” Sandra said. She looked over Clay’s shoulder at me, worried still. “Goodnight, Dan.”
I sighed and kicked off the wall I was leaning against to give her a proper hug goodbye. It wasn’t her fault she had the most perfect son ever, and I was struggling to not love him.
Lao-baclasped my shoulder. “You can always talk to me, son,” he said, then pulled me into an actual hug.
Fuck, did that make me feel even more guilty. He wasn’t really the hugging guy, not unless I made him give me one. And I knew he was mad that I’d let my anger take over, but instead of berating me, he was trying to be understanding.
I wanted to be half the man mylao-bawas someday.
First things first, I needed to un-fuck everything. Getting it through Clay’s head that there would be no more kissing was top priority.
I thought that was the easiest task on my list, considering it wasn’t like Claywantedto kiss me. He did it to soothe me and nothing else.
Our parents finally agreed to leave. Clay locked the door behind them, then spun around to face me. He stared me down, his gaze a hot caress against my skin.
Was this how he stared at his perps? Focused and unwavering, like he wasn’t going to let you get away. If Iwere a wanted criminal and he was after me, I’d probably go with him willingly.
Alas, this was real life, and our circumstances didn’t allow me to submit, even if I wanted to.
I sighed and nodded toward the living room.
“We should talk,” I told him.
He made a sound of agreement and followed me to the couch. He tried sitting beside me, but I couldn’t be this close to him right now. I moved to the armchair instead.
Clay frowned at my relocating, but he didn’t comment on it. He leaned forward instead, elbows resting against his knees, and eyes still on mine.
“Are you finally going to tell me what the hell is going on?” he rumbled.
Guess we were getting straight into it, coming in guns blazing.
“I told you already. I want us to try being a family.”
His frown deepened, his green eyes turning murky in his confusion. “What do you mean,try? Wearea family.”
I bit my tongue and held back from telling him that family didn’t have wet dreams about each other. Didn’t fantasize about stripping them down to their birthday suit just so they could worship their magnificent body.
I wanted to kiss the mole he had in the middle of his neck, as well as all the others scattered across his body. I’d tease them against my lips until I knew where each of them was by heart.
My gaze flicked away. I couldn’t meet his eyes, not when I was thinking such indecent thoughts about him.
“Exactly,” I rasped out instead. It felt like there was syrup stuck in my throat, but I pushed through it. “Which is why we really shouldn’t kiss each other anymore.”
He was silent, digesting my words. And just when I thought he was finally understanding how fucked up our relationship has been, he slipped out a single, “No.”
