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“More time-wasting? You need to be preparing for university, not—”
“Wait a minute!” Somehow, I realised I’d climbed to my feet, and I was leaning across the kitchen island, my hands planted on the edges. “Huxley’s really talented. This isn’t time-wasting.”
David’s brows rose, his mouth opening and closing a couple of times before he cleared his throat. “Well. That’s…well. Okay.” He sighed, returning his attention to Huxley. “I’m sorry. Maybe I was a little harsh. I only want what’s best for you, Hux. I’m happy you’re living back here again and the two of you have managed to put your differences aside.” Stepping closer to Huxley, he placed his hand on Huxley’s shoulder. “I want you to promise me that it won’t affect your upcoming studies, and I’ll say no more about it.”
“Yeah, okay,” Huxley mumbled, shrugging off his dad’s hand. “I’ve got to go. The others are waiting for me.”
“Why don’t you go along, Cole?” David’s gaze flicked to mine, narrowing on me. “The two of you can tell us how it went over a late dinner, perhaps.”
It probably meant that he wanted me to be his spy, to make sure that Huxley really was doing what he said he was doing. David trusted me, after all. But all I could think was that it gave me an excuse to spend time with Huxley. Time I wanted so fucking badly but I knew I wasn’t supposed to want.
“Uh…”
“Tom’s picking us all up in his van. There’s room.” Huxley stared down at the floor as he spoke quietly, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.
What did it say about me that I just wanted to wrap my arms around him? It wasn’t even about my dick this time. I wanted to reassure him, to let him know I was on his side. “I’ll come. Give me two minutes to grab my wallet and my phone.”
His head rose, and as soon as his sapphire eyes connected with mine, my heart fucking jolted, and my breath caught in my throat. Outwardly, I did everything I could to play it cool, but the sudden heat that flared in his gaze before he quickly turned away told me that I hadn’t been successful in hiding the way he affected me.
“I look forward to hearing about it later.” David gave me a genuine smile as he headed over to the kettle.
I escaped the kitchen, hearing him saying something about making my mum a cup of tea, but my attention was diverted by Huxley.
When we were both outside the front door, waiting for Tom’s van to show up, I found myself moving closer and closer—
“Cole. Don’t.” He took a pointed step back from me.
Fuck. “Shit. Sorry.” I scrubbed my hand across my face, slumping back against the wall. How long would it take for this attraction to fade? How long would it take before I stopped wanting to kiss his soft fucking lips every time I saw him? No one had ever held my attention for this long before. Especially not when that someone had been the bane of my existence until recent events had irrevocably changed things between us.
“Tom’s here,” he said, and the relief was clear in his voice. I straightened up, watching as a battered black van came to a stop in front of the house.
Introductions were quick, and I soon found myself squeezing into the back of the van with all the band’s equipment, along with a huge, red-haired guy named Rob. In the front, Huxley and the 2Bit Princes’ other bandmate, Curtis, were seated with Tom. I’d immediately jumped in and insisted that Hux should take the space in the front seat because it would have been a bad idea for the two of us to be alone back here together. A very bad idea when I was having so much trouble staying away from him.
“You’re Huxley’s brother?” Rob had a bit of a Brummie twang to his accent, and it intrigued me.
“His stepbrother, yeah. We only met this year. What about you? You’re not from around here, are you?”
He chuckled softly. “Did the accent give it away? I lived in Birmingham until I was ten, but my parents split up, and we ended up in Watford. I met Curtis a few weeks back when I moved to central London for my job—he’s one of my housemates for now, until I find a more permanent place to live. I’m an accountant.”
I stared at him, and he laughed again. “Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard it all before. I don’t look like an accountant. But what’s that even supposed to mean? How should an accountant look?”
“Boring? Yeah, that’s probably a stereotype.” A smirk pulled at my lips as I eyed him. “Is it true that accountants have the most boring jobs but the wildest lives?”
Rob tapped the side of his nose, amused. “I can’t give away any secrets. It’s part of the accountants’ code.”
I hadn’t realised that the van had come to a stop until the doors were flung open, and I found Huxley there, glaring at both me and Rob. Rob snorted under his breath at Huxley’s face, shaking his head, while I blinked at the sudden brightness, frowning at him. What was his problem now?
When we climbed out of the van, I sidled up to Huxley, dipping my head to his ear and speaking in a low voice. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Enjoyed your time with Rob, did you?” he bit out and then stormed off, yanking equipment out of the back of the van with short, jerky movements.For fuck’s sake. I rolled my eyes.Jealous little fucker.
Wait a minute. Huxley was jealous? A smile curved over my lips. I shouldn’t have liked the idea so much, not when I was trying to get over him, but I did like it. A lot. After all, he’d told me that he didn’t even think he liked me right before I’d fucked him,andhe’d told me I wasn’t his type. Yet here he was, getting jealous over a completely innocent conversation…so maybe this thing wasn’t as one-sided as I thought.
“Stepbrothers, hey?” Rob smirked as he pulled his guitar from the van. “There’s more to this story, isn’t there?”
“We’re not…” I trailed off with a shrug. There was no point in incriminating either myself or Huxley any further.
When we were inside the small, dingy pub where the 2Bit Princes were apparently doing a test gig, the band members quickly and efficiently set up their equipment, like they’d done it hundreds of times before. I knew they’d only been together for a short time, and both Hux and Rob were new, but to look at them now, it was like they’d been together for years. Wandering over to the bar, I ordered a pint while they tuned their instruments and did a sound check, or whatever it was bands did to get ready to perform. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Huxley, and I knew Rob had noticed because he kept shooting me winks and grinning every time Huxley caught his eye. It both amused and worried me. The worry was because if Rob could tell from one short interaction that Huxley was jealous and there was more to our relationship than just stepbrothers, then that meant we were being way too obvious. I had to dial it back even further, somehow. There was no way our parents could even get a hint that anything non-brotherly had happened between us.
