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He swiftly shook his head with a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I should probably text Ander back anyway—he’s been blowing up my phone asking how everything’s going.”
“Sounds like him.” Ander was Elliot’s best friend, and from what I’d seen of their friendship over the years, they were both obsessed with each other to a level that I could never contemplate with anyone. Then again, I’d never had a best friend, so who knew how best friends actually behaved?
Shoving my hands into my suit pockets, I headed over to my mum. I plastered on a smile when I drew closer, because despite my reservations about this whole thing—mainly Huxley, if I was being completely honest—it was clear to anyone with eyes that she was happy.
“Ah, Cole. The photographer would like to take a few photos down by the lakeside. David and I thought it might be nice to include a few family photos.”
Great. More time with Huxley. I kept the smile on my face and hoped it didn’t look too fake. “Okay, yeah. Where do you want me?”
“Just down here.” She pointed down the gravel path that wound down the side of the lawn in the direction of the lake. I took her arm as we walked down, helping her to balance. Those heels were not made for gravel. As we drew closer to the lake, I saw Huxley and his dad waiting with the photographer, who was kneeling down and changing his camera lens. He had a bit of a pained expression on his face, and it soon became obvious why when I heard David’s voice.
“…Smoking weed on our wedding day! All I ask is for you to behave foroneday, and you can’t even manage that.”
I smirked, and at the same time, Huxley glanced over at me, shooting me a savage glare. “Cole smoked too.”
My smirk dropped, and I shook my head. “Smoke? Me? You must be mistaken.” Okay, I’d made a point of taking a drag in front of him, but after that, I’d put the joint out to save for later, and then I’d done my best to air out my suit and spray on some aftershave and made good use of the toothpaste and mouthwash in the facilities the hotel had provided. Huxley hadn’t even bothered to try and hide it.
“You know you did, you lying wanker,” he hissed.
“Huxley! Please.” David pinched his brow, huffing out a breath. “Can you just pretend to get on with Cole for one day? You’re brothers now, so act like it.”
“Yeah, come on,brother,” I said, just to piss him off, and he gave me the middle finger, not even caring that his dad, my mum, and the photographer were all watching him.
“Huxley. That’s enough.” There was a finality in David’s tone, and Huxley dropped his arm, his jaw clenched. David cleared his throat, giving Huxley a pointed look before turning to the photographer. “My apologies. We’re ready for the photos now. Where would you like us?”
The photographer slipped into professional mode, directing us to stand in front of the lake. I was on the end next to my mum, and Huxley was thankfully at the other end, next to his dad. My smile came easily as I imagined various ways that I could piss off Huxley. It would be amazing if I could just trip him up so he fell into the lake.
After the photographer had snapped a few photos, he studied them on the screen on the back of his camera, then gave us a thumbs up. I exhaled, relaxing. Now I could get away from Huxley and drink myself into oblivion.
Except my mum stopped me in my tracks just as I was getting ready to make a break for it. “Cole? Huxley? Before you go, we’d like a photo of the two of you together. Just one.”
I knew that the horror I saw in Huxley’s eyes was reflected in my own. For once, we were both in complete agreement.
“Cole. Please.” My mum’s voice wobbled a bit, and shit, I was going to have to do this, wasn’t I? I wasn’t going to be the heartless bastard that ruined her day. I could suck it up and suffer Huxley for one photo.
I nodded at my mum and then walked over to where Huxley was standing. He watched me coming, his teeth gritted and his fists clenched like he was getting ready to punch me. Fuck, why did he have to look so sexy, all wrapped up in that suit with murder in his eyes? There was clearly something wrong with me if I was finding my step-wanker hot. I kept some distance between us, or I tried to until the photographer instructed us to move closer. There was a slight smirk on his face, and I was betting that this was payback for Huxley’s behaviour earlier.
“Closer.” He was gesturing with his hand, and with a sigh, I stepped right up next to Huxley, so close that the sleeve of his suit jacket brushed against mine.
“You’re a lying bastard,” he spat between gritted teeth.
“Remove the word ‘lying’ and you’ve just described yourself.” I smiled widely. “It’s so easy to smile around you.”
He legit growled, like he was an animal. “Fuck off.”
“Wanna know why? It’s because I’m imagining pushing you into the lake.” The photographer raised his camera, and I added, “Smile.”
Huxley pasted a smile on his face that actually looked genuine, and I wondered whether he was trying my trick of imagining that he was pushing me into the lake. Why did other people get nice stepsiblings, and I ended up with the one from hell? I knew I wasn’t doing anything to improve relations between us, but he was a complete and utter wanker…and okay, so was I, as it turned out.
“Miracles can happen.” David stared at us, shaking his head. “Maybe now you two can be civil to each other, you can consider moving back home, Hux.”
Huxley snorted. “Unless he’s moving out, I’m not moving in.”
David muttered something about “immature behaviour,” which I agreed with, although I had to say it was quite nice to not have to be on edge every time I left my bedroom. There was a tiny part of me that felt bad that Huxley had left his home because of me, though. A tiny part that I was able to ignore now that I had him standing next to me, all tense and bristling with hostility.
“Arms around each other,” the photographer called, and I groaned. But I slid my arm around Huxley’s waist, knowing that it would just make him more pissed off.
He stiffly placed his own arm around me. “Touch me again after this photo and I’ll break your arm.”
