AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My eyes widen and I touch the spot, my cheeks flaming. “You can see it?”
She laughs. “Yeah. So?”
“I was hoping it wasn’t noticeable under my shirt.”
“Why?” she cocks an eyebrow. “If someone marked me like that I’d be displaying it proudly. I’m surprised Rome let anyone get that close to you, knowing how protective he is. How are things between you two anyway? He still ignoring you?” She bites her lip.
I shake my head. I’d told Mel about Rome’s behavior and she had felt guilty and apologized for causing issues between us because of the kiss at the party. I told her it wasn’t her fault, that it was just a game and that my big brother needed to get his head out of his ass.
“We’re good,” I say.
“Oh, good,” she says, smiling at me. “Glad to hear it. You talked some sense into him, huh?”
“Uh huh,” I say. If by ‘talked some sense into him’ you mean I told him I wanted him too, and we fucked until sun up and then some. Sure.
Shit, what would Mel think if she knew? What would our other friends think? Not like we have a ton, but there’s Nate and Tyler. Tyler is so lax and chill about everything, he probably wouldn’t give a crap, honestly, but Nate and Mel, I’m not so sure. Will it cost us our relationships with them to be together? What about our parents? We only lived together for a year before he went off to college, and we’re not related, but everyone sees us as brothers, regardless. We’re definitely going to have to keep this a secret. No point in telling anyone anything unless it becomes serious.
THREE YEARS AND THREE MONTHS AGO
“Rise and shine!” I say, barging into Rome’s room. He groans from where he’s lying in his bed on his stomach, legs sprawled. He pulls the pillow out from under him and holds it over his head as if he’s a turtle burying himself in his shell and doesn’t think I’ll see him.
I move over and open the curtains, letting the light stream though the window and cast a warm glow over the room. Then I’m digging through his dresser drawers to find his swimming trunks. “Come on, big brother, we’re going swimming,” I say, tossing them at him. They land on top of the pillow.
“Swimming?” he says, pulling the pillow away and moving the shorts aside. He looks at me with one eye closed and one open. “You mean in that incredible pool we don’t have?”
“No, silly willy,” I say with a chuckle. “In the creek.”
“Creek? What creek?”
I eye him. “The one about a mile from here that’s gorgeous and beautiful and calling our names?”
He blinks at me and I gape at him, hands on my hips. “You’ve lived here your entire life and you don’t know?”
He shakes his head. “Don’t exactly go exploring much.”
“Well, come on,” I say, even more excited. “Up, up.” I grab his arm and yank him until he’s out of bed, rubbing his eyes and groaning at me.
“Why did no one ever tell me having a brother would be so scintillating?” he mocks.
“Oh, cause then the surprise would be ruined,” I say, grinning at him. “Now, go shower, and then you’re going to make us breakfast while I pack us a lunch.” I pat him on the chest and scurry off.
Forty-five minutes later we’re at the creek and leaning our bicycles against a tree. We grab our picnic lunch and make our way towards the shore.
Rome gapes when he sees the beautiful water surrounded by forest and the bank covered in rocks, dirt, and lush greenery. The creek is large and relatively deep, clear, with the sunlight sparkling off the surface, and peaceful. Birds chirp and fly overhead, frogs croak nearby and leaves rustle in the October breeze.
“Wow, little bro, this is amazing.” He’s dressed in black swimming trunks and nothing else. And I have to admit, my big brother is awfully good looking. Pity he’s straight, but it doesn’t keep me from enjoying the view. I’ve been attracted to Rome from the moment I met him but I knew nothing would ever come of it. He certainly doesn’t make it easy, though.
I grin. “Told you.”
We lather ourselves in sunscreen, helping each other with the spots we can’t reach on our own. I have to keep myself from moaning when I rub my hand over his muscled back, feeling it ripple under my fingertips. God damn, that’s so not fair. He can’t tease me like that.
I sigh as he does the same for me, and I notice how thorough he’s being. I’m grateful because my skin is so fair I’ll be as red as a lobster if I’m not careful, unlike Rome who has a beautiful natural tan. I gape when he finishes and slides his shorts off, leaving him butt ass naked, before he jumps in the water.
He smirks at me as he treads water. “Come on, little brother, get in.”
Oh fuck. I’ve seen him naked before. Neither of us is particularly shy about our bodies and we share a bathroom, plus there was the time I barged into his room when he was changing. Okay, the multiple times I barged into his room while he was changing, but it wasn’t on purpose. I just have epically poor timing, or just epic timing depending on how you see it, I suppose, but for fuck’s sake those were mere seconds of ogling his gorgeous body, not an entire afternoon, being in the water together and not being able to touch him for fear of having a raging hard on. Even now my cock is twitching in my shorts.
But if this guy is going to be my brother for the foreseeable future I’m going to have to figure out how to control myself. So I send up a silent prayer to any god who will listen, asking them to please not let me get hard in front of my brother, and then slide my shorts off too, before jumping in.
