AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It had taken me years to get Micah to open a gay branch of Elite to keep me busy and balls deep in either hot mouths or ass. By then, he’d already become successful as fuck with a mansion and a few cars.
Eventually, my nagging got under his skin. Being persistently annoying had gotten me what I’d wanted as a kid, and I’d been called spoiled too many times to count. Pop enjoyed shutting me up by giving in, so I’d manipulated the hell out of him.
Sure, I was a brat, but a kid had to do what a kid had to do in order to get ahead.
And I finally had. Financially, anyway.
Now, I just needed that degree, and Micah wouldn’t have shit on me.
“Sean,” Mom greeted me with a smile, and I leaned into her cheek to kiss her where she stood at the oven, mitts on her hands.
“Hey, Mom. What can I do to help?”
“Nothing.” She pulled a covered pan from the oven and set it atop the stove. It smelled like pot roast. “Everything is ready. We’re just waiting for your brother and Jasmine.”
“Are her parents coming today?” I asked and popped an olive from the small cheese tray Mom had placed on the island into my mouth. Salt burst on my tongue, and I hummed my approval.
“No, they had plans.”
I nodded and snagged another olive. Jasmine’s parents, while conservative to Mom and Pop’s liberal outlook on life, had become close friends after their kid’s wedding. The lack of alcohol in their home and their influence had helped Pop get sober.
Almost three years later, and Pop still avoided the hard stuff. While it was too late for his liver, he wasn’t quite the bastard he used to be.
“Is the grump watching football?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“He’s in the den.”
A quiet knock sounded from the front door—Micah, no doubt letting himself in a second later. Seeing as how he didn’t have issue with Pop, he wouldn’t mind greeting the old man first. I’d always preferred Mom, but that was because she tended toward kindness rather than negativity. Even when she would purse her lips and give me a disapproving look, I never doubted she at least loved me.
Pop?
Yeah. A whole other story.
I tossed two more olives onto my tongue as Micah rounded the corner into the kitchen. He glanced at the cheese tray.
“You little shit—save me some of those,” he muttered, setting a boxed pie alongside the tray.
I grabbed the last two olives and chowed down, grinning and chewing with my mouth open just to get on his nerves.
Jasmine laughed, rounding the island to say hi to Mom. While my sister-in-law had healed a lot from her touch issues, I still took caution when approaching her. She kissed Mom, and I watched her, waiting to see how hesitant she would be.
Smiling, Jasmine gave me a little wave rather than getting too close.
“Hey, Sis.” I didn’t reach for her since she’d set her boundaries of no touching for the day.
“Hey, brat.”
I stuck out my tongue, and she laughed.
Micah elbowed me, and I turned to give him a bro hug, slapping his back. “What’s up, old man?”
“Shut up,” he muttered, and my grin widened. He had twelve years on me but still didn’t look a year over thirty-five-ish. Not one gray hair had made an appearance in the darker blond on his head or scruff. I could admit my brother was hot—but I’d gotten the best of our parents’ genes. My chest puffed up a bit at the knowledge I’d done something better than him even if I had taken no part in it.
“So…college again,” he said, picking up a piece of Monterey Jack cheese and a cracker as Jasmine went back to Mom’s side to help her. “Are you ready this time?”
Unfortunately, he was one of the few who knew why I’d really dropped out—or had gotten kicked out, rather. Shitty grades and a shitty attitude. I’d quickly learned professors and the dean couldn’t be manipulated like Pop.
“Yep.” I folded my arms and leaned against the island.
