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I pause when I reach the kitchen doorway, bare feet half in the hall, half on the kitchen tile.
The guy is pacing around the kitchen island, a phone lying on the marble surface. His hair looks more tousled than it did before, a little messy like he’s been running his hands through it, tugging at the ends. That spark of warmth low in my stomach coils tighter and I gasp.
The noise catches the dude’s attention, and his eyes meet mine. Swallowing thickly, I pad into the room, pausing at the island—him on one side, me on the other.
“Trey? You still there?”
I jump a little as the voice calls through the phone, a little staticky in the way that indicates the connection isn’t great. But even with the small measure of distortion warping it, I still recognize that voice.
“David?” I ask, the confusion I feel lining my voice.
Why is my stepdad on the phone? Better yet, why does this random guy—Trey—have his number? And why does that name sound so familiar to me? I don’t think I’ve met anyone named Trey, but there’s a niggling feeling in the back of my head that insists I’m missing something obvious here.
“Oh, Talia! How are you, sweetheart?” David asks, apparently oblivious to the twin looks of confusion on my and Trey’s faces.
I lean over the counter to get closer to the phone, and Trey reaches out to nudge the device towards me, allowing me to look down at the screen. My jaw drops open, and my eyes go wide as I set eyes on the contact photo of my stepdad at least ten years younger than I’ve seen him. It’s not the photo that stuns me speechless, though, but the name his contact is saved under:Dad.
Oh. My. God.
“David is your father?!” I gasp, eyes flicking wildly between the phone and the man across the counter. Trey looks at me with assessing eyes, arms crossed over his chest in a stance that makes his muscles bulge. I look away hurriedly before I let myself study him the way I want to.
Because, yes, Trey is the hottest man I’ve literally ever seen. Older than me by what must be ten years, but he wears his age well. Like fine wine, not that I’m fancy enough to have experience with finewine. God, I don’t have experience at all, but from the way I’m reacting to his presence from the very fiber of my being, my body and soul are suddenly convinced that this man is the one to start experiencing things with.
There’s one giant fuck off problem with that.
Trey is my stepbrother.
That’s why I recognized his name. And now that the realization is hitting me, I can see the ways he resembles his dad. His hair is the same color—dark brown with a couple strands of silver at the hairline that only add to his appeal—and he has the same strong nose his dad does, though Trey’s has a more defined bump in the bridge that looks like it’s maybe from being broken.
But where my stepdad’s eyes are a deep brown, Trey’s are a cool blue-gray that reminds me of stormy seas. I wrack my brain to remember all the times David’s talked about his son, but he and my mom have only been married a month and their relationship was a whirlwind.
Hell, they were only dating for three months before they eloped, but I guess when you know, you know. And they are really in love. Like, disgustingly in love. I’ve never seen my mom so happy, so I can’t bring myself to see their constant cuddling and pet names as anything but cute.
Cute is not how I’d ever define Trey or my reaction to him. No, I want to climb him like a tree and test out just what all those muscles can do.
Oh my God, what the hell am I thinking about?
With a shake of my head, I realize I’m standing there gaping at him, and David’s saying my name down the phone, clearly waiting for an answer.
“It seems in all the excitement, your mom and I forgot to explain to either of you that the other would be home over the summer,” David says, a hint of apology in his voice.
“Um…yeah, you definitely didn’t mention this,” I say back with a small laugh. “He nearly scared the life out of me?—”
“Is that Talia? Put her on speaker!” I hear my mother call out. Seconds later, her voice comes through more clearly. “Talia, darling, how are you? I’m so sorry we forgot to tell either of you. The diaries got crossed and I’ve been so caught up with the wedding and then leaving for the honeymoon, it slipped my mind entirely.”
I sigh, smiling at the phone even though she can’t see me. My mom has always been a little scatterbrained, but she always means well. She’s the best person I know, and I can’t be mad at her for this. No harm is done after all.
“It’s okay, Mom,” I assure her. “Just got a fright when some random, giant dude walked into the house.”
Mom laughs with me before David says, “Don’t worry, Talia. My Trey would never do anything to hurt anyone. Well, unless they were trying to hurt someone. Oh, and there was that fight he got in high school but?—”
“That’s quite enough, Dad,” Trey calls out, stopping David. He turns his eyes to me, and I shiver under his attention. “I apologize for scaring you. I didn’t know you were here, obviously, or I would never have…” He trails off, and we both glance down at the phone before back at each other, neither of us willing to say out loud that he walked in on me showering.
Trey shakes his head. “My dad’s right. I would never hurt you. Protect you, yes. But never hurt you or scare you again.”
I have absolutely no reason to trust him, but … I do. I truly believe he means it when he says he’ll only ever protect me. It sends a rush of fluttering butterflies through my stomach, and I grip the towel around me tighter like it can shield me from my reactions to him.
“We’ll be back on the 28th,” Mom reminds me through the phone. “Think of this as a good opportunity for you guys to get to know each other now that we’re family and all.”
