Page 10 of Three Stepbrothers Save Christmas

I nod as I reach for my glass of water from the coffee table.

“Oh, I know there is a deeper sexual side to her. On my first night here, the dickhead left her for a games night with friends. I went upstairs a few minutes later to get my jumper and heard a distinct vibrating sound from her room. I soon heard her gasping for breath as she made herself cum with a toy. Fuck, it was hot as hell.”

“Sounds it,” Ryan sighs as he adjusts his cock in his jeans. He’s not the only one who is now uncomfortable.

“What do you know about her life when we aren’t around?” I ask, placing my glass back on the table and running my fingers through my hair.

“Not much,” Ryan answers as he starts to think about it. “Only that it revolves around her dancing. I think she is here on her own more than with anyone. Why do you ask?”

I take a deep breath and look around, checking she hasn’t come home.

“I don’t know. It’s just the way she reacted when I first arrived. She was so excited when she thought her father was home. I think she may be lonely,” I point out quietly.

“It wouldn’t surprise me; she’s probably here alone most of the time. When were Mum and Henry last back? It must have been a while ago now.”

I nod, as it has to have been at least three months, if not longer. As far as I’m aware, there isn’t any other family around for Verity, as she’s an only child. She was also homeschooled, so she has no one apart from her friends at the dance school.

No wonder she has latched on to a guy who is no good for her. She’s probably just glad to have someone to spend time with and show her a little affection, as I’m betting she doesn’t get much from anyone else.

“You could speak to Travis. He speaks to her more than her own father,” Ryan points out.

“You don’t mean Travis has fallen for her too?” I ask, amazed.

“He says he hasn’t and that he’s just keeping an eye on her for Henry, but personally, something is happening there. He was furious when she was drugged a few months ago,” he sighs.

“She was drugged? By who?” I demand sitting upright. “Why am I only now hearing about this?”

“Travis didn’t want everyone knowing in case they mentioned it to Verity. The whole thing upsets her. I only know because he let it slip a few weeks later whilst ranting about the O’Reilly’s. Apparently, she was out with their girl, and her drink was spiked. It was all part of a ploy to kidnap the O’Reilly girl. That’s all I know on the matter. Travis was too angry to say anything else. I figured it was best to drop it. You know what he’s like regarding anything to do with the O’Reilly’s.”

I know all too well how he feels about them.

The O’Reilly’s and Donavon’s used to be close. Our dads did business together regularly after they met through Travis and Christian's friendship when they boxed together. Ryan and I became close to the twins, who are closer to our age. But when Dad died, Christian was there. All I know is he fled the scene, and Travis is sure he caused the accident. Personally, I can’t imagine Christian killing Dad, but Travis is convinced he was involved somehow, so we all parted ways, and the two of them have been uncivilised to each other since.

“So, what do we do about Verity? It’s not like we can show or tell her how we feel. Do we sit back and let her carry on making a mistake with this guy she is seeing?” I ask, feeling more conflicted now than I did before Ryan arrived.

“Well, we could tell her how we feel; like I pointed out, she isn’t our blood sister, so nothing is stopping us.”

“Except that we obviously are all interested in the same woman. No matter how much of a hidden freak she is in the bedroom, I doubt even she would be interested in a reverse harem with her stepbrothers. We don’t know how Travis feels about her either.”

Ryan stands as he shrugs.

“Just wait and see what happens. I don’t plan to tell her how I feel, but if the opportunity presented itself, I wouldn’t say no.” He walks to where he dropped his bag and picks it up before heading up the stairs.

“I’m going to shower and get settled in. See you in a bit,” he calls, disappearing from view. What the hell do I do with all this new information? And how haven’t I noticed before that my two brothers have feelings for the same woman? The only thing I know for sure is that the next few days will be interesting, to say the least.

7

Verity

It’s been five hours since Marshall left, and I haven’t gotten hold of him. I went into his work, in the hope of putting things right. But when I got there, they said it’s his day off. Why did he tell me he had been called in? I couldn’t ask them if they had called him because I didn’t want to appear needy. But, why did he lie to me?

I drive to his house and feel hopeful when I see his car in the driveway. Maybe work didn’t need him after all and he came home. Knocking at the door, running through all the excuses and things I want to say in my head as I wait, but there’s no answer. I knock again in case he didn’t hear me but no sound comes from inside. I walk away from the house, constantly looking back in the hope that he will appear before sitting in my car for a moment.

Where the hell is he? Why is he ignoring me?

Ethan, that’s why.

I drive home, my anger building as I ready myself to confront him. I was happy, I had a life and someone to share it with. But now I’m back to feeling alone all because of him. How dare he turn up, mess everything up, to disappear again in a few days. It’s not like he will be around for long.

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