Page 51 of Punish Me

“I was thinking you should spend the night,” I say, breaking the kiss and turning to unlock the door.

“You were, were you?”

“Mm-hmm. Maybe we could discuss expectations between orgasms and over a spanking or two,” I tease, standing in the doorway.

He laughs and pulls me into him, cupping my ass as he deepens the kiss. The night sounds of crickets chirping, wind rustling the trees, and the occasional car driving down the street echo around us.

“Tomorrow is Saturday,” he concedes against my lips.

We delve into the kiss, exploring the flame that never ceased all these years. The sound of a car idling has me pulling slightly back from the kiss but still pressed against Ambrose’s body.

“Bryn? Ro?”

My body tenses in Ambrose’s arms as his eyes darken and shut down. My heart slams against my chest, and I only want to disappear.

I pull away from Ambrose, peering over his shoulder to see my brother stomping up the driveway as Shayla peers out the window.

“Brayden. What are you doing here?” I ask, stepping off the porch.

“What’s up?” he asks, hands spread out at his sides.

“Brayden—”

“Where’s the trust, dawg? You know how I feel about this.”

“If you can’t trust me, who do you trust?”

“If your ass was trustworthy, you’d have stepped to me correctly, Ro! Sneaking behind my back and seeing my sister, ain’t it, chief!”

Ambrose moves from beside me. While I’ve never seen either of them argue, I don’t want them to start now, especially about me.

“Bray, stop. I have to tell you something.”

“And you? Was any of that even real? Pretending like you didn’t care for him?”

“That’s what I want to talk to you about, Bray. This isn’t new; this thing with Ro and me.”

“What?” Brayden spits, narrowing his eyes.

“I knew you’d behave like this, if not worse. Besides, it wasn’t Ro’s fault. I made him promise not to tell you. He wanted to. I was the one that didn’t want you to know.”

I see the hurt in my brother’s eyes as his face scrunches up in confusion, and he finally looks at me.

“We’re better than that, Bryn!”

“We were, but you make things hard. You feel like you have to cover Dad’s role by making sure whomever I date is good enough for me. I’m grown, Bray, and I make my own decisions. I’ve loved this man for more than a decade. I lost him because he knew I’d never stand up to you for our love.”

“You cheated on your wife with my sister?”

“No! I would never hurt Bryn. Not willingly. We’ve dated since her sophomore year...that shit with Lynds—”

“You’ve been fucking with her for that long and never said anything? You got my sister caught up in—”

“Bray! Stop!” I shriek, unable to take anymore. “Have you heard anything that I said? This isn’t about you but about Ro and me. We were in a relationship that I didn’t want to disclose because I didn’t want him to lose you as a friend.”

“Too late for that,” Brayden says, hopping into his car and slamming the door.

“Brayden!”

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