Page 28 of Dared

He nodded against me, shifting around and raising himself onto one elbow. His hand went to my cheek, and he rubbed his thumb across my stubble.

“Guess I won’t be dealing with this if I end up kissing any girls.”

Nausea churned inside me, and I had to swallow several times before I could respond to him.

“I need a shave,” was all I managed to say, but it made him smile.

“It suits you. Shaved or stubble. You look good either way.”

I felt my cheeks heating at his simply stated comment. Fucking hell, it was like I’d never been complimented before. My brain wasn’t working enough to give me words for a reply, so instead, I lifted my head and kissed him again.

“Ugh! Bro, that’s grim! My eyes!”

We sprang apart so fast that I almost fell off the bed, throwing out my arms at the last second to stabilise myself.

My brother stood in my doorway, smirking as he pretended to scrub at his eyes.

“Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?” I’d thought my face was hot before, but it was at volcano levels now.

“I did knock, but I guess you two were too busy.” Ed puckered his lips, making the most obnoxious kissing sounds. “I was gonna see if either of you could help me decide on the photo I should submit for my assignment, but?—”

“We’ll help,” Leo said immediately, pulling himself upright. I glanced over at him, noting how flushed he was, but other than that, he didn’t seem too concerned that Ed had just caught uskissing. Now I thought about it, Ed didn’t seem that bothered, either. Weird. Leo, I could understand because he could’ve assumed that I’d spoken to my brother about the kissing practice—which I hadn’t—but Ed? I needed to have a word with him in private.

Needed to…but I knew I’d be putting that awkward conversation off for as long as possible.

“Cool, thanks.” He crossed the room to my bed, throwing himself down between us. It was only then that I noticed he had his laptop clasped under his arm. Opening the lid, he tapped on the screen. “Okay. I narrowed it down to four, and they’re all gonna be in my final portfolio, but I need to pick the standout photo to blow up big and mount.”

Leo shifted forwards, his brows pulling together as he focused on the screen while Ed went through each of the images. It was so fucking cute that he was so invested in my brother’s schoolwork, and?—

Cute. Really, Finn?

“Fuck’s sake,” I mumbled to myself. They both turned to look at me in unison, and I quickly shook my head. “Not that. Don’t worry. Uh, I like the waterfall photo best.”

Ed frowned. “You don’t think it’s a bit cliché?”

“I like the shoe one,” Leo said. “It’s like you’re an ant or something, and you’re about to get stepped on. The black and white makes it more dramatic, too.”

A huge grin spread across my brother’s face, and he fist pumped the air. “Yeah! That’s exactly what I was going for! I did the underside of the boot, so it looks like you’re about to be splatted beneath it.” He clapped his hands together, making a splatting sound for effect. “Yeah. That’s the one. Thanks, Leo.”

Closing the lid of his laptop with a slam that made me wince, he hopped off the bed. With a salute and another bright smile, he disappeared, closing the door behind him.

“I’m—”

The door flew open again, and Ed strode back into the room, swiped the bowl of popcorn from where I’d left it on my bedside table, and then walked out again. He paused in the doorway. “Gonna need sustenance for the all-nighter I’m about to pull. This saves me going down to the kitchen. Thanks, bro. Bros.”

After he’d gone, I waited a minute before I spoke again, just to make sure he wasn’t going to come bursting back into the room. When my door remained closed, I collapsed back on my bed with a groan.

“Sorry.”

Leo smiled. “I don’t mind helping him. We weren’t really watching the movie, anyway, were we?”

We both glanced towards my TV. Honestly, after I’d started kissing Leo, I’d kind of forgotten we were watching anything.

“Yeah. Not about that. Sorry that…uh, that he saw us kissing.”

Leo bit down on his lip. “He didn’t seem that surprised, so I assumed you’d told him about us practising.”

“No. I definitely did not tell my nosy brother about that. I wouldn’t, not without checking if you were okay with him knowing first. I wouldn’t even think of telling him at all, to be honest.”

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