Page 11 of The Step Dare

Bren’s still eyeing me. If anyone can tell something’s up with me, it’s him.

“I’ll join you,” he says.

“No, no. I’m good. You love Thai.”

He shrugs. “We have another night.”

I grit my teeth, avoiding eye contact because it’s like some part of me fears if he looks into my eyes, he’ll know exactly what I’m thinking—which is ridiculous because no one ever knows exactly what I’m thinking, not even him.

“Keith and I can just stop by the buffet, then,” Mom says.

“Yeah, I’m good with that, Nic. Maybe we can try that Thai place tonight or tomorrow.”

It’s settled, so we go our separate ways.

As I walk alongside Brenner, I’m kind of wishing we’d all gone to Thai. Although, I really want to get back to the room for a bit, on my own, and get it together.

Bren checks behind us, like he’s making sure our parents are out of earshot, before he takes me by the arm and stops me in the hall. “What’s up, man?”

Brenner is my best friend. He knows more than anyone else in my life about the shit my dad put us through, but I feel bad bringing it up.

“Nothing,” I say.

He angles his head, his brow rising. “You expect me to believe that?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“That’s cool. You know I’d never push you.”

I do know that. Sometimes when people run their mouth as much as Bren does, they can be pretty insensitive, but not him. From the moment we met, the guy picked up on my vulnerabilities right away, and never presses where he knows it will hurt.

“Let’s go to the burger place,” I say, starting down the hall.

I’ve never known Brenner to be at a loss for words, and since I’m so used to the guy just going off about one thing or another, like silence might kill him, the fact that he’s not saying anything starts to get to me. We head through the automatic doors of the main pool deck when he finally says, “This isn’t about anything we’ve done, is it?”

“What?”

“Like…” He glances around, as if to make sure no one’s close enough to hear our conversation. “You aren’t regretting messing around, are you? Because we can drop it. It’s not a big deal.”

When I turn to him, he’s smiling, since he knows damn well that’s not why I’m upset, and his pretense sets me at ease.

“I mean,” he goes on, “I can find some other guy’s dick to suck and who’ll let me come all over their chest.” He shrugs, his smile expanding.

“You do that, Bren. Seems like a waste when I’m gonna have to find someone else to suck my dick and come on my chest, but whatever.”

I can’t believe I’m chuckling again. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Cheering me up is Brenner’s superpower.

He drapes his arm over my shoulders, pulling me in close. “Look, I don’t know what’s bugging you, but I sure as fuck know what would fix it, and it’s not gonna be a damn cheeseburger.”

Once again, I’m reminded how well this guy knows me because if anything can take my mind off this crap from my past, it’s an epic blowjob from my best friend.

“Besides,” he adds. “I was so greedy for your cum last time, I didn’t get to see your come face.”

“I feel pretty greedy because I keep seeing yours.” I imitate his sex face, the way his eyes narrow and his lips twist up, making it a little more dramatic for comedic effect.

He rolls his head back for a laugh, effortlessly redirecting our path as he whirls back around to head toward the next hall.

On our way back to my room, which is the closest from this part of the ship, he tells me about the bar crawl, and the closer we get to the room, the stiffer I’m becoming…and the more that bullshit that came up is fading to the background.

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