Page 9 of The Step Dare

When he cocks a brow at me, I ask, “What? Just being a gentleman.”

“Gentleman my ass.” Still, Taylor sits down, and I take the chair beside him, our parents sitting across from us, just as a waiter approaches.

“I’ll give you a few minutes with the menu, but can I get you all anything to drink?”

Dad orders a bottle of wine.

“That’s Mom’s favorite,” Taylor says.

I’ve had enough drinks for the day, so I settle on water, Taylor asking for the same. While we’ve been here together for a few days now, this is the first time we’ve all gone to dinner together, most of the time Tay and I doing our thing and being assholes by ditching our parents.

“Are you enjoying your first cruise?” Nicole asks me.

“For sure. Dad and I should have done this a long time ago. We might have to crash your vacations every summer,” I tease, and Dad clears his throat.

“So what’s everyone going to get? I’m starving,” he says, just as my stomach growls.

Our parents look at the menu, pointing out items to each other, Taylor leaning close to me. “Didn’t eat enough protein earlier?”

“Oh, Tay. Come on. That was only an appetizer.”

His pupils flare in this fiery, hungry way that goes straight to my cock. I’d venture a guess it went straight to his too. I wink, knowing Taylor will be thinking about me sucking his cock all through dinner.

My work here is done.

3

Taylor

“You didn’t haveto come with me,” Mom says as we settle into the stadium seats in the main theater of the ship. “You probably would have had more fun on the bar crawl with Brenner and Keith.”

I would have enjoyed that too, but Mom wanted to hit up a midday acrobatics show, and I didn’t want her to go on her own. Not when we only have two days left on our cruise to spend time together.

“Eh, I’ve been hungover one too many times already the past week, so a show would be nice. Also, wanted to give the guys their space. Brenner needs to see his dad as much as he can over the summer, and same for you and me.”

“We’ve had plenty of quality time together,” she says with a chuckle. “But it’s nice you still want to spend time with your mom, even when she’s going on shopping sprees, which I know drives you wild.”

“Guess this is why you work in HR and not finance.”

“But happy to have my financial planner with me to keep me on my budget. Reminds me of when you were a kid and helped me come up with and stick to the budget so I could pay the mortgage.”

Mom wasn’t the best with money, but fortunately, I enjoyed managing the budget, and it led to my interest in a career in finance.

“I appreciate your coming with me,” she adds. “I’m sure you’d rather spend time with your friend.”

As people continue filing into seats around us, a few rows ahead, a couple walks through with a girl who’s maybe two or three. Mom’s gaze zeroes in on her, and I feel her pain to my core.

It’s happened a few times since we’ve been on the ship. Hell, it can happen anywhere—when we go to a restaurant, the grocery store, a movie.

When I was ten, we lost my little sister, Aria, who was only a few months old.

Heart defect.

NICU.

She seemed to be getting better…until she didn’t.

Even after all these years, we can’t shake it.

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