Page 84 of Blitz'd

I look at Kerian, who is shooting a deadpan look at Colson. “I didn’t know who you were.”

“All good,” Colson says, holding his hand out for Kerian to shake. “It’s good that my brother has a bodyguard.”

“That’s enough, Colson,” I tell him, socking him in the arm playfully. “If you’re jealous, just say that.”

He barks a laugh. “Only a little.” He walks over to Mom and throws an arm around her shoulder. “Now, about those pancakes.”

“You greedy little cuss,” she murmurs with a laugh in her tone. “Come on, boys. You can keep me company while I cook.”

The next three hours are filled with us eating, talking, and laughing. After the first twenty minutes, Kerian loosened up and joined in, ribbing Colson and me, while being a perfectly respectable man towards my mother. It’s fucking eerie to watch, but it doesn’t seem to be an act. I know Kerian well enough to know when he has up a wall, but during dinner, it wasn’t there. He genuinely enjoyed himself.

After the last pancake is eaten and we’re all trading yawns, Mom shoos us off to bed. “You think you can help me with the garden tomorrow?” she asks after Colson goes to his childhood bedroom. When he stays too late, he crashes here instead of driving across town when he’s tired. “Those weeds need to go, but there are far too many for me to rip up alone.”

“Yep. Can it be the afternoon, though? I’m exhausted from practice today.”

She pats my cheek, smiling up at me. “Of course, baby. Thank you. Sleep well, you two.” She pats Kerian’s cheek as well, and if I’m not mistaken, his eyes go soft at the touch.

I kiss her cheek and bid her goodnight as I pull Kerian down the hallway.

Pushing open the door to my childhood bedroom, I click on the light and allow Kerian to step inside. My mother hasn’t changed anything, from my shelf with all my trophies to the movie posters on the wall. She even left my Spider-Man blanket and pillow set on my bed.

“Peter Parker crush?” Kerian asks, flopping onto my bed.

“Nope. You’re the first guy I’ve crushed on.” I drop my duffle bag and open it, rummaging around for a pair of shorts. I toss them over to him so he can get changed for bed.

Any other time, I would ogle him while he gets undressed, but I’m so tired I can’t even muster it. I just want to lie in bed and wrap myself around him.

When he’s clad in only my shorts, he lies back in the bed and opens his arms to me. “Come here, Zander. You look ready to fall over.”

I scramble onto the bed, tucking myself as close to him as I can. His warm arms wrap around me, holding me close. “I’m so tired,” I say around a yawn. “I’m glad you came.”

“Did I have a choice?” he asks sardonically.

“Not really. But I’m glad you didn’t make it a thing.”

He tips my chin up so I’m looking into his eyes. “Thanks for bringing me. Your family is… different.”

“Bad different?” I want him to like my family. They’re all I have and I don’t want to give up one for the other. Colson may have been an asshole to him, but Kerian kinda deserved it. They seemed to get along tonight, but who knows what he’s really thinking.

But Kerian shakes his head and I breathe a sigh of relief. “Not bad at all, Dimples.”

I crane my neck to plant a gentle kiss on his lips. “Good night, Kerian.”

“Night, Zander.”

ChapterTwenty-Six

KERIAN

I feellike I’m on a different planet. In theory, Iknowwhat families are supposed to act like, or at least how the television portrays it. All sweet and loving and shit.

In practice, I’ve never seen it.

Zander’s mom wakes us up in the morning with the promise of breakfast and hard work, and when she flings the door open and catches the two of us curled around each other, she just covers her smile with her fingers and tells us to hurry up.

The one time I brought a guy home, my dad threw him out of the house and kicked my ass so hard I had to call out of practice for a week. I’d been sixteen at the time, but the lesson stuck with me—don’t do shit around parents.

Guess that rule doesn’t apply in the Braithe house.

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