Page 68 of Blitz'd

“Yeah?” One side of his mouth lifts in a surprised smile.

Rolling my eyes, I bump his shoulder again and drop his hand as we step outside. “Don’t let that shit go to your head, Slade. You’re still?—”

“Zander!” I hear a loud voice shout my name.

I’m surprised when I look to my left and see my brother striding towards me. “Colson? What are you doing here?”

He smiles, jogging over to me. “I have a job down here that doesn’t start for another hour or so. Figured I’d come see you.”

I grin back at my brother, happy to see him. Since I haven’t been home in a while, I’m used to only seeing him on video calls.

Looking at Colson always makes me both happy and sad. He’s the spitting image of our father, with his honey-blond hair, friendly brown eyes, and perpetual smile tipping up his lips. Seeing my brother always makes me miss my father, but I like that they’re almost twins. It makes me feel like I still have Dad here with me.

Before I can step around Kerian to hug my brother, my fucking boyfriend—at least Ithinkhe’s my boyfriend—puts himself in front of me. His body tenses and I can only imagine the look on his face. “Who the fuck are you?”

Colson stops in his tracks, raises an eyebrow, and peeks around Kerian at me. I wink at my brother, letting him know he can have some fun. He gets my meaning and nods, meeting Kerian’s eyes. “You’re Slade. That football player Zander keeps beating.”

Kerian ignores the jab and takes a step forward, his hands balled into fists. “Whoareyou?”

Colson doesn’t look fazed. He played football in high school, but never had the desire to go to college. He wanted to work and establish his business. So meatheads bowing up at him don’t scare him at all. “Colson. Zander didn’t tell you about me?”

The back of Kerian’s neck turns red in anger, so I decide to put him out of his misery. I wrap an arm around his chest and pull him back into me. “I didn’t. Kerian, this is mybrother, Colson. Colson, Kerian.”

The anger bleeds out of Kerian, though his expression doesn’t change. And he doesn’t apologize, just shakes Colson’s hand. “Good to meet you.”

“I’m sure,” Colson says with a smirk. “You free for breakfast or you gotta take your pitbull for a walk?”

Kerian turns to me, rolling his eyes. “Rain check about my reward?” I nod, face burning. “I’ll see you later, Dimples.” He kisses me hard, his hand threading through my hair.

I watch him walk off, almost in a daze. Colson snaps by my ear, pulling me from checking out Kerian’s ass. “You got it bad.”

I pull him in for a hug. “I’m glad to see you.” I let go, and we walk down the sidewalk to the restaurant near campus. It’s early, so it should be fairly empty. “How’s work?”

He shrugs. “Good. Wish we didn’t have to come all the way out here for a job, but whatever.”

“It’s not that bad a drive. An hour out of your day.”

“An hour too long,” he grumbles.

We walk in silence for a minute or two before he looks over at me with a grin. “Your boyfriend was ready to kick my ass.”

I bark a laugh, throwing my arm around his shoulder. “He was not. He’s a little intense, but he’s harmless.” Not really. I still haven’t forgotten how he beat that guy’s ass in Nirvana, but I knew he wouldn’t have hit Colson since we were in publicandin daylight. Kerian might have a short fuse, but he’s aware of his surroundings and how something like fighting will make him look.

“Make sure you tell your next boyfriend you have a brother.”

“Won’t be a ‘next boyfriend’. If shit doesn’t shake out with me and Kerian, I’ll be too busy in the NFL to worry about a relationship. Besides, Kerian and I don’t do much talking.”

Colson pretends to vomit. “Please don’t tell me about you fucking. I know you’re grown, but you’re still my little brother. You’re pure.”

A loud laugh bursts from my throat as we walk into the restaurant. “Real pure,” I say sarcastically. “Wasn’t it you who walked in on me and Jen in the eleventh grade?” Jen was my girlfriend from eighth grade until senior year.

He groans, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. “The image of your pale ass is still embedded in my head. I wanted to bleach my brain.”

I open my mouth to respond, but I see Justin sitting in a corner booth, glaring at me like I ruined his day with my presence. Instead of looking away, I glare back, raising an eyebrow at him. Justin scoffs and looks away from me, his cheeks red.

“Who the fuck is that?” Colson asks, shooting daggers at Justin without even knowing what he did. I tell him that Justin was the one who fucked Megan behind my back. “Fucking asshole.” Colson makes to walk over to him, but I grab his arm. What is it with people wanting to fight Justin more than me for his bullshit?

“It’s not that big a deal. He did me a favor. I didn’t realize how fucking stuck up Megan was. Now I see her for what she is. I only hope he’s happy with her and her bullshit.”

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