Page 61 of His Stepdad Wears Leather

“What the hell do you do now?”

Brody shrugged before taking a moment to consider an answer. There was none to be found. “How the fuck do I know?”

Lex eyed Brody. “Do you tell Stace and Geena he’s been here for days? Staying with you? Under an assumed name?”

“Hell no!”

“So you’re going to lie to them?”

Brody walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet. He splashed some cold water on his face before lifting his gaze to meet Lex’s in the mirror. The idea of lying didn’t sit well with him, but what choice did he have? “What if telling them the truth blows up in my face and they refused to let me see Parker again?”

“They’re family, Brody. You can’t keep secrets from family. It’ll come out eventually.”

“But it’s not coming out now,” Brody spat, running his finger in a circle in the air. “I need time to wrap my head around this whole situation.”

A knock came to the door. “You guys okay in there?” Geena asked.

“Brody had a little too much to drink last night,” Lex called through the door. “We’ll be out in a second.”

“Alrightie,” Geena said before Brody heard her footsteps moving away.

“I thought family didn’t lie to one another?” he whispered to Lex.

Lex chuckled. “They’reyourfamily. Mine has more melanin.” Lex barked with laughter. “Wait… does this make y’all white trash now? I’ve always wanted to be on Maury.”

“Fuckyou,” Brody muttered to Lex before they departed the bathroom.

And the first face he saw was Chri—Noah’s.

“I didn’t get a chance to re-introduce you to Brody,” Stacey said, leading Noah closer. “Do you remember him?”

Noah shook his head, but he finally lifted his stare to meet Brody’s. “No. I don’t.”

“He’s your stepfather.”

Noah’s eyes widened in horror.

“Well,was,” Stacey said. “We’re divorced now. He and I married a few months before you left us, so you and he didn’t spend a whole lot of time together. It doesn’t surprise me that you don’t remember him.”

Noah glanced between them before a bemused look crossed his face. “You’re my…brother’s…father.”

Lex nearly choked beside Brody.

“That’s right, sweetie,” Stacey said, oblivious to the stress between Noah and him. “Oh my gosh, we haveso muchto get caught up on.” She led Noah to the living room and sat him down on the couch, crowding him. “Tell meeverything.”

Noah’s focus kept drifting to Brody’s as he spoke. “Not much to tell. I lived outside Nashville with Dad and Abbie Lee. Went to school. I hated it there and couldn’t wait to leave. I did, a few days before my eighteenth birthday. A friend of mine helped me board a bus in Nashville. It took three days to get here, and now I’m here.”

Stacey’s smile paled. “Well your birthday was almost a week ago. What took so long to come home?”

Noah glanced at Brody, but whisked his gaze away a second later. “I was worried you wouldn’t want me here.”

“What? I’ve wanted nothing more than to have you back home,” Stacey said, tears welling in her eyes. “I fought to get you back for years, but Abbie Lee and her family…”

“They own the county and can do whatever they want without anyone stopping them,” Noah finished.

“Her father, the federal judge, interfered. Made sure my rights were terminated. We weren’t allowed to see you. We wanted to,desperately, sweetheart.” Stacey grasped his hands in hers. “We foughtsodamned hard.”

“I hated it there,” Noah whispered. “Ican’tgo back.”

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