Page 31 of Stepbrothers

“I try.” He handed her the bag.

It contained pink silk shorty pajamas. Fine quality.

“Do you like them?” he asked.

“Yes. Thanks.”

“So go put them on.”

“Now?”

“You look too warm, Clarice.” He touched his cheek. “You’re a little red in the face.”

“I am hot.” She paused. “So I will put them on. Feel free to make yourself comfortable in the living room.” She scooted into her bedroom. Quickly changed her pajamas, added a squirt of perfume and a slick of lip balm.

Why? She wasn’t sure.

When she returned to the living room, he was standing on a chair fiddling with the smoke alarm. His top had lifted, exposing a patch of tan flesh, navel to waistband, a strip of which was coated in a fan of dark hair.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Changing the batteries in this. It wasn’t working. Damn dangerous.”

“Oh, thanks. I didn’t know.”

“It should have beeped for several hours. Perhaps you were out.” He stepped down and straightened his top.

“At work, yes, most likely.” She stood in front of the mirror over the low fireplace that held a broken electric fire. “Thanks for these, they fit nice.”

“Yeah. They do.” He came up behind her, his chin almost level with the top of her head, and studied her reflection.

Her nipples were hard little points poking at the silk. The shorts were very short, showing right to the top of her tan legs. “Can I ask you something, Hugh?”

“Sure.” He held her eye contact.

“Wayne, he told me that…”

“What?”

Summoning courage, for she didn’t really know what type of reaction she’d get, she said, “You and Parker, that your last girlfriend was Scottish. That you shared her.”

“He did, did he?”

“He’s been around a long time, around your family. He knows things.” She kind of shrugged.

“Mmm, I suppose so.” A line formed between his eyebrows. “But I’m not in the habit of putting my private life on public display, and neither is Parker.”

She hesitated, then, “So is it true? What Wayne said?”

Tenderly, he pulled a coil of her hair over her shoulder, watching his movements. “Would it change your opinion of us if it was?”

“I don’t really know what my opinion of you is, so changing it is irrelevant.”

“You don’t know what you think of us?”

She shook her head, hyperaware of his closeness and his body heat radiating onto her back through the thin silk.

“You know that we’re serious about you being the best that you can be, Clarice. That, as your stepbrothers, we will protect you and support you, always. That we’re both determined, successful, and confident in everything we do and…”

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