Page 25 of My Brother's Teammates

“They worked for Joseph Wells, St. Ida’s first son. The legitimate son of John and Mary Wells. They worked for several other boys, too, but it was Joseph who had their attention. Their journals… They made it clear how much they hated their father and half-brother.” He looked around and pulled me even closer. “Jane and Julie Smith watched their mother, Ida Elaine, be murdered by John Wells. They wanted revenge and they used this room,thisspot, to get it.”

I wrapped myself around him as tight as I could and groaned. “No more. I’m freaked out, Hudson. Tell me you’re messing with me again!”

“Fine. I’m messing with you.”

I tipped my head back and saw the smirk on his stupid face. “Oh, my god. Are you serious?!”

He laughed and then grunted when I elbowed him in the ribs. He picked me up and carried me over to the single rocking chair that sat looking out at the sunrise. He was still laughing while I struggled to find a part of his body that wasn’t hard enough to hurt me if I hit him in it.

I stopped fighting him the moment he sat down and turned my head to the sunrise. My breath caught in my throat at the beauty and I leaned into his chest. “I hate you a little for scaring me, but this is stunning.”

Hudson wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed a gentle kiss to my shoulder. “Don’t hate me until I tell you the whole truth about this study date.”

I tore my eyes away from the sunrise and glanced back at him. His light green eyes moved over my face, falling to my mouth several times. “What is it?”

He let go of me to pull his long brown hair into a knot and then played with the set of silver bands on his middle finger. In the morning light, his sharp cheekbones and full mouth looked like an artist had perfected the use of shadows to create magic. “I might’ve mentioned to the guys that we were meeting at the house. They were going to show up eventually. Not Jason, I mean. He ran off with that girl before I could say anything to him.”

I studied him. “Why?”

“Because I wanted to be alone with you again. I wanted to know if there was something here.” He saw my expression turn to shock and then something else, something sad. “I’m sorry. I know that this was probably so fucking stupid.”

“No, it’s not that. I…” I took a deep breath and looked out the window again before slowly releasing it. “I don’t know what’s happening in your house right now, Hudson, but I think three out of four roommates have lost their minds.”

He leaned back in the chair, letting space grow between us. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that things have happened.” I looked back at him and groaned before burying my face into his chest. “I’d only been with one person before I moved into your stupid house, Hudson. I’d never ever kissed anyone other than my ex. And now… Now, I can’t say that anymore. I don’t know what to say because I don’t want to cause problems.”

He cupped the back of my head and rubbed my back with his other hand. “The only person unaware of what’s happening in the house is Jason. I know about Axel and Ryder, Jenny. They’re like my brothers. The way they’re following you around and drooling makes it pretty obvious. The only reason Jason doesn’t see it is because he’d rather jab his own eyes out that see any of us near you. It’s fucked up that I saw you have something with them and still thought I’d try, but I couldn’t just ignore how much I want to touch you. I should have, though. I’m sor-”

I kissed him. I didn’t know I was going to do it until I did it and then I just wanted to keep doing it. His mouth was soft and his breath tasted like watermelon and sugar. It was such a distinct flavor that I pulled back and glared down at him. “You ate the rest of the watermelon gummies, didn’t you?”

He dragged my mouth back to his and deepened the kiss until I wasn’t able to sit still on top of him. He pressed his forehead to mine and licked his wet lips. “I’ll buy you more. Name your quantity and I’ll do it.”

***Hudson***

Jennyshiftedontopof me and the old rocking chair creaked in an ominous way before we both tilted to the side, slowly at first and then all at once. She gasped as the chair collapsed but I managed to get my hand under her head before we landed on the ground in an awkward lump. I groaned and rolled off her after taking a knee to the dick. Pain radiated through my body and I had the insane fear that we’d actually broken my dick and I’d never be able to use it again.

“Oh, crap. Oh, no, Hud!” Jenny appeared just fine as she leaned over me and cupped my face. “I am so sorry. I don’t know what happened. I guess I don’t need that candy after all.”

I laughed and then groaned when it just hurt worse. “No laughing. Jesus, my dick hurts.”

She winced and stroked my chest. “Well, if this doesn’t scare you away, you’re insane. What can I do?”

I held my breath as her hands stroked lower and lower, brushing over my stomach and then my hips. She paused over my dick and jumped when I swore. Just the sight of her hands hovering over me had me going hard and it fucking hurt. I grabbed her hands and pulled her down next to me so she’d stop anything and everything that could make it hurt worse.

“Just sit here and talk.” I swallowed the urge to swear over the pain. “Please.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, okay. Um. I feel really terrible about this, by the way. Jason put the fear of god into me at a very young age about hitting guys in the balls and I’ve never done it. Even when they deserved it. Even when my ex did that, the thought didn’t even cross my mind when maybe it should’ve. Maybe this has broken my inability to do it, though. I have to see him today. Maybe I’ll just do it. I could just kick him in the balls and that might feel good.”

I grimaced. “Seeing him?”

She turned bright red and looked away. “Not for fun. It’s nothing. I won’t actually kick him. I feel terrible enough after this and this was an accident. Plus, I don’t know if I get to be angry still. Not after all of this, you know? That’s the thing. I feel guilty about how easy it’s been to kiss you and Axel. And Ryder… I thought I was in love with La-”

I waited for her to finish the name, so ready to have some information about the asshole who’d hurt her that I stopped breathing. She glanced at me and then cleared her throat, letting me know I wasn’t getting anything other than the first sound of the dick’s name.

“I thought I was in love with him. I was ready to move in and be a domestic goddess.” She snorted. “I’ve taken longer to get over a bad burrito than I took before I was…doing other things with other guys. That seems weird. I feel weird. I don’t know. There’s also the guilt of doing things with Jason’s best friends. And doing things with all three of them at the same time. What’s that about? You should all three hate me. Or at least want me to get far, far away from you. Or is this normal? Do you three go after the same woman all the time? Do other men? Am I just so removed from what people are doing for fun these days?

“I’ve been so focused on school and work and hiding a relationship that I haven’t even made friends. I made one friend freshman year before I started dating my ex and had to distance myself from her. She wanted to know about him and he gave me an ultimatum. Of course, I now know that I might as well have been hit with a red flag for as blatant as he was. Then? I was dumb. And a virgin. I wanted to be kissed.”

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