15. Kelly
Chapter 15
“ M om, Dad…Tuck, this is Steve. You met his brother Garret last night.” My parents stand in the living room staring at us. Tuck is playing his Switch on the couch, but at least he can still form sentences.
“Jeeze, Sis…how many alphas are you going to collect? Good on you for building up a harem there, but I think you might have broken Dad this time.”
Steve looks between me and my family. His gaze swings over to Tuck, who isn’t even looking back. A look of understanding passes over his face. “Oh god, no. Nope, not a thing. Don’t even go there, tiny dude. Think of me more as a replacement for you than any sort of romantic relationship. Strictly platonic, possibly one day bordering on familial or sibling affection. I don’t…um…the whole…female thing. Not my cup of tea.”
Dad does a slow blink as Tuck starts laughing on the couch. “Oh, so you’re there for Teddy? That’s cool, the whole alpha and omega thing we have to learn about in school. Yeah…I don’t care. Whatever makes y’all happy, I guess.” My brother never looks up from the screen on his game, despite his words.
Mom blinks this time before pulling Steve into a tight hug. “Oh, Steve, it’s so nice to meet another one of Kelly’s friends…isn’t that her shirt?” I laugh as Dad finally shakes some sense back into himself.
“Yeah, looks like we’re going to be clothing buddies, at least until he gets his luggage from Los Angeles, anyway.” I stare pointedly at Steve, who just returns his own smirk.
“Anyway, we were at the diner, and wanted to stop in and grab some more of my books before we head back to the house. And get Steve to meet you, so now you know the whole pack.”
Dad nods along, only losing his rhythm when I say the word ‘pack’. Finally, he reaches out and offers his hand for Steve to shake. “Well, uh…Steve, it’s nice to meet you.” He’s still processing, and honestly, he’s handling this better than he could. I mean, just look at Steve and Garret’s dad.
I don’t like that man.
It’s not just that he caused Teddy to get hurt.
But Garret and Steve too.
Ugh, I don’t even want to like Steve.
He’s like one of those tiny yappy dogs .
The kind that are super loud and obnoxious, and try to bite anytime you get close.
I wanna get along with him, ’cause I like being friendly.
But how do you make friends with that?
I must have zoned out because the next thing I know, Mom’s touching my shoulder. “Are you ok, Kelly? You look so tired.”
Leaning into her, I just absorb her warmth. “Yeah, sorry Mom. It’s…um…impending doom?”
It takes her a moment to reply, her face puzzled. “Oh, yeah. Ok, let’s make sure you have everything you need then. Living in a house with a bunch of men can be challenging. I swear, your father would never keep chocolate in the house before we met. And forget ice cream or a heating pad. That being said”—her eyes scan over my dad for a moment—“well, he's still quite the looker.”
Oh god, I don’t need to hear this.
The PMS wasn’t bad enough.
Now my parents are flirting.
Ew.
Tuck hops off the couch. “Yeah, no, I’m out.” He turns to me at the bottom of the stairs. “So, this is a permanent deal, right? You guys are all gonna do that freaky biting each other thing? ’Cause I don’t wanna learn everybody’s name if you’re just gonna break up in a few weeks.”
Steve looks between the two of us as I choke back the urge to throttle my brother. “Yes…I think. I me an…ok, I need to look into that, ’cause I don’t actually know how it works. But I’m pretty sure Steve and I aren’t biting each other.”
There’s an emphatic shake of the head from the alpha. “Yeah, no bonding for Steve, but you can still remember his name. I think we’ll both get bitten by Teddy and Sam, and he’s Garret’s brother, so that’s another no…and then Garret isn’t with Sam or Teddy, so no biting there.”
Tuck’s holding up his hands and shaking his head at us. “You know what? Forget I asked. That sounds a bit too kinky for my young virgin ears. All this talk about bonding, you might have scarred me for life, Sis.”
He looks deep in thought for a moment. “Well, I can’t guilt you into taking over my chores for the month, but fifty bucks would probably go a long way towards helping me forget this conversation.”
The little butt-head actually smirks at me. “I’m not giving you money, Tuck!” He cackles all the way up the stairs, and I turn around to lead Steve up to my room so we can get books—only to be accosted by my parents kissing, right there in the living room.
Snatching his hand, I drag Steve up the stairs. Not stopping until we’re secure in my room with the door closed and I’m leaning against it. Mom and Dad have always been super affectionate. That’s how I ended up with a brother eight years younger than me. Plus, it’s super sweet that they still love each other so much, but I still don’t want to see it.
When I look up, Steve’s made himself at home, sitting on my bed with a stack of old Fruits Baskets manga in a pile in front of him. He meets my eyes with a wide grin. “Ha! I knew you read shōjo!” My face heats as I try to make excuses. But that’s a fair assessment. It was the first anime I ever saw, and it got me interested in manga. Once I started collecting those, I realized how many other types there were, and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Besides, it doesn’t escape my notice that despite his words, he sprawls across my tiny bed, reading the first issue. “Ugh, I can’t get into this. She’s just too sweet. So perfect in every way. How can you read this?” He sounds outraged, but he’s still turning pages. I leave him to it while I pull milk crates out of my closet filled with books.
By the time I have enough bins to fill up the back of the car, he’s already on the second book. Either he’s skimming, he reads super-fast, or he’s just looking at the pictures. Any option is fine, really, as long as he’s enjoying them. I nudge the bed with my foot to get his attention. “While I’m glad you’re enjoying all the romance and gooey books, I need help carrying these down to the car.”
He blushes a pretty pink-rose color, even on his ears. His skin is so pale that it should look weird on him, but it seems to work. He stands up, putting one of the boxes on the bed, and stacking all the books he was reading on top of it. It looks fairly precarious now, but he can still haul it. I packed these things so I could lift them, but there’s no way I’d be able to carry the one he just added so much to.
He looks disdainfully down at the rest of the crates. “Um, don’t you want to fill them the rest of the way up? It’s gonna take a lot more trips at this rate.” It’s my turn to blush now, and he stares at me intently.
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly graceful, or as strong as an alpha. So…I’ll take what my noodly little beta arms can, and if you wanna add more to boxes that you’re carrying down, be my guest.” He looks from me to the closet a few times before shrugging and walking over to it, grabbing handfuls of books and stacking them on top of the boxes I already filled till they look ready to overflow.
My teeth grind with the need to tell him not to damage my books, but he must see the reaction. “I can get them down the stairs, then we’ll balance them out between boxes so nothing gets torn up and you don’t go ass over teakettle down the steps.” He grins for a moment like he finds that mental image amusing, and I playfully swing my leg out to pretend to kick at him.
Fortunately, I’m still standing next to the bed because my center of gravity is more off than usual holding the load of books, and while the box lands on the floor with a loud thump, I manage to faceplant into the soft mattress. Embarrassing, yes, but at least I didn’t get hurt this time.
Unfortunately, the loud thump brings my mom to the door. She swings it wide, Dad standing behind her, and she sees me face-down on the bed with my butt in the air. Steve stands there with his own crate looking between us as she laughs and Dad mumbles something awkward before shuffling down the hall.
To top off my mortification, I hear, “Really, Kelly, throwing yourself at me like that! And in your parents’ house no less. What would Sam think? And your poor parents.” Then he turns and marches out of the room. His cackling starts about halfway down the stairs, but by then, Mom has already come over and helped me up, both of us now blushing profusely.