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A morning person, an energizer bunny, a momma’s boy, and fuckwit. Not a good combo.
“Oh, don’t worry about that, make yourself comfortable. He sleeps like the dead. You could drop a bomb next to him and he probably wouldn’t hear it.” Lady, don’t tempt me.
I lie in the dark and wonder if there’s a word for the act of killing your stepbrother. I know there’s patricide, which covers killing your dad, and there’s matricide, which takes care of your mother. But is there a word specific to killing a step sibling? I’d love it if there was.
“Your dad is the only dad I’ve ever known,” he says lightly. He turns his gaze and fixes me with an overly intimate smile. “Thanks for sharing him with me.”
I have no doubt about it; what I’m watching is tantamount to the seduction (and or sexual assault) of a yogurt lid.
The only thing stopping me from getting Gould in a headlock, dragging him to the ocean and liberally waterboarding him, is societal norms. I toy with the idea anyway. Surely, if I called him Bud as I did it, I could use ‘I drowned him as a friend’ as part of my defense?
“That’s quite the step bro situation you have there,” she says. I almost choke on my beer, but I manage to recover with only the slightest of watery eyes. “You’re one to talk. What’s with the gamer geek fetish?” She shakes her head and emits a throaty laugh. “The fuck if I know.”
“How’d I figure? I’ll tell you how I figure. I know my value, that’s how. And you’re not going to talk to her like that,” I point furiously back to where we’ve just been, “and talk to me the way you talk to me through the wall.”
I wait until Greg looks away then I look Jessie dead in the eye, and mouth the words, “Wanna fuck?” His eyes fly open, and he sits up straight. He looks around wildly, checking to see if Greg’s looking. He isn’t. “What?” he chokes out. “Do you,” I point at him very deliberately, moving my mouth in an exaggerated way, “want to fuck me?”
“Feels like my heart’s beating out of my chest when you smile at me like that.” I smile and whisper, “This is it, Jess.” “Mmm?” “Right here, right now – this is what good feels like.”
“My heart feels a little swollen, like it’s too big for my chest, and I feel like I’ve done something I’m not used to doing. Something big, you know?” He steps closer to me and whispers, “I feel okay most of the time, but when I’m away from you it hurts.”
“We are cuddling. This is me cuddling your dick.” His eyes are back to sweet, open and blinking as he looks up at me. “Woah,” he breathes, “look how fast it changes.”
“It’s not ‘cause you’re a guy,” I say, mumbling a little this time. “It’s because you’re you.”
Luke leans back against the desk. “It has a name, you know. It’s called parental alienation. It’s a type of abuse.” Rage engulfs me so hard and so fast, I can hardly get words out. “My mother…never abused my dad. You don’t fucking know her. She…” “She hurt your dad, but that’s not what I mean. You’re the one she abused.”
“Because, when people say bad shit about my mom,” I spit, “I know it’s true.”
What do you think’s going to happen? We just live happily ever after? “Yeah. Pretty much, actually.” Well, fuck me sideways. That doesn’t even sound like the worst idea I’ve ever heard.
“Can’t, ‘cause you called me your man.” “Oh Jesus,” I groan. “Can’t you at least pretend to have a smattering of chill?” “Tried that. Can’t. I have subzero chill when it comes to you.”
