The Step Bet (Peach State Stepbros, #1)

by Riley Hart

When I think of an atlas, I think of maps—coherent, useful, reliable. These aren’t my stepbrother’s attributes. He’s what you’d find if you opened the glove compartment and bits and pieces of a map exploded onto the passenger seat. And even if you went through the trouble to tape it all back together, you’d discover it wasn’t printed right—Phoenix in Alabama, London in Peru, Barcelona in Japan. That’s Atlas McCallister. Rogue. Reckless. Troublemaker.

Atlas and I have a complicated relationship. Yeah, sometimes I really want to strangle him, but he’s my family.

My eyes shouldn’t be on my stepbrother’s ass when he walks away, not only because of the familial relationship, but because I’m supposed to be as straight as Troy is queer.

This is so Atlas—my messy, incoherent map. One minute we’re at McDonald’s, bonding over our shit parents, and it’s like I’m on a clear path to Phoenix. Next thing I know, I’m lost in fucking Siberia.

“So if I get an A, you’ll suck my dick?” The words sound ridiculous as they escape my lips, so why isn’t he flinching? “That’s how confident you are that I can’t get an A?” “Totally.” Does he really think it’s impossible for me to figure out Thermo? Fuck if that doesn’t just make me want to take him up on it that much more. But I hate that he’s probably right.

And maybe there’s a part of you that really wants to end this day with his dick in your mouth. I groan into the empty room just as my phone buzzes in my hand. Lil Stepbro: Not gonna happen. I’m trying to decide if I want you on your knees for me while I’m standing up…sitting down…lying on a bed with your mouth on my cock… So many possibilities. His words make my traitor dick twitch. Lil Stepbro: Oh look, I left you speechless. Heat scorches up my spine. Goddamn him. I’m off my game today. Me: Sounds like something you’ve been thinking about a lot. You want me, lil stepbro. Probably have for a while now. How many times have you jerked off thinking about me?

“How long have you wanted me, Troy?” “Since I started noticing those luscious lips of yours.”

When I gaze down at him, he pulls off my dick and glances up at me. I notice some precum trailing from my head to his lips as he smiles, and there’s no denying how pretty his face is…and how pretty it looks with a bit of me lingering on his lip. Might be one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen.

Because the truth is, even though I shouldn’t, I want him again, want to blow him or have him blow me…I don’t much care which way it happens.

“Clearly, I can’t be totally straight. You get my dick hard, Troy. That doesn’t happen between two straight guys.”

“Of course you like the thought of marking me.” Troy blanches. “What do you mean of course?” “You marked my ass once with your name, and now my face with your jizz. Don’t have to be a math genius to know one plus one equals two.”

I want to mark him, claim him. I want his body in ways he’d probably be disgusted by. Or would he?

“And that’s all before I fuck you, Atlas. Watching your face as I open you up, molding your ass to my cock. Studying your expressions to know exactly what movements hit you just right. And then riding your ass, not letting up until you come without even touching yourself, making the pleasure so intense and excruciating for you that by the time I’m finished, I’ll know every possible way you could say my name.”

“I want you, A,” I confess as I kiss down to his neck. “I want every fucking part of you.”

“You want me as much as I want you. You’re dying for it. Dying for me. There’s no other mouth that will treat you better than mine.”

don’t even know why I’m thinking about all that. It’s not like Troy and I have feelings for each other besides liking to get off together. But then, why does the thought of anyone else having their hands on him make me feel like I’m getting thrown into a meat grinder?

“You’re not the only one who likes marking what they want.” Troy looks blissed out, pupils wide, and turned on as fuck. “I can handle that.” “Good,” I say, then back up.

“You like that? Like me marking you inside? You can’t deny you’re mine now, T. I’m inside you.”

why do you have my shirt in your nightstand?” Be honest. “It smells like you,” I confess. He beams, like hearing that makes him proud. He moves close. “That’s what I wanted to hear, my sexy little creeper,”

“I love you. I love you, Troy,” he says between heavy breaths. “I love you too, Atlas.”

I nod, still weighed down by my guilt, but Ellie is looking at Troy. “You and Atlas?” His eyes find mine, and just looking at him makes me believe it’s all going to be okay. “Me and Atlas,” Troy confirms. “I love him.” “And I love him too,” I add. Ellie smiles. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.”

He leans close and licks up the middle of my lips. “You’re mine, and I’m yours, Troy. That’s how it’s always been. That’s how it’ll always be.”

“You tattooed your boyfriend’s name beneath your left pec?” Taylor asks, eyes wide. “Dude. I bet you got some good hole for that.” Brenner high-fives me. “I always get the best hole from T. That’s not why I wanted to do it.” It’s not why he has my name tattooed on his wrist either. We just…want everyone to know who we belong to, and we’re not shy about it.

There’s nothing I won’t give him, and I know Troy feels the same about me. And we’ll spend the rest of our lives marking each other, claiming each other, wanting each other. “I love you,” Troy says, lips traveling down my chest. “I love you too. And I always will.”