Seth (Johnson Family Rules, #3)

by Carly Marie

Rolling my eyes at both my brother and my phone, I released my dick and gave it a quick but gentle scrub. “Coming.” “No, you already came. Now it’s time to get moving.”

“Love you, sweetie! Be good and don’t give your coaches a hard time today.” A security guard laughed as I ran toward the building, flashing him the badge I’d been given the day before. “Family.” He shook his head. “If that’s the worst he does, kid, consider yourself lucky. Poor Johnson’s family could outdo that without opening their mouths.”

He squinted his eyes in question. “Look in the box.” I pointed to the box the bear had arrived at the arena in. “If it ends up being a girl, let Trev know. He’s got some really cute accessories that only a few of our bears use.” The sentence hadn’t been strange to me, but by the expression Mazdon gave me, it was safe to assume I’d confused him. “A few of the guys have bears with female names, or maybe pronouns would be a better description. Milo wears pink sometimes and blue others.” Much like me. I pulled my bear from the side pocket of my bag and showed him Milo’s outfit for the day, with a green bow wrapped around the right ear. Mazdon swallowed thickly as he nodded his head and his voice cracked. “I-I see.”

“Sorry, sorry. This is just so out of left field. You haven’t had a stuffed animal since you were, like, four.” We had just stopped at a red light, so I pushed at my brother’s shoulder. “Because you stepped on Fuzz with your skate and shredded him!” He lifted his hands from the steering wheel. “You shouldn’t have left him on the floor!” “You shouldn’t have been wearing skates in the house!” “It was really a homely looking thing anyway. I did it a favor.” “Asshole.”

Dillon rolled his eyes at me. “Now if we could just get you to learn how to have a quiet orgasm.” “Me?” I gave a derisive snort. “You have no room to talk. And at least I don’t do it in the living room.” My brother looked horrified, gasping with his hand over his heart. “Pete! Maz says we have to stop having sex in the living room.” My brother-in-law came out from his office. “Maybe we should just get heavier doors.”

Igor had been insistent on experiencing everything, and that meant he needed a tree with all the tacky ornaments that were traditionally made by children. The good news was we were a group of twenty- to thirty-year-old men, mostly single, and almost all of us lacking any artistic ability. Our popsicle reindeer and paper snowflakes looked much the same as the ones that hung on my parents’ tree that my siblings and I had decorated twenty to thirty years earlier.

“Oh fuck.” Dillon jumped up and began to pace anxiously. “That’s the guy you’ve been texting, isn’t it?” There was no use hiding the pink that stained my cheeks. “And more. Holy shit, I’ve sexted with him, Dillon. I’ve seen his dick. JesusfuckingChrist. I had my dick in his ass!”

“Never let anyone tell you you’re wrong for liking what you do. If someone wants to shame your position preference of the night, your kink of choice, or what you want out of them, he’s not worth your time.

Seth: Mazdon asked me on a date. What do I wear for dessert in his room after the game tomorrow? Sexy? Boring? Gah, too much! Mazdon: Well, that wasn’t what I expected to see pop up as soon as I got my phone replaced. But since you’re asking, go with what you’re comfortable in. Seth: Oh my god. That was supposed to go to Austin. I’m just going to go smother myself with a pillow now. Mazdon: Shame.

The blank stare I gave Austin told him I needed more words, but his eye roll told me he thought it was obvious and I was being dense. “Seth, he was only Phantom to you when you wore them last. And all this time, those have been the panties Phantom saw Pretty in. If Seth shows Mazdon these panties, he’s going to appreciate it. It’s like… It’s like you’re acknowledging that you want Mazdon to see you in them as much as you wanted Phantom to see you wearing them.”

Me: Just so you know, you’re my favorite brother. My phone buzzed less than thirty seconds later. Larson: I don’t know what Austin is up to, but I plan to remind you of this next time you call me to fix something at your place.

More than a few dreamy sighs came from the room as Seth finished, but any sentimental moments were quickly forgotten when Yuri waddled into the center of the room still wearing his huge pads. “For big win, we celebrate! Who knows of bar here? One with no cheap food!” Everyone chuckled at the last statement. Yuri had been the starter that game because Igor’s love of cheap eats had once again landed him with stomach issues. From the way the story was told, this happened at least twice a season.

At his door, Mazdon began to reach behind him for his wallet and his face pinched in pain. “Stop it. You’re going to hurt yourself.” Mazdon’s response came out in a growl of pain-laced frustration. “I’ve got it.” He continued to reach behind him, but that time I stopped him by batting at his hand. “Knock it off. Damn stubborn hockey player.” The scoff he let out quickly turned into a gasp when I reached into his back pocket and grabbed both his wallet and a handful of his more than ample ass. “Not cool. We’re supposed to be talking tonight.” He snatched the wallet from me, feigning offense at my grope.

He ordered a chicken sandwich for himself with broccoli and fries and rattled off the burger order I’d requested. Just before he hung up, I called out loudly enough that the person on the other end of the line could hear me. “I’d also like a pickle! The bigger, the better!”

But, just so you know, nothing sex related is ever off the table at our house. Kink is discussed as casually as the weather. Nearly every one of my siblings falls on the LGBTQ spectrum and nearly as many are involved in the BDSM community in one way or another. There are no secrets. You think dildos are crazy—you’ve never been around us when we’ve been drinking.”

“Seth.” My tone was sharp and he snapped his mouth shut, his rant falling silent. Tilting my head downward slightly, I made sure he was looking at me before I spoke again. “Enough. You made your point.” He stared at me, his mouth slightly parted before finally nodding. “Yes.” Then, so quietly I almost didn’t hear him, he added, “Sir.” The roar of the crowd hadn’t died down yet, so no one but me could have heard the word, but I’d heard it. Loud and clear.

“Text if you want to spend the evening with us.” A large hand landed on my shoulder before I could respond, causing me to jump. “Godspeed.” The thick accent let me know the hand belonged to Yuri. “Oh?” When I turned, he was nodding, his lips pressed into a solemn line but his eyes sparkling with humor. “His family, they are crazy. Very big. Very loud. Very, very gay.” I barked out a laugh. “Conveniently, so am I.”

“Be yourself.” He tapped my chest lightly. I finished the saying for him, my voice softer than his had been. “Because everyone else is taken.” “You got it, Squirt. If Mazdon is really worth your love, then he’s going to accept you just as you are. Don’t change that for him. There is no one else in this world that can be a better you.”

Mazdon: Will it be a problem if I’m not home tonight? Dillon: I’m looking at a very naked husband on the couch. Stay. Please. Mazdon: Note to self, never sit on the couch again. Dillon: If we’re doing that, don’t eat on the island, or at the table, stay off the steps… oh and you should probably find a new bed. Mazdon: GAH! What the hell is wrong with you??? STAY OUT OF MY ROOM!

“And you get a dick, and you get a dick, and you get a dick.” He arrived in front of Mallory and Laura and paused, looking at the dildos in his hand, then back to them before finally shrugging and dropping a dildo in each of their hands.

With Seth in my arms, loud chatter all around me, and a dishwasher full of dildos in the other room, I was pretty sure I’d found my place.

Seth wriggled around and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, then licked my cheek. “Nope, you don’t get to scare him away. I licked him. He’s mine.”

I’d only had time to unbutton my coat when Yuri narrowed his blue eyes in my direction. “Spill. No more pishy poshy talk around bush stuff.” “Do you mean wishy washy and beating around the bush?”

Taking a deep breath, I rubbed the tears and most of the shadow from my eyes. “I love you, Mazdon. Fuck what the rest of the world might have to say about it. I love you.”