Stepbrother: Moving In/Moving Out Read Free Page A

— far too quickly to react.
    “Hey, Seth, have you seen Mina—”
    My hands grip the blanket and twitch, as if I’m about to pull it over to conceal my face, but it’s too late. Carter’s eyes look into mine and a gaze of pure confusion settles on his face.
    “Whoa — what the fuck?”
    Seth sits up next to me. He raises a hand. “Carter — I’m sorry — but this is exactly what it looks like.”
    “Seth?!” I cry. I hold the blanket against my body like a shield and stare at Carter. “Carter, I’m sorry. The party last night got kind of crazy.”
    “You don’t have to make up excuses, Mina,” Seth says to me. “We’re adults.”
    Carter steps in closer and sits down slowly on the edge of the bed. I can’t decipher the look on his face. It sits somewhere between extreme depression and stunned anger. His eyes linger on the floor. “This is just…”
    “Did you just come home?” I ask him.
    “No, I got in hours ago,” he says with a soft voice. “You weren’t in bed, so I figured you went to a friend’s or something because of the party.”
    I nod my head, feeling very awkward about the whole situation. I want nothing more than to run to my room and find some clothes.
    “I thought you two hated each other.” I can barely hear his voice through his mumbling lips.
    “So did I,” I say, my eyes flicking up at Seth’s face.
    “Listen, Carter,” Seth begins. “Some truths came out last night and…” He pauses for a moment, moving over a little to try and see Carter’s face. “Mina and I are in love.”
    “Whoa — wait — hold on,” I break him off and throw up my hands. Two pairs of eyes shoot at me and I feel very, very exposed. “I’m gonna need some time to process this whole… thing…” I whip around and throw my feet to the floor.
    “What’s going on, Mina?” Carter asks.
    “But it’s true—” Seth says. His fingers latch onto my arm, holding me in place on the bed. “You can tell him the truth.”
    “But that’s not—” I stutter off as I gently yank my arm back. I keep an iron grip on the sheet and hold it against me as I roll off the bed. Carter stands up to allow the sheet to go with me and I struggle to right myself in my new cotton cocoon.
    “This wasn’t just a one time thing, Mina,” Seth says.
    “Yes, yes, it was,” I say.
    “Will somebody please explain to me how my girlfriend ended up in bed with her brother?” Carter asks.
    “ Stepbrother, ” Seth and I correct him at the same time.
    “Okay, whatever. Stepbrother. Doesn’t stop it from being weird.”
    “We know,” Seth says. “But things change.”
    Carter turns to me. “Mina, is this what you want?” he asks.
    My head is spinning. My emotions pull me in opposite directions, refusing to let me go no matter how badly I try to rid myself of the conflict.
    “Mina?” Seth asks from the bed.
    I’m stuck in time. I wish for a black portal to appear in the carpet below me and send me into an alternate universe.
    “Mina?!” They both say again.
    “Nope!” I say with closed eyes. “Not doing this.”
    I turn around quickly and run out of the room. The sheet trails behind me, dragging along the floor as I race into the other bedroom and slam the door.
     
    ***
     
    I hear a tapping on the door, but I stay underneath the covers.
    “Go away,” I say.
    “Mina, can we come in?” Carter asks. “We want to talk to you.”
    We?
    After what just happened, I figured the two of them would have killed each other by now. I sit up and stare at the closed door. My gut tells me to hop out the window, but I know that would just cause more problems. I slide off the bed and throw on a pair of shorts and a shirt.
    “Come in,” I say.
    The door opens and Carter and Seth walk into the room.
    “Mina,” Seth says. “We believe we have a solution to our… little problem.”
    “We don’t have a little problem ,” I say. I cross my arms over my chest. “Seth and I made a mistake. It’ll never