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He looks around, groggy. “Where are we?”

“Lake house. You were drunk. I carried your sorry ass here. Sienna just ran off. You couldn’t have missed her.”

He sees the steak on the counter, half cold but still untouched. Stomach growling, he grabs a knife and digs in. “Sienna’s here?”

I nod toward the hallway. “Yes.”

He freezes, fork halfway to his mouth. “Watching you jerk off?”

“Loud volume.”

“Jesus.”

“Don’t be a hypocrite.” I grab a beer from the fridge, pop it open, and lean against the counter. “You branded her. Put your name on her skin like she’s yours.”

He smirks—genuine this time, lazy and cocky. “You saw it.”

“Oh yeah.”

He takes another bite. “She’s mine.”

“No.” I shake my head slowly. “That’s the problem. You think she’s yours. I think she’s ours.”

His eyes narrow. “Shut the fuck up, Caleb.”

“I’m tired of this game we’re playing.”

He shrugs. “You started it. Trying to take what’s mine.”

I laugh at his words and then shake my head. “Doesn’t matter.”

The moment stretches long and tense. Then I take another swig and say, “Let’s make it simple.”

Eli raises a brow.

“We settle it. Tonight. Like true brotherhood?”

He grins. “No way.”

“Scared?”

“Of you?” He barks a laugh.

“Then say yes.”

He leans against the table. “Set the terms.”

“Any game. You pick. Winner takes her virginity.”

There it is. Spoken into the air like poison. The silence that follows is thick.

Then…

“What the fuck?” Sienna’s voice cracks through the room.

She stands at the edge of the hallway again, arms around herself, eyes wide with disbelief.

“You two can’t be serious,” she hisses.