Page 2

Chapter Two

Willow

Dash just confirmed how long it’s been since I called Micah. An hour—sixty long minutes. That asshole made me wait. The sound of a truck pulling up has my heart thumping against my ribcage, even though guys as hot as Micah don’t look sideways at a girl like me. At least we are stepsiblings, and I can file this under weird situations we helped each other escape.

Once, when I was in high school, he came home with hickeys all over his neck, and our parents would have sent him away to some military school. He begged me to help him cover them up with my makeup, as my mom wasn’t born yesterday, and if he started wearing turtlenecks, she would have known something was suspicious. In contrast, Thomas, Micah’s father, is a docile man, and he probably wouldn’t have noticed.

“You really shouldn’t leave a spare key under the welcome mat, Willy. Anyone could break in and have their way with you!” Micah shouts from the front door.

“Dick,” I mutter under my breath. I’m going to kill him as soon as he cuts me free.

After a few minutes, the door handle to my room twists open and I wait, my heart thumping in my chest. I know as soon as the blindfold comes off, I will be beet red and die of embarrassment.

The material slides up and I blink, ready to cuss out my asshole stepbrother for making me wait so long. However, I’m stunned into silence when it’s not Micah standing in front of me. No, instead, it’s the most beautiful man I have ever seen in my life. His shirt is stretched tight over his chest, and his jeans hug his thick legs. His brown hair is cropped short, and his green eyes smile without making this situation worse.

A second man walks into the room, his mouth opens, and he pauses for a second. He’s probably shocked that I am actually naked and tied to a chair.“Yo, Brookie, we found her!” he finally announces.

This man is also smoking hot. His dark hair is styled as if he is on his way out, and his dark eyes don’t sparkle; rather, they seem more unimpressed about having to be here. His muscles strain against his shirt and my embarrassment shoots up to a hundred as he smirks at me. “It seems you have gotten yourself into a bit of a pickle.”

I huff as Micah walks through my door.

His blue eyes give me a quick once over, and he bellows out a laugh. Like the other two men, he is all muscle, which I suppose he needs since he is a firefighter. His blonde hair is styled, and it seems I’ve interrupted a boys’ night out.

“Can you untie me, and we can forget this ever happened?”

Micah stops laughing and shakes his head. “I don’t know, Willy. I feel like I need to hear the story behind this. You don’t simply land naked, blindfolded, and tied to a chair every day.”

“You never told us your sister looked like this,” the first guy who entered the room says. I thought maybe we had a moment, but clearly he was in shock, and my heart sinks.

“Fuck off, Jace. You two were supposed to stay in the truck.”

“And miss this?!” Jace throws back. “Can anyone say awkward?”

“As amusing as this is for all of you, could someone untie me, please? ”

“Will you explain this situation first?” Micah presses, and I grunt.

“What if I promise to explain it when I’m not naked?”

Micah smirks and nods. He moves closer to me and kneels, placing a rough palm on my leg, and I swear he inhales. Fuck me, my stepbrother is kneeling between my spread legs.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were turned on,” he whispers.

I don’t dare answer—the way my skin burns beneath his touch, if I say no, I would be a big fat liar.

The other two watch on as Micah unties me, and when I’m finally free, I rub my wrists and close my legs so fast my thighs clap together, and the heat from my cheeks is almost painful. All three men are simply standing in the room while I’m naked. I have never bared myself like this to anyone before—well, except the douche nugget who will get a piece of my mind later.

“Get dressed,” Micah demands. “We are going out for drinks, and you have some explaining to do.”

I open my mouth to argue that I have better shit to do, but I only have a date with the View4U app. It’s a video platform where you pay to subscribe and watch all things kinky. I might be inexperienced in the bedroom, but I want to experience new things. Unfortunately, as my self-confidence is lacking, watching is the next best thing.

Ignoring him, I grab my dressing gown from the back of the desk chair and wrap it around my body.

“Maybe we should ring Carol and ask her what she thinks about this situation,” Micah goads.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

He pulls his phone from his jeans pocket and unlocks the screen.

I cross my arms over my body, calling his bluff.

His phone rings, and I figure he is calling one of his buddies until I hear my mom’s voice.

“Hey, Mikey. Is everything okay?”

He raises a brow. I mouth fine , and he smiles. “Yeah, everything is great, Carol. I was just checking in to see if you needed me to bring anything to the house for Easter.”

I suck my lips between my teeth. The biggest offense toward my mother is offering to bring food to a dinner she is hosting.

“Just your charming self. And what about those roommates of yours? You have been promising to introduce us.”

I hate family gatherings. My family is all about appearances, and I don’t care too much about dressing up to go to Micah’s estate simply to watch the cousins’ kids run around finding chocolate eggs and spending the rest of the day on a sugar high. Then add in the tedious conversations asking when I’m going to settle down and have kids, as if that is all I’m good for. At twenty-four, I don’t even know if I want to have any, and I only found my dream job a year ago. I have time to figure it out later, but the way my aunts carry on, you would think I’m nearing forty.

Micah clears his throat. It’s interesting that he doesn’t want my mom to meet his friends. “I will have to see if they are available and let you know.”

“I know you boys must be busy working at the firehouse. They can bring their girlfriends as well.”

Jace chokes on a suppressed laugh, and I turn my gaze to him. I wonder what’s so funny about them bringing girlfriends.

“I will let you know.”

They say goodbye, then Micah snaps at me, “You have two minutes to get dressed.”

“Zac, if you don’t stop staring at the girl, she’ll get a complex,” Jace says, and their friend flips him off.

“One minute and thirty seconds,” Micah says, and this time it’s me flipping him off. I head over to my walk-in closet and close the door to give myself some much-needed privacy. I quickly grab a pair of leggings, a long plaid shirt that is long enough to be a dress, a belt, and my black boots.

Once I’m dressed, I look at myself in the mirror and deem my outfit acceptable enough. I fix my bangs and twist my hair up into two little buns on the top of my head—the same ones my mom says are childish, but I think look cute.

A soft knock at the door has me turning my head as Jace pushes it open. “Brookie has a stick up his ass, so it’s probably a good idea to get going.”

He smiles as he runs his eyes over me, and I feel something I haven’t in a long time: sexy. It’s a weird feeling.

“I’m ready. Let’s get out of here before I kill him and tell our parents it was an accidental stabbing.”

Jace’s laughter bellows out as I follow him from the closet and into my room. I grab a small purse, shoving my wallet and keys inside, along with my phone.

Micah has never invited me out with him and his friends, and I wonder why tonight is any different. I could have explained the entire situation in a few minutes and not left the house.

Guess I’m about to find out.