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Joe

“ J oe!”

I jumped, slamming down the lid to my laptop. It wasn’t like Teresa to open the door to the basement, but I wasn’t normally in the habit of leaving it unlocked when I was working. Thoughts of editing the latest video I’d recorded distracted me. The money had been rolling in recently and I had a steady stream of new subscribers. At the rate I was going, I’d be able to move out of my sister’s basement in no time. The problem was explaining how I was able to do it.

“What?”

The second her footsteps echoed down the stairs, I was out of my seat, grabbing the camera and tripod, and shoving it into the closet. There wasn’t an easy way to explain why it was just hanging out. If she knew what I was doing down here with her six-year-old daughter hanging out upstairs, she’d be pissed.

She paused at the bottom of the steps, eyebrow raised as I leaned against the door to the closet .

“McKenzie wants to go to the park, but I need to get to the store to buy groceries before it gets too late. You wouldn’t happen to have time to take her, would you?”

My niece was my favorite person. If people didn’t know my family, there were times when she was mistaken for being my kid, but the joke was on them. As much as I loved the munchkin, I had no desire to be a parent.

“I got you. Is the bug ready to go? I just need to put a few things away and then I can take her.”

Teresa looked around the room, as if trying to figure out what I was talking about. “She’s been sitting on the couch with her shoes and jacket on for the last ten minutes, begging me. I’d say she was ready.”

That tracked. The kid loved being outside. Unlike most kids glued to screens, McKenzie thrived amongst the trees. Fortunately, my sister’s house wasn’t too far from a cute little park. It was a hard find in Seattle.

“Cool, tell her that her favorite uncle will be there in a minute.”

Teresa laughed, turning to go back up the stairs. “You’re her only uncle.”

I gave her a salute she couldn’t see. “Noted, still doesn’t mean I’m not her favorite.”

Once my sister was gone, I pulled the tripod and camera back out. It had taken me a while to build up my equipment, and I was still working on getting a rotating set. Damaging what I already had wasn’t in the cards at the moment.

I carefully removed the light from the top of the camera and wound up the cords, putting things in their proper cases before folding the tripod more carefully and putting it away properly. I took one more look around the room to make sure there wasn’t any more incriminating evidence laying out.

I’d already stashed the lube with the obnoxiously large dildo I’d used during the video. My viewers liked it when I used toys. There was an increasing demand for me to collaborate with someone and not only do solo work, but something about that didn’t sit right, which was weird, since I loved sex. It didn’t matter who it was with. I’d had all sorts of partners over the years, but especially with my sister’s rules while living under her roof, it just wasn’t happening.

I grabbed my wallet and phone, stuffing both into my pockets before throwing a hoodie over my head and climbing up the stairs. The weather was still sort of gross this time of year, but it was slowly getting better. An overcast sky hinted at rain, but it seemed likely to hold off long enough for McKenzie to have fun and burn energy.

“McBug,” I called. She came running around the corner, a big smile plastered on her face as her brown pigtails bobbed. Teresa hadn’t been kidding. The girl was more than ready to go.

“Uncle Joe, can we go to the ice cream shop? I want a chocolate cone with sprinkles and marshmallows... ”

I laughed as she rambled on. “Slow down. I think it’s still a little too cold for ice cream. Your mom mentioned the park. We can definitely do that.”

She squealed, hugging me tightly before scurrying for the front door. Before I even had my shoes on properly, she was halfway down the sidewalk, and I had to jog in order to keep up with her. The kid knew what she wanted.

Because the weather was still not ideal, there were only one or two other kids playing, but McKenzie didn’t seem to care. She latched onto anyone and everyone. My sister was on the shy side, so she got her outgoing personality elsewhere.

I hadn’t known Teresa’s ex very well. It had been a surprise when she told the family that she was pregnant. The asshole hadn’t hung around and wasn’t helping at all. He was missing out on an amazing human. The kid had so much spark and personality.

The park bench was cool under my ass, and I kept getting distracted, thinking about the video I’d recorded. Was it good enough? Had my angles been okay? It was stupid to worry about it because I was making money regardless, but there was one person I knew of who could teach me a thing or two about angles.

It was a bad idea. Aiden and I hadn’t spent much time together since New Year’s Eve, when he’d kissed me, and his brother had punched me in the face. The kiss had been a surprise. It hit midnight, and he’d grabbed my shirt, lips pressing to mine. Without thinking, I’d thrown my arms over his shoulders and kissed him back. I liked the kid. He was fun to hang out with and something about him was different. I was more relaxed around him than my usual friends and I liked how he was so invested in his photography stuff that he didn’t question me when I asked him random questions.

It wasn’t suspicious. At least I’d hoped it wasn’t. They knew me for my sexual antics, so the fact I was hiding this was strange. Sexuality should not be shameful. I’d approached my whole adult life with that mentality. Maybe because this was something special for me. Or the stigma that was attached to selling your body for money. Something about the whole thing screamed to keep it to myself and not draw any attention to it.

My phone was in my hand before I could think better of it. The message stared at me on the screen, and I debated on sending it for a whole two seconds before sending it through.

Me: Want to hang out with me and the bug at the park?

It took several minutes before the dots appeared. They blinked on and off a few times before a surprisingly short response showed up.

Aiden: What park?

I chuckled lightly, rolling my eyes and looking up to check on my niece. She was climbing up the ladder to a slide, cheeks flushed, a giant smile spread across her face.

Me: The one down the street from my sister’s house. Bring your camera.

There wasn’t a response, but that was typical. Fucking teenagers and not being great at communication and all of that. I still snapped a few pictures of McKenzie zooming down the slide with my phone while waiting for the better equipment to arrive. I’d offered to pay Aiden at one point for some of the better shots he’d taken and gifted to Teresa, but he’d refused. He’d said it was good practice, and he could use some of it for his classes at school.

The kid was at least smart, getting an arts degree of some kind. Not that any of us had any luck with those dumbass degrees we’d worked so fucking hard for. The biggest fucking lie of our lives. Grow up, finish school, get a college degree. That was the recipe for being a successful adult.

Nope. It was a recipe for debt and living in your sister’s basement.

McKenzie ran around the playground, playing tag with another little girl now. They giggled as they chased each other and maybe the kid would go to bed at a reasonable time tonight. She was always so full of energy, and it wasn’t unheard of for her to stay up until midnight sometimes. I’d often send Teresa to bed so she could focus the next day and keep her daughter entertained until she ultimately passed out .

Not like I had a lot going for me and I did my best work at night. There was less of a chance of getting distracted or having someone interrupting.

It wasn’t even fifteen minutes later when someone plopped onto the bench next to me.

“How’d you end up on babysitting duty today?”

I laughed at Aiden’s question. “I don’t look at it as babysitting. Teresa needed to go to the store. The least I can do is keep this one out of her hair for a little while.”

He was silent for a moment before he stood, lifting his camera and walking around the play area. Aiden was interesting to watch when he was in his element. His hair was lighter than his brother’s, more of a light brown than the deep chocolate Nathan had. Deep brown eyes squinted as he looked for the perfect opportunity before snapping several quick shots.

It didn’t take long before McKenzie noticed him. She jumped from the jungle gym and ran to him, wrapping her arms around him. “Aiden. What are you doing here?”

He laughed as he patted her head. “Your uncle asked me to come.”

She beamed up at him before she was off and playing again. Out of all my friends, Aiden was around the most and the only one she knew by name outside of Andrew. She only knew Andrew when he’d crashed with me for a week in the fall after he and Brandon had a fight when they thought they were fooling everyone about not dating. Spoiler alert: we were all more than aware those two had something going on.

It was fucking offensive they thought they could hide it.

After taking a few more pictures, Aiden sat next to me again. He fidgeted with a few buttons on his camera, but said nothing and refused to look at me. It was odd for him. The guy wasn’t always the most talkative, but things had been so fucking strained since December. I hated every last second of it and if I had known how much his kissing me would have changed things, I wouldn’t have let it happen.

But I’d wanted it.

Aiden Grant was almost five years younger than me, but it hadn’t mattered. The second he started spending time with us, we’d clicked. I’d treated him like I treated all my friends. Except he was different. And his brother had caught on quickly.

Nathan wanted me nowhere near his brother. Which was bullshit. Aiden was nineteen now, and more than capable of making his own choices—an adult.

“Did you want to come back to the house with us? I’m sure Teresa wouldn’t mind—”

“I think I need to get home and edit these.”

What the hell was that? Aiden was up and walking away before I could stop him. Sure, he’d come to spend a little time with us, but that hardly counted. We’d barely even talked.