Page 58 of Vicious Little Snakes

I give him a look, and he nods before shrugging me off. He straightens his dinner jacket. “All right, I’m good. Let’s get this shit over with.”

We walk a step toward his bedroom door, but a chuckle escapes my mouth. I turn my head to look at him.

“I could always entertain your new stepsister. You know, keep her busy?”

Grey swipes at me, but I jump back.

“Come on, dick. Not the face. I want her to see how pretty I am.”

He comes at me again, making me howl with laughter as we mess around all the way to the dining room, pushing and shoving each other as we spar, only stopping when the butler clears his throat.

“Sirs.” Bradley’s tone is reprimanding as he opens the dining room doors, keeping both of us appropriately sheepish.

Once Bradley’s back is to us, I lean over, whispering, “Maybe she’ll like me enough to give me a handie under the table.”

This time my shoulder hits the door jamb, eliciting a quiet, pained, “Asshole.”

I’m down but not out, so I nut-check him and smile as he coughs, having to hold himself up with a hand on his leg.

“You okay, Grey? Need some water?”

Bradley turns around, frown in place. “The senior McCallister will join you shortly, and may I remind the two of you that this isn’t a mess hall. Please behave if not for yourselves, at least in front of the young lady.”

Grey and I both look behind ourselves, seeing Caroline standing there.

Oh, man.

She’s devoid of an expression, looking bored as she takes us in. She walks in between us but not before she stops and looks at me. “Sit on my left, Liam—since that’s my dominant hand.”

Fuck me. She heard. I wince as Grey gives me a look like he might kill as she leaves us standing there like the assholes we are.

Bradley motions for us to follow her, so we do, but I whisper to Grey, “Relax, I’m not hitting on your sister.”

“Step.” He groans to himself.

We’re seated, Caroline by herself and Grey and I together on the other side. We’re quiet, and it’s awkward, only made worse when Evan and his new wife walk into the room. Grey’s stepmom is wearing a dress that screams new money, or so my mother would say. It’s tight and very deep cut—uncomfortably so for those who are sixteen with raging hormones and have to sit with her.

Don’t look at her tits. Don’t look at her fucking tits.

“Boys. How’s rowing?” she questions with a hint of a French accent, bouncing in her seat as it’s pushed in.

I drop my face to my plate, trying hard not to laugh, as she situates. “Evan tells me you both compete for the school.”

When neither of us answers, Caroline speaks up, “They’re quite the star athletes at our school. Beloved, really.”

Grey flips his fork around between his fingers, staring at his father. “I’m surprised you knew what I did after school.”

“I had your transcript pulled,” Evan counters, leaning back in his throne at the head of the table.

Grey’s family is so different from mine, which is why I knew I needed to be here. I couldn’t leave him in this shit alone. The rest of the uncomfortable conversation goes just as I expect. Evan counters all of Grey’s jabs until all that’s left is silence and chewing.

Although I helped when I could, it was Caroline jumping in that shocked me. It’s weird because it’s as if she really were his sister—the girl’s got his back.

“Liam,” Evan interjects, “how’s your father? I heard he has you on track for Harvard.”

“He’s great, sir. And yes, Harvard is his plan.”

“His plan?” Caroline questions from across the table. “What’s yours, then?”