Beast Brothers

by Stephanie Brother

  I jump up to follow them. I feel responsible, and I’m afraid of what Brock and Cody might do to Jason. I also need to get away from the table. I can’t even chance looking in my dad’s direction.

  The guys are moving quickly, and I’m wobbling a bit on my heels, so I don’t catch up until they’ve moved out of the dining area, through the lobby, and down a vacant side hall that leads to restrooms and who knows what else.

  The twins still have ahold of Jason; he’s struggling to no avail. When he sees me, he tries to pull free. “Megan! Call these creeps off of me!”

  “Guys, stop!” I say. “He’s not worth it.”

  Jason’s voice is tortured and full of hate when he continues. “You fucking the Beast Brothers, Megan? Is that why you left me?”

  At that, my anger erupts. “I’m not the one who cheated, you asshole!” I yell.

  Cody turns to me, his eyes dark, his entire posture threatening. “Megan, you don’t need to see any more of this loser. We’ll deal with him.”

  As he’s talking to me, Jason kicks him, striking out in the only way he can, and Brock responds by twisting Jason’s arm up behind him, making Jason wince.

  “You weren’t even gone twenty-four hours and you were already fucking someone else,” Jason says with a sneer. “Wearing a slutty little dress and fucking players from another team!”

  “That’s enough, asshole.” Brock twists Jason’s arm up further, causing him to cry out.

  “That’s enough, all of you.” My dad’s voice is sharp and stern and cuts through me like a knife. I didn’t even realize he’d followed us.

  He glares at Brock and Cody until he’s satisfied that they’ve stopped hurting Jason, and then he looks at me. “Is it true, Megan?”

  My heart twists as I stare back at him, but I don’t say a word. I can’t deny it. I won’t.

  Though I don’t respond, my father finds his answer in my expression. His face falls, and he grimaces as if he’s the one Brock’s got in a hammerlock. Then he goes cold, his voice like ice. “You’re a disgrace. How could you?”

  I shrink back from him, his words like physical blows. Brock pushes Jason toward Cody and gets between my father and me. “I won’t allow you to speak to Megan that way.”

  “Won’t allow me?” Dad retorts, his face getting red.

  “That’s right, allow you. Would you rather your daughter be with this asshole?” he says, his voice full of anger as he gestures to Jason. “Someone who neither loves nor respects her?”

  Jason takes advantage of the diversion and swings a haymaker at Cody. With a sharp jab to his jaw, Cody puts Jason on the floor.

  I hear gasps behind me. I glance over my shoulder and am stunned to see that the hallway is now crowded with onlookers. Dad pushes past Brock and gets between Cody and Jason. “That’s enough!” he snaps. Although he’s dwarfed in size by the Beast Brothers, my dad’s presence is as strong as theirs.

  Two other Mammoth players push through and grab Jason, pulling him to his feet and away from Cody, who’s glaring down at him, fists clenched. Jason’s teammates clearly have no interest in joining a fight; they appear to just be trying to keep him from being killed.

  Dad looks between Cody and Brock and says, “This is grounds for suspension.”

  My stomach plummets. “That’s not fair!” I cry. “They were defending me!” Everything is happening so fast, my head is spinning.

  “I warned you to stay away from them, Megan.” My father’s eyes are so cold, so far beyond disappointed, that I see no love left there at all.

  Cody and Brock are fuming, barely able to hold themselves back. They may have just gotten kicked off the team because of me. Their very promising careers may be ruined because they were involved with me.

  And then I look around at everyone watching, everyone who’s just heard accusations of what the coach’s daughter did with two of the team’s star players. And in the crowd, I see Vivian. She was so excited for all of us to be a family, and she’s just learned that I’m fucking her sons.

  No one’s really moving, but everything seems to be closing in on me. I have no answers — no words — nothing at all I can do to make any of this better. So I run.

  I start to push through the crowd. Brock and Cody call my name, but I don’t stop. I’ve caused them enough trouble.

  I don’t know where I’m going. I have no plan, except to try to hold back the tears until I’m alone. But then Tara and Zoe are there.

  “Get me out of here,” I beg them. They instantly fall in on either side of me, keeping the crowd at bay, and together we make our escape.

  Tell Us You Don’t Care

  Megan

  A wolf howls outside. The rest of the pack joins in, serenading the moon. It’s a beautiful sound that sends a chill down my spine.

  I’m burrowed under the covers in the bed at Tara’s uncle’s vacation cabin. It’s in the mountains and so remote that most of the area doesn’t even have a cell phone signal — not that it matters, because I have my phone turned off. I don’t want to talk to anyone anyway.

  Tara and Zoe drove me here after we left the restaurant. I didn’t even go home, afraid that Dad would show up there. No way was I going to face him and Vivian after Jason outed my fling with the twins.

  Tara left me her SUV, and then she and Zoe went back in Zoe’s car. They made me promise to drive into the nearest town every three days and check in with them. Today’s Tuesday, so I need to call them tomorrow and let them know I’m okay.

  Which I am, physically. The rest of my life is just as much of a mess as it was two days ago. I’m lost, devastated, and grieving.

  The wolves are still singing. Unable to sleep, I roll over in bed, facing the fireplace. It’s been a while since I went camping, but I remember how to gather wood and start a fire. The crackle of the flames is soothing. I adjust the pillow, my mind falling into the same rut it’s been in since Sunday.

  After the way my dad reacted, I can’t live under his roof. I’m not even sure I want to stay in the same state, let alone the same town. Maybe I’ll find a job in a different country ... like New Zealand.

  I’ll miss my besties, but they can come visit. I need to stay far away from my father. And the twins.

  Missing them is a constant ache. They called me during my ride up here, before we lost signal. I didn’t answer. They messaged me, too. Megan, where are you? Call us. And Dammit, Megan, running away doesn’t solve anything.

  I have to agree with them. Nothing is getting solved up here. On the other hand, I have my pain buried in a deep freeze, as if I’d punted it into one of the snowdrifts outside. Feeling nothing is kind of awesome compared to the alternative.

  I wish I had a dog or a cat, or had asked to borrow someone’s pet. It’s lonely up here.

  When I call the girls tomorrow, I’ll ask them how the twins are doing — not personally, but professionally. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t normally get suspended for what happened, but if my father was angry enough he might have pulled strings.

  My only comfort is telling myself I did the right thing in leaving. I got away from there before I could do any more damage to the twins. With luck, everything will blow over and they can go on playing football and living their sex-god lives.

  A sob rises in my throat, and I choke it ruthlessly back down. I spent most of yesterday crying. I’m done with tears.

  What I need now is to be cold, and clear-eyed, and logical, like Mr. Spock or Commander Data. I need to assess my circumstances, evaluate my options, and decide my next steps as rationally as possible.

  My feelings are useless. The only place I want to be is with the twins, and that’s the one place I can never be again. So goodbye, emotions. Once I have all this mess sorted out and I’ve started my life over somewhere else, I can let them out of the deep freeze.

  Slowly, the fire calms my restless thoughts. My mind stops spinning in circles, my eyes drift closed, and I fall asleep.

  When I wake, for an instan
t I think I’m at the penthouse. I’m toasty warm, and feel the heavy weight of a body on either side of me. Then I remember that I’m at the cabin, and realize I must be dreaming about the twins, wishing they were here with me.

  I’m almost too warm. I try to adjust the covers, but encounter an obstacle. My eyes blink open.

  I can’t see the fire. Something’s blocking my view. Tentatively, I put out a hand — and touch naked skin.

  I bolt upright in bed, but before I can scream a hand covers my mouth and a deep voice says in my ear, “Megan. It’s us.”

  The voice belongs to Brock. I yank his hand away from my mouth and yell, “What are you doing here?”

  On the other side of me, the beam of a flashlight cuts the darkness, illuminating the oil lamp on the nightstand. A hand reaches out, and a few seconds later the lamp flares to life, casting its glow across most of the cabin.

  The Beast Brothers are in bed with me, naked — at least from the waist up, which is all I can see at the moment. Thank goodness Zoe loaned me a pair of flannel pajamas to bring up here, or I’d be naked too. Just as in their penthouse, they’ve taken up positions on either side of me, sandwiching me between them.

  We’re all sitting up now, and they haven’t answered me. Ignoring the raw delight that sparks in my heart at their presence, I glare at them in turn and repeat my question. “I said, what are you doing here?”

  “Don’t be mad,” Cody says. His hair is tousled, and I have to suppress the urge to run my fingers through it. Forcing myself to focus, I narrow my eyes at him.

  “Don’t be mad about what?” I demand. Brock’s hand slides across my bare back, under my pajama top, and I slap it away. “And don’t touch me.”

  The next instant, I’m on my back in the bed and Brock is mostly on top of me, giving me a hot, wet, sweet, sexy kiss. Instead of resisting, my arms go around him and I kiss him back. A lot.

  Things get heated, hands get involved, my pajamas disappear, and then Brock’s mouth clamps over my breast while Cody’s fingers delve between my legs, parting my slippery flesh. I gasp, shooting right to the brink. Cody slides a finger inside me — Brock sucks harder — Cody’s mouth covers my clit, and then I burst apart, writhing between them.

  When the aftershocks subside, they tuck me between them again, all of us on our sides, only this time it’s Cody behind me and Brock facing me. And since Cody is nestled in my cleft and Brock is hard against my belly, I can now confirm that the brothers are just as naked as they’ve made me.

  “You ready to talk now?” Brock says.

  I have a very happy glow now, but my brain hasn’t completely stopped working. “I was talking,” I point out, “until you kissed me.”

  “You were yelling,” he says, unmoved by my logic. “And snapping. And slapping.”

  This is true, so I glare at him again instead of answering. His mouth twitches. “Do we need to sweeten you up some more?”

  “No!” I say hastily, and the mouth twitch turns into a grin. Now that my happy glow is fading, I can’t believe I not only let them do that, but enthusiastically joined in. What is wrong with me that the second I’m around them, my self-control goes out the window?

  Cody’s arm comes around my waist, his hand gliding up toward my breast. “Please,” I say, as if I could fend him off with mere words, “explain what you’re doing here. How did you know where I was?”

  It’s Brock who answers. “Your girlfriends told us where to find you.”

  “They did not!” I’m back to yelling. Tara and Zoe have stood by me through this whole fiasco, and they are the best besties ever. They would never give me up.

  “Babe,” Cody says in my ear. “They did.” His hand cups my breast, his thumb brushing idly over my nipple. Desire rushes through me but I put my hand over Cody’s, stopping him. “No?” he says.

  “I can’t think when you’re doing that,” I explain, and he smiles against my neck. Dammit! My deep freeze will never last if I keep saying stuff like that.

  Brock looks like he’s trying not to laugh out loud. “They’re worried about you,” he says. “We talked to them, and convinced them that we are too, because it’s true. So they told us where to find you.”

  “And gave you an extra key?” I say suspiciously.

  “That too.”

  Well, at least that explains how they got into the cabin without waking me. I’m shocked that my friends gave in, but not that shocked. I know firsthand how persuasive the twins can be, even with their clothes on.

  Now that their appearance here is no longer a total mystery, all the reasons I ran away from them come rushing back. “It’s sweet of you to be worried about me,” I say.

  “Sweet?” Brock repeats, one eyebrow arching up.

  I ignore him and keep talking. “But now that you see I’m all right, you can leave.”

  His eyes get stormy. “Babe, we are not leaving. Not without you.”

  “You have to,” I say, hoping that endless repetition will work where nothing else has.

  Cody’s hand goes to my shoulder, and he turns me onto my back, he and his brother looking down at me. “Okay,” he says. “We’ll leave.”

  My heart sinks. “You will?” The twins smile, and I realize I just totally gave myself away again. I really have to stop doing that.

  “Sure,” Brock says, picking up where his brother left off. “We’ll go as soon as you look us in the eye and tell us you don’t care about us.”

  Melting

  Megan

  “What?” I splutter.

  Easygoing Cody disappears. Judging by the glint in his eye, Stern Cody is here now. This deepens the tingling between my legs, which I try to ignore. “You heard us,” he says.

  Brock catches my eye. “Simple thing to do, Megalicious. Just tell the truth.”

  I glare at them some more, because I can’t honestly say that I don’t care about them. But why, oh why, do they want me to rip off my emotional armor? I know their never-say-die alpha male egos don’t like to give up on anything, but this seems like an awful lot of trouble for a conquest — especially one that will get them in trouble with their coach.

  Which reminds me of what I was going to ask the girls tomorrow. “Did you get suspended?” I say, afraid to hear the answer but needing to know.

  “Nah,” Cody says, “Coach was just blowing off steam. We heard your ex got suspended, though. Substance abuse violations.”

  It gives me no joy to hear this, but I can’t summon up much sympathy either. Jason is like someone I don’t even know anymore. “I’m glad you didn’t get in trouble,” I say. “But you must understand why we can’t see each other anymore.”

  “No,” Brock says. “We don’t get that at all.”

  I stare at him as if he’s taken too many hits on the field. “You saw how my father reacted,” I remind him. “If he found out, he could trade you. It could wreck your careers.”

  “Babe,” Cody says, clearly amused.

  “What?” I retort, amazed at their nonchalant attitude. “This isn’t funny!”

  “First of all,” Brock says, “Coach is not going to trade players who are performing well for the team. His job is to win games, not police our personal lives. Second, even if we did get traded — which we’re not going to — our careers aren’t dependent on him. And third, he’s not going to argue about us being together.”

  I ignore the heart flutter I get at the word together. “Not going to argue? Were you there that day?” I say.

  “Yeah, I was,” he shoots back. “And I was also there — unlike you — when our mom and your dad had a knock-down drag-out fight about it.”

  My inner wince at his dig about me running away barely registers. I’m too busy gaping at him. “They what?”

  “Mom really laid into him,” Cody says with obvious pride. “You should have seen it. Told him his job is to support you, not judge you, and he should be ashamed of himself for treating you that way.”

  I’m so stunned by this new
s I can’t even speak. “Vivian … said that?” I finally whisper.

  “Yeah,” Brock affirms. “And when he got stubborn about it, she said she was going home instead of spending Sunday with him like she usually does. And she left.”

  I’m finding this really hard to process. Especially in light of how I’ve treated her, it’s very humbling news. “Wow,” is all I can manage.

  “She knows how hard it is to find the right person,” Cody says quietly. “She’s not going to judge consenting adults for doing what makes them happy.”

  I barely hear the second half of what he says because my brain is hung up on a particular phrase. I know I shouldn’t even go there, but I can’t help myself. “The right person?”

  Two sets of dark eyes skewer me, and I can’t help squirming under their gaze. “Why did you run away from us last Sunday?” Brock says. “And I mean the real reason, babe.”

  My deep freeze is thawing at a rapid clip, but my mind is screaming at me to bring it back. Cody just meant “the right person” in bed, the right playmate for a good time. The twins are only here with me because they’re conquering alpha males.

  I can’t read more into this than I should.

  “Well?” Cody prompts when I don’t answer. I try to think of something, anything, I can say to throw them off the track, and his eyes narrow.

  “I can see your mind working, trying to come up with a story to tell us.” He leans down until his lips are almost touching mine. “If you keep lying, we’re going to take you back to the penthouse, tie you to the bed, and fuck you until you stop fighting us.”

  Oh. My. God. My nipples get hard, my body tingles all over — especially between my legs — and I’m instantly soaking wet. Whatever’s on my face must match what’s going on in the rest of my body, because Brock gets closer too, his hand sliding low onto my belly. “If I touch you right now, babe — down here — what am I going to feel?”

  “Stop it.” I try to hold on, but my deep freeze is melting faster than an iceberg.