HUGE HOUSE HATES: Chapter 10

I saunter out of the shower, toweling my shoulders dry, my dick swinging from side to side as I make my way to the lockers. Today, Coach trained us with the kind of spite that we only ever see when he’s had a row with his wife. My thighs feel like they’re bleeding under the skin, and my arms are like two dead weights.

“Hey River,” Dornan yells from across the locker room. “I heard you’ve got a girl living over at your place. Your stepsister?”

“Yeah,” I say. “She moved in just over a week ago.”

“You bang her yet?” Dornan’s grin is lopsided, but I ignore him and pull on my black underwear.

“Every night at River’s is like a porno,” James laughs, tossing his towel until it hits me on the head. Grabbing it by the edge, I whip it back in his direction, clipping him hard on his calves and making him yelp.

“No porno,” I say. “But maybe that’s a good idea. There’s a lot of tension in the house right now that a good fucking would probably fix.”

“Five of you and one of her. That’s a porno I’d watch the hell out of,” Dornan says.

A rumble of laughter spreads through the room, and I join in because, to be honest, it’s a porno I’d watch the hell out of too. I don’t know what it is about the idea of a group of guys fucking one girl that makes my cock hard as a rock. It would seem I’m not alone in this kink either. Some of my brothers have indulged in this more than once, and some of this team has run a train over at least three of the cheer team this academic year.

“She’s not the fucking kind,” I say.

“Ugly?” James asks.

“No. She’s actually hot.”

“Then what?”

“She’s got a vicious streak. For some reason, she hates us all and has been pranking us nonstop since she moved in.”

“Pranking you?” Dornan is still only wearing a towel, and he puts his hands behind his head, stretching out his shoulders and arching his back. I guess he must feel as wrecked as I do.

“Yeah. Fucked-up things like putting fish in our closets and tampering with food. She hit my dad’s credit card last night for a load of food and alcohol. He’s going to rage when he finds out.”

Across the locker room, I can hear Coach roasting one of my teammates who was late for training. He really does have a hard-on for conflict today.

“Sounds like she wants to fuck you,” Dornan says. “You know the whole thing with pulling pigtails in the schoolyard? Well, this is the adult female version.”

“Putting fish in my closet does not mean she wants to fuck me.” I tug my gray shirt over my head and flop onto the bench to pull on my shorts. My first instinct is denial, but could Dornan have a point? I look over at his goofy grin and big body. The guy is only in college because he’s a machine on the field. He’s a nice guy, but he doesn’t have many brain cells functioning outside of football.

“Trust me,” Dornan continues. “She’s got the hots for you or one of your brothers. She’s pushing buttons, hoping one of you will grab her hair and take her on the kitchen counter.”

“This isn’t a movie, you know. Enemies-to-lovers romance is only a thing in books and films. In real life, when people hate each other, it never turns into anything other than more hate.”

“Not true,” Sam says, joining the conversation as he towel-dries his nut sack. Jesus, these guys really don’t have social skills. “My girl used to think I was just a dumb jock. I used to ask her out, and she’d act like it was a fucking insult. Then, some shit went down in a bar across town, and I stepped in to make sure she was okay. The rest is history.”

“That’s a fucking sweet story,” I say. “You should sell it to Mills and Boon.”

Dornan laughs like I’m delivering top-class comedy, and I wait until he’s settled down before continuing. “But there is no way this girl wants to fuck us, and even if she did, I’d worry she’d stuff razors in her pussy just to have the last laugh.”

All around the locker room, guys grab their junk and wince. “Don’t even talk about that man,” Brett says. “You shouldn’t even joke about that kind of thing.”

“She sounds fucked up,” James muses, tossing his training bag onto his shoulder.

“I think she’s just pissed at some shit from the past,” I say. “Maybe she has a point.”

“See, told you.” Dornan grins. “You want to fuck this girl, and she wants to fuck you. I bet you ten bucks that she’ll be sitting on your cock within the month.”

“You’re on,” I say, offering my hand to seal the deal. Dornan shakes it, pumping hard like he’s trying to impress a suit at an interview.

I glance across to where Tobias has been changing quietly. He’s been in a funky mood for a couple of days. It’s basically been since he fucked a girl on Cora’s bed because Danny wanted him to. The whole situation was messed up, but it’s not like Tobias to be regretful about sex.

Or maybe he’s not regretful about the sex but about Cora walking in on it. He’s never been one to enjoy conflict. We’re the closest in age, but he never fought with me when we were little kids.

“Tobe, you ready?” I ask.

He frowns, dragging his bag off the bench. “You shouldn’t talk shit about Cora in here,” he says. “You know what these guys are like.”

“What? She doesn’t go here. What does it matter?”

Tobias’s jaw ticks, and he looks furtively around the men behind me, leaning in closer. “It matters because these douchebags are always around our house. We don’t need to be adding fuel to the fire.”

“I’m not adding fuel, Tobe. Just shooting the breeze.”

“And taking bets about whether you’ll fuck Cora or not?” He tips his head to one side, studying me with eyes that remind me of Mom.

“I’m not betting that I’m going to fuck her.” I shrug as we start toward the door. “See you douchebags on the flipside,” I call out.

My teammates raise their middle fingers in a salute.

“Do you know what happened with her family?” Tobias asks me as we emerge into the afternoon sun. The parking lot is half empty now, and a welcome cool breeze ruffles my still-wet hair.

“Not really. Just that our dad and her dad had some business conflict.”

“It’s more complicated than that.” Tobias glances across at me, his eyes glowing a kind of amber color in the warm light. “I asked Mark about it. He said that Dad put Cora’s father out of business. It happened just after Mom died.”

“You sure?” I ask, pressing the key fob to our truck and opening the rear door to toss my huge bag inside. Mrs. Henderson will have her work cut out, getting the mud and sweat out of the clothes.

We both slide into the interior at the same time, reaching out to close the doors and fasten our belts in sync with one another. I’ve always wondered if we have this kind of synchronicity because we were born close together or if it’s just a coincidence.

“I looked it up myself,” Tobias continues. “There are still articles about it online. It must have been tough for Cora.”

“You sound like you agree with what she’s doing.” I flick on my Spotify playlist, and a track by The Killers blares from the speakers. Tobias reaches out to lower the volume as I reverse out.

“I don’t agree with any of it,” he says. “Life is too fucking short to be dealing with crap like this day after day. She might hate us by default because we’re related to Randolph, but that doesn’t mean we all have to act like assholes toward each other. We’re not Randolph, and she’s not her father. We don’t have beef between us, and any family drama that happened a decade ago shouldn’t be spilling into our lives right now.”

My brother fiddles with the playlist, bringing up “No Hard Feelings” by Old Dominion. It’s a song about leaving the past in the past, and I snort, wondering if he realizes the vibe that he’s bringing into the car right now.

“You feeling philosophical, dude?”

“I’m feeling my age,” he says.

“Yeah. You’re so old. Say that shit in front of Alden and watch him lay you out.”

“Since Dad left, I just feel different. Like I need to take a step up or something. He’s not around to tell us what to do. We have to learn to be the voice of reason for ourselves.”

“And for Danny,” I say.

Tobias shakes his head and shifts in his seat, allowing his legs to spread into the footwell. “Danny doesn’t know when to let things go. He never likes to lose.”

“Middle-child syndrome?”

“Probably.”

We both laugh, remembering all the times that Danny’s flipped the Monopoly board or tossed his Uno cards down when things weren’t going his way. I mean, I’m as competitive as the next guy. If you want to play ball, you’ve got to bring that hunger into every training session and game because your team relies on you. But I’ve never felt so angered about losing that I’ve dropped out of a game.

“He puts the C into competitive,” I say.

“He puts the S into sore loser,” Tobias says, flipping open the window and resting his arm against the door.

“So, what do you suggest?”

“I don’t know, River. You know how Danny holds a grudge. I don’t want to let Cora come between us. I reckon Alden and Mark feel the same but ganging up on Danny isn’t the solution. I also don’t want to give in to Cora too easily. We have to live together for as long as she needs a roof over her head. We need to all come out of this wanting a resolution.”

“Sounds like you don’t know what the fuck you want,” I say, blowing out a tense breath.

“Fuck it,” he says, flicking the song to something more upbeat.

I chew on my bottom lip, mulling over everything. You want to fuck her, Dornan said. I reckon most guys would want to. She’s not a Victoria’s Secret model, but she’s got a girl-next-door vibe and a killer ass. Her eyes are pretty, too, even when she’s staring at me like she wants to peel the skin off my cock, and I’m a sucker for a girl with a strong spine. It’s no fun to date someone who agrees all the time.

“Do you want to fuck her?” I ask Tobias.

He grunts, shaking his head, and I think he’s telling me no until he speaks. “Cora is the perfect conundrum. The girl who manages to piss you off and make you want to own her, all at the same time.”

I rub my hand over my close-cropped beard, shocked that he feels exactly the same way about our stepsister as I do.

“Danny wants to fuck her too. In fact, I’d put money on Alden and Mark feeling the same. I’ve seen the way they look at her like they want to throttle her and then kiss her back to life.”

“Whoever said romance is dead didn’t live in your head,” I laugh.

“I need to get laid,” Tobias says, shifting in his seat as I turn a corner. “But no one seems as interesting as Cora Horton.”

“Fuck,” I mutter, the reality of the situation hitting me with the fierceness one of my teammates during practice. We can’t seriously be in a situation where all five of us are warring with a woman we want to bed. A woman who was sent to us by our father, who has ordered us to take care of her. The universe really does have a messed-up way of playing games.

Just as I’m about to tell Tobias my thoughts, my phone rings.

It’s Dad, and I know exactly why he’s calling me.

For some reason, I’m the one he has the least faith in. If the credit card has been maxed out, of course it would be me who’s done it.

“Dad,” I say. “How are you?”

“River. I don’t want to talk about how I am right now. I want you to explain why the whole credit card allowance for the month has been spent on fast food and alcohol in one night. Did you have a party?”

I’m about to say no and tell him that Cora has spent all his money, but then I realize that he’ll start asking questions and will uncover what’s been going on while he’s been sunning himself in Antigua. If he even gets a hint that something’s wrong, I know exactly what he’ll do. He’ll jump on the next flight home, and we’ll all be in the shit, including Cora.

Best to take the flack and hope that it’ll give us enough time to get to the end of this farcical situation once and for all.

“Yeah, sorry, Dad. I was drunk. The order ran away with me.”

Dad lets out a breath that doesn’t sound happy but maybe sounds resigned. He knows there’s no going back in time and rewinding the order. I’ve admitted it, and it’s taken the steam out of his indignant rage.

“You know you guys will have to dial back on your spending for the rest of the month. Alden, Mark, and Danny will have to supplement the budget.”

Tobias swears under his breath, already anticipating the hideousness of that future discussion. I’ve decided to take the heat, and they’re going to be the ones to pay for it.

“Okay, Dad. That’s fine.”

He clears his throat, the silence hanging for a moment. “Training going okay?”

“Yeah, me and Tobias are just on our way home now. Coach was like Satan on earth today.”

Dad chuckles, the idea of us suffering through rigorous training amusing him. Maybe it’s payback in an indirect way for our disrespectful and inconsiderate behavior.

“That’s good. Keep working hard. Not long to go now.”

He means that he only has a year of funding my education left before he’s free to spend his money however he wants. After so many years of finding the funds for our college education, I can’t blame him for yearning for the finish line.

For the first time, I consider how much of our privileged lifestyle is funded by Cora’s family’s hardship. The Carlton business was doing well before Mom died, but Dad really put his foot on the gas in the years after. Not only has Dad destroyed her family’s business, but he’s taken her mother overseas and effectively made her homeless.

He’s not exactly in the running for stepfather of the year.

When we hang up, I turn to Tobias, who still looks as though he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. “We need to get Danny to see the light, dude.”

He turns to me and nods. “And then it’s every man for himself.” The grin he shoots me is so filled with mischief that I snort with surprised laughter.

“Maybe we should just go with Dornan’s idea,” I say, taking the joke further.

Tobias’s response is nothing like I expect though. “Maybe that’s not such a bad idea.”