Stepbrother With Benefits 17 (Third Season) (17 page)

Y
eah
, so, dinner is fucking awkward. How fucking awkward is it? It's not the food. Oh, fuck, the food is delicious. I love food. Caleb's chicken Kiev is amazing, too. Garlic bread chicken? Who the fuck came up with that? That person is amazing. They're my new favorite person.

I mean, besides Caleb. He's my
actual
favorite person. Whatever. It's just an expression, alright?

Caleb's my best friend, and...

He just feels really warm right now? And I feel kind of cold? It's like, alright, Caleb, shut the fuck up and let's cuddle.

I wouldn't tell Caleb to shut the fuck up, but I do kind of want to cuddle. I keep making excuses to get closer to him, but I don't think he notices.

And this is awkward. It's awkward because I say it is. Stop questioning me.

It's different. I usually feel close to Caleb, and that's fine. I've even cuddled with him before. What, do you think friends aren't allowed to cuddle? It's just cuddling. We've cuddled plenty.

I used to go over Caleb's house, um... basically every day. We grew up together. I don't know if I want to tell you about all of that, because I just don't, but I went over there a lot, since probably, um... from kindergarten, to elementary school, middle school, and all through high school?

We'd just hang out, really. Hang out and watch movies, or play games. We'd ride our bikes down to the river and explore the forest. Sometimes, I used to draw in a sketchpad while Caleb did his homework, both of us sitting on his bed back home. We'd go to the mall and walk around and window shop, too. We never bought anything.

I guess that's not true. Sometimes Caleb bought stuff. He'd buy stuff for me. Friends buy each other stuff. It was just dumb, stupid stuff.

So... we've always kind of been close, but for some reason the idea of cuddling with him is different all of a sudden. I don't know why. It's stupid. I don't even think Caleb notices it. He's acting all nonchalant, eating his food, being cool and calm.

Sometimes I wonder why he doesn't have a girlfriend. Then I think that any bitch who tries to be his girlfriend better be real fucking amazing.

Will Caleb still hang out with me when he has a girlfriend? Can we still cuddle?

Oh, fuck, what if he starts dating a girl before we finish my art project? The ex tape? Fuck, is she going to get pissed?

Well you know what, you fucking bitch? Deal with it, because I asked Caleb to help me before he even met you.

Caleb's imaginary future girlfriend really pisses me the fuck off. What a whore. I bet she wears cute pink sundresses, too, and she's got blonde hair and she just looks like a stuck up bitch.

I don't know why. I don't even know what kind of girls Caleb likes. We've never really talked about it. He's dated a couple girls, and I guess that's cool. I don't know. Am I allowed to say I thought they were all dumb prissy bitches?

I mean, yeah, so maybe they weren't actually stupid. They were probably smart. They seemed nice. There was just something off about them. Fuck if I know what.

Caleb deserves a nice girl who will bake him brownies. Don't even fucking ask me why that's my main criteria for his future girlfriend. It just is. If she can't make brownies, then fuck her.

I tried making brownies once. I never told Caleb, though. I might have told him if they turned out to be any good, but they were as hard as a rock and I couldn't even get them out of the fucking pan.

Baking brownies is real fucking hard. Who knew?

"Hey, um... Caleb?" I say when we're done eating our dinner.

"Yeah?" he says.

"Your roommate isn't going to be here this first week of classes, right?"

"Uh... yeah? I think he's coming back Monday, but I'm not sure. I met him last year a couple times, but I don't know him that well. I just know what the RA told me."

"Cool, cool," I say, nodding a lot. I kind of want to... aw, fuck it, I'm going to. "Can you help me with some stuff in my room? I just need to get this tote box of stuff."

"You need a box of stuff?" he asks. "In your room?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh... sure?" He gives me this weird, confused look, trying not to smile, one eyebrow half raised.

"Shut up, asshole. Just help me, alright?"

"I said I'd help you!"

"Take my plate and throw it out, too. Be a gentleman. I'm a fucking lady, Caleb."

He laughs and takes my plate, but not before stealing a bite of my butterscotch pudding. Oh, fuck, it's on now. That was my last bite! I was going to eat it right before tossing my plate in the trash. Or giving Caleb my plate so he could be a gentleman and toss it in the trash for me. Whatever.

"You owe me!" I say, screeching at him and chasing him through the cafeteria. "That was my favorite, Caleb!"

He ducks and dodges, sweeping past tables and chairs on his way to the trash cans. I chase after him, but he's too fast. I try to keep in shape and everything, but Caleb plays sports. He's better at this than me. I catch up to him when he stops at the trash to dump our empty plates. He puts the trays on a table nearby so someone can grab them later to clean them off, then he turns towards me.

I'm kind of angry. I'm not that angry. I don't mind sharing my butterscotch pudding with Caleb.
Just
Caleb, though. If anyone else tries to fucking touch it, they're dead.

Except... I think I'm dead now. Caleb's eyes are intense and he's looking at me and smiling and I don't know what to do. I just kind of stop and stare at him, like he's a fucking beautiful trainwreck. I can't help but stare, you know?

"I'll get you some pudding to go," Caleb says, stepping close and patting me on the head.

I kind of move into his hand. I don't mean to, it just sort of happens.

Then I snap back to attention. Fuck that. "Good!" I say, stomping my feet at him. "Make sure it's butterscotch, Caleb."

W
hen I offered
to help Scarlet with... a tote box? It's like a plastic container, right? Yeah, that's what this is, and I'm helping her with it now, but when I offered to help her with it before, I kind of had something else in mind.

I don't know what. Just moving it or something? Maybe putting it somewhere else in her room. Maybe it's heavy? I have no idea.

It's not heavy, and I'm not moving it somewhere else in her room. I'm moving it, and I'm carrying it right now, but I have no idea what's going on.

We show our school IDs to the dorm security guard standing at the front desk, then head to the elevators that go up to the dorms. My dorms. Scarlet goes to the art school next door, and while her college and mine share some facilities--mainly the cafeteria but a few other buildings, too--the dorms are separate.

Actually, while we're talking about this, she's not even supposed to have an ID for my school. She asked to borrow mine when I first got it, and then the next thing I know she's got a copy of her own, with the picture from her ID now plastered onto a fake replica of my college's ID. I don't even know how. I'm afraid to ask. It works out, I guess, because now I don't have to check her in with the guard at the desk whenever she comes up to the dorms with me, but, uh...

"Where are we going with this?" I ask her as we step into the elevator.

She just pushes me further in, goes up to the buttons, and presses the one for my floor.

"Don't worry about it," she says.

"Is this stuff for Ethan or something?" I ask.

"Why the fuck would I give Ethan a tote full of stuff?" she asks me.

"I don't know! The entire floor is just guys, so I don't think there's any girls you know there, right? ST and Ronald are on a different floor, too, so..."

She sways back and forth on her feet, from the balls to the heels, just rocking like that. She also ignores me. Ugh.

"Seriously, though," I say. "It's not like this is heavy, but I have no idea what we're doing."

"Caleb, can you just shut up for a second?" she asks me. "Trust me, alright?"

"I trust you, Scarlet, but--"

The elevator door opens. We're here. On my floor. I guess I'm just going to follow her. I do, and she walks down the hall, heading towards Ethan's room.

"I thought you said this wasn't for Ethan," I say.

She looks over her shoulder and glares at me. "Shush!"

The way the dorms are set up, or I guess the way the entire building is set up, there's rooms on either side of the hallway, and the hallway is kind of, uh... four hallways? It's a square, so if you go to the end of the hall, take a right, you're in another adjoining hall, which goes until you have to take a right... and so on, until you're back where you started.

Which I guess means that technically we might be going to the end of the hall and taking a right. Ethan's room is at the absolute end of this hall, a corner room. He's lucky enough, and rich enough, that he doesn't have to share a room with anyone this year.

I'm kind of jealous, but I do have my own room for a week, so that's not so bad, right?

Scarlet doesn't go to Ethan's room. She doesn't even go to the end of the hall and take a right, either. She stops in front of my room. I almost don't stop and crash into her, but I catch myself at the last moment. Half a second later, there's a petite hand reaching into my pants pocket and fishing around.

"Uh..." I say. "What are you doing?"

Because, uh... yeah... she's getting kind of close to...

My cock twitches as the side of Scarlet's hand moves a little too close. Fortunately, she finds what she's looking for after that. Or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it. My cock seems disappointed.

"Thanks," she says, holding up my room key.

She puts it in the lock, turns the key, then opens the door in one wide, sweeping flourish. Prancing in like she owns the place, she flips on the light and then waves for me to come in.

I do, but...

"What do I do with this tote?" I ask her.

"Put it down over here," she says, stepping close to my roommate's empty bed.

I bring it over and put it on the floor. Scarlet takes no time in opening it and sifting through it. She takes out a pink sheet and this fluffy purple comforter with these cute little wide-eyed animals on it. That's the way she explained it, not me. I helped her pick it out last year since she needed stuff for her bed. My mom came with us and bought it for her, because...

Sorry, I shouldn't have told you that. It's kind of private, alright? Just forget I said anything.

Scarlet starts to dress the bed, unfolding her pink sheet and then laying it atop the almost bare mattress. They have a mattress cover for them, but that's about it. Just kind of uniform stuff to make the beds look presentable on their own, you know?

Once she's done that, while she ignores me staring at her, she lays the blanket on the bed, too. She tops it all off with two pillows. The tote is empty now, and my roommate's bed is dressed up in Scarlet's linens and things.

"Did you get new sheets for your dorm or something?" I ask her, confused.

"No?" she says, tilting her head to the side and looking at me.

"I don't think my roommate's going to want to use pink and purple sheets and blankets," I tell her. "It's cute, though, I guess?"

"Um, he's not going to use them? What the fuck? Why would I let him use my stuff?"

"Look, I'm not really sure what's going on, but you just put all your stuff on his bed, so I figured you're giving it to him or something, which I guess is nice in its own way, but--"

She interrupts me with a stuck out tongue and a dirty look.

"I don't want you to get lonely, Caleb," she says. "I'll stay with you until your roommate comes back. Just don't tell anyone, alright? I don't want to get in trouble."

"Oh, alright, that makes--" Wait! No? "What the fuck, no it doesn't, that doesn't make any sense! I'm pretty sure there's strict rules against cohabitation between guys and girls in the dorms. Not to mention you don't even go to this school."

"It's only against the rules if you get caught," Scarlet points out.

"There's not even a girl's bathroom on this floor," I point out. Yeah, I can point things out, too, Scarlet.

"Well, you're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"You could have asked me before you decided to randomly move into my dorm room for a week," I say, ignoring her question.

She... she looks at me. Oh, no. Why did I say that? I mean, it's true, but...

Her eyes are wide and she just kind of stares at me, confused. Her mouth is open a little, bottom lip pressed out, almost trembling. Now I feel like a jerk.

"You don't want me here?" she asks, speaking softly, looking down at the floor. "I thought it'd be nice, you know? I know it's not really allowed, but... if no one knows, it's cool, isn't it? I think it'd be fun, and... yeah, so I should have asked you, but I thought it'd be a good surprise."

"It's not really a surprise if I'm the one bringing your stuff here," I say.

"You didn't know what it was or where we were going, though," she counters. "That's besides the point, too. If you want me to leave, I'll leave. Whatever. It's no big deal."

She starts to reach for her pillow to toss it back into her tote. I take three steps across the room to close the distance between us. When she turns to throw the pillow into the tote, I grab her wrist to stop her.

We just kind of stand like that. She looks up at me, staring into my eyes, and I look down at her. She's good at hiding things. I think it comes with the tough girl exterior. I don't even know if it you can call it hiding things exactly, because I do think she's pretty tough most of the time, but... she just kind of doesn't try acting tough with me. We don't have to be tough with each other or hide things from each other. We're best friends. That's kind of important.

Yes, I just said we're best friends, and I meant it, but the way her lip is trembling and with how close we are together right now, my hand on her wrist... I can feel her heart beating, her pulse quickening, my fingers pressing against the bottom of her forearm and feeling all of it.

Is it weird that I kind of just want to kiss her right now? I know it is, but I'm wondering if I can figure out a way where it isn't.

"You can stay," I tell her. "Just don't get me in trouble, alright?"

"Why would I get you in trouble?" she asks, as if my question makes no sense whatsoever.

"Uh, you have a bad habit of getting into trouble," I remind her.

"Yeah, whatever," she says, giving me a dirty look.

I let go of her wrist and she puts the pillow back on her new bed. I guess I have a roommate again? For a week, at least. Yeah, uh...

This is an awful idea, isn't it? It's not my idea, so it's not my fault, right? I'm not sure my school will agree with me if they find out what's going on. Who even handles situations like that? I have no idea.

"Hey, let's watch a movie," Scarlet says.

"Where?" I ask. "In the common room?"

"No, here. Let's sit on your bed. We can watch it on your laptop."

"Oh,
my
laptop?" I ask, teasing her. "My room, my laptop. You're just taking over all my stuff now, huh?"

"If that's alright with you?" she asks, rolling her eyes and sticking her tongue out at me.

"Yeah, I guess so," I say. "Wait, uh... what kind of movie?"

I have a bad feeling about this. I don't know why, I just do.

"What kind of movie do you want to watch?" she asks.

Either she's oblivious, or playing coy, I don't know which.

"I'm just, uh... checking... not a porn again, right?"

"Um... we can if you want to, I guess? I showed you one I like, so you can show me one of your favorites?"

My mind inadvertently remembers one of my absolute favorite porn videos. It starts with a girl house sitting for this family, when suddenly the son comes home. The parents had a new vibrator hidden behind the bedside table in their bedroom, which the girl just so happened to find, and decided to use, when the son shows up, goes to see what that strange noise is, and finds the girl laying on his mother and father's bed, legs spread, a vibrator pressed tight against her clit...

Uh...

Does Scarlet have a vibrator? What if I accidentally walk in on her when she's using it? What's the proper protocol for something like that? Do I just walk out again and pretend nothing happened. Oh, no, I didn't see anything at all, nope, nothing. Or... do I offer to help? As a friend, right? Offer a helping hand. Hey, do you need someone to hold that vibrator for you, Scarlet? I'm not busy with anything at the moment, so I don't mind. It's no problem at all. I'd be happy to help you out with that.

Yeah...

"Seriously, now I want to know what your favorite is," Scarlet says. "Wow, I didn't even know you were into it. It must be good. You look like your lost. I've never seen someone daydreaming in real time before. You know how sometimes you catch people at it, but you don't see when it starts? Nah, I just saw it, start to finish. That's kind of cool."

"Shut up," I say. "Everyone watches porn sometimes. It's no big deal."

"I didn't
say
it was a big deal," she says. "I said I want to know what your favorite one to watch is."

"Can we talk about this later?" I say. "Let's just watch a movie."

"Don't be an asshole," she says.

"I'm not being an asshole, it's just... I don't think friends usually watch porn with each other. I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure they don't."

"Yeah, but we watched porn with each other earlier," she points out.

"That's different. That was for school. It was research for your art project."

I'm pretty sure I'm going to regret saying that. Not right now, but soon enough. Probably sooner than I think.

"Yup, so it's cool. It's not weird if it's research," she says.