Stepbrother: Moving In/Moving Out by Tabatha Kiss Page A

lock.
    “Fuck…” I whisper as I kick the refrigerator closed with my bare foot. I realize that I’m wearing one of Carter’s shirts — and literally nothing else. The shirt itself falls just above my rear end and my cheeks are easily visible to anyone that cares to look.
    I charge across the living room with the bottle of water in hand, hoping to reach Carter’s room before the inevitable happens.
    “I see you’ve made yourself at home…”
    I pause in the hallway and turn to face him quickly, all the while keeping a hand on the shirt to hold it down. “Hey, Seth,” I say with an awkward smile. “I was just… getting some water.”
    Seth kicks off his shoes. They tap against the wall next to the door. I notice plenty of black smudges in the area, obviously from the two of them kicking their shoes against it since they moved in.
    “Well…” he says. “Better get back to drinking that water then…” he mutters.
    “Listen, Seth…” I begin. “I know you don’t want me staying here—”
    “I never said that,” he says quickly, awkwardly shifting towards the kitchen. He tosses his backpack onto the kitchen table. It wobbles a bit under the new weight.
    “But it’s only for two weeks…” I continue. “Then my new lease begins and everything will go back to normal.”
    “Okay.” He reaches over the refrigerator and grabs an open cereal box.
    “I just…” I know I’m quickly overstaying my welcome in this conversation, but I won’t feel right until I get the words out. “I just want the two of us to be cool, okay?”
    “I am cool,” Seth says. He pulls a gallon of milk from the refrigerator.
    “And so am I,” I say. “So… we’re cool, then?”
    “Sure, why not.”
    I bite my lips and linger in the hallway a little longer. “Okay then.” I turn on my heels and start stepping back towards Carter’s room.
    “Try to keep it down tonight,” I hear Seth say. “Some of us have exams in the morning.”
    I take a breath, wanting to say something, but I bite my tongue and continue on back into Carter’s room.
    Carter fidgets on the bed, his full nude body on display. “Who you talking to?” he asks.
    I take another swig of water. “Who do you think?”
    He looks at his clock. “Oh, wow. It’s seven already.”
    I sit down on the edge of the bed. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Carter?”
    “Hey—” he sits up. “I told you. It’s us versus him now. You’re not going anywhere until you can move into your new place and that’s final.”
    I smile at him. “I love it when you go so authoritarian,” I say.
    “What can I say, baby?” He stretches back and lays down with his hands behind his head. “I’m an alpha male.”
    I roll my eyes and laugh as I pull the shirt off over my head.

Chapter 2
     
    “What are you doing?”
    I look up from the sink to find Seth standing next to the refrigerator. His arms sit firmly crossed about his chest.
    “I’m… doing the dishes,” I say as I hold up the soggy sponge.
    “And what did you do to the living room?”
    “What do you mean?” I ask.
    “It’s all…” His voice trails off. I glance over at him again. His expression screams repressed anger.
    “It’s all what , Seth?” I ask, feeling painfully annoyed.
    “Everything is all moved around and out of place.”
    I breathe a laugh by accident. “Out of place?” I repeat. “There was nothing in place beforehand.”
    “Bullshit,” he says. “I had a system.”
    I look back at the dishes. “I didn’t realize anarchy and filth were a system,” I say.
    Seth pushes himself off the refrigerator. “Knock it off,” he says. “Stop moving things around.”
    “I just cleaned up a little. Calm down.”
    “No one said you could do that.”
    “I need permission to clean my living space?”
    “This isn’t your living space!” Seth shouts back. “You don’t live here!”
    “What’s your problem?!”
    “Oh, I think that’s obvious—”
    “What the hell is