***Trace’s POV***
“Trace? What are you doing?” Juliet asked as I sat up and grabbed my clothes.
“I’m going home,” I grumbled. She sat up and also began to redress. She came over to me and kissed me deeply.
“Are you okay Trace? That wasn’t like it usually is. What’s on your mind?” she asked, wrapping her arms around my neck.
I shrugged her off and ran a hand through my hair. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing. I just need to think,” I mumbled, pulling my shirt on and kissing her once more before leaving her bedroom.
I walked myself home and went into the pool house. I got out the dirt bike and my helmet, just needing a distraction.
I jumped on the dirt bike after putting my helmet on and began to ride around our house. My neighbor, some old widow bitch, hated when I rode the dirt bike but I just didn’t give a flying fuck right now.
Even during sex with my girlfriend, my thoughts had kept flashing to Kory. It had to just be all the jealousy and anger that was making me think of him. That was all it had been. That had to be all it was.
I zig zagged through the tree on the mini hill in our backyard, picking up speed and wanting to just ride and ride forever, never have to get off and face the feelings that were trying to get through to me.
I was straight. I knew I was straight. I had always liked girls. I had never had feelings for any guy in my entire life. I hated homosexuals. I thought that shit was absolutely disgusting.
But my feelings for Kory were so…so mixed. I hated him. I was jealous of him. But some part of me…liked him. Liked him more than I should. I hated that. It made me want to just hit him again. But I felt guilty for hitting him yesterday.
And then when he had stripped down to his boxers…Ugh! I was straight, straight, straight! Still, the sight of him in just his boxers had me thinking how good he looked. How nice his body looked. How I so badly wanted to just hold him forever when he nearly fell those two times.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I barely even noticed that I was about to run Kory down in the driveway. He looked like a deer caught in headlights and I swerved to avoid him just as my dad yanked him out of the way.
The dirt bike slid out from under me and I skidded on the driveway painfully, the dirt bike riding a long a little before falling over in the grass a couple feet away.
“Trace!” dad and Kory cried and rushed over to me.
They knelt next to me and dad slowly helped me up. “Trace, are you okay?” he asked in concern. I nearly started laughing at him.
“Like you care?” I snapped, pulling my helmet off and rubbing my arm. I examined it and mentally groaned. I had been wearing a T-shirt, and now my arm was skinned.
I stood up and staggered a little, not realizing that I must have smacked my knee. Kory caught me and I shoved him roughly, causing him to stumble and nearly fall. My dad grabbed his arm to keep him up and glared at me in disgust.
“What the hell is wrong with you Trace? He was making sure you didn’t fall!” he snapped, releasing a confused looking Kory.
“I’m fine! I don’t need help!” I snapped and began to make my way towards the house.
Dad grabbed my uninjured arm and spun me around to face him. He slapped me as hard as he could and I forced myself not to cry out in pain. My dad was a hell of a strong guy.
“Why do you have to be such a little shit to Kory? Huh? What did he do to you? He’s trying his hardest, and you’re just treating him unfairly Trace!” he growled.
“I just don’t like him!” I snapped as Kory came over to us, still looking confused.
“Well, I’m sorry for whatever I did Trace,” he said, frowning.
The sight of him made me furious. The feelings I had towards him were fucking with my head, and I hated it. I couldn’t help myself as I jumped on him, tackling him to the ground and pinning him there.
“Shut up. Just shut up and get out of my life,” I hissed.
“Trace!” dad cried and tried to pull me off of Kory. I hit Kory in the face and dad finally managed to pull me off of him.
“Trace stop it!” he boomed and smacked me again. He shoved me away viciously and helped Kory up, checking to make sure he was okay.
I ground my teeth together as dad ruffled his hair. My dad. Not his. My dad. I glared at them and dad noticed and glared right back at me.
“If I ever see you lay a hand on-”
“If you ever see me lay a hand on your precious stepson, you’ll kick my sorry ass and kick me out of the house. I get it. You don’t have to kick me out. I’ll be happy to leave on my own!” I snapped and spun around.
I left my driveway, ignoring my dad and Kory’s shouts for me to come back. I made my way to Zeke’s house and knocked on the door.
“Oh, Trace. What happened?” his mom asked, eyeing my arm curiously.
“I fell off my dirt bike,” I growled, slipping my shoes off and going up to Zeke’s room. I knocked on his bedroom door and he opened it. His eyes widened at the sight of my arm and he pulled me through his room to his bathroom, taking out the First Aid kit.
“Would it be pointless for me to ask?” he asked, disinfecting the wound and wrapping it tightly with medical tape. I just glared down at the floor.
He disinfected a wound on my face and put a band aid on it before also wrapping my hand. He put the First Aid kit away and we went back into his bedroom, sitting down on his bed silently. He bit his lip nervously.
“Trace, I know you’re mad at me for dating Kory. But listen to me Trace, I will never leave you for him. I promise you that. You’ll always be my best friend man,” he said, quiet but honest.
“Yea, well, I don’t give a fuck Zeke. Kory’s just fucking amazing. You and my dad can have him,” I snapped, regretting my words as they left my mouth.
Zeke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “So that’s it, huh? Trace, you’re just being an ass to Kory and your dad feels bad for him about that. Maybe if you tried getting along with Kory, you’d see that he isn’t trying to take anyone away from you,” he said, a slight pleading tone in his voice.
I stood up and glared at him. “Whatever Zeke,” I growled and left his house, not wanting to talk about this. I didn’t want to try to get along with Kory. What if these feelings I was having deepened if I got close to him?
I made my way back home and then realized my dad hated me. I went into the woods, not knowing where else to go. I wasn’t welcome at home, I didn’t want Juliet bitching at me about sharing my feelings, and all Zeke was trying to do was get me to be friends with Kory or whatever.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged them there, leaning against a tree and staring up at the sky, not knowing what to do now and wondering why my mother couldn’t have just cared about me enough to stay and raise me. These problems wouldn’t be happening right now if she had just given a damn about her son.
***Kory’s POV***
“Well?” I asked anxiously.
Brandon sighed and shook his head helplessly. “He’s not in the pool house, he’s not at his girlfriend’s house, and he’s not at Zeke’s house. He might be at one of the other soccer players’ houses, but I doubt it. I…I don’t know where he is,” he said quietly and dropped onto the couch.
He forced a smile. “I’m sure he’ll turn up. He probably just went for a walk or something. Zeke said he did stop by not too long ago, so he’ll probably turn up home soon,” he said positively.
I sighed and got up. “I’m going to go for a walk,” I said and waved before leaving the house. I made my way to the woods and began to wander up the hill aimlessly, my thoughts on Trace. I just hoped that he was okay.
I let out a manly shriek as something jumped out from the bushes and tried to chop my leg off with its sharp teeth.
Okay, so it was a little frog. Still, that thing was vicious!
“Jerk! Your mother was a toad!” I called after it and stuck my tongue out as it hoped into another set of bushes.
“Do you always yell at frogs?”
I let out another manly shriek and spun to face Trace. He raised an annoyed eyebrow at me and I tried to catch my breath from the fright. Seriously? How do you even raise an annoyed eyebrow? That wasn’t even logical!
“Yes I do always yell at frogs. It’s good for your cholesterol,” I said matter-of-factly.
My eyes widened a little. “Trace! I found you!” I cheered, just realizing that this was my MIA stepbrother sitting in front of me.
He rolled his eyes and stood up. “Do you want a cookie or a medal?” he asked sarcastically.
“Well, I do like cookies. But your dad was looking for you. He’s worried about you,” I said with a frown.
An unreadable look passed through Trace’s eyes and he looked down at his feet. “He was?” he asked and I nodded. “Yea!” I said sincerely.
Trace came over to me, standing extremely close. “Well, let’s go back to the house,” he said, his minty breath blowing on my face and making me feel like a love struck girl.
“Uh…right…” I mumbled and moved forward, tripping over a branch and stumbling forward. Trace caught me easily, but now our lips were only a few centimeters away. We looked into each other’s eyes deeply, neither of us moving. I felt his warm breath and it made me forget all about Zeke, losing myself in his eyes and the warmth of his strong arms holding me.
We both moved our faces a little closer to each other, our lips about to touch when a loud truck passed on the road nearby. Trace jumped away from me and mixed emotions exploded in his eyes before he forced them out.
“C-Come on. Let’s get back to the house,” he said and cleared his throat, starting down without me. I began to follow after him, not speaking for once. I was too lost in my thoughts and my strong feelings for my stepbrother.
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A.N.- So, who do you guys like more? Zeke or Trace, and why? ;D