My Stepbrother Is My Secret novel · Chapter 25 of 32

Chapter 25: The Morning

His answer came before I'd looked up from the screen.

"Abuelo's."

I looked across the dance floor at him.

He put his phone away and held out his hand, there, in front of everybody.

I crossed the floor and took it.

Lupe whooped from the bar.

The goddaughter blew us a kiss from a table full of my crew, where she was teaching them a drinking game.

We drove north in his black pickup with the windows down.

My red dress was bunched up on the seat and my heels were in my lap.

Neither of us said much.

We didn't have to.

At the gate I punched in 0319 and the gate rolled open.

The house was dark.

No Lexus in the drive.

No heels in the hall.

I unlocked the front door with my father's keys.

We walked through the dark living room and past Abuelo's office.

Past the kitchen.

Down the east wing hallway inside the house, to the room at the end that had been his.

His bed was still made. He'd left it when he moved out, with one blanket folded at the foot.

Out the window, the courtyard light was blazing.

The camera was still up on the arcade beam, its little red light on.

"It still goes to her phone," I said.

"Let it."

I reached over and pushed the curtain all the way open.

Then I went back and opened the bedroom door wide, onto the hallway, onto the whole house.

Mateo watched me do it.

"No more doors," I said.

"No more doors."

"Nobody to hear us."

"Nobody to hide from." He came close in his tuxedo, his tie undone and hanging.

"You said it, Cass. Into a microphone. In front of three hundred people."

"I said it."

"Say it again."

I put my hands on his chest.

"I love you," I said. "I've loved you since the flashlight. I was just scared to say it in this house."

He closed his eyes for a second.

"Then let me hear you in this house," he said.

"Yes."

He reached behind me for my zipper.

"Yes," I said again. "Everything. All night."

His hand found the zipper and pulled it down in one long, slow sound.

The dress went slack at my back.

I didn't move to catch it.

He stepped back just far enough to watch the red silk slide off my shoulders and drop around my bare feet.

The night air came through the open window and found every inch of skin the dress had covered.

My nipples went tight against the strapless bra.

"Eight months I've wanted to do that in this room," he said.

"You did it in this room."

"With my hand over your mouth."

I reached behind me and unhooked the bra.

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