Page 95 of Game Night: Truth or Dare

For a minute, I lay there, speechless, panting, trying to breathe and see past the stars.

Peter was going to be bad for business. If he kept making me empty my balls off-camera, I wouldn't be making much money for the rent.

I woke up crusty for the second morning in a row and this time had no idea how to process this new development.

Feeling like I was going crazy, I did what I always did when I was stressed: I went to the gym.

An hour spent lifting weights while music blared in my AirPods helped. The gym shower was nice, too. By the time I left, I felt like a different person, just in time to meet up with Charles for lunch.

He was upbeat as usual when we met at our favourite all-day breakfast place. He always lifted my mood like no one else could, but apparently, I wasn't completely back to my usual self because halfway through our coffees, he set down his mug and gave me a hard look.

"What's got you down, bro?" he asked, lightly. "Something on your mind?"

I couldn't help smiling as I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing new, bro," I lied. Then, because he was still looking at me, now with a brow raised, I ended up giving in.

"What do you even see in Peter?" I asked. "Of all the friends you have, for him to be your bestie..."

He sighed heavily.

"Peter's great. He's literally the first person I turn to if I need something."

I frowned.

"After you," he amended. “He doesn't even ask questions. He's just there for me.”

My frown deepened. I hadn't heard any of this before and it rubbed me up the wrong way for a different reason.

"I'm your big brother," I reminded him. "You're supposed to come to me."

Charles grinned.

"Yeah, I do, don't be jealous. But, for example, my work check was on hold last semester when payment was due. I asked Peter if he could loan me a thousand dollars and he transferred it to me before I could even tell him what it was for."

I blinked.

"Mom and dad could have sorted you out."

He shook his head.

"No, they were about to go on that trip to Hawaii they’d been planning for ages. I didn't want to mess with that. And you were still a broke student... and hopefully will be again soon?"

I nodded, looking down at my steaming mug because I couldn't look at him while I lied.

"Yeah, I'm doing lots of overtime. I nearly have enough saved for grad school. Hopefully, I can start in the winter term.”

“Data entry must pay better than I thought,” he mused. “Boring as hell, though, right?"

"Yup," I agreed.

I took a sip of my drink.

"Anyway, I still think Peter’s a bigot," I threw in, trying to swing the conversation away from the job I'd told him I had.

He frowned, looking so genuinely sad for a moment that I nearly felt guilty.

"He's not," he insisted. "I thought you would see that when you started living together."

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