Page 19 of The Stepbrother 2: Noah

“You home?” She lived twenty minutes from my parents.

“Yeah,” I answered simply.

“what’s wrong? You sound strange.” She picked up on my emotions.

I changed my tone. Tempest was six months pregnant. I didn’t need to stress her. “Nothing. I was just calling to tell you we made it. I missed you and will see you in a few days.”

“Nah, sis. You don’t sound right. Do you want me to send AJ to fuck something up?”

I laughed genuinely. Tempest really leaned into the fact that she was surrounded by crazy men who would do anything to make her happy..

“Stop threatening people for no reason with your crazy baby daddy. Keep feeding into his violent tendencies, and he’s gonna end up in the news. I’m going to go before my momma comes back, though. I haven’t unpacked anything. I love you,” I said, then hung up.

The whole time, Noah was standing behind me. I ignored him like he wasn’t there.

“We should all talk about this, Creed. Nobody kept quiet to hurt you. We stayed quiet because of the exact opposite reason.”

I walked out of the house without responding. I was in my car, backing out of the driveway when my momma and daddy pulled in. They tried to wave me down. I kept driving. Fuck everybody. I was going back to Atlanta.

I was halfway down the road when I got a call from Ebony. I always answered for my brother, Jason.

“I know you’re mad, Creed, but you have to come back. The cancer returned, and I have to tell everyone this time.”

I cursed and busted a U-turn.

Creed-

“You fucking asshole.” I was hysterical, I couldn’t think. I couldn’t catch my breath. I had never been so pissed off in my life. Shoving Jason, he barely budged, but I pushed him again, ready to swing at his head. I couldn’t believe he lied about something as serious as his cancer returning. My heart was still pounding erratically at the thought.

“I’m sorry, Creed. We couldn’t just let you leave with things unsettled.”

“We? Where is the 'we'?” I looked around the mother-in-law suite, a small two-bedroom my parents used for guests they didn’t want in the main house. It was fully furnished and stocked, and Jason had told me to meet him here.

Jason shook his head, his face full of pity. “Everybody is terrified to say the wrong thing to you right now.”

“So they sent you to do the dirty work, or did you volunteer because you know I’ll feel too guilty about yelling at you?” Jason had found out he had testicular cancer last year. It was early stage, and the doctor promised recovery. He got a testicle removed and froze some sperm. He was good. When he asked me for money for medical bills and not to tell the family, I had not said a word. We all had secrets. I couldn’t bring myself to be mad at him because I’d spent months thinking he’d die.

I didn’t give him a chance to answer. “Why did you all keep the secret about Maine's baby from me?" I demanded, my voice trembling. It wasn’t just that Devon was DJ's father—Maine could have him—but I couldn’t believe my family hadn’t told me. I felt like they’d picked Maine's feelings over mine, which wasthe norm. Maine always got special treatment because her mom was a piece of shit.

“How could you not know? Look at DJ. He’s the spitting image,” Jason said.

“She was too self-absorbed in your pity party to notice. She didn’t even see that Maine’s been in love with Devon since she was a teenager.

I whipped my head toward the new voice and found Noah leaning against the bedroom door frame, wearing a T-shirt and joggers, barefoot.

My eyes narrowed on their own. He should have kept his mouth shut like he had for the past five years. “No, I didn’t notice. But nothing kept her from telling me. She could have opened her damn mouth and said something. My life doesn’t revolve around what Maine wants like everyone else’s,” I spat at Noah. “But the real question is... Why the hell are you here, Noah? You’re barely family, and this is family business.” I knew it was a low blow, but I wanted him to hurt as much as I did. He should have told me, of all people.

“Creed,” Jason objected, sounding indignant.

Without looking at him, I said, “What? Am I lying? He has no blood relation to any of us but Maine, so of course, he’s going to be on her side. Hell, you’re my brother as much as hers, and you took her side too.” I was a minute away from throwing a tantrum—or throwing a lamp. My fists clenched and unclenched at my sides.

“I didn’t take her side, Creed. I did what I thought was right. Protecting you. Protecting Maine. That doesn’t mean I don’t know she was wrong.” Jason claimed.

“Then you should have told her she was wrong, and then told me I was screwing the man she had a baby by.”

Jason sighed and ran a hand over his face. “When I caught them together last year, I gave her until Momma's birthday to tell you.”

For a moment, everything stopped. I saw the shocked expression on Noah’s face and knew we were both hearing this news for the first time.

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