Page 45 of Riding the Pine

Scott’s deep chuckle is somehow erotic as fuck when it makes my body and bed shake. “I know, you could barely stand so I put you to bed.” He leans toward me, and I curve my back, so my head moves away from him.

“I didn’t brush!” I flap at his face.

“Don’t care.” He opens his eyes at last and immediately clocks Artemis in the doorway. He doesn’t say anything, but his body goes rigid, but not the fun kind of stiff like his cock.

“Arte.” Is all he says, like he’s waiting for my brother to go nuclear on his ass. But he doesn’t let go of me, he holds on to me like he’s ready to fight to the death to keep his hands on my body.

Fuck. So hot.

“I said it’s about fucking time, and breakfast’s ready.” That’s all Artemis says before he turns and walks away from us.

Scott nuzzles his jaw against mine. “I’ll let you brush just this one time, Bright Eyes. Because it’s the first time. But I don’t give a fuck what you’ve eaten, whose cum you have on your tongue, or if you’ve brushed your teeth the night before. When I want to kiss you, none of that matters, and for the record? I always want to kiss you.”

My body flicks from mildly warm to inferno in a fraction of a second, this man is feral, and I kind of love it.

Somehow, we channel our self-restraint and get out of bed. He doesn’t even throw a shirt back on before he follows me out into the kitchen where Artemis is plating up breakfast for three.

We take our plates to the dining table. Well, some of us do, the boys already have half their food gone by the time we sit down, and Scott pauses, goes back to the stove, and loads up some more onto his plate.

“Athena?”

Fuck. I love how he says my name even more this morning than I did yesterday.

“Mmm?”

“Why do you hate hockey?”

Huh. Not a conversation I expected to have this morning over breakfast with the half-naked man I spent the night with and my brother, but whatever.

“Hockey players are assholes.”

Scott covers his chest with his free palm, wincing, while Artemis pauses the bacon on course for his mouth. “Excuse me?”

“It’s true.” I shrug. “The sport is so toxic, and as a woman, I just can’t get behind it.”

They both sit across the table from me, starting with perplexed expressions on their faces.

“Misogynistic, sexist, racist… hockey needs a culture reckoning. And even if it didn’t, it’s a dangerous as fuck sport, and my brothers risk their lives every time they step out onto the ice.” I take a long drink of orange juice.

I’m aware I sound like a buzzkill, but no one’s ever come right out and asked me why I don’t like hockey. They all assume I hate it because my brothers all play it, and I never did. Because aside from their penises making them god’s—and Papá’s—favourite, they are all exceptionally talented on the ice, and from the conversations I’ve had about it, people think I somehow feel inferior or intimidated by their never-ending talents.

Like having a penis and being able to skate makes them somehow celestial beings.

They both blink at me, their food going cold on the plates in front of them.

“What?”

Scott gives a low whistle. “I had no idea you felt so strongly against the game we all love so much.”

I shrug, my skin heating under their scrutiny. “I’ve never been asked. I think you guys are okay. I mean, you all have your moments, and I still have to remind you of your penis privilege on the regular, but you’re not bad people. There is some deeply entrenched bullshit in the sport, and if you deny that then you’re just idiots.”

We eat in silence for a few heavy moments before Artemis finally breaks the silence. “If it’s so bad, why don’t you use your extreme wealth and influence to do something about it then?”

I snort. “Why don’tyou? Women are tired of cleaning up your messes, guys. And y’all have stopped listening when we try to educate you. It’s time to educate yourselves and do the right thing without having to be dragged kicking and screaming.”

My voice is raised but I don’t care. I don’t care if they’ve already heard my ‘ultra feminist’ and ‘woke as fuck’ views.We’re all fucking screaming, but the world isn’t listening, and education starts at home. If my brothers are truly unaware of the beyond concerning state of the world in which we live in, or how great their privilege is simply because they all have cocks, then they need to have their heads banged together.

“It’s not our fucking jobs to police your dicks. Or your brains. We’re tired of asking you to show up for us.”

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