Page 38 of Bro Amazing

Outside our house, the gamers lead the way up the steps to unlock the front door. I have a key, but they're always home so I never use it.

"Do you want to come inside for coffee?" asks Ethan, making no move to approach the door.

My other roommates pause on the stairs, and I groan internally. It's sweet of Ethan to offer, and he's definitely impressing my parents with his manners, but there is no way in hell that I'm letting him drag this out any longer.

Mom and Dad are probably more impressed than me because they're not also juxtaposing this kind thoughtfulness with the way he fucked me against Lionel's chest the other night in the front hallway.

"Thank you," says Mom hesitantly, glancing at Dad. "But we can't."

"Traffic, you know," says Dad, jumping in to help Mom. "We don't want to get caught in any rush hour traffic on our way home."

"Of course," says Ethan, as if he ever even leaves the house, let alone drives.

Every single one of my roommates jogs back down the stairs and shakes hands with both of my parents, murmuring that it was nice to meet them before heading inside.

Left alone with my parents on the sidewalk, I'm intensely aware of all the unsaid things between us. I'd like to ask what they think of my roommates, but that might give away that there's more between us than just platonically living together. They can't find out they're my boyfriends. Especially if Dad is reading the reviews of all my books.

"Well, we have to head out, but it was good to see you," says Dad, pulling me in for a bear hug goodbye.

"Just consider Jodie's offer." Mom leans in to give me the quickest of hugs and a kiss on the cheek. "It'd give you a chance to move back home and be among family again."

"Thanks, but I'm happy here." When her face falls a little, I rush to add, "But if that changes, I'll be sure to let you know."

She nods and takes my dad's hand. I watch as they walk over to their car, their shoulders brushing gently until Dad opens the car door and helps her inside. It's always been that way, his acting like a gentleman. He's part of the reason I started writing sweet romance. So I could show people the true love I witnessed every day growing up.

But that's not what sells, and it's not what everyone gets in real life. So as soon as they pull into traffic, I head up the stairs to my own much more precarious and naughty reality.

I'd expected to find my boyfriends waiting in the hallway, determined to have a postmortem of our lunch. They probably have more invasive questions about my romance writing that they didn't want to bring up in front of my parents. Not to mention, I owe them a thank you for being on such good behavior, and they will probably want a reward.

Honestly, after how sweet they were and having seen them looking … well, not dressed up, exactly, but maybe morepresentable, in jeans, I'm not opposed to giving them all some sort of treat. I could use an orgasm or two myself to relieve the tension from all the stilted conversation.

But the front hall is empty, and they're not in the computer room or kitchen, either. Very weird. They're almost always in one of those two places, and now I'm not quite sure what to do with myself.

Work, I guess. Work is always the answer in the face of uncertainty. Besides I'm not caught up on my notes about my last encounter, with Helix. Then there's turning those notes into actual chapters. In fact, they've been giving me so much material, I'll have enough to either write multiple books, or—and the idea makes my thighs clench—I could release some erotica shorts. I've heard of other authors doing that under other pen names, just dirty scenes with little to no plot.

That's actually not a bad idea. It's another way I could earn money so I'm not completely dependent on my roommates to pay for everything. It'd also supplement my income in between my full-length novels, since those take longer than I'd like to write.

Heading up the stairs, I nearly run into Lionel coming down, still tying his sweatpants.

"Don't forget about our deal," says Lionel.

"I won't." I swallow hard, my eyes focused on the way his hands are so close to his cock.

It'd be easy for Lionel to hook his thumbs into the waistband and push them down just enough for his hard cock to pop out. I had a big meal at the restaurant, but I could make enough room for a bit of cock.

Quintin nearly runs into us in the middle of the stairs, adjusting his own sweatpants. Clearly they all rushed up to their rooms to change so they didn't have to spend a minute longer than necessary in jeans.

"Did you remind Clarissa about our deal?" asks Quintin. "Because we all wore jeans like she asked."

"Lionel did. And you were all very nice to my parents, which I appreciate." It wasn't an experience I want to repeat, but they weren't as terrible as they could have been. At least they didn't mention that I'm sleeping with all of them.

"We're going to work for a bit, and then you'll fulfill your end of the bargain, Clarissa?" asks Miles, joining us on the stairs.

There isn't much room here on the stairs. We could have moved this conversation anywhere else, yet here we are, all shoved together in this tight space.

"Sure." I nod. A movie might actually be a nice, relaxing way to finish off a stressful day.

They slide past me and make their way downstairs while I continue heading up. I meet Ethan closing the door to his bedroom behind him as he steps into the hall.

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