Stranded with My Stepbrother Chapter 148

McKenzie

Ultimately, we settled in the boat house down by the lake. The one that was now ‘fully stocked.’ True to his word, Bran took out a bottle of Patrón and began lining up shot glasses, five in front of each of us.

Will started to scoop mine his way, but Bran waggled a finger. “Ah-ah-ah, no cheating.”

“She won’t be doing shots,” Will replied with a finality that brooked no argument.

Bran apparently didn’t see it that way. “She will be if she lies. Come now, Will. Be a good sport. I know you can be.”

“Maybe… this isn’t such a good idea, Bran. I’m not sure McKenzie can hold her liquor quite yet,” Gwendolyn tried, for which I was grateful.

He shot a glare at her, and she backed off quickly. “No time like the present to learn.”

“Of course. No, you’re right,” she said, pasting on an agreeable smile.

Honestly, I felt bad for her, caught in the middle like this. She had no idea what was going on.

“She’s. Not. Doing. Shots.” Will crossed his arms over his chest.

Bran mirrored his stance. “She is doing shots. Unless you want me to tell Ike you’re being… uncooperative.”

“You can tell Ike whatever the f—”

I put a hand on Will’s arm. “I just won’t lie. That’s all. It’ll be fine.”

“This asshole just wants to invade our privacy,” he hissed.

“Yes. And isn’t it fun?” Bran smirked.

I squeezed Will’s muscular forearm. “I won’t lie. It’s fine. He says he has a dossier on us anyway. He just wants us to confirm stuff out loud that he already knows.”

Will glared death at Bran but nodded and pushed my shots back in front of me.

“Excellent. Let the games begin! We’ll start with something small, shall we? Truth or shot, McKenzie. Were you dating someone at the same time you got with Will? Be honest now,” Bran said.

“I wasn’t at the time, no. I’d broken up with my boyfriend before break,” I replied. “We weren’t really compatible.”

“That means he had a small dick, am I right?” Bran chuckled.

I blushed. “That’s not the reason we broke up. And anyway, you only get one question at a time.”

“Ooh, a penalty on me already? I guess I should take a shot!” Bran knocked the tequila back like it was nothing.

“It’s my turn.” I thought of turning to Gwendolyn and giving her an easy question. But if Bran was going to make this awkward for everyone, well, two could play at that game. “Bran,” I said sweetly, “why are you jealous of Will?”

Bran laughed and put a hand to his chest. “Me? Jealous of him?!”

I shrugged. “It’s kind of obvious.”

“Me. Jealous of him?” he repeated. “Oh, that’s rich.”

Will just raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you doing a shot, then?”

“I’m not jealous!” Bran snapped.

“Methinks the asshole doth protest too much,” Will replied smugly.

“Fuck! Think what you want.” Bran downed another shot.

Will smiled at me and bumped his knee against mine under the table.

Go team Masterson-Kent! I thought proudly. Which begged the question, would I be hyphenating my name when we got married?

Bran interrupted my reverie. “It’s my turn again.” He made it sound like a threat.

“Oh! Do me!” Gwendolyn said, and I could have hugged her.

But he wasn’t having it. “I am doing you. But you’re not getting my question. Not yet. Someone’s gotten a bit of a big head and needs to be put in her place.”

I straightened in my chair. “Bring it on.”

“Are your parents brother and sister?” Bran asked.

Seriously? “One, Will already knows the answer to that one, so if you’re trying to shock him, you’re out of luck. Two, no they are not. They are step-brother-and-sister. They’re not related by blood.”

Will nodded, completely unfazed.

“Well, that’s no fun.” Bran stroked his chin, his anger having dissipated into some kind of evil vendetta. “I guess I’ll have to try harder next time.”

“My turn,” I reminded him.

He smirked. “Bring it.”

“Why do you hate Will?” I asked, rephrasing my previous question.

“Bzz! No, you don’t get that one. That’s a repeat question I already did a shot for. Now you have to take a penalty shot!” Bran crowed.

Will held up his hand. “She asked why you were jealous of me before. Now she’s asking why you hate me. Two different things entirely.”

Bran rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine.” He drank another shot.

“I’m getting the impression he’s just not going to answer anything about why he’s got a bug up his ass about me,” Will said.

“I guess not.” I waited patiently for his next question.

Bran eyed me for a moment then turned to Will. “You ever had a better fuck than McKenzie?”

“No,” Will said automatically. He didn’t even need to think about it.

I was glad he just answered and didn’t get riled. I was also glad I was Will’s best fuck, but mostly I was glad he hadn’t given Bran the adverse reaction he so desired.

“I suppose it would be impossible for me to tell if you were lying,” Bran mused. He gave me a wink. “Maybe it’s the young pussy that does the trick?”

“It’s genuine affection. Try it sometime.” Will took my hand under the table. He smiled at Gwendolyn. “You’re probably feeling pretty left out.”

She swallowed. “Um… sort of?”

“Don’t be mean,” I whispered in Will’s ear.

He nodded and asked, “What’s your favorite color?”

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Bran scoffed.

Gwendolyn smiled with relief. “Sage.”

“That’s a lovely color,” Will complimented her.

“‘What’s your favorite color’? What is this, a fifth-grade sleepover?” Bran complained.

“So, it’s my turn.” She turned to me. “McKenzie, did you have a favorite pet on the farm where you grew up?”

Bran rolled his eyes. “I swear to Jesus.”

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “We had a couple of dogs. My favorite was Trooper. He was a black lab and really derpy.”

“Aw, he sounds cute.” She frowned slightly at Bran before smoothing her features back out into a placid smile.

Bran didn’t miss a thing, however. “What’s the disapproving glare about?”

“It’s not your turn,” Will jumped in immediately. He gave Bran a devilish smile. “Seems you’re on your fourth shot now. What happens after five? Game over?”

Sourfaced, Bran dumped another shot down his throat. “I suppose it is.”

“Good. That means you only have to get caught up in your own assholery one more time, and McKenzie and I can go home.” Will kissed my temple.

“Hm. Yes.” Bran turned to me. “Well, Miss Know-It-All, can I expect your next question to be for me? And keep in mind, I don’t think you can contort that first question of yours any other way. If you do, you’re doing a shot.”

“Okay.” I thought about ignoring Bran this time. But I was fed up to my eyeballs with the way he treated Will—and by extension, me. “Have you… ever seriously injured anyone?”

His eyes bulged. “How could you possibly…?” He turned to Will. “What did you tell her?!”

Will, however, looked as surprised as Bran was. “I never said a word.”

“Then what would possess her—never mind. It’s a matter of public record, anyway. Yes. When I was your age, I was driving drunk and ended up killing three kids in another car,” Bran bit out.

My jaw dropped. “How… how are you not…?”

“You’re not in prison either, princess, so I’d keep my mouth shut on the subject if I were you.” Then Bran lit up. “And… that was a second question. It wasn’t your turn!”

Oh no! I glanced at Will.

He was stiff but still had to shrug. “I’d rather you didn’t, McKenzie. But we’re playing nice.”

I nodded and picked up the tequila shot. “Bottom’s up?” I said nervously before pouring it in my mouth.

Immediately, I began choking. The Patrón burned all the way down my throat. I ended up spitting most of it back out onto the table on reflex.

“Rude,” Bran said. “And also, now you need to take another. If you can’t keep it down, it doesn’t count.”

“For fuck’s sake, Bran!” Will protested, rubbing my back as I coughed.

Gwendolyn went and got a towel, quickly cleaning up the mess. “Maybe we should just count it for toda—”

“Maybe we shouldn’t!” Bran snapped.

She scrunched back in her chair and said nothing more about it.

I scowled at Bran but picked up another shot. “To your health.”

“Plug your nose,” Will whispered.

I took his advice and pinched my nose closed, took a deep breath, and tossed the tequila as far back in my throat as I could before choking it down.

This time, I managed not to spit it out. Barely. But I did cough like my lungs were on fire. It felt like they were!

Bran smiled, satisfied. “Good. I knew you had it in you.”

“I’m driving,” Will stated, rubbing my back again while everything from my mouth to my stomach burned.

“Good plan,” I coughed.

Bran’s smile widened. This was not a good sign. “But we’re not finished with the game yet.”

“So what?” Will asked. “You have one more shot to go, and then we’re going home. End of story.”

Chuckling, Bran shook his head. “You have five shots in front of you. How much do you want to bet that I can make you drink all five of them before I finish this last one of mine?”

“I’m not betting on that. Drunk driving is not a game. You should know that better than anyone,” Will accused.

Bran’s expression darkened. “Oh, I know. I do know that, Will. Which is why, if you also got hammered, I’d make you stay here until you sober up. Say, until tomorrow morning?”

Has that been his plan all along?! “Maybe we should just leave now,” I said, beginning to stand. I already didn’t feel very good.

“Sit,” Bran commanded, his tone so harsh I actually did. “Now, we’re all going to play my little game. You’re going to play my little game until I tell you that you can stop. Do you understand?!”

“You know what? Tell Ike whatever you want. I don’t care. I’m not your puppet or your punching bag for whatever teenaged angst you still need to work through, and neither is McKenzie.” Will stood this time and helped me up.

Bran got up so forcefully that his chair fell back behind him. “Where do you think you’re going?!”

“Home. And you can fuck off.” Will guided me out of the boathouse and back up the path toward the mansion.

“If you don’t get back here right now, we can’t be friends. What will your grandfather think of that?” Bran called after us.

I looked at Will. Will looked at me.

“Guess it’s our loss, then,” Will yelled back.

We kept walking up the path then through the house.

Then we realized someone had to bring us the McLaren.

We stood outside the mansion like idiots, staring at the driveway as though the car might magically appear.

Bran sauntered up with Gwendolyn in tow, his Cheshire-cat smile giving me the creeps. “Problem?”

Will took out his phone. “Four messages from—you already called Ike?!”

“I texted him. He agreed you should stay here for the night, for appearance’s sake. You know how employees’ tongues wag. They saw you with the tequila,” Bran said.

“I didn’t drink any!” Will replied.

“Do those kinds of things really matter? Anyway, I’ve had one of the guestrooms set up for you both. Maybe later this evening, we can go bowling.” He winked at us.

“Seriously, what is your problem?!” I demanded, my stomach roiling. Patrón on an empty stomach was apparently not a good idea.

Bran shrugged. “When Will figures it out, then we’ll know, won’t we?” He put an arm around Gwendolyn. “Come on, darling. We need to get a head start if we want to have a chance at beating these two at fucking each other’s brains out. They get quite loud.”

“What?” I gasped.

“Or so I’m told,” he amended.

Something told me he’d had it right the first time. Which meant, somehow, he’d watched us or at least listened to us have sex on a different occasion than the Comunidades en Común benefit. We’d been very quiet there.

I felt sick, sicker than I’d ever felt in my life.

“Bran, why don’t you go—” Will began angrily.

He didn’t get to finish his sentence because I threw up on Bran.