“It’s not what good girls do! Not how they should behave! My head gets so confused!”

                “Kory! Shut up! You’re gay!”

                “Trace! Shut up! You’re mean!”

                He glared at me and I waved innocently, one arm around Zeke’s neck as he carried me. Trace shook his head in annoyance and turned back. I stuck my tongue out at his back and Zeke chuckled.

                We got the elementary school and Trace went into the supply shed. He came out with the same soccer ball and rolled it to me before getting in the goal with gloves on this time.

                Zeke watched in amusement as I spent a half hour shooting on Trace, scoring 2/3 of the time. Trace grabbed the ball as I shot it and glared, panting a little from all the jumping and diving he had been doing.

                “We’re done for today,” he growled. “We’re doing it again tomorrow. You’re getting tired, and I want you to shoot as hard as you can each time.”

                He carried the ball back to the supply shed and Zeke came over to me with a huge grin on his face. “Wow Kory! That was awesome!” he whisper-cried, not wanting Trace to hear him.

                “Aw shucks,” I said with an innocent grin.

                “Let’s go!” Trace snapped, standing outside of the supply shed and glaring at us.

                “Aw, someone’s a little moody!” I said with a frown as we made our way over to him. I glanced over at the swings and my face lit up. “SWINGS!”

                I ran towards them and stopped when I got to the torn up part of the dirt. I glared and pointed an accusing finger at it.

                “I know you’re working with my mom’s car. Don’t with me, buddy. I KNOW KORY-FU!” I jumped over it and did a victory dance when I didn’t get tripped. I skipped over to the swings and sat on one, kicking myself off into the air joyfully.

                “Zeke! Come join me; I’m lonely!” I whined, looking over my shoulder at him and pouting. He laughed, his face slightly pink, and came over to the swings.

                He sat next to me and kicked himself into the air next to me. “Come on Trace! Come swing!” he called with a smile.

                Trace glared and shook his head stubbornly. “No! We’re not little kids anymore Zeke. Get off the swings and let’s go back to my house!” he snapped.

                Zeke and I shook our heads stubbornly, mimicking Trace with grins. “Nope! Kory and I are having fun!” Zeke said with a laugh.

                “Come on you dumbass! Let’s go back to my house and go swimming,” Trace said impatiently, tapping his foot and looking absolutely adorable.

                Wait? Swimming? Trace with no shirt on?

                “LET’S GO SWIMMING!” I screamed eagerly, momentarily forgetting I was in the air on a swing as I jumped off and fell flat on my face.

                Zeke exploded into laughter and I groaned and sat up. Wow, I should win an award for how smooth I am…

                Zeke jumped off his swing and landed next to me gracefully. He pulled me to my feet, still laughing. “Are you o-okay?” he asked, trying to get himself under control.

                I pouted and shoved him away from myself. “Of course I’m okay! It’s not like the swing threw me off of it and the ground punched me in the face or anything!” I whined.

                “Aw Kory! I’m sorry! I’ll carry you back to Trace’s house to make up for it,” Zeke said, giving me puppy dog eyes.

                I pretended to think about it before jumping on his back with an evil smirk. “Let’s go!” I cheered and we went over to an impatient Trace.

                “God you are so immature Kory!” he growled and turned, walking away.

                “Says the kid with a fear of-”

                Trace spun around and his glare shut Zeke right up. “Shut up Zeke!” he cried angrily.

                Zeke got a guilty look on his face and bit his lip. “Sorry Trace,” he said sincerely. “I was just…sorry.”

                Trace glared and spun around, hooking his thumbs in his pockets and walking faster. Curious, I glanced at Zeke’s guilty face and cocked my head to the side.

                “What was that about?” I asked curiously, keeping my voice down so that Trace wouldn’t hear me. I didn’t need him to come and kill me. Or push me off Zeke. Yea, I was too lazy to get pushed off of him…

                “He just…never mind. Forget I said anything,” Zeke said and forced a small smile. I shrugged, deciding to let it drop for now.

                We got back to the house and all changed into swim trunks, Zeke borrowing a pair of Trace’s. I went out to kitchen to wait for them.

                “Hey Kory! You ready to swim?” Zeke asked eagerly. I nodded and turned to face him with a smile. My heart about stopped as I took in how extremely good looking he was. He had such a nice body. Dem abs! Hot damn!

                “Ready to go?”

                My eyes reluctantly pulled away from Zeke’s body to nod at Trace and I froze again. Hot. Mother. Fucking. DAMN!

                Trace had on a regular pair of swim trunks, but his body was so…so…DAT BODY. WHOA DAMN. I couldn’t even blame my words for failing me as I eagerly took in his abs, his muscles, and his nice tan. His legs looked strong, but not disgustingly so. His trunks showed off what a nice ass he had. His hair was hanging lazily in his eyes and I wanted to just go forward and brush it away, looking into his eyes while I slowly pressed my lips on hi-

                STEPBROTHER. STEPBROTHER. STEPBROTHER.

                I snapped my eyes off of Trace and glanced out the window as if that scenery was actually better than my impossibly sexy stepbrother. Gah! Stop it Kory!

                I had to stop having these thoughts about Trace! He was my stepbrother for the love of god! Aw man. Why couldn’t my mom have, like, married Trace’s neighbor or something? Then we could have one of those cute neighbor-love things going for us…

                No, no, no! Okay Kory. First, Trace has a girlfriend. Second, he’s your stepbrother. And third, going back to step one, he’s STRAIGHT! I mentally groaned.

                “Uh, Kory? Do you have gas or something?” Zeke asked, looking amused.

                My eyes widened a little. “That groan was supposed to be in my head!” I whined and face palmed myself.

                “Whatever you weird faggot. Let’s go swimming,” Trace grumbled and walked out of the house. I didn’t even care about him being homophobic. He was just so sexy! Damn eye torture. Not nice! Why wouldn’t I have a hideous stepbrother?

                As Zeke and I followed Trace outside to the pool, my mind began to spin. I had to find a way to stop being so attracted to Trace. I was starting to…well, I was starting to crush on him. Hardcore. And he was my homophobic stepbrother. I had to stop this before it got too far; too serious.

                We got in the water and I mindlessly began to swim around as Zeke and Trace wrestled playfully in the shallow end. I watched Trace as he crawled out of the pool and went inside.

                “Where’s he going?” I asked Zeke.

                “Oh, he’s going to invite Juliet over,” he said with a laugh. He stopped laughing and frowned at me. “Kory are you okay? You’re acting really quiet. It’s not normal for you.”

                I sighed and shrugged, forcing a smile. “I’m okay Zeke!” I said brightly. It’s not like I could exactly explain my dilemma to my stepbrother’s best friend. Zeke would surely tell Trace and then…ugh. All hell would break loose and Trace would kill me for crushing on him like this.

                “Hey Kory…I have a question for you,” he said nervously.

                “What?” I asked curiously. His face heated up a little and he cleared his throat, running a nervous hand through his hair and looking adorable.

                “How do you do it?” he asked quietly, no longer meeting my eyes. I have him a confused look. “How do I do what?” I asked.

                “How can you be so openly gay and not care what people say about you?” he asked, barely audible now.

                I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just figure I’m gay and I shouldn’t have to hide it. It’s who I am and I’m proud to be gay. Why?”

                His face was alarmingly red. “I, uh, don’t laugh at me,” he begged. “I won’t,” I promised, wondering if what I was thinking about this adorable boy could possibly be true.

                “I’m…gay,” he whispered and squeezed his eyes shut anxiously, waiting for me to laugh and make fun of him.

                I placed an arm around him and gave him a small smile as he slowly peeked at me. “Hey, it’s perfectly fine Zeke. You’re afraid of Trace and your mom, aren’t you?” He nodded miserably.

                I hugged him and smiled encouragingly. “Just admit it to them Zeke. You’ll feel so much better once you’re out, I promise. Is that why you said the person you liked doesn’t like you back? Do you like Trace?” I asked, feeling a slight flare of jealousy. Zeke was Trace’s best friend. They had probably slept in the same bed together numerous times…and seen each other with their shirts off…maybe even completely nude…

                “I, uh, no. I like…uh…you,” he breathed, blushing and looking away.

                I stared at him in shock. Me? Why would he like me? I couldn’t even say my own name right when I met him the first time!

                He turned to me and bit his lip. “Sorry Kory! I know you don’t like me back. I just…uh…yea,” he said lamely.

                I put my hand on his shoulder as he moved to get out of the pool. I glanced at the house and could see Trace’s back turned in the window, the phone at his ear.

                This could be absolutely perfect! I needed to find a way to get over Trace, and he was standing right next to me.

                Zeke was adorable, easy to get along with, and I already liked him a lot. Not exactly a crush, but not exactly just a friend. Sure, maybe I was starting to hardcore crush on Trace, but if I got with Zeke then maybe I would fall for him and forget my feelings for Trace.

                Liking Trace was hopeless and would lead nowhere. Plus, it was dangerous for the both of us. He was my stepbrother after all. I had to get over him before my feelings completely took over and revealed themselves to him.

                I took Zeke’s hand in mine and gave him a small smile. “I never said I didn’t like you back, Zeke,” I said. “And you call me crazy!”

                He was blushing like crazy. “Then, um, do you want to…you know…be…” He looked away in embarrassment.

                “Your boyfriend?” I offered and he nodded shyly.

                I smiled comfortingly. “Of course, Zeke.” I turned him to face me, made sure Trace wasn’t looking, and gently pressed my lips to Zeke’s.

                It was a nice kiss and it made the both of us smile when we pulled away, but one thing was now troubling me about it. When I checked to see if Trace was looking, something inside me told me it wasn’t because he didn’t know that Zeke was gay…

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A.N.- Ohhh! What do you guys think of Kory's choice to date Zeke? ;)