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Author’s Notes

First word that comes to mind when writing this chapter – HARD.

Conflict is tough and when a writer decides to throw a pothole in the story we forget that we’re the one that has the resolve the issues that come with that. I constantly forget and will just pop stuff down and come back to the story like, oh my goodness, how the heck am I supposed to figure that out.

And in Chapter 5 I did know a big monkey wrench in the plot and now I have to figure out how to get through it without ruining the surprise.

Now as you can see we’re running only on POV in this story. I decided on this because it would be too large of a story if I popped in any one where. So all you get to see is Tori’s POV and you will not have access to anyone else’s.

I know that will annoy some. I plan on sticking with that plan.

I do love that you guys got a kick out of Duncan’s slurp down on her finger. Now let’s see what Kevin does.

Please continue to let me know what you think about the story. I love your input.

And I do want to know which brother are you rooting for. I’m still into Duncan, but we’ll see.

Enjoy and Happy Reading… Your author, Sylvia Hubbard

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Chapter 6- This Isn’t A Bedroom

Before Tori had time to react to what he said, Norman shoved her into the woman’s bathroom and followed her, covering her mouth to stifile her hissing protest.

“Tori?” Shawn said on the outside of the door.

Norman shook his head viciously, telling her not to answer, and glared at her to calm down. “If you want to know the truth, you’d better stay right here.”

Shawn asked on the other side of the door. “Tori, are you in there?”

A woman flushed the toilet and emerged from one of the stalls. She paused as she saw Tori and Norman standing there. Tori calmed down, nodded that she would stay, and tapped Norman’s hand so he could remove his palm from her lips.

Tori walked over to the woman and whispered, “Don’t let him know anyone’s in here, please?”

The woman washed her hands and walked out.

“Was there a young lady in there in a sunflower dress?” Shawn asked.

“No one’s in there,” the woman said.

Tori and Norman relaxed, and she liked that Shawn had paid attention to the details of her dress, but she didn’t like the revelation Norman had just told her. Shawn? Gay? No, he had shown genuine interest in her.

But his kisses sucked ass, her devil’s advocate brain reminded her.

That didn’t make him gay! she refuted to herself.

Shawn’s phone rang, and he answered it while standing right outside the bathroom door. “What the hell, Kevin? Yes, I’m still at the restaurant. I don’t know where she went. Probably outside to get some air. I’m giving her a lot to do, so I understand. Why didn’t you tell me about the kiss behind the garage on April twenty-ninth? She’s all caught up on it. Who was it, because it wasn’t me?!”

Her ear was pressed so hard on the door that if someone came in, they’d definitely bash her in the head.

“This pretending shit is hard, and she’s nothing like what we thought,” Shawn continued, and he huffed in frustration. “I know… I know, but-…” He sighed. “I don’t think she suspects anything. I got it, okay. Stop worrying. I won’t lose her.”

Tori closed her eyes and took a deep breath. What the hell was going on? Opening her eyes as she heard Shawn walk away from the door, she looked at Norman. “Spill it, Norman. What the fuck is going on?”

“Well, it’s a long story.”

“Then you better talk fast, asshole.”

“Your sister broke up with me in college to marry that soft ass fucker, Scott, and I was devastated, so I started seeing Shawn.”

“What?!” she asked, confused. “Out of revenge?”

“No. I was devastated, and we were already going to podiatry school together. I was more or less his teacher, and we lived off campus together, secretly from my strict religious family and fear of me losing my job. I never wanted to be involved with any other woman except your sister.” Norman sighed. “And Shawn had his own reasons. He was also hiding his preference from his mother, and after college, he only married a woman because I told him he had to marry to cover up our relationship. We didn’t really love our spouses, and living here in the city made it easier. My first wife found out I wasn’t attracted to her after she wanted kids, but I didn’t want to do that shit Shawn had done for his wife, so we divorced. I fucked up things when your sister wanted to start us up again because she was frustrated in her marriage. I divorced my wife, and Shawn thought it was because of him, so he divorced his wife. He didn’t know about your sister, and I still don’t think he knows. Malea is manipulative like that, but I was so caught up in her that I was changing my whole damn life around her. Fuck, she’s the first woman I’ve been with and the only one I ever wanted. And when I broke it off with Shawn, I knew I broke his heart – probably shattered it, but Malea consumed me. I didn’t realize she was really only using me until I found myself in debt from my divorce, and I had to stop giving her money. I ended up selling off my practices, but my foolish self still wanted to be near her and continue our relationship. I then realized her deceit.” By this time, tears were rolling down his face as he spoke. “The reason why she started all this up was that Scott was gambling away everything they owned, and Malea just wanted to get away from their financial problems by having an affair with me. I see that now.”  

“If Malea wanted money to help them financially that badly, she could have come to me. I know she does that big sister and all shit, but-“

“Come to you? Ha! Malea can’t stand you. All she says is that you always win, no matter what happens. She was so mad that your father gave you everything, and even after you split things with her, Malea was still not satisfied, and she was embarrassed about Scott’s gambling. She didn’t even want to hear what I had to say about them running themselves into financial ruin, so I know she definitely didn’t want to hear what you had to say.”

“Scott having a gambling problem is not true, Norman. Scott lost that money in the business he was trying to start.”

He shook his head. “If you think I’m such a liar, why don’t you ask Scott himself?”

This was too much, and she still hadn’t recovered from finding out that Shawn was gay and her first kiss wasn’t with Shawn. Then by whom? Kevin? Duncan? They had pulled some prank on her?

She was pissed?!

What the hell was this all for? What had Malea gotten her involved in?

“I’m sorry, Tori, even though I know it isn’t my fault, but I thought I should come to you before you got hurt and used, too.”

Torri was already hurt, but she wasn’t going to tell Norman this. “Go away, Norman. Stay away. I never want to see your face again.”

Norman walked out of the bathroom, and she took a moment over the sink, feeling so angry she wanted to throw up, but she didn’t.

You do need that air, though, she told herself and left the bathroom. But instead of returning to the dining area, Tori slipped down the rear of the restaurant to exit through the back entrance, where the to-go area and employee entrance were located. The area was low lit, and with it being early May, the weather was damp, slightly windy, and chilly – but much needed for her to clear her mind.

She sent a text to Shawn because she knew her prolonged absence was suspicious, but she couldn’t return to the table yet. Not after all she had found out in one fell swoop.

Bumped into someone and now getting some air. I’ll be right there. Could you please order the chicken dish for me?

He quickly replied. Okay. I hope you feel better. Please let me know how I can assist you.

Tori hated that he sounded like he cared, but with everything Norman had told her, she felt a tightness in her chest for the betrayal. Was Shawn faking his affection for her to make this fake marriage work?

Thank you for caring. I’ll be there soon, she texted back.

No one was out in the take-out area, and Tori was glad because she needed to be alone. Resting her head on the cold brick, she closed her eyes again, taking deep, long breaths.

Malea could have pushed Shawn into the position at the hospital to mess with Norman. It would be something really manipulative to get back at her ex-lover if she couldn’t get any money out of him anymore. Old Tori would have done something like that. If Norman really wanted that position, Malea could likely manipulate him into paying her the money she needed.

However, Norman didn’t seem too upset about losing the position to Shawn, and Tori no longer played those manipulative games. She had grown up, and even as she buried her father, she knew games like those wouldn’t get anyone anywhere. The many blessings she had missed in life made her realize not to manipulate people for selfish reasons, and perhaps Tori needed just to let everything go, stay by her damn self, and tell everyone to leave her the hell alone. With Mrs. Cosgrove’s contact, she could sell her rugs, raise the money for her project, and live a happy life as a spinster with her toys and fantasies.

But there was this fleeting need to fulfil her fantasy with Sahwn. Just because he was gay didn’t mean he didn’t like women, and his attraction to her seemed genuine.

You’d have to find out which brother pranked you, figure out if Shawn knew about Malea’s plan, and if Shawn really was attracted to you, Tori decided, but then in the next thought: NO! Walk away! This is too much. Sexual curiosity be damn!

Rechecking her phone, Tori knew it’d be too late to call Scott, and Malea most likely would be right in his face.

Tori looked down at the ring on her finger and pulled it off, which was no easy feat. Damn! Kevin’s dimensions were too perfect, and the ring was beautiful. She would give it back. Walk away from this hot mess, turn off her phone, and really go away on a beach vacation or hide in a short-term rental somewhere very far from Michigan. She had to wait a week anyway for that special electrician.

No one would care.

“Don’t leave, Tori,” Kevin said behind her.

Turning around slowly, not believing Shawn’s big brother was standing there, Tori had to blink several times to realize she wasn’t dreaming.

He didn’t have a jacket on, and he was wearing a Detroit Tigers shirt with jeans and orange Converse to match the old English D on his shirt. Even so, he looked like a rugged version of Shawn, pouring all types of testosterone out, and if she thought she was cold, her center had started to warm up. Had he run out of the house and come here? “Why are you here, Kevin?”

“Shawn called me, worried about you.”

“I’m fine, and I wasn’t leaving.” She would have found out the truth she needed to know from Shawn and then left, so in truth, this wasn’t a complete lie.

He looked down at her hand holding the ring, but when he stepped up to her, she stepped away, pressing her rear against the cold brick wall of the building.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Tori,” Kevin assured her, reaching down and taking the ring. “I don’t know what triggered this, or what happened, but I had a feeling you were too damn smart when I spoke with you.”

When she made him laugh, and Kevin didn’t laugh? Was that when he saw something about her? Something different? “What is this?” she demanded. “A plot against me?”

“No, but you’re involved and you can’t leave. We need you. Shawn really likes you, and he hasn’t liked any female ever.”

“He’s gay!” she hissed.

Kevin slammed his fist right above her head against the wall angrily with a curse. “He’s confused. He was confused.” Now he was leaning over her, and she could smell the alcohol heavily on his breath.

“You’d do anything to save your brother,” she said. “Even if it means using me.”

“You agreed to let us use you, Tori.”

“I agreed to be his wife, thinking I was helping my sister with her career and some creepy ex-boyfriend.”

“But you’re helping Shawn, too, right?”

“Because-“

Kevin put his finger gently over her lips. “Shush, woman. Stop explaining yourself. Yes, my little brother was in a sexual relationship with a man. Like I said, he was confused. My mother… was different before she met your father, and after your father broke up with her. It was worse after, though. She went really hard on Shawn; Confused my little brother about women. I can’t explain everything, but Shawn changed. I ran away angry, and not being able to take seeing her hurt after your father broke it off, and ignoring the things she did to my little brother. I drowned myself in any bottle I could find, while Duncan joined the Navy, leaving Shawn to handle everything by himself. We swore after she died we wouldn’t let anyone break us up again and to heal from what we had been put through.”

“You should have promised to stop drinking because I can smell a fifth of whiskey from every pore,” Tori disgustingly snapped.

His other arm hit the wall, and this time, Kevin was millimeters from her face. “I drink because I have to fight these urges, Tori, so you better be glad I’m half drunk because the things I could do to your body right now would fuck you up for life.”

Why the fuck did that sound so delicious? She could feel her panties being soaked, and she had to fight those images popping in her head and the urge to ask him for details. “I’m done being a part of all this mess, Kevin. I’m out, and you can tell your brothers to fuck off.”

“You’re not leaving, Tori,” he ordered. “You’re going to play your part and help us. I won’t let you hurt Shawn. He likes you too much now. He’s never said those words to me. He said he really likes you. I have to help my brother.”

Tori tried to push him away, but Kevin pulled her body against his, crushing her arms between them. “Let me go, Kevin! I’m through. Norman told me everything!”

He squeezed her tighter. “You’re through when I say you’re through.”

“This isn’t a bedroom where you think you have control of me.”

One of his large, powerful hands moved down under her dress and inside her underwear. She instantly stopped struggling as his thick finger pressed between her cheeks and easily slid through her lower lips into her. Her mouth dropped open immediately to protest, but lust stopped the sound, and she suddenly couldn’t breathe normally. Her sexual side was strong… too strong and overwhelmed her rationalization and morals.

“I don’t need a bedroom, Tori,” Kevin viciously whispered. “I could smell your heat the moment I walked up to you. What is it tonight? Peppermint?”

The word stop wanted to leave her lips, but her body was saying so much more. His finger vibrated just slightly between her labia minora. He was using her juices to assist in her arousal easily. She buried her face in his chest, feeling the chill in the air as her body started to quake, and she had to scream into his shirt as she pulsated all over.

Kevin’s thick finger was better than any fucking toy.

And he held her until she could stop the trembling. His gravelly voice whispered in her ear, as she was coming down, “No, Shawn didn’t give you that first kiss. I knew you had a crush on my brother. It was a prank to embarrass your spoiled ass. To teach you a fucking lesson, Tori.”

He tilted her face up to crush his lips hard against hers, and his tongue plied open her lips. This kiss was demanding, drawing her essence from her core, through her chest, and out of her mouth into his. He was trying to lick the fucking tonsils out of her throat, and she found herself wanting him to.

Kevin pushed away from her, shoving her against the brick wall, and cursed loudly again.

Tori loved the wild force as he pressed her body against the wall and was grateful because her legs were too weak to hold her up.

“Fix yourself up, get in there, and don’t let Shawn fucking know what just happened.” Kevin jammed the ring on her correct finger. His hand was coated in her juices, and the ring slid effortlessly on. “I’ll come by tomorrow when I’m fucking sober and explain the whole damn thing.” He pressed his lips against hers again to give her a firm, passionate kiss. “Until then, keep your fucking pretty mouth closed about all of this.”

Tori, breathless, watched until he disappeared into the dark, and then slowly began to straighten her clothes. She’d have to stop in the bathroom again and change her underwear.

Her mind was clear as a bell. She wasn’t used to having an orgasm in public and having to function in public afterwards, but whatever frustrations and confusion she had been feeling were gone. When she came back to the table with Shawn, she was… happy? Sexually content?

Shawn stood up immediately and kissed her. It was still mechanical but not as stiff. And he smiled, elated to see her.

Genuine. His movements were so genuine that what she knew from Norman and even Kevin confirming Shawn’s sexuality was hard to believe when Shawn showed light affection toward her. It really did feel like a teenager just realizing how much he liked a girl.

Had the orgasm drained her? No, she felt really energetic, but all she could hear was Kevin’s voice in her head about keeping her fucking pretty mouth closed.

“I got caught up with Mrs. Cosgrove in the bathroom,” she said to Shawn, leveling her equilibrium after her excitement in the parking lot with his older brother.

“My boss let me know, and they stopped by the table right before you sat down,” he said. “They are truly impressed with you, and he said he can’t wait to meet you.” Shawn took her left hand and fondly rubbed his finger over the ring. “Damn, Tori, I really never thought all this would happen so fast. And it’s because of you.”

It was hard to concentrate as she wondered if Shawn noticed the flush on her face because her body still tingled from being fondled less than an hour ago. “And Malea. She worked her magic.”

A sour look came over his face briefly. “She referred me, and I probably wouldn’t have applied without her encouragement, but it’s all been you, Tori. Having you by my side and your influence really brought all this about.”

Before all this, she would have been flying in her fantasies, but not now. She focused on who was trying to deceive her and how she could get Kevin’s fingers in her cooch cooch again. Perhaps next time it wouldn’t be his fingers. Maybe his tongue. Tori blushed at her thoughts.

“It’s true,” Shawn insisted, assuming her blushing was because of his compliments.

She tried to eat her salad, but her thoughts were going back and forth. Then she tried to ask Shawn questions to gather more information about what had happened without letting him know how much she already knew.

“After you left for college, how did your mom take everyone gone?”

“Very hard,” he answered. “We were her life before and after your father was in her life. It’s probably why I went to college near the city, or I drove back and forth, as I stayed close to her as much as possible. Duncan was on his Navy thing, and Kevin was in a bottle or hustling to make ends meet.”

“But she was married. And then you got married?” Tori slipped this second part in to see if he would talk about his life or his sexual preference.

“Settled,” Shawn corrected her. “Sherrie only married Mr. Rich to make your father jealous. She felt nothing for the man she married. I don’t even know how that man managed to deal with her. She had become worse after your father broke up with her, but I knew I had to keep coming around.” There was a lost look of pain in his eyes. “If I didn’t go to her, she would come to me, and I couldn’t have her do that. She was more often at my college dorm than at home with her husband. And when I got married… ” His voice drifted off as if he were drowning in some terrible thoughts.

Tori helped him continue. “I take it your ex-wife didn’t like that.”

“My wife didn’t like a lot of things, my mother being one of her top things,” Shawn admitted sadly.

“That couldn’t have been good for you.”

“It was stressful. Before I tried to date any girl, my mother made it difficult for me. I was almost like Duncan. Almost.”

“But you got married,” she pointed out.

Shawn took a long drink of his wine until it was almost gone. By this time, Tori was picking at her salad and was glad when the waitstaff came to take their plates and then brought the main course.

“And you,” he said, changing the subject. “Why haven’t you married all these years?”

“Kevin said it yesterday. I was still crushing on you.”

It was his turn to blush. “I refuse to believe you were waiting on me, Tori.”

“My father consumed my life, and there were guys, but that was to satisfy a want. There was really never any need to have a man around when there was my father.”

“And since his passing? That was years ago.”

“It feels like centuries,” she said fondly. “But it’s been the same. Keeping to myself and accepting no man could please me like that ever. Maybe Malea was right when she said I’d need more than one man because Daddy broke the mold. I’m consistently disappointed because I can’t be the center of every man that I date’s universe. I know that sounds so selfish.”

“But the real question then is, could you really divide your time with more than one man?” he inquired with a humorous glint in his eyes.

Tori teased back, “If they’re pleasing me the way I want to be pleased, maybe I could.”

Shawn chuckled. “You are an interesting and amazing woman, Tori. You really are.”

Loving that he offered no judgment, getting an inkling of her voracious sexual level, she forced herself to eat some of her food. Tori felt she could wait to find out more from Kevin before she dug into Shawn about his sexual preference.

There was small talk throughout dinner, and she had to say to herself, ‘Shawn was fun.’ Tori could tell he really loved his job and had jumped into podiatry not just because of the money, but he cared about his practice.

Despite her knowledge of what he could be, Tori still found herself drawn to him for his intelligence, the passion he shared for his work, and how easily he could converse with her like an old friend. Was he faking? She constantly wondered throughout the entire conversation.

“I never thought the field of podiatry could be so interesting,” she relayed.

“Feet are crucial,” he said. “You take care of your feet and that’s pretty much forty percent of your health problems as you age.”

“I refuse to believe my feet are that connected to the rest of my body,” she said.

Shawn reached down, took her shoe off, and pulled her ankle into his lap.

Nervously, Tori looked around to see if anyone was watching them, but no one seemed to notice what he was doing. She hadn’t worn any stockings, so as his fingers threaded through her toes, she gasped at the new sensation. His other hand’s thumb pressed up and down the bottom of her feet, and he looked as if he were seriously diagnosing something.

“You don’t drink enough water, Tori,” he gently reprimanded. “Probably haven’t had a glass in a couple of days. You eat too much sugar, and your lower back and shoulders bother you a lot.” He massaged near her heel and then below her pinkie toe. “Raise your arms.”

She did, and was shocked to feel that the tightness that had always been there was gone. “How’d you do that?”

“I know feet,” he said.

Tori giggled. “Can you do the other one?”

“Any time, you want, my fake wife to be,” he said and gently picked up her other foot.

“Malea did say I could probably get lifetime foot massages if I accepted your proposal.”

“And she was right. I am at your command of your feet.”

“What else do you know about me?”

Shawn smiled as he continued to massage both her feet. “You have a high sexual libido.”

Gasping, she tried to jerk her feet away, but he caught her by her ankle. “Oh no, Tori. This is good.” HE kept massaging. “And you masturbate a lot.”

“Stop it,” she pleaded, but then her breath caught in her throat because she felt the muscles on the inside of her thighs clench, causing a pulsing in her clitoris.

Gripping the table, Tori hissed in warning, “Shawn!”

Shawn smiled gently and whispered, “Shhh… just relax, Tori. I got you.”

Confused, holding onto the table, she could feel the tingles on the side of her clitoris coming in hard and fast. She bit her lip as those inner thigh muscles clenched, reverberated, and pulsed in waves all between her legs, even to as far back as her ass cheeks. Tori could barely sit up straight in the chair and let out a high squeaky pitch as everything hit all at once. What the hell was wrong with her?

___ *** ___

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Her Substitute Husband… His Brothers (c) 2025 Sylvia Hubbard All Rights Reserved

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