Upside Down (COMPLETE) Inside Out, Book 2 [BoyxBoy]

Keith

The days passed in a blur, and most of Keith's thoughts were now composed of Nathan Drew. The new revelation that he was Keith's stepbrother didn't quite settle just yet. But the thought of them living together in a house soon brought some sort of excitement, and though he tried hard to deny it, he couldn't wait for the time to come.

Keith had departed from Anthony's place yesterday, suddenly seeing Tessa after he returned to inform Nathan's father about his meeting with the Alpha. He didn't exactly want to leave then, suddenly feeling the need to wait for Nathan to return home, but Tessa had been in a rush so there was nothing much that he could do at that moment.

They did exchange a few short text messages—none of them were as passionate as it once was, but they were better than nothing. Keith didn't want to get too carried away, because Nathan might still be that impossible straight guy, or at least he was probably the hardcore closeted type. But he couldn't help it; he wanted to know all the things about Nathan, from his hallucination attacks to his personal desires.

Losing way too deep inside his own thoughts was probably not good in the midst of dicing vegetables. He jumped to Tessa calling him next.

"Those bell peppers won't dice themselves, you know," she said. "Are you okay, dear? You were the one too excited to cook a nice meal for your mother."

"Oh . . . sorry," Keith said, diverting his focus back to his hands and the vegetables. He wasn't exactly good at this, and he imagined Nathan working miraculously here in this beautiful kitchen—he might impress Tessa and they could end up as best friends. He smiled and shut his eyes to erase the thoughts off in vain.

"Something bugging you?" Tessa asked. "I thought your sleepover at Anthony went well?"

"They were okay," Keith murmured. "I have a lot in mind lately."

A hand pressed on Keith's back. He turned to look at his aunt placing her head on his shoulder, smiling. "I can only imagine how odd it is for you. It is such a drastic change, you cannot deny that."

"I think I'm gonna be fine." Keith grabbed some onions and proceeded chopping them.

"You know . . . I know your mother can be scary, but she's a woman that can understand your views in a good discussion." Tessa grabbed an apple from the counter and took a bite as she stared right at Keith.

"What do you mean?" Keith said. "Like . . . talk her out so she allows me to stay here?"

"That's possible, isn't it, dear?"

"Well, she signed the pack contract," Keith muttered, eyes back on the chopping board. "I'm part of the family now, I guess."

They continued the rest of the cooking, the two of them preparing stuffed duck, oxtail stew, giant fruit parfait and lemonade with honey as a welcoming meal for Mom later. She finally dealt with all the marriage bureaucracy and going to stay at Tessa's until the wedding. In the meantime, Tessa and Mom would work to finalize everything about the wedding; that included planning the entire outfit for him and also Nathan's family.

His mother arrived around two in a white Ford Fiesta that was apparently an advanced birthday gift from Anthony. Mom had sold their previous car back in LA, and probably because she knew earlier about the new one she'd be getting. When she came into the kitchen, the meal was already set up prim and proper in the dining room.

"Great, I'm so hungry," said Mom as she grabbed her seat beside Tessa facing Keith. "You've been helping Tessa, I see?"

"Yes, I did the chopping and some stir-frying," Keith said, beaming. He sliced the duck to pieces, admiring the beauty of it. "It's better than nothing."