When He’s a 10 But He’s My Wife’s Brother

By Ezra Dao

Jude

My wife's younger brother is the last person I should be getting involved with, but the dirty talking college senior has ideas of his own. As I discover more about my wife's dark secrets, I'm drawn into her brother's arms. Soon, my forbidden desires will be impossible to ignore, but when I find out what Cash is really up to, I'm not sure I can trust him, either.

Cash

I came here with a plan — to get some dirty revenge on my older sister for the things she's done to me. I did not expect to fall for her sweetheart of a husband. He has no idea what kind of person he's married to, and soon I'm torn between protecting him and getting even with her. Should I follow my heart, or finish what I came here to do?

 

Note: this story contains cheating, an East Asian hero, lots of M/M spicy scenes, and a soon-to-be-ex-wife who ins't so nice. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ezra Dao
• Release date: Oct 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223977520

Book preview

one

Jude

This was it. The day I was going to finish the third book in my trilogy. I needed to make a goddamn decision and go with it, according to the tersely worded voicemail my editor had just left.

Who should the assassin be? Why had the assassin kissed Ailre, the elf warrior? I tapped my fingers on my kitchen counter and stared at the blank screen. Usually, the words flowed, but this wasn’t a problem I’d been able to solve. Each time I’d written it, the romance hadn’t unfolded in the way Ailre deserved. He was a challenging character to write; stubborn and funny and interesting. And now, he would finally meet his one true love. The assassin who’d protected him again and again throughout the books, yet remained in disguise.

But who should it be?

Why hadn’t I decided this before I started writing? I banged my forehead on the kitchen counter, groaning.

Don’t forget, my brother gets here today, my wife called from the front door. I half lifted my head, then groaned again. She was oblivious to my misery, but Linda was oblivious to most things about me.

Right, I muttered at the kitchen counter.

Somehow, I’d never met her younger brother, though she claimed she loved him dearly. He’d missed our wedding because of some college sports event he was playing in. And now he needed our help, because the same type of sports had somehow injured him, eliminating his sports scholarship.

Do I need to help him move? I’m on a deadline, I whined.

Always on a deadline, she said, and even with my face on the counter, I could see her irritated eye roll, which would be followed by an irritated flip of her glossy blonde hair.

Technically, I was past my deadline by about three months, but she didn’t know that. My stomach turned as I thought about my diminishing royalties if I never finished this book. Linda pretended she was the only one of us with a real job, but we relied on my book royalties for most of our expenses, including her overpriced car and this oversized house. Why did two people need five bedrooms?

But I appreciated Linda’s determination to help her brother — it was the first sign she’d shown in a while that she cared for anyone other than herself. That gave me hope. Apparently, Cash had been accumulating far too much student debt since he’d lost his athletic scholarship. Linda claimed that this was her contribution to his future. I’d offered to pay his tuition outright, but she’d scoffed and told me that would spoil the kid.

I wasn’t so sure about that. No one needed a mountain of debt to remain unspoiled, did they? But again, I didn’t know him. And I wasn’t much for confrontation. So we’d come to a compromise — Cash would live in the big bonus room over our garage until he was settled into a good job and he’d gotten a handle on his student debt. I’d spent the past few weeks renovating the space, adding a small kitchenette, building an exterior entrance and stairs, and updating the en-suite bathroom so that he would have a space for himself.

I may have also been procrastinating on my book. Because I was so damn stuck.

Whatever he needs, I said. I’ll get some writing in this morning, so I’m free to help him move in. All lies. Today I’d be staring at the blinking cursor on my screen, trying to come up with an interesting identity for the mystery assassin. My fans were going crazy trying to figure out her identity. Little did they know. I was as clueless as they were.

I had some regrets about my planning process this time around.

You’re a lifesaver, Jude. Really, Linda said, giving me a kiss on the top of my head. As usual, she smelled faintly of the Axe body spray. Some guy she worked with overused it, and she claimed she could never get rid of the scent, which stuck to her purse, her jacket, everything. I couldn’t imagine how strong it must smell in his office. And I didn’t want to imagine why Linda was spending so much time in that office.

Sometimes, I preferred not to think too hard about things like that. Better to leave well enough alone.

Soon, she and the cloud of Axe body spray were gone.

I poured myself a coffee, set my laptop up on the kitchen island, and got to work, losing myself in a daydream about a potential identity for the assassin for a good while before the doorbell rang. I stared at my still-blank page, shaking my head, before closing the laptop and standing to go welcome the little prick to his new home.

The guy standing at the door was stunning, though I supposed I should have expected that because Linda was lovely. Cash was on another level entirely, though — he was tall, with golden hair, bright blue eyes, and muscles for days. I wanted to reach out and squeeze his biceps to see if they were fake. Because they looked fake. Did people fake biceps?

He grinned this huge, excited grin that was a bit too cheerful for my current mental state.

You must be Jude! I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, he said, enveloping me in a big hug, pressing my cheek against the hard muscles of his chest. He was firm and hot and smelled of a masculine soap brand I recognized, a little spicy with a hint of pine. He held the hug a little too long.

His biceps were real, though.

Hey, it’s good to meet you, Cash. I can’t believe you didn’t make it to the wedding.

Cash blinked, his cheerful demeanor falling away for just a beat, before returning. He grinned ruefully, scraping his hand through his hair. I could have sworn I sent Linda my schedule when you guys were picking a date, but I guess I didn’t.

I snorted. It’s more likely that she lost it. Shit. No, I shouldn’t speak badly of my wife in front of her brother. Um, I mean because the wedding organization was so complicated.

He laughed, and I couldn’t help but notice that he looked more than a little like a young Chris Hemsworth. Well, if that wasn’t intimidating, I didn’t know what was. Not that it made sense to be intimidated by him, because we weren’t competing with each other or anything. I cleared my throat, realizing I was just standing there.

Let me show you your room. I just finished fixing it up. I stepped back, looking up into his captivating blue eyes. Somehow, where Linda’s seemed cool and a little dead, Cash’s eyes sparkled with intelligence and warmth. I wasn’t sure how long I stayed like that, just staring into his eyes, but I knew it had been on the awkward side of too long.

Chewing on my bottom lip, I turned away from him. That hadn’t been a weird moment. Eye contact could be intense, I supposed, and it sometimes did weird things to you, like sending sparks of awareness tingling down your spine. It was fine. Cash was just unusually tall and handsome, and his presence was dynamic and intriguing. I’d written these sorts of things into my characters’ reactions for years.

I grabbed a key ring off the kitchen counter and handed it to him, the stupid tingles returning as our hands touched. Clearly, I shouldn’t have been comparing him to Thor. This one operates the front door, and this one is for the side entrance I’ve been working on. I blinked down at the keys. Or it might be the other way around. I should have labeled them. Anyway, you can use either entrance, depending on how much you want to avoid your sister.

Cash tilted his head, his eyebrows shooting up. Avoid?

I mean, not that you’d want to avoid your sister. I just figured a young guy like yourself would want some independence. Not the best save, but he nodded and spun the keyring around his index finger as he looked around.

Nice house, he said.

Her pick. I wanted something less… well, just less. When I’m working, I like cozy. I jogged up the stairs, turning halfway up to see if he was following me. He was, and his eyes were firmly glued to my ass. Or maybe my ass was just at eye level when I was a few steps ahead of him. That seemed like a more reasonable explanation.

I opened the door to the apartment over the garage and gestured for him to walk inside. I added locks, too, in case you don’t want us barging in. Because you probably don’t want us barging in. I pointed to the bolt on the door, then turned to find him standing in the middle of the room, eyes wide.

I’d done a pretty good job, replacing the dated carpet with a rustic wood floor and cozy rugs, and picking out furniture for him myself, from the big, comfy bed to the perfect brown leather couch in the sitting area. Looking around, I realized maybe I’d been designing my own ideal space, not his. But he seemed to like it.

Wow, he said, spinning around, lifting his hands over his head and revealing a narrow slice of cut abdominal muscles. "This is incredible, Jude.