During his shower, Ty began laughing to himself at the idea of his douchebag jock of a step brother turned into his personal plaything. It was amusing to think of all he could do to 'Daphne' and he imagined her sitting in her bedroom right that moment, horrified at Ty's confession. In fact, that was what she was doing.
He would have some fun with this, Ty decided, and emerged from the shower to towel himself off. He could smell breakfast cooking downstairs and couldn't wait to see what else had changed.
After going to his room and getting dressed, Ty heard June call that breakfast was ready. He emerged from his room in jeans and a t-shirt just as Daphne left her room. She avoided eye contact with him and hurried down the stairs with a look of horror on her face.
Ty mentally nudged her just ever so slightly towards considering something naughty and twisted over breakfast, just to make it interesting. She was secretly pervy and liked her step brother a lot, Ty decided, and made it so.
The awkwardness continued. Mark and June set out breakfast and sat down with their kids. Mark seemed annoyed, as always.
"Can you believe it?" Mark growled. "Called into work on a fucking Saturday. I tell you, the foreman better have the site set up by the time I get there. I better not drive ten fucking hours into bumfuck nowhere just to find out the contractors haven't done their shit. You know?"
"Uh-huh." June nodded absently, reading People magazine and eating her bacon.
Mark noticed Daphne absently dragging her fork through her eggs with an expression like her best friend had died.
This inspired Ty, so he immediately added to Daphne's strange emotional state. Her boyfriend had phoned this morning and broken up with her, and so she was down in the dumps. Ty's confession of lust for her was a real consideration. She felt so lonely, so unloved.
"What's your problem, princess?" Mark chuckled.
"Andy McGregor broke up with me." Daphne said with a sniffle.
"Guy was a fuck, anyway. I told you I don't approve of you dating football guys. They're just after your cherry, and then before you know it, bam, you've got a bun in the oven."
June chuckled at this.
The rest of breakfast was spent in silence, with the occasional renewed rant from Mark. Ty found himself staring at Daphne with pity, despite the fact he had essentially created her sadness with just a mere thought. The girl saw his look and immediately resumed staring at her plate, barely eating.
"Anyway." Mark pushed his plate aside and rose from his chair, letting out a loud belch. "Great breakfast, hon. I'm gonna head her out. Job might be a week at least, so I'll call you when I'm heading back."
"Yeah, sure." June looked to her husband, and they shared a quick loveless peck. "Drive safe."
Once Mark was away from the table and walking towards the door, June rose to see her husband off.
Daphne looked up from her plate and waved to Ty pleadingly.
Ty looked up in alarm and saw Daphne's expression of either "I'm-about-to-lose-my-mind" nervousness or "I'm-really-scared-of-something" fear.
"Look, bro, we have to have a serious talk. Wait until mom leaves for the casino. I'll be in my room." With that, the young blonde got up from the table, grabbed her plate, put it in the sink, and hurried off.
Ty grinned to himself. He wondered how things had worked out for poor Daphne and her conflicted emotions.
This was fun!!
Mark zipped away in the car and June grabbed her coat and yelled to Ty. "Hey, I'm going to the slots for the afternoon. Get the dishes done and get to work on the yard, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am." Ty nodded, and went towards the sink. As soon as June was in her own car and safely down the street, Ty excitedly bounded towards the upstairs.
He willed the dishes to be done and put away, cleaned up the yard with a mere thought, and took a deep breath before walking towards Daphne's room.