Carrying the Load

by Becca Vale

Ten years ago my life changed completely when I found out my dad had cheated on my mom. I lost all respect for him - for both of them,  since neither one wanted to acknowledge the affair baby that came from his mistake - but I gained a little brother. 

Shawn, the light of my fucking life. 

Two years ago my life changed again. I'd been chasing my MMA dreams and making a name for myself in the octagon when I took a punch to the head that stole everything. 

Traumatic Brain Injury, they said. No impulse control, they said. Unchecked aggression and anger management issues that, for a while, I actually let them convince me might make me a danger to the one person in this world that matters.

Luckily, I came to my senses fast. TBI or not, I'd never hurt Shawn. 

I'd fucking die first.

But the damage was done. While I'd been recovering, Shawn had come of age and fallen for a smooth talker of a man who doesn’t fucking deserve him.

I tried to hold my tongue.

I did my best to focus on getting my own shit together and rebuilding a life for myself instead of butting into his.

But now I've found out that the fucker my baby brother is shacked up with might be hurting him, and all bets are off.

Lack of impulse control? Unchecked aggression? A burning, territorial drive to protect what's mine?

Maybe that TBI didn't fuck up my brain after all. Maybe it just unleashed it, arming me with everything I need to take care of my brother the way he needs. 

To take care of all his needs...

Genres: M M Romance, Erotica

ebook

Published July 18, 2025

Reviews

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dare (Derek) + Shawn 🖤
Half brothers | Size difference | Breeding | Age gap




⚠️possible SPOILERS BELOW in detailed tropes/content and trigger warning lists





Tropes/content:
Half brothers
Same dad, different moms
Size difference (multiple ways)
Age gap (8 years)
Small 🐓
Bi-awakening?/Gay for you
Ex MMA fighter (forced to retire after TBI)
Carries him everywhere
Emotional sex
Needy
Breeding
Plugs him to keep his 💦 in while he's at work
Strict roles


TWs:
Incest
Mentions of cheating
One MC is the product of an affair and made to feel awful about it
Physical and emotional abuse on page from POS boyfriend
Boyfriend gets the shit beat out of him by Dare
One MC has a TBI that affects judgement and impulses
Ex gets jail time but from what he did to someone else, not Shawn
Dad was only there for Dare, not Shawn. So Dare cut him off

[Becca Vale]

Looking for taboo gay smut? Find this yummy m/m brocest novella on Smashwords!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

i just thought everyone should know there are 284 mentions of the word 'fuck' in this book--with various forms including fucking, fucker, motherfucker, motherfucking, fucked, abso-fucking-lutely, fuck-all, fuckhead, and a-fucking-nother'.

i wonder if Becca Vale likes the word fuck.💀💀

The sex was so aggressive I genuinely don’t know how Shawn wasn’t split clean in half. I also wish there’d been a bit more taboo-ness, instead of them immediately going to town.

Older brother Dare has a traumatic brain injury which results in him being possessive over Shawn, lacking normal boundaries, and having impulse issues. He beats the shit out of Shawn's toxic boyfriend, and then they ✨fuck✨. That's the whole plot.

I loved the savior complex even if it was OTT.

It also got me out of a reading slump and I was chuckling my way through this - 3.5⭐

It's so intense that I freeze for a second, his sweet little cock throbbing in my fist and my balls tightening fast enough to tell me that I am most definitely not heterosexual anymore.

😭😭

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a good rescue story. Of course this was hot, just not a favourite in comparison to some of the others stories.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't usually want someone to be unalived...but man I was hoping Tyler kicked the bucket in this book.. That POS jail is definitely too good for him...

I did still enjoy this book, I wanna say it seemed a bit more... tame? on the spice scale than some of the author's other books. I did love the savior aspect of it though!

Seriously though, Fuck Tyler...

[Kim B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Half Brothers - younger one is the result of father's affair so didn't grow up together (also an age gap). The "bastard child" was kept a secret but older brother finds out and pours himself into his brother (literally and figuratively).

Large size difference so big brother (a former MMA fighter) carries little bro around all the time...hence the title.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

While I really liked the reason for their lack of restraint when it came to crossing that line between them, it didn't delve as deeply into the characters as I would've liked.

[⭐️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

🗣️ SIZE DIFFERENCE what more can u want. But also damn wish Dare (Derek) woulda make Shawn’s bf cease to exist !!!!

[peoniesandmm · Rating 5 out of 5]

🤭🤪

[Book Binge: Reviews by Melissa DaSilva · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw the blurb for this one I bought it immediately. I was so excited for it as it sounded amazing. It was good but unfortunately not nearly as good as I was expecting. I loved the reasoning behind the older brother being so protective and jealous. And I loved that we got a lot of story before the sexy times started. But I felt like once the younger brother left his abusive boyfriend not much happened. Overall it was good and I’ll still read more from this author of course. Can’t love them all