Bad Boy - A Stepbrother Romance (9 page)

Chapter Eleven

Finn

After our talk on the rooftop, it was harder than ever to stop thinking about Rory. She occupied my mind twenty-four-seven, so no matter what I was doing, I found myself thinking about her all the time. Even if I was trying to concentrate hard on some other subject, she was always there in the back of my mind.

I especially liked to think about her playing with the hot pink vibrator I’d had sent to her room. Fuck me, the thought of her playing with herself got me harder than steel. I closed my eyes, and an image immediately flashed through my mind; an image of her sitting on her bed with her legs spread, pink lips glistening with desire as she slid the toy over her clit before plunging it inside that sweet, sweet pussy. I hadn’t had the pleasure of tasting her, obviously, but I could tell—she’d be sweeter than candy.

I could almost hear her moan in my fantasy world, and I opened my eyes and snapped out of it.

I knew she’d be a problem for me weeks ago, as soon as I’d realized she was my new stepsister, and the way I usually dealt with problems—by eliminating them—hadn’t seemed to work this time around. I could hardly eliminate such a gorgeous fucking problem, could I?

I wanted her so fucking badly, and her drunken little lap dance the other night had done nothing for my restraint. Seeing her with her eyes closed and biting her bottom lip as she made a wish on the rooftop hadn’t helped, either. There was only one way to fix the mess we were in, and that was to stay the fuck away as often as possible while acting like a platonic friend the rest of the time we were forced together at family events. I knew my resolve would break if I spent too much time with her. It was already hard as hell staying away, knowing she was only a door down the hall from me.

I’d managed to steer clear of her for a few days, and I was thankful for the distractions the hotel provided me with. Work was busy, especially with Christmas approaching, and each day seemed to go by faster than the last.

Tonight, I was going to be working at Helvetica, which was having an especially busy night. It was our annual club Christmas Party, which was held around two weeks before Christmas Day every year. The party always attracted hundreds of club-goers in the mood for festive celebration, and as such, it was almost always one of our busiest nights of the year.

Getting ready in my room, I showered and put on a simple pair of jeans and a black shirt. My reflection showed me that I looked totally normal, but my heart and mind were messing with me, and I could have sworn the evidence of that was written all over every facial feature. Thoughts of Rory consumed me as always, and lately it seemed like I was only living for those short moments when I bumped into her in the hallway.

I headed down to the club, my hands forming fists as I tried to stop thinking about her. With every step, every erratic heartbeat, I knew it would be impossible.

Who would’ve thought...Aurora Villanueva, a girl I hadn’t even known a month ago, had claimed me. If only I were able to take her for myself and claim her in the particular way I so desperately desired.

Unfortunately, I knew it wasn’t right, and that’s what stung the most. All that potential, gone to waste because our fucking parents had decided to hook up.

“We have a situation.” Elijah greeted me as soon as I walked into the club, shouting over the pumping bass blaring from the speakers. He usually dealt with the hotel, but on big nights like this, he’d help out at the club as well.

“Hello to you, too, dearest
manager
,” I said bitterly.

He gave me a strange look as I scowled at him. Realizing I was being a prick, I sighed and waved for him to go on. “Sorry. Tell me what’s happening.”

“Well, first of all, a bunch of people sneaked extra alcohol into the club so they didn’t have to pay at the bars, and they’re drunk out of their minds already, even though the bars only opened an hour ago,” Elijah said, counting on his fingers. “Second, some girls threw up all over the bathrooms and we can’t get a hold of any of the cleaning staff. They’re probably drunk too, knowing our luck.”

“And what else?” I asked, already tired from all the bullshit that came with running the club during big events like this. Elijah’s eyes grew wider and I gave him an impatient look, waiting for him to go on with the problems. I knew there were more. There were always more. “Come on, I don’t have all night.”

“And third...err…” Elijah muttered, voice trailing off. I stared him down, only then realizing that he was looking over my shoulder. I quickly turned around, looking down into a familiar face.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I groaned.

“Hi, sexy,” Candice purred, twirling a long red strand of hair around her finger. I figured she was trying to be all seductive, but my attraction for her had died long before the scene with Rory in the restaurant.

And by died I mean jumped off a cliff, screaming for death’s mercy, which would still be preferable to her advances. Even the awful dubstep remix of an old Christmas song which was currently playing would be better than the sound of her voice.

“What do you want?” I asked her in a curt voice, taking a clipboard from Elijah and checking out some stuff as he disappeared faster than the speed of light. “And how did you get in, anyway? Thought you were firmly on the blacklist by now.”

“I have my ways.” She giggled, a sound so syrupy sweet it almost made bile rise in my throat. “Anyway, just wanted to check up on you, you know…see how you were doing.”

“Candice,” I said, my voice cold as I finally looked into her eyes. “Can you not take a hint? I’m just not interested anymore. So please, do both of us a favor and leave.”

“Why?” she asked, her voice high-pitched and whiny. “We’re so good together, Finn. We’re fucking perfect.”

The curse word sounded filthy coming from her pouty mouth, and I couldn’t help but think how Rory would’ve never said it. I shook my head, trying to push the thought aside and focus on the situation at hand….and if I knew Candice, which I did all too well, I knew there was going to be a situation any moment now.

“Candice, I’ve made it really fucking clear,” I growled. “I don’t want to be with you. I want you to leave me the fuck alone and move on with your life.”

“But—” she cut in.

“But nothing.” I raised my palm in the air, my brows furrowing together as I stared her down. “I can’t be any clearer than that. It’s a no, Candice. For the last fucking time, I don’t want to be with you, and I don’t want to see you in Helvetica or around the hotel, either.”

She pouted, glaring daggers at me, and I waited for the onslaught of curse words to roll off her tongue. Even when we’d been sleeping together, Candice had always loved dirty talk, but what she’d loved more was screaming at me and swearing when I pissed her off.

“You total jackass! You stupid fuck!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Bingo, there we go.

Somehow her voice was more high-pitched than the wailing auto-tuned dubstep singer on the song which was playing at the moment. “You’re gonna regret this, you fucking
cunt
!” she continued as I fixed her with a bored expression.

“Sure, Candy, whatever you say,” I replied, waving my hand.

I was tired from the whole ordeal already, and I’d barely even walked into the club. There was a long night ahead of me, so I waved my hand to the security guards and then gestured towards Candice, making sure they escorted her the fuck out of my club.

I didn’t know what I was going to do about her. I knew she liked getting what she wanted, and she’d managed to cross every line and then some in her efforts to get me back. Thinking back, I didn’t even understand how we’d started hooking up in the first place. Sure, she was hot as hell, but she had nothing on Rory. Speaking of Rory, I needed to stop comparing every damn woman on the planet to her.
My stepsister.

I dealt with the drunken people situation first to distract myself, tipping our cleaning ladies extra to come clean up the mess once I’d managed to get a hold of them. By the time I’d gotten most of the drunkards kicked out of the club, I was annoyed as hell.

I headed towards one of the bars, even though I usually never drank on the job. Tonight was just one of those nights when I desperately needed some goddamn liquid strength to put up with all this shit. Might as well, anyway.
Tis the season to be jolly, and whatnot…

“Scotch on the rocks,” I said to one of the bartenders, a lanky bearded guy called Nick.

He gave me a sympathetic smile and started pouring my drink, and as I waited, my eyes drifted across the club, trying to discern if there was any more trouble brewing anywhere. It must’ve been a full moon or something, because people were acting off-their-rocker crazy.

I was looking for trouble, and trouble I found.

I saw a guy in a corner, tall and broad-shouldered, and it took me a moment to realize there was also a girl behind him, trying to squeeze past him to get away. She was only about half his size, maybe even smaller. From the way her legs were shaking. I figured she was drunk out of her mind, but the broad-shouldered guy wouldn’t let her pass. Every time she managed to get away, he’d block her path and stop her from moving past him.

I only needed to watch this game of cat and mouse for a few seconds to know what was going on. The guy was trying to force himself on the girl. This kind of shit did not fly in Helvetica, especially on my watch.

“Finn,” Nick said in a warning tone, seeing what my eyes were locked on. “Maybe you shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Could just be a couple having an argument.”

He passed me my drink and I gulped it down in one go, slamming the glass down on the bar furiously when I was done. “Maybe I
should
jump to conclusions,” I growled, moving in the direction of the guy and the drunk girl.

I hated this job sometimes. I fucking hated seeing guys taking advantage of drunken girls, and whenever I saw someone doing it, I took the problem into my own hands. I knew that wasn’t always a wise decision, yet I couldn’t quite stop myself. I needed to put an end to that sort of shit, and besides, someone had to do it.

Having reached the guy in a few long steps, I tapped him on the shoulder and flashed him a warning look as he turned to face me. He looked fucking furious. Enormous, too.

I turned to face the girl. She was hammered as fuck, shaky on her legs and muttering nonsense. It was obvious she was in no state to be flirted with; she needed to be in bed with a bucket next to it just in case.

“Is this guy bothering you?” I asked, trying to keep up a pleasant tone.

“Mind your own damn business,” the guy snarled at me.

I ignored him, focusing on the trembling girl. “Are you okay? Do you need someone to take you home?” I asked. “I can get one of the security guys to give you a ride.”

“She’s coming home with me, so don’t bother,” the guy said, spittle flying into my face. “You can fuck off now, jackass.”

My patience was wearing thin, and I knew I shouldn’t engage with the moron, but I was in a fucking foul mood. And so I turned to face him, offering him a pleasant fake smile.

“Do you mind? I’m having a conversation with this lady.” I turned back to face her. “Do you need help, miss?”

She nodded shyly, and I reached forward to take her hand and lead her away, but I wasn’t fast enough. The guy viciously slammed into me, his heavyset shoulders ramming into my body like a bull.

“I said, fuck off,” he growled at me. “We’re just fine, aren’t we, babe?”

“Leave me alone, please,” the girl whimpered in response.

The guy had managed to shove me out of his way and was now grinning at me victoriously, but I wasn’t the kind of guy who took being pushed around lightly.

“Please step aside,” I said calmly. The guy’s brows shot up.

“Can you not take a hint?” he asked, anger flowing through his voice. “Get. The. Fuck. Away!”

I stood my ground and cracked my knuckles, readying myself for a fight, but instead of going after me, he grabbed the girl by her hair. She yelped in pain and I jumped forward to her rescue, but the jackass was already dragging her towards the back exit, almost losing me in the writhing crowd. I cut through the dancers and followed him with a steely resolve in my eyes, knowing what was going to happen next.

I’d have to fucking hurt him.

He may have been drunk, but no one treated girls like that in my club.

Loud music blared through the back door as I followed the guy outside. He knew I’d stalked after him, and he threw the girl aside as soon as we were out on the asphalt. I quickly made sure she was okay, and then I stared the guy down, slowly approaching him. All I could think of was what would have happened if the girl was Rory and I hadn’t been around to defend her or help her get home safely.

Fuck, I’d kill for her.

“I fucking told you to leave us alone,” the guy snarled. “What the fuck’s your problem?”

“Guys like you,” I replied, not taking my eyes off him for a second.

The atmosphere was like a flickering match in a gasoline-soaked room. Tensions were taut, stretched beyond their limit, and both of us were ready to fucking blow up.
In a flash, the moron was on me, hitting, biting and growling like a goddamned rabid dog. He may have been broader, slightly taller and more vicious, but I was sober, smart and fast. With every punch he delivered, I got in two. Every kick was dodged, every bite earned him a punch to the jaw.