Mask - A Stepbrother Romance (24 page)

I joined the others at the dining table, and Mom and George both seemed relieved that I wasn’t wearing a sour expression anymore.

Minutes later, Chelsea left the bathroom and hurried straight towards the exit without so much as a glance in our direction.

“Where’s your girlfriend going?” I asked Logan in a sweet voice.
You guys totally deserve each other, by the way,
I silently added.

He turned and looked in the direction I was pointing to, wrinkling his eyebrows as he saw where Chelsea was headed. “I’ll just go and see what’s going on,” he said, getting up and walking over to her.

We all watched as they argued, and Chelsea kept shying away from him, as if she was afraid he’d go crazy and pull out a machete or something. Finally, she scurried out of the restaurant, and Logan returned with a confused expression still marring his features.

I was trying to stifle my laughter so much that I almost choked on a piece of salmon as he sat back down.

“Careful, wouldn’t want you to choke to death,” he said.

We looked into each other’s eyes for the first time tonight, our gazes unwavering. I could tell he’d just figured out what I’d done, and I couldn’t stop a wide grin from spreading across my face. Apparently, he could barely fight his own smile, though I had no idea why he found my actions so amusing.

Our parents started chatting about a new building they’d seen downtown, and I was about to join in when Logan mouthed something at me. ‘
Game on, sis.’

Game on it is, stepbrother dearest,
I thought, meeting his eyes again.
Game on, indeed.

Chapter 6

Logan

I still couldn’t believe how Sasha had played me in the restaurant.

It had been a couple of weeks since that night; in fact, it was the day she and her Mom were supposed to finally move into our house. I’d been awake since five, and I’d been fidgeting all morning, waiting for them to arrive. Not that I was nervous or anything; Sasha had just gotten under my skin in the restaurant with the little prank she’d pulled.

I should’ve been angry, but all I could feel was amusement from how she’d handled the whole situation by sneakily telling Chelsea that I was some sort of serial killer. Truth be told, I’d only realized later what a major dick she must’ve thought I was.

I’d had no idea she was my stepsister until I’d seen her sitting with my Dad in the restaurant. That had been pure coincidence, and Chelsea had only been there to piss off my Dad, not Sasha. Unfortunately, Sasha didn’t know that, and I hadn’t had a chance to tell her yet. She must’ve thought Chelsea was actually my girlfriend, so I guess she thought I deserved that prank for flirting with her on Matcher.

I wasn’t about to let her get away with playing me like that, though. Oh no. I’d get her back, and I’d get her back good.
I heard a car pull up in front of our house a moment later, and a mischievous smile spread over my face.

Poor little Sasha...she had no idea what kind of trouble she was getting into.

I heard voices in the hall a moment later, and I waited until everyone had settled down before strolling carelessly into the kitchen. I’d conveniently decided to forgo my shirt, and as soon as I walked in there, I could feel Sasha’s eyes practically burning a hole in my chest.

“Hello, family,” I said cheekily, grinning at her as I walked over to the fridge and helped myself to a glass of orange juice. “Nice to have you here, finally.”

“It’s good to see you too, Logan,” Sasha’s mother managed to get out, obviously distracted by the show I was putting on. “Do you erm...do you have a shirt you want to put on?”

I guzzled the orange juice, licking my lips once I was finished before grinning at all three of them at the table. “Nope,” I replied.

I could tell my Dad was about to murder me, so I just waggled my eyebrows at Sasha and left the room. My master plan had been put into action—I just had to wait a little while longer.

Only moments later, a knock sounded at my door and I opened it to find Sasha’s Mom fidgeting there. “Hi, Logan,” she said, her voice pleasant with a tinge of nervousness.

I smiled, a little reserved. She seemed like a nice enough woman, but truth be told, I’d seen plenty like her. They’d catch a whiff of my Dad’s money and that was all the convincing they needed to be with him.

“Can I help you, Kari?” I asked in a clipped tone.

I knew I was making her nervous, but I didn’t give a shit—my Dad was still my father, and even though I occasionally hated his guts, I hated the idea of him possibly being taken advantage of.

“Do you have any classes today?” she asked me, and I nodded in response. We stared at each other until she finally sighed. “Well, maybe you and Sasha can go together. Her car broke down the other day, and she could use a ride.”

I thought about the matter at hand. A drive with my gorgeous, sexy as hell stepsister, who was totally off-limits to me? Sounded a bit too much like torture.

“Sure,” I grunted, too polite to turn this woman down. “She couldn’t have asked me herself, though?”

“She’s um... she’s still unpacking,” Kari replied, and I could tell right away that this was some ploy by her and Dad to get us to hang out. I sighed, but I couldn’t be bothered saying no and risking Dad’s wrath.

“All right. I’ll go tell her,” I said, brushing past her as I exited my room and walked into the hallway.

Sasha’s new room was just next door to mine—something I was sure was going to be absolute hell for me. That perky ass, those full tits of hers, and only a door away? The whole situation screamed trouble.

“Thank you, Logan,” her Mom called out from behind me. I turned and gave her a tight-lipped smile. She seemed disappointed as she walked off, but I didn’t let myself worry about it. Instead, I firmly knocked on Sasha’s door and then stepped inside.

“What the hell?” she shouted at the top of her lungs, looking up with a startled expression in her eyes. She was pulling on a pair of jeans, jumping around the room to get them on.

“Sexy,” I said with my eyebrows raised as she furiously buttoned the pants up.

“You can’t just walk in here like that,” she said, glaring at me. “Can’t you see I’m getting changed?”

I couldn’t help but stare at her, remembering the tiny bit of panties that had been exposed through her zipper a moment earlier. Black lace. I wanted to see more. Or less, preferably.

“Just wanted to tell you I’m giving you a ride to class once you’re done,” I said with an angelic smile. “Your Mom asked me to.”

“Why?” Sasha crossed her arms defensively, glaring at me as I matched her gaze. It was like we were having a staring contest in the middle of her room.

“Probably to get us to bond,” I replied, rolling my eyes. She did the same. At least we’d bonded over 
that
.

“Fine, let me just use the bathroom and we can go,” she said.

“It’s just across the hall.”

“I know, your Dad showed me,” she said. “But thanks anyway.”

She pulled her toothbrush out of her toiletries bag, and I could barely hide my smile as she headed for the bathroom we now shared.

“I’ll just be a minute,” she said. “I need to brush my teeth.”

“You do that,” I replied, voice dripping with amusement. My plan was already being put into action, and she’d only been in the house for an hour or so. Amazing.

I waited in front of the bathroom, mentally replaying the steps I’d taken before Sasha arrived. The day before, I’d bought some red food dye, and I’d also bought a fancy bottle of mouthwash for our shared bathroom before placing it on her sink.

Do the math.

Obviously she’d notice that the mouthwash was red when she saw it, but it was raspberry-flavored, so she wouldn’t expect anything less. There were plenty of different flavored mouthwashes in various colors around these days. My favorite was a green spearmint flavored one. Of course, that never stained my teeth green…

I just had to hope she didn’t look in the mirror too closely when she was finished.

She came out of the bathroom a moment later and looked at me like she’d just smelled something rotten. I smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes.

“What, don’t you ever smile?” I asked her, affecting an innocent tone.

She didn’t reply. She headed for the stairs instead, but I stood in her way, giving her a flash of my pearly whites.

“Come on, just one smile,” I begged.

Sasha glared at me, then stretched her lips into a grimace that could have been a snarl, but was most definitely not a smile. Best thing of all?

Her teeth were the color of blood, and she looked like a vampire.

I snorted and barely managed to cover it up as she shot me a suspicious look. My prank had worked—she looked like she’d been drinking blood moments ago. Excellent.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Life,” I responded in the most serious tone I could muster up. “It’s just amusing how fate has brought us together.”

“Right. Whatever.” Sasha rolled her eyes and started walking downstairs.

I followed suit, trying to hide the smile that was playing on my lips. I carefully steered Sasha past the kitchen so no one would tell her she looked like a bloodhound, and then we got into my car.

I revved up the engine, still grinning, and started driving towards our college campus. I could feel Sasha’s burning gaze on me, but I didn’t say a word. I wanted her to come out of her shell a little first.

“So, what’s your major?” she asked me after several minutes had passed. I grinned to myself. I’d broken her will to be silent, she’d spoken up, and things felt slightly more normal now.

“I’m pre-law. Now you know why I tend to argue everything,” I said.

She snorted.

“What’s wrong with that?” I asked.

“I should’ve known,” she said, shaking her head. “You’re going to be a vicious legal shark in no time.”

“I’m going into environmental law,” I told her calmly. It felt so good to mess with her, and I loved seeing her squirm. “Save the planet, that kind of thing.”

“Oh,” she replied, sounding surprised; like it was such a huge shock that I wasn’t some sort of stereotypical jock. “That’s...actually nice.”

“What’s yours?” I asked, looking at her as we stopped at a red light.

“Psychology,” she said a little shyly.

“Cool,” I told her, flashing a grin. “Maybe you can treat me one day. You know, for my severe medical condition where I sleepwalk and shoot people. Or was it stab? I’d have to ask Chelsea, although she probably won’t return my texts ever again.”

She snorted, and we shared a conspiratorial look. “Yeah,” she giggled. “Sorry about that. You kind of deserved it, though.”

“Well, maybe my Dad should’ve pranked me instead of you,” I replied.

Sasha gave me a blank look in return. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well, I wanted to get back at him that night,” I explained. “He never told me he got married, let alone invited me. Anyway, he hates Chelsea and her family, seeing as they’re his political opposition, so I brought her along just to piss him off. She’s not really my girlfriend. She’s just kinda crazy and tells everyone we’re dating, but she knows we’re not.”

A short silence followed, after which Sasha looked at me, puzzled. “I thought she
was
your girlfriend, and she was there so you could make fun of me.”

“Nope,” I said, giving her a side-eyed glance. “I didn’t even know you’d be there.”

“Oh,” she said in a small voice. I could tell realization was dawning on her. She’d initially thought I’d known she was my stepsister, and she’d thought I was just messing with her at the dinner. Now that she knew the truth, maybe this could change something between us, and we could go back to being tentative friends like we’d been when we’d made up after our class argument the other week.

Or maybe we could be something more than friends.

“Here we are,” I told her as I parked on campus. “You need me to walk you to class?”

“Um…okay, sure,” she said. Oh, so the ice princess had melted a little bit.
Good job, me
. “That might be nice.”

Then she smiled at me, and I nearly lost it at the sight of her blood-red teeth. I could’ve told her right then and there, but it was so damn funny. She seemed like a good sport, anyway. Stifling my laughter, I got out of the car and opened her door, and then I walked her over to the building where her women’s studies class was.

We said our goodbyes and waved at each other, and I stared after her as she left, taking in her perfect curvy figure as my cock twitched in my jeans. She really was a stunner. It was a goddamned shame that I was technically related to her now.

She looked over her shoulder once she reached the door to her class, and the smallest of smiles lit up her face as our gazes connected. It made me feel strangely hot, like I had a fever or something, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. It was just the damned Texas heat, that’s all.

At least that’s what I was going to tell myself.

***

I was sitting in my last class of the day when my phone started beeping with a load of incoming messages. I discreetly pulled it out to check what was going on, and I nearly lost it as I opened the Matcher app.

WHAT THE HELL LOGAN??

I WILL KILL YOU, YOU JACKASS

I could barely hold back my laughter as I started replying to Sasha. It had taken her several hours to notice she had blood-red teeth...a great success in the prank department. She must’ve been furious, but I couldn’t help teasing her some more.

I shot back a text:
Please don’t suck my blood :(

No one even told me all day! Oh my god, I am going to die of embarrassment,
she replied.

But you’re already dead! Need company in your coffin tonight?

I HATE YOU

Don’t worry, I threw out all the garlic…sis.

Fine, be like that! Game on…bro

I’m no match for a vampire!

Actually, you are a match for me, according to this app :)

I grinned at her reply, feeling like a fool.

“Something you want to share with the class, Logan?”

I jerked my head up from my phone. My professor was right next to me, his tone clipped as he stared down at me. I shook my head with a grin and pocketed my phone.

It was official. Living with Sasha was going to be fun as hell…