ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (258 page)

Matt’s lips pressed softly against my ear and my breathing hitched. “Really Leah, thank you,” he whispered with a softness I didn’t think his voice was capable of.

A badly concealed snicker brought me crashing back down and I was instantly reminded that we were not alone in the room. Matt seemed to notice too, his body tensed momentarily against mine and he pulled slowly away. With a smirk he reached up and ruffled my hair, while I knew it was just a display for his friends it did nothing to lessen the shock. “Looks like we’re having a party!” he exclaimed and all of the softness was gone from his voice.

As his friends cheered he turned back to them, leaving me partially frozen to the spot staring after him. The moment his friends left the room he turned quickly back to me, sending me the smallest of soft smiles before following after them. I returned the smile to the empty space, for the first time I wondered if there might just be something else beneath his sarcastic arrogant exterior.

Chapter Four

It was surprising just how easy it was to avoid Matt when I tried, in two days I hadn’t even seen him once. Despite living under the same roof I had somehow managed not to cross paths with him, until this morning that was. I wandered into the kitchen as I normally did, hours earlier than when he normally awoke, yet there he was to greet me. Under a mass of shaggy blonde hair and with sleep weary eyes there he sat at the kitchen table like it was completely normal for him to be there.

It definitely wasn’t normal, it didn’t take a genius to realize that Matt didn’t exactly frequent the areas of the house where other people went, one of my biggest advantages in avoiding him. Eying him skeptically I walked around him and towards the fresh pot of coffee that was strangely mostly empty. I frowned at what was left, barely enough to even make one cup. “You didn’t have to drink all the coffee,” I muttered under my breath.

“You think that was me?” Matt chuckled sleepily. I turned to him; in slight disbelief that he had actually heard what I thought had been whispered words.

“I’m not deaf either,” Matt laughed, bringing his own coffee up to his mouth and taking a long sip.

“I didn’t say you were,” I groaned.

Matt raised an eyebrow at me and amusement danced in his dark brown eyes, a look I should be used to by now but definitely wasn’t. On cue my stomach fluttered and I felt my body heat up, a more than unwelcome response from his intense stare. Suppressing the shiver that tried to shake through my body I met his stare with, what I hoped was, an indifferent one. “What are you doing up so late anyway? You missed all the fun,” Matt said with a smirk.

I frowned at him, completely confused as to what he meant. It couldn’t be much after 7 in the morning, the same time I got up every day. “I’m up late?” I shot back, “Aren’t you normally going to bed around now,” I added sarcastically. While I had been avoiding him that didn’t mean I hadn’t heard him sneaking in first thing in the mornings.

Matt shrugged and smirked at me in a way that set me very much on edge. “It’s so nice of you to notice what I do,” he replied, his tone thick with sarcasm and humor.

Unable to help myself I scowled back at him, it was unbelievable how bad of a mood he could put me in this early in the morning. “What’s so special about this morning anyway?” I questioned a little curiously.

A smile twisted at Matt’s lips as he slowly stood up from the table. Warily I took a step backwards, my back pressing into the firm worktop. He walked towards me purposefully and my heart hammered quicker with every step he took. In just the shortest of moments the atmosphere in the room had shifted and suddenly I felt my body tense at his increasing proximity.

I breathed in deeply as he came to a stop beside me; his eyes no longer held the reminiscent of sleep but were instead alert and foreboding. His dark brown orbs bore into my own pale blue ones with an intensity that didn’t fit our conversation. For the first time since I had wandered into the kitchen I was starkly aware that it was just the two of us, we were very much alone. It bothered me in a way I couldn’t place, I didn’t hate the fact we were alone, no, I almost liked it.

Matt leant in impossible closer, his side pressing firmly against mine until my body responded with a flurry of flutters as his heat coursed through my exposed skin. Suddenly his lips were against my ear, the slight pressure of his surprisingly soft lips caused me to shiver. My body tensed as his lips lingered against me, his blonde hair brushed against my cheeks and he took a long breath. “Do you want to know why this morning is so special?” he whispered.

I tilted my head as his lips pressed down harder and slowly I nodded, not really caring much for the answer anymore.  I felt Matt smile softly and my heart hammered even harder. “This morning marks our freedom,” he spoke quietly.

The way his words felt against my lobe where beyond sensual and for just a second I let his words wash right over me. Matt pulled away, releasing my body from the hold he had over it. I wanted to shake my head, to clear it of the fog of emotions that clouded it but as his words replayed over in my head I was almost frozen. “What do you mean?” I questioned my voice little more than a whisper.

Matt pushed off from the counter casually so he faced me. I diverted my eyes away from his, knowing that it would not take much for his dark brown eyes to completely absorb me. From the corner of my eye I could see him smirking though and that did little to help matters. “What I mean is that your dad and my mum left about an hour ago, so technically we’re free for a couple of days,” he said with a wide grin and a large amount of unshared enthusiasm.

I fought the urge to bury my head in my hands; I had completely forgotten that they were leaving this morning. “You forgot didn’t you?” Matt asked, seemingly reading my thoughts.

“Of course not,” I shot back, “I said goodbye to them last night,” I added a little lamely, not sure why I even needed to cover my tracks in the first place.

“I believe you,” Matt said sarcastically.

I brought my eyes up to glare at him, only to instantly regret the move. Matt was still close to me, far too close for my liking. A blush quickly tore across my cheeks as heat surged through me. “It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not,” I grumbled. Not only had I forgotten that they were going away but I had also forgotten perhaps the most important thing, Matt was going to have a party.

Chapter Five

As much as I tried not to have a part in the party planning or even notice that it was happening, it looked as though I had little choice. When my attempts at drowning out the noise didn’t work I found myself going to investigate what was going on, doing my best the entire time to stay out of Matt’s way. What he had said this morning and more importantly how he had said it was still having an effect on me. I had tried to forget the words but as with everything it seemed, I was not having even the slightest bit of luck.

I perched on the living room window ledge, watching as yet another van pulled up outside the house, the third in less than an hour. I had no idea how many had turned up while I was upstairs, only that it was a lot. Without even the smallest bit of party planning experience I was utterly amazed at just what Matt was planning. I had already seen all manner of things being pulled out of the vans and as this one arrived my curiosity had peaked once more. Chairs, tables, extra pool equipment and even what looked like an industrial sized BBQ had been pulled out of the vans’ predecessors and as the van opened its doors I felt myself edging closer to the window.

There were seven in total, I counted each one with utter disbelief; seven full sized metal barrels of what I assumed was beer. My mouth dropped open a little more as one after the other they were carried out to the garden with the rest of whatever Matt had had delivered. Not once had I expected there to be alcohol, I knew I should have expected it, but I also assumed that Matt wasn’t going to be quite that stupid.

“I see you not completely opposed to the idea of a party then,” Matt said, making me jump. I hadn’t seen him since this morning and as he strode casually into the room I felt more than my heart beat increase.

I looked between him and the last of the barrels that hadn’t been taken around to the back, a firm frown on my face. “Beer?” I questioned, not bothering to keep the disapproval out of my voice.

Matt looked taken aback for a moment before a smirk settled on his face. “Excited?” he retorted his grin wider now.

My brows furrowed as I stared at the shaggy haired blonde who stood so casually by the door. “Not exactly,” I murmured.

His eyes seemed darker now than before and like this morning I just couldn’t quite look away. Matt took a step towards me, quickly clearing the space that separated us. Before I could protest he collapsed down on the ledge beside me, the ledge that was definitely not built for two people to share. His legs brushed mine, his chest was mere centimeters away and his lips were even painfully closer. “Nervous?” he questioned again and too my surprise his voice seemed softer than before, even his eyes eased a little, returning to a shade that looked almost normal.

Whatever retort I had been ready to make froze at my lips as I considered his question. It was true, I had never been to a party before, not out of lack of invites but more due to my own reluctance, I just didn’t see the appeal. Now though as my house was going to be the venue for what definitely seemed to be the biggest party of the year, yes I was definitely nervous. I was hesitant to admit it though, this moment of softness in Matt wouldn’t go on for ever and I was pretty sure he would use whatever weakness he saw in me now to mock me at a later date.

I opened my mouth to speak but was quickly cut off by a finger being pressed against my parted lips. My eyes widened as Matt softly pressed against my lips, silencing the denial I was about to make. Questioningly I looked at him, waiting for a smirk to crease his stubble coated jaw or humor to appear in his eyes, neither happened. “You don’t need to be nervous,” he said softly.

My brow furrowed and my lips twisted into a small smile, one that I just couldn’t avoid. I shifted uncomfortably in the small space, pressing my back against the wall as Matt slowly removed his finger from my lips. “I’m not nervous,” I whispered, contrary to the fluttering of my heart.

“Good,” Matt said with a wide grin, “because we have a lot of work to do.”

“We?” I questioned curiously.

I watched as Matt stood up, laughing at my confused expression. “Well you didn’t expect me to do everything myself did you?” he asked teasingly.

My mouth dropped open as I stared at him and the hand he offered to me. I had definitely expected him to do it all himself, I looked between his dark brown eyes and the hand in front of me. “Yes,” I answered simply.

“Well, change of plans it seems, you’re helping,” he chuckled and without waiting for a response he wrapped his hand around mine and pulled me up from the small ledge.

Out of shock I let him pull me up, I didn’t know anything about party planning let alone what kind of help I could even be. “I have other things to do,” I said, hoping that he just might let me free from whatever, likely laborious, party stuff he had planned.

“You’ve been studying every day, have some fun,” Matt groaned.

I eyed him curiously, he was right in a way, but I doubted his plans were going to be fun. “Matt,” I moaned.

Giving me one of his best wide grins he took hold of my hand once more and half-dragged me from the living room. “You’ll thank me later,” he chuckled as he led me forwards and away from the safety of the living room. I really hoped I would thank him later but I was pretty sure that it would be the complete opposite.

Chapter Six

It had taken far longer to get everything ready than what I had expected but as I stood surveying the finished product I realized I had almost enjoyed myself, almost. The garden looked so much better than it had ever looked before and while my experience was extremely limited I could still see it had all the elements of a good party. There were lights everywhere, small fairy lights that twinkled in a hundred different colors that cast shadows over the shimmering pool. If it wasn’t for the obscenely large BBQ area and, from what I could tell, very well stocked beer table, the scene would almost look magical.

The garden was filling up fast, each corner seemed to be becoming fuller and fuller with people I both did and didn’t recognize. A few of the eager faces I vaguely remembered from high school but for the most part my garden was completely occupied by strangers. More and more people were arriving, filling the few spaces around the pool that remained and I was pretty sure I was way out of my depth. I wished for the first time that Matt was still here with me, a face that I could actually put a name to.

As it was though, I was stood to the side, watching the party from afar with my drink cradled in my hand. The bright red cup filled with some kind of strange cocktail that had been forcibly thrust into my hand with the rushed words of ‘have fun Leah’ before Matt had ultimately jogged off to greet his friends. Since then it had sat in my hands, untouched and extremely unwelcome.  I swirled the odd concoction around in the cup, refusing to look up, I had a strange feeling something was off; it felt like I was being watched.

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the thought, I was being stupid, there had to be more than a hundred people here by now, of course at least one of them was probably looking in my direction. However much I told myself that though I couldn’t quite believe it, I felt eyes on me, eyes that were far too intent to just to belong to someone casually glancing in my direction. If only to convince myself that I was in fact imagining things I drifted my eyes upwards, scanning the mostly vacant area around me.