Score - A Stepbrother Romance (17 page)

“Tell me how you knew,” I said through gritted teeth. “And tell me why the fuck you’d do this to me.”

“Fine,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It was me. I overheard that little bitch talking about it in a café with her friends one day. That girl you’re always defending. Your stepsister, or whatever she is.”

“Lina?”

She nodded. “Uh-huh. I heard her talking about it. She wasn’t yelling or anything; I was just right near her table, so I heard bits and pieces. She was a total bitch to me that day, by the way.”

“Yeah, which you totally deserved.”

“Whatever. Anyway, I decided to find out if she was being serious. I got a friend of mine to find out where the next fight was, and I went and watched. Then I realized it could help my Dad’s campaign, so I told him. He waited until last week to leak it to the media, because his team said this is the best stage of the campaign to be smearing the opponents.”

“You hypocritical bitch. You were just whining to me five seconds ago about people talking shit about your Dad, and you were the one who outed me and almost fucked my Dad’s campaign?” I snarled.

She shrugged. “Chase, I still like you,” she said. “But I needed to help my Dad win. Doesn’t mean I don’t still want a piece of
this.
”

She reached forward and grabbed at my crotch, and I swatted her hand away. “Don’t fucking touch me,” I said. “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not interested.”

She smiled sweetly. “Don’t you get it? This makes it more fun for the both of us. A sleeping with the enemy kinda situation. I’ve always wanted you to fuck me, and now you can hate-fuck me. That’s the best kind of sex.”

Bullshit. I knew better. Sex was nothing without love. Lina had taught me that.

“Get. The. Fuck. Out,” I said.

“No. You can pretend all you want, but I know you want me. A girl like me is priceless,” she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Unlike that trashy stepsister of yours who you seem so fond of.”

“Priceless?” I scoffed. “Jessie, you’re the opposite of priceless. You’re bought and paid for. I have it on good authority that your nose and tits are especially bought and paid for.”

I expected her to pout and finally give up, but she smiled instead. “See, it’s good, isn’t it? Now you’re really playing the game,” she said breathily. “Keep saying all these nasty things to me, Chase. I know you don’t mean them…but it makes me so hot…”

Christ, she was messed up. She was actually getting turned on by me saying horrible things to her.

“That’s enough, Jessie,” I said, grabbing her arm and hauling her over to the door. “Out. Now.”

“Fine,” she said, breaking out of my grip as my fingers loosened on her arm. “I’ll go. But not before I do this.”

Before I could stop her, she launched herself back at me, wrapping her hands around the back of my neck as her lips closed over mine. Just as I went to shove her away and yell at her to stay the fuck away from me, the front door opened.

We were standing right by it, in full view of whomever was there.

“Chase, what the…?” An all-too familiar voice spoke, trailing off as it cracked with emotion.

I pushed Jessie away only a split-second after her lips crashed down on mine, but the damage was already done. Lina was standing by the front door, with the most heartbroken expression on her face that I’d ever seen.

Oh, fuck.

S
o this is
what I got for thinking it would be a nice idea to drop by Chase’s place for a quick visit…

Images of what I’d just seen kept flashing in my mind.
Him…with her. Their lips on each other’s…taunting me…torturing me.
I ran as fast as I could, but it still wasn’t fast enough to escape Chase. He caught me outside the house, on Brett’s street. Hot tears of humiliation pricked at my eyes as I faced him, but I wouldn’t let them fall.

I didn’t want to believe it was true, but my eyes couldn’t have seen wrong. Jessie had been all over him, and Chase had been kissing her...maybe he’d been waiting to do this all along. Maybe I was just a fun game to pass the time, and Jessie was the real deal.

What a fun story that would make for the press.

“Let me go!” I said to Chase, furiously trying to rip my arm out of his tight grip. “I don’t want to talk to you, not after what I’ve just seen in there.”

“Lina,” Chase groaned, running a hand through his tousled hair. I hated how much I loved that simple move, how hot it made me, because he’d just betrayed me in the worst possible way.

“
No
!” I screamed, making a few people turn around and stare at us in shock. Fine by me. I just needed to get as far away from Chase as possible.

“Would you just let me speak?” he begged me, and even though I didn’t want to, I listened. Because this was Chase...and as much as I’d tried to stop it, he’d made his way firmly into my heart. If I walked away now, there’d be a huge Chase-shaped hole in my chest forever.

I calmed down and stopped trying to rip myself out of his arms, but I was still furious. Worst of all, I knew my tears were about to start falling, and seconds later, they did just that. Embarrassed, I focused my gaze on the floor.

“Oh, baby,” Chase said softly. “Don’t cry. I was about to kick her out and she just jumped on me. I swear she’s insane. I pushed her off, you must’ve seen that.”

I grumbled, because I had indeed seen him pushing Jessie off. But I still wasn’t convinced, and I kept looking at the ground as Chase’s fingertips gently wiped away my tears. I leaned into his palm without meaning to, my body betraying me. I needed his touch, badly.

“Why was she there in the first place?” I asked quietly.

“Oh, you’re going to have a fit when you hear this,” Chase growled. “You know how we thought Tripp was the one who went to the press with the fighting stuff?”

I nodded.

“Well, it was actually Jessie,” Chase explained. My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Apparently, she ran into you in some café and overheard you talking about the whole thing, and then she sat on the information and released it when she knew it would do the most damage to my Dad’s campaign. She came around today to try and be ‘friends’ with me or some shit, but she ended up gloating about that instead and trying to sleep with me.”

“God…I can’t believe it,” I said, my mind running through the past few weeks until I remembered the exact day that all of this had happened. Chase was right; Jessie and I had run into each other at that café, and I’d been so proud of myself for standing up to her that day. I’d never known she had another ace up her sleeve.

Chase looked livid as he filled me in on the rest of the story. “She eavesdropped and then relayed the information. She just had her Dad’s interest in mind, but she’s insane enough to think I’d still want to hook up with her. She’s fucking obsessed.”

“It’s all my fault,” I said. “I was so focused on standing up to her that I never realized she may have overheard us...but I never should’ve been talking about it in a café in the first place. Oh God…I’m such an idiot. I’m so sorry.”

I covered my face with shaky hands, feeling another torrent of tears threatening to escape, but Chase pried my hands away and kissed them softly.

“It’s Jessie’s fault,” he said firmly. “She’s pathetic. She’s nothing but drama with a side of Botox.”

Despite the horrible situation, I couldn’t help the small smile that made its way onto my lips, but I was still shaken, the memory of seeing Jessie throw herself at Chase so fresh in my mind.

I figured bad karma would catch up with Jessie eventually...she’d done so many bad things, so something terrible was bound to come her way soon.

“Do you want her?” I asked him softly, too afraid to look into Chase’s eyes. “Are you sorry I walked in? Did you want to keep— “

Before I could finish my sentence, his mouth crashed down on mine and he kissed me hard. His mouth answered for him, claiming mine in a delicious kiss right there on the street, where anyone could see us. I melted into his embrace, letting him hold me close to his body, our hearts thumping together.

Finally, we broke apart and he flashed me that trademark smirk of his as I finally dared to look at his face.

“How many times do I have to show you that it’s only you?” he growled at me.

I felt heat building up between my legs, and Chase could obviously see the arousal written all over my face, because he gave me a wicked grin and pulled me in the direction of Brett’s house.

“Let me show you one more time,” he said with a cheeky grin. “I think you need to be reminded exactly how I feel about you, Lina…”

In moments, we were back in the house, and I giggled as he pulled me upstairs and into his room. Thankfully, Jessie was nowhere to be seen. Good for her, because if she dared show her face again in my presence, I would’ve spat at her. Even I had my limits.

Chase shut the door behind us and the only sound in the room was my heart, beating only for him. Our eyes met across the room and he came for me, a low growl escaping his lips.

“Sweet Lina,” he groaned in my ear as we met in the middle of the room, our bodies crashing together with desperate need to touch, to feel. “I’ll keep showing you how much you mean to me... I’ll show you every day, every minute, until you know I’m fucking nuts about you.”

I smiled shyly, but he wasn’t done.

“And then I’ll show you one more time,” he said. “One more time until you say what I know you feel...”

I blushed, knowing exactly what he meant…yet I couldn’t say it out loud, as if my body had censored the words every single time I’d tried to say them.

Chase’s mouth came down on mine again, his fingers finding the hem of my top and pulling it up. In seconds, it was off, landing on the floor next to my feet. I was left trembling in my bra, and he pulled down my jeans before I had the chance to react.

He lifted me by the hips and my legs wrapped around him instinctively. I couldn’t stop myself from kissing him, despite all the drama that had just went on. I needed him, craved his touch on my hot skin. I was burning with desire to have him inside me already, and we’d only just started.

My naked skin was rubbing against Chase’s clothes, and I begged him to take them off, too. I needed the sensual contact of his skin against mine; the delicious touch of our bodies being together. He gently laid me down on the bed, stripping off his clothes in the blink of an eye, and then he was next to me as my body shook with anticipation.

“Please,” I begged him. “Don’t make me wait, Chase. I need you, now.”

He didn’t need to be told twice, and he lay down next to me, his hands roaming my body, exploring every nook and crevice. Every time with him felt like the first time, in the best possible way.

I’d been worried about how I would feel and if I would still be comfortable in Chase’s arms after my realization about what Tripp had done to me, but my doubts vanished into thin air as Chase’s mouth descended on mine.

Tripp was bad, darkness personified. His touch was wrong; my memory almost wiped of the horrible things he’d done to me to protect my sanity.

Chase was excitement, searing red heat, and so much love. I loved him, I finally realized, and I had for a very long time. I knew he wanted me to say it, but for some reason, my tongue was tied.

But there wasn’t enough time to worry about that as he pushed me down, and my breathing became ragged, desperate to have him close.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked me, and I smiled wide as I nodded.

“More sure than ever,” I whispered. “Make me yours, Chase. Show me how good it can be.”

He lifted my butt from the bed, his cock springing to attention. With one hand, he held a rubber to his mouth and tore it open with his teeth, sliding it down his length with one swift move. He looked at me once again to make sure I was okay, and my eyes begged him to go on.

And then, with one fluid motion, he was inside me, pushing deeper and deeper until it became harder and harder to catch my breath.

“Do you see?” he growled in my ear. “Do you see you’re the only one for me?”

Overwhelmed with desire, I bit down on his shoulder to suppress my cries of pleasure. He fucked me like there was no tomorrow, like there was only this one day left of our time together.

Chase’s hand found my clit and I gasped as he strummed it, his thrusts showing me pure ecstasy. I was too far gone, moving away from his shoulder as delicious cries began to escape my lips. I couldn’t hold back any more; he was too good, he was making me feel too much...

I felt my walls clenching, ready for the orgasm to tide me over, but I needed to get it out. The words that had been so heavy in my throat only moments before were now begging to escape my lips, and I couldn’t hold them back any longer.

“I love you, Chase,” I moaned, and then the pleasure took over, pushing me over the edge into the deepest abyss of pleasure. I lost control, thrashing under him and whimpering, begging for more.

Chase grabbed the small of my back, his cock still throbbing inside me. He pulled me closer, until my breasts were pressed against him, and we locked gazes.

“Do you mean that?” he asked. I could feel his heartbeat, fast and begging for him to finish, too.

I nodded, slowly but surely. “I love you,” I admitted again, my body still shaky from the pleasure he’d given me. “I love you so much, Chase Stryker.”

He grinned, his mouth claiming mine in a kiss that could end the world. “I love you too, Catalina Diaz,” he said softly against my lips. The words were like another kiss that made my insides go aflutter.

And then he was thrusting again, and I felt myself drifting into the land of pleasure, a land Chase showed me with each thrust of his magnificent hips.

W
aking
up the next day was like a scene out of a movie. Birds were chirping outside the window, and I rose with a smile firmly plastered on my face.

I remembered last night as my loving gaze focused on Chase’s face. He looked so peaceful, calm and happy. The happiest I’d ever seen him. The warmth in my belly was proof enough that I was happy, too.

The moment was fleeting, though, because one look at the clock next to Chase’s bed revealed the horrible truth.

We were late.

So very, very late.

“Chase!” I screeched once my eyes adjusted to the light. “Wake up!”

He opened his eyes slowly, groaning when I shook him. “I’m awake. God, calm down…”

He pulled me closer, grabbing me by the waist and snuggling against me, but as nice as it felt, we didn’t have time for that.

“The wedding is today, Chase,” I yelped. “It’s in a few hours, and we’re already behind schedule…we should have been getting ready ages ago! God, Mom’s probably freaking out, wondering where I am.”

That woke him up at last, and he jumped up in the bed like he was on a spring. He looked worried for all of one second, but then a mischievous smile made its way onto his face and he grinned at me.

“Well, then,” he murmured. “Looks like it’s time for us to officially become stepbrother and sister…”