Side Swiped By My Step Brother (8 page)

              He laughs. “Ah. An American schooling a Brit about manners. I love it. Darling, I wasn’t doing anything to you that you didn’t want. You know it, and I know it.”

              “The problem with someone like you is that you’re so selfish and self-absorbed that you can tell yourself anything and believe it.”

              “Yes, well . . . were you not kissing me back? If I were to stick my hands between your legs right now, would you not be totally wet? The body doesn’t lie.”

              “No, but the person can. For my mother’s sake, I hope your father is nothing like you. They might be getting married, and we might technically be family, but that’s it. That’s all that’s going to happen between us, because you’re a smug, self-serving asshole. And yes, you can pat yourself on the back and feel all good about the fact that you’re handsome and good in bed and naturally any girl with functioning eyesight is going to want to sleep with you, but that doesn’t make you a good person, or even someone I’d want to be around. People who capitalize on their looks are the worst of all anyway—it’s just something you’re born with. So stop acting like you’re this amazing, awesome person that someone like me would be so lucky just to have look their way. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

              I push past him, leaving him standing there with what I hope is a shocked expression. I doubt anyone’s ever said anything like that to him before, and I can’t help but feel exhilarated.

              My exhilaration is rather short-lived, though, because once everyone’s done with their ice cream, Zack starts talking about going to the lake house and how everyone is going to get there.

              “I know you don’t have any of your stuff with you, Emma,” Mom says, “that was a little shortsighted on my part, not to just have you bring a suitcase with you tonight. But if you want to head back to your place and pack you can, and then Zack can have his driver come pick you up and bring you out to the house. How does that sound?”

              It sounds awful, is what I’m thinking, but I just nod. “Sure, Mom. His driver doesn’t need to come get me, though—I can just take a taxi.”

              “Nonsense!” Zack says. “Roland’s going to take your mother and sister back to the hotel and then out to the house, then he’ll come back and get you.” Zack looks around, then points somewhere over my shoulder. I turn and see Jai standing there, sitting on the bench that I was going to sit on before he accosted me. “My son and I are going to drive out together—have a little father son bonding time. So don’t you worry about it, Emma, okay? Your mother’s told me what a considerate young lady you can be, and while that’s a notable quality, I want you to just relax and enjoy the festivities over the next few days. Sound like a good deal?”

              Everyone in our little group, it seems, has stopped and is watching this exchange. I feel like I’m in school and the teacher has just called on me and I don’t know the answer to the question.

              “Sure,” I mumble. “But I’ll take a cab back to my apartment. It’s really no big deal.”

              “Okay, suit yourself,” Zack says. From behind him, I see Jai watching me. He catches my eye, but I turn away. I just want this night to be over with.

Chapter Ten

Jai

Ah, isn’t life funny? What are the chances that I’d meet a girl online—in L.A., of all places—hook up with her, have some of the best sex of my life—and that is actually saying something—only to find out a mere twelve hours later that she is going to be my stepsister.

              This is what I’m thinking about as we drive out to the lake house, Dad yammering away about something that I’m not really paying any attention to. Because I’ve now found myself in somewhat of a predicament, though really, I could give a toss about labels, about taboos. So what if she’s going to be my stepsister? It’s not like we were raised together from young childhood—we’re two adults, whose two parents happen to be fucking and have decided to officiate it by getting married. Big fucking deal.

              But Emma cares, I can tell. These sorts of things usually bother girls more. They can’t help but think about what their friends or family are going to say, what other people are going to think about them, what this says about their character and moral compass and all that shit. A guy—so long as the girl’s hot enough to get his dick hard, none of that other shit really matters.

              And Emma’s definitely hot enough to get my dick hard. I think about pressing my mouth against her neck, how hot her skin felt against my lips, the tantalizing way she smelled. The way her body stiffened against me, and I could feel the sizzling energy, how part of her wanted it so badly, how another part of her was vehement that she flat out reject me.

              That latter part won out this time, but I have my doubts as to whether it will win out next time.

              If there is a next time.

              It’s been a while since I was last at Dad’s lake house, and to be coming here with his wedding entourage is a bit surreal. The place is big enough that if Emma wanted to avoid me, she could. Even when the wedding entourage leaves and it’s just the “family,” relaxing and getting to know each other, as Dad put it, if Emma really wants to keep the distance between us, she’ll be able to.

              “I’ve got something of a surprise for you,” Dad says as we zoom down the freeway.

              “Oh boy,” I say. “The last time you started a sentence off with that, you informed me you were getting married.”

              He chuckles. “Is that how I started it off? Well, this surprise isn’t quite as big as that one, but I think you’ll like it.”

              “Is it something at the house?”

              “Well . . . yes. But not yet. Give it a few days.”

              “I hate when you’re cryptic like this.”

              “Right, but if I wasn’t, then I’d just have to tell you and it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore.”

              “I’ll assume that it’s something good, then.”’

              “I think you’ll be pleased.”

              I settle back into the leather seat of the BMW. I’m not in the mood to play any games, or to guess what this surprise could possibly be. There have been, in my opinion, enough surprises in regards to this wedding, and I doubt that I’ll be as thrilled with whatever surprise he’s got as my father thinks I will. I lean my head against the glass, watching the dark blurs of scenery zoom by.

              “You tired?” Dad asks. “I know it’s been a whirlwind couple of days. And you’ve been traveling, on top of all that. I know it probably seems like a bit much, trying to create this family and all, but I really love Stephanie. I want things to work out for us, and that means making being a family. Not just me and her, but you and her daughters, too. They seem like lovely young ladies, her daughters, wouldn’t you say?”

              I don’t lift my head from the window. “Oh yes, just lovely.”

              “I know it might seem pointless, trying to do this whole family thing, with you guys being adults and everything, but I did always want a family.”

              “You had one,” I say pointedly.

              “I know. And I fucked things up because I just wasn’t ready. Don’t think I didn’t feel remorse about what happened with your mother. I wish things could’ve been different for us, I do. I wish we could’ve given you the kind of childhood I always wanted. Which was to say, one of stability and love.”

              “Mum loves me plenty.”

              “That’s good. She’s a good woman, your mother. I’ve never thought otherwise. But, like I said, I just wasn’t ready at the time.”

              I lift my head from the window and take a deep breath and try to detach myself from the conversation. Dad and I have never really been able to have one of those successful heart-to-heart talks, the sort of conversation that might be painful at the time but you can walk away from feeling good about after.

              “I’m imagine there’s a lot of people who aren’t necessarily ready to have a kid, yet they find themselves with one anyway. That doesn’t give them free reign to just go off and act however they want.”

              “I know, Jai.” He gives me a sidelong look. The car hums silently across the pavement. “I guess I just brought this up because I want you to know that I’m going to try to do things differently this time. I think I’m finally ready for a family. And I think it’s good we’re all going to be here at the house together, to give us some time to just be together. I want that. I want you to have some time to really get to know Stephanie, to get to know your stepsisters, before you head back home. We do all have lives to get back to, after all.”

              I lean my head back against the window. Oh, the irony. I decide not to mention that I actually happen to know one of my stepsisters-to-be rather well. In a certain sense, anyway.

Chapter Eleven

Emma

When I get back to the apartment, I close the door behind me and then stand there for a minute, back against the door, as though I’m trying to prevent someone from opening it, using myself as a human barricade. And in fact, part of me feels like I’ve been running all night, trying to escape something. It would be so easy to just stay here, to lock the door, crawl into bed, and not come out until tomorrow, or maybe two weeks from now. Sure, my mother would be pissed, but by then, Jai would be back in London, and I’d just have to skip all family functions, like Christmas and Thanksgiving, for the rest of my life, or at least until Mom and Zack got divorced.

              Immediately, I feel bad for thinking this in the first place. I step away from the door and go and find Megan sitting on her bed, laptop in front of her, textbooks and piles of scripts surrounding her in stacks.

              “Hey,” she says. “I thought I heard you come in. I am having the worst case of writer’s block.” She looks up. “How was the dinner? What’s your new family like?”

              I pick up a pile of papers and move them to the floor so I can sit down on the bed. “I’ve got to talk to you. And you’ve got to be honest with me. Okay?”

              She sets her laptop aside and gives me a concerned look. “Of course I’ll be honest with you. Is everything okay? Did something happen?”

              “Yes. No. It’s not—”

              “Wait. You’re not still freaking out because that guy was married, are you? Sweetie, don’t tell me you let that ruin your night. It’s really not a big deal. I mean, if you don’t want to sleep with married guys, that’s fine and very morally correct of you, but you can’t stress like this over something that’s already happened. And you didn’t know he was married. How could you?”

              “Did you?”

              “No. I had no clue. It’s certainly not going to say something like that in his profile.”

              “So you had no idea who he was.”

              “No.” She gives me a funny look. “What’s going on?”

              “You’re telling me that before I started messaging with him, you had no clue, whatsoever, who Jai was. You’d never heard of him before.”

              “No! Never. I thought it was pretty lucky on your part for him to be your first. You should’ve seen the first guy I ended up meeting online. His profile picture was like twenty years old or something, he was in his forties! And hairy. It was awful. But that really has nothing to do with this, and I really have no idea what you’re talking about! So will you please just tell me what’s happening? You’re being kind of weird.”

              “Do you know who Jai’s father is?”

              “I have no idea.”

              “It’s Zack Carter.”

              A confused look crosses Megan’s face. “Zack . . . Carter?”

              “Yes. As in, the Zack Carter that my mother will be marrying tomorrow. At his lake house, apparently, they decided to change the location at the last minute.”

              Megan’s mouth drops open. “Wait a minute. You’re telling me that Jai is going to be your stepbrother?”

              “Apparently, yes.”

              “Oh my god. No fucking way. Holy shit, Emma, I had no idea! Wait—did you think that I knew and set you up?”

              She’s talking loudly, but instead of sounding upset or horrified, she sounds absolutely thrilled. In fact, she’s got a huge grin on her face.

              “What is so fucking funny?” I snap. “And yes, that did cross my mind. I mean, I would hope you wouldn’t do something like that, because that would be seriously messed up, but it seems a little odd that you go and set up a dating profile for me and the first guy I end up meeting is, not only married, but also going to be my stepbrother.” I stand up. “And I’ve got to get out of this dress, it’s like a goddamn death corset.”

              “No, no, no.” Megan’s laughing. “No way in hell did I know about that. But that’s so hot. Like, seriously—what are the chances? What are the chances that this would happen, of all the people that you could’ve met online? Oh my fucking god.” She clasps a hand across her chest and then falls back onto the bed, sighing dramatically. “I didn’t have anything to do with it, but I wish I did. I wish I could take credit for that. It’s so hot. You’re like living your own Harlequin romance.”

              “Hot? Hot? It’s like incest. He’s going to be my family. I just spent all last night having sex with a future family member. That’s not hot at all, it’s repulsive. I’m disgusting. I’m like some sort of sexual deviant.”

              Megan sits up and waves me off. “No, you’re not. And yes, he is technically going to be your family, but it’s not like he’s going to be your grandfather or something. He’s your stepbrother. And really, he’s not even your stepbrother yet since the wedding hasn’t happened, so you don’t actually need to be feeling bad about any of this. Unless . . .” She gives me a wicked grin, “unless it means that you’re planning on sleeping with him again.”

              “No! No!” But I think about how it felt with him pressing me against the building, hidden in the dark shadows, like we were doing something really bad. Then I think about how good I felt after I told him off, but I wonder if that was just like a precursor, like a form of verbal foreplay or something. I squeeze my eyes shut. “No,” I say.

              “I don’t know if I believe you,” Megan says in a sing-song voice.

              “I have to go change.”

              I go through the walk-in closet and into my own room. I peel the dress off, and it finally feels like I can take a proper breath.

              “So what did he say?” Megan asks. She comes into my room and sits cross-legged on the bed while I rifle through my underwear drawer. I should just put some old ratty cotton underwear on, the kind I usually save for when I have my period and feel gross, but I pick out a black lace g-string and matching bra. I’m doing it for me, not for him, I tell myself as I slide them on.

              “He didn’t really seem to care.” Regardless of how sexy my underwear is, after spending all of dinner in a death corset, my outerwear is going to be comfortable and decidedly un-sexy: black yoga pants and a t-shirt.

              “That’s not surprising. Most guys wouldn’t give a shit about something like that. It probably makes him want to fuck you even more, if anything.”

              I go back to the closet and get my gym back down from the shelf. I throw in some more underwear, a few shirts and tank tops, a skirt, two pairs of shorts, another pair of yoga pants, and my bathing suit.

              “Are you running away?” Megan asks.

              “No, the party’s continuing at the lake house, remember? I have to spend the next two weeks at Jai’s father’s lake house. It will be a good opportunity for me to let Jai know that I’m serious about what I said.”

              “What’d you say?”

              I give her the abbreviated version, leaving out the part where he was squeezing my nipples and making out with me.

              “Wow,” she says when I’m done. “You really said all that?”

              “Of course I did.” I go back to the closet and get the dress I’m supposed to wear tomorrow. It’s a dark, rich pink, with a snug bodice and a flowing skirt. I leave it on the hanger and lay it over the top of the gym bag.

              “Don’t forget your shoes,” Megan says.

              “The problem with people like him is that they think they can just use their looks to get whatever they want.”

              “He is hot. And he’s got that accent, on top of everything else.”

              “But it’s not right. It’s not right that he’s got a wife somewhere—”

              Megan’s eyes widen. “Is she going to at the wedding?”

              “I have no clue. She wasn’t at that dinner, I don’t think, unless she was hiding the whole time. She’s probably sitting at home in London, wondering what the hell he’s up to. Or maybe she has no idea. That would be worse—if she is just totally in love with him and happy and thinks that everything is perfect.” I sigh. “Kind of like how I was with Tom. In the beginning, anyway.” I sit back down on the bed. Being here in a familiar place, with just Megan around, the magnitude of everything that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours is really sinking in. I’ve done a horrible thing, and there’s still a tiny part of me that wants to do it again, that wants to be with him. I try to tell myself that this is a normal, biological response—of course your mind is going to want you to do things that make it feel good, whether or not these things are right or not. There’s nothing wrong with that—what is wrong is giving in to it when you know you shouldn’t. Like I’ve done twice already. I put my head in my hands. “This whole thing is such a mess.”

              I feel Megan’s hand on my back. “It’s going to be okay,” she says. “Please don’t beat yourself up, over it, Emma. You’re really going to be all right. I feel bad. I shouldn’t have signed you up for that dating site. I just wanted you to . . . you know, have some fun, meet someone new. I’m sorry.”

              “It’s not your fault.” I lift my head and take a deep breath. “Just think good thoughts for me, okay? Think good thoughts that I make it through these next few days without doing something totally stupid.”

              “You’re going to be just fine,” Megan says, with far more confidence in me than I actually feel.

              “I hope you’re right.”

              “You will. It’s a strange situation, sure, but it’s nothing that you can’t handle. But how was the dinner? He was there, wasn’t he?”

              “Oh, he was there all right.”

              She grins. “I wish I had been there! The sexual tension must’ve been crazy! Was he like sitting across from you, eye fucking you the whole time?”

              “Will you please shut up? Just stop talking about it.”

              “He was! Emma, this is so hot. I would love to be in your shoes right now, you have no idea.”

              “Well, maybe you should go have sex with him. That would be better, because you guys aren’t going to be family.” But once the words are out of my mouth, I realize how much I wouldn’t actually want that to happen. How I don’t want to think about him with another girl. “This is so completely fucked.”