Stepbrother Untouchable (2 page)

CHAPTER TWO

The spring night air is warm on my face as I walk across
campus to meet Cara and her friends. I pass other students heading out for the
night and feel happy to count myself among them. I go over my rules for myself
as I near the crew house, which is just across the street from campus. No more
than three drinks. No talking about classes. No weirdness around Nate
Thornhill.

“Brynn!” Cara yells from the opposite sidewalk. I wave as I
head over. “I can't believe you got a Lawn Room! That's amazing!” I lean over
to give her a hug. She's an effortlessly cool, petite brunette—the kind of girl
that everyone considers to be their friend.

“Thanks!”

“Holy shit! You got a Lawn Room? Are you, like, a genius or
something?” her friend Rachel asks, her jaw dropping.

“I wish! Then all those papers would have taken me way less
time to write,” I reply with a laugh.

“Cara says you've never been to a crew party?” Marie, the
knockout of the group, asks.

“Nope…just never made my way over here I guess,” I reply,
downplaying the situation.

“Well, they have the best parties,” she assures me. “And the
hottest guys.”

“Lacrosse guys are hotter,” Rachel argues.

“Of course, if you can always do both…” Marie murmurs, and
they burst into laughter.

“Hey, you look great, by the way,” Cara says to me as we
walk up the front steps of the house. “Love that top.”

“Thanks,” I say, trying not to glow. A couple guys chilling
on the front porch greet the other girls by name, and I blush as I feel their
eyes glance over me. I tug my hair self-consciously as one of them grins at me.
Two girls hurry past us in the opposite direction. One leans over the railing
as her friend barely manages to pull her hair back before she retches into the
bushes.

Lovely.

Sweat and the scent of beer greets us as we walk inside. The
lights are dim, barely illuminating the mass of people crowded into the main
room, and I feel my heels sticking to the sticky floor.

“Cara, the love of my life!” a tall, brawny guy says,
sweeping her up into a hug. I recognize him from the crew team. Not that I've
studied their roster photos or anything…

“Oh, ha, ha,” Cara says, rolling her eyes, though something
about the gleam in her eyes tells me she likes the guy.

“Can I get you ladies a beer?” he asks, nodding to the keg
behind him.

“Yes, please,” Cara says. “Hey, Foster, this is my good
friend Brynn. This is her first Crew party so treat her nice.”

“I'm always nice!” Foster says indignantly, then bows in
front of me and offers his hand. “M'lady,” he says, as I place my hand in his
and raises it to his lips. Marie and Rachel giggle and then head over to
another group as Foster hands them their beers. Cara and I follow Foster over
to an old, mysteriously stained, couch in the corner. We weave around other
scantily clad co-eds, and for the first time in my life, I feel like one of the
cool kids.

 I perch nervously on the far left cushion as Cara sits
next to me, with Foster on her other side. I slowly sip my beer as he whispers
in her ear. I've had beer before, even gotten tipsy a few times with Allison
and Miriam when we first turned twenty-one and tried out some wine bars. I just
want to make sure I don't overdo it tonight and end up like that girl we passed
on the way inside.

“Where's Nate tonight?” My head whips around as I hear Cara
ask Foster the question. My heart stops for a second. I have to admit I'll feel
crushed if he's not even here.

“He's somewhere around, probably getting crushed under a
pile of chicks,” Foster rolls his eyes, and Cara laughs. I down half my beer. I
can't believe how jealous it makes me feel, I've never even met the guy.

Cara and Foster keep chatting, and though Cara makes an
effort to include me, I'm feeling too nervous to contribute much to the
conversation. By the time I finish my beer, I really have to pee.

“Be right back,” I murmur to Cara, and go looking for the
bathroom. I weave through the sweaty throng to a hallway along the stairs. I
see a line of five girls outside of what I assume is the bathroom, and with a
sigh, I step behind the last one. The door opens and a guy darts in front of
the front girl.

“Hey!” she protests.

“Sorry! Emergency!” he cries, and shuts the door behind him.
I lean back a little and glance up the stairs. There are several people hanging
out on the landing, but it's definitely quieter up there, and I'm sure there's
more than one bathroom in this place. Holding my legs close together, I turn
around and hurry up the stairs.

I bypass the first couple rooms with open doors and come to
a couple closed ones. I can see a room at the end of the hall that looks like a
lounge, with a pool table in the middle of the room. One of these two rooms
must be the bathroom. I lean toward the nearest one and press my ear against
it. I can't hear anything. I knock softly and wait for a reply, and when I
don’t hear one, I slowly turn the knob and open the door. I gasp as it's pulled
open and out of my grasp.

My eyes fly up and immediately I realize that Nate is
standing before me.

“I…I…” I stammer. His pupils dilate as he stares at me in
amusement. I let my gaze fall down his body. He's naked but for a pair of pale
blue boxers. Good lord, his body is ridiculous. The line down between his
six-pack looks like it was etched in stone. It's suddenly very difficult to
breathe.

“See anything you like?” he asks drily. I snap my gaze back
up. A brown curl of hair hangs just over one of his eyes. I clear my throat as
I try to think of something to say. I feel his eyes travelling over my body, my
skin burning under his gaze as desire begins to pool in my stomach.

“Oh, no, I was—”

“You wanna join us?” he says, pulling the door open a little
more.  I glance over his shoulder and see a naked girl in bed covered in
rumpled sheets.

“Nate!” the girl says with a giggle, and pulls a sheet up
over her breasts.

“Come on. If I weren't already naked, I'd say you were
undressing me with your eyes,” he says smugly to me. I feel my cheeks turn
scarlet.

“No, sorry,” I murmur, averting my eyes and rushing down the
hall to the stairs as I hear the girl dissolve into laughter behind me. I run
straight out of the front door and down the front steps before stopping on the
sidewalk to process what’s just happened.

Ugh, I'm such an idiot. I raise my hand to my mouth and wipe
the back of my palm across my lips, smearing off my lip gloss. I don't belong
at parties like this, and I certainly don't belong with Nate Thornhill. I've
never been so embarrassed in my life…and how arrogant, asking me to join him
and that girl as though I actually would?

Hot tears build up behind my eyes and threaten to spill
over. I had such high hopes for tonight, such high hopes for
him
. And he
ended up being so gross.

I pull my phone out of my wristlet and shoot off a quick
text to Cara:
Hey, just got a terrible headache. Headed back to my dorm. See
you later!

I head back across campus and to the safety of my dorm room.
My phone buzzes and I pull it back out to see her response:
Feel better!

I envy Cara. Everything seems to come so easy to her. She
can fit in anywhere, make friends with anyone. I guess I'm just not that kind
of person, much as I'd like to be.

CHAPTER THREE

The words are a blur on the page in front of me. I rub my
eyes. I didn't sleep well last night, and now I can't concentrate on my notes.
We have a few days off at the beginning of the week to study, and then final
exams. I can't let myself slip just because I got a Lawn Room, but the events
of last night are distracting me and studying right now is nearly impossible.

My phone rings on the desk next to me.

“Hey, Mom!” I say as I pick up.

“Hey, honey! I just saw you called me a bunch yesterday! I'm
sorry. I was out with Pierce.” Her melodic voice sounds a little breathless, as
it always does when she talks about this new boyfriend.

“Well, I have some good news.”

“Me, too!” she replies.

“Oh! Um, do you want to go first?”

“Actually, I'm going to be in town tonight. Pierce and I
were hoping to have dinner with you.”

“You're in town?! That’s great news.”

She laughs. “No, that's not the news! Do you want to wait to
tell me your news until then?”

“Um, sure. Why not? Everything's OK, though, right?”

“Everything's great! We have a reservation for 7 o'clock at
Decanter. Should we pick you up?”

“No, that's OK. It's just a short walk from campus.”

“Wonderful! Oh, I'm so excited to see you!” she says.

“Me too!”

I shut my phone feeling dumbfounded. Now I'm really not
going to be able to study. My mom's never surprised me like this before. I frown.
Could she and Pierce be engaged, and she wants to tell me in person? I guess
I'd be happy for her, but I've never met this guy before. What if he's just one
more jerk in the long line of lowlifes that she seems to attract?

My mom is so gorgeous and always loved the attention her
looks brought her, but her vanity has always worried me. Men are so willing to
do everything for her, but they never seem to be the right kind of men.
Regardless of their character, she’s always had a constant stream of admirers,
and has never had to do anything for herself. She doesn’t know who she is or
how to be alone.

When I came along, my dad showed his true colors and
abandoned us, and she had no skills to fall back on as a twenty-two year-old
single mother. I always promised myself that I wouldn’t let myself depend on a
man like her. I had to make sure I could make my own way in the world, which is
probably why I've had my nose in a book my whole life.

After several more hours of fruitless study, I decide to get
ready a little early so that I can take a walk around campus before I meet my
mom and her new boyfriend. I put on a cotton summer dress and grab a cardigan
in case the restaurant is chilly.

I start to feel a little calmer when I reach the lawn and
see the Rotunda's white dome in front of me. The architecture always inspires
me, and next year I'll actually be living here. I stand in front of the women's
side of the Lawn—genders are separated—and wonder which room will be mine.

My mind drifts back unbidden to last night. I so hoped to be
able to expand my horizons a little. As wonderful as I know getting a Lawn room
is, it's not everything.

The way Nate's body looked in the low light from the
hall…the small tuft of hair that showed just above his boxers…the way he looked
at me. I realize I’m tugging at my braid absent-mindedly, and shake my head at
myself—I need to get it together. It's time to meet my mom and her new
boyfriend, and hear their big news.

I glance around as I enter Decanter. Its architecture is
modern and elegant, a mix of cream fabrics and dark wood. I've never been here
before—way out of my price range. I'm about to approach the hostess when I
recognize my mom in a prime booth in the corner. I walk toward her between a
row of tables, hearing the hushed tones of conversation and the clinking of
wine glasses around me.

Her eyes light up and she stands as she sees me approaching.
She looks even more gorgeous than usual. Her blonde hair, a little lighter than
mine, hangs in a long bob almost to her shoulders, and her perfect teeth show
brightly behind her deep red lipstick.

“Brynn! I've missed you, honey,” she says, enveloping me in
a hug. “You look gorgeous. Isn't this dress a little big for you, though?” she
asks, pulling at the extra fabric.

“You know I like this kind of fit,” I reply, allowing only
the slightest bit of impatience to enter my voice. This is a recurring
conversation with us. She always wants me to dress a little more feminine, a
little more “form-flattering” as she puts it.

“Well, I'm so excited for you to meet Pierce. He's just in
the restroom—oh! Here he is.” I follow her gaze to an elegantly dressed man
with salt-and-pepper hair and blue eyes who's approaching us with a warm smile.

“Holly, I'd think this was your sister if I didn't know any
better,” he says, and my mom giggles. “Brynn, I'm Pierce. Your mom has told me
such wonderful things about you,” he says as we shake hands.

“Likewise,” I reply politely, though the truth is that she's
told me almost nothing.

“Well, let's sit. I ordered us some champagne for the table.
It should be arriving soon.” We all obediently sit, me on one side of the cushy
leather booth, and my mom and Pierce on the other. “So, Brynn, you're in your
junior year?”

“Yes, that's—” I break off as my mom reaches for her water
glass and I spot a ring on her left hand. Not an engagement ring, either. A
wedding ring. “What's that?” I ask sharply.

“Oh,” my mom flutters.

“Well, we were going to wait until my son arrived, but—”

“We're married!” my mom announces suddenly.

My jaw drops open. “
Married?
” I squeak. “I mean, I
thought
maybe
you’d be engaged but
married?
”

“You're upset?” my mom asks worriedly.

“No, not upset…” I struggle to put my emotions into the
right words. I always feel the need to protect my mom from what I'm really
feeling. She's always been more fragile than me. “Just surprised, that's all. I
mean, how long have you known each other?”

“Well, we met six months ago,” my mom says. “And then Pierce
took me on a surprise trip to the Turks and Caicos last week, and everything
was just so perfect…” She trails off, looking to him for support.

“It really was, Brynn. And it felt so right. We wished you
guys could have been there, but we just felt that we had to seize the moment.
It was in this little gazebo on the cliff, with spectacular views of the water,
and the captain of a boat that was docked at the resort officiated…”

“It was engagement, honeymoon, and wedding in one! We just
wished you and Nate could have been there. That would have made it even more
perfect.”

I struggle to catch up with all the information they're
throwing at me. “Sorry, who's Nate?”

“Oh, Nate's my son. He goes to school here, too. I tried to
get a hold of him so we could tell you together, but—wait! There he is!” Pierce
slides out of the booth to wave to his son.

Nate. Not Nate…

“What's Pierce's last name?” I whisper urgently to my mom.

“Thornhill,” she whispers back distractedly, sliding over to
stand next to Pierce.

Oh my god. Nate Thornhill is here. Nate Thornhill is
currently walking up behind me.
Nate Thornhill is my new…stepbrother
, I
realize in horror. Beads of sweat form at my hairline and I’ve suddenly lost my
appetite.