by Ami Snow
THE END
Her Good Looking Badass
STEPBROTHER ROMANCE
By: Amanda Bolton
Her Good Looking Badass
Jane poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at the breakfast bar. She’d been working hard all week on her dissertation and felt like a well-deserved break was in order. She and her mother Erica had been alone ever since her dad moved away—that was ten years ago. His excuse was that “it was to further his business, just temporary, for the good of the family,” but once the letters stopped coming Erica knew the reason.
Jane’s mother was a rare breed, hardworking, diligent and a real go-getter. Her passion and desire to excel spilled over into every facet of her life, including parenting. She was strict and kind in equal measure and Jane had never felt like she lacked anything compared to other children. When she looked back at her childhood all she remembered were happy memories. Just her and her mom. Erica’s parenting had paid off and Jane was at the top of her class in high school and college. She was now studying law and was in her final year. Erica hadn’t done too badly either. She managed to fight her way up the ranks in an accounting firm and was soon to become an associate. It was safe to say that Jane and Erica were a success in life.
The only real difference between Erica and Jane was that Erica had a man. Since John, Jane’s father, left Erica, she had never really hit it off with anyone else. She had dates here and there but they never amounted to anything. That was until she finally met the man of her dreams at work. He had been a part of Erica and Jane’s life for many years. They had visited each other’s homes on a few occasions when Erica was still with John. However, whereas Erica had at least tried to date before her recent luck, Jane felt like she had yet to meet someone who met her criteria. A combination of a refined upbringing and excellence in every part of her life meant that she could never compromise when it came to finding a mate.
“Make sure you’re ready for tonight honey,” said Erica as she came into the kitchen.
She poured some juice with one hand whilst still on the phone with the other.
“Tonight?” asked Jane in confusion.
“Sam and his son are coming.”
The confusion on Jane’s face melted away to reveal a look of disinterest.
“Great, can’t wait,” she said sarcastically.
“Oh behave, they’ll only be staying for a week, anyway, Sam’s your father now so show him a bit of respect.”
“I know, I know, but his son Aaron.”
“Yes, I know, best not to get too close, just keep the conversation light and formal and you’ll be fine.”
“Okay mom.”
Jane hated Aaron. Every time he came to visit, he would always end up making her cry. When they were younger, he would break the heads off her Barbie toys, or rip the pages from her textbooks. As he got older, he became more and more mischievous and he had a knack of knowing which buttons to press to make her annoyed and upset in equal measure. Still, there was no getting away from it, she was going to have to face them and just soldier through it.
The faster they arrive, the faster they leave, the faster I can get on with my life, she thought.
As soon as she finished her coffee there was a knock on the door. It was Jane’s friend Amy.
“Hi Jane. You ready?”
“Yup.”
They both left the house and walked down the road.
“How’s the dissertation going?”
“Good,” replied Jane.
“How about you, how’s your art course going?”
“Oh it’s really fun; I’m loving every minute of it.”
“I still don’t know why you took that course Amy. Your grades were as good as mine, you could be a lawyer, accountant, doctor, but art? Where’s the future in that? I just don’t get it.
“I dunno, it just seems fun, I wish I had a better reason but I don’t. I guess I just got tired of crunching numbers all day, the prospect of doing it for the rest of my life made me wanna crawl up into a ball and drown myself.”
“Jeez,” said Jane, “that’s a little melodramatic Amy.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I guess, but you get what I mean right?”
“Not really, I think we’re just different you and I.”
They walked passed a liquor store where a few young guys were standing outside. As soon as they saw the two girls they got up. Some of them began wolf whistling.
“Just ignore them,” said Jane.
They walked passed and one of them slapped Jane’s ass. She screamed and turned around with an angry expression on her face.
“Which one of you did that? That’s sexual harassment; did you know I could have you arrested?”
The group of men began to laugh.
“Look at the posh girl, all high and mighty.”
One of them walked up to her. He was topless and wore a huge medallion around his neck.
“Hey baby girl, how about you and I go behind the store and I show you a real good time.”
“In your dreams,” replied Jane and walked off with Amy.
The men kept whistling and shouting obscenities until she and Amy turned the corner.
“God I hate that place,” said Amy.
“Me too,” replied Jane. “I hope they demolish it one day.”
They kept walking until they arrived at the local café and they took a seat next to the window.
“So you found a guy yet?” asked Amy.
“Nope too busy.”
“You’ve been saying that ever since I met you.”
“Well it’s true.”
“You gotta give it a shot Jane, do you really wanna end up alone?”
“There’s nothing wrong with living alone. My mom did it and she turned out fine didn’t she? Besides men are like leeches.”
Amy almost spat out her coffee but managed to control herself just at the last moment.
“You’re gonna have to explain that one to me.”
“I mean they take up your time, your money, make you sacrifice your own life, they get jealous and need constant reassurance, it’s much easier just owning a pet.”
Amy burst out laughing.
“You’re gonna change your tune once you meet the right guy.”
“Is that what happened when you met Jack?”
“Pretty much,” replied Amy.
They sat there for almost an hour and caught up. Gossiping on which of their old schoolmates was getting married and which was getting divorced. While Amy chatted away on the most recent bit of news, Jane received a text from her mom;
Need your help with cooking for tonight.
“Great.”
“What’s wrong?” asked Amy.
“Oh I totally forgot to tell you, guess who’s coming round for dinner tonight?”
Amy shrugged her shoulders.
“Aaron and his dad.”
Amy started laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“The look on your face Jane, it’s worth a million bucks, you look like you’d rather have your skin peeled and roll around in salt.”
“…Well I guess that’s one way to put it.”
Amy was suddenly lost in thought.
“Aaron, Aaron, now why do I know that name?”
“He’s my stepbrother, you met him once, remember?”
“Really?!”
Jane sighed as if this would be the millionth time she would have to explain it to her.
“We were fifteen, we went to the forest, remember?”
Amy still had a blank expression on her face, so Jane continued.
“He put a frog down your panties?”
“Ahh!” said Amy jumping into life, “That Aaron. Man he is such an asshole, I’m glad I’m not the one meeting him.”
“Jee, thanks,” said Jane sarcastically.
“Just be polite and you’ll be fine,” said Amy.
“that’s exactly what mom said.”
“Well then your mo
m is one very smart lady.”
Jane smiled.
“Well I better go and help her for the inevitable torture.”
“Oh lighten up Jane, it’s not death row.”
“Oh so you wouldn’t mind swapping places.”
“Not in a million years.”
Jane and her mom prepared dinner until they finally heard the doorbell.
“Can you get that Jane?”
“Do I have to?”
Erica gave her a stern look, which meant yes.
She opened the door only to find a longhaired man standing there smiling at her.
Jane was relieved that it wasn’t Aaron and his dad, she was grateful for the precious few Aaron-free minutes she got. She glanced at the man and judged from his appearance that he was a door-to-door salesman or something of that nature.
“Whatever you’re buying we’re not interested thanks,” and with that she started to close the door.
“Janey?”
She froze immediately. She knew that voice and she knew that name, nobody had ever called her that, nobody except Aaron.
But it couldn’t be, she thought.
She slowly opened the door and looked him up and down. He had long hair and was clean shaven. He was tall, and was wearing a pair of ripped jeans and Doc Martin boots. There was nothing about him so far that was anything like the Aaron she knew. She glared at his face and strained her eyes, as if trying to claw through deep forgotten memories, trying to match it with something, anything. He was manlier, more butch, but the eyes, she could tell from those, those were the giveaway. They had a twinkle. Jane knew it well. It was the same look he got when he had successfully ticked her off when she was younger. She was sure now, but part of her still couldn’t believe it.
How could he have changed so much? She thought.
“Aaron? Is that you?”
“Well who else did you think it was knucklehead?”
Yup, it’s Aaron alright.
Nobody else would insult her so casually, especially not in the first five seconds of meeting.
“Well aren’t you gonna say hello? Or has the cat got your tongue?”
“H…hi…how are you?”
Aaron started laughing.
“What’s wrong with you? Honestly you’ve always been weird. You’re supposed to invite me in? y’know, cos, that’s what normal people do.”
“Oh yeah please come in.”
He walked passed with a smirk still plastered across his face. As he came in Jane was still frozen in the same spot. She noticed that there was a bag in front of the door.
“Oh by the way be a dear and bring my bag in would you?” asked Aaron. “There’s a good girl.”
Jane finally snapped back to reality.
If he think’s I’m his personal bellboy he’s got another thing coming.
She walked in and saw that Aaron had already made himself at home. He had his feet up and the TV on. Jane came and stood in front of the TV.
“D’you mind?” he asked.
She didn’t budge and just glared at him.
“Sorry love, got a bad back, you’ll have to get it yourself dear.”
With that, she stormed upstairs. She sat on her bed for a few moments and then screamed into a pillow. All the memories that she’d long forgotten came flooding back. He could still do this to her. Still make her feel small, useless. After a few moments she sat back up. She decided to go back downstairs.
You can do this Jane, don’t let him get to you. You’re a strong woman.
As she came back down she noticed he was on the phone and had his head buried in the fridge.
“Yeah babe, I told you, I’m in town for a few days, so if you wanna hookup just let me know.”
Babe? Few days?
Jane couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Is he thinking of staying here for a few days?
She decided to confront him again. She stood behind him and waited. He hung up and turned around.
“Oh Janey, I didn’t see you there, wassup?”
“Who were you talking to?”
“Oh, just one of the many chicks that are crazy about me. Why? Jealous?”
Jane could feel herself losing it again but managed to maintain control.
“I see,” she said. “How long are you planning on staying?”
“Oh I don’t know, guess I’ll play it by ear.”
“You told that girl you’d be here for a few days, I hope you’re not planning to stay here for that long, if you did then I think you’d better start looking for other arrangements.”
“Woah, hold your horses Janey. “First of all, why are you eavesdropping on my convos? And secondly, how long I stay or don’t stay isn’t up to you is it? It’s up to mom.”
“I wasn’t eavesdropping, you were in the kitchen, and I don’t think my mom is gonna agree to your staying even for one night so good luck with that.”
Aaron smiled.
“I missed this Janey.”
He is actually enjoying this? Jane thought.
Before she could say a word Erica rushed in and gave Aaron a big hug.
“Sweety how are you? It’s been so long! I missed you, Where’s your father?”
“He was a little too busy. Hey mom I got something for you.”
“For me?” asked Erica with a shocked expression on her face.
Aaron handed her a small gift, pink and wrapped box. She opened it immediately. It was a posh box of chocolates.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have honey.”
She hugged him again and kissed him on the forehead. Aaron looked at Jane and winked. He had her wrapped around his little finger and he wanted her to know. She knew what was coming and she knew what her mom would say. All she could do was watch as a spectator on the sidelines.
“So how long are you in town Aaron?”
“Oh well, I’ll probably go to a motel tonight and stay there for a few days.”
“Don’t be silly,” said Erica. “You’re staying here.”
“Here? No way, I couldn’t possibly put you out like that mom.”
“It’s not open for discussion, I won’t hear anymore about it. You’re staying here and that’s final.”
“Okay, if you insist.”
He smiled and then looked at Jane again.
“It’ll be nice to spend some time with my favorite sister.”
“Ah so sweet, what a darling you are,” said Erica.
What an asshole, thought Jane.
“Jane can you come and help me in the kitchen?”
“Yeah, that’s right, run along Janey, I’m hungry,” said Aaron once Erica was far away enough not to hear him.
Jane gave him the middle finger and then went to grab some plates.
Later that day they all sat and watched TV. Erica began to yawn and rubbed her eyes.
“Well kids, I’m going to bed, don’t stay up too late.”
“Okay night mom,” said Jane.
“Yeah night mom,” repeated Aaron.
Jane didn’t react, and instead continued to watch her mom as she left the lounge. Once she was out of sight, Jane went and sat next to Aaron.
“Look, I don’t know what you’re doing here and quite frankly I don’t care, but please don’t hurt my mom again, cos if you do, you’re gonna have me to deal with.”
Aaron laughed.
“You call that a threat Janey? I’ve got more menace in my little finger.”
“It’s not a threat, it’s a warning. Now I suggest you go to bed.”
She didn’t wait for him to reply, she just went to her bedroom and waited. She didn’t hear a sound.
What’s he waiting for? She thought.
She was about to get up and check on him when she heard the front door close. She quickly ran and opened it, just in time to see Aaron walking off down the road.
