Stepbrother

by Stacy McWilliams

  Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me and when she spoke, her voice was like a whip being cracked. “Good. Keep it that way. Shawn’s on his way in, so you can go now.”

  We drove home in separate cars, coop a little faster than me as I struggled to get a grip on my emotions. It rained the entire way back and as I drove slowly down the winding driveway, my heart hammered. The garage wouldn’t open, and I had no idea if Coop was in the garage, but since it wouldn’t open, I’d need to park on the drive and then run inside through the rain.

  A knock at my window sounded and I turned in my seat, staring in the darkness but struggling to make out a face. The knock got louder and more insistent and I shuddered in fear. I took my belt off and opened my door. A hand grabbed me around the waist, making me squeal in fright, and pulled me close.

  “Bails, hurry, we’re gonna get soaked. There’s something wrong with the garage door.” Coop held me as I jumped, and he laughed at me. He put his lips to my ear, kissing softly at the skin on the underside. The rain had seeped through my jacket, but I didn’t feel cold. If anything, my skin tingled and was warm.

  I shivered as he pressed his lips lower on my neck, sucking a little while his hand ran inside my tank. His icy fingers on the bare skin of my back sent a cascade of emotions flying through me, lust, betrayal, hate, love, and pain. I gasped aloud, and he brought his lips to mine, melting my icy exterior.

  “Let’s go inside,” he murmured against my lips and I nodded against him, my breathing and heart rate erratic. We walked inside holding hands, and he kicked the door open, jumping back in surprise as people appeared out of everywhere shouting “surprise” and “happy birthday.” My heart dropped.

  Jan walked over and took his hand from mine, pulling him into the family room. He glanced back over his shoulder and met my eyes for a moment with wide, fearful eyes. I glanced around and realized I was dripping all over the foyer, so I decided to head upstairs to change.

  I didn’t want to be at Coop’s impromptu birthday party, but I had to attend. As I passed the living room, my eyes went into the room and he was kissing Jan. Pain shot through me and I swallowed convulsively from the agony seeing him kiss someone else caused.

  As I reached my room, I dived into the bathroom and turned my shower on full, so it was scalding hot. As I stripped off, I thought I heard my room door open and close, but when I peeked out before stepping into the scalding water there was no one there. I locked the bathroom door and stood under the water, relishing in the heat, even though it raised red welts on my skin.

  I washed my hair with my favorite strawberry and vanilla shampoo, letting the smell overwhelm my senses as I imagined being in a rainforest or under a waterfall. After another few minutes, the water began to cool and I rinsed the conditioner from my hair, feeling the smoothness as I did.

  My body thrummed with heat and steam rose from my skin as I dried off and pulled on navy blue underwear, followed by navy ripped jeans and a black sheer top. My fingers separated my hair and I pulled it up into a French braid. As I twisted the braid around and pinned it up off my neck, I heard a sound in my room and my skin prickled in alarm.

  I ignored the sound, assuming that someone had got lost on the way to the bathroom and focused on moisturizing my face. As I spread the cream around there was a loud knocking on my bathroom door which made me poke cream in my eye.

  I screamed in pain as my eye started to burn and water. Suddenly the bathroom door splintered open to reveal Coop standing there, his eyes wide in fear and his nostrils flared as he looked around my tiny bathroom.

  “Coop, what the hell?” I asked clutching my chest as one eye streamed with moisture.

  “Bailey, what happened to your room?” he asked me, examining me, and I shrugged, not understanding what he was talking about. He moved back and I got a view of my room. My heart dropped to my feet as I examined the bed with ripped bedding, pillow feathers floated around everywhere and there were words scrawled on the walls.

  BITCH, SLUT, BROTHERFUCKER

  My eyes watered and my gaze shot to Coop in alarm.

  “Coop?” I questioned him and his eyes spun back to my face. His eyes narrowed and towered over me in his anger.

  “You seriously think I’d do that? Spray that shit on the walls?” My face fell as he spun on his heel and stormed out of my room, slamming the door closed and leaving me in my bathroom, with a broken door and a broken heart.

  Slowly, I walked out into the room and spun in a circle as I surveyed the damage. My mirror had been smashed, stuffed bears ripped apart, including the one from Louis. My tears fell unchecked when I saw the bear and I crumpled to the floor. I couldn’t understand why someone would do that to me. What had I done to deserve someone destroying my room like this?

  I couldn’t stay in my room for another second. As I started to push myself up to standing, my hand slipped and hit a slice of glass. The glass burned as it ripped into my palm. I squealed in pain and stood up, watching in detached fascination as blood ran down my fingers and dripped onto the carpet. I needed to wrap up my hand, but as I looked across the floor, I knew it’d be hard to get out of the room without slicing my feet open. There was glass everywhere and I wasn’t wearing shoes.

  My shoes were by the door and I managed to reach them a few moments later, cradling my hand to my chest as I carefully made my way through the glass minefield around me. I picked each shoe up and shook it out, watching as a cascade of glass fell from each one onto the floor. My thoughts were focused on the fact that someone really wanted to hurt me. I opened the door and made my way along the hall. I could hear the steady thump of music and voices as I calmly walked to get the first aid box in the kitchen.

  I was scared, freaked out, and nervous about staying in the house knowing the person who had trashed my room could still be inside, but before I could react to any of the emotions that threatened to overwhelm me, I needed to stop my hand from bleeding. I thought about what we’d learned in first aid at school and knew I needed to pinch the skin together and put pressure on the cut to stop the bleeding.

  The kitchen was packed with people, but I moved around them keeping my eyes on the floor. A hand touched my arm and I glanced up into David’s kind face.

  “Hey, what happened, Bailey?” I didn’t know how to describe what had happened to my room, so I decided to give him a partial truth.

  “I slipped and sliced open my hand.”

  He nodded at me and muttered as the others in the kitchen left us alone.

  “Yeah, I can see that. You want some help with it?” My smile was small, but as I nodded at him, he smiled back at me. “Hold on, I just need to let Lish know. Give me two seconds.”

  He turned and walked down the hall into the family room. I stood waiting for him to get back, but a sudden gust of wind made me turn around and I shot backward. Phil was standing at the open door with a murderous look in his eyes. “Do you like your room, Bailey?” His glare was malicious, but as voices sounded in the hall his eyes darted nervously to the door, and he stepped backward. “Be seeing you, Bails.”

  My stomach dropped. He’d called me by Coop’s nickname for me and it unnerved me. My hands shook and I closed my eyes trying to compose my expression before anyone walked into the kitchen. David arrived first followed by Lish and Selene. Both girls took in my hand and my pale face and smiled at me.

  “Hey, Bailey, how’s it going?” Lish asked and I smiled.

  “Been better, honey.”

  Both girls laughed and David glanced between us frowning in confusion. I turned and walked to the pantry grabbing the first aid kit. I took a second to catch my breath before I went back out. Lish and Selene had gone back to the party and David was sitting at the breakfast bar. He turned as I walked back into the room.

  My hand was still bleeding, but it was slowing which was a bit of a relief. David pointed at the chair beside him and I slumped over to him, sliding into the seat and placing my palm on the table, face up. David picked up my ha
nd and brought it closer to his face.

  “Bailey,” he began when a sound behind us made us both turn around. There was no one there, but the kitchen door was swinging and through the door, I caught a glimpse of Coop’s retreating back.

  He hadn’t seen my hand and had to have taken what had been happening the wrong way, though why his hurting bothered me, I wasn’t sure, especially with what had happened between us. Even so, my body thrummed with tension as David cleaned out the remaining glass from my hand and helped me to bandage it up.

  “My dad’s a doctor and I’ve been doing this since I was old enough to stand.” He explained as I watched him in amazement. “If it swells or burns, you need to go to the ER.”

  “Sure thing, thanks, David.” I leaned up and kissed his cheek before starting for the door. Jan was standing there watching us with an odd smile on her face.

  “Everything okay, Jan?” I asked her as I passed her. She smiled wider and nodded at me but didn’t say a word.

  All I wanted was to go to bed, but I couldn’t, so I decided to go sit in my car. The front door was locked, and the key wasn’t in the door. Everyone in the foyer watched me, and as I turned around, they all went back to their conversations. I knew I had blood all over me, so I decided to go use one of the bathrooms in the guest room that had been mine while I’d broken my leg. I tried the door and it was locked.

  Moving along the hall, I tried the room that had been Coop’s, and when the door swung open, I breathed a sigh of relief. I tentatively stepped inside the room, before twisting the lock at my back. My eyes darted around the room. It wasn’t the first time I’d been in it, but the décor had changed. The room had been painted a rich brown, with cream splashes of color. The carpet was a rich cream and was so thick that I thought my feet would sink into it.

  My eyes moved around the room and I saw a figure standing beside the window. Coop was staring out into the garden and his profile was breathtaking. His sharp features stood out against the moonlight behind him. He turned to me with a smile on his lips that slipped as soon as he registered it was me standing behind him.

  “Bailey,” his hoarse voice sounded like a gunshot across the quiet room. He dropped his gorgeous eyes from mine, and my chest thrummed. My heart was putty in his hands and my body began to move towards him almost without conscious thought. When his eyes lifted to mine again, there was a coldness there that stopped me in my tracks.

  “You can’t be in here.” He spoke with a firmness bordering on coldness which made my entire body stiffen. I moved towards the bathroom, ignoring him, and he reached out. His hand closing over my arm almost painfully made me stop when a knock at the door sounded.

  “Coop, you in there?” Jan’s voice called out, and he dropped his hand from my arm calling out to her as he stepped away from me.

  “Yeah, babe. Hold on.” He moved towards the door and I flicked on the bathroom light, closing the door with my foot as Coop’s eyes met mine in the mirror in the cream tiled bathroom. His eyes widened for a second, but the door closed before I could read too much into it.

  I started the faucet and glanced at myself in the mirror. Blood was smeared on my cheek and all over the top of my chest. I was a mess. Specks of blood were in my hair and I wasn’t sure how they’d got in there. I grabbed a cream washcloth and dipped it into the water before scrubbing at my chest.

  My right hand sat uselessly on the counter, but I ignored it and rubbed at my skin, trying to get the blood off. With each rub of the cloth, my breathing increased until I crumpled to the floor. Everything was going wrong again. Phil destroyed my room and Coop hated me, again. He was probably screwing her right on the other side of the bathroom door at that very moment. My breathing sped again at the thought and my body shook as I sank down to sit on the floor.

  A knock sounded at the door and after a second it opened. I didn’t look up to see who’d come in. In all honesty, I didn’t care. I was so tired, and I couldn’t see in the darkness. Warm arms pulled me up onto a lap and the scent of Coop hit my nose. He pressed his lips to my forehead and sat on the floor with me until my breathing mellowed out.

  After a few minutes, the panic attack had passed completely, and my body shuddered with exhaustion as I sat on Coop’s knee. He didn’t speak at all and when I glanced up at him, he was staring straight ahead with tears swimming in his eyes.

  “Coop?” I asked hoarsely. His eyes dropped to mine and then continued until they landed on the floor.

  Tears poured from his eyes and ran down his nose.

  “I was jealous,” he muttered and breathed in jaggedly. “I know how much I messed up, but, Bailey, you need to understand I don’t want to feel like this for you. Being in love with you sickens me. I shouldn’t want you the way I do.” His words cut into me like knives and I struggled trying to get out of his arms.

  He held fast and spoke again.

  “No, you don’t understand what I mean.” My breathing was ragged as I struggled to get away from him. “Bailey, please let me explain.” I shook my head as my tears spilled over.

  “No,” I whispered, pain lacing my voice as I spoke, “you’ve said enough. I can’t hear anymore, not today. Please, just leave, Coop.”

  His sharp intake of breath and loosening arms told me he heard me.

  “I’m sorry, Bailey, you deserve so much better than my half-assed attempt at loving you.” He kissed the top of my head and gently slid me back onto the floor. As he stood my chest burned, but I didn’t say a word to him, and he left closing the door gently.

  That was the last time we spoke for almost three weeks. I didn’t need to explain my wrecked room to our parents because while they were at the hospital it was cleaned up and any damages repaired. Knowing it was him, I slipped Coop a note to say thank you and that was the only communication we had. We didn’t even look at each other and if we accidentally touched, it burned, and we snatched our hands back straight away.

  We drove home in separate cars, Coop a little faster than me as I struggled to get a grip on my emotions. It rained the entire way back and as I drove slowly down the winding driveway, my heart hammered. The garage wouldn’t open, and I had no idea if Coop was in the garage, but since it wouldn’t open, I’d need to park on the drive and then run inside through the rain

  A knock at my window sounded and I turned in my seat, staring in the darkness but struggling to make out a face. The knock got louder and more insistent and I shuddered in fear. I took my belt off and opened my door. A hand grabbed me around the waist, making me squeal in fright, and pulled me close.

  “Bails, hurry, we’re gonna get soaked. There’s something wrong with the garage door.” Coop held me as I jumped, and he laughed at me. He put his lips to my ear, kissing softly at the skin on the underside. The rain had seeped through my jacket, but I didn’t feel cold. If anything, my skin tingled with warmth.

  I shivered as he pressed his lips lower on my neck, sucking a little while his hand ran inside my tank. His icy fingers on the bare skin of my back sent a cascade of emotions flying through me, lust, betrayal, hate, love, and pain. I gasped aloud, and he brought his lips to mine, melting my icy exterior.

  “Let’s go inside,” he murmured against my lips and I nodded against him, my breathing and heart rate erratic. We walked inside holding hands, and he kicked the door open, jumping back in surprise as people appeared out of everywhere shouting “surprise” and “happy birthday.” My heart dropped.

  Jan walked over and took his hand from mine, pulling him into the family room. He glanced back over his shoulder and met my eyes for a moment with wide, fearful eyes. I glanced around and realized I was dripping all over the foyer, so I decided to head upstairs to change.

  I didn’t want to be at Coop’s impromptu birthday party, but I had to attend. As I passed the living room, my eyes went into the room and he was kissing Jan. Pain shot through me and I swallowed convulsively from the agony seeing him kiss someone else caused.

  As I reached my room, I d
ived into the bathroom and turned my shower on full, so it was scalding hot. As I stripped off, I thought I heard my room door open and close, but when I peeked out before stepping into the scalding water there was no one there. I locked the bathroom door and stood under the water, relishing in the heat, even though it raised red welts on my skin.

  I washed my hair with my favorite strawberry and vanilla shampoo, letting the smell overwhelm my senses as I imagined being in a rainforest or under a waterfall. After another few minutes, the water began to cool and I rinsed the conditioner from my hair, feeling the smoothness as I did.

  My body thrummed with heat and steam rose from my skin as I dried off and pulled on navy blue underwear, followed by navy ripped jeans and a black sheer top. My fingers separated my hair and I pulled it up into a French braid. As I twisted the braid around and pinned it up off my neck, I heard a sound in my room and my skin prickled in alarm.

  I ignored the sound, assuming that someone had got lost on the way to the bathroom and focused on moisturizing my face. As I spread the cream around there was a loud knocking on my bathroom door which made me poke cream in my eye.

  I screamed in pain as my eye started to burn and water. Suddenly the bathroom door splintered open to reveal Coop standing there, his eyes wide in fear and his nostrils flared as he looked around my tiny bathroom.

  “Coop, what the hell?” I asked clutching my chest as one eye streamed with moisture.

  “Bailey, what happened to your room?” he asked me, examining me, and I shrugged, not understanding what he was talking about. He moved back and I got a view of my room. My heart dropped to my feet as I examined the bed with ripped bedding, pillow feathers floated around everywhere and there were words scrawled on the walls.

  BITCH, SLUT, BROTHERFUCKER

  My eyes watered and my gaze shot to Coop in alarm.

  “Coop?” I questioned him and his eyes spun back to my face. His eyes narrowed and towered over me in his anger.

  “You seriously think I’d do that? Spray that shit on the walls?” My face fell as he spun on his heel and stormed out of my room, slamming the door closed and leaving me in my bathroom, with a broken door and a broken heart.