Hope

by Tia Wylder

  He busted out laughing. He tilted his head back and poured half the beer down his throat, drinking without even tasting it.

  “Let me clue you in,” Damien said. “When you get to be older, say, twenty-five…things change a lot,” he smiled slyly. “You’ll get there, Emma.”

  “I don’t really get what you mean,” I swallowed hard. “What are you playing at?”

  Damien gave me a long look before setting his beer down on the table and getting up, walking closer. When he was right beside me, close enough where his leg brushed against mine, he stopped and looked down.

  “Well, I helped you with your homework, right?” Damien grinned. “So maybe, you could do something for me in return?”

  “Oh,” I bit my lip. “Um, like, pay you? I don’t have much cash, but—“

  Damien put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. A hot thrill of arousal ran through my body, and I shuddered. My heart pounded, and my breaths came hot and heavy as he leaned close.

  “Adults sometimes do things for each other,” Damien purred, pressing his face close to mine. “You know…very adult things,” he added.

  “Oh my god,” I quickly pushed his hand away. I was still trembling from his touch – what was he trying to do?

  “But I take it that my little stepsister doesn’t feel like being very adult,” he smirked in a sotto voice. “Unless…she wants to correct me?” He raised an eyebrow.

  I was blushing so hard that it felt like I had a sunburn.

  “No,” I yelped, leaping out of my chair. The chair fell over, clattering on the kitchen floor as I jumped away.

  Damien burst out laughing and rolled his eyes. “You are really too much fun to tease, Emma.”

  “You’ve got to lighten up! It was a joke,” he added, sarcastically twisting the last word. “God, do you really think I’d pressure you into having sex with me?”

  I squirmed and blushed.

  Damien leaned in close, pressing his forehead against mine. Again, the musky, expensive cologne swirled over my senses, and I felt like I was about to faint with desire.

  “If I ever take you to bed,” Damien growled, running a finger down the side of my arm. “It’ll be because you’ve begged me for it. You got that?”

  For a moment, all I could do was stare into his deep blue eyes. I felt like the world around us ceased to exist, like we were the only two humans left alive. I shuddered at the intensity of the moment – it was like Damien could see straight through me to my very soul. Part of me hated him – part of me wanted to slap him across his handsome face and tell him to fuck right off.

  But the other part of me? The other part of me was wet with lust and practically begging Damien to sweep me off my feet and make love to me all night long.

  “Well?” Damien leaned in even closer, and I felt like swooning right in his arms.

  I licked my lips nervously. Just as I was about to reply, the front door burst open, and Damien leaped away like a scalded cat. My heart was pounding so hard I felt like it was about to burst free of my chest.

  “Dad? Nadine? I’m home,” a male voice yelled. “Sorry, I’m late!”

  Seconds later, Derek Wilson, Damien’s twin brother, walked into the kitchen. When he saw Damien, he jerked his head up in greeting.

  “Where’s Dad?”

  Damien shrugged. “Not home yet,” he yawned. “Looks like someone stayed late at the office again.”

  Derek rolled his eyes. Like Damien, he was tall, with brown hair, blue eyes, and a handsomely chiseled face. But where Damien was the evil Mr. Hyde, Derek was more the kindly Dr. Jekyll type. Together, they were unstoppable.

  “Someone has to stay late,” Derek quipped, rolling his eyes at his brother. “Or else nothing would get done.”

  Damien yawned, chugging the last of his beer and pitching the bottle into the recycling. “I can’t help it if work is boring,” he shrugged and snorted. “It wouldn’t matter if work was full of professional cheerleaders and free booze. You’d still be allergic to spending eight hours a day cooped up in an office.”

  Damien threw Derek a wounded look, then turned to me. “You see how my brother treats me?” He pretended to pout. Part of me almost wanted to comfort him, even though I knew the thing was an act. “Besides,” Damien added. “It doesn’t matter how much time I spend – or don’t spend – at Empire. Derek’s always there to do my work for me.”

  Derek groaned, “You’re impossible.” He turned to me and smiled, “Hi, Emma. How are things going with you?”

  “Emma had a little trouble with her homework,” Damien grinned, and I flushed again, burning bright red to the roots of my brown hair. “But I helped her. It’s fine now,” he added. “See, someone thinks I’m good at something!”

  “The problem with you is that you think you’re good at everything,” Derek scorned. He pushed past Damien and walked over to the fridge, taking a beer from inside and carefully twisting the cap open with his free hand.

  “I am good at everything,” Damien smirked. “Not my fault if you’re working too much to see it!”

  Watching the twin brothers always made me feel anxious and uncomfortable, like an outsider. Back when Mom and Jack had first gotten married, Mom had told me that she thought it would pass. She’d told me some crap about how “twins are naturally close” and “try not to take it personally if you’re not close right away.”

  But that had been five years ago – and Derek and Damien showed no signs of letting me in.

  I gathered my things from the table, then snuck out of the kitchen. The twins were still arguing, playfully ribbing each other about work…or in Damien’s case, lack thereof. It was funny to me that two men who were so similar could also be such opposites. Damien was loud, forceful, so charming that I felt like I had to hold my pants up whenever he was around so they wouldn’t fall. Derek was quiet, understated, yet somehow more intense than his brother.

  Five years and being around them still makes me as shy as a little kid, I thought as I closed the door to my room and set my books down on the bed. I knew it was childish for me to still be living at home at the age of twenty-one, but honestly, I saw no problem to move until I graduated from college. Mom had made it clear that I was always welcome, and living on my own was frightening. Some of my friends at school had apartments, and it seemed like they were always struggling to pay their bills or remember to drink the milk before it expired. I was much happier in my little world, safe and cozy, as far away from the real world as possible.

  Just before seven-thirty, I took a quick shower and changed into a cotton sundress that Mom had picked up for me on a recent trip. It was babyish, with ruffles around the collar and sleeves, but it was comfortable…and I liked the way it made my zaftig figure look almost graceful. Opening the door to my room, I crept out into the hallway and rolled my eyes – I could still hear Derek and Damien, bickering below.

  “Damien, you tease her too much. She’s our stepsister – not some little fawning secretary at Empire.”

  “Who cares? She’s obviously a virgin. What, you’re saying I can’t have a little fun —“

  “Shut up!” Derek stopped Damian. I could practically hear him rolling his eyes all the way from the kitchen. “God, I just wish Dad had never gotten remarried.”

  “I know,” Damien agreed. “That gold-digging snake is the last thing we need hanging around. It was much better when it was just the three of us.”

  Tears of anger came to my eyes, and I went back inside my room, quietly shutting the door behind me. Screw both of you, I thought as I plopped down on my bed and tried to keep from crying. Who needs you, anyway?

  Chapter Two

  “Hey, Emma, isn’t that your brother?”

  I looked up and groaned, immediately sinking back down into my chair and holding my paper high in front of my face.

  “Stepbrother,” I corrected. “But yeah, that’s him.” I narrowed my eyes and frowned as I watched Derek cross the campus commons in swift strides.
“I wonder what he’s doing hanging around here?”

  My best friend, Ana, shrugged and twisted her long blonde hair into a messy knot. “No clue,” she snickered. “He’s so hot, though – maybe we should go say hi?”

  “No,” I quickly shook my head. “Absolutely not.” The memories of Derek and Damien’s taunting hadn’t yet faded – I’d been avoiding them for the past few days.

  “Aw, Em, why not?” Ana looked at me, her brown eyes pleading for answers. “Come on, I haven’t had a date in like, six months.”

  “And you seriously think my rich stepbrother will ask you out?”

  Ana giggled. “A girl can dream,” she shrugged. “It wouldn’t hurt to ask – he’s gorgeous!”

  “He’s a jerk,” I crossed my arms. “You can have him, for all I care.”

  “I wish I could have him,” said my other best friend, Michael. There was clear longing in his voice. “I would make that boy squeal,” he grinned wickedly. “You sure he’s straight?”

  “Actually, no,” I bit my lip. “Damien definitely is – he screws anything with two legs as long as it stands still. But Derek…I’ve never seen him with anyone before, male, female, or vegetable.”

  Michael laughed and rubbed his hands together. “Perfect,” he licked his lips. “Let me get in on that hot, rich boy action!”

  “Save some for me,” Ana whined. “At this rate, I’ll be single when I’m thirty!”

  I groaned and rolled my eyes. "You guys are terrible," I complained. "Do you even care that he’s like, a terrible person?”

  “You’re just biased because they think your mom is a gold-digger,” Michael raised an eyebrow. “Homeboys don’t know what’s up or down.”

  “Eww…You two are gross,” I sneered.

  Ana sniffed and looked offended. “Well, aren’t you at least a little curious about what Derek’s doing here”

  I frowned. “I hate to admit it, but you’re right.”

  Ana leaped out of her seat and grinned, tugging at my arm until I reluctantly stood up. “Come on, let’s go find out.”

  “Ooh, count me in,” Michael’s eyes glowed. He flipped his hair to the side and gave me a dazzling smile.

  “You guys,” I shook my head as I threw the strap of my bag over my shoulder. “You’re too much – you know that?”

  “We know,” Ana and Michael chorused in unison. “But that’s why you love us!

  I wrinkled my nose. “You’re lucky I’m a pushover.”

  Ana put her head on my shoulder. “We love you, Em,” she gave a playful grin. “We’re just…lonely,” she added.

  “And horny,” Michael chimed in. “That, too.”

  My face must be turning bright red now from embarrassment, “More like lonely and impossible.”

  Together, the three of us crossed over the campus commons and into the student union building. Hickory State University was a pretty good school – I’d been happy here for the past four years, occasional physics or math-related hiccup aside. I was grateful to Jack – without his financial support, I would’ve been putting myself through community college while working two jobs. But Mom and Jack both insisted that I refrain from working, they both wanted me to focus on school.

  I’d met Ana and Michael at orientation, almost four years prior. Since then, the three of us had been practically inseparable. I knew that for a college student, I led a pretty quiet life – the only time we’d ever gone to a bar, Michael had thrown up after just one shot and gotten us all kicked out. Mostly we liked hanging out and watching old sitcom reruns with a huge bowl of popcorn or a platter of Chinese food. I liked Ana and Michael because they were so genuine, neither one of them had a pretentious bone in their body.

  They’re basically the opposite of Damien and Derek, I thought as we walked. They’d never say anything to hurt me.

  Ana always complained about being single, but unlike me, I couldn’t understand why she didn’t have a boyfriend. When we’d first met, I’d almost been intimidated by how pretty she was. Blonde, slim, and perpetually tanned, Ana was the picture of California cool. But like me, she was shy and quiet…she clammed up whenever a cute guy was around. That was one of the reasons I knew that we were meant to be friends forever.

  “Hey, look,” Michael hissed, poking me in the shoulder.

  “Ow! What?”

  “Not there, there,” Michael exasperated. He grabbed me by the shoulders and twirled me around until I was face to face with a giant poster of Derek.

  “Oh, he’s doing some kind of talk, I guess,” I stepped closer. “On…”

  “Starting your own business, wow,” Ana grinned. “That’s sexy,” she added. “I like a man who knows how to do things.”

  Just as I was about to pull my friends away, Derek appeared in front of me. Oh, no, I thought. Why did he have to see me? Shoot, what am I supposed to do now?

  To my surprise, Derek smiled. “Hi, Emma, how are you?”

  “Fine,” I swallowed hard.

  “I’m Ana,” Ana said quickly, sticking her hand out for Derek to shake. “And this is Michael – we’re best friends with your stepsister!”

  Derek gave her an amused look before shaking her hand and saying hi to Michael. I wanted to roll my eyes – both of my friends were obviously on Cloud Nine now that Derek was here.

  “Are you coming to the talk?”

  “I don’t—“

  “Yes, we’re so curious,” Michael quickly cut my words off.

  Derek chuckled. “Cool! Well, see you later – they want me to go get ready.” Derek waved at the three of us, then turned around and sauntered off.

  “Oh, my god,” I groaned, putting my head on Michael’s shoulder and sighing. “I can’t believe you! You don’t care about starting your own business, do you?”

  “No, honey, but I do care about hunky men,” he laughed. “And what’s with this sourpuss? He seemed perfectly sweet,” he added. “What do you have against him?”

  “Nothing,” I grumbled.

  “Well, come on, you might learn something,” Ana tugged me forward, and after a second of digging my heels into the concrete floor, I let her propel me into the conference room.

  To my surprise, the room was already packed. Ana, Michael, and I found places at the back, leaning against the wall with our bags at our feet.

  After a few minutes, the lights dimmed, and a professor I didn’t recognize from the economics department walked onto the stage, waving at the crowd. Everyone clapped and cheered. Feeling awkward, I joined in.

  “Greetings, Hicksters!” The professor clapped his hands and beamed. “I’m so pleased to introduce Derek Wilson, a true visionary in his own right!”

  The crowd clapped louder than ever. Glancing around, I saw that most of the people sitting down were gorgeous young college girls – there had to be at least ten girls there for every guy. Of course, they came, I thought sourly. They don’t care about what Derek’ll say – they just think he’s hot!

  “Derek graduated from Boston Institute of Technology when he was only nineteen years old,” the professor smiled. “He earned his MBA shortly after at age of twenty-one, and was working with his father’s company, Empire Mesa.”

  Yeah, yeah, I thought. Just get on with it.

  “Today, Derek has two charitable foundations – one he started to help disadvantaged young people afford the proper clothing for job interviews that will take them into the middle class, and one that was started in hopes of curing cancer.”

  “Wow,” Michael hissed in my ear. “He’s like, a god!”

  “He’s totally not,” I whispered back. “He just looks good on paper.”

  “Let’s put our hands together for Mr. Derek Wilson,” the professor cheered. Derek strode onto stage – looking confident and put together, but not cocky like Damien – and shook hands with the professor before taking the microphone in his muscular hand.

  “He looks good off paper, too,” Michael said smugly. “I can’t believe you wouldn’t go for
that!”

  “I won’t dignify that with a response,” I shook my head and turned my attention back to the stage. The applause was still roaring, and Derek smiled awkwardly, gesturing for the crowd to be silent.

  “Thank you, thank you all, I’m so honored,” Derek smiled again and began striding about the stage, microphone in hand. In his expensive navy suit, he looked hotter than ever. His brown hair was gelled away from his forehead in a perfect swirl, and his blue eyes twinkled under the stage lights.

  “Right now, you’re at a very important time in your lives,” he looked out over the audience. I shrank back, ducking behind the people in front of me, not wanting him to know that I was there.