Stepbrother Broken (The Hawthorne Brothers Book 2)
Page 18
“This is going to be a great thing for us,” he says decisively, “I can feel it.”
I can feel it too, in every inch of my body. And all we had to do was let go of our stupid hang-ups about propriety, and what kind of love is “allowed”. Luke and I are so much more than just a bundle of taboos. We’re two people who care about each other. That’s it.
Sighing happily, I carry my mug back into the kitchen for a refill. I can hear the running shower in the other room as I pour myself a second cup of smooth, black coffee. A chirp rings out from my purse, sitting on the kitchen counter. Sipping my fresh coffee, I pull out my cell. I perch on the counter, legs swinging lazily beneath me, to see who’s just texted.
My stomach turns unpleasantly as I see that my mother has sent a group message to me, Maddie, and Anna. I’ve barely had more than a cursory word from her in three weeks. Once she was assured I was back at Sheridan, she carried on her own merry way. Maybe she’s reaching out now to apologize to me and my sisters about the way she spoke to us that night at the lake? Maybe she’s finally broken things off with John and come to her senses? That would be a lovely surprise.
Might as well get this over with, I think, pulling up the text. It’s a picture message. No words, just a single photo. I cock my head at it, trying to discern its meaning. It looks like she forgot her phone was on and accidentally took an off-center selfie. The picture is framed around her frantically waving hand. The image is so blurry that I almost overlook the new, shining stone that rests on her ring finger.
My coffee mug shatters into a hundred pieces as I stare down at my phone, the blood draining from my slack-jawed face. I hear footsteps across the suite, muffled by the thundering sound of my own beating heart. Luke appears in the bedroom doorway, a white towel tied hastily around his waist. A look of concern twists his gorgeous features.
“What’s the matter?” he asks urgently, “I heard a crash, and…Jesus, babe—you’re white as a fucking ghost.”
I try and make my mouth form the words he needs to hear, but no sound comes out. I’m gripping the edge of the counter, my knuckles going white. My breaths come high and shallow as my body refuses to process what’s happened.
“Sophie, you’re scaring me,” Luke says, walking slowly toward me across the suite. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”
I drag my eyes up to his, focusing with all my might on putting one word in front of another. I can scarcely believe the phrase I’m about to utter. It’s surely too devastating to be true.
“They’re engaged,” I say, my voice barely audible. “Our parents are engaged.”
Luke’s body goes stock still as my words hit him hard from across the room. I watch his eyes flash with confusion, disbelief, and rage before they harden into stone once more. I know this look of his, by now. It’s Luke, preparing himself for a battle.
Good thing, I think to myself in the deafening silence that unfolds all around us, because I have the feeling we’re in for the fight of our lives.
***
The End
To Be Continued in Hawthorne Brothers, Book Three…
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