Thick: A Stepbrother Romance

by L. M. Roberts

  He stood back looking at me, then glanced over at Alex. Damn traitor. My fuzzy vision settled on her as she shrugged her shoulders. I can’t believe she sold me out to Brad. I mean damn, I was only trying to come and have a good time, and I was, until he got here. Brad shifting at my side caught my attention, so I turned my gaze to him.

  “You are fucking trashed, little girl. You’re coming with me.”

  He grabbed my arm, tugging me away. I was slipping and sliding all over the place in my heels. I tried digging them in several times, but it was no use. Brad was stronger and bigger than he. So that was a no brainer that he would be able to overpower me.

  “Let meeyah go,” I began slapping at his arm.

  “Meredith, I’m taking this girl home. She’s completely bombed.” He yelled back to my mom.

  With a nod of her head, I was personally hand delivered on a platter to the devil himself. It didn’t matter if I was having a good time or not, Brad just always had to be the party pooper. I sighed and quit fighting him. He held onto me as we left the bar. My last few hours with my mother were ruined because of him. But the thought of being in the same car as him after he wouldn’t answer my phone call today, nor call me back, sobered me up really quickly.

  He put me in his truck, buckling the seat belt. Coming around the car, he opened the door and got in; and that’s when I let it fly.

  “Why didn’t you call me back?” I blurted, still slightly slurring my words.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t know you called.”

  I saw red. That lying bastard.

  “Oh bullshit. You knew I called you. I want to know why you didn’t answer,” I shot out.

  “Claire, Jesus H. What the hell is up? You’re acting all crazy.” He said, starting the car and putting it into drive.

  “I’m not acting crazy at all. I called and it rang and rang and rang. Then I called again and it went straight to voicemail.”

  He sighed. “I was dealing with some stuff. That’s all.”

  “Dealing with what?”

  “Claire, don’t start.”

  “Don’t start what?”

  “Just leave it be, Claire.” He voice took on a rough edge of anger.

  I scowled. “No. Hell, no. I want to know.”

  “Claire, back down.” He blazed.

  “Fuck. No.” My anger over taking any sense I had in that moment.

  His anger hit a boiling point. “Claire, back the fuck off! I’m not going to tell you. It’s my business, not yours! Get the fuck over it! I’m not going to tell you everything just because I’m fucking you! We’re not even fucking together,” he hissed.

  I sucked in a sharp breath, my anger completely replaced by sadness. “Fine.” My voice getting choked up.

  We pulled up to the house, I immediately jumped out. If I wasn’t sober before, I was stone cold sober now. Hearing him say that we weren’t together was the fucking straw that broke the camel’s back. I knew we had only been reunited for a couple days now. But damn if I was giving myself to him then I thought we were together. I wouldn’t just give myself to anyone, more so in the way he’s taken me this weekend.

  “Claire wait.” He called, getting out of his truck.

  The tears were threatening to break loose. I had to get into the house and away from him, so I could cry in peace. This was a shitty way to end such a good day. I got to the front door, rummaging through my purse. My purse fell to the ground as I was trying to go through it. I cursed, bending over and picking it up and scooping all my things back into it. Putting my key into the lock, I felt his hand snag my wrist.

  I jerked from his hold, rounding on him with so much fury I could conjure. “Just leave me alone, Brad. Please. Just go home, I’ll see you tomorrow. There is no reason for us to speak tonight. No reason at all. I know how you feel about us. For the first time in my life, I know the truth. Now please go,” I whispered, sorrow raking through me.

  He blew out a long breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You don’t get it do you? I love you more than life itself, that’s why I cannot tell you about tonight. Just fucking trust me on this. You do not want, or need to know where I was.”

  Inhaling a shaky breath, I let a solitary tear fall. “Fine. Goodnight.”

  I unlocked the door and slammed it in his face. The tears were automatic with the sound of the door closing between us. I wanted to be with him more than life itself. But if he was not honest with me, there was no way that we could be. I needed someone that was going to tell me these things, to trust me in making my own decisions. I didn’t need someone making my decision for me. That had happened to me for most of my life, I didn’t need it anymore.

  I flopped on the couch, closing my eyes. The last thing I remember was his truck starting, tires screeching out of the drive. When did life become so messed up? Where I couldn’t even make my own decisions anymore, but instead let others around me make them. I thought by telling him that I was not the same person back then, that now I made my own decisions and spoke for myself would make a difference. But it didn’t.

  Probably never would.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I woke up the next morning with a hangover from hell. Since both women were still in bed where it was so early, probably sleeping off the night of fun they had. I decided to rouse myself, take come Tylenol and go for a run. Having forgone it yesterday, I really needed it this morning. My head was in no shape to stay unoccupied. I cursed the clock when I saw the time. It wasn’t early like it always was when I went running, but it would have to do.

  After getting dressed, I headed out. Plugging my ears with my earbuds I turned up my song. Singing along with each song as my feet pounded the pavement. As the words reverberated through my mind, I found this song described me. There was no wonder I loved it so much. I was about to cross the street when I saw Brad running right toward the intersection. I cursed, stopping in my tracks to run back the other way.

  I wasn’t ready to admit I was being a pure bitch last night. I had been drunk and taken things way out of context. If he was mad at me he had every right to be. I just didn’t think I would be able to confront him just yet. Wounded pride and all. I knew he wouldn’t make a big deal about it. But it was a big deal, I’d been a major bitch to him. He’d never said we were together, but then again I never asked him if we were. So it was more my fault then it was his.

  “Claire. Hey wait up,” he yelled after me.

  Damn.

  I stopped, panting from running full out. Pulling my earbuds out of my ears. “Yeah.” I stated, not turning to face him.

  “I wanted to talk about last night.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about. I was drunk and being a bitch.” I turned to face him, a sad smile on my face. “I’m sorry, you were right. We are not together. I shouldn’t have been prying.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, but I didn’t need to go that far. I’m sorry too.”

  I gave him a small smile. “Well since we got that squared away I’ll see you at the wedding.”

  He looked around before stepping closer to me. Pressing a gentle kiss on my lips. I savored the taste of his lips against mine, but silently hating myself for giving in so easily. “I’ll be the one walking you up the aisle.” He chuckled.

  I giggled. “I guess you will be.”

  I’ve officially lost my damn mind.

  I turned to leave, heading back to the house. I felt a little better since we had talked about it. But there was still something messing with me. My fingers ghosted over my lips as a joy overcame me. As long as it didn’t have anything to do with him and another woman, I would be alright. We would eventually get there. We just had to wait until our parents got married. Then we would be able to tell them what was going on between us.

  We were hours away from being able to do just that. Even though that nagging feeling didn’t quit, I was beyond excited. Our parents was probably the reason he hadn’t put a label on what we were doing. I hoped that was the c
ase; because if it were something different I wouldn’t be able to take it.

  Entering the house, I found both women were up and drinking their first morning brew. Neither looked worse for the wear, which wasn’t fair at all. If anything they should look like shit, same as me. Life just wasn’t fair.

  “Don’t you all look bright eyed and bushy tailed.” I laughed coming to a stop next to the table.

  They both looked at me with a bright smile on their face.

  “Yeah I’m doing great actually,” my mother stated with a giggle. “Tylenol before drinking does wonders, sweetie.”

  “Ditto, Ms. J. Soon to be Mrs. T,” Alex giggled.

  My mom leaned back in her chair, playing the name over in her head I was sure. She laughed loudly, which caused my head to pound a bit. Damn her and Alex for knowing to take Tylenol before drinking. It would have saved me this trouble in the long run.

  “No so loud,” I said putting my hands over my ears.

  Alex looked at me, sincerely. “I’m sorry I made Brad come get you. But you were frigging zonked out of your head.”

  I waved her away, walking out of the kitchen. “Let’s go to breakfast before the wedding. I think that’s exactly what we need.”

  An hour later we were soaking up the morning sun on the patio of Rossetti’s. My mom was making a few last minute preparations before the wedding. Talking to quite a few people on the phone to make sure it was all set up, and ready. Alex was glued to her phone as well, texting someone. I was the only one taking in the morning sun. At least I was the only one enjoying it. The other two were glued to their phones.

  I picked up a napkin, balling it up. I threw it at Alex hitting her right smack in the forehead. I burst out laughing, clutching my head when my headache briefly makes an appearance. She threw it back at me with a smile on her face.

  “What was that for heifer?” She playfully quipped, sitting her phone on the table.

  I didn’t answer her, taking the balled up napkin and hitting my mom with it. She laughed, throwing it back at me. She ended her call shortly after. She let out a long sigh, closing her eyes. I loved seeing my mom like this, I didn’t think I would ever get enough of it. Ever since my father ran out of her when I was an infant it just seemed like she was just going through the motions. She had been letting life pass her by for a while now. It was time to see her settled and happy.

  “You butt face,” she chirped, opening her eyes and looking at me softly.

  I smiled back at her. “I’m your butt face,” I said sticking my tongue out at her.

  “Yes, you are. You will always be my butt face,” she giggled, grabbing a hold of my hand.

  I sat back, drinking my coffee when I caught sight of someone familiar across the street. I saw Brad getting out of his vehicle. I started to get up, only to be met with a sight I wished to God I would never see. Cherish, getting out of the passenger side of his truck. I sat back in shock, my mouth hanging open. My mother was delved into her phone again, but Alex noticed my reaction. She followed my gaze, only to narrow her eyes when she saw who it was.

  After him kissing me this morning, he’s parading around town with that whore. What the fuck? I knew the nagging feeling in my stomach had been right. That she was the reason he didn’t answer up his phone. I watched as they went in the café, ordered and then sat in the corner. Every second of seeing them together, I was becoming more pissed off.

  “Go see what the fuck is up,” Alex whispered.

  “I can’t go over there and see what’s up, Alex. Cherish will look into it more than she needs to,” I scolded.

  “Bitch you better go before I do. You know someone’s getting nutted if I go over there.”

  I knew she would do it too. She’s done it before to a guy that kept coming on to me at a club. He wasn’t even being that bad, or perverted. But she’d brought her fist back and laid a good one right in his nut sack. After that he took the hint and left me alone.

  I groaned. “Fine, but keep my mom occupied. This shit doesn’t get out.”

  She nodded. I slipped away from the table, taking care to cross the street. The adrenaline was beginning to pump through my veins. Things just didn’t add up with him being there with her, and I wanted to find out. It was one thing asking him about it and him denying it. It was another when you actually caught him in the act of doing it.

  Walking into the café, I ordered a coffee. I knew I would have to explain it to mom when I got back. But right now I couldn’t care. I was either going to get answers or someone was going to catch an ass kicking. Either one or the other, I didn’t really care which. I noticed they were sitting right next to the condiment stand and sent up a silent thank you. It would give me a reason to go over there, and pretend I bumped into them.

  The nice woman behind the counter handed me my cup, and I walked away. I pulled out my phone really fast to seem as if I was too enraptured in it to notice that they were sitting there. Such a sneaky bitch I am. Stepping up to the counter, I finished sending my nonexistent text and began fixing my coffee. I started humming to a song that was inside my head. I heard her start to say something and then turned around.

  I acted surprised when I saw them sitting there together. I walked over, a bright smile on my face that didn’t quite reach my eyes. I noticed the moment that Brad saw me coming, he visibly paled and his back stiffened. I inwardly laughed at his uneasiness with the whole situation. If I looked hard enough I probably could have seen him counting the number of balls he had, hoping he would still have the same number after this confrontation.

  “Oh, Hey. What are you guys doing?” I asked with a tinge of upbeat in my tone.

  “Oh were just having coffee,” Cherish snapped.

  “I’m not interrupting anything am I?” She’d had a level of annoyance in her words, but I steamed right ahead.

  “Actually you…” she started before Brad cut her off.

  The douche bag did like to do that quite a bit. “No, you’re not, Claire. What’s up?”

  I stood there glaring at the top of his head, he still hadn’t looked up at me. I wanted him to see the pissed off look in my eyes. But somehow I knew he wouldn’t give me what I wanted. Since he knew that I caught him now, it was safe for me to walk away. I didn’t know I would feel as triumphant as I did. But damn it felt great.

  “Well don’t let me burden you any longer, I’ll just be on my way,” I said with a wave goodbye.

  I made sure to sway my hips a little more than usual when I left, feeling his eyes follow me until I exited the café. Making my way back across the street, I sat back down just as my mom was getting off the phone. She looked at me a little weirdly, gesturing toward my cup. I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. I took a drink out of the cup.

  “I like that café’s coffee a lot better than the coffee here.” I lied, trying my best not to give myself away.

  “Oh…ok,” she stated, a confusion lacing her words.

  I looked at Alex from the corner of my eye. She smiled a sympathetic smile at me before taking a drink from her cup. When we were finished, I paid the tab and we left. We had a little less than three hours to get ready for the wedding. My mother booked her and me appointments to get our hair and makeup done. Alex understood and we dropped her off at the house. She said she would be there before all the bells and whistles went off.

  I laughed at her corny wedding day joke. I swear that women wasn’t right in the head. Every time I asked her if her parents dropped her on her head when she was little she’d always come back with, maybe once or twice. She would hunch her back and say it all cryptic too. Seriously, she wasn’t right.

  When we got to the salon, the staff immediately took us back. They began running around like chickens with their heads cut off. My mom had been coming to his salon for years. Every time she came in here they would always ask her when she was getting married. Every single time my mother would say there was no man special enough to marry her. I secretly believe they all looked up to he
r for that. Not many woman can be as strong as my mom is, while caring for a child by themselves.

  “Oh Ms. James I think this would look absolutely gorgeous,” the stylist said to my mom.

  I looked at it and it would indeed be gorgeous. My mother had brought the tiara and veil with her when she came. She didn’t want anything to happen to her hair if she tried to put it on herself. The only thing going in my hair were a little bit of baby’s breath. My mom described what she saw my hair being styled as and the way she described it, I instantly fell in love.

  She wanted my hair curled all over in big barrel waves, then pinned to my head, bringing my hair away from my face and up off my neck with loose tendrils of curls hanging down. They got to work on her and I at the same time, her deciding to go with the hairstyle the stylist chose.

  Her hair was going to be inside the ring of her tiara, pulling her hair back into a pony tail. Since her hair was different lengths they would be able to hide the rubber band with curls. Her hair was going to have small jewels clipped into it. She was going to look like a princess.

  My phone rang just as I was switching chairs to get my makeup applied. I glanced down to my lap to see that it was Brad calling. I chose to ignore it, only to have it ring again a second later. The makeup technician was becoming a little annoyed with me, so I let the phone keep ringing and going to voicemail. If he wanted to talk to me, he could wait until I got to the wedding.

  The finishing touches were being done on my mother as I got out of the chair. Walking to the nearest window, I gasped at my reflection. I looked like a model ready for the runway with the hair and the makeup. I was taken aback about how good I looked. But I never thought that I would start crying from seeing my mother all dolled up.

  She stood from her chair, and walked toward me. Her lips a bright red color, and her eyes in a dark smokey shades. I started tearing up as she came closer to me, her eyes filling up with tears too. The staff ran and got us tissues so we wouldn’t ruin our makeup, but that still didn’t help. I heard my mother gasp when she saw her reflection in the mirror. I turned to look at her, the staff already fixing the mascara that I smudged.