“Thank you,” I said softly, unable to believe he’d really done this. Any other day I would’ve stood up for myself and told him that I didn’t need to be bought, but I knew my Mom was desperate for us to get along, so I decided to just be good and nod my head. It did nothing to stave off the internal battle inside me, though.
“You’re very welcome.” Peter looked genuinely pleased with himself.
“So, I guess I’ll see you at college, then.”
Chase’s voice cut through my thoughts, and I looked at him as another realization dawned on me. Of course he was going to the same school. It was only appropriate for a politician’s son to attend one of the top colleges in the States. What a freaking mess.
“Looking forward to it,” I squeaked, finally daring to look into his eyes.
I regretted it immediately.
He still had the same effect on me…that crazy, panty-dropping feeling, like I wanted to strip down right in front of him, stepbrother or not.
Our parents and Lily were talking again, discussing what to order for dinner, and Chase leaned closer to me. For a second, I almost thought he was going to kiss me…and then he slid something into my hands under the table, his fingers brushing against mine so briefly that I thought it hadn’t even happened. My hot, tingling skin and the wildly-thumping beat of my heart were proof enough that it had, however.
“You keep your secret, I keep mine, sis,” he growled at me in a low voice only I could hear.
Please be a napkin…
No such luck. I looked down at my hands to find my bra presented on my lap; the very one I’d left behind in that hotel room, the evidence of the night that never was. The little pink bows which I’d thought were so cute were now taunting me.
I gulped, hard.
Chase’s hand sneaked back into my lap, prying the bra away from my fingers as he grinned at me. “Just show and tell, I’m afraid. I’m going to keep this little memento. Might come in handy later.”
I could only stare as he stuffed the bra back into his pocket, flashing me a mischievous smile.
Shit.
Chapter 6
Chase
“You sticking to the diet plan I emailed you?”
I glanced at Tripp as I finished taping up my hands. We were in a gym about fifteen minutes south of his house; a small, musty place frequented by blue-collar workers, local meatheads and the occasional drug-pusher trying to sell steroids. Stryker men might have seemed out of place in this joint, but no one knew who we were, so it didn’t matter. Thank God no one in this area gave a shit about local politics…or any politics at all, for that matter.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Chicken breasts, spinach and broccoli almost every night. Boring as fuck.”
“Good. You measuring your calorie intakes too?”
“For the most part.”
“You need to start being more careful with it. Diet’s gotta be right if you wanna stay on top.”
No shit. I’d never really cared about my diet all that much before I started fighting, because I’d always had a decent metabolism, but being fit and ready for a match required a lot of discipline. I had to ingest enough calories to have enough energy for training and fighting, and not only that, they had to be the right kind of calories. Eating a thousand calories worth of candy was a lot different to eating a thousand calories of lean meat and vegetables, believe it or not.
The only time I’d strayed from my strict diet in the last week was when I’d gone out to L’Atelier with my father to meet his precious new family. I’d splurged a little and let myself have a chocolate soufflé for dessert, only so I could slowly lick my spoon off while staring right at Lina as she squirmed and desperately pretended she couldn’t see me.
Fuck, I loved teasing her. She’d almost had kittens when I’d given her the bra under the table, and the look in her eyes had made me want to throw her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, carry her home and ravage her all night.
But that ship had sailed. Fast. Our parents were getting married soon, and right now, a bunch of hired guys were helping move all of the Diaz’s stuff into our Highland Park home. It was a three-storied mansion, so it was certainly big enough for the five of us to share, but still…it was gonna be fucking hard sleeping in my bedroom from now on, knowing that Lina was on the other side of the wall in the room next to mine. And when I said hard, I meant that quite literally. My dick had been rock-solid at the thought of her for almost the entire last week. I’d tried calling up an old fuck buddy of mine to relieve some tension, but I hadn’t even been able to dial her number without my dick finally deciding to go soft at the thought of touching someone that wasn’t Lina.
My mind strayed even further as I began to strike at the hard punching bag, Tripp holding it steady. I wondered what Lina usually wore to bed…did she have a cute little pink nightie with bows to match the cute little bra she’d left with me that night? Or was she a bad girl who slept naked, claiming it was more comfortable that way? Hopefully the latter. Hell, I’d even be happy with the former—I wouldn’t mind tearing some adorable satin nightie off her with my bare hands as she gasped and moaned underneath me.
Obviously I could never do that in real life, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t fantasize about it. Hell no. I could fuck her over and over in my head, and she’d never even know, although she’d probably guess, considering I could barely look at her without getting a raging boner. Jesus, I was like a twelve year old boy who’d just discovered porn.
“So how’s your new stepfamily going?” Tripp asked, his eyes twinkling.
I rolled my eyes. “I dunno. They aren’t actually married yet, but Nina’s nice, I suppose. And Lily’s pretty cute. She made me color in some fairy princess thing with her the other day.”
Tripp guffawed as I admitted that, and I couldn’t help grinning back at him as I wiped the sweat from my forehead. That little girl had balls. She was barely three feet tall, and she’d marched right up to me yesterday morning, thrust a pink marker into my hand and demanded that I color with her. How could I say no? I might be a tough guy, but I knew better than to say no to a fiery little lady like that. Besides, she was adorable. I had to admit, I’d always had a soft spot for kids, and I’d always wished I had a little brother or sister.
But not Lina. Oh, hell no. I didn’t want her as a sister. I wanted her in my bed, I wanted her on my cock, but I didn’t want her to be related to me.
“What about the other one?” Tripp asked, watching me intently. “You haven’t said anything about her yet.”
“Who, Lina?” I said, stalling for time. I usually told my cousin everything, but shit, how could I tell him that I’d almost fucked my soon-to-be stepsister? I couldn’t, that’s how…
“Yeah, whatever her name is,” he said. “She hot?”
I shrugged, not wanting to admit that she was the hottest damn girl I’d seen in…hmm…forever? Shit, I had it bad for her.
Thank God he hadn’t been over to visit the family home in a while. The minute he did, he might recognize Lina as the girl I’d taken back to the hotel with me that night, and then he’d be onto me. That wouldn’t happen for a while, though. His mother—my aunt—wasn’t all that close with my father. They’d had some stupid falling out over an antique vase their grandmother had left the family in her will when she died, and they’d barely spoken since, only seeing each other at small family reunions their other siblings planned for the sake of keeping up appearances in all of the uppity lifestyle magazines. Technically, Tripp should have a different last name than me, but my aunt had elected to keep the Stryker name when she got married, and her husband had agreed to let Tripp have it too. It made sense, given the influence that came with having that last name.
“I guess she’s okay,” I finally said, trying to sound nonchalant.
Tripp saw right through me. “She’s just okay?” he teased.
“Well, she’s hot, but she’s kinda stuck-up and moody,” I finally admitted.
That much was true. For most of our dinner at L’Atelier, Lina had sat there with a sour expression on her face, like she’d just bitten into a lemon and found it was filled with piss. Even when my father had told her he was paying for her to go to college, she’d looked miserable. I couldn’t tell if it was because she didn’t want to accept what she saw as charity, or if she felt like he was trying to buy her affections, but neither of those things were the case.
I knew my Dad, and while he could be an asshole some of the time—okay, most of the time—he wasn’t trying to ‘buy’ her. Nina had told him that Lina had always dreamed of going to college, but they hadn’t been able to afford it after Bill Diaz died. My father was simply trying to make her feel welcome and more in control of her future by helping her follow her dreams. Sure, throwing money at her probably wasn’t the best way to go about that, but it wasn’t like he knew how else to do things.
When he’d cheated on my Mom five years ago, he’d tried throwing money at that problem too, and for once, it hadn’t worked for him. She’d been gone for ages now, living in Paris with some new guy she’d met on the cruise my father had booked for her as a ‘sorry I fucked my receptionist’ gift.
When I’d finished on the punching bag, Tripp spotted me on the weight bench and other weight machines, and finally, I got to my feet, my thighs and calves almost wobbling from all the leg presses I’d just done.
“Shit,” I swore under my breath as I stretched out my tired muscles, feeling the burn.
My whole body hurt, but in a good way; the kinda way that let me know I’d completed a solid workout.
“All right, man. I’ve got to get back to work,” Tripp said. “Same time tomorrow?”
“Sure.”
“When does college start back up for you?”
“A week and a half,” I said, wiping my face and neck off with a towel. I wondered how often I’d run into Lina on campus. Probably never. She was a freshman, so her timetable would be very different to mine.
“All right. You still gotta train, though—at least three hours a day. No slacking just because you have study to do.”
“I know, I know,” I said, rolling my eyes and flashing him a good-natured grin.
“Here, eat this,” he said, reaching into his gym bag and tossing me a bag of trail mix. “There’s some salted nuts in there, too. Gotta replace all those electrolytes.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yep. Make sure you drink plenty of water as well.”
Speaking of water, I needed a damn shower. Sweat was glistening on my skin from my workout sesh, and I smelled like a swamp. Unfortunately, the showers in this gym were filthy and probably riddled with fungus, and the last thing I needed was an itchy case of athlete’s foot.
I drove home, my nose wrinkling up as the smell of my sweat permeated the car. Damn, I needed to air this thing out. But first things first. I needed that shower before I worried about cleaning anything else.
My father was at his campaign office at the moment, and as far as I knew, Nina had taken Lily out to the park a few blocks down from our house. I was pretty sure Lina was at work at the waitressing job which she still hadn’t quit for some reason, so aside from all the movers, I’d likely have the house to myself for the next few hours. Thank fuck. I was exhausted, and I needed a break from all the family mayhem.
As I pulled in, I saw a truck pulling out to the left of me, and I recognized one of the movers in the front seat, giving me a thumbs up. I rolled my window down and called out to him.
“You guys finished already?”
“Yep. Wasn’t all that much stuff; mostly boxes,” he said, scratching the dark blue tattoo on the side of his neck. “Tell your Dad thanks for the work.”
“Will do.”
I went to roll my window back up, but he waved at me to roll it back down.
“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” he asked. “I mean, aside from this job.”
“Hm? Don’t think so,” I said.
He squinted at me. “Huh. Never mind. You look familiar, but I can’t think why.”
“I’ve probably just got one of those faces,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s gotta be it. Anyway, catch ya later.”
Shit. I knew exactly where he’d seen me before, because as soon as I’d seen that tattoo on his neck, I’d recognized him. He’d been at my fight the other night, right in a front row seat. Luckily he hadn’t put two and two together, and I headed inside, my heart racing at the close call.
“Hello?” I called out, checking to see if Nina and Lily were back.
Silence.
I headed upstairs and into the bathroom before hopping into the shower, closing my eyes as the cool water streamed down over my face and body. There was nothing better than a cold shower after a hot gym sesh, and the cool water also helped to calm down other issues which might arise….yes, like my cock. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working right now. I’d just been picturing Lina in the shower with me, down on her knees and looking up at me as she licked the tip of my dick, and I was hard as steel. Even turning the water onto an ice-cold setting didn’t help.
Oh well. I suppose I still had enough energy left in me to jerk off, but I wasn’t going to do it in the shower. That had always seemed kinda gross to me, even though it all got washed down the drain.
I stepped out and toweled off, and my ears pricked up a second later. I thought I’d heard someone on the stairs, but the noise had only sounded for a split-second, so I figured it was just the house settling.
Wrapping my towel around my waist, I headed out of the bathroom and towards my room before remembering that I’d left my dirty clothes on the tiles. My father had a maid service come in three times a week to do all of our washing and cleaning, but I felt bad about leaving my crap all over the floor when it was easy to throw it into the clothes hamper which stood on one end of the bathroom. It wasn’t much, but it made their jobs a little easier.
I turned back the other way, and as I rounded the corner which would take me back to the main hallway where the bathroom was, I collided with a warm body.
It was Lina, carrying a pile of clothes, and she squealed as half of them tumbled to the floor…along with my towel. In the shock of our collision, it had come loose from my waist, and my eyes traveled downwards to see that my cock was still rock-hard.
Her eyes followed mine, and one hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh…I’m…oh my...”
She stuttered as her cheeks flushed, and I swore I could see her legs trembling. I could have picked the towel up, but I didn’t. Instead, I smirked at her and gestured towards my groin.
“See something you like, sis?”
She finally tore her eyes away from my dick and narrowed them at me. “No. And don’t call me that. What are you doing wandering around naked anyway?”
I grinned. “I wasn’t naked until someone crashed into me and ripped my towel off. Maybe it was like a Freudian slip. You didn’t know you meant to do it, but you did.”
“Ooh, look at the smart college boy, using smart psychological terms! Oh wait…I guess you didn’t read the part where they debunked everything Freud ever said. Now pick up the towel!” she said, shielding her eyes.
“Why don’t you bend down and pick it up for me?” I teased, practically salivating at the thought of her bending over for me. She was wearing a loose V-neck top, so if she leaned over, I’d be able to see right down it.
“No,” she said, although she did bend down to pick up her own pile of stuff which she’d dropped when we bumped into each other.
I almost caught a glimpse of one of her nipples as I peered down her top, but she drew herself back up to her full height only seconds later. I was still naked, but I didn’t give a shit.
“So, you got all the way down there, and you didn’t even pick up my towel?” I said, feigning disappointment. “You’re about as useful as a chocolate teapot.”
She almost smiled at my jibe, but her twit
ching lips finally twisted into a grimace. “You’re the worst, you know that?”
“And you’re lazy. Go on, pick up the towel for me. I’m all tired from my workout,” I said, stretching my arms above my head and yawning as I watched her eyes trace the lines of my abs. “Come on, sis…be a good girl.”
Her face blanched all of a sudden, and she pushed past me with considerable strength, managing to knock me all the way over to the wall as she shoved me. That was no easy feat, seeing as I was a foot taller than her and probably twice her weight.
Jesus, what had I done wrong now? Okay, I’d been teasing her, but surely she knew I wasn’t serious. I hadn’t actually expected her to pick up the damn towel.
Oh well. If she hated me, it was her own damn problem. No skin off my nose. We might be living here together now, but we didn’t need to get along.
Nope, I didn’t care. Not one bit.
Bullshit, a tiny voice in the back of my mind told me. You care.
“Oh, shut up,” I said out loud.
Chapter 7
Lina
Living in the same house as Chase wasn’t easy, at least for me. Lily was thrilled about the new place, having lots of room to run around and play as well as a huge garden and a pool. Even Mom seemed different; more peaceful and calm.
I was the only one who felt out of place. I missed our old home, despite the fact it was musty and hot in the summer, and cold and damp in the wintertime.
However, even I had to admit I loved the luxury of having my own room after sharing a bedroom with my little sister for the past three years. I loved having some privacy. Playing with dolls was fun, but after having a Polly the Physician knockoff take your temperature for the seventeenth time, you got pretty tired of it.
The fact that Chase’s room was right next to mine didn’t help things much, though. Such a big house and yet we were stuck sharing a wall. It made me worry about every little noise I made, and I’d lie awake at night, thinking about him, waiting to hear the steady breathing that meant he’d fallen asleep.
Score - A Stepbrother Romance Page 4
