Score - A Stepbrother Romance

by Daire, Caitlin

  I really didn’t get her at all. She was confusing as hell. It was like she was hot for me one minute and freezing cold the next. There seemed to be a pattern to it, though; I’d get close enough to see and feel just how turned on she was by me, and then she’d shove me away like I had leprosy before it could actually go anywhere. Women, right?

  Oh well. Nothing I could do about it. She obviously had some sort of intimacy issues, and she’d have to deal with them in her own time.

  Maybe it was because our parents were getting married. She probably felt like it was some awful, forbidden thing for us to hook up, but honestly, I didn’t get the big deal. We weren’t related, and we’d only just met, for Christ’s sake. It wasn’t like she was my adopted sister who’d grown up with me and formed a real sibling bond with me over the years. Sure, other people might think it was weird and gross, but I sure as fuck didn’t.

  My economics lecture finally ended, and I yawned and trudged out of the theatre, trying to remember if my next class was at two or two-thirty. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember. Maybe the punch I’d taken to the head during my last fight had knocked all my brain cells out. That would certainly explain my terrible memory and my current preoccupation with a girl I barely knew.

  Yup, that had to be it. Brain damage. That was my story and I was sticking to it.

  I reached into my pocket to grab a folded copy of my class schedule, and as I gazed down at it, I kept walking and then collided with someone coming in the opposite direction.

  “Shit, sorry,” I said, jerking my head up. “Wasn’t watching where…oh, it’s you.”

  Lina was standing before me. Her cheeks were flushed, just like I’d been picturing only minutes earlier…only she wasn’t half-naked, and she had an angry expression on her face. Somehow, that made me want her even more, and my cock stiffened in my pants as heat rushed to my groin. Thank God for loose jeans…

  “Why are you always bumping into me?” she complained, bending down to pick up a notebook she’d dropped.

  I grinned. “It takes two to tango, princess. We keep bumping into each other, not just me into you. So I guess we both need to watch where we’re walking…or maybe it’s a sign from the universe.”

  She slid her notebook into her tote bag and then folded her arms, looking up at me with narrowed eyes. “Oh, yeah? A sign of what? That we should give each other concussions?”

  “Maybe. Or maybe we’re just meant to be together,” I teased, although I was only half-joking.

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re about as bright as a black hole and twice as dense. How many times do I have to tell you I’m not interested?”

  My grin grew wider. “Oh, but you are. Ever heard the saying ‘actions speak louder than words’?”

  She reached up and pinched my arm. Even though she was obviously doing it as viciously as possible by her standards, it barely even stung. It was like a Chihuahua attacking a bear.

  “How’s that for an action to show how I feel about you?” she asked, fixing me with a haughty look.

  “Did you…did you seriously just pinch me? Are you six?”

  Her cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of pink. “No. I was just making a point.”

  “Poorly, I might add.”

  “Shut up.”

  She made to walk away but then turned back to me, a sheepish expression on her face. “Uhh….by the way, where’s the Bayliss Building?”

  “Oh, so you need my help now? Tsk, tsk.”

  “Forget it. I’ll find it myself.”

  She turned around again, and I grabbed her arm. “Wait, no. I was kidding. Hold on, I’ll draw you a little map. Bayliss is kinda hard to find.”

  “Thanks,” she said softly. Despite her uncharacteristic gratefulness, she brushed her sleeve off where I’d touched her as if I were a known carrier of the Bubonic plague.

  I grabbed a pen out of my pocket and scribbled down a crude map for her on a spare piece of paper. As I drew it, she shuffled nervously in her spot before finally speaking up again. “So…are you still doing that whole illegal fight thingy?”

  “Fight thingy?” I said, arching an eyebrow.

  “You know what I mean. The fights you do. I mean, it’s all a big secret, right?”

  “Yeah, for obvious reasons. My Dad and all.”

  “Right. So are you still doing it?”

  “Yeah, although the next one isn’t for two weeks.”

  “I see.”

  “Wanna come?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “No. I don’t think it’s really my kinda thing. I don’t even understand why you do it.”

  I leaned closer, making a big show of sliding the map I’d drawn for her into her front jacket pocket. “So what is your thing?” I asked, my face only inches from hers.

  “I don’t know,” she mumbled.

  She looked like she was about to say something else, but we were distracted by the arrival of a friend of mine, Brett Gedei, who’d been walking past and just spotted me.

  “Hey, man! Haven’t seen you around much,” he said, slapping my shoulder.

  “Yeah, been keeping pretty busy,” I replied. “How’s it going?”

  “Same old, same old,” he replied. His eyes were no longer on me; they were slowly roaming over Lina, looking her up and down like she was a piece of meat.

  Instinctively, I took a step closer to her, and he grinned. “So who’s this? Finally got yourself a girlfriend?”

  “Nah, she’s my…”

  He cut me off. “Oh, wait, I saw something in the papers. You’re the new stepsister, right?” he said, still staring at her.

  “Not yet,” I replied before she could answer. “Our parents aren’t married yet.”

  “Right. Well, I’m Brett,” he said, holding out a hand to Lina. “Old friend of your new brother.”

  She shook it, giving him a shy smile, and Brett finally looked back at me.

  “Anyway, I was gonna text you. I’m having a party at my place this weekend. Friday night. You in?”

  “Sure,” I replied. I didn’t have a fight this weekend, and going to a party would be a good way for me to blow off steam. I could ditch the healthy diet for the night, have a few beers, and hopefully find some girl to bury my cock in and take my mind off Lina for once.

  “What about you?” he asked, looking at Lina again. “If you’re not busy, you should come too!”

  My hands coiled into fists by my sides as I pictured her showing up at the party. No. Fucking. Way.

  I knew most of the guys who went to Brett’s shindigs, and I knew exactly what they were like. They went to the parties hoping to do just two things: get fucked up, and find a girl to fuck. I didn’t want Lina going anywhere near that kind of scene. She was too innocent, too vulnerable. She’d be easy prey for a sleazy jackoff.

  She probably wouldn’t want to go, anyway. She didn’t seem like the type of girl who liked to party all that much, so I guess my worries were needless.

  But even as I thought that, I saw her nod and smile. “Sure,” she said. “I don’t really know anyone on campus yet, so that’d be fun.”

  “Yeah, you can meet some new college folks, have a few drinks,” Brett said, flashing her what I assumed he thought was a panty-melting smile. “So you’re a freshman, huh?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  The thought of her hooking up with Brett made my stomach roil, even though he wasn’t the worst kind of guy out there. He was actually pretty decent, but still…no way was I gonna let him sleaze onto Lina.

  He looked back at me. “All right, well you know my address. I’ve gotta run now, but I’ll see you guys there on Friday. Oh, and it was nice to meet you, Lina.”

  He winked and then strode away, and I narrowed my eyes at Lina. “You’re not going.”

  “Huh?”

  “To that party. You’re not going. No way.”

  She crossed her arms. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes. I don’t want you hanging around people like tha
t.”

  “You mean people like you?” she asked.

  “Er…yeah, I guess. It’s not safe.”

  “Please,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “You just don’t want me to steal your friends. But don’t worry, I’m sure they have enough room in their hearts for the both of us.”

  She placed her hand over her heart as she spoke, her voice tinged with sarcasm, and an idea finally struck me.

  “Fine. You can go. I’ll text you the address, but you’ll have to find your own way there. I’ve got something to do on Friday before the party, so I can’t drive you.”

  Like hell I was going to give her the right address. I’d give her one on the other side of town, and she’d think it had been cancelled when she showed up and found a quiet, empty street.

  “Fine. I wasn’t going to ask you to take me anyway,” she said. “I do have other friends, you know. I’ll invite them, and we’ll drive there together.”

  “Okay, cool. I’ll see you at home later, sis.”

  “Bye, bro.”

  She strolled away without another word. On the one hand, I hated watching her walk away from me, but on the other hand…by God, did I love staring at that ass…

  * * *

  Friday arrived quickly, and I spent the early evening hanging out with Tripp at his place. If I stayed at home, then Lina might see me leave, and if she happened to be leaving at the same time, she’d realize I’d given her the wrong address.

  Oh man, she was gonna give me hell when she realized what I’d done, but it was for her own good. She’d make friends at college eventually, and hopefully they’d be the decent kind of friends, not the sort who tried to make her do multiple keg-stands so they could get her wasted and take advantage of her.

  Sometimes I wondered why I even hung out with the people I did, but then I remembered that I was just like them. At least I had been, once upon a time. I’d definitely never been the kinda guy who only thought about one girl, but look at me now…

  I headed to the party at eight-thirty, and as I stepped into Brett’s house, I saw that it was already in full swing. Heavy bass pounded from the speakers on the side of the lounge room, almost making the whole house vibrate, and scantily-clad girls had themselves draped over the arms of guys in shirts with popped collars. Jesus, when did that look come back in style?

  I grabbed a beer and headed over to a group of guys I knew, and as I caught up with my buddies, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye.

  I’d recognize that ass anywhere.

  It was Lina. She’d just stepped into the room, and she was surveying the place with a confident gleam in her eyes. It was nice to see her coming out of her shell a bit, but what the hell was she doing here?

  She turned and saw me, and a cheeky smile turned up the corners of her lips.

  “Excuse me for a sec,” I said to my friends before striding over to her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  She feigned an innocent expression. “Huh? I was invited. You were there when Brett asked me, remember?” she said.

  “I also remember giving you the wrong address.”

  She gave me a sweet smile. “I’m not as dumb as you think. I knew you’d give me the wrong address, and besides, Brett added me on Facebook. So I asked him for the right address.”

  “Right. So where are all your little friends?”

  “They had to go to some other thing. I’m probably going to meet up with them later, but I thought I’d check out this party first.”

  My eyes narrowed. “So you drove here yourself? In that case, I’m not letting you have even one single drink.”

  It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to have fun, I just didn’t want her wrapping her car around a streetlight later on tonight.

  She rolled her eyes. “I got an Uber, don’t worry. Stop being so protective.”

  “Whatever. I still don’t want you drinking.”

  “Okay, big brother,” she said. “Whatever you say.”

  She spotted Brett on the other side of the room and waved, and I grabbed her arm. “Look, just be careful, okay?”

  “I will,” she said with an exasperated sigh.

  She turned away but then looked back at me. “Oh, and Chase? You totally thought I wouldn’t be able to come and have fun, what with you giving me the wrong address and all, but I outsmarted you anyway,” she said with a gleeful expression. “And I’m going to have fun. So I guess that’s score one for me…”

  I couldn’t help but smile as she walked away. So she wanted to play a game with me, huh? Well, game on…

  Chapter 9

  Lina

  Today, I felt good. I was good. A silly smile was plastered on my face as I walked into the party house, and as soon as I spotted Chase, I made sure he knew I’d scored against him in our silly little battle of wits. His subsequent grin and nod of approval made me feel even better. I knew I was being childish, but hey, I was only eighteen, and you only get to be young once, right?

  For so long now, I’d been feeling insecure and downtrodden; something indiscernible weighing heavily on my shoulders. But tonight, I’d left all my worries at home. If I didn’t know exactly what was bothering me, then what was the point in stressing about it all the time?

  I’d spent an hour getting ready; something totally unusual for me. For my outfit, I’d settled on a cute red dress with a skater skirt and a pair of black ankle boots. The dress was from Goodwill, and the boots were years old, but I still thought the outfit looked cute. It made me feel good, anyway, and that’s what really mattered.

  At first, I’d been a little scared about not fitting in with the crowd at this party, but I’d tried not to let it bother me all that much as I entered the house and scanned the main room. Landon and Michaela had somewhere else to be at the moment, and they’d apologized profusely about not coming with me, but they’d be free in two hours anyway, so if the party ended up being a total bust, I could meet up with them later.

  I’d been scared about not fitting in over nothing. As soon as my talk with Chase was over, I spoke to Brett for a minute, and then a few acquaintances from class waved me over. I approached shyly at first, but within a few moments, I was chatting away and feeling more relaxed than ever.

  “Did you see Professor Denver’s presentation on cell biology?” a classmate called Rebecca snickered at me. “She uploaded the wrong thing, and there was a photo from her vacation in the slideshow. She’s sooo drunk in it.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I giggled as well. “I haven’t logged on to the site yet, but that’s hilarious. I hope she’s not too embarrassed...”

  “She’s drinking a cocktail the size of my head and wearing a luau outfit in the pic!”

  Rebecca was laughing her head off and I soon joined in. The notion of my strict, frumpy professor on a booze-fueled vacay in Hawaii really was something.

  I kept chatting to my new group of friends, and every time someone offered me a drink, I politely declined. While most people my age would’ve been happy to accept a beer, I wasn’t having it. Getting wasted at someone else’s house and vomiting into a flowerbed wasn’t really my style, and besides, something about the idea of being drunk made me feel like I was perilously close to losing control of everything. I had no idea why that was, though. I’d been like this for what seemed like forever. Maybe I was just a control freak?

  “How’s college treating you, Lina?”

  I looked up at George, a guy I’d sat next to a few times in some of my lectures. He was a nice guy. He’d even let me borrow his notes when I’d accidentally spilled coffee all over mine—something I’d been told was almost unheard of in college.

  “It’s…different,” I replied with a smile. “But I’m really, really enjoying it.”

  He beamed at me and my smile reflected his.

  I finally fit in. I didn’t stand out like a sore thumb; something I’d been so afraid would happen amidst my privileged classmates. They were all loaded, from rich and influential famili
es, and I was poor little Lina Diaz, broke and always badly dressed.

  Except I wasn’t anymore, was I?

  In only a few months, I would be the stepdaughter of a successful politician, and I’d be just as well taken care of as the rest of them. Even in recent weeks, Peter had regaled me with offers to take me shopping, but I’d declined every single time.

  I needed time to adjust. I was still me, and no amount of money could ever change that, but for once, I was comfortable in my own skin…and it felt really good.

  Throughout our chat, I kept glancing around the room, my eyes betraying my cool exterior and trying to find Chase. He was mingling, talking to anyone and everyone. Every so often, though, I’d catch his gaze and we’d make eye contact, and then he would give me the most delicious smile, the corner of his lips turning up slightly. Like it was just for me…

  I was grinning like a fool within an hour, feeling better than I had in ages.

  I’d just finished my Coke, and I excused myself to go to the kitchen for a refill. The party was definitely fun, and while there was some crazy stuff going on—I’d seen several keg stands, which made me feel like I was in a movie—I still felt safe.

  I was just about to head into the kitchen when I spotted some frames on the wall. I approached them with a grin on my face, realizing Chase was in one of the photos, his hand around Brett’s shoulders as they grinned at the camera.

  I stopped to look at the shot as a warm and tingly feeling filled my stomach. It made me smile to see him so happy. He seemed so on edge at times, especially around his Dad.

  Remembering my intentions to get a refill, I headed for the kitchen again. The music was a little softer here, and I appreciated it. The heavy drum and bass in the other room had been starting to make my head pound.

  Heading inside the room, I spotted a few girls I’d seen around the halls on campus. They seemed like your typical popular gang; pretty, tall and willowy, each with her own designer purse and expensive outfit to boot. Their highlights alone probably cost more than my entire wardrobe.