“Just do me a favor,” he said. “Try not to mention the Navy until after the wedding. Rachel and Sierra are still pretty sensitive about what happened to Sierra’s dad.”
“Killed in combat, right?”
Dad nodded. I’d never forget the look on Sierra’s face that first day of third grade when she told me her dad was dead. My entire history with Sierra was one mistake after another. While I was there, living under the same roof as her, I would try my damnedest to leave her alone.
I put my earbuds in and turned up the volume of my music. Mom didn’t like that I was going to spend some time with Dad, but I did it for her. She needed time for herself, and she had to get used to my being away. It was better to do it now than when I couldn’t get back home if I needed to.
Of course I didn’t tell her that. I couldn’t. She’d argue with me about my leaving until the end of time. But I could see the exhaustion in her eyes. She needed to start putting herself first instead of me. Every choice she had made in the past eighteen years had only been for my benefit. It was time she thought about herself. She couldn’t do that with me around. She’d be better off without me.
After we landed, Dad and I got lunch before heading to his house. I had never been to this house before, but from what I knew about how his business had grown over the last few years and the expensive Mercedes Benz he was driving, I expected it to be large.
Dad waved to the guard, who nodded as he opened the large iron gates to the community. The large homes were set back with wide lawns between them and the curb. As we turned into the driveway, I looked up at the Tuscan-style home with its golden walls and tiled roof. A three-car garage was built into the side of the house, but Dad followed the driveway around a three-tiered fountain and parked in front of the house.
As he turned off the car, he put his hand on my shoulder. “I know you’ve never stayed with me before, but this is your home and I want you to feel comfortable here,” he said. “If there’s anything you need, just ask me or Rachel.”
“Thanks, Dad. Don’t worry about me. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
I hung back, looking over the wide doorway and stone embellishes as my father walked into the house. His voice echoed in the marble foyer.
“Jagger, if you want to bring your things to your room, make a right at the top of the stairs and it’s the first door on the right,” Phil said.
The house was more than I had imagined with its marble floors and fancy staircase that curved up to a balcony. What surprised me even more was seeing Sierra. She was just as pretty as I remembered, except now she had curves that I had to force myself to not stare at.
Beside her was another girl that I thought I remembered from school, but I couldn’t pull my attention away from Sierra.
“Hey,” I said.
I had to get away from her before I said or did anything stupid. I had caused her enough grief with my jokes and pranks. This house was big enough that I could stay away from her and if not, I could call up some old friends and go out.
I can avoid her for a month.
As I passed her on the steps, I couldn’t help but take another look at her and wonder what her pouty lips would taste like. Leaving Sierra alone was going to be harder than I thought.
~ Three ~
Sierra
Issy wasn’t joking when she said she was coming over more often. In the three days since Jagger had arrived, Issy had practically moved in. I wasn’t complaining, I loved having her around, but while I wanted to avoid Jagger entirely, all she wanted to do was see him. She was out of luck though because he was never around.
“When does your mom and Phil get back from Napa?” Issy asked.
“They’ll be back tomorrow. They only went for the weekend. I think they’re going to ship some special wine or something for the wedding.”
“That’s so cool they’re flying everyone to Hawaii for the wedding.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I said, shrugging. “I keep thinking about being stuck with that asshole for an entire week.”
“Speaking of, where is he?” Issy asked frustratedly as she dropped onto my bed.
“I don’t know. I hate him, remember?”
“Just drop it already, Sierra. You really need to give him a chance. I mean, look at him. How bad can he be?”
“He’s the guy who snapped my training bra in the middle of gym class. That’s how bad he can be.”
“We were kids then. Kids are stupid, you know that.”
“Gimme a break, Issy. Being hot doesn’t make him a nice guy.”
“It also doesn’t make him a bad one.”
The roar of an engine cracked the air. As I turned towards the window, Issy jumped up and ran to look out.
“I know that car! It’s Dex,” she said. “Maybe that’s where he’s been. Maybe he’s been catching up with his old friends.”
The roar of the engine got louder and without looking, I knew the car was in the driveway.
“Ooh, I was right,” she said. “It’s Dex’s BMW M4 and Jagger is with him. They’re getting out of the car.”
“Big deal,” I said as I rolled my eyes.
“Oh come on, you said so yourself that Dex turned out to be a nice guy. And you have to admit that he has a cool car.”
It was bad enough Jagger was staying with us, the last thing I wanted was to talk about him. Unfortunately, it seemed like all Issy had on her mind. If I was lucky, I could change the conversation and maybe Jagger and Dex would disappear like Jagger had been doing every night since he got here.
“Whatever. You know I don’t give a shit about that kind of stuff. Who buys an eighteen year old a car like that anyway?” I said.
“I heard his parents didn’t want him going away to school. They offered him the car if he stayed and went to UC San Diego.”
“Still, it’s kind of excessive, don’t you think? Maybe we should head over to your house. Or go to the mall.”
Issy sighed. “I’m not stupid, you know. I know you're just trying to change the subject.”
Dammit!
“Sierra, you’re my best friend. This is one of those things that you’re supposed to do for me. I want to see Jagger. He’s only going to be here for what? A month? And you guys are going away next week for the wedding. Then you’re leaving for Greystone a couple of weeks after that, so I don’t have much time. Come on, Sierra. Please?”
Issy pouted as she batted her eyelashes at me. It was the face she always made whenever she wanted something really bad. It worked on her parents flawlessly, but I thought it made her look pathetic.
“You look ridiculous,” I said, laughing.
“Pretty pleeeeease?” she begged, sticking her bottom lip out further.
“You look like a sick fish. I can’t believe anyone falls for that face.” I shook my head as I tried to hold back more laughter. “Fine, but you owe me.”
Issy grabbed my hand and we headed down the stairs just as Dex and Jagger entered the house. Dex looked model perfect as usual with his light brown hair, sunglasses, fitted t-shirt, and jeans.
“Hey, Sierra and Issy, long time no see,” Dex said with a grin. “Jagger and I were going to hang out by the pool, wanna join us?”
“Don’t,” Jagger hissed at Dex.
Jagger, carrying a brown paper grocery bag, walked through the foyer and out to the backyard. I stared at him, hoping he felt the daggers shooting from my eyes.
“Hope you don’t mind, but I invited some people over,” Dex said.
“What do you mean?” I said, glaring at Dex. “This isn’t your house. This isn’t his house either. You can’t have a party here.”
“Come on, Sierra, relax. It’s not a party. It’s just a few old friends getting together to shoot the shit.”
As I opened my mouth to speak, the doorbell rang. Dex swung the front door open and people started streaming through the house and out to the backyard. I recognized almost everyone, and it ticked me off even more. They were all people Issy, De
x, and I went to school with. I remembered being friends with all of them when we were in grade school, but once high school started, I wasn’t “cool” enough to be in their crowd.
I folded my arms across my chest and looked out the door as a couple more cars pulled up in front of the house. Dex grinned at me before slipping his arm around my shoulders.
“Aww, you’re mad, aren’t you?” he asked. “Well, don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
He winked at me then disappeared as another group of people entered the house.
“Asshole,” I muttered as I closed the front door.
“Let’s join them,” Issy said as she grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the back of the house. “This is perfect. We can hang out with everyone and catch up on what everyone’s been up to since graduation.”
“That’s the last thing I want to do.”
“Suck it up. I’m not missing this.”
“Jagger doesn’t even want us there.”
“Then that’s too bad,” she said. “You live here.”
Issy grabbed my arm and dragged me outside. Music filled the air from Phil’s outdoor stereo system. The loud crunch of ice being poured into a cooler briefly drowned out the music.
“Oh, there’s Sandra and Jessa. I didn’t see half of these people arrive,” Issy said.
“They probably went straight to the backyard.”
“Come on, let’s go say hi.”
“No, you go ahead,” I said, looking for an excuse then remembering the cooler. “I’m going to get a drink. I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes.”
I never cared much for parties. Especially not ones I knew I’d get stuck cleaning up after. I made my way over to the cooler and popped the lid open, but all I saw was beer. Yuck! I shoved my hand deep into the ice to see if there was anything else to drink.
“I’ve got the perfect drink just for you.”
Jagger’s husky voice froze me more than the ice did. I didn’t need to look up to know it was him, I just knew. I pulled my cold hand out of the cooler and folded my arms in front of me.
“Just for me? I thought you didn’t want me here.” Asshole. Just once I wished I could say what I really felt.
“I didn’t,” he said as his eyes quickly shifted away. “But I had a feeling you’d be here anyway and wanted to give you a peace offering. Listen, I know I was a dick to you in the past, and I’m sorry about that.”
“Yeah, whatever. You just want me to let my guard down. What’s your plan? Get me drunk and then what? Humiliate me in front of everyone?”
For a moment, I felt a cool rush of satisfaction for standing up for myself, but that moment disappeared when I noticed Jagger grimace. Was I being too hard on him? Impossible! What was I thinking?
Jagger reached deep into the corner of the cooler and pulled out a gold can. He wiped it dry with the corner of his t-shirt, then handed me the can. As I took it from him, our fingers touched briefly and I looked up and met his gaze.
I couldn’t breathe. The cool blue of his eyes seemed to spread through me and into my hand, which was freezing from the can. Confused, I pulled my eyes away from his and looked down.
“Cream soda?” I asked.
“I know you like it. You drank it at my going away party. There’s a six pack in there for you. Don’t worry about any of this,” he said as he jerked his thumb towards the people. “I’ll make sure everything goes back the way it was.”
Jagger closed the lid of the cooler then walked away before I could say anything else. Not that I was going to say anything. I didn’t know what to say. The guy I spent most of my life believing was the biggest prick on the planet did something nice. The world didn’t make sense anymore.
~ Four ~
Jagger
The backyard was a mess. Everywhere I looked, there were red plastic cups and empty cans of beer. I picked up several cups, slid them into each other, and lifted the lid of the trash can. A horrible stench punched my senses. I shoved the cups into the trash and slammed the lid down.
Taking a gulp of fresh air, I turned towards where Dex had his arm around the last guest, a curvy brunette I didn’t know. Dex’s eyes met mine. He nodded in my direction and whispered something to the girl.
As I reached into the pool with the skimmer to fish out an empty bottle of vodka, Dex clasped his hand around my shoulder.
“Hey, I got this,” he said. “Ginger and I will clean up and then I’ll take her home.”
“You’re going to drive?” I said. My words slurred from a combination of drink and exhaustion.
“Yeah, I’m good. I nursed the same bottle of beer all night. I didn’t want it affecting my performance,” he said.
Dex looked over at Ginger. Her back was towards us as she jerked open a folded plastic trash bag. Dex grinned then slapped an invisible ass in front of him and thrust his hips.
“I’ve had my eye on Sierra for a while now, but Ginger will do,” he said. “Sierra was in a mood and a half tonight.”
“I didn’t notice,” I grumbled.
“You know if I were you, I’d be hitting that piece of tail every night I was under this roof. Instead you barely even looked at her tonight,” he said before pausing. “Shit, you’re going to a wedding with her. You know chicks get extra horny at weddings. Take advantage of that.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I said. “Besides, it’s pretty obvious she hates me.”
“She’s got reason to, right?” Dex laughed. “Too bad for you, good for me. Maybe I’ll take her out on a date this week.”
“Why don’t you leave her alone?”
“Why should I? You’re not going to tap that, and she’s going away to some fancy chef school soon so I’m running out of time. She’s always been on my list.”
“She’s my sister,” I said. Shut the fuck up, you asshole.
“No, she’s not. Not yet at least. And even after your parents get married, the most she is is your stepsister. I think that would make me want to fuck her even more.”
“You want to fuck my stepsister?”
My head was spinning. I sat in a nearby chair, took a deep gulp of air, and tried to make sense of Dex’s bullshit.
“Nah man. Well, yes I do, but I was just saying that I’d be all over that taboo ass if it was me.”
I shook my head as I slowly dropped it into my hands. I didn’t know if he was being serious or cutting up, but I wanted him to shut the fuck up.
“You’re looking green, Jag. Go to bed. Like I said, I got this. You let me invite all these people over, cleaning up is the least I can do.”
“Okay,” I said, standing up and surveying the mess. I didn’t want to deal with it anyway.
“I’ll give you a call tomorrow. Maybe Ginger has a friend for you.”
“Whatever. I don’t have time for a relationship. I’m going away soon.”
“Who said anything about a relationship?” Dex said with a grin.
I'd had enough. As I entered the house, I stumbled on the lip of the doorway. It wasn’t like me to drink so much, but every time an old friend came over, they brought me another beer. I couldn’t say no. That would’ve been rude.
I groaned as I entered the foyer and shielded my eyes. The fancy chandelier was too bright. I flicked the switch to turn it off and made my way up the curved staircase with the light of the moon streaming through the windows to guide me.
Once upstairs, I stopped to look down the wide hall towards my bedroom. It was too dark, but I knew turning the light on would kill my head. I tried to think about how far of a walk it was from my room to the stairs. Was it the first door or the second? I couldn’t remember.
As I made my way down the hall, I squinted and blinked to try to get my eyes to adjust faster to the darkness. I had walked about as long as I usually did to my room, so I reached out towards the wall until I felt it. Dragging my fingers along the smooth surface, I found the door. I knew it! I don’t need to se
e where I’m going. I turned the doorknob and entered.
I could barely make out the furniture in the room, but I didn’t need to. I just needed to get into bed.
I let my clothes drop to the floor as I undressed. I couldn’t believe how heavy my body felt. I was exhausted. My eyes closed briefly and I thought I smelled Sierra’s fruity shampoo.
Fucking Dex! Now I’m hallucinating.
It was because of him that I was thinking about her. Her curly red hair, her soft skin, how when she leaned forward I could see her breasts struggling in her bra. Thinking about her was making me hard. Shame I was too tired to even jack off.
I spent the past few days and definitely tonight avoiding her, and now I couldn’t stop thinking about her. It only meant one thing–I had way too much to drink.
Despite how much I tried to think of something else, my thoughts kept returning to Sierra. I replayed in my head how our fingers touched as I handed her a drink, how our eyes met for the briefest moment, and then she turned away. She probably remembered how much she hates me.
I slid into the bed and lay right on the edge. I was too tired to even move over. As I closed my eyes, the room spun until my imagination took over.
Images of Sierra flashed in my mind until I started undressing her in my dreams. I leaned closer to her and felt her soft warm skin under my hand. My hand slid to her neck and pulled her closer until our lips met. As she sighed, I slipped my tongue into her mouth. It was one of those dreams that felt real.
“What are you doing?! Get off me,” Sierra said as she shoved me hard.
My eyes flew open. Hours must have passed since I got into bed. There was enough light in the room now that I could see I was in the wrong room. Sierra was wearing a pink sleeveless nightshirt. She looked even better than in my dreams. I couldn’t stop looking at her, and it dawned on me that my lips were still warm from hers.
Guess that part wasn’t a dream.
She shot me a death stare as she pulled the blankets around herself. The sheets flew off me, leaving me naked. Her eyes widened as she stared at my hard cock. She moved further back and fell off the bed, landing with a loud thud.
Tease: A Stepbrother Romance Page 2
