Stepbrother by jewel crotan (classic romance novels TXT) 📖

on his chin. “You think I left because I wanted to?”

“That’s exactly what you did!” I said. “You packed up your shit in the middle of the night and left like some kind of coward.” I remembered the day he left, remembered waking up in the morning, waiting for him to come downstairs. I’d made him brunch – scrambled eggs and bacon, raisin bread with cream cheese on top, just like he liked. When he didn’t show up, I’d gone upstairs to get him out of bed. But his room was empty. All his stuff – his computer, his clothes, everything… was gone.

“Jesus, Avery,” he said, his eyes blazing with emotion, his face finally losing that cocky, controlled look. “I didn’t leave because I wanted to. I left because I had to.”

“Whatever,” I said. I didn’t want to hear his dumb excuses. Not because I didn’t believe them, but because I was afraid I would believe them. And I couldn’t get sucked into his BS again. I would never, ever trust him again, no matter what he said. “Can I take a shower or what?”

“The guest bathroom’s down the hall, second door on the right,” he said. “I’ll get you a t-shirt and sweatpants until Kalia gets here with your stuff.”

He left and returned a moment later with a crisply folded t-shirt and a pair of navy sweatpants.

“Thank you,” I said, accepting them.

But when I got into the bathroom, I was faced with a problem. I wasn’t supposed to get my splint wet. I also was having a little trouble moving my arm up over my head, and I needed to wash my hair.

I returned to the living room.

Cole was sitting one of his huge leather couches, his laptop open on the table in front of him.

He was lazily surfing through the channels on the flat screen TV mounted on the wall, going back and forth between different football games.

“What’s wrong?” he asked when he saw me.

“Nothing, I’m just going to have to skip the shower.”

“Why?”

“It’s too hard with my wrist.”

He turned the TV off and looked at me. “I’ll help you.”

I shook my head. “No,” I said. “That’s okay, I’ll just… I mean, I can wait.”

“Until when? A week from now when your splint comes off?”

I shrugged. “I’ll figure something out.” I didn’t want to tell him that there was no way I was going to be staying here for a week, that I was probably going to go home tomorrow after giving Gordon a little time to cool off, and that once I got back there, my mom could help me shower.

“That’s ridiculous.” Cole stood up and tossed the remote onto the couch. “Come on.”

I followed him into the bathroom, my heart pounding as he reached into the mosaic-tiled shower and turned the water on.

“Just take off your sweatshirt,” he said. “You can shower in your bikini.” He reached up and pulled his shirt off in one fluid motion, and I almost gasped out loud. One, because it was so unexpected. And two, because his body was beautiful. Cole had always been gorgeous, had always had a cut body and flat stomach, but he’d filled out a lot since I’d last seen him.

His shoulders were broad and strong, the muscles so defined they looked like they could cut glass. The planes of his chest were smooth and gorgeous, his ab muscles a chiseled six-pack that disappeared into the perfect V of his hips. A line of hair ran from his belly button and disappeared into his pants.

“You can’t get in wearing those pants,” I said. “You’ll wreck them.”

He shrugged and pulled them off, so that he was in just his boxers.

I blushed and looked away.

“Don’t look so bashful, Avery,” he said, grinning at my discomfort. “You’ve seen me this way millions of times.”

It was true. Growing up in the same house with someone, it was inevitable. Especially when your house was the kind of house where something could be going down at any moment, the kind of house where you might have to wake up in the middle of the night and rush out into the hallway to deal with whatever it was that was happening.

“I’m not embarrassed,” I said, rolling my eyes. But my legs felt wobbly as I climbed into the shower. The hot water hit my shoulders and I put my head under the spray, letting it flow over me, washing away the nightmare that had been the day.

I felt Cole getting in behind me, and his chest pushed against my back as his reached for the shampoo that was on the hanging shelf over the showerhead. His body felt warm, even warmer than the water that was sliding over my skin.

I glanced over my shoulder and watched as he squeezed the shampoo into his hands, working it into a lather before putting it on my hair. His hands moved over me, and I leaned back into him, loving the feel of his skin against mine, his touch as he massaged my scalp, how strong and big he felt behind me.

“Careful,” he said, pulling me back toward him. “Don’t get your wrist wet.”

“I won’t.” My heart was pounding, my pulse racing. I remembered now why I hated him so much – it wasn’t just because he’d left us. It was because I wanted him. I wanted him in a way I knew I could never have him.

That’s crazy, Avery. He’s your stepbrother, and even if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be interested in someone like you. He’d gorgeous and rich and he could have any woman he wanted.

Cole reached up and grabbed the shower head, pulling it down and guiding it over me, until all the shampoo was rinsed from my hair. He replaced the showerhead and grabbed a bottle of strawberry body wash off the shelf.

“Body wash, Cole?” I teased. “Really?”

“It’s for guests,” he said.

“Oh.” Guests. Women. Women who spent the night with him. I wondered if he’d been in the shower with any of them, imagined him pushing one of them up against the wall, the water sliding off their bodies as he slammed his cock into her.

I took a step away from him.

“I can’t…. I mean, I can do it.” I turned around and held my hand out for the body wash.

There was a drop of water on his bottom lip, his hair damp from the steam. His blue eyes locked on mine, and for a second, I thought he was going to protest, was going to insist he be allowed to help. I imagined his hands moving over my body, untying my bikini top, his hands grabbing at my breasts, his mouth on mine, our tongues exploring each other.

“You sure?” Cole’s eyes slid down over my body, taking in my wet bikini which I knew he could see right through.

He leaned in close to me, his breath against my ear. “I don’t know if you should do it by yourself.” His voice was husky, almost like he was turned on and wanted an excuse to touch me. But that was impossible. Wasn’t it?

I opened my mouth to answer, not sure I was strong enough to resist him touching me.

But the doorbell rang then.

And just like that, the spell was broken.

Cole reached over and set the body wash back down on the shelf.

He grabbed a towel that was hanging on the rack and got out of the shower. I tried not to stare as he dried himself off.

He left the bathroom without saying anything, and I finished my shower, taking extra care not to get my wrist wet.

When I was done, I dressed in his t-shirt and sweatpants, inhaling the scent of his laundry detergent. It smelled like Cole, and I smiled when I realized that even though he was a big shot businessman now, he still used the same laundry detergent we did.

When I got into the hallway, I could hear voices coming from the living room.

“Jesus, Cole,” a girl was saying. “This is low, even for you.”

“Relax, Kalia,” Cole said, and I heard the rustling of bags. “This shit is for my sister.”

“You sister?” Kalia said, sounding relieved. The two of them passed through the living room to the kitchen, and I caught a glimpse of them as they walked by the hallway. Kalia was exactly how I pictured her. Tall, skinny, blonde, beautiful. She was wearing a tiny black miniskirt and pair of high stiletto shoes. She looked effortless and put-together, her hair hanging in a shiny curtain down her back. “Why didn’t you say that? I didn’t know you had a sister.”

The bitter taste of disappointment filled my mouth. Not only was Cole obviously fucking his assistant, but he hadn’t even bothered to mention me to her. It was like he’d just traded one life for another, not even thinking about us at all. I wasn’t surprised, but the rejection sill burned.

“Well, I do and she’s going to be staying here for a while.”

“So does that mean I won’t be spending the night?”

“Kalia, I’m not getting into that right now.” Cole’s voice made it clear that the subject wasn’t up for discussion, and I smiled. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt some kind of competition with this girl, and the fact that Cole wasn’t going to talk to her felt like a win.

“Fine,” Kalia said, sounding like it was anything but.

She stormed out the door, slamming it behind her.

A second later, Cole started down the hallway.

“Wow,” I said. “You let your assistant talk to you like that?”

“Go to bed, Avery,” he said, storming past me. “You’ve had a rough day. The guest room is across the hall.” And with that, he disappeared into a room at the end of the hall, closing the door behind him.



***



The guest room was big and elegant, with a tray ceiling and a king-sized bed with a memory foam mattress and the silkiest sheets I’d ever felt. It was a far cry from the bed I had at home, a twin with a stained mattress covered in mismatched sheets and broken springs poking into me whenever I turned.

I thought I’d have a hard time falling asleep, since I was in a strange place and since my wrist had started throbbing, but I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I dreamt I was back home, and Cole was there. There was a pool in our backyard, even though we didn’t have a pool and never had. I was wearing the same white bikini I’d been wearing all day today, and Cole was chasing me around in the water, splashing me playfully.

When he finally caught me, I giggled and tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but he held me tight.

“Avery,” he whispered. “I love you.” His lips started toward mine, and I closed my eyes and waited for his kiss.

But then, out of nowhere, there was the sound of gunshots. Cole got hit in the chest, and his blood spurted onto my skin. I screamed and turned around, yelling at whoever was shooting to stop.

But there was no one there.

The bullets kept coming, as if out of thin air, hitting Cole over and over again until the water turned red and his body slumped over the side of the pool, lifeless.

I screamed and screamed and screamed.

“Avery, Avery,” Cole said, shaking me awake. “Avery, wake up.”

I sat up in bed, gasping for breath.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it was just a dream.” He pulled me close to him, and I was shocked to realize I was crying.

“You were dead,” I said. “We were in a pool and you were dead.”

“I’m not,” he said, rubbing small circles on my back. “I’m right here. I’m right here.”

He rocked me back