Match: A Stepbrother Romance (10 page)

“Yes. We’re having dinner.”

“Just dinner?”

“Uh-huh. But we might come back here and watch a movie afterwards.”

She obviously wasn’t going to listen to anything negative I had to say about the guy, and at that moment, a brilliant plan struck me. “All right, have it your way. If you wanna go out with a total jackass, be my guest,” I said, suppressing the grin that was beginning to quirk my lips up at the corners. “And really…feel free to bring him back here tonight. I’m sure he’d
love
to watch a movie here. We’ve got that new seventy inch LCD screen in the den.”

She gave me a strange look, obviously wondering why I was suddenly so keen on her bringing a guy back to the house.
All part of the plan…

“He’s not a jackass. I think you’re mistaking him with someone else,” she said, jabbing her little fingers into my chest. “
Yourself.
You’re the only jackass I know right now.”

With that, she pushed harder on my chest until I was all the way out of her room, and then she shut the door on my face. I let her. She was too damn cute to fight it.

I grinned like an idiot and went to my own room, my plan still forming in my mind. All I had to do was wait until she came home from her date…

***

“Where the fuck are you, man?” Ryan yelled over the music on his end of the line as soon as I answered my ringing cell phone.

“Hey, I’m not gonna make it there tonight after all. Sorry. I’m a little caught up here,” I said as I balanced my phone between my ear and shoulder and sneaked into Sasha’s room. It had been two and a half hours since she’d left for her dinner date with Jason, so she could return any minute.

“Caught up with what? Who are you with? Chelsea is here, by the way,” Ryan said.

I hated that he was so inquisitive, especially now that he was connecting me with Chelsea. I really didn’t want to hear that right now.

“You know Chelsea and I aren’t together, right?”

“Yeah, I know, man. Just sayin’, if you want an easy lay…she’s here.”

“Not an easy lay anymore,” I said with a grin. “My stepsister made damn sure of that. She told her I sleepwalk and murder people while doing so.”

“Wait…is that why Chelsea looked kinda frightened when I told her you might be dropping by tonight?”

“Probably. Either way, she’s out of the picture for good, so thank fuck for that.”

Ryan snorted with laughter. “Your stepsister sounds hilarious. Anyway, who are you hanging out with right now? Her?”

“Nah. Just an old friend who’s come into town,” I lied, reclining on Sasha’s bed. The cream-colored bedspread had a gold brocade pattern along the edges, and I felt a twinge of sadness as I remembered where it came from. My Mom had picked it out years ago, back when she and my father had been thinking about having another baby. She’d really wanted a girl, so she’d gone and bought a few girly-looking bedroom things in case her wish was granted.

At least they were being used now. That was some small comfort to me. Plus, I was sure my Mom would’ve liked Sasha, and wherever she was now, she’d be happy that the room she’d started decorating was finally being used by a girl like her.

I ended the call with Ryan and switched on the lamp that sat on the bedside table. I didn’t let Ryan’s mention of Chelsea sour my mood, because what I had up my sleeve for tonight was way more thrilling than hanging out at a party which was bound to be the same as every other one; filled with booze, girls and trashy one-night stands. For once I didn’t want any of those.

What I truly wanted was Sasha.

The memory of the way her full tits had bounced under her tank top today, and the way her perky ass filled her cut-off jeans so sexily made my dick stir in my pants before standing to attention. I reached down into my pants and began slowly stroking myself, groaning as I closed my eyes and imagined Sasha totally naked, and just as I was picturing her moaning and grinding on my cock, I heard the sound of a car engine outside.

They were here.

Earlier, Sasha had mentioned the possibility of inviting Jason in to watch a movie, so I was quite sure they’d both be coming inside. Besides, even if she didn’t ask him in, I knew exactly what Jason was like, and I was willing to bet a million dollars that he’d have wormed his way into Sasha’s affections enough to get inside some other way. After that, he’d try putting the moves on her, and there was no way I wanted her sleeping with a prick like that.

I got up and rushed towards the window, peeking through the curtains. Yep, it was Jason’s car. Sasha stepped out a moment later, and in her skintight black jeans and beige jacket, she looked drop-dead gorgeous. Jason got out of the car too, and I heard him saying something along the lines of, ‘
You should’ve let me open the door for you.’

Oh, what a perfect gentleman.

I wondered if he also opened the door for girls when he was kicking them out after a one-night stand. Probably not.

He walked over to Sasha with a charming smile plastered on his face, and I wondered if he was going to kiss her. My fingers curled into a tight fist and my face hardened. I didn’t like Sasha being so close to him, and I definitely didn’t like the idea of her kissing him. I wondered if she would even want to kiss him if she knew those lips of his had been on almost every sorority girl on campus at one point.

Sasha gave him a shy smile of her own, and then I heard him inviting himself in for ‘a tour of the house’.

Wow.
Subtle, Jason.

Sasha looked nervous for a second but then nodded. “Sure. Maybe we can watch a movie afterwards?”

“I’d rather watch you, babe,” he replied. My eyes almost rolled right out of my head at that.
And the winner of worst sleazy line of the year is….Jason Lowry!

They both headed towards the front door and disappeared from view. Grinning, I pulled off my shirt and pants, grabbed a pair of novelty handcuffs I’d bought as a joke years ago, and then I reclined on the bed again, clad only in boxer shorts.

I heard Jason and Sasha’s voices all the way from downstairs. “Nice kitchen and lounge room. Your stepfather has good taste. By the way, what’s your room like?” Jason said.

Again…how subtle.

“Oh, you don’t want to see my room,” Sasha said, sounding even more nervous. “It’s really messy.”

“Of course I do,” Jason said, his voice as smooth as butter. “I don’t care if it’s messy. I just wanna see that vintage stamp collection you told me about at dinner.”

Stamp collection? Ha. Sasha was so adorably nerdy.

“Well, okay. I guess I can show you for a minute,” Sasha said.

I heard their footsteps approaching the bedroom door, and then the knob turned.

“So, this is your room, huh? I…”

Jason began to speak, but his sentence abruptly ended when he saw me on the bed. Sasha’s mouth dropped open, and she gave me such a look of shocked fury that I honestly thought I’d turn into a pillar of salt.

I feigned a surprised expression and waved at them with one hand, dangling the handcuffs from the other. “Hey, Sash, I didn’t know you were bringing Jason over tonight,” I said in the most innocent voice I could muster up. “We said we’d discuss orgies beforehand, remember? But it’s okay, I’ve got enough for everyone. Are we filming this one, by the way?”

Speaking of filming, I desperately wished I had a camera right now to capture the expression on Sasha’s face.

“Logan, what the…”

She was cut off by Jason. “What the fuck, Sasha? You brought me up here for a threesome with your stepbrother?”

“I…no! Of course not! I didn’t…”

Jason held his hands up, cutting her off again. “Fuck this, I’m outta here. I had no idea you were into this kinda stuff. I gotta give you credit, though, you played the innocent card really well.”

“Jason, it’s not what you think. It’s just Logan being a friggin’ asshole!”

Sasha tried to explain, but Jason had already dashed out of the room and was probably running to his car at full speed by now. Sasha ran out of the room as well, and I heard muffled voices coming from downstairs near the front door before Jason’s car started up and took off.

Sasha stormed back upstairs a few minutes later, her face like thunder.

“Do you think that was actually funny?” she said. Her face was red with rage. “You
ruined
my night! He’ll probably never speak to me again!”

I picked up my shirt and pulled it back on as she continued her tirade. “How dare you do this to me? What the hell is your problem? God knows what he’ll tell everyone tomorrow...ugh, I’m seriously going to kill you!”

“Look, Jason’s a fucking dick, Sasha. He’s not worth your effort and time. Save it for someone better,” I said, trying to excuse my behavior. I was actually starting to feel bad for ruining her night, though. As much as I couldn’t stand Jason, she’d obviously been excited to be with him, and now that I was thinking about it, I really had taken the prank too far.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re way more of a dick than him. Let me decide for myself who’s worth my time and who’s not. And stay the hell out of my way from now on,” she hissed.

I stood up and approached her. “I might be a dick, but he’s worse, trust me. That guy is nothing but a sleazeball jerk who would’ve broken your heart,” I said.

“And what about you? You wouldn’t do the same to me?” she asked.

She clapped a hand over her mouth a second later, as if she knew she’d said something she shouldn’t have. She kept staring at me, shaking with rage, and then she turned and stormed back out of the room.

Fuck. I’d really screwed things up now, and she’d probably never speak to me again. But what had she meant when she said those last words of hers?
You wouldn’t do the same to me?
Was she saying she thought I’d break her heart? If so, there was only one reason she would’ve ever considered that—she’d actually thought about being with me. Jesus.

I knew it wasn’t the right time to go after her, so I watched her walk away as I contemplated my next move to try and get her to be mine.

Absolutely nothing came to mind.

Chapter 9

Sasha

Asshole. Asshole. Asshole.

I wanted to scream until my head exploded. Logan had driven me crazy tonight…absolutely bitch-crazy. I’d actually had to leave the house and hang out in the backyard near the pool to cool off, because I was so mad that I knew I’d probably kick him to death if I stayed inside. The stunt he’d pulled was beyond any kind of justification.

However, what surprised—and embarrassed—me the most was that when I’d seen him shirtless and lying on my bed, I’d been unbelievably turned on.  My first reaction had been a physical sensation of heat and wetness exploding between my legs, and for a few seconds, I’d almost forgotten Jason was with me. It was a sight I’d never forget—Logan Ryder, half-naked and in my bed.

Get a grip, Sasha! He humiliated you,
I told myself.

I’d had a fairly decent time with Jason at dinner. I hadn’t felt much of a spark between us—not like the spark I’d once felt with Logan—but it was early days yet, and I’d been looking forward to spending some more time with him and seeing where things led between us…before Logan had gone and messed it all up.

No. He can’t just walk in and ruin everything in my life.

I’d had enough. He’d screwed up whatever chance I had with Jason, and now I wanted a real explanation from him. Earlier, he’d given me some half-assed crap about Jason being a douche, and that wasn’t good enough.

Determined, I stormed back into the house and rapped on Logan’s bedroom door. He opened it only seconds later.

“Why did you do that?” I asked, barging into his room.

He rubbed his chin and looked at me with a bemused expression on his handsome face. “Look, I’m sorry. Really. I know I went too far. Maybe not as far as a snake in the shower, but definitely too far.”

“Well, thanks for the apology, but I asked you why you did it,” I said, narrowing my eyes and ignoring his joke about the snake prank.

“I told you already. When I say he’s not good for you, please take my word for it. I know that guy, Sasha. I’ve seen him fuck over dozens of girls. He acts all sweet and loving at first, and then the minute he gets sex...he’s out of there for good. I know I was a dick, but I also know I’m saving you from getting hurt by a person who doesn’t deserve your feelings,” he said. “Think about it…if he hadn’t tried to get up in your bedroom tonight, I wouldn’t have been able to screw it up for you by being in there, would I?”

I absolutely
hated
to admit it…but he actually had a point. Jason had been pushing hard to get into my bedroom earlier tonight, and deep down, I’d known his excuse about wanting to see my childhood stamp collection had been bullcrap. I’d pushed aside those feelings at the time because I’d wanted so badly to believe he was right for me.

I didn’t want to give Logan the satisfaction of knowing that, though.

“Then who is good enough for me, Logan? Does a guy have to be the king of the universe for you to think he’s good enough?”

My eyes widened as he grabbed my arms. “No,” he growled. “He just has to be me.”

“Y...you?” I choked out.

“Yes. I mean, maybe I’m not good enough for you, because in all likelihood no one is. But contrary to what you think, I care about you and that’s why I pulled that stunt. I didn’t want you to get hurt, all right? I’m not saying I‘m better than other guys. But I am saying that I’d never fucking cheat on you or hurt you. Ever.”

I stood there in shock, staring up at him. Where the hell had that speech come from? He actually liked me? He cared about me and thought I was too good for any man in the world? This was the first I was hearing about it.

“Logan, I…”

I didn’t even know what to say. He must’ve read my mind, because he took a step closer to me and then spoke again. “You don’t need to say anything. You can just walk away if you’d like to, and if you want, we’ll pretend like none of this ever happened. I can respect that. But if you stay, you’re gonna have to deal with the fact that I’m about to kiss you.”

My mouth instantly dried up, and my panties did the exact opposite.

“So, you have about three seconds to walk away. Three….two…”

Logan inched closer with each word, and by the time he reached the number one, I knew what my decision would be.

I was staying.

Before I could change my mind, his lips were on mine and he was kissing me with fiery passion as wanton need exploded between my legs. His mouth moved roughly against mine, tongue dancing with my own as it slid between my lips, and I moaned into his mouth. God, this was wrong. Our parents were out at yet another political event, and they could be home any minute. They could catch us doing
this
any minute.

Screw it.

I let go of the thoughts and kept kissing him back like crazy; channeling all my anger towards him into the embrace.

His hands slid up, resting on the sides of my face, and his kiss became softer, as if he wanted to savor my mouth—like he was afraid this would be the one and only time we kissed
.
I let my hands roam over his strong muscular back, and he muttered as I stroked and caressed his warm skin.

“Fuck…you taste like heaven,” he muttered as we broke the kiss and tried to catch our breath only moments later.

His lips stayed close to my skin, and his hands traced down my back as he pulled me closer to him. I looked into his eyes, dilated and burning with desire, and I could practically see myself naked in his pupils.

Oh god…this was really happening.

I was about to sleep with my stepbrother.