PRINCE CHARMING: A Secret Baby Stepbrother Romance (33 page)

I nodded. He was so great at getting away with shit!

“Don’t forget your purse and phone,” he said, giving me both.

He left me by myself, and I quietly opened the exit door. True to his word, there was a dark stairway. I waited for a bit before hearing his deep voice mixed in with my parents.

Ashton:
Come down.

I scurried down the stairs. The stairway led me straight to the front entrance. I couldn’t see our parents or Ash, so they were probably in the dining room. I opened and closed the front door of the house to make it seem like I had walked in and strutted over to them.

“Hi, hon! Wish you would have told me about the allergies. We were just at the store,” Mom said.

“No problem. I liked walking. Taking a break from the dusting, you know?”

On the table was an array of cold-cuts and chips. I was starving. We grabbed our food and sat at the table, at first a bit too close together. I made it a point to distance myself from them. I hoped my mother didn’t notice, but when I looked up, I saw a slightly puzzled expression on her face. Did she suspect something? How come she couldn’t always be oblivious?

I cleared my throat and said, “New York was great last night.”

“Yeah, Ash said he went with you after,” Gary said.

“We checked out Times Square and had a blast,” Ash lied.

I had never lied so much in my entire life. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not, but the alternative was worse.

I can’t let my mom find out I am fooling around with Ash,
I thought, scolding myself. I stuffed my mouth full of food, trying to give myself a good reason not to talk. Ash went on and on about how the mechanics did a shitty job in the bathroom.

As I watched him talking, I was filled with admiration. He was such an impressive man, great in bed
and great at fixing things. A warm feeling came over me, one I’d never felt before. It was a mixture of tenderness and arousal. I realized I might be in love with him. This wasn’t good.

I looked down at my wrist, which was still a bit sore from that asshole at the bar. Love hurt, and the things you did for it hurt even more.

AMY

My mother looked beautiful. Her hair was done up in curls, and she wore an elegant white wedding dress I helped her pick out. The top was embroidered with rhinestones and lace, and the back of it was so long she needed two flower girls to carry it. My little cousins were those flower girls, their cheeks rosy and eyes hopeful.

“When I was a little girl, I always dreamed of getting married,” I said to Sarah, who sat next to me. She’d come down for the wedding, and I was so grateful to have her here.

“Me too,” she said, giggling.

Sarah also looked beautiful. She wore a pale blue dress, and her hair was curled. I had straightened my hair and wore one of the pink bridesmaids outfits my mom picked out for me.

The bed and breakfast was dressed up, too. Ash and I had spent hours decorating it with pink ribbons and lace. Well, it only took hours because we spent so much time having sex in between. We didn’t only volunteer to do it because we cared; we knew it would be one of the few times we could be alone together.

I tried not to think about anything but the wedding. Ash and I were living moment to moment, and we tried to ignore the impossible.

Gary looked gallant and handsome. He waited nervously for my mother, who walked slowly to the altar. A kindly looking and slightly bald priest began muttering. I couldn’t hear him because I was too busy noticing Ash. He sat not far away from Gary, and he looked so hot. He wore a black suit with a red bow tie for some pizazz. His hair was shaved now, and it made his sharp bone structure stick out even more.

My heart raced. For a moment, I pictured standing at that altar with Ash, looking deeply into his eyes. My heart sank. That would never happen. I looked back at our parents, who were finishing their vows. The room erupted with clapping and cheers. I smiled brightly, enjoying how happy my mom was. I hadn’t seen her quite this happy since she was with Dad, and I was glad I felt more comfortable about everything. I was also glad she had the wedding to distract her from Ash and me. I was so paranoid that she suspected something weird was going on.

Everyone moved into the backyard, where we were having a huge wedding barbecue. People began crowding underneath the tents, and the smell of hot dogs and hamburgers filled the air. A DJ played rock music, and waitresses in crisp white uniforms handed out cups of soda and wine.

“I can’t believe you have to leave tonight, Sarah.”

“You know how crazy Coach is. I’m lucky I could get the time off to come here at all during training season,” she said.

“I know,” I replied, smiling. “I just wish we had more time to talk…about everything.”

Sarah looked over at Ash, who was talking with some of his guy friends. “Fuck. He is gorgeous, though, I have to admit,” she said with a grim smile.

“I know! He’s so much trouble.” I sighed heavily.

“Would you like some wine, miss?” asked one of the waitresses.

I looked around before accepting to make sure my mom didn’t see me drinking underage. Sarah took some wine too.

“Since when do you drink?” she asked.

“Since this summer.”

“I can see he’s had an impact on you. Sex. Drinking,” she teased.

“I guess some guys just make being bad so much fun,” I responded. I took a sip of my wine. My mother rushed over to me. I gave Sarah my drink, hoping my mom didn’t notice it. I embraced her tightly.

“Congrats, Mom!”

“Thank you! This has been one of the best days of my life. And Sarah! It’s so nice to see you,” she said, giving Sarah a hug.

My heart sank. I watched my mother and Sarah talk. Mom looked so damn happy. I could never take part in risking her happiness. The realization of this hit me hard.

“I’ll be right back,” I said to Sarah.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, fine. I’ll see you both in a minute.” I made my way to the house. I saw Ash out of the corner of my eye. He followed me.
Shit
.

The first floor was full of people, so I escaped to the third floor. I went up the secret staircase and was comforted by the sight of the third floor suite. I remembered that Ash and I had had sex here, and my heart sank again. Tears streamed down my face. This was just too fucked up to bear. The stairwell door opened, and Ash walked through, obviously concerned.

“Amy? Are you okay?” he asked.

I shook my head and turned away from him. I didn’t want to see how gorgeous he looked. I didn’t want to know what would never be mine.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice lowering. He took a seat beside me on the bed, and I scooted as far away as possible.

“We can’t be together,” I said. He was silent, the reality of our situation seeping in. “Sarah’s parents love me and are always inviting me to stay. She would love it if I were back in San Fran, and I miss my dad.”

“What are you saying?” Ash asked, his voice sounding low and sad.

“I’m leaving with Sarah tonight, and I’ll be gone for the rest of the summer…And forever,” I said, tears streaming down my face.

Ash stood up. He began pacing. I had never seen him look so sad before.

“I have no other choice. I can’t be around you. We can’t escape the reality of our situation—that we just can’t do this,” I said.

Ash sighed and kneeled in front of me. I stared into his gorgeous honey eyes and wanted to lose myself in them. “I know…I know.” He grabbed me gently by the shoulders. I felt comforted by his touch but disturbed by how much I wanted more of it.

“They’re so happy together. This would ruin everything.”

He sighed. “It would. There’s no doubt. Maybe it is what’s best, but…” He stopped, a look of rage coming over him. He got up and growled, slamming his fist into the wall. “Fuck it. I want to make this work. I do all kinds of things in secret. Why not continue to do you in secret?”

He stormed over to me and began kissing me. I kissed him back, but something strong came over me—my protective side. I needed to protect my mother’s happiness at all costs, even if it was a huge cost to me.

“Stop!” I yelled. I pushed him off me.

He stopped and came to rest beside me. A few tears leaked from the corner of his eyes, but he immediately wiped them away. His face hardened, and he got up, staring out the window at the party below.

“I’m going tonight. We’ll pretend this never happened. You’ll see other people, and I will too. Next summer, we’re going to just be stepbrother and sister. This will never be spoken of again,” I said, my voice shaking with sadness.

He looked at me, nodded, and walked away, leaving me alone in the room.

I couldn’t stop crying. I grabbed one of the soft pillows, the softness of it muffling my gasps and miserable cries. I remembered my dad telling me that you knew you were growing up when you made hard decisions despite wanting otherwise. He was right.

Hearing the laughter and music downstairs brought me back to my senses. This was my mother’s day, and I would not ruin it for her. I went to the bathroom and grabbed some toilet paper. I washed away some of my mascara stains so no one would know I had been crying. I noticed that the pillow I’d been using was slightly stained.

“Shit,” I muttered. I took the pillow case off the pillow, threw it under the bed, and tucked the pillow underneath a bunch of fancier ones so no one would notice. I stood there, disturbed by how I had become far too used to hiding things. Not having a secret anymore would be great. I just wasn’t the type of person to lie like this.

I went back downstairs, desperate to find Sarah. I wanted her comfort. She was the only person who knew anything about this, and I wanted to be around someone who knew the truth.

“Hey.” She looked concerned. “What happened?”

“I broke it off with him. It’s over.”

“Oh…that must have been why he left,” she said.

“He left?” I asked.

“Yeah. I overheard him telling his dad he felt sick.”

I exhaled sharply, feeling terrible. “Is it okay if I leave with you tonight and spend the last few weeks of summer at your place? My dad is on vacation, but he’s coming back in a couple of weeks, so I could leave a bit earlier. It’s an emergency.”

Sarah rubbed my arm comfortingly. “Of course. My parents love you. Are your parents going to be okay with you leaving here so early?”

“They’re going on their honeymoon tonight, so it’s not like I would see her much for the rest of the summer, anyway,” I explained. “I just need to get out of here. I can’t spend another minute around him.”

I looked at my mother and Gary posing for a picture. They looked so happy, and I knew in my gut that I was doing the right thing. I wished that my heart would figure it out.

ASHTON

Jen cuddled into my shoulder. We were both naked, huddling under the blankets. I opened my eyes, feeling the chill of the fall fill me with cold. I sat up in my bed, looking around my room. The sun was beginning to leak in, which meant I had work soon. I grumbled to myself, still not quite used to getting up this early. I shook Jen gently, trying to wake her up.

“Babe, I have to get ready for work,” I said.

Jen opened her clear blue eyes and made a face. “Ugh. Why do you have to get up for work so early?”

“It’s a full-time job. You can’t be too picky.”

She sat up, rubbing her eyes. “Okay. Let’s shower together.”

“Sounds good,” I replied with a sigh.

I shivered my ass off as I walked to the shower. I turned it on, and steam quickly filled the room. I wasted no time getting into the shower and rubbing body wash all over myself. Jen followed soon after.

“Shit, it’s cold this year,” she said.

“That means winter is coming early,” I teased.

“Please. We all know winter is already here.”

I rubbed soap all over her back, and she smiled, letting out a soft and relaxed sigh. She arched her shoulders into me, responding to my touch.

“There’s nothing like smelling like a man first thing in the morning,” she teased.

“It’s better than smelling like my jizz.”

“Come to think of it, I still feel it all over my face.” She winked.

She helped wash my body, and I enjoyed her warmth. I closed my eyes tightly, trying to ignore my thoughts, the comparisons I made between her and Amy. When we had sex, I had to keep my eyes open so I wouldn’t pretend it was Amy beneath me. I wondered if she ever noticed my weird behavior, but she was so into having sex with me that I wasn’t sure.

We got out of the shower and dried off, an awkward silence between us. Silences were always awkward because questions about the status of our relationship would always follow.

“So when are we making things official?” she asked.

I took a deep breath and threw my shirt over my head. I searched for my pants, trying not to look at her. I couldn’t deal with the pained expression on her face. “I told you I’m not ready for anything like that. I just want to have fun. I thought you were okay with that,” I said, trying to be honest without being a total douche.