RICH BOY BRIT (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance) (35 page)

“See, she’s coming to meet me,” Jason said, smiling.

“Yeah,” I murmured, but I hoped she would turn around so I didn’t have to introduce her to Jason, but she walked up to us, leaving me no choice but to introduce them. “Jason, my stepsister, Jenn. Jenn, Jason.”

I watched as they shook hands with the usual “nice to meet you.” Jason drooled all over Jenn, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d have said the attention wasn’t lost on Jenn. She openly flirted with him, much to my disgust.

“All right, let’s go back to bowling,” I snarled, standing and breaking up whatever connection they might have had. I didn’t want it getting past hellos.

“But I want to talk to Jenn a little more,” Jason said. I looked at Jenn, thinking she’d go back to bowling with me, but she sat next to Jason and made herself more comfortable.

“You’re done bowling?” I asked.

“Not yet,” she said. “Just need to catch my breath.”

“Jason?” I asked, hoping Jason would come with me, but I already knew the answer before I even asked him.

“I’ll be here,” he said, sitting down next to Jenn.

I left them and walked back to the bowling lanes. I did my best not to look back as I walked away from them, but I couldn’t resist it. A quick glance and I could see the two of them laughing hard at something one of them must have said. It made me so jealous that some other guy could make her laugh like that. I was jealous of another man being close to Jenn, which made me realize that our relationship was going to be a lot more than just stepsiblings fucking. I needed her more than just that!

JENN

I spent most of the next morning after our bowling trip sitting in the bathroom, nauseous. It had to be the pizza, because that was the only thing I had eaten that could have made me sick. When I finally made it downstairs, no one was home. Dad and Mom had gone to work and Tyler was nowhere to be found.

“Tyler?” I called a couple more times but got no answer. I went to the kitchen to see if he’d left a note or explanation. His note simply said, “Out with Stacey.” I read it again to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. He had just told me he didn’t care about Stacey and was done with her. How did she get back into the picture so quickly? Was he lying about their relationship so he’d score? I was about to pick up the phone and curse him out when I realized I knew the exact way to get back at him.

I picked up my phone and dialed the number I had been given from the night before. “Jason?” I said into the mouthpiece. You’d have thought he’d won a lottery. “Want to hang out?”

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll pick you up?”

“Sure, about an hour?”

I got off the phone and took a quick shower. Luckily, my stomach had calmed down. I had no more bouts of nausea except when I gargled while brushing my teeth. I made a mental note to avoid gargling while brushing, and no more eating pizza in bowling alleys or even being too close to Lauren when she cooked.

I dressed in a simple outfit—a pair of jeans and plain sweater—appropriate for wherever Jason wanted to go. I was thinking of going to the movies, but I would leave it up to him in case he wanted to go somewhere else. When he arrived, the way he looked at me spoke more than his words ever could.

“You look nice,” he said as he escorted me to his car.

“Thanks.”

“Where’s Tyler?”

“Out with some girl,” I said. Even though the words rolled out of my mouth, the realization that Tyler was probably somewhere fucking some other girl was just too much to bear.

“Oh, yeah, Tyler’s the ladies man.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this revelation, so I sipped the water I had been carrying and did what came naturally, which was an awkward mix of laughter and crying.

“You okay?” Jason asked.

I nodded and added, “I just drank way too much water too fast.”

“Oh, okay,” he said as he opened the passenger side door of a car that looked like it cost a fortune, something Tyler never did. I guess Tyler was used to thinking of me as his stepsister, so he didn’t really know what to do with me being his fuck mate. The only thing that really changed in our relationship was what we did for each other in secret and at night, not how he felt about me.

I didn’t realize Jason was talking until he touched my arm, cutting off my thoughts of Tyler. “You sure you’re fine?”

“Yeah, I’m good. I was just wondering if I had locked the door after we left,” I said.

“Want to go back and check?”

“No, I think I did. I just worry a lot sometimes.”

“That’s okay, so do I. So where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere,” I said.

“Have you ever been to Broadway?”

“No. I spend way too much time in California. I never get to do much when I’m in town.”

“Well, let’s change that,” he said as he speed dialed a number and a man I quickly learned was his father’s assistant came on the line. He instructed him to book a late lunch and an early Broadway show and we headed to the city. We talked about nothing serious as we drove. We exchanged stories of our childhood. I learned that his family owned half the city, which hadn’t been apparent from his common last name, Scott.

“Must be nice!” I said as he talked about some of his more exotic adventures.

“Yes, it is. I’d like to take you to some of those places one day. Maybe when you come back to town?” he said as he placed a hand on my thigh. At first, I didn’t realize what he was doing until he squeezed my leg.

“What are you doing?” I asked with a smile.

“Sorry, that was inappropriate. It’s just that I like you,” he said. He smiled and removed his hand.

I smiled and tried to wipe away what had happened as a lapse in his judgment.

“So, do you have a boyfriend?” he asked as the silence grew heavier and more uncomfortable.

“Not really,” I said. I wanted Tyler to be my boyfriend, but that was never going to happen.

“You’re such a nice girl. I’d do anything to make you my girlfriend.”

I was speechless for a few moments; his words had been unexpected. He must have realized I was uncomfortable with what he had said because he stammered and tried to cover up with more words.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s just that you are so damn hot, like I told Tyler, and I’d….”

“Wait, you told Tyler I was hot?” I asked, my ears picking that part up.

“You are!”

“It’s weird to talk about me with my brother,” I said. It was probably not weird. I’m sure boys talked about their sisters between each other, but it just seemed weird that he was talking about wanting to be my boyfriend with a boy I was fucking almost round the clock.

“Not really.”

“So what did he say?”

“He said you weren’t interested in men?” The statement was really a question.

I started laughing. Tyler was probably so afraid other men would come on to me that he thought he had to chase them off with lies.

“Is that true?” he asked.

“Of course not,” I said, smiling.

Tyler was crazy, I thought, grinning, and in that instant, I missed him. I wanted my first experience at a Broadway show to be with him. We had been talking about doing it for years, and he’d be disappointed if he wasn’t the first one to accompany me to my first Broadway show. Suddenly, I wanted to be with him at that precise moment. Even if he was with Stacey, I knew he’d not hesitate to dump her for me. If I wanted him, I guess I had to show it.

“Can we take a turn here?” I pointed to a street in front of me. “I want some ice cream,” I said to Jason as we passed a familiar street.

“Sure,” Jason said, eager to please me. I felt bad for him. He had no clue I wanted to go to that ice cream shop because I was hoping Tyler would be there.

TYLER

She saw me before I saw her, and the position she saw me in was too compromising for me to even start explaining. Stacey had some particle in her eye, and she had leaned over and asked me to check. I was just about to do that when Jenn walked in. To an untrained eye, it looked like I was kissing and cuddling with Stacey, and no explanation would appease Jenn.

When she saw me, she turned around to speak to someone. I noticed that Jason was behind her. Had she come here with Jason? I didn’t need to ask when I saw her link her hand with Jason’s and place an order for her ice cream. Jason looked around and saw me. He touched her shoulder and pointed toward me. She had seen me prior to Jason noticing I was there, but the look on her face was angrier that I would have expected. She looked like she was foaming at the mouth, and if I didn’t have to entertain Stacey, I would have simply taken off just to avoid seeing her. But we were in a gridlock because Stacey also saw her, and before I could say a word, she waved at them, inviting them over to our table.

Everyone said hello and I turned to Jenn. “So how did you know where to find me?”

“Who said I wanted to find you?” she said with so much anger in her voice I had to do a double take.

“I was just flattering myself, I guess.”

“Jason and I were on our way to a Broadway show and I thought we’d stop for some frozen yogurt first.”

“Excuse us. I need to talk to my sister for a moment,” I said to Stacey and Jason, and I grabbed Jenn’s hand and walked to the side of the room.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked as I pulled her along.

“Trying to talk some sense into you. Listen, you can’t go out with Jason. He’s bad news,” I said.

“What?” She was fuming.

“Jenn, you just met Jason. You can’t just go running off with him.”

“Look who’s talking. I’ll see you at home.” And with that, she walked right past me and smiled sweetly at Stacey before pulling Jason up and waltzing out of there.

If I had never been seriously mad about anything, that day would be the first. I wanted to run after them and punch Jason in the face for taking my stepsister, no, my love away, but if I wanted her I guess I had to do more than just fuck her in private. I had to claim her and make her know she’s mine.

I returned to the seat; poor Stacey had no clue what had just happened. “Your sister is rather nice,” she said.

“Sometimes.” I tried to laugh and pass it off like a joke.

“Like all sisters,” she said, drawing closer to me.

“How’s your eye?” I asked. In the commotion of Jason and Jenn, I had forgotten I was supposed to be helping get whatever out of her eye.

“While you two lovers where busy fighting over there, Jason helped me out. I’m fine.”

“You mean siblings?” I asked, my heart beating in fear that we might have slipped up and said or done something that made us look suspicious.

“I would have said siblings, but the way you look at her and the way she flips out when she sees you with another woman makes me wonder.”

“She’s just my stepsister. She can be impossible sometimes.”

Stacey smiled at me and rubbed my hands. “I don’t care what you do with her as long as you don’t mess up what we’re trying to do.”

I looked at her and in that moment realized she could never be as polished as Jenn or as deserving of my affection. In fact, no one could ever match up with Jenn. I smiled at Stacey, a weak smile, and tried to eat my butter pecan ice cream, but I had lost my appetite. All I wanted to do was go home and curl up in bed.

JENN

The night turned out to be more fun than I had imagined. We had a late lunch and headed to Broadway to watch a show. I felt like I was betraying Tyler, but he had betrayed me first by taking that bitch to our favorite ice cream place and making out with her in public, humiliating me. Well, he didn’t really humiliate me since we weren’t together officially, but still, he was kissing her in public, something he could never do to me.

After the show, Jason took me home, and except for a few lapses where his hands wandered to my hands or legs, he was a perfect gentleman.

“So will I see you tomorrow?” he asked as he opened the door for me.

I replied, smiling at him, “Only if you promise to keep your hands to yourself.”

“I’m so sorry about that. You’re just too pretty to ignore,” he said flirtatiously.

“It’s fine. I’m only teasing you.”

“I won’t let it happen again,” he apologized. “Unless you say it’s ok.”

I smiled at him. It wasn’t his fault the only person that would ever be allowed to touch me was Tyler, but the way things were going, he wasn’t going to be touching me, either. His precious Stacey would provide all he needed. The more I thought about him and Stacey, the sicker I felt, and suddenly, I really did feel nauseous.

I bid Jason a quick goodbye, promising to call him in the morning. I needed to get to the bathroom before I vomited on my date. He waved at me and was saying something, but I was rushing too much to hear him talk. I barely made it to the bathroom when my entire dinner left my body.

“Jenn? Are you okay?” Tyler was knocking at the bathroom door. I hadn’t known he was home.

“Yes,” I said, hoping that was enough for him to leave me alone.