Stepbrother's Gift (4 page)

After buckling the straps, I stepped back in front of the mirror and turned side to side, studying the attractive shape of my calves, feet, and ankles in the black heels. But most impressive was the way it made by butt look so firm and pert. If I never fully understood the appeal of good high heels before, I did now. They made a girl look ready to breed, her legs shaped desirably, her butt in the air as if ready and willing to bend over and be taken at a moment's notice. I wondered if that had been the intent of their designers all along.

I hoped someone worth hooking up with would be at the restaurant tonight. I was way too horny to come back home drunk and sleep in the room next door to James’s without getting some relief first. In fact, if I couldn't find someone, I’d just ask Tessa if I could crash at her place. At least then I wouldn't be home.

***

I
stepped into the dim lights of Annie's Place. The scents and sounds of the restaurant washed over me and flooded me with familiar memories. I had spent many an award ceremony dinner and awkward date here. It was the closest restaurant to the high school, and as such, ended up as the local favorite place to do anything. It helped that the food was actually really good.

I took two steps up to the host station before seeing Tessa's dark hair and veering right. The high school hostess watched me walk past her with bored eyes, not even bothering to stop me. She was probably very used to people just walking in and finding their friends at tables. I easily navigated the worn wooden tables and chairs to the small table where Tessa was.

“Hey, stranger,” Tessa greeted me, standing to give me a hug before sitting back down in her wooden chair. “Long time no see. Looking good!”

“Thanks.” I blushed a little. It was still new to me to see people from my old life, especially when I  had tried so hard to become someone new. “You look pretty good yourself.”

“You're such a nice liar,” Tessa teased, fluffing her dark hair. She looked exactly the same as I remembered her. Dark hair, dark eyes, and a style all her own.

“You order yet?” I asked, settling in my own comfortable wooden chair and picking up a menu. It was the same selection from when I had last been here, but it was customary to at least look at it. The setting was rustic, but comfortable, much like the food.

“Just an order of the artichoke dip,” Tessa answered. “I don't know how they do it, but I swear, it just gets better every time.”

“It's because they put crack cocaine in it,” I said. Annie's Artichoke Dip was world renown. It was possibly the best thing I had ever eaten in my life, and I had eaten some good tasting things in New York. “I think that's the only thing in Springfield I've actually missed.”

“What about me?” Tessa pouted, sticking out her lower lip as far as she could and making it tremble.

“I carry you with me everywhere I go,” I told her. I put my hand on my heart and made my face as serious as I could. “I love you, Tessa.”

Her pout instantly vanished and she grabbed my hand. “Aww, I love you too, baby.”

We held our serious faces for a moment before dissolving into a fit of giggles. It was as if we had never been apart. Sometimes, we were such children, but that's why I loved Tessa. Now that I was sitting here with her, I couldn't believe I had neglected our friendship. She was my best friend for a reason. I had missed her.

“You want anything to drink? I know the bartender. He'll get us drinks if you want,” Tessa offered.

I shook my head. “Maybe later.” It was practically a right of passage to drink underage here, but I was more interested in catching up than getting drunk.

Tessa took a big sip of her water and grinned at me. “So, you'll never guess who our waitress is.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Do you want me to even try?”

She just grinned wider and set her menu down. “Nah, she's bringing us our crack cocaine dip now.”

Just then, a beautiful pregnant woman set the large round serving tray with the cheesy goodness in the center of our table. I didn't recognize her at first, but took a closer look as Tessa grinned like a jack-o-lantern.

“Audrey?” Her identity hit me like a brick. Beautiful, glowing, and very pregnant, but definitely the high school queen bee that had made my life a living hell, Audrey Lipman.

“Allison Masters? Oh my god!”

“You're working here?” I couldn't think of anything else to say. Tessa was smirking like a Cheshire cat as she dug into the appetizer.

Audrey shrugged. “It's more for something to do until the baby is born,” she said before splitting into a big smile. “You look amazing, by the way. I totally didn't recognize you. You look like something out of a New York guidebook. It really suits you.”

“Thank you,” I replied. It was impossible for me to resist her infectious friendliness. I didn't think we had ever shared this many civil words in one sitting before. She was a totally different person. “You look great, too. You're glowing.”

Audrey's smile grew bigger while Tessa's eyes were about ready to pop out of her head. Audrey ran her hands over her growing, beautiful belly. “Thank you. Say thank you, little Eva,” she said, to her belly.

“What a pretty name,” I said. It was simple yet elegant. If the girl ended up looking anything like her mother, she would suit the name. I hoped the girl got her mother's new personality rather than the one I had known in high school, though. “How many weeks are you?”

“Thirty-two on Monday,” she answered. “Anyway, enough about me. Are you ready to order, or do you just want to work on the dip for a little bit?”

“Just the dip for now,” Tessa interrupted. I frowned slightly, but nodded when Audrey looked at me.

“Okay. I'll be going on break in a few minutes, so if you need anything, just let Katie know.” Audrey motioned to a slender, fresh from high school girl taking an order from another table before tucking her small pad of paper into her apron pocket. “I can't get over how great you look, Allie. The new look really suits you.”

With that, Audrey walked away. I sat staring after her, watching her hips wiggle in only the way that a pregnant woman walks.

“What. The. Fuck. Was. That.” Tessa rolled her eyes.

“What?” I asked, innocently.

“Oh, Audrey, you look great! How many weeks are you? Can I hold your baby?” Tessa raised her voice to a high feminine squeal that sounded nothing like me. “Since when did you fall in love with Audrey? The girl would have stoned you on the gym floor if she could have gotten student council approval.”

“Yeah, but it's different now. She's pregnant.”

“Are you serious?” Tessa nearly did a spit take. As it was, she choked a little on her water. “I forgot you
love
babies. She's an idiot.”

I shrugged. “What does Austin think of being a father?”

“Oh, you don't know that part.” Tessa grinned wickedly. “It's not his.”

“What?” I did a little mental math. “But, if she's thirty-two weeks, then she was pregnant at the end of the school year. They were together then.”

“Not his. Some guy from Fairport, I guess. Audrey refuses to say anything else about him.” She shrugged and took a big chip full of dip. I was so distracted that I hadn't even had any dip yet, but it was almost half gone.

“Nothing?”

“Nope.” Tessa lowered her voice and glanced around conspiratorially. “My friend works at the hospital and says that her bills are all getting paid by some sugar daddy. It's quite the scandal.”

“Wow.” I leaned back in my chair and had to pull my chin off my chest in amazement. “How did Austin handle it?”

“Not well. Few months ago, he made a huge scene at Casey's. Called her a slut in front of everyone and everything. It was glorious. You would have loved it.”

I imagined Audrey being humiliated, but I couldn't get any pleasure from it. Usually, her downfall would have made me wet myself with joy, but picturing her pregnant when it happened... “That actually makes me kind of sad.”

“New York did something to you,” Tessa said, shaking her head. “I knew you liked babies and all, but feeling sorry for
her
? You remember what she did to you, right? You're nuts.”

I bit my lip, remembering the utter humiliation she had dealt out. “She was a lot nicer this time.”

Tessa rolled her eyes. “Baby crazy.”

“I am not!”

“You asked her how many weeks she was. Most people ask the due date, but I'm guessing that you know exactly how many fingers and toes the little parasite has at this stage.”

“Ten toes. Ten fingers. Like most humans,” I retorted. But she was right. I did know. And a part of me was incredibly jealous that perfect Audrey had yet something else I wanted. It was a different kind of jealousy than I had felt in high school, but still just as potent. “Anyway, share some of that dip.”

“Mine!” Tessa hissed, grabbing at the bowl and trying to hide it away from me.

“Yup. Crack cocaine.” I shook my head slowly at her, knowing that we were back to our normal games. “You might have an addiction problem.”

Tessa laughed and released the bowl, pushing the carrot sticks at me. They were my favorite and she had saved them for me. “So, tell me all about New York. I want to know everything.”

A
couple hours later, and several more orders of artichoke dip, Tessa and I had completely caught up. It was as if we had never been apart. She loved hearing all my stories about New York, and I listened with rapt attention as she shared the sordid details of everyone who had stayed in town. Tessa seemed to know all the good secrets.

The restaurant was slowing down for the night. It was time for all the high schoolers to head home, so most of the booths had cleared out and were now just filled with graduates and parents. The bar in the back was lively with a football game playing on the TV.

Aubrey dropped off our bill with a smile. I tried not to stare, and tried even harder not to feel the twinge of jealousy I felt looking at her stomach. I wondered what it felt like to have a life grow inside of me. How wonderful she must feel knowing that she was creating life.

I wanted that.

“When's the last time you got laid?” Tessa asked, cocking her head to the side. I handed her my portion of the bill. “I ask, because you are crazy good tipping a pregnant chick, and I have to think that you are projecting jealousy at getting some.”

“Shut up.” I rolled my eyes at her. She waited patiently for an answer. My eyes would fall out of their sockets with rolling before she let up. “Not that long, okay?”

“Okay. Well, don't look now, but Dennis Kamp is staring at you from the bar,” Tessa informed me as she finished off the last of our dip.

“Seriously?” I blushed. I had a crush on him all through high school. Tessa knew this, which was probably why she was pointing it out. I risked a glance behind me. He was sitting at the edge of the bar with a beer and staring at our table.

He was just as gorgeous as I remembered. Tall, dark and handsome. He had a tattoo on his arm that I didn't recognize, but it gave him a dangerous air that I found rather appealing. I wondered if James had any tattoos that I didn't know about.

“Maybe he'll get that baby making bug out of your system. Let's go say hello,” Tessa said, grabbing my hand. I didn't even have time to protest before we were suddenly at the bar. Dennis smiled as we approached and I felt nervous butterflies start up in my stomach.

“Tessa. Allison, good to see you,” he said as we sidled up to the bar. “Can I buy you two a drink?”

“You can buy her a drink,” Tessa replied, nudging me closer to him. “I have to work in the morning and really need to be going.”

“Tessa?” I glanced over at her and she grinned.

“You can thank me later,” she whispered, giving me a hug. “You two have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do.”

She proceeded to give me a wink that said there really wasn't anything she wouldn't do. That girl was crazy. Just because I was baby crazy didn't mean that I needed to get laid, but I wasn't about to say no. Especially not to one of my high school crushes. I knew he was a player, but sometimes a girl just wanted to feel wanted.

I watched her waltz out of the restaurant and out into the cold night air. I was suddenly very aware of Dennis and my low cut top. This was something I had dreamed of in high school. This chance. And James wasn't anywhere nearby to fuck it up.

Dennis motioned to the bartender and before I could say no, a beer was in front of me. I sipped at it gingerly. I wasn't big on beer. I was much more a cocktail kind of girl, but I wasn't about to complain. I was having a drink with Dennis. In school, he wouldn't have even given me the time of day, but I knew that I looked and behaved differently now that I had New York in my system.

“I hear James' business is going through the roof,” he said, finishing his drink and motioning to the bartender for another. The bartender paused for a moment, but poured him another.

“Yeah,” I replied with a shrug. His eyes kept going to my cleavage. My stepbrother was all anyone ever wanted to talk about. James and his billions. “Can we talk about something else, though?”

“Yeah, sure.” He took a huge sip of his beer. “It's just that he's sort of a legend around here. He's the only billionaire I know.”

“He’s not a billionaire yet. At least not in liquid assets,” I pointed out, though any sane valuation of his company put him at well over the billionaire mark.

Dennis laughed. “He’s close enough for me. Is he here?”

“James, here?” I laughed, glancing around Annie's place. “He's almost a billionaire. No reason for him to come to Annie's.”

“Good,” Dennis said, his eyes scanning the room anyway. “You know, I had a little bit of a crush on you when you were a freshman, but I didn’t have the balls to ask you out.”

I blushed and smiled. “Well, you should have just said something. I would have said yes.”

“That’s not why I didn’t ask,” he said, laughing. “Your brother made it clear to all of us just what would happen if we tried anything with you. You were off limits. Especially after what he did to that Tim Volker kid.”

“He didn’t do anything to Tim Volker,” I said, remembering that day.