Anti-Stepbrother (35 page)

A stupid smile stretched over my face.

I was completely naked. Normally I’d be self-conscious. Not anymore. I’d begun to adopt Caden’s whole I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude, and it was amazing. I’d had my first incident a few days ago when Maggie cornered me in the mail room on campus.

She was all, “You want Kevin for yourself.”

And I was like, “Fuck no. I have someone else.”

But I didn’t elaborate, because there’d been no actual conversation that made Caden and me official. I’d brought it up once, but the conversation never happened again. I was scared to hear what Caden would say, so mum had been the word since then.

Maggie had spouted out a bunch of other accusations, but I’d tuned her out, not sure where this was coming from.

Kevin and I still hung out, but it wasn’t as much. Okay, it was hardly anything. I’d seen him twice, but he hadn’t asked for more lessons, and I was preoccupied. The brother/sister bonding could happen some other day. He was usually with some other guys, and he seemed happy. Maybe not having Maggie in his life was part of that.

“Your breakup to Kevin had nothing to do with me,” I’d told her. “Yell at him.”

She’d huffed, sucking in a breath, but before she could blast me again, I held my hand out. “I don’t give a fuck. Get away before you piss me off.”

She smirked. “What are you going to do?”

“I’ll tell Claudia you vowed to sleep with all her future boyfriends.”

That worked. She fell silent, and I’d slipped away. Exit to the right.

I hadn’t seen her since, but I kept a watchful eye out every time I went to my dorm and while I was on campus. She was a slippery bastard. She could attack at any moment, like a hyena with rabies.

I asked Avery about their friendship, but she said they were done. She and Claudia were still on the fritz as well. I was happy about the first one. Avery deserved better, and that helped lower the chances of Maggie lingering for a dorm-floor ambush, but I wasn’t sure about the latter.

Claudia shouldn’t have been so pissed. Based on the Girl Code Rules of Etiquette, she messed up. But Claudia was also scary. Still. It would be better if she were on our side and not against us. If Maggie kept pushing me, though; I might have to follow through on my threat, but only with Avery’s permission. No one was a better weapon than Claudia.

“Hey.” Caden smoothed a hand up my back, returning me to the present. “What are you thinking about? You just tensed up.”

I groaned, kissing his chest softly, before I rolled over to lay by his side. “Stupid girl stuff.”

“The Maggie thing?” he asked as I gathered the sheet to cover me, tucking it under my arms,

I nodded. “Guys are easy. You either punch each other, threaten each other, or just stop hanging out. That’s it. Girl warfare is way harder to tackle.”

He grinned as he traced my arm and hooked a finger over the sheet, right where it covered my girls. “That’s not true all the time. Guys can be catty too.”

“Really?”

He nodded, his eyes darkening. He rolled to his side and moved to kiss under my ear. “Oh yeah. Especially the House. There’s a whole bunch of gossip. Cliques, exiling—all that sort of stuff.”

His breath tickled me and sent my heart racing once again. I stretched away from him, exposing my neck so he could kiss it. His hand moved to my hip and rested there. I knew what was coming next. He’d guide me to my back, continue to torture me with kisses and caresses that should be illegal, and then when I was begging for him, he’d finally slide inside.

My eyes closed. Pleasure and lust mingled together, intertwining and sending my body afloat. His mouth slipped down to my throat, then to my breast.

Hot damn. Caden was a sex weapon. No guy should be this good in bed. It was too dangerous.

“Dangerous, huh?” He lifted his head.

I paused. “I was talking out loud, wasn’t I?”

He laughed, bending down to rest his lips over mine. “You do that quite often.”

“I do?”

“I rather like the play by play of how awesome I am.” His mouth brushed mine, sending my heart into somersaults.

“That’s so embarrassing.”

“It’s a real ego-booster. I liked being compared to a hot Italian stallion.”

“Stop.” It was so cringe-worthy. “I can’t take any more.”

He laughed, his lips pressing mine again before he whispered, “But my absolute favorite was when you said I was the Santa Claus Magic Mike, and I could bring my presents down your chimney all year round.”

I couldn’t even laugh. “I did not say that.”

“You did.” He lifted his head. “That kept me going for the rest of the night.”

I pushed him off, rolling to my side and covering my face with my hands. “I’m appalled!”

“You shouldn’t be. Hey.” He pulled me back and moved my hands away.

I kept my eyes closed.

“Look at me.”

“No.” I peeked through one, opening it a tiny slit. “You can’t say anything to make me feel better. There’s nothing that can take away my humiliation.”

“I like it.”

I cocked an eyebrow up. “You’re bullshitting me.”

“I’m not. I’m really not.” He tried to stifle his laughter, but his mouth was still twitching. “I have never enjoyed sex as much as I do with you.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better. You’ve never laughed during sex like you do with me, that’s what you really mean.” I tried to cover my face again.

He tugged my hands down and kept hold of them. “No.” He pressed my hands to the bed above my head, and as I moved to my back, he rose above me. His eyes darkened once more, and all the humor left his face. Stark hunger spiked there instead.

“I’ve never enjoyed sex as much as I do with you. Your humor is part of it, but it’s you too. Being with you is different.” His gaze lingered on my lips before flicking to my eyes. “You’re different.”

The last remnants of my mortification melted away, replaced by all sorts of gooey warmness. The butterflies zipped around in my stomach, along with other lustful sensations, and I wondered why we were still talking.

I slid my foot up the back of his leg, raising it until my leg wound around his thigh. I watched; his eyes were pure black now, no hints of amber anymore, and I shifted to wrap my other leg around him. Then I lifted up, feeling him right between my legs, right where I wanted him to slide inside. He was hard and ready to go.

Caden had admitted once that he was always hard when I was around.

“I’m ready to go as soon as you enter a room,” he said. I thought he’d been joking, but feeling him ready so soon after our last time, maybe not.

I wound my arms around his neck, cupping the back of his head. “How about you show me how different I really am?”

He bent down, and I felt him grin against my lips. “Fuck yes.”

And his lips were hard on mine.

My phone was ringing.

I lifted my head, once again sprawled on top of Caden. I didn’t remember at what point our positions had reversed, but I was fine with it. I could wake up on top of Caden for the rest of my life, and I didn’t think I’d get tired of it.

“Your phone,” Caden prompted me, touching my hip.

I groaned and slid over him and onto the floor. My phone was in my bag, which was at the bottom of a pile of clothes. As I sorted through them and fumbled with my bag’s zipper, Caden sat up. “You could just get up. You didn’t have to fall to the floor.”

“Nah.” I shrugged, grabbing my phone. “This was more fun.”

I heard him chuckling as I answered. “What’s up?”

My stepmom’s voice filled my ear as Caden got up and headed into the bathroom.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

I checked out Caden’s ass. It was tight and round and moved seamlessly under his back, sculpted like a freaking Greek god. I held back a groan. I’d never get tired of seeing his backside.

“Honey?” Sheila asked. “You there?”

I coughed, clearing my thoughts. “I am.” And because Caden had left the door open, I moved so my back rested against the bed. Tugging the sheet down and draping it over me, I asked, “What’s going on?”

“I need a favor.”

“Oh?” I frowned.

The shower turned on in the bathroom, and images of me joining him flooded my mind.

“I just got off the phone with Kevin. I was hoping you could check in on him, make sure he’s okay.”

Mention of my stepbrother pulled me out of my shower stupor. “What?”

“We had a bad fight. It’s about his father, but he seemed more upset than normal. Could you go ‘round to the fraternity house? See if he’s okay or not? He said you guys have been hanging out more.”

“He did?”

“He said you and your friends were helping him with something. I’m so happy, by the way. I know the two of you hadn’t bonded, but I hoped things would be different when you went to the same college. Thank you, Summer. It means so much to me.”

I held back a sigh. I loved Sheila. She’d been great to me, but something about this phone call grated on my nerves.

“I’ll go see him in a few.”

“Again, thank you so much, Summer. I also wanted to apologize for the last weekend we were there. Your father and I just had to square a few things away. We should’ve had some of that conversation much earlier, but it’s all good now. I wanted to let you know that. Your father and I are quite good now.”

I was struck by that. A month ago, I might’ve been concerned. I might’ve wondered how everything really was between them, or how Kevin was doing with whatever was going on with his father. But I wasn’t. Not anymore.

I straightened up, the back of my head pressing into the mattress.
What did that mean? Was that a bad thing? Was I becoming selfish?

I should be worried about them…right?

“Okay, honey. I’m going to let you go. Thank you again for checking on Kevin, and please give me a call tomorrow. Let me know if everything’s all right.”

“Yeah.”

“Talk to you later. I’ll give your father your love.”

“Oh, yeah. Okay. Thanks for that.”

I hadn’t even considered sending that message, and as she hung up, my insides were swimming.

I was staring at the phone in my lap when Caden came back from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his hips.

“You okay?” He gestured to the phone. “Who was that?”

“My stepmom. I have to check on Kevin. She said he might be upset about something.”

Caden rolled his eyes and turned toward his closet. “God forbid Matthews is mad about something.” He pulled on briefs and jeans, turning back. “Why is that your problem?”

I tried not to let his chest distract me. “I guess it’s a sibling thing? Would you check on Marcus if he were upset?”

“Marcus is my real brother, and he isn’t a scumbag trying to get in my pants.”

Touché. “You know what I mean.”

He tilted his head and lifted a shoulder. “Guess it depends on who was asking me, and how pissed he seemed. Marcus wouldn’t want me to check on him. We don’t have that kind of relationship.”

“Colton?”

“Colton’s different. Colton doesn’t ask for anything, so I’d go in a second with him.”

“Are you saying I shouldn’t check on him?”

“I’m saying…” He sat on the bed right next to me. I rested my head back, gazing up at him, and his eyes softened as he looked down at me. His hand brushed my hair from my forehead. “It’s your family. You can do whatever you’d like, but I don’t trust the asshole.”

I grinned up at him. “You think he’d make a move?”

“In a heartbeat.”

My grin fell away. “Are you serious?”

“He broke up with Maggie to be with you.”

“No, he didn’t. He’s trying to change. He’s trying not to be like that any more.”

I sat up and turned around to face him. I tucked the sheet more firmly under my arms to cover me. The rest pooled in my lap, the sides falling to the floor to cover my legs.

“He wants you.” Caden watched me steadily. “Trust me. Guys know.” He leveled me with a hard look. “Are you sure you don’t still have feelings for him?”

That stopped me. “I thought you didn’t think I
had
feelings for him? You said that before.”

“Yeah, but that was before
I
fell in love with you.” He stood up, grabbing his shirt. Then he walked out, pulling it on.

I sat there, my mouth on the floor. It wasn’t until the door closed that words came out. “Wait. What?!”