Crush (21 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

MIA

So this is what it felt like to be quasi-famous for fifteen minutes…in the worst way possible.

Within moments of Rose discovering that her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend was in fact his stepsister, she and her minions had begun posting about it all over Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and every USM and Overton college gossip board on the internet. People I’d never even met were discussing what a ‘gross whore’ I was, and unsurprisingly, Brad was being referred to as a ‘god’ for nailing his own stepsister. Talk about double standards…

After Brad and I had answered Dad and tentatively told him that we were together, he and Karen had sat in stony silence for a full five minutes before demanding that we get in the car and go home. We were on our way back now, and they were still remaining dead silent.

Brad squeezed my knee in the backseat of the car, drawing a frown from Karen as she detected the movement out of the corner of her eye from where she was sitting in the front seat. He didn’t move his hand, though; it remained steady on my leg.

I flicked back through my phone to see what other horrible things people were saying about me. It wasn’t that I wanted people to say awful things about me, I just simply couldn’t look away. It was like a train wreck.

Ew! Mia W. from Overton is banging her own BROTHER! What a ho.

Brotherly love, huh? And I’m not talking about fraternity brothers, although our subject is from one - Brad from Alpha Sigma Zeta is nailing his stepsister. LOL.

Mia Williams…she’s in my political science class. She looks so sweet and innocent. I guess those girls are always the wildest… ;)

Same stuff as ten minutes ago, only worded differently. There were some comments from Tamara and Carter defending us and saying that Brad was my
stepbrother
and not my actual brother as some people were claiming, but no one seemed to care. All they cared about was having some juicy news to gossip about and spread around.

Tamara texted me a few seconds later.
I guess the news got out before you could tell them. Still want me to come up?

I don’t know. We’re on our way home now, and Dad and Karen want to talk to us there. I’ll let you know how it goes,
I replied.

K. If I haven’t heard from you again within the next two hours, should I assume they killed you and Brad?

Probably…
I wrote back before switching my phone off.

Dad pulled into the garage, and we trooped into the house in silence. He led us into the lounge room and then turned to us, his face impassive.

“Karen and I are going to go upstairs and talk about this for a while. I’d like you two to stay here.”

With that, Karen followed him upstairs, and Brad and I took a seat next to each other on the sofa.

“Don’t worry,” he said softly. “Whatever happens, I’m staying with you. Even if they disown me from the entire family.”

I gave him a rueful smile. “I don’t think they’ll disown you, Brad.”

“Well, I’m a tattooed ex-stoner….if anyone’s getting disowned, it’ll be me,” he said with a wink.

I let out a half-hearted laugh, but nothing about this was funny. We were just trying a bit of gallows humor to stop the inevitable thoughts of how totally and utterly screwed we were.

Dad and Karen finally returned, and they sat across from us, their faces stern.
Here we go…

“All right,” Dad said. “We have a few questions before we say what we want to say. When did this begin?”

“In Biloxi,” Brad replied. “Before we even knew you two were getting married. We didn’t know we were going to be stepsiblings.”

Dad nodded. “And is it serious?”

“Very. I love Mia,” Brad replied. Even though we were probably about to get our heads chewed off by our parents, my heart still soared at his words. I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of hearing him say he loved me, even if he said it a billion times a day.

“And you, Mia?” Karen asked.

“I love him too,” I said in a small voice, averting my eyes from hers. She probably wanted to kill me. She’d acted like a second mother to me, and in return, I’d taken her son from her. Well, not exactly, but that might be the way she viewed it.

Dad glanced at Karen, and she nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “In that case…I think we’re okay with it.”

My head jerked up, and I looked over at Brad.
What
? That was the last thing I’d expected to hear. Surely I’d misheard my Dad.

Brad’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “You’re okay with it?”

“We just discussed it, and well…it is rather unorthodox, but you were adults when you first met, and you aren’t actually blood-related. We don’t have any right to keep you apart if you love each other. We just have one major concern, and that’s what would happen if you broke up. That would cause a lot of awkwardness and drama within the family. That’s the only thing that really worries us about it.”

Wow. I hadn’t been expecting this at all. I’d been expecting tears, yelling and screaming…not near-total acceptance.

“We aren’t going to break up,” Brad said in a firm voice. “We’re just as serious as you two. Except we aren’t married, of course.”

“I see,” Dad said in a matter-of-fact tone. “In that case, I don’t think we’ll have a problem. You’re a fine young man, Brad, and I know Karen feels the same way about Mia. I only wish you two had come to us and talked about this sooner. You’ve had months. I am a little disappointed in you for that, Mia, but on the other hand I can understand why you kept it from us. You probably thought we’d react very differently. Am I correct in that assumption?”

I nodded. “I thought…I thought you’d be disgusted.”

Karen sighed. “Like Michael said, this is a little…different…but it’s not inherently wrong. You didn’t grow up together, and you’ve never lived with each other. We’re only upset that you didn’t tell us.”

“Sorry,” Brad said. “We were planning on telling you both today, but then Rose showed up.”

I nodded to confirm, and then we sat in silence for a moment. Dad finally rose to his feet.

“Well, this has been sufficiently awkward. Perhaps we should leave you alone for a while. This might take some getting used to for all of us, but all in all, I think we’re okay. All right?”

We nodded, and they left the room, leaving me and Brad sitting there in stunned silence. Finally he turned to me.

“Uh…do you kinda feel like the universe just handed us a fucking free pass?” he said.

I smiled. “No shit. I thought they were going to ream us. All that worrying we did…all for nothing.”

He slung an arm around my shoulder. “Well considering all the crap we’ve gone through in the last few months, maybe we deserved a free pass.”

He was right about that. In a few short months, we’d dealt with not one but two crazy girls trying to keep Brad from me, racist douches, an estranged father who turned out to be a felon, and a sociopathic serial rapist who’d very nearly killed me…and was thus very nearly killed by Brad. Yep, that had to be it
—
we’d been handed enough crazy drama in life, and the universe had thrown up its hands and said ‘okay, enough!’

The only problem we had to deal with now was the gossip fiends on our respective campuses, but it was okay. I had a feeling that it would all blow over soon. Gossip never lasted long
—
people would bitch about it for a while and then move onto the next big thing.

Besides, who cared what random strangers thought of us anyway? They didn’t know us, or our story, and it was none of their business even if they did.

Brad leaned over and kissed me, and a sugary tingle crept up my spine. I knew that regardless of what happened with the gossip fallout, everything would be okay. We had each other.

That was all that mattered.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

BRAD

Two years later

Mia snored gently in her sleep, and I leaned over and planted a big wet kiss on her forehead.

“No…” she grumbled before rolling over onto her stomach and burying her head under her pillow.

“Wake up, lazybones,” I said, nudging her. “You’ve got your graduation ceremony today.”

“Mmm…I’m not going…I want to sleep.”

I grabbed her shoulders and rolled her onto her stomach, and she gasped as her eyes flew open. “Brad!”

“You think I’m gonna let you miss your graduation ceremony so you can sleep?” I said, lowering my mouth to her neck.

Goose bumps cropped up over her delicate skin, and she murmured softly as I trailed kisses down her throat and over her collarbone. “Fine. I’ll get up.”

She rubbed her eyes, glanced over at the clock on her bedside table and then glared at me. “It’s only six o’clock! I don’t even have to be up till nine. No wonder I’m so tired…we didn’t get to bed till after midnight!”

“Well, we had a lot of catching up to do,” I said, moving further down and nuzzling her breasts. “It’s hard being away from you for so long.”

I’d graduated from my Bachelor’s degree a year ago, and I’d been accepted into the med school program at Johns Hopkins. It was all the way up in Maryland, so Mia and I only got to see each other once every few weeks, but we made it work. Distance had never been a problem for us. When we’d first gotten together, our campuses were a two hour drive apart, and it hadn’t stopped us then. It sure as shit wasn’t gonna stop us now. I could be at med school in Antarctica and we’d still find a way to see each other.

Thankfully, the scornful looks and gossip at USM and Overton had died down only a few weeks after our relationship had first been revealed by Rose. Just as Mia had suggested would happen, the gossip-mongers had forgotten all about it and moved onto the next big scandal. And guess what? The subject of the next scandal had been Rose herself. Apparently she’d been having an affair with a married professor and fallen pregnant with his child. He’d lost his job and his wife, she’d lost her chances at grad school, and now they’d moved out of the state and across the country to avoid any more trouble. As awful as it was, I guess karma really could be a bitch.

It wasn’t always a bitch, though, at least not when the person realized they were being an asshole and apologized. I’d run into my old stepsister Amanda at one point last year, and she’d told me she was really sorry about how she’d tried to screw things up with me and Mia. She’d been jealous and obsessed, but she’d since realized how wrong it was. She’d clearly matured since then, and now she was married and had a baby on the way. I probably wouldn’t ever be friends with her, but it was still nice to see that some people could change for the better.

Mia was graduating from her political science degree later this afternoon, and I couldn’t wait to see my girl up there on the stage with her gown and mortarboard cap. She’d finished at the top of her class, and the only person prouder of her than me was her Dad. She’d been offered a place at every law school she’d applied to, so she had her pick of them, but she was leaning towards Georgetown. If she did choose Georgetown, then she’d only be a two hour drive from Johns Hopkins, and it’d be just like our earlier college days.

She wasn’t making any final decisions until after the graduation ceremony, however, and there were a few things we had to take care of before that event…

“Let me guess. You woke me up this early to do some more ‘catching up’ with me?” Mia asked with a giggle.

“I’m offended that you’d think so poorly of me,” I said, looking up at her before flicking my tongue around one of her nipples. “Maybe I just wanted to have breakfast with you. Not all of us are sex addicts like you, Mia.”

She laughed and hit me with a pillow, and I pretended to get up. “All right,” I said breezily. “I’m going to make some coffee and eggs.”

She reached up and dragged me back down to the bed. “Oh no! Finish what you started!”

“Don’t worry, I’m kidding. I’m not done with you yet,” I said, flashing her a devilish grin.

I grabbed her hand as I spoke and moved it onto the crotch of my boxer shorts, and she practically salivated as she felt my hard cock underneath the fabric. “Oh, God…” she groaned, pawing at me.

“That is generally what they call me, but I’ll accept ‘Brad’ as well,” I said.

“Shut up and take those pants off. Ugh, it’s so unfair…why do you have to be so hot?”

“It’s a hard job, but someone’s gotta do it.”

She grinned and rolled her eyes, and I slowly stripped her of the little purple shorts she’d worn to bed. She was already topless after last night’s escapades
—
by the time we were done, she’d been too tired to put all her clothes back on, and she’d fallen asleep with only the shorts on. Not that I was complaining. Sleeping next to the hottest woman in the world was even better when she was topless.

Her breath hitched as I tore my boxers off and leapt on her again, and her hands went to my back, nails digging into my skin as I settled my weight between her legs. Her actions stirred an even bigger fire within me, and it worked its way up my spine, building to an inferno. Fuck, I wanted her so bad. I craved her heat against my skin, her soft caresses…the way she moaned my name when she was about to come.

The expression in her eyes mirrored mine as I stared into them. Lust, anticipation, and most importantly of all…pure, unadulterated love.

I groaned as I felt the wetness between her legs connecting with the very tip of my cock, and she begged me. “Please…”

She was on the pill now, so we hadn’t needed to use condoms for a while, and fuck, it felt more amazing than ever before. I grabbed my cock and placed it at her entrance, and then I plunged inside her, unable to wait even a second longer.

Mia gasped as I entered her, her eyes widening and her mouth falling into a perfect O-shape. Her entire body trembled under my touch, and her perfect pussy tightened around me, squeezing and pulsing as I withdrew and then slammed into her, harder and harder with each thrust.

Her hands found my back again, and her nails slid across my skin as I quickened my pace. I could tell by her little moans that she was already close to coming, and I leaned down and kissed her pouty lips, silencing her whimpers as I pumped deeper and faster.

Her back arched a moment later, and her eyes squeezed shut as her legs shook beneath me.

“Oh, fuck…Brad!”

Her climax was enough to send me over the edge too, and with one more push, I groaned and felt myself coming, my cock throbbing deep inside her. She gasped my name again, over and over, and I buried my head in her hair, taking in her sweet scent as the last remnants of pleasure faded from my body.

I rolled off her and onto my back, trying to catch my breath, and she got up on one elbow and looked over at me. “So…you mentioned something about coffee and eggs?”

I chuckled. “You just wore me out a bit. How about you make the coffee, and I’ll make the breakfast?”

“Deal. We need to head off at about ten, by the way. And for my graduation, we need to be in Overton by two.”

“I know. Don’t stress; we’ll make it in time.”

After food, a steamy shower together and about five coffees each, we dressed and got in the car before heading towards Hollywood Cemetery in the center of McComb.

“Are you sure you want me to go with you?” I asked as I pulled the car to a stop in the quiet parking lot.

“Of course,” she said. “By the way, I know this sounds weird, but I like to talk to my Mom when I come here.”

“Doesn’t sound weird at all.”

She led me to her mother’s grave, and she knelt down and placed a bouquet of flowers from the front garden of the family home before standing back up.

“Hey, Mom,” she said softly. “I’m graduating from my Bachelor’s degree this afternoon, so that’s exciting. I wish you could be here for it. There’s also someone I want you to meet.  I’ve told you about him before, but I thought it might be time to bring him here. This is Brad. He’s the guy you always wanted me to end up with. He’s my best friend.”

I slid an arm around her and rubbed her back, and we stayed there in quiet contemplation for several minutes. A single tear trailed down her cheek, and finally she wiped her eyes and smiled up at me. “Okay. I think I’m ready to go.”

“You sure?” I said. “I think we still have a few minutes before we need to head to Overton.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’d hate to be late for the ceremony. Mom couldn’t stand when people were late, right Mom?”

She waved at the gravestone one more time before returning to the car with me, and I started it up and glanced at her. “Ready to go?”

“Yes,” she said, squeezing my leg with her left hand. “I’m ready.”

***

Three and a half hours later, I sat in the audience at Overton, watching the students as they graduated. Mom and Michael sat near me, clapping for everyone, and the Dean slowly made his way through the alphabet.

“Tamara Whittaker,” he called out. I watched and clapped enthusiastically as Mia’s best girlfriend accepted her certificate. She’d finished second in the class, behind Mia by only a fraction of a point.

Finally it was Mia’s turn.

“Mia Williams.”

I stood up and cheered as she made her way onto the stage, a bright white smile lighting her face. Christ, I loved her smile. It was one of the first things I’d ever noticed about her, all the way back in Biloxi when she’d been sitting on that sun lounge, doing up a little girl’s hair.

Mom snapped a photo, and Michael nudged me. “Doesn’t she look great in that gown? I can’t believe she’s already graduated. Time flies so fast.”

She did look great in the blue graduation gown. However, I could think of one gown she’d look even better in. A nice white gown, complete with a veil. Or a tiara; whatever women liked to wear to weddings these days. I wasn’t entirely sure on that, but I was damn sure that I wanted to ask her to be my wife.

I wouldn’t have to wait much longer.