Dare: A Stepbrother Romance (9 page)

That was how we fell asleep for the rest of the night.

CHAPTER TWELVE

DREW

J
esus…for a guy, there was really nothing like waking up with a hot naked girl in your arms and her curvy ass pressing against your crotch, hard with morning glory. I didn’t usually hang around chicks long enough for this to happen, and goddamn, had I been missing out. All these years and all these different girls, and all along, this is what I’d been missing. The lack of moments like these were why I’d always felt so empty. My eyes slowly opened, seeing dark tangles of hair sticking out in all directions on the fluffed-up pillows.
Well, shit. We’d finally given into our feelings and done it.

I shuddered to think what Marie would say if she came in and saw her only daughter like this, so I murmured in her ear.

“Sophie.”

“Hmm?” she sleepily said, her eyes barely opening as she rolled over to look at me.

“Morning.”

She suddenly sat up straight. “Crap. What’s the time? Has anyone seen me in here?”

“It’s seven. Still early,” I said. “You could easily sneak back into your room now. The maids don’t usually come up to change our bedding till nine or ten.”

She smiled at me. “I don’t want to, but I probably should.”

“I don’t want you to either. But yeah, it’s probably a good idea.”

She found her towel from last night and wrapped it around herself before kissing me on the cheek and padding towards the door.

“Maybe you can go write some more stuff about me in that little manuscript of yours,” I called out, and she turned around and stuck her tongue out at me.

“Funny.”

With that, she was gone, and I lay back on my pillow with a contented sigh. I finally had everything I wanted in the world, and I couldn’t imagine anything happening to screw that joy up.

***

I emerged from the backyard pool with an almighty roar, splashing droplets all over Sophie’s smooth legs as she reclined on a sun lounge.

“Hey!” she said, almost jumping out of her skin. “You scared the hell out of me! And you could have wet my computer!”

I grinned. “Sorry. What are you working on?”

She had her laptop balanced precariously on her knees, and she cast her eyes down. “Um…nothing.”

“That same story of yours I saw the other day?”

“Uhh…yeah.”

I hauled myself out of the water and sat at her feet. “I don’t know why you’re so embarrassed about it. I bet you’re an amazing writer. You’re smart as hell,” I said as I dried myself off.

She chewed on her lower lip, a habit that drove me wild with lust. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do much about that in this exact moment, seeing as we were out in the pool area where anyone could see us. It had been a couple of weeks since we started hooking up, and we were keeping it on the down-low for the time being. Our parents didn’t need any more shit piled on them right now considering all the stuff that was happening with Marie’s crazy ex stalking them, and we had no idea how they’d react to our relationship.

“I’m not that smart,” she said.

“Yeah, you are. One of these days I’m gonna show you how talented you are.”

A blush crept across her cheeks, and she gave me a seductive half-smile. “I’d rather you showed me something else…” she said, licking her lips and staring at my abs as droplets of water dripped between them.

I grinned.

“Oh, really? How about you meet me upstairs in fifteen minutes, then?” I said, sliding on a pair of sunglasses and glancing through the French doors that led inside. I could see Marie relaxing on a sofa reading a book, and I didn’t want to arouse her suspicions.

“Can’t,” Sophie said with a sigh. “Cerie and Lana are coming over soon. We wanted to go shopping, but I can’t exactly go out at the moment, so we’re just going to swim and hang out here.”

I felt a twinge of anger in my heart. It was so unfair. She was so frightened of her Dad that she’d basically become a prisoner in her own home. No, a prisoner in someone
else’s
home. Neither she nor Marie had been back to their place in Redmond since they arrived here, and I wished there was something I could do to get rid of her Dad once and for all. Anything at all.

Two more letters had arrived for them at their old place. My Dad had collected them when he went around to check their mail, and they’d basically been the same generic letters that seemed vaguely threatening but didn’t actually say all that much in terms of his motivation. Stuff like, ‘
I’m coming to take what’s mine.
’ At least he hadn’t yet figured out that they were staying here now.

“Okay, tease,” I replied. “Tell ‘em I said hi. I’m gonna go hang out in the lounge and binge watch Top Gear.”

“Ew,” she said, laughing. “You and your car obsession.”

“I’m more obsessed with you, but you’ve gone and rejected me to hang out with your friends,” I teased, pinching her lightly on the leg before standing up. “Have fun.”

I spent the next couple of hours lazing around watching TV, and in the early afternoon I heard a knock at the door. I’d ordered some stuff online recently, and I was still waiting on the package, so I assumed it was a delivery guy.

Nope.

Vanessa was standing at the main entrance to the house, her fine blonde hair blowing in wisps around her face. For fuck’s sake. Did she not realize we were finished and had been for a long time?

“How the hell did you get past the security guys at the gate?” I asked, incensed.

“They recognized me from when we were together,” she said. “Can I come in?”

“Why the hell would I let you in?”

“Because,” she said. “I’m pregnant.”

Oh, fuck.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

DREW

I stared at Vanessa for a long moment and then ushered her in. She didn’t say a word as she followed me up to my room, and I closed the door and then sat down on my bed.

“So. You’re pregnant, huh?”

“Yes,” she said, her eyes wide with fear. “I’m sorry for just showing up like this. I’ve been trying to contact you, but you wouldn’t answer me. But I understand why. I was acting like a crazy bitch before you dumped me.”

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. “How do you know it’s mine?”

“I haven’t slept with anyone else since we broke up,” she said. “I know you probably have, because you’re a total man-whore, but I swear I haven’t.”

“How do I know this isn’t some bullshit game you’re playing?” I said, folding my arms. We’d always used condoms, but I knew there was a chance they could fail. Honestly, knowing Vanessa, she might have even poked holes in them. Shit, I wished I’d never even touched her.

“I can prove it,” she said, pulling out a brand new three-pack of pregnancy tests from her handbag. “I’ll take these right now so you can see.”

“And how do I know you don’t have a jar of some actual pregnant woman’s piss in your bag so you can fake those tests?” I said.

“Look, I can see why you wouldn’t believe me after the way I’ve behaved, but here…have a look.”

She passed me her bag, and I had a look through it. All that was in it was a small purse, keys, a cell phone, some loose change, two tubes of clear lip gloss and a small makeup compact. There were no side pockets or any other areas to hide anything else. I glanced up at her and appraised her outfit, and in the tight jeans and small top she was wearing, there was no way she was hiding anything on herself either. I sighed.

“Fine. Go in my bathroom and take those tests right now,” I said, handing the bag back to her. “I’m sorry to be a dick, but I’m not gonna believe you until I see the plus sign on all three of those strips.”

“I’ll even keep the door open,” she said.

Gross. I didn’t want to hear her peeing, but if that’s how far she was willing to go to prove it, then fine by me. She went into the bathroom, leaving the door open a crack, and I turned away and waited for her to do her business, trying to ignore the sounds. She flushed and washed her hands a few minutes later and then returned to my side, holding out the three tests.

All three were positive. Shit, shit, shit.

“I don’t want to get an abortion,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I just can’t.”

My heart plummeted into my stomach, and I put my head in my hands. What the fuck was I going to do? I didn’t want to have anything to do with Vanessa. I wanted Sophie. But I also knew deep down that I couldn’t abandon a girl if she was going to have my kid. I’d grown up with only parent, and it had screwed me up for a long time. I didn’t want to do the same for any of my future kids.

My door creaked open a moment later, and a familiar sweet voice called out. “Hey, my friends have left, why don’t you and I…”

Sophie’s sentence trailed off as she saw Vanessa standing beside my bed, and she asked me the one question I really didn’t want to have to answer right now. Not to her.

“What’s going on?”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

SOPHIE

I was falling apart, and it was all because of Drew.

We’d finally put aside our differences and realized how we both felt about each other deep down, and now
this
was happening after only a couple of weeks. His ex-girlfriend had showed up claiming to be pregnant, and she’d even proved it by taking a bunch of tests in front of him. The look on his face when I’d gone into his room and seen what was happening had sealed the deal on what I was going to do about it. I could tell how conflicted he was about the whole thing, and I had decided to make things easy for him, as much as it destroyed me to do so.

I didn’t want to make him choose between being with me and the apparent soon-to-be mother of his child. He might not have agreed with me, but I really thought that he needed to try and make things work with her if they were going to have a kid, so I’d decided to take a step back from our romantic relationship and just be a friend to him for the time being.

He’d told me he didn’t want to be with her and that he only wanted me, and I believed him, but something like this was just too much. That kid needed a father, and honestly, as much as I cared about Drew, I wasn’t ready to play stepmom at this point in my life, even if he chose to stay separated from Vanessa. I was only eighteen and about to head off to college, and there was no way I’d be able to be there for him as much as he’d need me to be if I was his girlfriend in such a situation. As much as I cared about him, it was better that we remain friends rather than deal with the break-up that would probably occur in the not-so-distant future over our wildly different life choices if we tried to keep things going between us.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t devastated over the whole incident. I wished so badly that the whole thing would just go away so we could be together, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen.

Right now I was holed up in my room, clutching a cream-colored satin pillow as Cerie and Lana stared at me. I’d just told them everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks, and they were apparently lost for words.

“So…so you slept with him,” Cerie finally said.

I nodded.

“Oh my god, why didn’t you tell us?” Lana said.

“Because I wasn’t ready yet. I’m sorry, I’m a crappy friend. I just knew what you’d say if you heard we were hooking up. You’d say ‘I told you so,’ right?” I said.

“Duh,” Cerie said. “But what the hell…his ex is pregnant?”

“Yes. So it doesn’t even matter. We’re just going to be friends.”

They exchanged glances, and Lana picked at a split end in her auburn hair before looking back at me. “Um…are you sure that’s the right thing to do, Soph? He’s probably really going to need someone for support.”

“I’m still going to help and support him as much as I can,” I said. “Just not as his girlfriend. It’s too complicated if we’re together.”

They exchanged another glance, and I rolled my eyes. “Oh, come on, guys…I’m right here! I can see the looks you’re giving each other.”

“It’s just…even after you asked us to not get involved, we both still thought you guys were totally meant for each other,” Lana said. “I mean, it’s so perfect. Childhood best friends reunited years later.”

“Reunited because our parents got married,” I reminded them. “Can you imagine what my Mom would say if I told her I was dating my stepbrother even though he was having a baby with his ex-girlfriend?”

“Yeah, I guess that is kinda crazy,” Cerie said. “Do your parents know about the whole pregnancy thing yet?”

“No. I said I’d help him tell them when he’s ready, though.”

Lana reached across and squeezed my arm. “He’s lucky to have you as a friend,” she said. “It can’t be easy for you right now, especially with everything that’s happening with your Dad. Have you figured out what he wants yet, by the way?”

I shook my head. “Nope. No idea.”

Our topic of conversation made my problems come rushing at me all at once. My psycho Dad was back in the picture, and Drew’s nutty ex-girlfriend was pregnant. Just when things had finally started to go right in my life, they’d all gone so freakin’ wrong.

***

I bumped into Drew the next day in the hall.

“Hey,” I said. “How’s everything going with the Vanessa situation?”

“I took her to the doctor yesterday. They told her to piss in a jar to give them a sample, and it showed up positive on their tests. So yeah…she’s definitely pregnant. We have to go back in to get blood tests to confirm it once and for all and make sure she doesn’t have any illnesses that could hurt the pregnancy.”

“I see,” I replied, my stomach lurching.

“So she has another doctor’s appointment in a couple of days,” he continued. “She’s staying here at the moment, just while we get things sorted.”

I felt a pang of jealousy as I pictured her in his bed, and he must have picked up on that, because he leaned in close and grabbed my hand. His eyes conveyed emotions he couldn’t say out loud, and he spoke in a low voice.

‘Don’t worry, I’m not sleeping with her. You know I don’t want her.”

“Drew…you know I’d understand if you got back with her,” I said. “A baby is a really big deal, and like you said, she won’t consider a termination or adoption.”

He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. “I know, you said that the other day. I just don’t know what I should do right now. It’s all so fucked up. Anyway, I have to go to work. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay.”

He headed downstairs, and I sighed and went back into my room and booted up my laptop. I was expecting Caltech to email me a bunch of stuff about my enrolment, and I cursed at the computer as it refused to let me on the internet.

“Ugh…work, dammit!” I said out loud, but it refused to connect.

Reaching over to grab my phone, I saw that it was dead, so I couldn’t use that to check my email either until it was charged. Dammit. Why was everything going wrong for me at the moment?

I set the phone on charge, then padded across the hall and knocked on Drew’s door to use his computer. Normally I would have just gone straight in, but I knew Vanessa was probably in there.

“Come in!” she called out.

“Hey, Vanessa,” I said, trying not to let any emotions seep into my voice.

“Oh, hey, Drew’s sister,” she said, flicking her long blonde hair over her shoulder as she played on her cell phone. She barely even looked up at me.

“It’s Sophie,” I said, my teeth set on edge.

“Right. Sorry, I can’t seem to remember anything these days. I guess pregnancy brain is a real thing, huh?”

“Um. Yeah. Anyway, I’m expecting some important emails and my computer and phone have both decided to not work, so would you mind if I quickly used Drew’s computer?”

“Sure, go ahead,” she said, looking bored.

I sat down at his desk and opened his laptop. Damn. I had no idea what his password was. I asked Vanessa, and she had no idea either.

“Um…could I maybe use your cell phone?” I asked. “It has internet, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’d only be a minute,” I said. “It’s just college stuff I’m expecting. I’m kinda desperate to see it all now.”

She hesitated. “Um…okay, sure.”

“Thanks.”

She handed me her phone, and I opened a browser and went to my email website. She must have had an account with the same service, because the page automatically logged into her email. I was about to click ‘log out’ when something caught my eye on the inbox page. About five emails down, there was an email titled ‘Thanks for your order from HCG Diet Online Store’.

Something clicked in my brain the second I read that.

In my bio classes in junior year, we’d studied human reproduction, and I remembered that HCG stood for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. It was a hormone produced in pregnant women, and it was what they tested for in pregnancy tests, seeing as it was present in the blood and urine even in very early pregnancy.

Cerie had told me a while ago that some people used powdered HCG supplements as part of some weird diet, and they could be ordered online.

Holy crap.

Vanessa could have ordered some of the powder online and put some on the tests after she’d peed on them. That would probably make them show up positive. And at the doctor’s office, she could have easily mixed more powder into the urine sample jar while she was in the bathroom before giving it to the doctor. Drew had said he checked her bag before she did the tests, and there was nothing but a phone, keys and makeup compact…but she could have hidden the powder in the makeup compact.

That freaking bitch. She was faking a pregnancy just to try and worm her way back into Drew’s life. What the hell was she planning to do once things progressed too far…fake a miscarriage? No doubt she’d do that and act all devastated so he’d feel sorry for her and give her a shoulder to cry on…and maybe even get back with her out of guilt. Not only that, it would make it look like they’d gone through something major together, dealing with losing a pregnancy and all. She could easily use that to manipulate him.

He’d told me she was a bit crazy when they were dating, but crazy didn’t even begin to describe the scale of what she was doing; if I was right, that is.

I did my best to keep a straight face and then handed her the phone back.

“Thanks,” I said, giving her a bright smile.

“Did you get your email thing?”

“Nah, it hasn’t come through yet,” I said. “But hey, can I borrow this?”

Before she could even move, I grabbed her handbag off the floor, rifled through it and pulled out the only makeup in there - a round, bronze-colored powder compact.

“No!” she screeched. She sounded like a cross between a death metal singer and a mating elephant seal. “Don’t touch that! That’s…”

I looked right at her as I opened the compact and then held it up to her. As I suspected, it was filled with white powder.

“Care to explain
this
, Vanessa?” I asked.

If looks could kill, I’d be dead and buried from the expression on her face right now.

“You bitch,” she hissed. “You’ve ruined everything.”

“Oh, I’m the bitch? You’re insane,” I said. “How long did you think you’d get away with this?”

She didn’t reply, and her expression changed to that of a deer caught in the headlights.

“I’m calling Drew and telling him right now,” I said before turning and marching out of the room.

I heard her spring to her feet and run after me, and a second later she was attacking me from behind, pulling my hair and clawing at my neck. I shrieked at the sudden stinging pain of her acrylic nails digging into my skin, and only seconds later we were rolling around on the floor like two alley cats, scratching and slapping each other.

“What on earth is going on in here?”

We looked up to see Tony standing in the doorway, his eyebrows practically on the ceiling as he stared down at us. Vanessa released my arm from her grip and let me get up, and Tony folded his arms.

“Well?”

I wanted to tell him what Vanessa had done, but he hadn’t even known that she’d claimed to be pregnant in the first place, and that would just stir up even more drama.

“Er…she attacked me,” I said.

He glared at Vanessa, who wasn’t denying the allegation. She obviously knew she didn’t have a leg to stand on.

“Vanessa, I was under the impression my son broke things off with you. Is there any reason for you to be in my home right now?”

She didn’t respond. Instead she grabbed her handbag and stormed out of the room, and I grinned despite the pain in my arm from where she’d really dug her claws in.

“Are you okay, Sophie?” Tony asked, concern etched into his features.

The smile wouldn’t leave my face. I was a hell of a lot more than okay. I’d proven that Vanessa was making up the whole pregnancy, and that meant that nothing was standing in the way of me and Drew being together anymore.
Suck it, bitch,
I thought.
He’s mine.

“I’m fine, Tony,” I replied, my smile growing even wider. “I’m more than fine.”