Match: A Stepbrother Romance (7 page)

Chapter 7

Sasha

I couldn’t believe Logan had pranked me. Actually, no…I could. I
did
believe he was capable of pulling every nasty prank one could imagine, even if it was as horrible as having me gargle that godawful colored mouthwash. The cunning bastard had obviously sneaked food dye into it.

What was strange was the fact that nobody had even told me for the whole damn day. God,
w
hat everybody must have been thinking of me! I couldn’t let
him get away with this so easily, so it was time for me to escalate our silly little prank war. As immature as it was, it was honestly kinda fun. I just had to think of something that would not only serve Logan right but also scare the shit out of him.

And it totally had to be something more embarrassing, of course.

As I walked back to my spacious new home, my mind raced like crazy, trying to think of something, but right now, my mind was officially completely blank.

“Hey, you’re back,
sis.
” Logan’s voice hit my ears as I stepped into the living room, and I looked up to see him sprawled on the couch with a wide grin on his face.

I couldn’t wait to wipe away that smarmy smile from his arrogant—and yet still devastatingly handsome—face. “Should I ask Martha to give you a pint of blood for dinner? Is B-positive all right for you?” he asked me with mock concern.

I feigned an angry expression. If he thought I was actually really pissed about the red teeth prank, he might think the prank war was over, and he’d never see my next one coming…

“Oh, screw you, Logan. Joke’s over.” I brushed past the sofa and took the stairs two steps at a time to my room.

“Sure, sis. What fun that would be with you…”

I heard Logan calling out to me as I left, but I didn’t answer and then shut my bedroom door with more force than usual, still putting up the pretense that I was really mad.

I threw my bag on the bed and went over to the dressing table mirror. The furniture in my new room was beautiful; some sort of French antique wooden arrangement, and I couldn’t believe my luck to be living somewhere like this. The whole house was wonderful, and George was incredibly generous for giving us so much and letting us live here with him. Speaking of George, I hadn’t exactly been here long, but I’d already gotten the distinct impression that he and Logan weren’t on the best terms. I vaguely wondered why as I inspected a chipped fingernail before picking up a wide-toothed comb.

As I pulled the comb through my hair, which was now frizzy after the long day I’d had with back-to-back classes, I yawned and noticed from my reflection that there was still a hint of that stupid red liquid on my teeth, even though I’d scrubbed them as best as I could as soon as I’d realized what Logan had done. Oh boy, it would be a long time before I lived
that
incident down on campus. Practically half the student body had seen me wandering around looking like a vampire.

Not wanting to use the bathroom I shared with Logan just yet in case he’d booby-trapped it with something else, I finger-rubbed the rest of the stains from my teeth. I had to give credit to him for finding such a stubborn food dye—just as stubborn as him—which managed to stick all day long.

I decided to go for a walk, figuring some fresh air would clear my head and give me some ideas on how to exact my revenge, and after changing into running shoes, I put on my iPod and stuffed some cash into my jeans pocket just in case I wanted to stop somewhere for a soda or snack. Jogging downstairs, I couldn’t see Logan anywhere, and I felt a slight pang of…wait, no, it was nothing. For a second, I’d actually kinda wished he was there and missed him, but that was ridiculous. I couldn’t
miss
someone I barely knew.

“Aren’t you going to have dinner with the rest of the family, dear?” Martha—the Ryder’s housekeeper—asked with a kind smile as I walked past her while she fluffed up some cushions. She was a nice lady and I’d liked her almost immediately upon meeting her. “It’ll be ready in half an hour.”

“Oh, I’m just going out for a quick walk,” I replied with a smile. “I’ll be back in time for dinner.”

“All right. Have a nice walk!” she said.

I smiled again and waved before heading outside, and as the fresh early evening air hit me, I felt as if my mind was beginning to return to its normal state. Moving in with Logan Ryder had been a shock to my system, but now that I was already getting used to living in his house, I was over it.

Oh, who was I kidding?
I wasn’t over it, and I totally enjoyed this sort of shock to the system. I’d never felt this alive in my life before. Logan’s entry into my life was like a cyclone that had finally stirred things up and brought some excitement to my usually rather dull existence. But that didn’t mean I was letting him get away with that stupidly embarrassing prank he’d pulled this morning. He was going to pay for it.

As I walked down the street towards the nearby commercial area, I looked through the still-open stores until something caught my attention; Winfrey’s Toy Store. It looked like it was about to close, and a devilish smile quirked up my lips as a mischievous plan took shape in my mind.
Oh, this will be so much fun!

I jogged across the road and pushed open the door.

A tall brunette lady greeted me with a generous smile as I breezed inside. ““How can I help you, sweetheart? I’m only open for another ten minutes, but that’s plenty of time for us to find something. Looking for a gift?”

“Great. And yes, I’d like something for my brother,” I said with an innocent flutter of my eyelashes.

“Of course. Do you have something in mind? How old is he?” she said.

“He’s ten,” I replied. Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie—Logan was mentally ten, right?

“What does he like? Trucks? Games? We actually just got some new editions of the Settlers of Catan board game. It’s been very popular lately.”

“Actually, I was wondering if you have some rubber animals. Reptiles or snakes,” I asked. “He loves that sort of stuff. God knows why!”

She gave me a rueful smile. “My son is the same. Anyway, I think we have some near the back. I’ll just have a look.”

She smiled and headed down one of the small aisles before returning to the counter and placing a range of rubber snakes, crocodiles and lizards before me.

“I’ll have this one, please,” I said, pointing to a very genuine-looking green and yellow snake that was as thick as my wrist and almost two feet long. That would
definitely
do.

I mentally clapped my hands with glee as the sales lady wrapped it up and printed off my receipt. Oh, Logan was totally going to freak out when he found this snake in my planned location…

Let’s just say he wasn’t the only one who could booby-trap a bathroom.

After I returned from my walk, I hid my secret weapon deep in the new closet which I’d so neatly organized earlier this morning. Had it really only been a few hours ago that I officially moved in to the Ryder house? It felt like days already.

Now I had to think of an appropriate time to execute my plan, and for that I needed to keep a tab on Logan’s routines.

As I closed my closet door, my phone buzzed, and I picked it up to see a notification from the Matcher app.
You have a match!

Good lord, who was it now? Last time I’d received this notification, I’d been matched
with my stepbrother of all people. I loaded the app, and to my surprise it was approval from Jason Lowry. Of course…I’d forgotten that I’d only showed interest in two profiles the other day—Logan’s and Jason’s.

I opened Jason’s profile and went to his photos.
Damn,
he was hotness personified, and I eagerly swiped thought his pictures, one after the other. Some of them were from nightclubs, a few were from sports games, and more than a few were shirtless pictures.

In every photo he had his signature panty-dropping grin on his face, and I couldn’t help but compare him with Logan. As much as I hated to admit it, deep inside, I knew that if I had to choose between the two of them, Logan would be the one I picked for sure.

Oh, stop it,
I admonished myself as I pictured his sexy smirk and sparkling blue eyes in my mind’s eye.
Nope, don’t even picture him.

Logan was my stepbrother and that meant he was totally off-limits forever. Besides, Jason had only shown interest in my profile. It didn’t mean he’d expressed his undying love for me, so it wasn’t like I even needed to pick between him and anyone else. It was better if I kept my toes on the ground and my head straight, and didn’t read too much into things that weren’t certain yet.

My phone buzzed again, and this time it was a message. Assuming it was from Jason, I opened it, but it was from Logan.

I see you’re online….are you hunting for men, sis? Got any willing victims yet, or do you need my services? I can totally drag a few girls out for you if that’s what you’re into. ;)

Of course…I was sure he could very easily drag
out a few chicks who’d blindly follow him anywhere. I rolled my eyes and typed a quick reply.

Thanks for offering, but I’d rather accept help from a giant squid.

Whoa, sounds like someone’s a bit pissed. PMS? I’m sure there’s some chocolate lying around here somewhere. Try the cupboard.

Okay, blaming a woman’s apparent bad mood on hormones was one step too far. I was actually starting to get a little annoyed with Logan, even though I’d only been faking my annoyance earlier. I took a deep calming breath.
Kill ‘em with your sweetness.
I repeated the mantra in my head and then thought of the plan I’d built up in my mind, and my lips tugged up from one corner as I envisioned the scenario. My sexy stepbrother just didn’t know what I had up my sleeve for him as I typed a sweet, innocent response.

Yes, PMS….that must be it. Thanks for telling me about the chocolate :)

I closed the app and went down for dinner when I heard my Mom faintly calling my name.

“Here she is,” Mom said, flashing a smile at me. She was standing next to George in the dining room, and she was glowing with happiness. I gave her a small smile and took a seat at the table.

“How was your day, honey?” Mom asked, sitting down as well.

Logan cut in before I could reply as he strode into the room. “Yeah, Sasha, tell your Mom how your day was. Didn’t you tell me something really funny happened?”

I rolled my eyes and ignored him as he took the seat across from me.

“It was…um…interesting, Mom,” I replied
.
It wasn’t a complete lie. My day
had
been kinda interesting with my snake shopping and revenge planning.

“That’s good, Sasha. I hope you’re settling in well with Logan. Is he being good to you?” George asked as he took the chair adjacent to Mom. She gave him a loving look that was so soppy it actually made me cringe and look away…right into Logan’s eyes.

His eyes glimmered with amusement as he stared back at me, and I cocked an eyebrow.
You won’t be so amused in a few days, dearest stepbrother.

“We’re great friends already,” I finally replied with a smile, looking over at George.

“Best friends,” Logan said with a nod, quirking his brow.

Damn, even his arrogant smirk was beyond sexy. I squirmed a bit in my seat and tried not to appear affected, but it was too late.

I already knew that when it came to Logan, I was in trouble.

***

Logan’s only daily routine was his morning jog. It took me three days to be damn sure about that. He was out for around thirty minutes before getting ready for his classes each day, so that was the perfect time for me to enact my plan. He’d nagged me in the last three days and teased me about being a spoilsport for supposedly ending our silly prank war, and I’d replied to him without saying anything that would hint towards the fact that I was still well and truly planning a dastardly prank on him. The whole thing was helping me discover my hidden talent…I had acting skills.
Who would’ve thought?

I’d also had a little exchange of messages with Jason Lowry on Matcher, and he seemed pretty charming and quite flattering so far. He knew me from Sociology class too, and something was vaguely developing between us, much to my surprise. Maybe he wasn’t like my ex Travis after all. Maybe I could give him a chance when the time came.

But for the time being, my main objective was scaring the pants off Logan Ryder.

On the fourth morning, I stood right behind my slightly ajar bedroom door, biding my time until he left. He finally jogged down the stairs in his sweat pants and black fitted shirt with iPod earbuds in his ears, and when he was safely out of the main door, I hurried into my closet and pulled out the plastic toy store bag before rushing towards our shared bathroom.

I carefully draped the rubber snake in the shower. It wasn’t hanging in an obvious spot, but Logan would eventually find it when he reached for the shower gel. Just the thought of him shrieking like a little girl made an evil smile turn the corners of my lips up, and I couldn’t wait for it to happen. It was going to be—dare I say it—hisssssterical. Okay, my sense of humor was lame sometimes, so sue me.