Playboy - A Stepbrother Romance (15 page)

Chapter 18

Anya

My stomach was in knots as we drove. I was terrified of facing everyone back in the city, and most of all, I was terrified of facing my Mom and Pierce. Judging by the texts they’d sent us over the last few days, they were even angrier with us than I’d initially thought they would be…and that was saying something, considering I’d thought they’d want to kill us.

After a couple of hours on the road back home, Cam turned to me. “Hey, I completely forgot to ask…what’s with your gaming cam stuff? The other day, you said it was a long story and that you’d tell me later. We’ve still got two hours left on the road, so now’s as good a time as any.”

I hesitated. We hadn’t discussed my gaming channel in the last six days for one major reason—it reminded us both of the terrible mistake I’d made in leaving my webcam on that night.

“What do you want to know about it?” I finally replied.

“Why is it a secret from your friends and family?”

“Well, the easy answer is that I’m kind of embarrassed about being such a nerd,” I said. “But that’s not really the truth.”

“I figured.”

“Well…I make money from it,” I said. “Every time I stream a new video of me playing, I get one cent for every viewer I have clicking on my channel. So say I have fifty thousand people watching me one night—that gives me $500.”

“Oh, wow. I had no idea. So you use that to help pay for college?”

I shook my head. “No. I have a scholarship to pay for that. I don’t keep the money for myself.”

I shifted nervously in my car seat, unsure of how to tell him the truth. He glanced at me for a brief second and arched his eyebrows before returning his gaze to the road ahead.

“Who gets the money?” he asked. “Your Mom?”

“No. My half-sister,” I mumbled.

“Your
what
?”

I looked over at him and repeated my answer, louder this time. “My half-sister. Her name is Shania.”

He shook his head. “I don’t get it. Since when have you had a half-sister? Your Mom’s never mentioned it, and neither has my Dad.”

“That’s because they don’t know she exists,” I said. “And that’s why my gaming thing is a secret. I don’t want Mom to know why I need extra money, so I never talk about it with anyone except Kara.”

“Okay, I’m confused. Why doesn’t your Mom know about her? And why does your sister even need the money?”

“It’s a long story,” I said. “But you know what my Dad was like, right?”

“Kind of. I’ve heard a bit about him from my father. Bit of a douchebag, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah. He was an asshole, as horrible as it sounds for me to say that about my own father. He was horrible to my Mom, and while he was still alive and married to her, he had a lot of affairs.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, about two years ago, I got a Facebook message from this girl who looked like a young female version of him. She said my father was her father. I didn’t believe her at first, but she showed me old photos of the two of them together and everything. He was already dead at this point, so I couldn’t confront him. But basically, he had a secret lovechild with some other woman. She’s a year younger than me.”

“Shit. And your Mom didn’t know?”

“No. She already went through enough with him when they were married. I didn’t want to add to all her stress by telling her that he’d fathered another daughter while they were married. It figured it would just hurt her all over again.”

I sighed and continued. “Anyway, Shania and I wanted to get to know each other, and we started talking regularly on Skype. I found out that my Dad had been sending her Mom money to help support her while she was growing up, but obviously that stopped when he died. Her Mom is an alcoholic and has this boyfriend—Eric—who used to hit Shania, and she kicked Shania out of the house last year and refused to help her with anything anymore, all because she tried to tell her what Eric had been doing to her. When Shania told me, she didn’t ask me for anything. She said she’d stay at a friend’s house until she figured out what she was doing, and that she’d be okay. But I felt awful, and I wanted to help. She’s my half-sister, after all. So I started sending her money. I don’t have much spare from my scholarship after paying for my dorm, books and classes each semester, and I didn’t want to tell my Mom, so I couldn’t send much at first. Then I found out that I could make money from streaming games. Kara helped me set it up, and I’ve been sending Shania almost everything I get since then.”

Cam wrinkled his brow. “Anya, that’s really generous of you, but are you sure you’re not being scammed?”

“Yes,” I said. “Shania is for real. Like I said, she’s shown me pictures of her and my Dad together when he was still alive, and she really is the spitting image of him. She never even asked me for help. I insisted on sending her money, and she was really unsure about it at first because she didn’t want to think that I saw her as some sort of leech or scammer. But I convinced her to at least take enough money to pay for school and other necessities, and also enough to give her friend’s parents money for board, seeing as they’re still letting her stay with them.”

“So she’s still in high school?”

“She was. She graduated six months ago. Now she works part-time at a diner to make some money for herself, but it pays less than minimum wage, even though I think that might actually be illegal these days. If she doesn’t get good tips, she basically makes nothing. So now I’m trying to help her save up so she can have a better life. She never had the opportunities that I had growing up, and I want to help make up for that. The gaming money has been pretty good so far.”

I clapped my hand over my mouth as I suddenly realized how much I would have made from the accidental sex tape. “Holy crap. With a million people watching, I would’ve made over ten grand from that accidental home movie of ours!”

Cam raised his eyebrows again. “Silver lining, maybe?”

“Hardly. I’d rather
owe
ten grand and not have had everyone watching us have sex,” I grumbled.

“True. Well, Kara texted you yesterday and said the tape is down everywhere now, right?”

“Yeah. So no one else can see it now.”

“Well, that’s something, at least. Anyway, back to Shania….have you ever met her in person?”

“No. We only chat over Skype. I’ve never had a chance to go up and visit her, with college being so busy and all. It’s over a four hour drive from home.”

“Where exactly does she live?”

“Syracuse,” I said.

“We just passed Albany. Syracuse is only about two hours west of where we are right now, I think,” Cam replied.

He made a quick right turn, and the sudden movement made me squeal. “What was that for? God, you turned so fast I almost had a heart attack.”

He grinned at me. “You know I’m a race car driver, right? Thought it was time I showed off my awesome skills. And I also think it’s about time you met your sister…”

Chapter 19

Cam

Anya’s eyebrows practically shot through the roof of the car as I continued along the road heading west.

“You better not actually speed, Cam!”

I grinned. Typical Anya—always the good girl.

“I won’t,” I promised her. “I was kidding. You can see my real racing skills another time.”

She smiled. “Thank you…for this,” she said softly. “Do you think it’s a good idea to go and see her now, though? We really do need to get back home, and Shania isn’t expecting us or anything…maybe I can go and see her another time.”

I shook my head. “No. I know we need to get home, but that can wait for one more day. You should meet your sister. Remember what I told you about my Mom the other day?”

“Yes.”

“So you remember how I went looking for her so I could finally meet her in person after all those years, only to find out she was already long-gone?”

“Yes. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. What I’m trying to say is, you should seize the day. I’m not saying it’s likely that something awful is going to happen to you or Shania, but still…you never know what’s going to happen in life. We’re only a couple of hours away from her, and you should really meet her in person as soon you have a chance to. And right now you have that chance. I think it’ll be good for you.”

Anya sighed. “You’re right,” she said. “I guess I’m just kinda nervous about finally meeting her. It’s different when you talk to someone online, you know? What if she hates me in person?”

I laughed. “Have some more confidence in yourself, Anya! She won’t hate you. No one in their right mind could hate you. And even if you guys end up wanting to claw each other’s eyes out for some reason, then so what? That’s what siblings are for, right? To have dumb fights with.”

Anya’s smile grew wider. “Yes, Cam, that’s the
only
reason siblings exist,” she said sarcastically. “But…you’re right. I’m being silly and insecure. I really have wanted to meet her in person for ages.”

“Do you know if she’ll be at work today?” I asked.

“Yeah, she will be,” she replied, glancing at the time. “She works from early morning until lunchtime on Thursdays, so she’ll almost be finished by the time we get there.”

“Cool. What’s the diner called?”

Anya told me the name of the place Shania worked at, and I plugged it into my car’s GPS. She continued to fidget nervously in her seat for the rest of the drive in a mixture of excitement and apprehension, and I gave her an encouraging smile as we finally pulled into the parking lot of the Syracuse diner.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “She’ll love you. You’ve helped her out so much, and I bet she’s been wanting to meet you for ages too.”

Anya smiled and nodded. “Yeah. She’s always said she’d love to move to the city eventually. Maybe while we’re here, we can plan for her to come visit us one day and see how she likes it.”

“Good idea. You guys can crash at my apartment when she does that.”

“Okay. I guess there’s no other reason I’d want to stay in your apartment,” she replied, poking her tongue out.

I chuckled, and as we approached the diner, we caught sight of a girl coming outside, curly brown hair blowing in the breeze. She looked a little bit like Anya, only her hair was lighter, her nose was wider and she was slightly taller.

“Is that her?” I murmured.

Anya nodded. “Shania!” she called out.

The girl looked over at us, confusion etched in her features for a second, and then her eyes widened. “Anya?” she squealed. “Oh my god, it’s really you!”

She dashed up to us and immediately enveloped Anya in an enormous hug, and I grinned. I’d known this was a good idea. There was no way in a million years that Shania wouldn’t have wanted to see Anya after all the sisterly support she’d lent her over the last two years.

“We were sort of in the area, so we decided to show up and surprise you,” Anya said, finally breaking away from the hug.

Shania looked at me. “Oh! You’re…”

“Hi,” I said, extending my hand. “I’m Cam. Anya’s boyfriend.”

Anya looked at me with surprise, as if she couldn’t believe I’d introduced myself as her boyfriend rather than her stepbrother. I grinned at her, and she relaxed and smiled back at me.

“Cam Meyers…wow,” Shania said with a smile as she shook my hand. “I know who you are. I used to watch you race whenever they played it on Channel Ten.”

“Cool. So you like cars?”

“Love them,” Shania replied.

“Maybe I picked the wrong sister to date?” I joked, earning an immediate playful slap from Anya.

“Hilarious,” she said. “Anyway, Shania…is there somewhere we can get lunch with you? Preferably somewhere that has cupcakes. I’m craving one so badly.”

Shania grinned and gestured behind her. “How about right here? I get an employee discount, and there’s six different sorts of cupcakes. I guess that kinda makes up for the dismal pay.”

“Sure,” Anya said. “But don’t worry, we’re paying!”

Three hours later, we were still in the diner, and Anya and Shania were talking each other’s ears off about everything in their lives.

“Did I tell you about the night classes I enrolled in?” Shania asked as a waitress delivered our third round of coffees.

Anya shook her head. “I don’t think so, no.”

“Oh, I thought I did. Well, last time you sent me money—which by the way, I don’t know how I can ever thank you for—I enrolled in a few night classes at a community college here.”

“Cool. In what subject?”

“Just admin and business kinda stuff,” she replied. “There’s also this short public relations course which I’m hoping to get into next semester.”

“That’s great,” Anya said, reaching over and squeezing her hand. “I’m proud of you.”

“Well, like I said, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you. Anyway, enough about me! How did you two meet?” Shania said, arching an eyebrow. “I’m very interested as to how a relative of mine scored Cam Meyers.”

Anya hesitated. “Um…I guess you haven’t read many gossip sites lately?”

Shania shook her head. “No. Why?” she asked, looking puzzled.

“Well, remember how last time we talked on Skype, I mentioned my annoying new stepbrother?”

I chuckled, and Shania nodded, still looking confused.

“Cam is…he’s my stepbrother,” Anya said. “And right now we’re actually sort of on the run from our parents and everyone else.”

She filled Shania in on the accidental sex tape and how it had spread around all the gossip sites like wildfire, and Shania didn’t look anywhere near as shocked or horrified as I’d thought she might.

“I totally called it,” she said, her lips quirking up into a grin.

“What?”

“When you were whining about this new stepbrother to me…I totally knew you had some sort of giant hidden crush on him. I had no idea it was Cam friggin’ Meyers, though!”

“I swear I told you his name,” Anya replied with a giggle.

Shania shrugged. “You probably only said his first name, and I forgot what it was. Anyway, you guys really do need to go back and face everyone. But not for the reasons you were saying earlier.”

“What do you mean?” Anya asked, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion.

“Well, I know you feel all embarrassed and ashamed, but there’s no reason for you to feel like that, aside from the fact that you accidentally leaked a sex tape. But that was just a mistake, and people will get over it. As for the whole supposed incest scandal—it’s a load of crap. It isn’t friggin’ incest; you aren’t biologically related. You guys already knew each other before your parents got together, and honestly, they went off and got married behind your backs without even telling you, let alone introducing you as future siblings. I know they were drunk in Vegas and all, but still…that’s kinda crappy.”

“I guess,” Anya said.

“Besides, you only have one life. You guys want to be together. Are you really going to let all these gossip queens dictate who you date? No, screw them! Like I just said, you two aren’t related, and you’re both consenting adults…so who cares? Just be together. Fuck everyone else.”

Shania’s words were abrasive, but she had a very good point. If our parents or anyone else were pissed at us simply for being in a relationship as stepsiblings, then they were being ridiculous. It would be one thing if Anya and I had actually grown up together as children and bonded as real siblings do, but we hadn’t. What had happened with us was another thing entirely. We were two people who had fallen for each other, and our parents just so happened to be recently married to each other.

“You’re right,” Anya said quietly. “You’re so right.”

“Of course I’m right. I’m your sister,” Shania said, flashing her a cheeky look. “And right now, your sister is telling you to go home, face everyone, and tell them to mind their own damn business!”

“But I wanted to spend some more time with you first!” Anya said.

Shania shook her head. “Don’t make excuses. You need to go back. But we’ll plan another meetup soon. We really should’ve done this before now.”

“Yeah, we should have. It’s been great.”

Anya and Shania chatted for a few more minutes, figuring out when they would both have some time off work and study so that we could plan for Shania to come and visit us in the city, and then they said a teary goodbye.

“I’ll see you soon,” Shania said, waving as we stepped out of the diner.

“I can’t wait!” Anya called back.

She was silent until we reached the car, and then she turned to me. “Thanks for being here and talking me into doing this, Cam. I was so nervous, but that was amazing. Shania’s even cooler in person.”

“I think she feels the same way about you,” I said with a grin. “I could barely get a word in back there, even though she’s apparently a fan of mine.”

“Maybe I’m just more appealing than you,” she said, grinning back up at me. “Really, though…thank you. This meant a lot to me.”

“Well, you mean a lot to me,” I replied, my smile fading into a more serious expression as I grabbed her hand. “Look, I know I haven’t said this before, and it’s probably way too soon, but it should be said. You’re an amazing person, Anya, even if you can’t see that sometimes, and…well…I love you. I think I have for a long time.”

“You’re pretty decent yourself,” she replied. “I guess I kinda like you back, even after you pretended to be a shark that one time.”

“Wow. I try to be romantic and sweet, and all I get is…”

She cut my faux-offended sentence off with a kiss and then cheekily grinned as she pulled away. “Shh. You know I love you too.”

I grinned back at her.

She was right. I did know that she loved me. I really did.

We might’ve only been together for a short time, but I’d been thinking about her and wanting to be with her for a hell of a lot longer. What I felt for her was real, and I knew she felt the exact same way about me.

As far as I was concerned, nothing could drive us apart now.