Rock Hard: A Stepbrother Romance (Extreme Sports Alphas) (4 page)

I finished putting away my things and climbed into bed. For some reason, I couldn’t stop worrying about Reid. Sure, he seemed pretty good, at least physically. He looked like he was in the best shape of his life, which was a little more than distracting.

But it was the way he alternated between his usual cocky, teasing self and something else, something a little darker. Ever since Cora had been diagnosed with cancer, something inside him had been changing. It seemed like it had only gotten worse.

I sat up in bed and shook my head. I had barely been home for two hours and I was already obsessing about Reid and his moods. Anyway, he was a busy and successful mountain climber. What did it matter what I thought?

I got up and walked downstairs, skipping the creaky step, and walked into the kitchen. Cora was busy chopping onions, tears rolling freely down her face.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s so sad?”

She looked up and smiled. “It’s these stupid onions.”

“I usually stop when I start crying.”

“No use in stopping. I just chop right through it.”

I sat down at the table, laughing, and Cora laughed along with me.

“You look pretty insane.”

“I know, dear. I can’t help it. Watch out, crazy lady with a knife!”

I laughed again. Cora finished chopping and put the onions in a pot.

“So when’s Dad getting home?” I asked.

“Soon. He called my cell not long ago. He’ll make it in time for dinner.”

I nodded. “Okay. Good.”

“Where did Reid go off to?”

“Don’t ask me. It’s not like he tells me anything.”

She shook her head. “He’s been disappearing more and more often lately.”

“Really?”

“Sure. Just walks off into the woods without a second thought.” She paused, frowning. “Sometimes he’s gone for days.”

I looked at her, surprised. Reid was disappearing for days at a time? He had always been independent and strong-willed, but it wasn’t like him to go somewhere without at least telling Cora about it.

“Do you know where he’s going?”

“He says climbing competitions or festivals. Sometimes he’s doing guide work.” She paused. “But I don’t know.”

“Is everything okay?”

She looked up and smiled. “Absolutely. I’m just being stupid. Reid has been stuck here taking care of me for the past few years. It’s not surprising that he wants to do stuff on his own now that I’m doing better.”

I nodded. That made a lot of sense, but still. Cora was obviously worried, and I didn’t blame her. I had barely been around him and yet even I could sense that there was something happening with him.

“Really, how have you been?” I asked her.

“Great. Honestly, I’ve never felt better.”

“I’m so proud of you. I mean, everything that happened. You’re pretty amazing.”

She smiled. “That means a lot.”

“And you know . . .” I trailed off and paused, feeling awkward. “I’m sorry I wasn’t around more. When you were sick.”

She waived her hand, dismissing my concern. “Listen, kid. I know you would have come home in a heartbeat if any of us had asked. But I would have hated myself if you had squandered that opportunity because of me.”

“I know. But still. I should have been here, to help.”

She walked over and sat down in the chair across from me.

“Listen, Becca. I had more than enough help. I dragged down your father and Reid. I didn’t need to drag you down too.”

“You’re not a drag.”

“I know. But I am, no matter how awful that sounds. You’re here now, and I am too. That’s what matters.” She smiled softly. “Plus, I wouldn’t have let you come home anyway.”

I smiled, trying to ward off the tears. Cora was like that, always so positive and kind and caring. In the beginning, when she had been diagnosed, I came home right away. I totally planned on staying home and never going back, but Cora showed up one morning a few days later with a plane ticket and yelled at me until I packed.

That’s the kind of person she is. She knew what was going to happen, what the next few months or years were going to be like, and she knew that I didn’t need to go through it with them. And I visited as often as I could, but it was hard. Flying was expensive, and I was already on a tight budget, working to pay for school.

But part of me was angry with myself for giving in. Truthfully, I’d wanted to be at Dartmouth. It had been my dream. And thankfully Cora had beaten her cancer. But I wasn’t sure that I could have really ever forgiven myself if she hadn’t.

“How are things at the mill?” I asked, changing the subject.

She got up and busied herself with dinner again. “Oh you know, the usual. Management is squeezing hours as hard as they can, and the unions are pressing back. Things are hard all over.”

“How’s Dad handling it?”

“As well as he can. He’s been picking up extra shifts lately, whenever they’re around.”   

“He sounded stressed on the phone a few days ago.”

“You know him. There’s always some disaster inches away.”

I laughed. My father was a good man, as far as I could tell, but he was also a paranoid one. Our garage was full of stored water and canned goods, just in case some emergency happened. He wasn’t a full-on doomsday guy, building bunkers and storing long-term food, but he did believe in being prepared.

He grew up in Ridgewood like his parents before him. The mill and the woods were the things he knew best, and he tried his best to pass some of that stuff down to me. I could light a fire and do some hunting, but I’d never be able to survive out there on my own. It just never took the way it did for him.

He never made me feel guilty, though. That was just his way.

“So, tell me more about this graduate school program,” Cora said.

“It’s at the University of Texas. I go back in the fall.”

“Are you excited?”

“Very excited. Also nervous. It’s a pretty intimidating program.”

She smiled. “You’re an intimidating girl yourself, Becca. You’ll do great.”

“I feel bad though, moving far away again.”

“Not your fault. We don’t exactly have any prestigious universities here in Ridgewood.”

“Still, I wish I could stay for more than just a summer.”

“You’re doing the right thing. Don’t let yourself worry so much.”

I knew she was right. It wasn’t my fault that Texas was the only place to take me. I just hated that I was the kind of person who left their family and never came back.

“Okay, enough moping,” she said, laughing at me. “What’s with you today?”

“I guess it’s the rain. You know it doesn’t rain all the time anywhere else, right?”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“I never thought I’d have to again. But you know what? I’m really happy I’m home.”

“That’s better! No more Debbie Downer.”

I laughed just as the front door opened. “Cora?” my dad’s voice called out.

“Kitchen,” she said.

I stood up as my dad came into the room.

“Hey, Dad,” I said.

He smiled huge. “Becca. How was your trip?”

I walked across the room and he wrapped me in a huge hug. In that moment, all of my stress about not being home enough melted away.

My dad was a tall man. He was six foot four and had a thick, bushy beard. His eyes were a bright blue color, almost the opposite of Reid’s paler blue. The two of them were the same height, though Reid didn’t have a beard.

My father was a typical outdoorsman. He loved to hunt and fish and build things. He had a machine shop in a small building out in the backyard where he liked to work on old cars. He was a manager at the local paper mill, but he was known as one of the best engineers in the whole town.

But he was a tough man. He was fast to love but long to hold a grudge. Anger came like second nature to him.

“The trip was okay, Dad,” I said, pulling away from the hug.

He took off his hat and jacket. “Feels like you haven’t been here in ages.”

“Only a year.”

“What’s for dinner?” he asked Cora, kissing her cheek.

“Chicken and baked potatoes,” she said.

“Sounds great.”

He sat down at the kitchen table and I joined him. “How was work?”

“Long and hard. The usual.”

“Cora told me about the layoffs.”

He scoffed. “It’s the same all over the country. We’ve survived this long, and we’ll keep on surviving.”

I smiled. “That’s good to hear. Build anything fun lately?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, I have.” He proceeded to explain a machine that helped dry out shoes by spinning around at high speeds. “It doesn’t really work,” he said finally, grinning.

“You’ll have to show me.”

“No,” Cora said sternly. “That thing is going to murder someone someday.”

He waved her off. “She’s a little nervous because I broke a window last week.”

“Dad!” I said, laughing.

He shrugged. “Got out of control a little bit. No big deal.”

“No big deal?” Cora said. “You flung a work boot at thirty miles an hour!”

I nearly doubled over with laughter, imagining my dad frantically trying to stop an out-of-control shoe rack.

“She’s exaggerating,” he mumbled.

We talked like that for another half hour until dinner was ready. Dad disappeared to get changed while I set the table. Reid was supposed to be back, but he was nowhere in sight and hadn’t bothered to take his cell phone with him.

“That kid,” Cora said, shaking her head. “One day he’ll get lost out there.”

As soon as Dad got back and we sat down to eat without Reid, the door opened.

“Sorry I’m late,” he called out.

“Your mother cooked all this. You can at least be on time,” Dad said to him sternly as he walked into the room.

Reid grinned at him. “Sorry, Jack. I didn’t realize you were gracing us with your presence.”

“Don’t be a smartass.”

He sat down at the table next to me. “Smells great, Mom.”

“Thanks. Dig in everyone.”

We tucked into the food in silence for a minute, savoring Cora’s cooking. It felt weird having a family dinner. Back when she was sick, during the few times I could visit, we never sat down to eat together, mainly because her appetite was so bad.

“Find your way back okay earlier?” Reid asked me.

“Yeah, no thanks to you. Where’d you go?”

“Just some stuff to take care of.”

“I hope that stuff wasn’t risking your life on a wet cliff face,” Cora said.

He grinned. “Climbing isn’t risking my life. It’s like walking up a hill for me.”

“Do people still call you ‘Climber’?” I asked him.

“Some do around here, yeah.”

“He’s being modest,” Cora cut in. “Everyone still calls him that.”

“I’d rather they called him something else. Maybe like ‘gainfully employed,’” Dad grumbled.

Reid ignored him. “Some habits die hard, I guess.”

“Habits? Don’t you hold like ten regional records?” I asked.

He nodded. “Twelve actually.”

“Oh, sorry. I forgot you were a big shot.”

“Feeling intimidated?”

“Only a little bit.”

“Don’t worry, college girl. You’re not so bad yourself.”

We finished up the meal quickly after that comment. My dad announced that he was tired, although he took the time to finish an entire chicken on his own. After the dishes, I found myself sitting out on the back porch, listening to the rain fall on the roof.

After a minute, Reid walked out. “Nice out here,” he said.

“Yeah. I missed this porch.”

He sat down on a chair across from me and sipped a beer.

“You look good,” he said.

“Uh, thanks.”

“College agrees with you.”

I ignored that. “Where did you go earlier, for real?”

“For real. I didn’t go anywhere special.”

“Really, not going to tell me?”

“Really. But I’d love to talk about anything else. Like maybe how you keep staring at me.”

I quickly looked away, realizing he was right. I couldn’t tear my eyes from him. The way his shirt clung to his body was undeniably sexy, and I kept imagining how it felt when he had kissed me.

It was always like that when I was around him. No matter how hard I tried, I always ended up wanting to tear his clothes off. Or maybe I wanted him to pin me up against the couch and have his way with me.

Either would have been fine, actually.

“I’m not staring, asshole.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind being eye candy for you.”

“You really haven’t changed.”

“You have. There’s something new about you.”

“What?” I couldn’t help but ask.

He narrowed his eyes. “Becca . . . did you finally kiss a boy?”

I rolled my eyes. “Nope. Still a prude.”

“I think that’s a lie. Did you go a little wild your last semester?”

I laughed. If only he knew how incredibly wrong that was. In fact, I had done almost nothing but study. Sure, I had been with a few guys at school, but not like he was thinking.

“You caught me. I was the school slut.”

He nodded. “I thought so. You carry it well.”

I rolled my eyes. “Is this how it’s going to be all summer?”

He stood up, taking a swill of his beer, and walked over toward me.

“You know how it is, Becca.”

“How’s that?” I asked softly.

His gaze was intense. “If you want to know, you can find me any time.”

He walked off without another word. His voice lingered in the space between us, heat rushing up my spine, sending shivers down my legs. I realized I was dripping wet already.

I shook my head. It was going to be a rough summer.