Rock Hard: A Stepbrother Romance (Extreme Sports Alphas) (6 page)

T
he back of my jeans was wet from the kicked-up water as I rode my bike down Main Street. It felt good riding my bike again, the crisp air filling my lungs.

Luckily, the rain had let up. It was comfortable outside, warm but not hot, and the clouds looked like they were going to hold off on more rain.

I pedaled past the old church we used to go to back in the day, heading into the center of town. I spotted my destination up ahead: the Blue Light Diner, or just the Blue.

As I wove my way through traffic, I realized that I was a little out of breath. Not too bad, but enough to notice. I really needed to start hiking and running more. But I’d been way too busy at school to bother with that, so I’d let it slide.

I pulled into the parking lot and locked my bike against a street sign. I could have probably left it unlocked, considering there was basically no crime in Ridgewood, but better safe than sorry.

I pushed open Blue’s front door and immediately was hit with a wave of nostalgia. It had been forever since I was last in the Blue, but I used to go there all the time back in high school.

I remembered many late nights spent ordering greasy food and laughing with friends. My friend Lindsey and I used to talk about which guys we wanted to lose our virginity to, as if either of us was actually going to do anything about it. We were both way too chicken at the time.

Not anymore, I mused. I had heard some rumors about Lindsey. True or not, we had drifted out of touch over the years, but I wanted to do something about that. Regardless of what people said about her.

I looked around and couldn’t spot anyone I recognized. That wasn’t unusual. The hostess nodded as I took a seat at the counter, not bothering to try and get a table. It wasn’t crowded, since it was an odd hour between the morning and afternoon rushes.

“Hey, hun, what can I get you?” the waitress asked me.

“Coffee and a plate of fries, please,” I said.

She smiled and nodded and then walked away.

I sighed and looked around the place, still flooded with memories. I came to Blue with my dad after soccer games when I was a little kid. I even had a vague memory of my mom, before she died of cancer, drinking a soda and smiling.

I frowned. I hadn’t thought about my mom in a long time. She passed before I was old enough to really form strong memories of her, although the image of her in Blue seemed pretty real.

“Here you go,” the waitress said, placing a mug of coffee in front of me. “Fries will be out in a minute.”

“Thanks.” I picked up my mug and sipped it.

Warm and bitter. Just how I liked it.

As I put the mug down, I looked up and suddenly she was there. It took me a second to recognize her. Leaning against the hostess station was Lindsey, wearing the uniform and holding an order pad. I stared at her for a second, surprised. It looked like she had aged way more than I would have guessed. She had black bags under her eyes and she was thin, super thin. She was never heavy to begin with, but still.

As soon as she looked in my direction, I waved. She looked confused for a second but then recognition bloomed across her face.

“Rebecca?” she asked, walking over.

“Hey, Lindsey.”

“Oh my god! I didn’t know you were home!”

I stood up and we hugged. She laughed and seemed genuinely excited to see me. I hadn’t spoken to her in over a year, and hadn’t seen her in longer. But suddenly it felt like high school all over again.

“I just got back. Thought I’d come visit you.”

“How’d you know I work here?”

“Reid told me.”

She smiled knowingly. “Climber comes in here a lot.”

“How are you?”

“I’m great. Listen, I gotta get back to work. I have a break in a half hour if you’ll be around?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Okay, great.” She walked off, back to her tables.

I sat back down in my seat as the other waitress placed the fries in front of me. I nodded my thanks as I picked one up and chewed on it: crispy, salty, and delicious.

Lindsey looked so drawn. Even when she smiled, it looked like it never reached her eyes. The girl I had grown up with was bubbly if a little slow. She didn’t get into college, and so she stayed home to find work in Ridgewood. It was hard to stay friends, and eventually we just drifted apart. That happened with most of my friends from those days.

I frowned. I hated how that had happened. I hated that I was the kind of person that let friendships die. But the truth was, that just naturally happened sometimes.

People changed. They grew into something else. You couldn’t stop that, even if it was sad.

As I munched on fries and sipped coffee, I sensed someone sit down on the stool next to me.

“Fancy meeting you here.”

My gaze snapped up. Reid sat on the stool next to me, grinning.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him.

“Getting lunch. That a crime?”

“No, I mean, I just didn’t expect you.”

“I didn’t expect you, either, but here we are.”

The waitress walked over. “What can I get you, Climber?” she asked him.

“Hi, Marci. Coffee and a tuna salad sandwich, please.”

“Okay, coming right up.” She walked way.

“Marci?” I asked him.

“I’m a known entity in these parts.”

He grinned at me and I felt my head go a little dizzy. His tight T-shirt showed off his muscles and his hair was messed up from whatever he had been doing. I wanted to reach out and fix it, but he looked so damn cute the way it was.

Plus, it would have been totally weird and inappropriate. Stepsisters didn’t touch their stepbrothers like that, right?

“Looks like the breakfast of champions,” he said, nodding at my fries.

“Comfort food. I haven’t had these in a long time.”

“They as good as you remember?”

“Not really.”

He laughed as Marci returned with his coffee and then walked away. He picked it up and sipped it.

“Your ass is dirty,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

“Your ass.” He leaned back and looked at it. “There are mud specks on your ass.”

I blushed. “Oh, right. I rode my bike here.”

“What did you think I meant?”

“Nothing.”

He leaned close to me. “Listen, sis, if I wanted to tell you that your ass looked great, I’d just say it.”

“Cut it out.”

He leaned back and looked at it again. “Does look good though.”

“Reid, don’t be gross.”

“Just paying you a compliment. I’d love to see you bent over my bed sometime.”

I gaped at him. “Okay, that’s enough.”

He laughed at me and sipped his coffee again. I hated how much he loved to tease me. He never failed to go too far and make me blush.

“So how does it feel, being back?”

“Weird. Also like I never left.”

“Ridgewood is funny that way. No matter how much the people change, the town stays the same.”

I nodded. “It’s like we’re in a little time warp out in the woods.”

“Living our lives backward.”

I laughed. “Soon it’ll be the stone age.”

“Perfect. That way I can just grab you and haul you off to my cave. Have my way with you.”

“Oh please. I’d fight you off.”

“Fight me off? I’m twice your size. I could throw you around.”

“Fortunately it’s not the stone age then.”

“Please. You’d kill to get just an hour in a cave with me.”

“Yeah, right. I think I’d rather get eaten by a T-Rex.”

He laughed and I smiled. “Hey, where’d you go this morning, by the way?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Nowhere special.”

“Typical Reid, avoiding the subject.”

“Typical Becca, pretending like she doesn’t want me to ravish her in the bathroom.”

“How about you ravish yourself?”

Before he could respond, Marci the waitress returned and put his sandwich down in front of him. “Need anything else, Climber?”

“Nah, I’m good. Thanks, Marci.”

She smiled at me. “Anything for you?”

“No, thanks.”

I watched as she walked away and wondered how often Reid came into the Blue if the waitresses knew to call him Climber.

“Do I know her?” I asked him.

“I don’t think so.”

“I guess you’re a regular here, then.”

“Like I said, I’m a known entity.”

He picked up his sandwich and took a huge bite out of it. I made a face.

“Gross. You even eat like a caveman.”

He chewed and swallowed. “I don’t believe in wasting time on manners.”

“Clearly.”

“Don’t be so uptight, college girl,” Reid said.

“I’m not uptight.”

“Right. You practically walk around with a back brace on.”

“Aren’t you supposed to say that I have a stick up my ass?”

“I’d like to put something up your ass.”

I ignored that. “Just because I’m not an animal like you doesn’t mean I’m uptight or whatever.”

“Sure it does. You need to loosen up. I know exactly what would do it.”

“Okay, enlighten me.”

He leaned toward me. “A big fat orgasm. Preferably from my hard dick.”

I blushed and looked away. “You’re just proving my point.”

“I’d rather be an animal and getting laid than an uptight science dork.”

As I prepared my wittiest and most cutting retort, Lindsey appeared behind the counter.

“Hey, Climber,” she said.

“Linds. What’s up?”

“Nothing.” She looked at me. “You want to come outside? I’m on break for a bit.”

I nodded. “Absolutely.”

“See you around, Climber.”

“Sure,” he grunted, going back to his food.

I stood up and followed Lindsey outside where we sat down on the curb, our backs against the wall. I was feeling pretty grateful for her pulling me away from my conversation with Reid.

“Oh man, my feet are killing me,” she grumbled, pulling a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her pocket.

“I didn’t know you smoked.”

“Started two years ago. Helps with the stress.” She put one between her lips and lit it, breathing deep. “Want one?”

“No, thanks.”

We sat there for a second in silence as she took another deep drag.

“You and Climber close?” she asked.

“He’s my stepbrother.”

“Oh shit, that’s right. I always forget. What’s it like having him as a stepbrother?”

“I don’t know. It’s fine when he’s not being an asshole.”

She took another drag. “Must be nice though seeing him walking around the house without a shirt.”

It’s even better than you think
.

“We keep out of each other’s way,” I said.

“I bet. He’s a busy guy around here.”

I blinked. “What’s that mean?”

She grinned at me. “You know what I’m talking about.”

“No, I really don’t.”

Her face fell. “Oh. Never mind.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Just the climbing. Shit like that.” She took another drag.

I looked at her sideways. “Yeah. I mean, he does climb a lot.”

“Anyway, how are things with you?” she asked quickly.

She was being weird, but I had no clue why. What was Reid up to?

“Things are good. I’m home for the summer.”

“You graduate?”

“Yeah, I sure did.”

“Congrats, Becca. That’s amazing.”

“What about you?”

“Oh, the usual. I work here and live over in the apartments with some girls.”

“You have your own place?”

“It’s not the Taj Mahal, but yeah.”

“That’s awesome.”

“Well, it’s mine along with two roommates.”

“Anyone I know?”

“Nah.” She took a drag of her cigarette.

“Still, that’s really cool.”

There was a short silence as we looked across the parking lot together. It was becoming really clear that a lot of time had passed between us. We hardly knew each other anymore. The simplest details about each other’s life were complete mysteries.

“Hey, so, there’s this cool party happening tomorrow night. You want to come?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Reid’ll be there. You can probably get a ride from him.”

I frowned. Great, that was exactly what I needed. Some party with my asshole stepbrother. My sexy as hell stepbrother. My animal stepbrother.

“Okay, cool. That sounds fun.”

“Awesome. Reid knows where.”

“You see him a lot?”

“Not really. I mean, our circles touch sometimes, but only once in a while. His people are a little . . .” she trailed off.

“A little what?”

“Rough. But you didn’t hear that from me, okay?”

I blinked. What did she mean, his people were “rough?” From what I remembered, Reid hung around with a bunch of nice guys. They were popular jocks, and all of them were dumb as bricks, but they were nice enough kids. Nobody got in trouble, least of all Reid.

Did something change? How was I just noticing it?

I opened my mouth to press for more when I caught sight of Reid leaving the Blue with another guy. I nodded in their direction.

“Who’s that?”

Lindsey looked. “That’s Thom. They’re in business together.”

“Business?”

“Yeah. Ask him about it. I don’t really want to get too involved.”

I watched as the two of them climbed into a car and took off, heading farther out of town.

“Anyway,” Lindsey said, stubbing out her cigarette. “I should get back in there, grab some food while I can.”

“Okay.”

We stood up and walked back in. “See you tomorrow?” she asked.

“Definitely.”

She smiled and hurried into the back. I sat back down in my spot and sipped my cold coffee.

My mind was a swirling hurricane of questions. What was Reid doing with a rough crowd, and what kind of business was he involved in? I knew he had been giving his mom and my dad money for the cancer treatments, but he always said that came from his climbing competitions.

Was there something else going on?

With a sigh, I motioned for the check from Marci. When it came, I paid up front and walked outside to my bike.

As I rode home, I kept wondering: what was Reid hiding?

Maybe the party was the perfect place to find out.