Stepbrother Bestie (A Stepbrother Romance Novel) (45 page)

Maybe
he was gone before anyone got down here…
I thought, trying to
reassure myself, but that didn’t really work.

I had expected someone to say something,
but the fact that no one was saying anything, like it hadn’t even happened, was
eerie and it made me increasingly uncomfortable. I was all right with dodging
questions and playing dumb, but I was not prepared for such a deafening
silence.

Therefore, as soon as I left the gym, I
realized that I most definitely was in dire need of a drink. I decided as soon
as I started my run back home, feeling far weaker than I should have, that I
was going to go out on the town tonight and try to fucking relax.

I thought about asking Ashley if she
wanted to join me, but since all I had received from her from the past week was
radio silence, I figured to hell with her.

Deciding that I would return to my old
ways, I came to the conclusion that what I truly needed was for tonight to be
all about me.

After all, with all of the shit that had
gone down throughout this entire summer, with the fucking domino effect that
had caused me to freak out and realign all of my priorities, at least
temporarily, I needed to get back in touch with the man that I was before
meeting Ashley. I needed a night where I could just be me. I could chase girls,
be an asshole and enjoy the true and lasting fruits of my labor without any
strings attached.

Chapter
35

Ashley

The bar was increasingly packed, but that
wasn’t such a bad thing for me. Having become a regular at the majority of
these bars, I was let in without much fuss and since I was looking for
something or someone to take my mind off of my dickhead of a stepbrother, I
wasn’t so unhappy with the amount of people surrounding me.

I waded through the crowd toward the
bartender, before I ordered a drink and began to sip it slowly as I walked
through the mass of people.

I had to say that I looked hot tonight and
the fact that I didn’t have anyone holding me back made the situation even
better.

There was a part of me that felt free.
Tonight, not only was I free from Tyler’s watchful eye, but I was also free
from the messed up relationship that I had with the entirety of my family.

Life did not happen. Tonight, I was
embracing the idea that I controlled my destiny. Not only would I be able to
enjoy myself, but if I wanted something, I was going to do whatever I could to
make that wish come true.

It had taken me a week and in all
fairness, I was also taking a page right out of Tyler’s book by making myself
proud, instead of working to make someone else happy for me. But I truly felt
that it was going to work.

I was confident and I looked great! What
could go wrong?

Once I found a spot in the club that
wasn’t completely overflowing, I grabbed a high-top table and sat down. I knew
that being by myself was something that would attract attention from the men
who were seeking out a woman for the evening, but that was kind of what I
wanted.

There was a part of me that wanted to show
Tyler that he didn’t have anything on me. I wanted to be my own woman and what
I chose to do, or tell anyone that I did, would remain my secret.

I wasn’t looking to get laid, but if I
happened to find a nice gentleman and things escalated, I certainly wasn’t
against a one night stand; if only to show Tyler what kind a woman I really
could be.

I was surprised, however, that it didn’t
take long at all for a man to come up and sit down next to me.

The man looked nothing like Tyler, but had
his own interesting allure. I immediately picked up on the bad boy vibe, but
since he was attractive — nicely dressed and seemed nice — I didn’t really pay
much mind to my instincts.

However, he did look like he had been in a
fight rather recently. His nose looked almost like it was broken and either eye
appeared to have bruises. I thought that was a bit strange, but I wasn’t about
to make a big deal out of it. I figured that it wasn’t my business anyway.

“Hey, you’re…Ashley, right?” the man said
smoothly as he slid into the seat.

“Yes.” I smiled back at him, but shot a
suspicious look in his direction. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“You know Tyler, right? I’ve seen you two
at the gym together.”

“Yeah, I do,” I answered, wondering what
this could be about.
Go figure,
I
thought, trying not to roll my eyes.
The
first man who seeks me out knows that I have a connection to Tyler.
Still,
I was hopeful that this was where his knowledge of me and Tyler ended, although
I knew that I couldn’t be so sure. His questioning made me a little bit leery.

He slid closer to me and answered, “So…I
have a question for you.”

“Yes?” I asked, trying to be diplomatic
over the whole thing.

“If I were to buy you a drink, would Tyler
be okay with that?”

I beamed, happy that he wasn’t here on
behalf of Tyler, or at least I didn’t think so. Besides, if he were, I was
going to make it very clear about where I stood. So, I made it a point to smile
in an alluring fashion before I looked over at him and answered, “Let’s just
say that I couldn’t give a shit what Tyler thinks.”

He laughed before he said, “I heard that
you were his.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong,” I answered
and then after a pause, I glanced around before looking straight back at him
and asking, “So, how about that drink?”

The man smiled at me and moved away toward
the bar and as I watched him, another man caught my eye. Immediately, I was
aggravated.

I wondered why he would be here, when all
I wanted was some peace, and quickly concluded that he must be following me.

“Hey…” He said before smiling in a strange
fashion.

Is
he jealous?
I couldn’t help but wonder.
I hope so.

“Hi,” I answered stiffly.

Tyler leaned heavily against the table
before he answered, “So, what are you doing here?”

“Minding my own business, which is
something that I wish you could do for one night,” I spat harshly. “Are you
following me?”

At this, he glared at me and answered,
“What? No! Shit. I just happened to go to a club. Is that a crime?”

I looked over at him with a careful stare
before I answered, “Well…No. I guess it isn’t…So, you’re just here?”

“In the flesh,” he answered, spreading his
massively attractive arms out as he stepped away from the table slightly, as
though to illustrate his presence further.

“Um…okay.”

“Do you want a drink?” He
motioned
to my empty glass.

I shook my head. “No. That’s okay.”

Before I could explain that I already had
someone getting me a drink, as though right on cue, the man returned and slid
past Tyler, making it clear that he was with me. Since they knew one another, I
thought that was slightly strange.

“Hey sweetheart,” he answered in a sly
tone that was different from the one he had used with me before. I didn’t like
the way his eyes slid between me and Tyler. Suddenly, there was a sense of
awkwardness between the three of us, growing stronger.

I wanted to make Tyler jealous, but this
seemed to be something else entirely.

“Is he bothering you?” the man asked.

“Him?” Tyler snarled at me.

I looked between them and couldn’t tell
what was going on. “I thought you two knew one another.”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. He’s a
squirmy little piece of shit,” Tyler answered heatedly, looking pugnaciously at
the man.

“
Aww
, would you look at
that,” the man teased in a mean fashion, which made me automatically dislike
him. “I guess Tyler minds a little more than you thought he would.”

“Yeah, I do fucking mind. Get away from
her,” Tyler answered, staring at the man with a hard look in his eye.

“What is the matter with you? Don’t like a
little friendly competition? Can’t take it? Do you feel out of your league?”
The man continued to press Tyler, who just grew angrier.

I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I
suddenly realized that it was not about me at all. The man didn’t like me, or
if he did, that wasn’t his prime reason for buying me a drink. It was all about
Tyler. For some reason, this man made it clear that he needed to get back at
Tyler for something. However, if he thought that I was the way to do it, he
couldn’t have been more wrong.

As angry as I was with Tyler, I wasn’t
going to go with a random guy just to spite him; at least, not like this.

The man looked over at me and said
smoothly, “Come on, Ashley. Let’s get out of here.” He smiled at me, but I
pulled away.

“No thank you,” I said politely and began
to walk away from them both, feeling far more nervous than I tried to let on.

However, just as I turned away, I felt the
man’s hand curb around my arm and pull me back. “Come on, Sweetheart. Finish
your drink, at least.”

“No!” I insisted and moved to pull my arm
out of his grasp, but he just clamped onto me tighter.

“Let go of her, now!” Tyler boomed, his
eyes aglow with fury.

“You stay out of this,” the man answered,
but barely got the statement out of his mouth before Tyler balled up his fist
and punched the man so hard that he instantly fell to the ground.

As he fell, Tyler grabbed me and
effortlessly put me behind him, before he pulled the man up by his collar until
his feet could no longer touch the ground.

“I swear to God, if I ever hear that you
even looked in Ashley’s direction, I will hunt you down and kill you, you
fucking piece of shit. Leave her alone! I won’t ask you again.”

At that, he threw the man back, toppling
over the table. This caused a slight disturbance from the rest of the people in
the bar, but most didn’t even notice.

As I looked at Tyler, who simply turned
around and walked out of the bar, I couldn’t help but think about how
impressive and attractive he was to me at that very moment. I could barely
stand the feelings of allure that were welling up inside of me.

I followed him closely, now slightly
fearful of what the man might do once he untangled himself from the table and
chairs that he was thrown into.

Once we got outside and onto the street, I
moved next to Tyler and grasped his arm.

“Are you okay?” he demanded, in something
of an angry tone.

“Yes,” I answered, lowering my eyes to the
ground, slightly ashamed of what I had almost done. “I’m sorry.”

“Whatever,” he answered quickly. “I don’t
give a shit that you’re moving on, but at least do me a favor and pick men who
aren’t just trying to specifically steal you away from me. It’s degrading to
you and pisses me the fuck off.”

“I didn’t know,” I answered. “He just came
up to me, and we were talking…He bought me a drink. Who was that guy anyway?”

“Some asshole I beat the shit out of at
the gym a little while ago.” Before I could say anything, he explained, “He
called me out. He challenged me. I warned him. I won.”

Putting it together, I answered, “So, he
thought he could come in there and…Oh…Sorry.”

He shrugged. “You didn’t know and you’re a
free woman. You can fuck whoever you like, but if I see them, I might kill
them. Just keep that in mind.” He smiled at this, but in his eye, I could still
see a flame of passion and anger ignited.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, feeling
terrible for what had happened.

“Stop fucking apologizing,” he demanded
and then he shrugged. “Go enjoy the rest of your night. If you need me, call
me, okay?”

I nodded and watched as he turned his back
on me and quickened his step, as though he was serious about leaving me alone.

I knew that I couldn’t have that and so,
before I could overthink what I was about to do, I called, “Tyler?”

He turned around and as he did, I ran up
to him, threw my arms around his neck, took his mouth unto my own and kissed
him passionately.

Chapter
36

Tyler

The kiss didn’t amount to much, but she
did come back home with me. The two of us talked for a little while and I
decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask her to help me train for the competition.

I felt like such a fuckin pussy for being
happy when she said yes, but I also couldn’t deny that she was one of the best
trainers I ever had; not that there were many. I basically trained myself for
the majority of my competitions, but for me to stay with her and allow her to
help me, beyond just working toward the goal myself was a big damn deal for me.

Usually, the only person that I
considered, especially when I was training, was myself.

However, for the next two weeks, Ashley
stayed by my side. Every morning, without fail, we were both up at
four-fucking-thirty and running down the beach by five.