Stepbrother With Benefits 10 (Second Season) (7 page)

I've never heard this before.  I've never even thought about it.  I've always thought of my mom as special, and it's strange to me that anyone could think of her as anything but that.  Ethan's dad obviously thinks she's special, and I know Ethan really likes her, too.

It hurts hearing her talk like this.

"We tried to hide it at first, too, you know?" my mom says.  "I didn't hide it from you, but we tried to keep our relationship a little more hush hush, but that caused problems of its own.  It's not fun to sneak around and make plans based on going somewhere where you know no one will recognize you.  We could never really be ourselves unless we were locked away in privacy someplace, but even if we could technically leave and we weren't actually trapped, it still felt like a cage in a lot of ways.  I don't want you and Ethan to feel like that, honey.  That's the last thing I want you to have to deal with."

"Mom, I..."

I don't know what to say, so I go and hug her instead.  She's soft and inviting and I like the way it feels when she puts her arms around me.  I've always liked hugging my mom, and I've always felt close to her.  I'm not sure why she's never told me these things before, but I'm glad she told them to me now.

"Ethan's dad is lucky to have you," I say to my mom.  "I don't care what anyone else thinks."

"Oh, I know he is," my mom says, grinning and teasing me.  "I think Ethan is lucky to have you, too."

"I don't know.  He's kind of a bad boy."  Quieter, whispering, I add, "I think he's corrupting me."

"Oh no, is he?" my mom says, feigning surprise.  "This isn't good."

"I kind of like it, though."

"This is very bad," my mom says, shaking her head and letting out an exaggerated sigh.  "We'll need to stage an intervention for you."

"I might become a bad girl."

"Actually, you know what?" my mom says.  "I think I know how to fix this.  We might not need an intervention."

"Oh, how?" I ask.

"S'mores.  We'll have to pick up the ingredients for them at the store when we get there."

"What?  How are s'mores going to fix anything?"

"How
wouldn't
they?" my mom asks, raising one brow, pretending to look confused.  "S'mores solve everything, dear.  You'll learn more about it when you're older, but for now you'll just have to trust me."

"I'm kind of an adult, you know?  I think I'm old enough."

"That's what they all say, honey.  That's what they all say."

I laugh and give my mom another hug.  She hugs me back, too.  We make sure everything is all set with the campsite, and then we get into the car and head to the store.  This is fun.  It's like an adventure, but it's more, too.  I don't know how to explain it.  Just talking with my mom about things makes me feel better.  Maybe she can talk with Ethan later, too, and then...

I don't know.  She says s'mores solve everything, so maybe we can talk with Ethan's dad tonight and see if it's really true?

My mom and I drive up to the main office, but no one's there.  A sign on the door says that they'll be back later, with a number to call in case of an emergency.  We don't really need to talk to anyone, we just need directions, and there's a bunch of local maps stuffed into a plastic holder on the office door.  My mom grabs one and hands it to me.

Thankfully the grocery store is nearby, but it's... strange.  To be perfectly honest, I'm not even sure this is a grocery store so much as an expanded convenience store, but I guess it's fine.

We park in the overlarge dirt parking lot, dust settling around the car when we stop.  I step out and my mom joins me and we walk to the door.  As soon as we open it, a little bell tinkles at the top, sounding our arrival.

A woman standing at the counter on the left greets us as we enter.  "Hey there, folks.  How's it going?" she says.

"Great!" my mom says.  "Oh, isn't this place wonderful?"  I'm not sure who she's talking to, but the woman at the counter beams at the compliment.  "We're from the city.  We're camping a few miles back for the next week or two," she adds, as way of apology or explanation; I'm not sure which.

"Um, I'm going to look around, alright?" I say, mostly because my mom seems intent on staring at the trinkets and doodads hanging on little racks near the counter.

"Oh, sure," she says.  "I'll be right there.  Take a cart with you and grab anything that looks good.  We'll figure out what to have for lunch later."

The carts are miniature versions of what you might find at a regular grocery store, but I guess it's good enough.  I take one and march onwards and to the right, which is a small produce section.  It's um... very small, though?  It makes good use of the size, but everything's cramped and tucked into tall boxes and shelves.

I look through everything, trying to figure out what I'm doing, but to be completely honest I have no idea.  It all looks extremely fresh, and according to signs a lot of it is locally grown, which I think is impressive, except I don't really know what I should grab.  I pick out a bunch of ears of corn and put them into a plastic bag, then a bushel of berries, some apples, and a small sack of potatoes.

There's fresh strawberries in buckets further down the aisle and I add that to the cart, too.  Then, um... I need to see how fresh they are, right?  I pluck one out and plop it into my mouth.  Oh my God, it's amazing.  It's sweet, but a little tart, too, and it just tastes perfect.  I chew it and swallow, and then I realize someone's looking at me.

"Um... I was just..."  I hope they don't think I was stealing?  We're going to pay for these!  I have the bucket in my cart and everything.

Oh, it's Caleb.  He shakes his head at me and smiles.  "There's a trash bucket for the stem right over there," he says, pointing the way.

I hurry over and toss the stem part of the strawberry into the trash, then just sort of look around.  I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing.  Should I talk to him, or just kind of keep going and getting what I need?  I don't even know what I need, though.  It's not like there's a list, so I'm kind of lacking an excuse to avoid Caleb.

It's not like I want to avoid him, either.  I just don't want to flirt with him or give him the wrong idea, except I feel dumb because I don't even know how to do that.

"So..." I say, for lack of anything else to say.

"Sorry," Caleb says.  "I'm not following you around or anything.  I come here every few days and get stuff for dinner.  It's just me and my dad right now.  We don't keep a lot stocked, since this place always has fresh food."

"Your mom isn't around?" I ask.

"She's not a big camper," he says.

"Oh, um... you don't all live here?" I ask.

Caleb laughs.  "Ha!  Can you imagine?  It's fun for the summer, but I don't think I'd want to stay here all year round.  No, the campground closes down at the end of the season and then we go back home.  It's not like home is that far away, though.  Two hours or so.  My mom comes down sometimes to visit, but she hates the fact that there's no private showers."

"Yeah," I say, smiling.  "It takes some getting used to."

"I can help out if you ever—"

I think he realizes what he was just saying, because he stops suddenly and starts to blush.

"I didn't mean, uh... I didn't mean I can help you shower.  Er... with the showers.  I meant if you need help with anything, just let me know.  I..."

I laugh, because it's kind of cute and funny.  He really does remind me of myself a little bit, which makes this a whole lot weirder, because I'm not sure how I feel about him now.  I think we could be friends, but I'm not sure if, um... is that possible?  I don't think Ethan would like that, and also I don't know if Caleb wants that, either.  I don't want to give him the wrong impression or anything.

"I should probably just shut up," he says.  "I'm sure your brother can help you instead.  He seems to know what he's doing."

Oh, yes, he really does, doesn't he?  Especially with the showers.  A red blush creeps up my cheek as I remember our shower escapades from not that long ago.  I don't think Ethan was very helpful with the shower, now that I think about it.  We did a lot of non-standard showering activities.  Hardly following proper protocol, and I'm not sure how the campground owner would feel about that sort of thing.

Caleb misconstrues my blush, and he blushes even more.  "Not that, uh... I didn't mean that, either!  I didn't mean that your brother and you... in the shower... er..."

"Caleb, are you trying to flirt with me?" I ask him.  I don't think I'd usually be this bold, but dating Ethan kind of makes it easier.

"What?" Caleb asks.  I thought he was blushing as hard as he could, but apparently not.  His entire face is red now.  "No?  I mean, I don't think so?  Are you flirting with me?"

"What?  No!"

"Oh."

A sudden idea comes to mind and I think it's a pretty good one, so I decide to just go with it.  "If I tell you something, can you keep it a secret?" I ask him.

"Sure," he says.  "What is it?"

"I know my dad said that I broke up with my boyfriend before, but that's not entirely true."

"Oh," Caleb says.  "You got back together with him?"

"No, um... I met someone else after that and we're dating but it's kind of a secret.  I can't tell anyone yet."

"You can't tell anyone what?" my mom asks, stepping out from an aisle and joining me.

Caleb stands stock still, as if we've both been caught and we're in a lot of trouble now.  I guess we would be, except it's just my mom.

"She knows already," I tell him, and he loosens up and breathes a sigh of relief.

"What do I know?" my mom asks.

"About my secret boyfriend," I tell her.

"Ashley!" my mom says, her mouth open in a false show of surprised shock.  "You have a secret boyfriend?"

I roll my eyes at her.  Caleb stiffens again.  He's kind of funny and cute with how awkward he is.  It makes me smile.

"I was telling Caleb that I have a secret boyfriend but we can't tell anyone yet."

My mom nods twice.  "Ah, yes.  Alright."

"Wait, why can't you tell anyone?  Why are you telling me?" Caleb asks.

"I think it's more that we can't tell my husband," my mom says.  "We're not sure if he'd approve yet."

"Yup.  Also, I think that's why Ethan's being extra protective," I add.

My mom gives me a curious, sidelong glance.  Obviously she knows, but she must have realized I'm not telling Caleb everything, too.

"Does he know your boyfriend?" Caleb asks.

"Oh, yes," my mom says, taking over for me.  "Ethan's extremely close with Ashley's boyfriend.  They're inseparable, really."

Um... I guess that's true?  I don't think Ethan can separate himself from himself, so...

"He's kind of scary," Caleb says.  "Is he always like that?"

"Who, Ethan?" I ask, and Caleb nods.  "Yup, mostly, but he's pretty nice, too."

"Sometimes," my mom adds, "except when he's not."

"Well, I'm not trying to... to flirt with you or anything.  I'm not trying to break up you and your boyfriend," Caleb says, stumbling with his words.

"Maybe you should tell Ethan that?" my mom says.

I give her a look.  I don't know what kind of look it is, but I also don't know what she's playing at with this.  I think it's my fault since I started all this and I can't exactly blame her for continuing it, but if Caleb says that to Ethan out of the blue, um...

I don't think that's going to go very well.  I can tell Ethan beforehand, though.  This'll work.  This is as good a plan as I can come up with so that we can keep everything a secret and so that Ethan doesn't have to get jealous all the time.

Though, if I'm being honest, I kind of like Ethan when he's jealous.  He gets extra protective and a little rough and I really can't complain about the sexy stuff he does.  I'm not sure if last night was brought on by his jealousy or just normal bad boy behavior, but I feel like I should leave my options open.

I do want him to know he doesn't have to be jealous.  I like when he's a little grabby and possessive, though.  Will he still be grabby and possessive when he's not jealous?  I'm not sure, but knowing Ethan, yup, probably.

My mom and Caleb are talking about he intricacies of my secret boyfriend, and I feel like I should chime in, so I do.

"You just can't tell anyone, alright?" I say.

"Alright," Caleb says.  "I won't.  I promise."

"It's just you, me, my mom, and Ethan who knows.  No one else does," I say.  Jake does, I remember, but... ugh, I'm not even going to think about him.  I don't have to for a few weeks, and I plan to take full advantage of that fact.

"Alright," he says again.

"Not even your dad.  You can't even tell your best friend in the entire world over the phone, even if I'll never meet them."

Caleb nods.  "I swear I won't."

"Alright, good," I say, nodding firm, trying to sound super serious.

My mom nods, too, and scrunches up her brow, her lips pursed, looking super serious, as well.

I'm glad we're all serious here, because I think this plan is either horrible or one of my best yet.  Probably not the best, because I kind of think my sexy plans with Ethan are the best, but this is still a good one.

"Do you want to help us shop, Caleb?" my mom asks.

"Is that alright?" Caleb asks.

"Yes," I say.  "Just don't try to kiss me or my boyfriend will hurt you."

"Oh, he's not here though, is he?" Caleb asks, then starts blushing again.  "I mean, I'm not going to kiss you but I just... I'm sorry.  I didn't mean it like that!"

I glare at him a little, lips pursed, trying not to laugh.  Caleb is funny, I like him.  "He'll know if you do," I say.  "He's not here right now, but don't underestimate him.  He's kind of a bad boy, and he's not afraid to get into trouble."

"If he's anything like your brother, I believe it," Caleb says.

Yes, well, he's a lot like my stepbrother, actually.  Basically exactly like him in every way, because they're the same person, but I'm not going to say that.  No one else has to know.  Everything will be fine.  We'll take this one day at a time, right?