Filthy (A Stepbrother Romance) #1(5)
“I would’ve told you sooner, Mia, but I didn’t think you could handle it. I mean look at how…” I put my hands up to make her stop talking. She didn’t know shit. Only what she wanted to. That was the thing about her; all her choices were hers to make. It was those that it affected that should’ve mattered just as much.
“I’m with Mia. This is f*cked up.” Talon’s hands were going through his hair so fast I was sure he was going to start losing some.
As I knew I would, I shifted my anger to him. I couldn’t stand him. Not in class, not in the hallways, or around campus, but now I would be forced to endure a lifetime of stepsibling love with him? Fuck no. Fuck that. Fuck all these people.
I pushed my chair back, causing a loud scraping to sound across the marble floor which rang throughout the restaurant. I couldn’t do this shit, not here, not anywhere for that fact.
“Sit down, you’re being dramatic,” my mother whispered under her breath as we were starting to draw attention. What she didn’t know was that I didn’t care, or maybe she did and it just didn’t matter to her. Who knew at this point? All I knew was that I was getting out of here. I stood from my chair the same time Talon did. I wanted to reach across the distance between us and take my anger out on the *. Instead, I directed my attention back to my mother.
“Dramatic? Are you kidding me? I’m not the one that hid this for months. Also I refuse to be of any relation to that f*cker over there.” I pointed at Talon’s form, watching him out of the corner of my eye.
He lifted his hand over his heart, anguish etching into his features. “Awe, I’m wounded. As if you’re something special yourself.” I could hear his disgust; at least it was mutual at this point and time.
“This isn’t about you, Mia. You need to stop being selfish. For the first time ever I am truly happy.” Jackson nodded in agreement, and I all but threw my hands in the air.
“Fuck you. Fuck all of you,” I yelled turning on my heels and walking away from the table with a purpose like I never felt before. I hated Talon, and now I was going to have to live with him. He was going to be a permanent fixture in my life from here on out. Any feelings or thoughts I had about him before this moment needed to go away. There was only room for hate and anger for that * in my heart.
My mother never got up from the table to follow me, to talk to me or see if I was going to be okay, and I didn’t shed one single tear until I got to my car. Then I realized just how real my father’s death was. My mom was moving on, going about her life like my father never existed.
“Don’t act like you hate it more than me.” Talon’s deep voice vibrated through my body just as I unlocked my car door. I wiped away any stray tears, not wanting him to know the emotions that had been moved inside of me.
“I don’t hate it. I just hate you,” I said hoarsely, my eyes catching on his as I slid into my Jeep closing the door and locking it behind me. Talon watched me for a moment longer, the concern in his eyes telling me he might care a little bit, but even I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe Talon f*ckin’ Reed. He was a sex-wielding addict who had no room for love or a care in the world in his heart, but I didn’t want to admit it out loud or even to myself that I kind of still wanted him.
Looking In The Mirror
Our parents got married less than two weeks later. The wedding and the look of hate Mia had for me with every passing glace was enough to cause knots to permanently form in my belly. I still wanted her. I still found myself drifting off into a daydream of her and I f*cking on every surface of my house, but I knew it would never happen. Not now.
“Now Lacy and I are going to be in Cabo for three weeks, and we put her house up on the market. I don’t know if she had let Mia know but I wanted to let you know that she will be moving in with you while were gone. If she needs help I expect you to be there.” My father’s authoritative tone was all I heard, not the words but the way in which he said them.
I shook my head, rubbing at the back of my neck to ease some of the tension out of it. “Is that really a good idea? Mia and I don’t really see eye to eye.” It wasn’t a lie. We didn’t see eye to eye. I saw the need to f*ck her, and she saw the need to hate my guts. Even I knew this was a shit-tastic idea.
“Mia will have to get over this. Her father passed away a long time ago, just like your mother did. Just because we lose someone we love doesn’t mean that life stops. Love can still be found. She should be happy for her mother, not angry or blaming her for what she found: happiness.” I got what he was saying—I truly did— but still the part of my heart that my mom would only ever hold ached for her. I missed her every single day. Losing her was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life. My father moving on and marrying someone else was just another reminder that she was gone and had been for years.
“I get that, Dad, I just thought I would give you a friendly warning, in case you come back and the house is destroyed and one of us is dead,” I joked, kind of.
My father smiled at me, and when he smiled it was a true one, the kind that met your eyes or some shit. You could tell when someone was truly happy when that happened.
“Don’t kill her. I don’t need to be planning a funeral right after getting married.” He snickered. The wrinkles on his face had grown since the last time I had seen him. Being a doctor was stressful, the hours and the shit he had to deal with day in and day out. I never understood why he chose a career in medicine. I guess he just liked helping others.