PRINCE CHARMING: A Stepbrother Secret Baby Romance(70)

He breathed deeply, and I felt comforted by the rise and fall of his chest. We fell asleep together.

Zzzzzzz.

Zzzzzzz.

Zzzzzzz!

“Huh?” I muttered. I was awake, and my phone was going off. Shit. “Hi, Mom,” I said, trying to keep my tone even. I’d just lost my virginity, such a big deal, but I had to act normal.

“We’re home with the food. You guys come on back,” she said, cheerfully oblivious.

I wanted more than anything to share this amazing moment with her, but I couldn’t tell her because then she’d know that I just fucked my future stepbrother. My voice lowered with shame. “Okay. We’ll be there.”

I hung up. Ash was rubbing his eyes. He looked peaceful, happy. The pleasure was gone, and the horror and confusion of what we’d just done overwhelmed me. I stood up, throwing on my tank top and boy shorts. I grabbed my flip flips, ready to make a run for it with my bare feet in the sand.

“You okay?” he asked, concerned.

“No,” I replied. “This is wrong. We shouldn’t have done that.” My voice raised a few pitches.

“I won’t tell anyone.”

“It doesn’t matter. You’re going to basically be my brother, for fuck’s sake. And we just fucked.”

He stood up to match me, and I wanted so badly to hug him. He was the one person on this earth right now I wanted to comfort me, but he couldn’t because he was the source of my problems. What an awkward place to be in!

I wrenched myself away from him and began to run. I wanted to run far away until I was by myself on an island because the truth was, any man I grew to love would never work out. My father hadn’t worked out—he wouldn’t work out, either. No one would ever work out because I was destined to be alone.

I got back to the house and couldn’t make eye contact with Gary or my mom. “I’m not feeling well. Could you save me a sandwich for later?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” my mother asked.

“Like I said, not feeling well.” I turned on my heel and left them.

“We’ll save you a sandwich then,” Gary called after me. I didn’t reply. I was too mortified.

I debated about telling my mom what had happened but decided against it because if I told her, that would mean they might not get married. Maybe this could be okay if Ash and I kept it a secret.

It wasn’t an hour before my mother came up the stairs. Her face was tanned from the day, and she sat next to me on my bed. “We had something to tell you both, but you weren’t downstairs, so we couldn’t.”

“I have something to tell you, too,” I said.

“Gary and I…We were so lost in the moment today and, well, we got married.”

I nearly fell over. “What?!” I gasped.

“Don’t worry! We’re still having the standard reception in a couple of months, but we just had to make it official,” Mom said dreamily. “Now, what is it that you had to tell me?”

“I...” I began, faltering. “I just miss home a lot, that’s all.”

“Oh, honey…” She gave me a hug, and I looked over her shoulder, blank and expressionless. The door to Ashton’s room was closed. The damage had already been done.

My mom left, and I texted him.

Amy: What happened was fucked up. We can’t do that anymore.

Ashton: I know. It was. But we couldn’t help it. We just wanted each other so much.

Amy: We should have resisted.

Ashton: If you think about it, though, it makes sense. We have the same genetics as our parents, who are also fucking.

Amy: That isn’t helping. What would help, though, is for you to find other girls.

Ashton: But you don’t get it. I don’t just want to fuck you. I kinda like you.

I paused, looking down at my phone. Shit.

Amy: I like you too, but it’s too late. Our parents are married. Just find someone else and leave me alone.

He didn’t text me back, and part of me was relieved. The rest of me was devastated. This summer would go by so slowly, and I just wanted it to be over. I called Sarah, crying.

“Girl, what’s wrong?” she asked, her voice sounding so especially familiar and comforting right now.

“I fucked him,” I said.

“Whoa. No way! That’s great,” she squealed.

“No, no, it’s not. Remember? He’s my stepbrother now. It’s actually official. Our parents tied the knot today—one of my mom’s random, crazy fucking ideas,” I said through tears, crying hysterically.

“Okay, listen. Try to calm down. I’m sure you’re not the first person this has happened to, and you won’t be the last,” she said.

“I’m pretty sure I’m the first! Who is weird enough to have sex with their future family member? To make it worse, he is my family member now. I just wanted him so bad. I’ve never felt like that before.”

“It’s called being horny, and people have done worse things.”

“Really?” I asked, sniffling through tears.

“Of course! It’ll be okay. Just keep it a secret and try to keep your distance from him for a bit, I guess,” Sarah replied.

“I think your psychology studies are paying off. That’s pretty solid advice.”