PRINCE CHARMING: A Stepbrother Secret Baby Romance(73)

Jen H.: Can’t wait for 2night. Get the good stuff. Lol.

My eyes narrowed. I clicked on her profile. It was private, but I could see her picture. She was beautiful—freckles, blonde hair, and crystal-blue eyes. Some of her interests included movies and rock music. She also liked cars. Ash loved cars! She did seem pretty cool, dammit.

“Ugh. I found her. She’s really pretty and so his type,” I complained.

“Who cares? You aren’t going to date him, so it’s not a big deal,” Sarah said soothingly.

I took a deep breath and shut off my computer. I didn’t want to see any more. “You’re right. It doesn’t matter. I’m overreacting. He’s my stepbrother, for fuck’s sake. We already crossed the line, and now we need to take a step back.” I tried to convince myself of the truth of my own words. “I’ll just stay clear of the house tonight. I’m going out and having fun.”

“Yeah. Have fun, and tell me what happens,” she said.

“Will do. Bye.” I hung up and looked around my room. Whenever I felt crappy, doing my hair and nails always made me feel better. Though I had already taken a shower, taking two or three showers a day was not uncommon for me. I loved showers because they were relaxing and washed the day away.

I grabbed my towel and moisturizer and got in the shower. I put the water on, trying to let the noise of it drown out the noise in my head. I reached out to feel if the water was the right temperature, and once it was, I immersed myself in it, closing my eyes. It felt great—soothing. I squirted my nourishing shampoo into my palm and began massaging it into my scalp. I rubbed some lavender body wash over my tender pussy, which was still a bit sore from the friction of our tryst on the beach. I wished I could wash that action away, but some things happened way too late.

I tried not to look at his body wash and wash cloth, which he’d placed rudely near my stuff. He’d left some hair, too. I tried to convince myself he was a gross creature and that I would never want to see him again after this summer. I imagined him, hairy and muscular and handsome.

“Ugh! Stop it!” I scolded myself.

Evening was setting in by the time I finished using the hair dryer. My thick hair was notoriously difficult to manage, but it was pretty, at least. My hair was curled elegantly, and I put on a light pink dress and a long pink cardigan over that. My nails were painted with a nice pink polish, and I was perfectly shaved. My chunky pink heels looked great, I had to admit. I looked totally hot. I imagined what Ash would do if he saw me, inwardly scolding myself for being pathetic enough as to care.

I heard giggling coming from Ash’s room. I had been messing around with the hair dryer for forty minutes, so I hadn’t heard them come in. I heard deep laughter follow. A spike of annoyance raked through me. I dropped my purse on the bed and walked to his side of the bathroom door, pressing my ear to it. I heard soft moans and muffled sounds. Hurt washed over me, and I couldn’t help myself. I slammed opened the door to his room to see it clouded in smoke. He and the girl, Jen, were on his bed, making out.

“Nice,” I said, my face red with embarrassment and hurt. “You couldn’t…you couldn’t smoke somewhere else?” I yelled, not the least bit upset about the smoke, but really upset that he could hook up with another girl so close to my room.

“Amy!” he said and sat up on his bed. Jen looked smug as she placed her hand on his stomach.

“Oh. That’s your stepsister,” she said with a cool voice. She looked me over the way a cat does before they pounce on their competition.

Tears streamed down my face. “Fuck you, Ash. Fuck you,” I said, my voice shaking through my tears. I turned on my heel and grabbed my purse. I was going to go to the city, sneak into a bar, and forget his existence.

“Amy, wait!”

I heard him shout. I didn’t care. He’d already lost me. Fuck him. I went to my room, slamming the door to my room behind me. I stomped down the steps as fast as I could with my heels on.

“Going out?” I heard Gary say.

He was in the den by the door, reading a book on finance. I smiled and wiped my tears away, trying so hard not to show my pain.

“Yeah. To the city,” I said.

“You’ll need something, then,” he said with a warm smile. “I’ll be right back.”

I waited out of politeness. I really just wanted to run out of the house. The train station wasn’t too far away, and I planned to walk there even with my chunky heels. I’d hoped Ash would be the first one to go with me in the city, but screw him. I didn’t need him now.

Gary returned with a small black wallet. Inside were two credit cards. “These are for you—for any of your expenses,” he said. “I meant to give them to you earlier, but I wanted to wait for the right time.”

I shook my head. “Thank you so much, Gary, but I couldn’t possibly.”

“Please. Take it. You’re my stepdaughter now, and I want to make sure you are always safe and comfortable. Besides, I called you a cab to the train. It should be here in a couple of minutes,” he said with a warm, fatherly smile.

“Thanks,” I said softly, taking the wallet. “It would be nice to not have to walk there.”

I waited in the den with Gary, trying to hold back tears. My mother joined us, talking animatedly about her bed and breakfast. I saw lights flash as the cab pull into the driveway.