Razor: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance(10)

Shit. Stop.

She stopped pacing, fixing her angry eyes on my face. “Well?”

I tore my eyes away from her lush figure, pushing my sinful thoughts away. “Well, what?” I asked stupidly, hoping she hadn’t seen me checking her out.

Carly hissed with exasperation. “How the hell did you find me?”

“I have my ways,” I replied coyly. It hadn’t been easy, especially with Carly practically living off the grid, but eventually, I managed to track her down.

“Ugh,” Carly growled. “You’re impossible.” Then she proceeded to let me have it. “Where the f*ck have you been anyway? Our parents and I have been worried sick about you. You drop out of college and disappear off of the face of the earth.”

It was hard to formulate an answer. There were so many reasons I’d chosen to take off — Carly being one of them. No matter what I said, I could never make her understand.

“No one knew where you were. You didn’t call, never even sent so much as an e-mail. Jesus, Mason! Mom and Brian even started saying that you fell in with the wrong people, started being all anti-government and crap. They said you started doing hardcore drugs.”

“Well, I can tell you right now that is a bunch of a bullshit,” I assured her. “At least the drug part.”

“Oh really?” Carly snapped. “Because from where I’m standing, it sure makes a lot of sense to me.”

“Look, you don’t have to believe me—”

“How could you?” Carly hissed furiously. “How could you just leave like that and walk away from . . .” Carly bit her lower lip and then stomped her foot against the hardwood floor like a petulant child. “How could you do it!”

It was hard to face the pain in her eyes, and actually, it surprised me that she was hurt.

When I left, I’d done it partly to protect myself from my emotions, not considering that I could possibly be hurting her.

“You wouldn’t understand,” I muttered.

“Make me understand,” Carly demanded. “I’ve spent this whole time feeling guilty over you leaving.”

I let out a sigh and shook my head. “I can’t. I’m sorry, Carly, but I can’t. Some things are better left unsaid.”

She glared at me for several long seconds and then threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. “Fine! Can you at least tell me if you wound up knocking up some tramp?”

I laughed incredulously. “What?”

Carly cut her eyes at me. “You were with a new skank every weekend, remember? I thought it was only a matter of time before you wound up with a few baby mamas.”

I shook my head and continued to laugh. “No baby mamas here.” But there had been a close call, but I wasn’t going to go into that. I’d never hear the end of it if I did.

“Amazing,” Carly muttered nastily. “You stuck it in more holes than Tiger Woods and none wound up pregnant? Shit, you probably have ten children you don’t even know about.”

I sneered. “Come on, Carly. Jealousy isn’t sexy at all.”

Carly rolled her eyes. “As if.”

But I could tell she was. It was practically oozing from her. Why else would she care?

“I know it may be hard to believe,” I said, “but I chilled out a little on that front. A little,” I reiterated. “Besides, I was only doing it because . . .” my voice trailed off and I stopped myself before saying something that could start a fire.

Carly was staring at me intently. “Because . . .?”

“Nothing.”

“Tell me.”

Silence filled the air. “You are so infuriating.”

I winked because I knew it would irritate her further. “You know me.”

Carly scowled. “I should totally slap you.”

I turned my face to the side and patted my cheek. “Go for it. Right there, baby.”

Carly snorted. “Please. Don’t tempt me.” She fixed a disbelieving glare on me and resumed her interrogation. “So does this mean you’ve settled down?”

“My, my Carly, you sure are interested in my love life,” I remarked, trying to deflect. I really didn’t want to talk about relationships. The whole thing had been one big draining and traumatic experience.

I thought that Maddy might’ve been the girl, but I was wrong. Oh so wrong.

“I just wanted to see if you’ve matured, that’s all,” Carly said defensively.

I flexed my muscles. “Well I can tell you right now you’re looking at a grown man right here. A hundred and eighty-five pounds of pure steel and an eight-inch cock that, while it doesn’t quite get used as much as it used to, is still the bane of women everywhere.”

Carly rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. “Oh God.”

“What? You’re the one so interested in my love life. What about you? Are you still so hung up fantasizing about what I’m like in bed that you can’t go out and find a man?”

Carly shook her head. “Please, don’t flatter yourself. I’ve just been too busy — focused on my career, or pursuit of one. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve even had time for a date.”

“Anyway, is there a reason why you just suddenly showed up on my doorstep out of the blue?”