Stepbrother Bad Boy's Baby Boxed Set(36)

I saw Kim waiting for me outside the Starbucks, already sitting at one of the tables that dotted the sidewalk, a green tea smoothie in her hand. "Hey Krystal," she said, raising her cup before pausing. She stood up and looked me up and down, a smile breaking out on her face. "Congratulations."

"What is it about our faces that gives it away?" I said, perplexed. "Julian was saying you told him the same thing."

"For a computer geek, I'm pretty good at reading people's faces," Kim replied. "Go get your drink, and you can tell me all about it."

I went inside and got my go-to, an iced dark roast coffee, and joined Kim outside. It was getting later in the year, and the warm sun was welcome. There would be too many upcoming days without it. "So what do you want to know?"

I'd known Kim for too long not to be honest with her, and she was as close as any sister to me. "So are you two together?"

"Yes we are," I replied after taking a sip. "He met me at the airport coming back from New York yesterday, and it was just magic."

Kim nodded and took a deep drink from her frozen concoction. How she stayed so slim with sucking down a venti sized one of those three times I week I had no idea. "Magic, huh? And just how magic was it?"

"You so need to find a man in your life," I groaned, taking another sip. We sat side by side and watched the sidewalk traffic go by, with Kim flashing me looks from time to time. I knew that expression, she wasn't going to stop. "Okay, okay, fine. Four times."

I think it was the first time in our entire acquaintance that I'd seen Kimberly surprised. In fact, she was more than surprised, she shot a stream of green tea gloop about three feet out into the sidewalk, just missing a pigeon that was bugging customers for crumbs from their scones and sandwiches. "Four times? FOUR times? I haven't had four times this year!"

I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. "Told you it was magical."

"Four times," Kim muttered to herself, shaking her head as she went back to sipping her drink through a straw. "You know, I should get some sort of reward for that. Four times.... now, do you mean four times total, or four times.... you know?"

I took a sip and smiled. "Four times of mind blowing you know. He had two himself."

"What were the other two?"

"Once with his tongue, once with his right hand. The right hand was in the shower."

Kim contained herself that time, and we went back to sipping her drink. "So how is it you can walk today?"

"Very slowly, although I'll have some time to recover. He's going back to LA until Tuesday, closing out his stuff there. He asked if he could move in with me."

"And what'd you say?"

"What do you think I said? Of course I said yes," I replied. "Of course, we still need to figure out how we're going to tell John and Mom, but we'll get past that, I'm sure."

"You sure about that? Krystal, you know I have no qualms about it, hell I'm glad for you two, but I'm not Sandra or John. I mean, your mom is cool and all, but is she that cool?"

"I think so. No, I take that back, I know so. And if not.... well, we'll make it on our own."

Kim looked over at me, and I shrugged. "Okay, with our trust funds too. Those can't be taken away from us, at least mine can't. And he's taking the test this weekend, he's going to get into personal training."

"That's a tough gig, you know. Lots of sales," Kim replied. "But, if anyone's got the look, he does. God that man looks like he could pick up a small car if he wanted to. Can he control it?"

"Oh yeah," I said with a grin. "Lots of control."

We finished our drinks, and Kim reached over and took my hand. "Krystal, I'm happy for you, I really am. Just be careful. I'm not saying careful of him, I'd have never told him the truth if I thought he would turn around and hurt you. But a lot of the world isn't ready for a situation like yours, and you might run into problems. I guess what I'm saying is, if you need help or support, you know you can call on me."

"I know," I said, squeezing her fingers. "So tell me about what's up with you."



* * *



Julian



"Alright, your time starts now."

I could feel the shakes in my hand as I looked down at the test. Randy, the manager at Metroflex, had pulled some strings to get me into the session, and I'd been cramming ever since getting on the plane Thursday morning. In between stopping by the LA County Courthouse, where one of the clerks knew my name, to going by my lawyer's office to sign the paperwork to allow him to get the ball rolling on closing out what I couldn't stick around for, I hadn't had as much study time as I wanted. Now, with a mechanical pencil in my hand, a cheap pocket calculator next to me, and a twenty five page, three hundred question test booklet in front of me, panic was beginning to set in.

You can do it, Julian, I heard Krystal whisper in my mind. Now just buckle down, and start right with question one. You keep plugging away at it.

I knew the words were just a little bit of self-delusion, but it got me moving. I opened up the book, and read the first question. Which blood pressure is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease?

I grinned and bubbled in my answer. For the next four hours, I worked steadily, letting my mind not get too caught up on the things I flat out didn't know.