Hawk (A Stepbrother Romance #3)(29)

Curled up on the bed, I hope May's feeble excuses worked and I'll be able to sleep through the night without being dragged off to be sedated with Thorazine.

When light reaches through the blinds and cuts into my sleep, I blink a few times, yawn, and decide I've made it.

Then I rise, pull on a robe, and shiver my way to the kitchen. It's always freezing in the house, year round. I hear a knock at the door and stop, freezing in the middle of pouring a glass of orange juice. I set the carton down and carry the glass with me to the front door, but I've been beaten to it. I sink back into the kitchen as Tom glares at me, then swings the door open.

Hawk stands on the porch with his duffel bag slung on his shoulder.

"Hi, dad."





Alexis





Now





May is in the hallway, wrapped up in her fluffy bathrobe. I grab her before she can say a word, touch my finger to my lips for silence and duck into her room. Her bedroom is directly above the office, and if we open the heater vent and stay very, very quiet, we can hear what people are saying below.

Tom’s voice.

“What are you doing here?”

“I live here.”

“Not anymore.”

“Aww, dad, I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

“This isn’t a game, boy. We had an arrangement.”

Hawk snorts. “I’ve altered the deal. Pray I do not alter it any further.”

“What?”

“Nevermind. Here’s the new deal, dad. I’m moving in. You didn’t give my room away, did you?”

“Actually, I did.”

I sigh, softly. May glances at me, annoyed.

They gave Lance Hawk’s room after he moved out, at the end of the hall, the biggest of the bedrooms on the second floor.

“Oh well, I’m sure there’s some room somewhere unless you and Helen got busy and nobody told me.”

Silence, but I can somehow hear Tom’s annoyance.

“I made myself very clear,” he says. “You need to go back where you came from.”

“Oh, how awful,” Hawk says in a mocking sing-song. “You’d throw out your unemployed veteran son? I’m sure all the vets and their families in Paradise Falls would love to hear that.”

I can practically hear Tom’s teeth grinding.

“What’s your angle here, boy?”

“I don’t have one. I wanted to come home.”

“You can stay, for now, but if you lay one finger on your stepsister, you’re out. You’re to have no contact with her, at all.”

“So which room do I get?”

“Take one of the ones upstairs. I don’t care. This is temporary. You’ll be moving out soon.”

“Okay, I’ll go check it out, then.”

Footsteps. The door opens and closes, and May snaps the vent shut. We both scramble away from it, and lean up against the wall.

This is insane. He can’t be moving in here.

“This is great,” May chirps in a soft whisper.

“What? Are you crazy?”

“You can get back together.”

I scowl at her. “There’s no getting back. We were never together.”

May rolls her eyes at me. “Riiiiiight.”

I must be turning red, I can feel the heat on my face. I seize May by the shoulders and look her in the eye.

“May, this isn’t a game. We both know it. We can’t screw around, here. If Tom told Hawk he has to stay away from me, I have to stay away from him. Understood?”

“But-”

“No buts!” She gives me a sullen sigh and her shoulders droop as I let go of her. Rising, she flops on her bed and looks at me.

“You like each other.”

I sit down next to her. “I don’t know if I like him or not.”

“You mean like, or like-like?”

I glare at her, over my shoulder.

“Alex-”

I fold my arms and huff. “May, you know what he did to me.”

She sits up, and pulls the collar of her robe up around her neck.

“Do I? I heard what they were saying, same as you. Sounds to me like Tom made Hawk leave.”

I swallow. Or try to. My throat is dry. I need something to drink I need a shower.

“May,” I sigh. “Just let it go, okay?”

“Why?”

I scowl at her.

“I saw the way he looked at you. Before you smashed the hot dog on him I mean.”

May rests her hand on my shoulder.

“He wasn’t there when I needed him.” I say, softly.

I shrug out from her touch and give her a look. She rises to her feet and turns away from me, signaling I should go so she can get dressed. With a weary sigh I trudge to the door on aching feet, half expecting Hawk to be standing in the hallway waiting for me, but he’s not there.

I slip into my room, grab a towel and my own robe, and slip into the bathroom. The blessed heat of the shower soaks into me as I stand under it, letting it cascade down my back. I’m so tired. Tired of everything. My feet hurt. My head hurts.

After I soap up and rinse off I turn the water off and, teeth chattering, wrap myself up in my robe, dry my legs, and walk slowly back to my room, like I’m dragging something heavy behind me. Inside, I lock the door and sit down on the bed, and start brushing my hair.