Stepbrother Read online

  I’d been careful around Shawn. I hadn’t forgiven him for hurting me, especially when it was Cooper’s fault, but I couldn’t avoid him at the wedding, and he hugged me. “I’m glad you and your mom are in my life. I know you don’t like me or how I discipline, but I know that’s just because I’m the authority figure in your life now.”

  I merely nodded and moved away from him, almost running into Zane. “I haven’t had a dance yet,” he said as he dragged me onto the dance floor. We danced around for a few minutes, and then he turned and walked away from me without a word. Abbi sidled up beside me, hissing in my ear as I was leaving the dance floor.

  “So, you’re related to the boys now!” I shrugged at her, and she grabbed my arm, digging her nails in. “You’ll stay away from Cooper.” She dragged her hand away and I had a cut on the underside of my arm.

  I thought no one would miss me, so I went into the house and bumped into Cooper as I climbed the stairs.

  “Hey.” He smiled at me and I almost missed the step. He’d never once been nice to me and my shock must have shown on my face because his eyes narrowed. “I thought I’d try and be nice to you, but never mind.” He barged by me, knocking into my shoulder hard as he took off and I lost my footing and fell backward. I landed awkwardly on my shoulder and screamed out in pain. I tried to pant through it, but I couldn’t. My shoulder felt like someone was running me through with a scalding blade and my vision blurred as I tried to stand up.

  Cooper came back around the corner and saw the look on my face. I was holding my arm awkwardly, and as he leaned towards me, I shrunk away in fear and his face tightened.

  “Come on, Bailey. I’m not that scary.” He helped me up and supported my weight as my vision blurred. Every movement burned and I wanted to scream, but he managed to get me into my room.

  As I sat down, he popped my shoulder into place without warning me, making me scream loudly. As the pain slowly receded, he sat beside me on the bed. “I’ve really done a number on you, huh?” He touched my cheek gently wiping away the residual tears. I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a colossal dick to you. I never thought you’d be afraid of me touching you.” He stood and walked towards the door, pausing on the threshold.

  As he stopped, I found my voice. “Thank you.” He turned back and stared at me before nodding at me and closing the door softly. My shoulder was still stiff, but thankfully wasn’t so sore anymore, and when I went back down to the wedding, Cooper and Abbi were gone.

  The rest of the night passed quickly and when my mom and Shawn left, I breathed out a deeper breath than I had in weeks. When I went to bed that night, I was looking forward to a few weeks where I didn’t have to walk around on eggshells so much.

  I spent my days reading, running, and avoiding my stepbrothers. It was cathartic and I enjoyed the fact that Cate didn’t need to know where I was every second of the day. She trusted me and that meant so much to me.

  The next two weeks were amazing and flew by, I relaxed in the house for the first time and I spent most of my free time with Cate or reading. She even arranged for Wendy to come over and my reunion with my best friend, although frosty at first because she felt like I’d abandoned her, was a welcome distraction.

  She stayed over one weekend and I explained everything that had happened. She held me while I sobbed telling her about Shawn hitting me and my mom refusing to acknowledge Louis. Wendy’s lips pursed and she stood up and began pacing furiously.

  “I don’t get it. She said you were lying?”

  When I only nodded at her, she froze and turned to me.

  “Who does that? What kind of parent wants to forget her child was ever born?” She muttered in a low, horrified voice.

  I was at a loss because I didn’t understand it either.

  “I don’t know. I sometimes wonder if anyone would remember me if I died? I mean it hurts so much that she denies that Louis existed. Would she do the same to me?”

  Wendy shrugged and then brought out her cell.

  “I have to go home, now. Keep in touch with me and text me whenever you need to talk.” Just after she left my cell chirruped with a message from Wendy and she promised she’d be back. I was still upset and moped in my room that night. My mom and Shawn were due back the next day, so I was on edge, despite having finally told someone about what was happening, and have them believe me.

  As I sat and stared out of the window, the door sounded, and Cooper came into my room. “Cate’s asking for you?” I nodded to show I’d heard him but stayed where I was, staring out of the window. I heard him move across the room and crouch beside me. “What ya looking at?” he asked softly as he reached out putting his hand over mine.

  The heat from his hand burned into mine and I looked into his eyes answering before I even thought about censoring my thoughts.

  “I was looking at the stars. It makes me feel close to Louis to know that he’s up there and watching me. At least I hope he is.” He squeezed my hand and smiled as I glanced over at him.

  “That’s a nice way to look at it. When my mom died, I just wanted her back more than anything and I hated that I couldn’t have her back.”

  He stood up and leaned down, pressing his lips to my hair before walking out of the room. My thoughts darted about as I tried to digest what had just happened. He’d kissed me on the forehead and been sweet to me. His mom had died, and I hadn’t known; how could I have lived here for three months and not know his and Zane’s mom had died? For a moment I’d wondered how she’d died and then I realized it didn’t matter, the point was she was gone, and he had opened up to me a little.

  A few minutes later, I moved and went downstairs hoping to talk to him, but he wasn’t around. Cate had put on a movie, and we sat watching the screen, pigging out on takeout food. In the few weeks, Cate’d been here, I’d put back on a few of the pounds I’d lost, something that made me happier than I’d been in a long time.

  Later that night in bed, I wasn’t able to sleep because I was nervous about my mom and Shawn coming back. I didn’t want to get into more trouble. I’d never really been in trouble and I hated Shawn yelling at me.

  I also hated getting into trouble when it wasn’t my fault and when they didn’t believe me. I was also nervous because I didn’t ever want to be hurt like that again. I paced around my room for a while and then decided to go downstairs for a soda. As I passed Cooper’s room the door was open, and he was sitting staring at a picture, tears dripping from his nose as his shoulders shook.

  I should have walked past, ignoring him, but I couldn’t. I knocked on the door and when he looked up, he had a broken look in his eyes. I didn’t think about what I was doing as I walked over and sat beside him. I slid my fingers through his and held his hand while he cried. A current ran up my arm and the hairs rose as I gave his fingers a gentle squeeze. I glanced down at the photo in his hand as he held on to my hand as though I was his lifeline.

  In the picture was a beautiful brown-haired woman, chasing two little brown-haired boys around the yard. Everyone in the photo was laughing and my heart thudded painfully in my chest at the family in the image.

  “She was beautiful,” I whispered, running my finger over her face. He nodded and swallowed, his voice shaking as he spoke to me.

  “I’m…” He swallowed and tried again, his voice breaking, “God, Bailey, I am so sorry for ripping that picture of your brother. I swear I didn’t know. If you’d done that to any of my photos of my mom, I’d never have forgiven you and I need you to know how sorry I am. I wouldn’t do that to anyone and I’m so sorry.” I turned towards him as he turned to look at me, and he leaned down pressing his lips gently to mine.

  The kiss was gentle, but the butterflies in my stomach erupted and after a second, he pulled back.

  “I shouldn’t have done that. Can you leave, please?”

  His words hurt me, but I was too numb to move, confusion washing over me.

  “Bailey,
leave now!” he barked a moment later and I nodded as my feet carried me towards the door. My head swam and I slipped from his room without a backward glance. I walked back to my room and flopped onto the bed closing my eyes and trying to ignore the burning of my lips, as I realized that my first kiss was with my stepbrother. I also realized that the entire thing was totally and completely messed up. I was screwed. I knew the second our lips met that I wanted more from him and that thought scared me.

  If I was honest, I’d liked him from the moment I’d seen him in school before I knew who he was. He was gorgeous and his eyes did something to me in the instant he’d looked at me, but then he’d been such a colossal dick to me and now I had to live in the same house knowing I’d just acknowledged I had feelings for him.

  For the next few days, things were fine between us. He gave me a lift to school every morning but didn’t speak a word the whole time. As we reached the end of the week, he finally broke the silence. “Bailey, I can’t do this. I can’t want you and you can’t want me. It’s wrong on so many levels. You’re my stepsister and I’m your stepbrother. Can you forget about what happened the other night, please?” He turned his eyes on me and I could see the bags under them. I nodded but didn’t trust my voice, so I didn’t speak.

  After he dropped me off, he took off and left me standing there in the garage alone. I was so confused because one minute it seemed like he did want me and then the next he was pushing me away.

  Every time I saw him over the next few weeks, he would barely make eye contact with me and would quickly leave any room I was in. If we had a class together he’d avoid me or make fun of me which hurt on so many levels and made me even more confused because sometimes I caught his eyes on me and then he’d quickly shake his head or rub his hands over his face before turning away.

  I was more alone than ever, and I was so lonely that I wished I could just run away, but each time I thought about it, I knew I couldn’t. I didn’t have anywhere else to go. Plus, I had to stay because I couldn’t shake how I felt about Cooper.

  I’d see him and my heart would race, but I tried not to show it. I tried to ignore my feelings, but it wasn’t easy to do that when he was in the next room and I saw a side to him that was soft and sweet which intrigued me enough to keep me captivated by him.

  As I settled into life at my new school, I began to make a few friends. Elisha, Grayson, David, and Selene didn’t care that I was considered a charity case, or that my surname was still Walker and not Christie.

  Elisha or Lish as everyone called her, was brown-haired, dark-skinned, and had lots of gorgeous curves which made me a little jealous. Grayson was freckled, pale-skinned, and had glasses. He had buck teeth and was as tall as a rake with black hair. He was amazing and was completely in love with Selene, who was also dark-skinned with a gorgeous figure. She could have been anyone’s friend, but she loved Elisha, so she was our friend. David was tall, blond, and gorgeous as well. His bone structure was incredible, and his smile was catching. When David smiled, you couldn’t help but smile back.

  When David asked me on a date, I didn’t hesitate to say yes, and it soon spread around school that I’d been asked out by David Jones and accepted. Anytime I saw Cooper that day he was scowling, and when the school day ended, he took off in his car, leaving me stranded again. Elisha came to the rescue taking me home and chattering nonstop about the summer formal and how David and I could go together if we dated for more than a few weeks.

  I tuned her out after a while and when we arrived at the house, I saw Cooper’s car pulling into the garage. As she stopped, she smiled over at me. “So, it’s on, then, shopping this weekend for the summer formal?”

  I smiled at her. “Sure, let me run it past my mom first and I’ll let you know for sure tomorrow.”

  I jumped out from her car and jogged into the house, meeting Cooper on the stairs. The look of venom he gave me as he moved past me gave me chills and I wanted to turn back around and walk out the door. I contemplated it for a moment, but I was worried about him twisting where I was, so I walked slowly up the stairs after him. His bedroom door slammed shut and I ran up the rest of the stairs, and into my room.

  A second later the door to my room flew open and Cooper stormed in. He marched over to me and spun me towards him, pulling me close to him and pressing his lips firmly to mine. He kissed me with a passion that made my knees weak, and my stomach come alive. I ran my fingers up his arm, tangling them in the rough hair at the back of his neck. He licked along my lips and I opened my mouth to him.

  He slipped his tongue into my mouth and for a moment we kissed hard, but a door slamming downstairs broke us from the spell, and he shoved me away from him hard. I leaned over and breathed heavily as his footsteps retreated. He paused at the door and turned towards me.

  “Don’t go out with him,” he panted at me. I glanced up at him, his eyes were tight as he looked at me.

  “You go out with Abbi?” I answered him.

  “Yeah, but Abbi was here before you were.” I glared at him; he shrugged and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. I sat down on the floor and put my head between my legs to control my breathing; I was seriously screwed. The kiss had awakened something in me and I wanted Cooper more than ever before.

  He started to avoid me more and didn’t even want to take me to school anymore. I heard him and Shawn arguing about it one night while I was coming back from the kitchen with snacks.

  “Dad, she can make her own way!” Cooper raged as I walked slowly up the stairs, unwrapping a granola bar and taking a bite.

  “No! You give her a ride. I don’t trust her and I need you to keep an eye on her.”

  “She’s almost sixteen, surely she’s mature enough to make her own way.” Cooper insisted and my insides shriveled up because I knew he really didn’t want me in the car with him.

  My face burned with shame and I struggled to swallow my half-chewed up granola bar. My feet were leaden as I passed Shawn’s office. I refused to look at the door because I was struggling to hold my tears in.

  “No! Cooper, there will be no more discussion about this.”

  Shawn’s tone was final and Cooper flew from the office, bumping into me on the stairs and barging by me without a word.

  After that encounter we didn’t really speak for a while, but each car journey was complete torture and I longed to escape. I’d approached Shawn about getting a ride with Lish, but he was adamant that Cooper was to drive me to and from school, so I had no choice.

  Cooper would pick Abbi up every day to take her to school and back home, so he was never in the car alone with me. When David and I went on our date, he gave me the cold shoulder for a week and a half.

  As my sixteenth birthday approached in early June, I didn’t want to do anything major, but my mom wanted to throw me a huge sweet sixteenth. I wasn’t given an option and had to have a party on my birthday, because it was on a Saturday.

  As the day approached, I became more and more nervous because it was my first birthday in their messed-up family and I didn’t really know my new friends that well and I was worried that no-one would even come. Plus the fact that Cooper wasn’t speaking to me at all and Zane had hardly been seen since the wedding.

  The day before my party, Cooper and Abbi were sitting in the front of his car while I sat in the back discussing their plans for the weekend as we drove to school. I normally tuned them out, but I heard Cooper’s words, and they hit me in the chest.

  “I’m out of town with the team. We leave at six a.m. tomorrow and won’t get back until late Sunday night.” His voice was cold, and I knew it was directed at me. My eyes filled with tears and I stared out of the window at the sidewalk as Abbi spoke.

  “Coop, it’s your sister’s party. How can you miss it?” Her voice was high and babyish, and I cringed at it.

  Cooper’s voice was like a whip as he spoke again, “She’s not my sister, she’s nothing to me.” I rubbed at my chest and I saw his eyes
on me in the mirror for a second before he turned to Abbi.

  “Well, fine, but I think it’s awful that you aren’t going to be there. I mean all our friends will be there and we can have fun, regardless of the fact that it’s HER party.” The conversation ended as we pulled into the school parking lot. I leaped from the car as soon as it was in park, forgetting my bio textbook on the back seat. I just wanted to get away from them. I heard Abbi as I shot away.

  “Oh dear, I think you hurt her feelings.”

  Her spiteful words and amused tone reached me as I sprinted inside and went straight into the bathroom, splashing cold water on my face, then I went right to class. Elisha was standing outside the classroom as the tardy bell rang, and we rushed inside.

  As we sat down, she handed me my textbook and I looked at her in confusion. She leaned over and whispered, “Cooper approached me in the hallway before class and handed me it.” I nodded at her and threw myself into my work, finishing first and getting sent to the office with a note from the teacher to pick up her photocopying.

  As I reached the office a familiar back was walking down the hall away from me. I tried not to stare at him, but I couldn’t help my glances at him every few seconds. Cooper’s eyes met mine just before he turned the corner and his lips lifted in a small smile. I turned away from him and picked up what I’d been sent for hurrying back to class.

  Cooper was leaning against his locker across from my classroom looking gorgeous with his tie loose around his neck and his shirt half out of his dark grey trousers. My mouth watered and I squeezed my eyes shut and turned away from him.

  As I went to walk inside, he grabbed my palm, sliding something into it before sauntering away. I opened the door and took the teacher’s supplies to her before resuming to my desk. Under the desk, I opened the note and my heart hammered.

  After school, don’t make plans. I’m taking you somewhere special. Cxx