Gas or Ass (3 page)

Had she persuaded Dale to bring Hot Thing One and Hot Thing Two along because she knew I’d hesitate to show my ass in front of two guys my own age? When I got her alone—

The weirdest part was that she’d always leaped small buildings to stop me from hanging out with guys who had chest hair and had to shave every day. “They’ll ask for too much, Shelby,”

And now, she was asking me to just walk off into the sunset with some ready-made family. Were those two clowns on the porch supposed to be the bait?

I could hardly wait for this to go wrong. How long could that take? Two months? Three at most?

I stared at their interlocked hands and bit back the objections sizzling on my tongue. “I can’t believe this is happening.” I shoved past them, stalked across the living room, and stuck my head out the front door. Neither half-naked stepbrother was visible. “Looks like I need boxes,” I yelled.

A dirty-blond head popped out of the back of the trailer. “Comin’ right up, little sister.”

Eying the hard body that sprang out of the trailer with an armload of cardboard, I sensed that safety was an illusion. Nothing about this situation seemed sane or safe.

D
ale and his sons worked like a well-oiled team. In under three hours, with me and Mom packing boxes and them doing the heavy lifting, we’d emptied the apartment. I staggered down the stairs, clutching my laptop bag and a lampshade. Colt took the stairs three at a time and made a grab for the bag.

I jerked it out of reach. “I can handle this one.”

“Don’t wanna hear it if Dad sees you liftin’ something.” He grinned. “Better treat her like a princess. Those were his words.” He held out his hand and waggled his fingers. “C’mon. Give it up, Shelby.”

He stood two steps below me, so we were eye to eye. His cologne was subtle, not the dime store stench I’d have guessed him to wear. Heat raced over my skin. For the first time, I almost understood my mother’s pathological attraction to pretty boys. Something flickered in his eyes and he didn’t quite stifle his smirk. Was he flirting?

“You do everything your daddy tells you to do?”

“When it suits me.” He wrapped his hand around my wrist, prying one finger at a time off the handle. The firm, gentle grip from such a calloused hand sent shivers down my spine. With a last look into my eyes, he turned and jogged down the stairs, leaping the final four steps and landing with bent knees. He sauntered out the door.
Yeah, you think I’m looking at your ass, don’t you, hot stuff?

“Put that in the car, please.” I scanned the living room. The kitchen was empty, as were both bedrooms and the upstairs bath. Lights flicked out upstairs and Mom appeared on the landing. Pausing with her hand on the light switch, she leaned down to lift her purse off the floor.

“Well, I think that’s it. We can talk on the way, honey. You ride with me.”

Who did she think I’d ride with? Just the thought of being alone in a vehicle with either of my new stepbrothers made my heart do an out-of-control jig. I rushed down the stairs and stepped outside, just in time to see Caine hoist the trailer’s fold-down ramp door. I swallowed hard. Though it was fully dark by now, the rig’s taillights glowed, throwing his rippling muscles into high relief.

No matter what kind of doublewide trailer I feared Mom was dragging us to, the view was bound to be incredible. A quiet voice whispered in the back of my mind.
Wait till the other shoe drops.

Dale leaned against the Volkswagen’s front fender. He couldn’t take his eyes off Mom as she locked the door and hurried down the sidewalk. I landed in the passenger seat of the new car with a tired sigh. They kissed so long, I rolled my eyes. He opened her door, leaning in to peck her on the cheek after she slid behind the wheel.

“Buckle up. Precious cargo.” He pushed her door lock down and slammed the door.

She jabbed the key into the ignition, but I spied her pleased smile. These two were like... like any newlyweds, I supposed. His grammar wasn’t perfect, but he had the chivalry thing down to a science. Before I found the end of my belt, Mom muttered, “What the heck?”

“What’s wrong?”

She wrenched the key. The only sound I heard was the idling truck behind us.

“Did you leave the headlights on?” A dead battery equaled a dead car. That was the extent of my mechanical knowledge.

“They turn off automatically.” A few parking spaces to Mom’s left, Caine and Colt were getting into the truck Dale had arrived in.

Colt yelled, “Problem, Macy?”

She pressed the button to lower the window. It didn’t respond. “Dammit,” she muttered, slinging her door open again. The dome light didn’t come on. I realized it hadn’t lit when I got in, either. I’d just been too cross-eyed with lust and anger to notice.

Caine jogged down the sidewalk. Mom explained the problem. “Pop the hood, Macy. Sounds like a loose wire. Colt, bring a flashlight.”

The three males huddled beneath the hood, urging Mom to try the switch a few times. “Fuck it,” Caine said, slamming the hood. “Can’t see shit in the dark.”

Colt elbowed his father. “Brand new car don’t crank? I’d make ‘em take it back and give her another one. I mean, we can fix it, but—why bother? It’s under warranty.”

When Dale muttered his agreement, Colt slammed the hood. To my surprise, the blond came to my door. Opening it, he cocked his arm on the top edge and grinned, hand extended. “Your carriage awaits, princess. But you gotta straddle the gear shift.”

“I can ride in the truck with Mom and Dale,” I protested.

“C’mon.” He grabbed my hand. A jolt of electricity staggered up my arm. “Give the newlyweds a break.”

I waited for Mom to protest, but Dale was murmuring in her ear. She paid me no attention.

Reluctantly, I followed Colt to the truck. Behind us, I heard Dale’s chuckle. A sharp slap made me turn to see his hand gripping her butt. “You know the rule, Macy. Need a ride? That’s gonna cost you. Gas or ass, babe?”

I shuddered when she giggled like a thirteen-year-old. Had he used that line to pick her up? I swung my legs out of the car. Ignoring the outstretched hand, I edged around my new stepbrother.
Bet that bare chest isn’t a fashion statement. I hope all his shirts are dirty.
Mom despised doing laundry.

Colt and his mile-long legs beat me to the truck, yanking the truck door open with a grin and a pair of raised brows. I climbed into the tall vehicle, very aware of the way his appraising gaze raked my buttocks.

The seating configuration made me pause, bent in an uncomfortable position. Bucket seats bracketed a wide console. Cup holders fronted the console, eating up the space where my feet might go. While I tried to figure out where they meant me to sit, Caine peered down the front of my shirt. When I huffed, he lifted dark, unrepentant eyes to mine and flipped the console up. I eased into the narrow spot. Clutching my laptop case to my chest, I stared out the windshield and blinked back tears. Their shoulders took up most of the room, pushing mine forward. Not touching them was impossible.

“Seat belt.” Caine paused with his hand on the keys.

I slid my left hand underneath me, uncaring that I elbowed him in the ribs when I wrestled the buckle from under me. Meanwhile, on my right, Colt slid his hand under my thigh, presumably seeking the other end of the belt.

“I can do it,” I snapped, slinging my bag into his lap. The soft bag had reinforced corners. One corner caught Colt in the groin, to my extreme satisfaction. He let out a loud ‘oof!’ and jerked forward.

He turned toward me. When he smiled, hot and slow, my brain screamed,
Predator!
“You wanna play with my nuts, Red? Just ask.”

“Keep your hands to yourself and we won’t have a problem,” I snapped.

“Oh, girl, I can tell you right now, if that’s how it is, we already have a problem.” He slammed his door. Caine closed his with a snicker. The cab went dark. Trapped with two male animals put me on red alert.
This is nuts.

“What happened to all the little sister talk?” I jerked my chin up. “Treat her like a princess, remember?”

“Well, now, look around. Do you see Dad?” My heart hammered like crazy when Colt slid a huge hand around my knee and gave the joint a squeeze. I tried to form the words to tell him to stop, but in the back of my mind, I knew he wouldn’t listen. The man had a wild current about him that was hard to define, but my senses read it easily. His touch both tickled and annoyed, but I stifled the reflex to jerk, mainly because I sensed he wanted to make me jerk.

“Besides, when he told us about you, he didn’t say you’d be hot.” He traced the inner seam of my jeans, moving boldly up my thigh. “And who says I won’t treat you like a princess?”

My nipples hardened. I honestly turned wet from the casual, yet possessive touch. The sensation had never happened to me before. I was being practically molested without my consent—in front of an audience—and my body was in favor of the idea. I knew what I felt was arousal, but I’d never felt anything so strong and I had no idea how to handle the sensation. But a dawning horror invaded my mind. I had to live with these two. As brothers.

Under my mother’s watchful eye. I didn’t know if that last part was a good thing, or a bad one. Just as fast, I thought,
Whatever. It’d serve her right. How can she do this to me?

“So unfucking fair.” I blinked when Colt voiced my next thought. His hand continued its upward path until his thumb rested at the junction of my thigh. His fingers were tantalizingly close to my sex, but he didn’t take that last inch. My heartbeat moved to a spot between my thighs. The beat was so strong, I wondered if he could hear it—or feel it. “Caine’ll tell you. What’s my one weakness, brother?”

“Redheads.” Caine jerked the transmission into reverse and spun out of the parking space. When he shifted into drive, he lifted his arm and slid it behind my back. I didn’t see anywhere else for him to put it, except on my other thigh, so I bit the inside of my cheek.

Like father, like son, I guess. Ignore him. Them.

Easier said than done when my body was doing the Macarena.

I cleared my throat. “So, do y’all go to this high school Dale’s making me transfer to?”

“Graduated,” they chorused. “Two years ago. Well, goin’ on three now, I guess.” Colt added.

“Both of you?” The heat from Colt’s hand seeped through my jeans and Caine’s arm generated so much warmth on the back of my neck, I began to sweat. When we passed the rig, Caine raised a finger to wave to Dale, who still had to jockey the trailer out of the narrow lane between the apartment buildings. My mother’s face went by in a blur. I felt like I’d tumbled into the tiger cage at the zoo, and all Mom did was smile and wave as Caine raced out of the apartment complex and into the dark night.

“Yep. Both of us.” Colt gave my thigh a gentle squeeze. I ached to squeeze my thighs together, but figured he’d know why, so I didn’t.

“Twins?” I forced the breathless question past dry lips. “Or one of you failed a grade?”

Caine laughed, but Colt answered. “Nope. Wrong on both counts. We were born five months apart.”

My brain refused to work out the solution. “H-how is that possible?”

“Different mothers. Duh.” He punctuated the answer with another squeeze. Okay, now, if he moved his hand, he might hit a wet spot. How humiliating would that be?

I’d pegged Dale for a bad boy, but knocking up two women five months apart? “Lovely.”

“Macy don’t need to worry. Caine’s mama left town as soon as she got out of the hospital and threw him out on Dad’s doorstep. Mine didn’t want me in her way, so she handed me off to Dad. She lives in town, but I doubt he’d spit on her if she was on fire. She got knocked up again when I was about three.” Anger lurked beneath his casual tone.

I couldn’t believe my mother knew any of this. And at the same time, I could almost hear her excusing it by saying it happened two decades ago.

People change.

People like me, the angry touch-me-not who’d been suspended from school for five days for slapping a guy who’d done a lot less than Colt was doing now? My unsettled feeling grew. In that moment, I was as much a stranger to myself as they were to me.

“I guess you guys are upset about this sudden marriage, too?”

“Nah. I mean, unless your mom’s a head case?”

At the moment, that was too close to call. “No. But this is pretty sudden.”

“I guess it might seem so. But we know Dad. It’s in his blood.” Colt gave my thigh another squeeze. Despite the darkness, the dials on the dash revealed his intent stare. “A Hannah man sees something he wants, he don’t stop till it belongs to him.”

My heart raced and it took Colt a long time to turn away.

“You guys seem... I guess you’re used to moving new stepmothers into your place in the middle of the night?”

Colt sighed. “Nope. This is a first. Just gonna roll with it. I figure Macy’s cookin’s gotta beat Caine’s.” He turned to stare at my profile again. “Every man needs a woman.”

My body sang the answering phrase. My eyes had adjusted, letting me see that he turned and smiled, like his body heard mine.