Hunger (A Stepbrother Romance Novel) (2 page)

After two hours of lying in the darkness of my bedroom, I had just started to drift off when I heard his bedroom door open and softly close.

My body tensed as his footsteps moved towards my door, and I sat up in bed just enough to see his shadow beneath the crack of my door, illuminated by the nightlight I kept in the hallway so I could see my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

I held my breath as I waited for something to happen, but nothing did. After a few moments of anticipation, his shadow disappeared as he continued the walk down the hallway to the bathroom.

I flopped back in bed with a sigh and scrubbed at my tired eyes, willing my mind and body to calm down enough to fall asleep, even though I felt wired with energy.

~*~*~

I was adding a spoonful of sugar to my morning coffee when it happened.

“You’re very lucky, you know.”

Alarmed by the sudden noise from behind me, the mug of hot coffee I was holding slipped out of my grasp and went crashing to the floor. I shrieked as the contents of the mug soaked my front, then again when I felt a pair of warm hands grip my shoulders and spin me around.

“
Shit
! I’m so sorry,” Luke said as he looked between my eyes and the huge coffee stain on my white tank top, then down to the shattered glass on the floor. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine,” I said with a grimace. “I know you didn’t do it on purpose.”

Luke was still frowning at the stain, almost like he couldn’t believe I’d actually been scared enough by his sudden presence to have such a strong reaction.

Which was a valid point. I wasn’t normally so jumpy, but I hadn’t had enough time to adjust to the fact that there was another person in the house. It hadn’t even been a full twenty-four hours yet.

“Just so you know, I’m don’t usually scare so easily. I guess I’m just used to being alone in the mornings,” I told him in justification of my reaction.

“Is my mom still here?”

“No, she and my dad both leave for work around seven.”

He nodded, understanding dawning in his eyes. “Again, I’m sorry for scaring you. I’ll try not to do it again.”

“It’s alright. Really. I don’t think I’ve suffered any third-degree burns,” I joked, hoping it would lighten his stormy mood a little.

If anything, my words made him frown deeper. He looked back down to the stain and I let out a harsh breath, not even aware that I had been holding it in while he stared at me with those gorgeous green eyes.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?” he quietly asked, reaching a hand up towards the stain but stopping in mid-air.

“I-I’m fine,” I whispered, suddenly aware of the tension that was rapidly building between us. I could tell he wanted to touch me—to make sure I hadn’t really been burnt—but he was too afraid to.

Clara’s warning popped back into my mind and I took a step back, swallowing when I realized I was trapped against the counter.

“I’ll go to the bathroom and check if it’ll make you feel better.”

Luke nodded and I side-stepped him, careful to avoid the broken glass. Once I was clear of the dangerous area, I hustled out of the room and down the hallway, closing the bathroom door behind me and leaning against it.

I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths before I tugged my top over my head and moved to inspect myself in the mirror. The skin was reddened from the burn, but there was no real harm done. I grabbed a washcloth and cleaned the coffee off myself with cool water, sighing at the feeling of the cloth against my bare skin.

Afterwards, I tossed the shirt and my soaked bra in the laundry basket and reached for a towel to cover myself with on the dash to my bedroom. I wrapped it around my back and gripped it with one hand while opening the door with the other.

I managed to bite back the shriek of surprise when I nearly barreled into Luke, but I couldn’t stop myself from physically jumping. His eyes widened and he reached his hands out as if he was ready to catch me if I started to fall, an apologetic look on his face.

“
Jesus
, I thought you were going to stop scaring me,” I said as I held my free hand over my wildly beating heart, forcing a laugh at the end.

His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed hard. “I didn’t mean- I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt.”

“I’m fine. Hey, maybe we should get you one of those cat collars with a little bell to wear on your wrist or something. That might help.”

He didn’t even crack a smile at the joke and I averted my gaze from his face, suddenly uncomfortable with my state of undress, even though I logically knew I was completely covered.

Luke seemed uncomfortable with it as well, but when he made no attempt to move out of the way after a few moments, I cleared my throat and said, “Excuse me.”

His step back was hesitant, but it gave me enough room to brush past him and high-tail it to my bedroom. I quickly got redressed, then lingered in front of the door, my hand hovering above the knob.

Did I really want to go back out there? Logically, I knew I needed to at least go clean up the mess of broken glass and coffee in the kitchen, but I wasn’t really looking forward to the idea of tip-toeing around the increasingly odd Lucas.

But was hiding in my room for the next few months a viable option? I knew I’d have to deal with him sooner or later, so I took a deep breath and left the room.

It was eerily quiet in the house as I made my way back into the kitchen. I stepped around the bar and frowned when I noticed the broken glass and coffee had already been cleaned up, nothing left out of place.

Well, at least he was considerate.

I poured myself another mug of coffee and made my way back to my room to spend a few hours lazing around in front of the television.

~*~*~

It was around one in the afternoon when the doorbell rang, giving me a jolt of surprise. I sat up and pulled the earbuds out of my ears, pausing the music and frowning when I heard a bedroom door open down the hall, a little surprised that Lucas was still home.

I had left the bedroom multiple times over the course of the morning and hadn’t seen another sign of Luke at all. At one point, I was damn near convinced he had gone somewhere.

Turns out he was just hibernating in his room like I was.

But now I could hear him running down the hall, presumably to answer the door. I wasn’t expecting anyone, so I could only imagine it was a solicitor, or perhaps one of Luke’s friends. If he had any.

I shrugged and leaned back against my stack of pillows. Popping the earbuds back into place and cranking up the music, I closed my eyes and bopped my head along to the beat of the song.

When the song came to and end and the noise quieted down, I heard a faint noise.

“Jenna.”

I opened my eyes and screamed when I saw Luke standing beside my bed, looming over me with a serious expression.

“What in the
hell
, Luke?” I shrieked as I pulled the buds out again and sat back up. “Don’t you fucking knock?”

“I did. You didn’t answer.”

I was beyond irritated by his cavalier response. “Maybe I wanted some privacy!”

“Or maybe you were dead or injured, or maybe you just couldn’t hear me because your music was too loud. I really had no way of knowing. If you simply want privacy, perhaps you should consider locking your door.”

I gaped at him incredulously. Was this seriously what it was going to be like living with him for the next two months?

God, I couldn’t wait for college.

“What the hell do you want?”

Finally, he showed an emotional reaction. He tilted his head to the side and eyed me suspiciously. “There’s someone here to see you.”

I frowned and swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Who is it?”

“A boy.”

“How vague,” I said dryly, rolling my eyes. “Did you happen to get a name?”

“I did. It’s Daniel.”

Suddenly, my irritation at Luke was replaced by excitement. Daniel was my best friend from high school, and as far as I knew, he had gone away to stay with his dad for the summer before college started in the fall.

“Where is he?” I excitedly asked.

“Outside.”

I frowned again. “You didn’t let him in?”

Luke shrugged. “I have no idea who that boy is, so no, I didn’t let a stranger into your house.”

I paused for a split second, understanding his very valid point. Anyone could’ve shown up at the door and Luke didn’t want to invite trouble into the house without getting me first.

“Alright, good call,” I told him before I broke into a jog towards the front door.

When I swung it open, Daniel opened his arms wide and screeched, “My love! You came for me!”

I laughed and jumped into his arms, giving him a huge bear hug. It had only been a week since we last saw each other, but Daniel was extremely melodramatic. It was one of the many things I loved about him.

“Technically,
you
came for
me
,” I pointed out after he set me down on the ground. “What are you doing here? I thought you were staying with your dad this summer.”

Daniel shrugged. “That was the plan, but the whole ‘
bonding time
’ thing wasn’t exactly going the way he and my mother wanted it to. So here I am!”

“Lucky me.”

“Oh yes. Lucky
you
,” he agreed, his voice roughened with a seductive tone as his eyes drifted behind me.

I looked back, frowning when I saw Luke standing a few feet behind me, having obviously watched the entire exchange with a scowl, his arms folded over his massive chest. God, even though his long-sleeve Henley shirt was loose on his waist, it bulged across his chest and arms. I was staring hard enough to notice the two little balls of a nipple piercing when Daniel cleared his throat behind me.

“Care to introduce us? Or are you going to keep being rude to your guest?”

I rolled my eyes and gestured behind me. “This is Daniel. Daniel, this is Luke. He’s Clara’s son.”

As Daniel walked past me to go shake the other man’s hand, his eyes widened with recognition. “
Ohhh
, the mysterious future stepbrother. I’ve heard practically nothing about you.”

Luke’s scowl seemed to deepen and his eyes just barely darted to me before going back to Daniel. “Alright.”

“He’s heard next to nothing about you because
I
knew next to nothing about you,” I explained, hoping he wouldn’t take it the wrong way.

“You still know nothing about me,” Luke said as he warily eyed Daniel’s outstretched hand. He shook it reluctantly before he clipped out, “Nice to meet you.”

As Daniel’s mouth opened to reply, Luke turned away and retreated down the hallway. I watched the emotions go over Daniels face—confusion, rejection, anger, followed by a dry acceptance.

“Well, isn’t he just a ball of fucking sunshine.”

“Tell me about it,” I mumbled as I nodded. “He’s been here less than a day and I can already tell you he’s really fucking weird.”

“Weird how?”

Suddenly paranoid that Luke was lingering around eavesdropping, I made a zipping motion over my lips and gestured to the back door. Daniel nodded and we made our way out to the patio, then down the stairs to sit beside the pool.

“I should’ve brought my trunks. It’s hot as fuck out here,” Daniel commented as he sat at the side of the pool and dipped his legs in.

“Sorry, but his room is right next to mine and the walls aren’t very thick.”

“Oooh, sounds like there’s a story there.”

I shrugged. “Not really. I just heard him moving around the room a lot last night.”

His shoulders slumped, disappointed. “I was hoping for something scandalous.”

“Oh, I can give you scandalous,” I said, glancing back at the door just in case Luke had silently lurked outside. I leaned in and whispered, “Clara told me why he was in rehab.”

“Oh yeah? Drinks? Pills? Coke? Meth? Smack? Stop me if I’m getting warm.”

I slapped his arm playfully and chuckled as I shook my head. “No, he’s not a junkie. He checked himself in for sex addiction.”

“That sounds promising!” Daniel exclaimed excitedly. “You do
so
need to get laid, my dear. And I’d be willing to bet that boy is packing some seriously nice heat, if you know what I’m saying.”

My cheeks went crimson with embarrassment and I shook my head. “How would you even be able to tell that?”

“Hey, it’s a gift. Plus I totally eyed his junk already.”

“Of course you did.”

Daniel raised his hands in the air and shrugged. “What do you want me to say? The man is sex on a stick and I happen to like sticks. No, actually, I
love
sticks. You can never have enough sticks.”

I covered my face with my hands and shook my head back and forth. “Oh my god, please stop talking. I will pay you to shut the fuck up.”

“I don’t think so. And oh my god— Did you see the nipple ring? I wonder what other piercings he has. And I’m pretty sure I saw some ink peaking out of that shirt of his. I wonder what...”

As Daniel continued to rave about Luke’s appearance, I forced myself to stop listening. I kept my face covered by my hands because I knew I must be completely red from embarrassment. Not from the choice of topic. Daniel talked about men and sex like this all the time.

But because Luke was about to be my stepbrother.

Because Clara asked me to be careful around him.

And—most of all—because I had already noticed how fucking gorgeous he was and hearing another person talking about Luke in that way wasn’t making it any easier for me to heed Clara’s warning.