Stepbrother Bad Boy's Baby Boxed Set (14 page)

T
he second option
might cost me some Alpha points in the social scene, but since I had Krystal, I didn't really need them, did I? So I turned and ran, sprinting as hard as I could across the semi-packed sand near the water line towards the life guard tower that was about two hundred yards away. I figured that even if Pete did catch me, I had about a hundred people who either heard me say I didn't want to start anything with him, or saw me running away. At that point self defense was pretty much guaranteed.

I
have
to give it to Pete, he's fast. I was about fifty meters from the life guard tower when Pete tackled me from behind, sending me sprawling into the sand. Pete quickly climbed on top of me and started pounding the back of my neck, pushing my face deeper into the hot, grainy surface. Twisting sideways, I curled my body into a c-shape before exploding sideways and twisting.With my weight advantage, Pete ended up flying off of me, landing on some guy's cooler while the two beach goers were still struggling to get up and get away from the fight. I rolled onto my back and to my feet, half crouched and my hands up to defend myself, when the lifeguard came up and got between us. "Hold on, what's going on?" he asked. Pete climbed to his feet and tried to rush me, but the lifeguard grabbed him around the chest and pulled him back. "What's the problem?"

"
M
an
, the dude you're holding tackled muscle man over there, got thrown off into my cooler," the one beachgoer said. "Motherfucker dented the thing too."

T
he lifeguard looked
from Pete to me, then back. "Alright, why's he chasing you down?" he asked me. "You've got a few pounds on him."

"
O
ld beef
that he didn't want to let go," I said simply. "He wanted to start something, and I didn't want to do that any longer, so I took off running for here. He was a bit faster, took me down."

T
he fight had caused
a small crowd to gather, and there were a few people who backed up my story. The lifeguard looked around, while Pete was let go as long as he stayed on the other side of the lifeguard. "Looks like I should radio for the police," he said, "you got a clear assault case."

I
shook my head
. "No need, man. I don't want to press charges."

"
Y
o man
, what about my cooler?" the beachgoer asked, pointing to his now crushed device. It looked like it had been a good cooler too, but it now sported a dent that was about three inches deep in one side. I reached into my side pocket, where my wallet still sat comfortably, and took it out.

"
T
ell you what
, it was my fault for running so close to your spot, I'll pay you for it. What do you say, eighty bucks to cover it?" The cooler had been good, but not that good. Still, I was being generous for a reason, I didn't want the police getting involved.

T
hankfully
, the beachgoer thought my idea was a good one. "Alright man, I can do that," he answered as I handed him the four twenties. "Next time have him land on my car, I could use a new one of those too."

A
few of
the onlookers laughed, and the lifeguard looked from me to Pete again. "Okay. Tell you what. You, skinny guy, take off. I see you near my tower, I'll call the cops. You, Richie Rich, come with me, hang out at the tower for a while, give your friend here time to get out of the area and cool off."

"
I
'm cool with that
," I said, watching Pete carefully as he nodded and walked off without another word. The lifeguard stood next to me for a bit, then nodded towards his tower. I followed him, and climbed the ramp to the top, where he offered me a seat. "Thanks. And thanks for not getting the cops involved on something so petty."

"
H
ey
, it's your life Castelbon," he replied, surprising me. The lifeguard smirked and nodded. "My little sister happens to like the society pages, and happens also to have a crush on a certain Southern California bad boy. She's going to freak out when she finds out I actually met you."

I
laughed
and watched the waves with him for a bit. "Well, in either case thanks. So, not trying to perv or anything, but how old is your sister?"

"
S
eventeen
. I'm the oldest of four, she's the youngest," the lifeguard said. "She's not your type, by the way. I love Chicha, but she's not the type like you normally have been seen with."

I
chuckled ruefully
, thinking back to the asshole I was. "Can I see?"

T
he lifeguard gave
me a careful look, then nodded, pulling his cell phone out. He flipped through his pictures for a few seconds, then held it out to me. The girl I saw wasn't ugly, but he was right, I'd never have given her a second glance before. She was the kind of sort-of-pretty girl that most likely made the best girlfriends or wives, because she was most likely sweet, smart, and probably could make a guy laugh. The lucky guy who ended up with Chicha would count his blessings, I bet. "She looks like a good kid," I said, handing him the phone back. Suddenly, a thought struck me. "Hey, that thing has a camera, right?"

"
Y
eah
, why?"

"
C
an
you send your sister photos with it?"

T
he lifeguard nodded
, a smile coming to his face. "Yeah, I can. You really willing to do it?"

"
F
or the guy
who kept me from having to deal with the cops? Hell yeah. Here, let's do it selfie style," I said, getting close and throwing my arm around his shoulder. With my arm stretched as far as it could, we could both just get in the shot. "Okay, one like this, and then maybe another normal one, just me or something. Ready?"

W
e took the photos
, and the lifeguard, who I found out was named Curt, sent them off. We got a reply in about two minutes, his phone ringing. "It's my sister."

"
H
ere
, hand me the phone," I said, holding my hand out. I hit the call button and held it to my ear. "Hello, this is Julian Castelbon speaking, how may I help you?"

"
N
o
.... way!" a teenage girl yelled in my ear. "Curt, I swear to Christ that if this is you playing a trick on me...."

"
N
o trick
, Chicha," I said with a laugh, "I'm really Julian Castelbon. Your brother just saved me some trouble on the beach, and when he said you would appreciate a picture, well, I had to send it off."

T
he poor girl
was in near hysterics, and I could barely understand what she was saying. In between repeated "no ways" and "oh my gods," she finally got a sentence out. "Yeah, yeah! God, it's really you!"

"
I
t's me
," I agreed. "Listen, Chicha, I wanted to ask you something."

"
O
kay
!" the girl replied, still nearly unintelligible in her excitement. "You can ask me anything."

I
nodded
, and looked over at her brother. "Your brother said you kind of are digging on me. Now, save your wrath for him later, but I have to ask.... why?"

"
Y
ou're just so awesome
, and cute, and sexy and strong, and ohmygod ohmygod," she said, embarrassment fighting with excitement.

I
nodded
to myself and let her calm down before I continued. "Chicha, are you calmed down now?" I asked.

"
Y
eah
, I think so."

"
C
hicha
, I saw your picture. You're young, you're kind of cute yourself, and from the way you dress and stuff I assume you're smart. You're too good for a guy like me. I've been a world class fuckup most of my life, and am just now getting myself straightened out. So please, do me a favor, and promise me. Promise me that around your high school, you stay away from the guys like me. Find yourself a nerdy guy, some guy who's going to treat you like the princess, and not like a piece of trash like I've done too often. Find that guy, maybe get him on some weights or something to fill him out, and watch as he goes from nerd to rich guy who's driving a Benz while the punk asses like I was just keep getting into trouble in five years. You'll be a lot happier in life."

"
I
.... I will," she said in my ear. "I promise."

"
G
ood
. Well, goodbye Chicha. It was good to talk to you. Take care of yourself."

I
hung
up the phone and passed it back to Curt the lifeguard, who shook his head in disbelief. "You're the last person in the world I expected to say something like that," he said. He held out his hand and I shook it, his grip strong and respectful. "You must have had a recent change of heart."

"
Y
ou could say that
," I replied. "You could say I found my angel, and she's shown me the error of my ways."

I
t was
my turn to wait at the baggage claim at O'Hare, while outside a late summer storm was blowing through town, soaking everything in sight. Thankfully there was no lightning or heavy winds, and from the last I'd been able to see, Julian's flight was going to land on time. I'd come in my car, I actually did have one, I just rarely used it. However, I knew Julian was going to have clothes and baggage, and I didn't want to struggle with that in a cab or on public transportation.

W
hen the board
changed and Julian's US Air flight went from
on time
to
landing
, I almost shrieked in excitement. The weekend at Alinea had been good, but I didn't care. I wanted to see my Julian, and the longer I went without him, the worse it got. The night before, at jiu-jitsu, Kimberly had ragdolled me I was so distracted, and I pretty much got my ass handed to me by everyone I rolled with. I didn't care, although the bruise in my left calf muscle was giving me at least a small hitch to my step.

T
he traffic going
into Chicago on a Tuesday morning is pretty light compared to the weekends, so I could see Julian as soon as he came out of the secure area of the airport. I ran and threw my arms around his neck, kissing him even as other passengers flowed around us like water. I'm sure some of them bumped into Julian, but he was so strong I didn't feel them at all. "I missed that," he said softly once our lips parted. "I've been dreaming about that for four days."

"
M
e too
," I replied. I looked around, and then cocked my head. "Where's your bags? I thought you'd be coming back with a few suitcases at least."

"
O
h
, they're coming, but I'm having them shipped here," Julian said. "When I got there, I realized that I just had so much crap in that apartment that I could have filled our place three times over and still had more. So, I picked out what I wanted for Chicago, packed it up and arranged for it to be shipped. The rest I donated to Goodwill, except for a few things I left there just in case we go back to Los Angeles for a vacation or something. The penthouse is my dad's, after all. It's not like it's going to be rented out or anything."

"
D
onated to Goodwill
? Julian, did you really donate a lot of your clothes there? I've seen pictures of how you dressed in LA, you walked down the street in Gucci. Just how much of that did you donate?" The image of a homeless person or somebody who needed Goodwill rocking Dolce Gabana or Ralph Lauren gear from Julian made me want to laugh out loud.

"
O
h
, all of that crap," he said with a smile. "I don't need hundred dollar t-shirts or five hundred dollar sneakers. I have something far more valuable right here, and she doesn't care if I wear Jean Paul Gautier or Costco."

"
T
hat's true
," I said. "Come on then, let's get home. I did some furniture rearranging, I hope you like it."

"
O
h
, like what?" he asked me as we left the terminal, and he followed me to the parking garage. "I didn't know you brought your car."

"
L
ike I said
, I thought you'd have suitcases," I replied. We got in, and I fired up the engine on my Nissan. I'd had it for a few years, but the compact SUV got good mileage, and I didn't drive it often. "I'll know better next time."

"
I
will
," Julian said. We left the parking lot and got back on the freeway towards downtown. "By the way, while I was in Los Angeles, I thought of something we really need to do."

"
W
hat's that
?" I asked, changing lanes to go around a slow driver. "And don't tell me take a shower, that's already on my agenda."

J
ulian reached
over and patted my thigh, shaking his head. "No, but I like that idea too. What I thought of was, going up to Castelbon Manor. Krystal, we really should tell our parents about us, and it's not the sort of thing you tell over the phone or over Skype."

I
nodded
, and looked over at him. "You sure about this?"

"
D
ead sure
. In fact, there is nothing in my life I'm more sure of than that I want to be with you for as long as I can, and that I want my father and Sandra to know that I am in love with you."

I
nodded
, and turned my attention back to the freeway. "Alright then. I'll talk with Horst at Alinea tomorrow, and as soon as I can get the time off, we go up to Castelbon Manor."

"
N
ow
, in the meantime," Julian nonchalantly commented now that the matter was settled, "what's this about new furniture, and what's this about a shower as soon as we get home?"

I
raised an eyebrow
, but kept my eyes on the freeway. "I may have gotten a king sized mattress delivered for our bedroom while you were gone," I said, "and as for the shower, well, that's something we'll just have to find out when we get home now, isn't it?"