Stepbrother Bestie (A Stepbrother Romance Novel) (53 page)

“Why the fuck would you ask that?” I
demanded before I could stop myself.

“I’m sorry…” she spoke quickly now. “I
didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. It’s just that everywhere you go, people
seem to fear you and since we’re going to be on this little adventure together,
I would really like to know what I am getting myself into.”

At this, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Really? Are you scared of me?”

“No,” she said, this time solidly. In an
instant, her persona changed and she eyed me with a hard look before she added,
“I just want to know who you are, since you seem to be the only person I can
rely on.”

I nodded, being able to respect that and
thankful that she wasn’t actually afraid of me. “Fine. If you must know, the
only reason that people have that perception of me is because I give off a,
don’t fuck with me, vibe. I know how to handle myself, but I’m not into any
shit.” I shrugged. “Honest to God, all I do is strongman competitions. Nothing
else. Nothing shady and nothing illegal.”

She thought about this for a moment,
before she smiled and answered cheerfully, “Thank you.”

I thought it was a little strange, but
after the shock of her bluntness wore off, I realized that I kind of liked
answering her questions. This was partially because I really wanted to be
honest with her, but it was also partially because with everyone I had ever
gone out with or been around, Ashley was the only one who cared enough to ask.

After breakfast, we headed back to the
beach to hang out, just as we said we would and I was pleased.

There was something about spending another
day on the beach that made me feel like we were coming full-fucking-circle.
Usually, I would have cleared out long before this, but right now, it was
feeling damn good to be the one who was sticking around.

Chapter
47

Ashley

“So, what do you want to do?” I asked
Tyler as the beach day we shared once again was coming to a close and we were
thinking about going somewhere to find a hotel for the night.

He shrugged. “I don’t have a fucking
clue,” he answered as he put his arm around me. When I looked up at him, with
eyes that inadvertently showed signs of nervousness, he laughed, pulled me
tight against his body and added, “But hell, isn’t that the point of freedom?”

I smiled up at him and gazed down at the
ocean while I thought for a moment. It was really strange to be
free
, especially in this sense. However,
as I took in a deep breath before releasing it in its entirety, I answered him
with an honesty that even surprised myself. “Yeah…I guess you’re right. I’ve
never done anything like this before though.” At this, I looked up at him again
and continued, “I’ve always been the good girl; the one who does what she is told,
almost unquestioningly. I never thought I would do something like this, but it
feels great!”

He smiled down at me. “You want to know
something kind of crazy?”

“What?”

“With all of the shit that I have done
throughout my life, this is actually a first for me as well.”

“You’ve never run away before?”

At this, Tyler looked at me as though
slightly angry before he answered, “Do you really think this is what you are
doing? Running away?”

I shrugged, not wanting to upset him, but
not entirely sure what I did wrong. “Sort of…”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you not a
fucking adult?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Do you not have reasons for doing what
you did that you can explain in a logical fucking manner?”

I shrugged again, still nervous, but
coming to realize that he was more trying to prove a point then he was actually
angry. “Yes.”

“Then, you didn’t run away. You are paving
your own path; living your own damn life,” he barked, then sighed before he
said, “Running away is what whiny little bitches do when they don’t get their
new Ferrari and that isn’t you. You are building your life, so don’t you dare
insult yourself, or me for that matter, by describing what you did and what you
are doing as a fucking temper tantrum.”

I nodded again, this time seeing his
point. “I understand. You’re right. I am taking control of my own life. This
isn’t just some stupid game. This is what I need to do in order to get my life
back on track!”

“Exactly!” he exclaimed, as though trying
to be ultra-supportive.

“Thanks…” I answered carefully and then
fell into thought for a moment, before I looked back at him and asked a
question that was burning inside of me, but also one that I wasn’t sure I
wanted to know the answer to. “Hey, when you said I was building my life…” He
looked at me expectantly when I paused and I seriously considered stopping the
conversation, but just sighed and continued on, knowing that I had to ask now.
“Do you think that there is a possibility that could permanently include…you?”

I held my breath for the moment that it
took him to answer, realizing how loaded that question was. I didn’t mean that
he was positively stuck with me forever, but I did want to have someone that I
knew with me on this strange journey. And he would be the most preferred
person, since it was him that caused me to take this leap of faith in the first
place.

Therefore, I figured it was appropriate.

“I’m still fucking here, aren’t I?” he
asked and I smiled, knowing that was probably the best answer I was going to
get from him at this time.

However, that was certainly better than
nothing.

Chapter
48

Tyler

We had stayed at the hotel about two
weeks. It was fucking fantastic!

I knew right away that we should have done
this when we first started seeing each other. Since were in a beach town, we
didn’t actually need a car for anything and with the funds I had saved up, we
were doing pretty damn well.

I had won a lot of strongman competitions
over the years and that had made a world of difference when it came to having
money to burn.

Of course, I had spent a shitload of it on
my car; I paid in cash, so I wouldn’t ever have to worry about anything and now
the only matter that we had to address was how to get back to it.

Still, that wasn’t a big deal, I thought,
since my mother and Ashley’s stupid ass father had probably not even noticed
that we left. We figured they were living it up, fucking as much as possible,
before my mother went off with the body builder I had found her with when
Ashley’s father wasn’t looking in order to fuck some more.

Regardless, it was very possible that
neither one of them even remembered that we were still on the same damn island,
much less care whether we ever came back or not. They were probably just as
happy, if not happier, without us.

And that was fucking fine with us. The less
we were looked for, the happier I knew we would be.

So, I figured when we got tired of the
island, or before Ashley returned to school, we would take a bus back to her
father’s house and take the car. I would get Ashley back to school and after
that, I planned to travel the country and fight in competitions, while she got
a part-time job and went to school.

I knew that together we could do this and
that was the first time that I was sure about including anyone in any of my
future plans.

I had to admit that it felt pretty fucking
cool.

However, I was concerned, slightly for
Ashley. I knew women pretty well and the fact that she was not even interested
in trying to talk to her father about what had happened bothered me slightly.

I had no idea what the hell there was to
say. He was an ass all around, end of story, but I still thought that her sheer
lack of interest in talking about him was a little odd.

I tried to bring it up over the course of
the two weeks staying at the hotel, but she just changed the subject. I got
that she didn’t want to talk about it, but I also didn’t know if shutting her
father out completely was such a good idea.

When I made this suggestion, she was quick
to shoot it down, telling me that my experience and her experience were two totally
different situations. I didn’t press the matter.

Then one night, while Ashley was working
on some school preparation stuff, I decided to go out for a run alone.

I was used to running alone. Even though
we were enjoying our newfound freedom to just be ourselves, independent of any
parental figure, neither one of us were the up the ass, overly gooey type and
so, we liked to have our space.

The run for the first few miles went well.
I ran along the beach and enjoyed the sand being kicked up between my toes for
a little longer than I supposed I should have, because when I looked up, I
noticed I was dangerously close to the back of Ashley’s father’s house.

I wasn’t scared of the asshole, but I also
didn’t want to instigate anything. The last thing I needed was any kind of
official police report written about my ass. So I decided to stay away.

It wasn’t that I was afraid of anything,
but who the hell knew what the future would bring? I didn’t want to risk my
name coming up too many times in the police reports.

After all, I did kill my father. Whether
the court saw it that way or not, whether I did it on purpose or not, wasn’t
the point. That was all technicality. The fact remained that if it wasn’t for
me, driving that car at that time, down that road, my father would still be
alive and therefore, I killed him.

I certainly didn’t need any kind of report
with another father-figure.

However, as I realized that I was too
close and began to turn around, I was met by a fist to the face.

It didn’t really hurt, despite the obvious
intent, but it did catch me off guard. I stumbled backwards.

I caught my attacker just as he barreled
into me during my misstep, which caused me to hit the ground. But once I had a
solid hold on him, I was able to easily push him off of me.

“Dude, what that fuck?” I screamed, moving
toward him, but stopped short when I realized that this was Ashley’s father.
“Get the fuck away from me,” I warned, trying to once again resist the urge to
beat his face in.

“You took everything from me, you dirty
bastard!” Ashley’s father screamed.

I couldn’t help but rear back and glare at
him. “What are you talking about? I didn’t take anything from you. You did it
to yourself.”

With a growl and a plunge forward, my
former stepfather ran at me again in a fit of rage, but I just turned away from
him and watched as he lost his balance on the sand.

When he was finished with his tumble, he
turned around and spat, “I’ll tell you what I’m talking about you
good-for-nothing little shit! You took my daughter away and then your whore of
a mother left me for some beach bum…She’s living it up somewhere other than my
beach house, just screwing her brains out, while I sit here and rot!”

“Well, if it’s any fucking consolation, at
least she isn’t screwing her brains out with some beach bum in your beach
house, because that’s what she did to the other assholes she married,” I
answered, trying not to snicker. I knew I was being insensitive, but he was
still a major dick and I really didn’t give a shit whether his feelings were hurt
or not.

“What is wrong with you people?” he
screamed, now on his knees, looking completely beaten. He glowered up at me
with a hateful look in his eye, but I didn’t care. He could hate me all he
wanted.

“I’m not my mother. Believe it or not, I
love your daughter and I am going to be able to provide for her and help her
better than your sorry ass could,” I answered sharply. “Sure, you’ve got money,
but that’s all you’ve fucking got. I don’t know what you were like when your
wife was alive, but shit, ever since she died, all you have ever cared about is
yourself. Your daughter needed you, in her teenage years as well as this summer
and you always had something else on your fucking mind.”

Once I got started, I was on a roll. As I
was speaking, I realized the truth in everything I was saying and in a way,
felt very bad for Ashley; but on the other, I was proud of myself for being
able to be the one on this side of the argument, the man that she wanted, not
the man she was tired of being disappointed by. “So, I didn’t take shit from
you. Ashley was done with you long before I came along and my mother is her own
person. She’s a bitch and I do believe every word you said, but in my opinion,
it is exactly what you deserve.” I narrowed my eyes at him and answered, “And
if you ever fucking touch me again, I will call the police. We’re two grown men
and out of the two of us, I’m not the one who really should know better.”

At this, I turned my back on the man. He
seemed broken enough and if he did touch me again, I promised myself that a
police report was not the only thing that was going to fuck up this guy’s
life…even more than it was already.

I just walked away, until I heard Ashley’s
father call to me, “Tyler?” in a small and careful voice.