Stepbrother Untouchable (7 page)

CHAPTER TEN

In the end, I have to go with the same black top I wore to
that crew party. It's really my only top suitable for a party, I think.
Besides, Nate's the only one who's seen me in it, and I doubt he remembers.

My mom excitedly waves goodbye as Nate and I walk out to
Jackson's green SUV. She is so thrilled that I might have a social life that
it's embarrassing. Jackson opens up the front passenger door for me and Nate
slides in back.

“We picking up Dana?” Jackson asks as we pull away.

“It's Natasha tonight. And she's meeting us there,” Nate
answers from the back seat. I guess I'm relieved, because I don't think I could
look Dana in the eye after seeing her and Nate having sex by the pool.

“Oh, fuck, Natasha, of course,” Jackson says, laughing and
hitting the steering wheel. I frown a little. I guess it's par for the course
for my stepbrother.

Jackson picks up most of the slack in the conversation, and
the radio does the rest. I'm too nervous and stuck in my head, thinking of what
I should say, while Nate mumbles one word responses from the back.

I'm relieved when we find a parking space on the street near
the party. As we walk toward the riotous townhouse, I'm surprised the neighbors
haven't already called the cops. People are spilling out the front door and I
can hear the music halfway down the block. There's a pretty olive-skinned girl
standing on the curb who turns her head as Nate calls out, “Natasha!”

She smiles coyly as we walk up. Nate dips her in a jokingly
romantic manner and plants a kiss on her lips as she breaks out into giggles.

“Come on,” Jackson says, draping an arm around my shoulders
protectively and escorting me inside. He high-fives a few guys as we walk in,
and he guides me to a keg in the middle of the living room, which is strung
with little white Christmas lights. There's an impenetrable crowd around it but
somehow he manages to snag me a beer, and before I know it I'm taking my first
sip of the summer. With his hand on the small of my back, we walk into the next
room. The dining room table is being used for a beer pong game, and Jackson and
I take a seat on a couch nearby.

“You're gorgeous, you know that?” Jackson whispers in my
ear. I'm startled and almost spit out my beer.

“No…” I look down, blushing, “I mean, that's sweet of you to
say.”

“I'd love to see you again after tonight. Maybe we could get
dinner next weekend,” he offers.

“Oh, sure,” I reply, feeling flattered. I mean, it does feel
a little…rushed, or something, but I've heard so many stories about guys just
wanting to hook up, that it's refreshing to be asked out on an old-fashioned
date. I take a few more sips of my beer as I look around, feeling more
comfortable now that I know Jackson is really into me.

“Hey, I'm going to get another beer,” I tell Jackson, as I
drain mine. He jumps up.

“Don't worry about it. I'll grab 'em,” he says, walking
confidently into the other room. I watch the ping pong ball as it's thrown back
and forth across the table, and Jackson is soon back with the beers. He
launches into a story about this crazy party he went to back at school, but out
of the corner of my eye I notice a couple walking up the stairs at the rear of
the room, their hands all over each other, and feel a stab of envy in my chest.

I am beyond tired of being a virgin. It's certainly not on
purpose that I'm twenty-one and still haven't had sex yet. I guess I just
assumed it would happen somehow, without my ever putting any thought into it,
and I've never built it up like it's going to be some crazy special thing,
either.

I look at Jackson out of the corner of my eye as I make
quick work of my second beer. Maybe Nate was right—maybe I am too serious and
distant. Maybe it would be better if I just got it out of the way. And I bet
Jackson would be good at it. Really, really good at it. Plus, he's a decent
guy.

“…Don't you think?” Jackson asks me, leaning in.

“Yes, right,” I reply, even though I spaced out and have no
idea what he was talking about. My hair falls in front of my face as I take
another sip of beer, and Jackson reaches up and tucks it behind my ear. We make
eye contact and he leans forward slowly, brushing a soft kiss across my neck.

“Want to get out of here?” he murmurs into my ear, sending a
little shiver down my spine. “My place is pretty close by, and we'll actually
be able to hear ourselves think.”

“Um, yeah, that sounds good,” I reply, a little nervously.
Jackson stands and offers me his hand. I place mine in his and he leads me out
toward the front. We pass Nate on the way, with his arms wrapped around Natasha
and his hands tucked into her back pockets.

“Hey man, we're taking off. You think you can find another
ride?” Jackson asks.

“What do you mean? You're both leaving?” Nate asks,
frowning.

“Yup, we're going back to my place, dude,” Jackson replies.
“You cool for a ride?”

“Yeah, come here for a second,” Nate says, his eyes flicking
back and forth between us. He takes Jackson's arm and pulls him toward a screen
door in the back. “Not you,” he says to me, as I begin to follow.

I bristle at his tone. They disappear out back and I look
after them, my mouth open in shock and annoyance. I can't believe the way Nate
talks to me sometimes. So dismissively. I exchange a polite smile with Natasha,
who is now looking around the party aimlessly, clearly bored without Nate.

Screw Nate
. I’ll do whatever the hell I please, and I
want to know what he's saying.

I brush past Natasha, push open the screen door and walk
into the small, fenced-in backyard. There are fewer people out here, but
there's still a crowd. I can just see Nate and Jackson talking in a back
corner. I weave my way through the people, keeping my head down so they don't
notice me. I take out my phone so I look like I'm doing something other than
eavesdropping, and sidle into the group nearest to them. I can just overhear
what they're saying.

“Why, do
you
want her Nate?” Jackson asks angrily. My
eyes widen.

“Fuck no, she's my stepsister. It's just weird, that's all.
You two. She's not your type.” I feel a stab of pain at the finality of Nate's
words.

“She's gorgeous,” I hear Jackson reply.

“You think she's gorgeous?” Nate says, beginning to laugh.
“Seriously? Dude, come on. Besides, she's a fucking buzz kill.”

I don't want to hear any more. I can already feel angry
tears building up behind my eyes. I'm so stupid. Why do I keep giving Nate the
benefit of the doubt, when he is so clearly such an asshole?

I walk quickly back inside, through the living room, and out
to the street. I turn toward the left, where I can see a busier street, and
hustle toward it. I know it's going to be a pricey cab ride back to the house,
but I feel like I'm about to explode into a puddle of tears.

And I don't want to give Nate the satisfaction of seeing me
cry.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I breathe in as deeply as possible and hold it, counting to ten
before exhaling as slowly as I can, trying to rid myself of the hurt feeling
that followed me home from the party. It’s a trick I learned to control my
anxiety, and to say that I’m anxious right now would be an understatement.

I can't remember the last time I heard someone talk about me
like that, though I suppose it's partially my fault for eavesdropping. I
finally start to feel calm enough to go to sleep, and reach to turn off my
bedside lamp.

A rush of footsteps up the stairs makes me pause. I sit up a
bit as they continue down the hallway toward my bedroom. A second later, my
bedroom door bursts open and Nate walks in, his face dark with anger.

“You're in bed? You've gotta be fucking kidding me. That was
really selfish of you to run off without telling anyone, you know that?” he
spits at me, then turns around and walks out.

I'm frozen in shock for a moment. What the hell was that?
What does he have to be mad at me for? I leap out from under my covers and
march out of my bedroom just in time to stop him from shutting his door. He
swings around as I charge into his room.

“
I'm
selfish? You are just…you are just…” I stumble
in my anger, trying to think of the right word.

“Yeah, you're selfish, Brynn! I looked around that party for
you for thirty minutes! I thought you might have been kidnapped! I almost
called the cops!”

“Wait…what?” I reply, completely thrown.

“Ever heard of a text message?” he asks, his voice laden
with sarcasm.

“Yes, I've heard of a text message!” Man, I wish I were
better at arguing. “Hey, wait a second, this isn't about me, this is about you!
You're the asshole! I heard what you were saying about me to Jackson, I'm not a
buzzkill, and maybe I'm not gorgeous, but I'm not some kind of joke, either!” I
fight back the tears welling in my eyes, more angry than I’ve ever been in my
life. There, that got him. He stands dumbfounded and I seize the opportunity to
walk out.

Just as I'm about to cross the threshold, he reaches around
me and closes the door in front of me. I stop short and turn around angrily,
almost ready to smack him. He's standing so close to me I'm practically pinned
against the door.

“Wait, what? How'd you hear that? You followed us outside?”

“Yes, I followed you,” I reply, stumbling a bit because I
know I was wrong in that regard. “I was mad because you were obviously trying
to stop me from leaving with Jackson, and I wanted to know why.” I take a deep
breath. “I guess I can't control what you think about me, and that's…whatever,
that's fine, but I don't know why you had to go sharing your opinion with
Jackson. I mean, am I really that unattractive to you?”

To my horror, my lower lip starts to tremble. I don't want
to cry right now but I can’t hold back the tears any longer.

“No…shit, that's not what…” Nate says, his eyes widen as a
tear slips down my cheek. I furiously brush it away and Nate backs up, running
his hands through his wavy hair. “It's not that I don't want Jackson to date
you, it's that I don’t want you to date Jackson.”

“What? That doesn't make any sense,” I reply, trying to
staunch the flow of tears as I tug at my hair.

“Jackson's track record with women is pretty bad. They're
just conquests to him.”

I cross my arms and frown at him. “That sounds pretty
hypocritical. I mean, the first time we met, you asked me to have a threesome
with you and you didn't even know my name.”

A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “OK, that's fair.
For the record, you just looked so shocked, and innocent—I couldn’t resist.
You're right, it's not like I have a great track record either. I guess the
difference, in my mind, is that I'm upfront about it. I've never promised a
woman a relationship. The girls I sleep with, they know that it's not going
anywhere because I tell them that. Jackson pulls them in by promising them a
future with him, and then as soon as he sleeps with them, he acts like they
don't exist.”

“But you're friends with him…” I point out.

“Well, he's a good friend. Loyal, funny…”

“But he sounds like a bad person. I just… I don't know why
you'd want to be friends with a person like that. Sorry, maybe I'm just…” I
shake my head, trying to process this new version of events. “He did…what you
just said about him does match up with some things he was saying to me. God, I
can't believe I fell for it.”

“He wasn't always like that,” Nate says quietly, gesturing
vaguely to a framed photo sitting on his desk. I glance at it, then walk over
to get a closer look.

“Oh my god, is that you?” I ask, picking it up. It's a class
photo from elementary school, three rows of smiling kids with their teacher
standing next to them. Nate is easy to spot. “You look so serious, like you're
on the way to the office or something.”

Nate peers over my shoulder at it, his face an exact
reflection of his younger self. “That was the year my mom left,” he says
quietly.

“Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. Do you ever see her?”

“No. She made her choice.” He pauses for a moment. “That
one's Jackson,” he says, pointing out a grinning towheaded boy. I snort. He had
a flirtatious smile even back then. “I'm sorry you heard me say those things.
Jackson's the kind of guy who, if you tell him something's off limits, that
makes him want it even more. He's never been denied anything. So I thought it
would be better to convince him that he didn't want you in the first place.”

I fiddle with the edge of the frame and then turn to face
him. He’s standing closer than I thought he was. “So…you don't think those
things about me?” I whisper, feeling suddenly vulnerable.

“No, the exact opposite, really,” he replies, equally
softly. “Brynn you are gorgeous.”

There's a charged moment between us. I can't rip my gaze
away from his eyes. I realize he's moving forward ever so slowly, and my lips
automatically part, my body taking over from my brain. Every inch of my skin
tingles, and I suddenly feel brave—a completely different reaction than
anything I’ve ever felt being this close to Jackson.

Just before his mouth touches mine, I close my eyes. As our
lips come together, an exquisite feeling rushes through me, unlike anything
I've ever felt before. His lips graze mine, then return a bit more firmly,
guiding me into a kiss. I've been kissed by a handful of guys over the years,
but this kiss is something else. Nate is something else.

His hands wrap around my waist and slide to the small of my back
as his lips crush against mine. All my thoughts evaporate, all my worries and
insecurities—maybe it's that I can tell he knows exactly what he's doing, and
so I can let myself go, trust myself in his hands. He nudges me slightly with
his nose and his lower lip brushes against mine. I almost gasp as I feel his
tongue move smoothly into my mouth. Electricity flies straight from my mouth to
the base of my hips.

I press my tongue against his as my hands move of their own
accord up to his chest. I lay my palms against his pecs and feel his racing
heartbeat under his rapidly rising and falling chest. It's my first hint that
there's something else hiding under his completely confident exterior.

His tongue moves deeper into my mouth, and his hands pull me
close against his body. I wrap my arms around his neck and run my fingers
through the hair falling onto the collar of his polo. I can feel his erection
pushing against my stomach as he slides one hand over my ass. I want nothing
more than to rip my clothes off, jump on his bed, and be ravaged by him…to feel
his mouth all over my body…inside me…

Suddenly he pulls away. I almost fall forward in surprise as
my eyes blink open.

“I shouldn't have done that,” he mutters.

“Why?” I whisper, falling quickly from my cloud.

“It's wrong…you're my stepsister. Maybe it's best if we just
keep our distance from each other.”

“Yeah, you’re right…” I reply, feeling like he's just
slapped me in the face. I walk quickly to the door. I pause before I open it,
wishing I could put into words what I'm feeling, but I can't. I open the door
and close it softly behind me before rushing to my room.

As I curl up under the covers, I try to wrap my mind around
all the twists this night has taken. I can't believe Nate and I just kissed. I
mean, I've been dreaming about that moment since I first laid eyes on him
freshman year. I've found that most things in life don't live up to how I've
built them up in my head, but that kiss far surpassed any fantasy. I can feel
my body reacting at just the thought of his lips touching mine again.

But is he right? Was it wrong of us to do that? Light is
creeping around the sides of my shades by the time I manage to fall asleep, and
I still haven't managed to find an answer.