Page 16 of The Stepbrother 2: Noah

I saw red. My fists clenched, nails biting into my palms as I lunged forward. Just as my fist was about to connect with her face, I felt a strong grip wrap around my waist, yanking me back. Noah’s arms locked around me, holding me inches from her.

Two Black girls, who looked like sisters with long braids and petite figures, stepped up in my defense. They had pretty faces, and were a shade or two darker than me. One looked my age, and the other was about fourteen or fifteen.

"Get your fucking hands off her," the older girl barked to Noah. Stepping in between us, forcing him to let me go. She then turned to me and said, "Calm down, lil sis. That bitch, like everybody else here, knows who your momma and daddy are. She is trying to get a payday. You hit her and she’ll sue you.”

She turned to the man that was with the woman and said, "Luther, you know my daddy. If I beat this bitch's ass for playing in this girl's face, you know there won't be any lawsuit money, and she might come up missing."

I didn’t know a Black man could turn white. He left with the woman without saying a word. I wanted to know who these girls were. As if reading my mind, the older girl introduced herself. "My name is Tempest. This is my lil cousin, Ava. Your daddy knows my daddy, Demarco."

I nodded, knowing exactly who she was talking about. Last year, Demarco tried to hire my momma to perform a burlesque-type show at his club. Some Vegas-type shit, for a lot of money, butDaddy had nearly blown a fuse. He decided to confront the man, and it was the first time I ever saw Daddy back down. He didn’t even talk about him anymore.

A man stepped through the crowd. He was light-skinned, mixed race, about six feet two inches tall, two hundred pounds, with an athletic build, and low waves in his hair. He was gorgeous, like really fucking gorgeous.

He gave me a once-over before dismissing me, turning his head to look down at Tempest. "What are you into now?"

"Somebody was fucking with my friend, so I helped." She wrapped her arm around me.

He frowned. "Tempest, you don't know her."

Their dynamic was giving off serious grumpy-and-sunshine boyfriend-girlfriend vibes. I liked that for Tempest, even though I didn’t know her well.

Tempest rolled her eyes. "This is Creed, Scarlett Rose's daughter. In my mind, she's been my friend since I was five and she was six."

I laughed, despite all that had happened.

"Do you want a ride, Creed? AJ will take you wherever you want to go, and nobody will fuck with you."

The gorgeous one, AJ, nodded.

I didn’t hesitate to say yes. Something told me that meeting Tempest, AJ, and Ava was going to change my life for the better.

Maine stepped up. "You're just leaving? With strangers?"

I narrowed my eyes on her. "Yes. You're looking mighty unfamiliar right now. I don’t feel like being around you with your ‘she didn’t mean it that way’ ass."

Noah went to step forward, but I shook my head slightly, stopping him. I wasn't in the mood to be around them.

Noah ignored me. Reaching out, gripping my arm. "Creed, you can’t just walk off with them." His voice was tight. "You’re not thinking straight."

I yanked my arm away, my patience already worn thin, but before I could say a word, AJ stepped forward, planting himself between me and Noah. He didn’t say anything at first, just fixed Noah with a cold, unblinking stare. AJ was calm, too calm—the kind of calm that was scary.

Noah didn’t seem affected, he scoffed, glancing at AJ like he was something stuck to the bottom of his shoe. "Move. This is a family thing."

AJ’s jaw tightened, and his voice went dangerously low. "Seems she doesn’t feel like being around ‘family’ right now. Let her go, or we’re gonna have a problem."

The look that flashed in Noah’s eyes, like he wanted all the problems, had me stepping forward. “I’m good, Noah,” I said, my voice firm. “Just...let it go. I’ll call you tonight.” I turned and left Noah, Ashley, and Maine standing in the middle of the shoe store, gawking after me. my new friends on my heels.

Just as we stepped out of the mall, my cell rang. It was one of the numbers associated with my godfather. I never ignored his calls. As I stood at the valet with Tempest, I answered.

"Hello?"

The news I got hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn’t even realize my knees had given out until AJ caught me before I hit the ground.

five years later

Creed-

I took a deep breath as I pulled into my parents' house. A mixture of nerves and anticipation churned in my stomach. It had been five years since I’d been in the presence of all my family at once. My momma and daddy visited me, but I hadn’t seen or really talked to my siblings. Things got awkward after the incident at the mall. Jason tried to explain to me how Maine "didn’t know any better," I felt like he was taking her side, so I distanced myself from both.

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