Page 9 of The Stepbrother 2: Noah

What the hell had I done?

You gave her exactly what she’d been begging for, that little voice in the back of my mind whispered, twisted and dark. And that was a fact. Suddenly, I felt disturbingly justified to do whatever I did next.

Noah-

The music blared, drowning out any sound of me entering the kitchen. It smelled like blueberry muffins and bacon. Creed was absorbed in the moment, oblivious to my presence. I watched her, waiting for the guilt to hit me for how I’d taken her the night before, but it didn’t come. In my mind, my actions had been acceptable. She had set the precedent between us. She used me, and I used her. At least for the next week.

Creed's eyes were closed, lost in the rhythm, swaying to the beat. She was wearing one of her barely-there outfits again, always dressed in so little. A pair of pink shorts hugged her ass and hips, and a crop top covered her slightly rounded belly. Her curves were mesmerizing. Her bushy, untamed hair hung down her back, and it had me fantasizing about wrapping it around my fist. She sang along to Kirby's "Velvet," belting the sultry lyrics with a voice that rivaled her mother’s.

"He said, 'That for me? All that, and it's free?'" She rocked her hips in circles, completely lost in the moment.

"They don't make 'em like this.

You can't find this on the gram,

'Cause I keep mine private."

This was a side of her I hadn't seen before, and I liked it. The lyrics she sang resonated with me because of her.

As she sang, I couldn’t help but join in, altering the lyrics slightly to reflect my own feelings. "I can’t help it, 'cause it’s high, high-priced velvet. Ooh, the type that she’s blessed with. Yeah, it’shigh, high-priced velvet." It was a fact—her insides had felt like velvet to me.

Startled by my presence, she turned with her hand on her chest, glaring at me.

I smirked in return. "I didn’t sneak up on you. You were singing about your velvet pussy too loudly to hear me." I walked fully into the luxury Airbnb kitchen and took a seat on the plush high-back stool at the granite island, where plates had already been set out. Creed had been doing all the cooking because, frankly, neither I nor Maine could.

"Don't sneak up on me like that." She snapped.

These were the first words she’d spoken to me since the club. Now the dynamics between us had shifted, and Creed was avoiding me. No more late-night visits or randomly sitting in my lap. The slight apprehension I saw in her eyes when she did look at me amused me now.

Right now, I could see the range of emotions playing across her face. She wanted me to leave the kitchen to make her comfortable, but I wouldn’t.

"Why don't you have a boyfriend, Creed?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. I could tell she was taken aback by the question.

"Because I don’t want one. Why does it matter to you?"

"You’ve been asking Maine about me, gathering information. Instead of doing that, I thought I'd get the answers straight from the source—out of curiosity."

Before she could respond, Maine walked in, looking too well-rested for someone I’d had to pick up from a house party because she got drunk and couldn’t drive, and didn’t want to leave her van at someone else’s house. I’d had to catch an Uber, then driveher back. It seemed she was trying to go to every party in Miami while we were here.

"The smell of your muffins woke me up, sissy." She kissed me on the forehead, then did the same to Creed, then took a spot next to me. "We won’t be doing anything today but sitting around the house watching movies, if that’s okay with you two." Maine advised.

Creed rolled her eyes at both of us before turning back to the stove.

Maine’s two friends, whose names I couldn’t remember, joined us, and they all started talking. My focus, however, remained on Creed. I wanted to mess with her the way she had been messing with me. I’d noticed her limping the day after the club, but I couldn’t ask her about it. After she set out all the food and took her spot at the table, I asked, "Hey, Creed, who had you walking funny after the club?"

Everyone stopped talking, and she glared at me. "None of your business."

I nodded, opening my mouth to say more. Maine's foot connected with my shin under the table. I turned to look at her, and she shook her head slightly. I chuckled internally.

After lunch, I intended to take a two-hour nap but woke up to find it was already dark outside. Vacation was kinder to me than I thought it would. I hadn’t realized how hard I’d been working until I wasn’t working anymore, and it was easier to sleep when you weren’t dealing with shady mother fuckers in dark warehouse and alleys.

After brushing my teeth and taking a quick shower, I left my room to find that two mattresses had been pulled off the beds and moved into the living room. They were pushed together infront of the TV. Maine was on the right, the blondes were in the middle, and one of Jason's frat brothers, Devon, sat next to Creed on one side. Devon was a linebacker for their football team, a big guy from Miami who wore gold grills and claimed Miami was a different state than the rest of Florida. Maine had had a crush on him for years, which was probably why she was paying more attention to him and Creed than to the movie. I took a seat next to Maine.

"You alright?" I asked, speaking low enough for only her to hear.

"I'm okay," she replied, her voice lower than usual.

"I thought you were going to tell him how you felt on graduation night?" I asked.

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