Page 55 of Jealous Stepbrother
If he asks, I won’t deny it. I won’t deny her.
But he doesn’t. Maybe he doesn’t want the words spoken aloud. Maybe he, like everyone else, needs a minute to absorb reality.
Truth is, I’ve been irrationally furious at him ever since that night he first introduced them, angry he met Annette first, angry he saw Scarlett first. Angry he pretended he could fold them neatly into our family dynamic and not expect me to come undone. Until after years of torture, I finally said fuck it. Took what I wanted.
So I give him that minute. Out of respect. Maybe out of a little spite. Out of love twisted sideways.
Then he looks at me again with dark eyes, his shoulders stiff, and what he says barks laughter right out of me. “Do you hate me that much, son?”
No, I don’t hate you.
Ilove herthat much.
The revelation isn’t even earth-shattering. It’s like I’ve known it deep in my bones since that first time I opened my front door and got hit with the phenomenon of the most beautiful girl in existence.
I love her.
I love the fuck out of Scarlett Rockwell.
Acceptance rolls through me like the headiest morphine, settling inside me with soul-deep calm.
But to my father, I say, “Not everything’s about you, Pops.”
He studies me, glass in hand, weighing his next move like he’s negotiating a merger. “It’s a summer thing,” he mutters finally. “It’ll blow over. I’m not going to worry Annette with it.”
I shrug, let my smirk do the work. “Guess we’ll see.”
His jaw ticks. He leans forward, eyes sharp.
But I cut him off before he speaks. “What are you really worried about, Dad? That your precious board will throw you out because of what your deviant son is up to? Or is it more what the country club crew will think?”
“Neither.” His voice is quiet, measured, but it lands like a hammer. “It’s what this will do to Annette. To Scarlett. If this is some…phase you’re exploring.”
Fury rips through me, hot and blinding, but I keep it in check. Barely. “I’m thirty-three fucking years old, Dad. I stopped having phases a very long time ago.”
He looks a little startled by my raw vehemence and he eats whatever response he’s contemplating.
Good. Because if I let it loose, I’d tell him exactly how far past “exploring” we are. That Scarlett’s already mine in every way that counts.
The front door opens and I hear laughter and the crinkle of shopping bags.
We both rise, head out to meet our women.
Annette and Scarlett enter the living room, breaking the tension but not dispersing it.
I move past Dad, catching Scarlett by the wrist. “Did you have a good time?” I ask, pulling her back against me, my arm curling around her shoulders like a brand.
Her soft gasp skates over my chest, but I don’t look at her as Annette answers for them both, her obvious joy in spending time with her daughter evident in her face.
And while his wife’s talking, I pin my father with a stare that says everything I won’t voice aloud.
One arm full of her. My gaze full of him.
She’s mine, old man. Yesterday. Today. Forever.
CHAPTER 15
KISS OF RUIN
