Crash: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (10 page)

Luke

Adrenaline was surging through my body as I was dragged along like a child, and the punk was taunting me. I’d seen nothing but bloody fucking red when I saw his filthy arm wrapped around her shoulders. Who the fuck was this loser, anyway? He certainly wasn’t worthy of Katherine, and yet he had his arm around her, and I didn’t.

“Hey, loser, I’m gonna fuck your sister,” Chad sneered. “Whatcha gonna do do about it?”

I lunged at him, managing to grab the hem of his jacket, which I held onto for dear life as the professors struggled to pull us apart. Chad laughed at me and tugged his jacket away, and I looked up to see four security guards headed our way.

An hour later, I found myself fuming with embarrassment as I sat in a row of chairs outside the security office waiting to be picked up by my father. Chad had wanted to press charges for assault, but security talked him out of it after my father said he’d take responsibility for me.

When my father showed up, his face was red with anger. I stood up and followed him silently to the car.

“Explain,” he said. I could tell he was trying very hard to keep his voice calm.

“I can’t,” I told him.

“You can, and you will,” he said through gritted teeth. “Explain. Now!”

Technically, I was over the age of eighteen, and I didn’t have to do a damned thing he said. But I also knew which side my bread was buttered on, and pissing off my father would have meant losing my car, having to get a full-time job that would have taken time away from my education, and a whole laundry list of other problems I wasn’t quite ready to deal with.

I already had a part-time job, but working as a mechanic at a bike shop two days a week wasn’t going to put me through college, if I decided to go for a degree, and it certainly wouldn’t pay for an apartment. No, I had to behave if I wanted his help.

“Do you remember the punk that was hugging all over Katherine at the theater the other day?” I asked him.

“Vaguely.”

“Well, he was hanging all over her again at school, and I lost it,” I admitted.

“I don’t understand.”

“It was just the way he was all over her like he owned her or something,” I told him. “It pissed me off. It was like he was intending to violate her or something. I don’t like him.”

“So you were looking out for your stepsister.”

“Basically,” I said. Close enough. “Besides, after I punched him in his punk-ass mouth, he told me he was going to fuck her.”

“I see. Well, the little shit deserved what he got, then.”

“I’m glad we’re in agreement, Dad.”

“Just don’t let it happen again,” he implored. “If you get kicked out of school, what are you going to do with your life?”

“I’ll probably end up fixing bikes whether I go to college or not,” I pointed out.

“I just don’t want to see you making the same mistakes I did, son,” Dad said. “Learn from my mistakes.”

“Trust me, I have,” I told him.

Of course, I left out the part about how I’d never marry a cheating user like Mom. That was his biggest mistake.

Katherine seemed like the opposite of my mother in every way. Where my Mom was all about materialistic shit, Katherine seemed like money didn’t matter to her. Where my Mom really didn’t care much about the people in her life, Katherine seemed like she cared deeply.

I made up my mind right there that Katherine was going to be mine at all costs. Fuck what our parents thought. They weren’t married yet. In fact, it was still over two weeks until their wedding. That gave me two weeks to make her fall in love with me. Two weeks to make her mine.

I drove straight back to campus to wait for her, and I was straddling my motorcycle when she exited the building, chatting with two other chicks. I pulled off my helmet, and she froze.

“Luke?”

“Get on,” I told her.

She cast glances to her two friends, who giggled and encouraged her to do it. I could feel the reluctance as she threw her leg over my bike, but I handed her a helmet and she put it on and slid her arms around my waist.

I slid my own helmet back on and pulled the bike onto the road, driving straight to the little Mexican restaurant where we’d had our first “date”, if you could call it that. I certainly did.

When I turned off the bike’s engine, she removed her helmet and asked, “What are we doing here?”

“I’m buying you dinner,” I told her.

“It’s only three-thirty,” she said. “I just ate lunch a couple of hours ago.”

“Shut up and live a little,” I told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the restaurant.

I could feel the tension in her hand as I dragged her into the building. Maybe she didn’t want her friends to see her hand-in-hand with her soon-to-be-stepbrother, but I no longer gave a fuck. I wasn’t going to waste any more of my life worrying about what other people thought. The only person whose opinion I cared about was standing right beside me, her eyes flitting around nervously as thought she might be spotted at any moment.

“Katherine!”

The restaurant’s owner greeted us and took us to the same booth we’d sat in the day we met—before the crash changed everything. The one she’d crawled across after I pissed her off about her sundress. The one I’d sat in and watched her cute little ass sashaying toward the restrooms. My cock had twitched for her then, and it was throbbing for her now.

I nudged her into the booth and slid beside her.

“Mariana will be right with you,” the owner said. “So nice to see you, as always, Miss Katherine!”

Katherine had slid down in her seat and was nibbling at her fingernails. She was definitely anxious, and definitely trying her best to disappear behind me.

“Good afternoon, I’m Mariana, and… oh, hey!” the waitress said. “You’re Katherine’s stepbrother, right? Luke?”

“That’s me,” I answered. “Only I’m not her stepbrother, yet.”

“Oh, right,” the waitress said. “I was meaning to get your phone number before…”

Katherine shot up and made her presence known immediately, the fire in her eyes flashing so brightly I’m surprised the waitress’ hair didn’t ignite.

“Mari,” Katherine said coldly. “How have you been?”

“I... um… fine,” the waitress stammered. “I’ve been good. Yourself?”

“I was better before spending eight months in the hospital in a coma,” she glowered darkly. “My mother doesn’t recall seeing you there.”

“I’ve been… really busy with work,” the waitress said. “I meant to stop by. I really did. I just…”

“I’ll have my usual,” Katherine interrupted her.

“One order of beef empanadas and a Coke,” Mariana said, scribbling on her pad. “And for you?”

“Carnitas,” I told her. “And a Coke.”

“Coming right up,” Mariana said. I noticed her bubbly demeanor had shifted considerably.

“Everything okay between you two?” I asked Katherine.

“No,” she glowered. “I’ve been upset with her since the day you and I met, and now… now I just don’t like her very much.”

“May I ask why?”

“None of your business,” Katherine shrugged.

Could The Duchess be jealous? Her temper had flared immediately when Mariana had mentioned asking for my number. I had to suppress a grin of hope.

“You’re beautiful when you’re angry,” I told her.

Her cheeks flushed pink, and she turned her head to study the fountain in the courtyard. I touched my finger to her chin and turned her head back toward me.

“You’re always beautiful,” I told her, capturing her gaze with my own.

“Luke, I…”

I moved my finger from her chin to her lips to silence her.

“You don’t get to argue with me tonight,” I told her. “Tomorrow, fine. But tonight, you’re going to do what I say.”

Her body twitched as a shiver captured it, and I noticed tiny goose bumps scattering across her delicate flesh. She sucked her lower lip into her mouth and nibbled at it, but she didn’t argue.

After we ate, I drove to this little beach I knew of that wasn’t as crowded as a lot of the others in the area. It was kind of rocky, and there were a lot of undercurrents there with signs warning of the dangers. It kept a lot of people away, but I wasn’t taking her there to swim.

I parked the bike and grabbed her hand.

“Remember, you do what I say tonight, got it?”

She nodded meekly and peered up at me through her eyelashes. God she was adorable when she was acting all shy and innocent. I was fighting one hell of an erection already.

I pulled her along the beach until we reached my favorite spot. The rocks formed a small cove that was tricky to get to because you had to climb over the rocks to reach it, but once there, it was quiet and private. I held her hand tightly and helped her over the rough rocks until we were hidden from the world.

“What are we doing here, Luke?” she asked.

I stepped toward her, and she backed away until she bumped against the wall of rock behind her. I caged her between my arms, one hand on either side of her head so she couldn’t escape.

“Tell me you haven’t been thinking the same thing I’ve been thinking,” I demanded.

“Wh-what?”

“Tell me you haven’t been thinking of this,” I said.

My lips crashed against hers. I’d meant to kiss her softly, tenderly, as first kisses are meant to be, but I was so overwhelmed with passion that I must have bruised her lips with the intensity. I heard a little squeak of surprise from her, but she didn’t push me away, so I slid my tongue across her top lip, and she parted her lips for me.

God her tongue was soft and warm, and I slowly circled it with my own. My hands moved from the rocks to capture her face, drawing her more deeply into the kiss. Her own hands raised to my chest, and then upward to circle around my neck. She actually pressed her little body against mine, and my hardness throbbed against her.

I pulled away from the kiss, but I kept her face in my hands. Her breath hitched, and she stared at me, wide-eyed and blushing.

“I brought you here because I know you’re worried about people seeing us,” I told her. “But we have two weeks until our parents are married, and we’re going to make the most of it. I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks, Katherine. I’ve wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on you, and I mean to have you.”