Stone In Love (Jersey Series #1)

by Sienna Skye

  She picked up these ridiculous turkey oven mitts. The thumb part was the turkey’s head and the rest of the hand were the feathers. She opened the oven door and bent over to peer inside. Holy shit, that ass! I suddenly wanted nothing more than to drop to my knees and bury my face in her. What the hell was wrong with me? I chugged down some of the water and put the glass on the counter before I crushed it in my damn hand.

  As I struggled to stop the onslaught of what was surely inappropriate thoughts to have about one’s stepsister, realization hit me. Like a two by four to the fucking forehead. I knew what was different. Inexplicably, I just knew. Jules was not a virgin anymore. The thought upset me. No, it pissed me the hell off. Like I had any business judging someone else on their sex life. Fuck, I didn’t want to think about Jules having a sex life.

  Suddenly, I became the goddamn condom police. I stood leaning back against the counter, my arms folded across my chest. “I sure as hell hope you are being safe,” I bit out.

  Still bent over at the waist, she turned the top half of her body to look over her shoulder at me. Her face was a mask of confusion. Her brow furrowed, she slowly stood up and lifted her hands to show me the oversized oven mitts she was wearing, the turkeys looking at me accusingly with their beady eyes.

  “That’s not what I am talking about and you know it.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  She didn’t. I knew she didn’t.

  “Yes…you do.” I quirked an eyebrow and my words were sharp.

  I watched as she tried to figure out what I was talking about. She just looked at me with that same confused expression. I raised my eyebrows and pointed my chin in the direction of her…you know. At first she drew back, looking at me like I was crazy. I tossed her a challenging look. I knew the exact moment it hit her. Oh boy, was she pissed!

  “You know what? I don’t think it’s any of your damn business!”

  “Oh yes it is!” I really needed to come up with a plausible reason that would be true.

  She didn’t counter with an argument or question the validity of my statement like I thought she would. Instead she took the roasting pan with the turkey out of the oven and slammed it down on the stove. Hard.

  “Dinner is ready.” She took the other pans out of the oven and pushed the oven mitts into my chest. She turned on the heels of those sexy ass boots and stormed out of the room.

  Dinner was bound to be a barrel of laughs.

  ✽✽✽

  All in all, dinner wasn’t so bad. Sure, there was a bit of an awkward tension and Jules kept sneaking glances over at me, at times her expression unreadable. At times, downright scary.

  Hunter and Jules kept up conversation. My father and Victoria were their usual oh so pleasant selves. And me? I sat there tossing a hundred different thoughts around in my mind. I watched as her soft lips wrapped around her fork and my stupid ass caveman brain imagined those lips around my cock, those big blue eyes staring up at me, her hair wrapped around my hand. I couldn’t shake the thought before I felt myself harden. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and was trying to think of something else, anything else, when she suddenly laughed at something Hunter said. The sound was rich and sultry and as she laughed she tossed her head back ever so slightly. Fuck. That was sexy as hell. Visions of her head tossed and her back arched while she screamed my name danced through my head. Shit. I was a sick, sick man.

  It wasn’t like I didn’t always know she was beautiful. Sure, when our folks had first married, she still had to grow into herself a bit. But by the following year she had transformed into this beauty. Hunter and I were both very cognizant of that fact. Sure she was smart, but she had also been a tad naïve and we knew her beauty would attract attention. We made it known that she was our sister and we were watching out for her. For the most part it worked to keep the idiots at bay. Only a fool would want to mess with the sister of the Stone brothers. And the fool who did, learned his lesson the hard way.

  I thought about how I stayed with her that night, how I knew I didn’t want it to be anyone else but me who held her. I recalled how I combed out her hair and wondered if Hunter would have done the same. Hunter loved her, was protective of her, but I didn’t think he would have done something as intimate as that. And sleeping on her bed all curled up with her, even if I was on top of the covers. No, Hunter would have slept on the floor, just like he did. It was like all these puzzle pieces that I didn’t know were missing started to fall into place and it hit me. Well fuck a duck.

  My thoughts were interrupted when my father announced they were leaving. He stood, wiping his mouth and placing his napkin on the table.

  “We are heading to Brandon Carter’s for dessert.” Carter was a prominent judge. Of course, my father would be going to kiss his ass.

  And just like that, my father and Victoria left the dining room and headed out for the rest of the night. No “thanks for making us dinner” No “enjoy the rest of your evening”. Just gone.

  “Dinner was fantastic, Julia. I’m stuffed.”

  “Too stuffed for dessert?”

  “Uh-uh. Never too stuffed for your pies. Morgan and I can clear the table while you get them.”

  “Deal. I made pumpkin, apple, peach, and pecan.”

  Pecan? Pumpkin was Hunter’s favorite, apple was mine, and peach was Jules’s. We never had pecan before.

  “Pecan is new.”

  She didn’t answer, and I noticed she looked really uncomfortable. The timing unbelievably perfect, the doorbell rang at that exact moment. Her eyes shot to the direction of the front door and then back at me. Well, well, well. I would bet my last dollar that the devirginizer was ringing the doorbell. Mr. Pecan Pie himself. She started to turn to go to the door and I put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. “I’ll get the door.”

  I walked to the foyer, opened the front door, and there he stood holding a bouquet of flowers.

  “Sorry we don’t need any.” I started to close the door, but he put his hand on it to stop me.

  “No, umm, I’m here to see Julia? You must be Hunter or Morgan. I’m Ethan. Nice to meet you.” Still standing in the doorway, he held out his hand. I shook it. I might have made my grip a bit harder than was necessary.

  “Morgan. Come in.”

  He followed me into the kitchen and my heart sank as I watched her eyes light up.

  “Ethan!” She started to run over to him, but before she could reach him, I picked up the pecan pie off the counter and thrust it into his hands.

  “Here, I think this is yours.”

  Jules shot daggers at me before she turned puppy dog eyes back on him. She took the pie from his hands. “Here, I’ll take that. But, I did make it special for you.”

  “Awww thank you. Pecan is my favorite. And these are for you.”

  “Thank you, Ethan. They are beautiful.”

  “Not as beautiful as you.” She blushed and he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

  Good gravy she actually giggled.

  “Let’s go to the dining room for dessert. I want you to meet Hunter.”

  She grabbed the pumpkin pie in her other hand and he grabbed the peach. My poor apple pie sat all by itself. Just like I stood all by my fucking self in the kitchen. I picked it up and grabbed a large, a really large, knife out of the drawer.

  When I walked into the dining room, Hunter was in the middle of a conversation with what’s his face. Traitor. Jules was all goo goo eyes watching him, hanging on every word like he was a fucking genius or something.

  I placed my pie on the table and pointed my very large knife at him. “So tell me, Ernie, where did you meet our Jules?”

  “Ethan.” Jules said the name like a warning.

  “Anyway,” I said swirling my large knife in the air. “Where did you meet?”

  “We go to school together. We have a couple of classes together and I noticed her right away, but was afraid to ask her out. Then we were both at the same meet and greet party and well we just hit it off.”
/>
  “Meet and greet? How long has this been going on?”

  “We’ve been dating since September.”

  September? No wonder she was never around when I came home. She was hanging out with this guy. And doing things with him I just did not want to think about.

  My mind was racing with thoughts. For whatever fucking reason, it went to picturing this guy crawling all over Jules and I wanted to rip his head off. I don’t know how long I had been tuned out of the conversation, but something suddenly caught my attention.

  “…Actually, Julia and I spent a weekend right around Halloween up in Salem. It was a lot of fun. You should really go sometime.”

  They went away for a weekend together? I looked over at Hunter, waiting for him to get pissed over this. But he didn’t. He just kept chatting with them about some of the stuff they saw up there. I looked at him incredulously. He noticed me looking at him.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Oh, no reason, Hunter. No reason whatsoever. You just keep chatting here with Eli about the great time he and Jules had together. When. They. Spent. A. Weekend. Together.”

  Jules slammed her fork down so hard on the table that I jumped. “ETHAN!”

  And then he did the unspeakable. He went to take a piece of the apple pie. My goddamn apple pie. That she made for me. There was only so much a man could take and that was the final straw. I stood up, grabbed my damn pie and my fork, and left to go to my room.

  I sat on my bed shoveling forkfuls of the apple goodness into my mouth. He may have gotten his damn hands on Jules, but I’d be damned if he was getting my pie. Then it hit me. I left them down there alone. Well, Hunter was there, but obviously he was not to be trusted. I put the pie on my desk and went to go back downstairs. But, when I got in the hallway, I saw Hunter walking to his room.

  “Wait. What are you doing up here? Where are they?”

  “I’m going to my room. I’m beat. They went to the TV room to go watch movies. What the hell is your problem anyway? You are acting like an ass.”

  “Come on, man. Look at the way she looks at him. And they went away for a weekend together. They are obviously sleeping together. You don’t have an issue with this?”

  “Not really. I mean I don’t want to think too hard about it or anything, but he seems like a nice guy and I think he genuinely cares for her. I don’t get the feeling that he’s using her for sex. Look this was bound to happen eventually. I just want to make sure she is with someone who is good to her.”

  Well he was obviously going to be no help at all. I would just have to take matters into my own hands. One thing was for damn sure. There was no way he was having sex with her under this roof. I would make sure of that.

  I headed down to the TV room to find them all snuggled up together on the sofa. Jules did not look happy to see me at all. The interloper looked at me warily. Good.

  “Hey kids, what are we watching?” I plopped down in the chair and smiled brightly at them. Jules didn’t answer, she just glared at me. Boy, that girl was scary when she was pissed. I scanned the area for weapons she could use against me, but didn’t find any.

  “We’re watching Footloose. I’ve never seen it, but Julia told me I’ve been missing out on a classic.”

  “She’s right.” I slid back comfortably in my chair making it known that I was not going anywhere. “You are in for a treat, Edgar.”

  I’m not sure where she got it from, but suddenly I was hit in the side of the head with a projectile apple. I rubbed my temple. That sucker hurt. I didn’t say anything else for the rest of the movie. I didn’t have to. My presence kept anything more than movie watching from happening and that was good enough for me.

  After the movie, he left to go home. I offered to walk him to the door, but Jules threatened bodily harm if I did. She told me to stay where I was. Of course I didn’t listen. I watched from the shadows as she stood at the front door saying goodnight. Yeah, I kind of felt like a creeper, but desperate times and all. He leaned down to kiss her, but this wasn’t a quick peck on the lips. This was a full out passionate kiss between lovers. His hand was tangled in her hair and she had her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. I watched in shock as she pressed her body up against his. His other hand was on her breast while his thumb skimmed over her nipple, then his hand made a slow purposeful journey down her side until it landed on her ass. He pressed her closer to him and I could hear her moan. It was torture to watch and it only confirmed my thoughts. This guy had been where I wanted to be. Which you know, was someplace I had absolutely no business being.

  I went upstairs to my room and waited for Jules to come and rip me a new one. Like clockwork, my bedroom door swung open and she stormed in, hot and angry.

  “What the ever loving fuck, Morgan? Don’t you think you took the big brother routine a little bit too far? You embarrassed the crap out of me.”

  I saw her fighting back tears, whether from hurt or anger, or both, I didn’t know. I wiped a hand over my face. How could I tell her that what I was feeling was anything but brotherly? How could I expect her to understand when I wasn’t even sure I understood myself? All I knew is that I couldn’t stand the way she was looking at me.

  “I’m sorry, Jules. Please don’t hate me.” Because I was pretty sure I saw contempt on her face.

  She closed her eyes and let out a breath. “Of course I don’t hate you, Morgan. I’m just hurt. I was really excited for you and Hunter to meet him. I wanted you to be happy for me.”

  What was I going to say? I wasn’t happy for her. And that made me an asshole. So once again, I skirted around what she said.

  “I don’t want you to be hurt.” That much was absolutely true. “Next time I will be on my best behavior.” I hoped I was telling the truth with that one.

  She glanced over to my desk. “Holy crap, you almost finished that entire pie!”

  “What can I say? You bake a damn good pie.”

  She laughed, shook her head, and rolled her eyes. She didn’t look angry anymore. Things seemed to be back to normal. You know, except for the fact that I was pretty sure I was falling for my stepsister and wasn’t sure what the hell I was going to do about it.

  On some level I had hoped my feelings for Jules were just some kind of lust driven infatuation, as fucked up as that was. But it was quickly becoming apparent to me that was not the case. I didn’t trust myself to be on my best behavior when they were together, and it hurt like crazy to watch them, so I made myself scarce during winter break whenever he was around. I had tried to get her out of my system by going out and having some good old casual sex, but before it ever got to that point, I lost interest. I had it bad. By the time spring break rolled around, they had broken up. Jules had called me late one night, crying. I was happy we weren’t face to face, because while hearing her cry her eyes out broke my heart, I don’t think she would have missed the joy on my face.

  Chapter Eleven

  Julia

  The last of my final exams of my freshman year of college were finally over. All three of us were now done with school for the year, though on slightly different schedules. Hunter had finished his exams first and while he would have normally been done with his degree, he had opted for a five year accelerated MBA program, so he had one more year left. Morgan had finished his exams next and I was just getting home from my last.

  I walked into the living room, a four pack of wine coolers in tow. It helped having older brothers who were legal. Hunter was in the living room, sprawled out on the couch, obviously nursing a hangover. Morgan was on the chair, drunk as hell, singing and chattering on. I’m not sure who he was talking to and I am not sure he knew either. I plopped down on the floor by the couch and opened my first wine cooler. The three of us looked like some kind of before, during, and after intoxication meme.

  I downed the first wine cooler pretty quickly. To say I was a lightweight when it came to alcohol would be putting it mildly. I opened the second and started gulp
ing that one down. That’s the problem with liking the sweet drinks. They go down easily and hit you suddenly.

  Morgan was talking nonsense and laughing at his own jokes that made no sense at all to me and Hunter. By the time I was almost done with my third wine cooler, Hunter had had enough of Morgan’s noise.

  “Would you shut the fuck up already? My head is killing me, and you are making it worse.”

  “Seriously, Hunter. If you were stuck in the desert, would you rather ride out on a kangaroo or a llama? I mean they both have their upsides.”

  “You do realize llamas do not live in the desert, don’t you?” I asked him.

  “My llamas do. They totally do.”

  “How the fuck are you going to ride a kangaroo, asshole?” Hunter’s patience was wearing thin.

  “It’s doable. It’s totally doable.”

  “Morgan, this is such a stupid ass question,” I said as I finished off the third bottle. Hmmm, I wasn’t feeling drunk at all.

  “It’s not a stupid question. It’s totally not.”

  “Dude, how many times are you going to say ‘totally’? I am going to come over there and shove that pillow down your throat.”

  “Tell me something, guys. Do you think all dogs go to heaven? You know, like that movie? I mean they should. They totally should. Dogs are like always happy to see you when you come home. They don’t judge. They just wag their tails and bring you a ball to throw. They are just happy to have their stomachs rubbed. They might just be on to something. I think I would like to roll on my back and have someone rub my stomach. And have you ever seen a bunch of puppies? Puppies are just so fucking happy. We should start a puppy farm! Just always keep them as puppies.”

  I shook my head at him. “Morgan, you can’t just keep them as puppies. They won’t stay that way.”

  “I could figure out a way. I totally could. A puppy farm would be a happy place. Oh and what about an alpaca farm? I saw alpacas on some late night infomercial. Do you think alpacas like to have their stomachs rubbed?”