Stepbrother Romance Complete Series

by Ava Grace

  The disappointment and resignation I felt weren’t foreign concepts to me, but they still stung as much as if I was experiencing them for the first time. Why couldn’t he look at me with that same longing? I’d have given anything for him to use such an intimate smile on me.

  Of course, it wasn’t only Lucy and me who lusted after Josh. Most of the girls in our class either wanted him or bragged about the fact that they’d already had him. I hated hearing that, even though I was hardly as pure as driven snow myself. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a man-eater or anything—just the idea of that made me laugh. I was so quiet and timid, I pretty much ran in the other direction when a boy tried to flirt with me.

  But back last year, Stephen Young, a boy in my English class had asked me out for what had to have been the tenth time and I’d finally relented and said yes. We dated for about six months before we’d done the deed a few times. Despite what other girls I knew said about sex, for me, it hadn’t been anything to write home about. I could only hope that was because it had been with the wrong person. I did like Stephen and sometimes I wish I had fallen in love with him—that would have solved a lot of problems and made my life easier, but sadly, I hadn’t felt anything for him. I couldn’t get over my feelings for Josh no matter how hard I tried. So I’d decided it was best to cut Stephen loose and not date anyone else for a while. It wasn’t fair to them, or to me.

  “Hi, Josh!” Lucy said brightly.

  Josh’s eyebrows scrunched together and his brow creased. His gaze swiveled in my direction and as he pinned me in place with an intense glower, his frown deepened. I wondered what had got him so upset.

  “It’s for the masquerade party,” Lucy went on, seemingly oblivious to his sudden change in mood. “What do you think, do you like it?”

  Josh visibly composed himself then his trademark cocky grin returned—the grin that had been doing funny things to my stomach for years.

  “It looks great,” he assured her.

  Lucy beamed. “I know, right? Make sure you save me a dance at the party.”

  He chuckled, his dark brown eyes sparkling with mirth as he nodded in agreement. “Right, sure.”

  I felt sick.

  I guess the day that Lucy finally got what she wanted was going to be here sooner rather than later. I was usually fairly comfortable in my own skin, but this was one of those times that I wished I was someone else—someone confident and outspoken, someone who went after what she wanted.

  I wished I was Lucy.

  “I’m going to get something to drink,” I muttered, needing some space to clear my head. If I continued to watch them together I was going to do something stupid like burst into tears and that would be just awful. How the heck would I explain what was wrong? “Anyone want anything?”

  Lucy had engaged Josh in a conversation about finals and neither of them even glanced my way as they answered a curt ‘no’ in unison. When I walked into the kitchen, I leaned back against the refrigerator and closed my eyes, fighting the tears that were threatening to slip out. I took a deep breath. I had to stop letting this situation get to me so much. After all, it wasn’t like Josh and I could actually be together.

  Josh was my stepbrother—my brother for all intents and purposes. We’d grown up together. It was wrong to want him the way I did. I just couldn’t seem to help myself no matter how hard I tried. I didn’t know how to turn my feelings for him off. If I could, I would do it in an instant because all they brought me were an unhealthy dose of heartbreak and constant, unyielding unhappiness.

  Chapter Two

  Aiden threw a few pieces of salami between two slices of bread then took a huge bite. “You want another sandwich?” he mumbled around the mouthful of food.

  I shook my head. “Nah, I’m good.”

  He shrugged. Clamping the sandwich between his teeth, he tossed everything he’d been using back in the refrigerator before striding into the living room barefoot. By the time I took a seat on the couch opposite, he was already lounged out, television control in hand. While he flipped through channels, lingering on sports news and cartoons, I kept my eyes on the screen, feigning interest. The fact is I wasn’t paying much attention. My mind was busy going over what had happened when I got home from the beach that morning.

  I’d just hung my surfboard on the wall in the garage then walked into the living room to see Catwoman standing there—the wet-dream fantasy of my youth come to life. In my house, or in any house for that matter, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t something you saw every day. And God help me but for those first few moments, I’d thought it was Taylor, my stepsister looking like sex on legs and that went straight to my dick, making it throb in the best possible way.

  The idea that Taylor, so quiet and unassuming could wear something so provocative and overtly sexual was my every fantasy realized. Taylor’s body was insane, but she never showed it off like most of the other girls in high school. She hid it away under clothes that were too baggy to be considered anything close to sexy. So when I saw what I thought was her in that outfit, I’d been so turned on I could barely see straight.

  Then Lucy had opened her mouth and ruined the moment for me.

  I’d been bummed when I’d realized my mistake. In all fairness, Lucy and Taylor were fairly similar in height and build and both had long dark hair. But Taylor was naturally beautiful, unlike Lucy whose make-up was so thick it was difficult to tell what she’d actually looked like without it. After Lucy had spoken, my gaze had sought out Taylor. I tried not to let the frustration show on my face, but judging by my stepsister’s reaction, I don’t think I accomplished it.

  I’d stayed and chatted for a while before hot footing it over to my best friend Aiden’s house, which, unfortunately, also happened to be Lucy’s. The fact that his sister had a crush on me amused Aiden to no end and he took every opportunity to ride my ass about it. He hadn’t mentioned her once in the hour I’d been there so I guess that had to count for something. Aiden swallowed the last bite of his sandwich then brushed the crumbs off his hands and onto the hardwood floor.

  “Was Lucy over at yours?”

  Crap.

  “Yeah,” I murmured in as disinterested a tone as I could muster.

  “Uh huh. You see her costume for the party?”

  I nodded, unwilling to meet Aiden’s gaze. “Yeah, she was trying it on for Taylor.”

  Aiden chuckled. “Yeah, I bet she was. I’m sure it never once crossed her mind that you might see her in it. You know she blackmailed me not to tell our parents in case my dad stops her from wearing it.”

  I shrugged. “I didn’t think it was that bad.”

  Aiden’s eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline. “Not that bad?” he spluttered. “At first glance, I thought she’d fallen into a pool of black paint—naked. You wouldn’t be saying it wasn’t that bad if it was your sister who was wearing it.”

  No, I wouldn’t because if it was Taylor in that outfit, I’d just drag her into the nearest empty room so that I could strip her out of it. Well, at least that’s what I’d do in my fantasy. And she wasn’t my sister. I hated it when he called Taylor that because it made me feel all kinds of icky for constantly getting a boner over her—which was pretty much on a daily basis. She was my stepsister, hence, we weren’t related by blood. I reasoned that that made it okay.

  Aiden’s eyes glassed over. “Now, there’s a thought. Taylor would look banging in—“

  I cleared my throat then cut him off with an abrupt subject change. “Have you bought a costume yet?”

  Aiden shook his head. “Nah, not yet. I can’t decide between Deadpool and a Naval Officer. Deadpool would be cooler, but women dig that Officer and a Gentleman uniform. I think it would be a hit.”

  I nodded. “Probably, only Richard Gere doesn’t wear a mask.”

  “Who?”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re hopeless.”

  He flung a throw pillow at me which narrowly missed my head.

  “What are yo
u going as?”

  “Batman.”

  “Cool. Did your sister change her mind about going?”

  I hesitated, not wanting to get back into this topic of conversation. “I don’t think so.”

  “Oh. Shame.”

  I ignored the comment. Aiden had been making a ton of remarks about Taylor lately and each one was guaranteed to set my teeth on edge. I’d never have admitted how jealous I got when he mentioned how hot she’d become. He was constantly trying to find out if she was seeing anyone since she’d split up with Stephen. I usually pretended that hearing him talk about Taylor grossed me out and that mostly shut him up, but the truth was, I’d lost count of the amount of times I’d come close to punching him out and how irrational was that? Aiden had been my best friend since we were in junior high. I liked him. I just didn’t like him perving over Taylor.

  “I mean really, dude. I can just imagine seeing Taylor in that costume. Damn.”

  Unconsciously my right hand balled into a fist. My jaw was clenched so tightly that my teeth ground together. Lucy chose that exact moment to come home and I groaned inwardly unsure if her arrival was a blessing or a curse. I didn’t know what was worse—Lucy’s constant flirting or Aiden banging on about my stepsister. In that moment they were about a fifty-fifty split on the shit-o-meter scale.

  Lucy’s gaze flitted over her brother without pause before coming to rest on me. “Hi, Josh, great to see you again!”

  I’d seen her an hour ago for Chrissake. I bit my tongue against the scathing comment I wanted to make and instead, forced a smile on my lips.

  “Hey.”

  When Aiden started chuckling and making kissy lips at me, I tossed the throw pillow back at him. Only I didn’t miss. The pillow hit him in the center of his forehead then bounced off and landed on the floor. Lucy roared with laughter as she came to sit on the sofa between us. She grabbed the remote out of Aiden’s hand then flipped through the channels before settling on one that was playing a country music video.

  Aiden glared at her. “Don’t forget I can always change my mind and tell dad about your costume.”

  Lucy grinned. “Try. I’ll tell him you made the whole thing up to get me into trouble. You know how much he hates liars. If he looks for the costume, he won’t find it.”

  Aiden narrowed his eyes. “You left it at Taylor’s.”

  Lucy shrugged. “I might have.”

  Aiden leaned in and flicked her ear. She screamed then punched him in the arm. When their argument and petty tit for tat devolved into full on sibling warfare, I got to my feet. I could usually tune out their fights, but today, I wasn’t in the mood.

  Aiden stopped the flicking assault on his sister long enough to ask, “Where are you going?”

  “Got shit to do,” I replied cryptically. “See you both later.”

  Lucy pushed out her bottom lip, making her look like a petulant child. “You don’t need to go just yet, do you? Stay, we can put on a movie. I’ll make popcorn.”

  I shook my head. “Sorry. I can’t today. Got errands to run for my mom.”

  Aiden held out his fist for me to bump. “See you later, dude.”

  I touched knuckles with him on the way to the door. “Yeah. Catch you later.”

  It wasn’t until I was in my car and pulling away from the curb that I finally breathed a sigh of relief. I put the car in drive, but I had no idea where I was going. I didn’t really have errands to run for my mom so I had the rest of afternoon to do what I wanted. I could have gone back to the beach, but it would have been too awkward if I’d run into Aiden there after I’d told him I was busy. What I wanted to do was go home so that I could spend some time with Taylor. I loved hanging out with her. She had a calmness about her that never failed to put me at ease. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been in love with her because I couldn’t remember a time when I hadn’t had these feelings.

  I was quite young when my mom had told me she was remarrying and introduced me to Luke and his daughter, Taylor. I was so excited to be getting a new dad and I’d always wanted a sister or brother to play with. The second I set eyes on Taylor I’d been entranced by her. She was this perfect, pretty, shy little thing that I instantly wanted to protect and I think I fell in love with her that first day—even though I didn’t know what it meant at the time. I just knew that she was mine.

  As I’ve gotten older, my feelings for her haven’t changed, only matured. I still want to love and protect her, but now I want to do it as her partner, not as an older brother. I pulled into my driveway and cut the engine, blinking up at the house. I hadn’t even realized where I was going until I was already there. The drive had been automatic. Taylor was like a beacon, calling me home. My internal compass was pointed her way like she was my true north. With a resigned sigh, I opened the car door then went in search of my stepsister.

  Chapter Three

  I was heading out the front door, daydreaming as usual, when I collided with Josh’s wide, muscular chest.

  “Oof, sorry,” I said, grabbing the doorframe to steady myself.

  At the same time, Josh took hold of my arms. “I’ve got you,” he assured me.

  If only he knew how true that statement really was. He didn’t let go right away and I didn’t want him to. I liked it when he touched me, even if it was for something as innocuous as steadying me so that I don’t fall over. But as he continued to stare into my eyes, the touch stopped feeling innocent. He ran his thumbs in little circles over my upper arms and my breath hitched. I wanted him to touch me like that in other places. All too soon, he let his hands fall to his sides and it was as if the moment had never happened. Maybe I’d imagined it.

  “You going out?” he asked

  I nodded. “Yeah, mom asked me to pick up a pie for dinner tonight.”

  “I can drive you,” he offered. “Come on.”

  I could have driven myself, of course, but I would never have turned down the opportunity to spend time with Josh. It was precious to me.

  I grinned back at him. “Sure, thanks.”

  When we got to his car, Josh walked around to the passenger side to open my door for me. I loved it when he did things like that—which was pretty much most of the time. He was so sweet and thoughtful—constantly doing little things to help me out. I couldn’t imagine any of the other boys in my class doing something like that for a girl they were dating, let alone someone they were related to. Stephen certainly hadn’t done things like that, but then Josh was different to all those other boys I went to school with. That was one of the things I liked about him.

  I don’t know if the reason for those differences were because Josh had been on his own with his mom for the first few years of his life. She had great values and had brought him up to treat women with respect. Whatever she’d done had worked. He was a gentleman and I liked that about him.

  We buckled up then headed towards the diner a few blocks over from our house.

  “Have you thought any more about your dad’s offer to join the business after graduation?” Josh asked, glancing at me sideways before turning his attention back to the road.

  My dad and stepmom had started a realtor business a couple of years after they met and it was doing great, by all accounts. They were expanding to cover other areas and wanted Josh and me to come and work for them after we finished school. Josh couldn’t wait to start at the company, he hadn’t stopped talking about it for months, but I’d decided that I wanted to do something different with my life.

  “I don’t think it’s for me,” I admitted to him for the first time. “I don’t know, Josh. I’m more interested in the way houses are decorated than in how much they’re worth.”

  Josh shrugged. “So tell your dad you don’t want the job.”

  I sighed. “I know. I just don’t want to hurt his feelings.”

  “You wouldn’t. I’m sure he’d understand. Your dad is cool about things like that. Have you thought about what you want to do instead?”

  “Yeah, I’v
e thought about little else lately. I found a college nearby that has a really good interior design program. I applied to it. I haven’t told anyone yet, so can you keep it quiet until I speak to mom and dad?”

  “Sure. You don’t even need to ask.”

  I stared out the window, lost in thought. The design course would be absolutely perfect for me. I’d always been good at art and at most creative endeavors, actually, but interior design held my interest and got me excited. I couldn’t think of anything better than to be hired to revamp someone’s home—to make their breath catch as they walked into a room to see how I’d improved it. And the idea of spending three years learning about colors and fabrics and different styles would be a dream come true for me. I didn’t want to get my hopes up so I hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking about it, but each day that passed without hearing if I’d got in made my spirits sink a little lower.

  I turned to Josh and shrugged. “I haven’t heard back from the college yet, so I might not even get a place.”

  “You will.” His tone brooked no argument. “They’d be crazy not to take you. I think you’d be great in a job like that. You’re the most creative person I know and you have a great eye for design.”

  I felt the heat of a blush spread across my cheeks. “Thanks,” I murmured.

  “And who knows,” Josh added. “Maybe there’ll be a position for you at the company after all.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, interior design isn’t so far removed from selling houses. Maybe mom and dad could offer a design service to their customers to help them sell their houses quicker.”

  His idea had merit. “Do you think they’d go for that?”

  The warmth of his answering smile made my stomach flutter and I wondered, not for the first time if he knew what effect it had on me.