Hunger (A Stepbrother Romance Novel)

by Abbing, Arabella

  I put my fingers in my ears and shook my head as I sang, “La la la la la, I can’t hear you.”

  Daniel reached over and slapped my hands down. “You know if you do that, I’m just going to start yelling. Do you really want the entire diner to know about how you’re going to be boning your stepbrother?”

  I gaped at him. “He’s not my stepbrother yet and there will be no boning!”

  “He wants you, you want him. Why the hell not?”

  I didn’t even bother trying to deny that I wanted him. Any straight woman—or gay man—in their right mind would want Luke. Denying it would be a flat-out lie.

  “Because of the many reasons of why it would be a colossal mistake. And I highly doubt he’s looking to rekindle his sex addiction with someone who’s about to be his stepsister.”

  Daniel blew a raspberry with his lips and waved a dismissive hand though the air. “Oh, bull crap. Regardless of any of that, it’s still going to happen. I’m calling it now.”

  “Whatever,” I grumbled before going back to my burger. I was sick of the topic and had a feeling that I wouldn’t be able to escape from it for the rest of the summer.

  As long as I was stuck in the house with Luke, I’d have Daniel nagging me about having sex with him. And it just wasn’t going to happen.

  Besides, he wouldn’t be interested even if I did want it to happen.

  “So, tell me what happened with your dad.”

  Daniel let out a long sigh and leaned both arms on the table. “That’s a long fucking story.”

  I waved to the waitress as she walked by our booth. “Can we get another cup of coffee, please?”

  “Sure thing, honey,” she agreed as she darted off to fetch the pot.

  I turned to Daniel and smiled. “I’ve got time.”

  He smiled back and launched into the story of the clusterfuck it had been going to stay with his father for the summer.

  ~*~*~

  By the time I got home from the diner, my dad and Clara were both home from work. Daniel dropped me off with a promise to text me and I gave him a kiss on the cheek like I always did before rushing inside.

  I don’t know why it surprised me to find Luke lingering by the front door the moment I stepped in, but it did. I startled a little and turned to glare at him.

  “What?”

  “I called your dad.”

  It took me a moment to understand what exactly he meant and when I did, a huge grin broke out over my face. “Oh yeah? How’d that go?”

  He frowned. “I didn’t realize Daniel was gay.”

  I chortled. “Really? Because he doesn’t hide it very well.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell me that?”

  It was my turn to frown at him. “Why would I have? It’s really none of your business.”

  Luke was slightly taken aback by my statement, but he eventually nodded, conceding to my point. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away from me, his eyes locking on the floor.

  “Sorry. I just want to look out for you.”

  “Why?”

  He shrugged again. “I’m very protective of things that matter to me.”

  I was suddenly feeling very uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was going, but for a reason I couldn’t explain, I was dying to hear more.

  Aware that his mom and my dad were lingering somewhere in the house, I stepped closer to him so I could whisper, “But why? You just met me.”

  Like flipping a switch, his entire demeanor changed. The alarm on his face registered immediately in my brain and he stepped back, nearly stumbling over the couch in his effort to put distance between us.

  “I— We’re about to be family. It’s my duty to protect you.”

  It was the most unsatisfying answer he could’ve given me. But I took it at face value, unwilling to push him any further on the matter. After all, we were still technically strangers.

  I couldn’t really write off how irritated I was at Luke altogether, but I also wasn’t willing to accept that things would be this awkward between us forever. I figured that maybe if we spent some time getting to know each other, it would be far more pleasant living together for the rest of the summer.

  My brain rallied against the idea, knowing that nothing but trouble could come from the two of us spending time together alone, but the words were out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

  “Hey, you want to do something tomorrow?”

  Luke looked hesitant. “Like what?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. Just... hang out or something. Like you said, we’re about to be family and I don’t know you at all.”

  Luke slowly nodded, telling me he understood what I was saying. “That sounds like...” He trailed off momentarily, his eyes going past me to land on the wall behind my head. “A good idea. We can get to know each other.”

  I found it weird how he seemed unable to look at me as he said it, but I nodded in agreement anyway. “Alright well... I’m gonna go take a shower. Will you tell Clara not to set a place for me tonight? I ate so much at the diner, I doubt I’ll be able to have anything else.”

  “Sure,” he agreed, his voice still hollow and disconnected.

  It appeared that he was lost in thought, so I took my leave. “Okay, well... See you later.”

  His eyes snapped back to mine and he burned me with the intensity of his stare. “Goodnight, Jenna.”

  “Goodnight.”

  Luke walked away before I did and I was left standing in the living room, wondering if Daniel had been right. Was it inevitable? The awkward moments between us seemed to be adding up and building to something. I just had no idea what it was.

  All I knew was that now, spending time getting to know each other definitely didn’t seem like such a good idea.

  ~*~*~

  Chapter Four

  I slept well—better than I thought I would after spending most of the night mulling over the conversations I’d had thus far with Luke. I was trying to solve the mystery of why he seemed so uncomfortable around me. Even though the answer was in plain sight—both Clara and Daniel had explained it well enough—part of me still refused to believe it.

  After all, I couldn’t understand why he’d be attracted to me. I wasn’t ugly by any means, but I didn’t think I was anywhere near his level. He was way out of my league.

  I drummed my fingers on the counter as I waited for my morning coffee to brew. There was a knocking sound somewhere behind me and I turned back, smiling when I saw Luke sheepishly standing near the doorway.

  “Holding anything breakable?”

  My smile grew as I shook my head. “Nope. Nothing hot either.”

  He gave me a crooked grin as he stepped into the kitchen. “Good. Maybe I’ll manage not to scare you to death today.”

  “Those odds don’t seem very good.”

  His grin turned into an all-out smile and I couldn’t help but match it. After a minute of just smiling at one another, he cleared his throat and sat down at the bar.

  “So, what did you have in mind for today?”

  I shrugged and poured my cup of coffee. “I have no clue. Any ideas?”

  I glanced up in time to see his half-shrug. “Well we can’t really go anywhere.”

  “I could always call Daniel. He’d give us a ride.”

  Luke’s gaze darkened. “Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of us spending time together? I’d be reduced to a third wheel.”

  “Point taken. So we’ll stay here,” I said, knowing that involving Daniel in any plans with Luke and I probably wasn’t a good idea anyway. He’d spend the entire time making less-than-subtle innuendos and driving me up the wall.

  “What do you normally do every day? Before I moved in.”

  “Since school let out I either spend my day vegging in front of the TV or hanging around by the pool.”

  “The pool sounds good,” he said cautiously.

  I gave him a small frown, wondering why he seemed a little worrie
d. “You can swim, right?”

  “Of course I can,” he said with a scoff. “I’m an excellent swimmer.”

  Feeling playful, I said, “Well, I just don’t believe you. You’ll have to prove it.”

  He seemed to catch on to the fact that I was joking, smiling as he stood up. “I guess I will. I’ll meet you out there?”

  “Sure. Let me just finish my coffee and get ready.”

  “Alright.”

  We both went to our respective bedrooms and while I was checking my text messages and e-mails while finishing off my cup of coffee, I heard his bedroom door open and the soft pad of his feet heading down the hall. I figured it’d be rude to keep him out there waiting for me for very long, so I quickly knocked back the rest of my coffee before pulling my swimsuit out and putting it on.

  After I was dressed to swim, I walked over to my bedroom door and froze at the sight of my reflection in my mirror. A part of me screamed that wearing this in front of Luke was a bad idea—the tiny bikini top just barely covered my breasts and my ass cheeks peeked out of the bottoms.

  I’d worn it a hundred times before, but now I felt awkward about it. Hell, I’m pretty sure both Clara and my father had seen me in this particular swimsuit and I’d never felt so weird about it.

  I considered grabbing something to throw over it to preserve some modesty, but the other half of me—the one who was replaying Daniel’s words in my head over and over again—told me to walk out just like this. To gauge his reaction. To poke the beast.

  After a long minute of mental debating, the devil on my shoulder won.

  Daniel would be so proud, I thought as I grabbed my sunglasses and made my way to the pool.

  Before I went outside, I peeked out through the glass door. Luke was indeed outside already and had hopped right into the crystal clear water. The sun was shining bright even though it was only ten in the morning, and when he waded into the shallow end, the sunlight made the water droplets on his skin glisten.

  Oh god, his skin.

  Daniel had been right. He did have tattoos. I wasn’t normally the kind of girl to go after bad boys, nor was I ever really a fan of tattoos, but his looked so perfectly fitting stretched across his ripped muscles.

  Suddenly, I remembered seeing the outline of his nipple ring through his shirt and I wanted to get a closer look. Both at the piercing and his ink.

  I exited the house and walked down the stairs, trying my best to appear casual as I strolled over to the pool house, even though I could feel his eyes on me the entire way there. I grabbed two towels for us and went back out, swallowing hard when I noticed him standing in the shallow end of the pool staring at me.

  I feigned nonchalance as I dropped the towels onto a pair of chairs then made my way to the pool, even though my heart was thudding wildly in my chest. His attention was riveted to me and I couldn’t help thinking that maybe Daniel had been right.

  Maybe he did want me.

  Maybe this was inevitable.

  And even though that thought scared the shit out of me, it also sent a shiver of desire up my spine as I carefully stepped into the pool. Luke was still watching me like a hawk and I wondered if he thought the shiver was from the water, or if he was perceptive enough to know what it was really about.

  Once I was in and standing within six feet of him, it was extremely difficult to keep my eyes from wandering all over his body, but I somehow managed.

  I cleared my throat and asked, “So, you going to show me these swimming skills of yours or what?”

  He nodded and dived beneath the water, swimming effortlessly to the other end before twisting around and pushing off the edge with his feet and coming back to me. It was clear he was an experienced swimmer, and even though I had really just been teasing him, it was quite a sight to see.

  When he popped out of the water close to me, I clapped my hands for him. “Very nice.”

  He ran a hand through his wet hair, smoothing it back and sending water droplets down his neck and shoulder. My eyes tracked their path down to the barbell in his nipple and I caught myself before I licked my lips.

  Sexually, I wasn’t experienced in the least. But I also wasn’t an idiot. Between movies, books, and the endless amount of details I got from Daniel, I had plenty of elaborate fantasies and things I wanted to try.

  The desire to feel like metal bar against my tongue was strong.

  “Jenna.”

  “Hmm?” I hummed, partially lost in my fantasy.

  “Look at me.”

  Snapping out of my daze, I shifted my gaze up to his eyes. They were almost black and the sight made me gasp quietly. We were both so still that when his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, my eyes immediately tracked the movement.

  “This was a bad idea,” he said, his voice pained. “I should go.”

  “What? Why?” I asked, not quite understanding what he meant as he started to wade over to the steps of the pool.

  He turned back and I couldn’t help myself—my gaze travelled down his soaking wet body.

  Way down.

  Down far enough to see the very obvious—and very large—tent in his swimming trunks.

  “Oh,” I said quietly, the sound coming out with a gasp.

  His gaze followed mine and he winced when he realized what I was staring at. He attempted to cover himself with one hand and groaned when his hand landed on the hardness. The sound sent a thrill through my body that went straight to my core.

  “I have to go,” he ground out. “I’m sorry.”

  My initial thought was to call out to stop him, but he moved with such jerky and rapid movements that I knew it would likely do more harm than good to talk to him. After he wrapped the towel around his waist and rushed inside, I was left with the guilty feeling that I shouldn’t have provoked him.

  With a heavy sigh, I flopped back into the water and floated around, losing myself in my thoughts as the sun beat down on my skin.

  ~*~*~

  Almost two hours later, my tan had considerably improved, but my mood was still pretty sour.

  The guilt that gnawed at my stomach wouldn’t go away and the urge to chase after Luke and apologize was still strong, even as the hours passed by. I flipped onto my stomach when the timer on my phone went off and sighed into my arms as I folded them under my chin.

  A few minutes later, I felt the warmth from the sun suddenly stop and I looked up with a frown. Luke was standing above me, blocking some of the sun with his shadow. I squinted and noticed he was now dressed in a white tank top and a pair of loose-fitting basketball shorts. I propped myself up on my arms but he shook his head, gesturing for me to stay where I was.

  “I just came out to apologize for what happened earlier.”

  I was reluctant to say it, but I couldn’t stop my mouth from forming the words. “I don’t really understand what happened.”

  He was silent for a long moment before he sighed and flopped down beside me in the other lounge chair. I twisted my neck to look at him curiously as he stared seriously at the pool.

  “Do you know why I was in rehab?”

  “Your mom told me.”

  “Then surely you can understand how... difficult it is for me to be around women so soon after my... treatment.”

  This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have without actually being face to face, so I pushed myself up even as he protested. I sat sideways on the seat to look at him, frowning when he turned his body away from mine.

  “Could you— Could you cover yourself or something?” he choked out, making a wild gesture with his hand to my chest.

  I nodded and wrapped the towel around my chest, twisting it at the front so it’d stay in place. “I’m decent.”

  He turned back to me and sighed with relief, shaking his head afterwards as if to clear it of his thoughts. “Thanks. So, yeah. It’s not exactly easy to be around women for me right now. Seeing you practically fucking naked didn’t help.”

  I couldn’t stop the words from p
ouring out of my mouth. “Your mom said you don’t know how to interact with women who aren’t your family.”

  He grunted, obviously displeased that Clara had told me that, but not denying it either. “I guess that’s true enough.”

  “But we’re about to become family.”

  His head turned so fast that it gave me whiplash.

  “Don’t say that,” he whispered harshly.

  I frowned, totally confused by his anger. “Why not? You said it last night. You said—”

  “I know what I said. I also know that I’m a fucking liar.”

  I couldn’t respond. I had no idea what to say. My mouth dropped open to speak, but no words would come out. I was rendered speechless.

  Daniel had been right all along. He totally called it.

  Luke wanted me. I wanted Luke. It was going to happen.

  The only question was when.

  “Luke, I—”

  “Don’t,” he stopped me, holding up his slightly shaky hand. “Just don’t. I can’t do this. Not with you; not now, not ever. I just can’t. I’m going out for a while. Tell my mom not to worry about me.”

  Before I could protest or question where he was going, he abruptly stood up and jogged into the house. I thought about following him, but the sound of a car horn blaring outside told me that it would be a useless effort. I heard the car screech as it spun its tires on the road and knew he was already gone.

  What the hell do I do now?

  ~*~*~

  Chapter Five

  “You were right to call me. This is a tricky one.”

  I rolled my eyes at Daniel as he paced back and forth in my bedroom, tapping his lips thoughtfully with his finger. After the talk with Luke by the pool, I had been desperate for advice. So I called the one man who I knew could help me with my problem.

  But now, I was kind of regretting it.

  “Daniel, we’re not planning a robbery.”

  “Sure we are! We want Luke to rob you of your virginity, am I right?”

  “Oh my god, I can’t believe I called you,” I cried as I buried my face in my hands.

  Daniel snorted. “I can’t believe it either. You really should have known better.”