by Janie Marie
His dad smiled at her disrespectful tone and caressed her cheek in a fatherly way. “I won’t take it out on him. I know he did his best. The Godson boy is better suited for the spot. He worked hard for it.”
Childishly, she crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “Ryder’s an asshole.”
He chuckled, rubbing her back. “An asshole you were staring at for longer than you probably realize.”
Her cheeks grew hot. “Only because Wendy was saying stuff about him.”
“Hm.” He patted her back.
That ‘hm’ made her uncomfortable as hell, but she ignored it and climbed into the front seat of Kingston’s truck.
He’d become like a second father to her after her dad died. She was only five when it happened, so even though she’d not forgotten a single moment with her dad, Kingston was the one she had more memories with. It might’ve been because of him that she and David were such good friends to begin with. It all changed in seventh grade for Jane, though. It took one time for her to glimpse David’s abs when most of the other boys were still smooth for her to see him as something more than just a friend. Too bad that’s all David saw when he looked at her.
Kingston sighed again as they drove past the field. She could always pick out David, and her heart squeezed when she saw him playing beside Ryder as the weak linebacker.
“This is so unfair,” she said, touching the window. “He deserves the best.”
“He does.” His dad patted her knee. “Sometimes, it’s not meant to be. Sometimes you have to accept you are better suited for a different role than you expected.”
Jane watched Ryder in David’s place. The jerk was perfect for the position, and she felt like a bitch for thinking so. “Why does my mom want me home?”
“She has some news to discuss with you.” He tightened his hold on the steering wheel. “Nothing bad.”
“We’re not moving, are we?” With her heart beating wildly now, she grabbed onto his arm. “I’m moving in with you and David if she takes that stupid job she was talking about.”
His lips twitched. “You would, huh?”
She grinned. “You and David sound alike. It’s weird.”
He laughed, again like David. “I promise, I won’t let your mom take you away from us. How’s that?”
“As long as I have David in my life, she can tell me whatever she wants. He just has to be within walking distance. I need to see him every day.”
“Have you two become more than friends, Jane?” He gave her the most serious look she’d ever received.
She gulped, shaking her head and feeling beyond embarrassed. What if she said she hoped they were, and he told David? What if David didn’t like her the way she liked him? “Still best friends, sir.” That was a safe answer. It was the truth, and friends sometimes became more than friends later on.
He eyed her for a few more seconds before nodding. “Good.”
Jane blew out a breath, relieved he didn’t catch on that she was in love with his son.
Kingston shot her another wary look and continued, “Because I asked your mother to marry me, and David is going to be your stepbrother.”
Two
Three Years Later
“What’s the matter, princess?” Ryder Godson sneered at her from across the office. His long, muscular legs were stretched out in front of him, obstructing everyone’s path. He didn’t care he caused everyone to move out of his way. He didn’t care that with his arms stretched across the backs of the two other chairs that no one besides his ever-present fan club would sit beside him.
Since she was so not a Ryder fan, she sat across the pathway. It didn’t matter the office lady had instructed her to sit beside Ryder.
“Not used to getting called into the principal’s office?” he asked mockingly.
She glanced up at him, hating that the bastard was sexier every time she saw him. He was still David’s nemesis, and he still ruled the field in David’s position. “I get called in to be rewarded,” she said haughtily. “And I don’t have to use my stupid muscles to get rewards.”
He grinned at her, and it made her tummy tighten. “Staring at my muscles, Sweet Jane?”
Her face burned. “Don’t call me that.”
That smile grew. “Why? I think you like it.”
David doesn’t, Jane thought. Not that it should matter what her stepbrother thought about other guys calling her anything other than her name.
Ryder chuckled, running a hand through his dark hair. He had a faux hawk hairstyle, but he usually kept it short during football season. This year it was long on the top and close to the skin on the sides. “Yeah, you like it.”
“Oh, get over yourself.” She crossed her arms, glaring at him. Everyone cowered around him, even his brothers, but she never did.
Those emerald eyes watched her, sparkling when she narrowed her eyes to intimidate him. “You’re gonna get me hard if you keep staring at me like you want to rip my clothes off.”
She gasped. “You’re sick in the head, Ryder Godson.”
“Mm, I think I like hearing my name being said from your pretty mouth.” He smirked. “Let me hear you moan it this time.”
The way his eyes held hers had her skin tingling. When the sensation spread across her lips, she spat, “Eat dog ass.”
Disgust twisted his sexy face, and she grinned triumphantly.
All excitement of silencing Ryder vanished when the office door opened, and David entered.
He stopped short when he saw her sitting in one of the chairs usually only bad kids sat while they waited for the principal. His confusion was adorable until it turned to anger at the sight of Ryder sitting opposite her. “What are you doing here?” he asked her, ignoring the arrogant smile on Ryder’s face.
She shrugged, hoping her attraction to him wasn’t obvious. Her feelings for David had only grown over the years. It didn’t matter to her he’d put distance between them after their parents married—he was still the boy who owned her heart.
“Don’t know yet,” she said, her voice trembling as his gaze halted on her thighs. “Why are you here?”
He tore his eyes from her legs and held up a slip. “Signing out for the day so I can go pick up dad from the airport.”
“Dad.” Ryder snickered. “Never knew a dad to burn a son so bad. Actually, I have, but this one is hilarious.”
David shot him a fierce look. “At least my dad stuck around.”
Jane’s eyes stung, and she looked away from Ryder’s sudden loss of confidence. She’d lost her dad in a car accident, but Ryder’s had left them without so much as a note. The Godson boys didn’t even have a mother because she’d died soon after giving birth to the quadruplets.
They’d been abandoned into the care of their older brother. It was the one thing she felt in common with Ryder. She found herself wanting to slap David and hug Ryder.
“Feel good for having that over me, Daddy’s boy?” Ryder challenged.
She jerked her head up, ready to jump between them. They’d had many fights over the years, but they always stopped when she got between them.
David sighed, holding up a hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it. All right?”
Ryder’s cold expression stayed, and Jane’s heart pounded as he slowly turned toward her with that terrifying stare.
“Godson, Mortaime?” Mr. Prince, the principal, called from the doorway to his office. As soon as he noticed David and the tension between him and Ryder, he sighed and asked David, “What are you doing here, Leodegrance?”
David looked between her and Ryder instead of answering him. “Jane?”
She got up, shrugging. “Tell Kingston I want shrimp for dinner.”
Mr. Prince held the door open for her, ushering her inside as Ryder chuckled, following behind her.
“Mr. Perfect isn’t happy with you, Sweet Jane,” Ryder whispered in her ear.
She shivered, walking faster as Mr. Prince ordered David to hurry up and sign out because he’d he
ard there was an accident on the highway, and he was giving David a different route to take.
Jane sat, jumping when Ryder sat and put an arm behind her.
“I don’t bite, babe.” He smirked. “Lick and suck, definitely. Fuck, maybe I’ll bite if you want me to.”
She put down her backpack, and dramatically scooted her chair farther from him. “Grow up, pervert.”
“You like it.” He eyed the football trophies. Mr. Prince had been their coach during their freshman, sophomore, and junior years. He’d taken the position as principal just this year. “Just like you like watching me play your boy’s old position.”
Fire burned in her veins. “Asshole.”
His predatory eyes settled on her. “Call me whatever you need to, babe. You know I’m better than him, and you know you watch me on the field . . . and in my pool when I swim naked.”
The blood drained from her face, but she steeled her nerves and glared at him. “I watch you play, wondering why they let a muscle-head like you take over the spot David was made for. And I hear your stupid swimming because you’re so freaking obnoxiously loud that I have to get up and close my window to block you out. Unfortunately, I’m greeted with the sight of your ass and small dick when I do.” It was a damn lie about his dick; the boy was blessed by God in every way.
He didn’t change his expression, but Mr. Prince cleared his throat, hiding a laugh as he shut the door.
“I’m glad to hear you two know each other so well.” Mr. Prince smiled kindly at her before shooting Ryder a dark look. “You’re in trouble.”
The bad boy shrugged casually. “So, get me out of it.”
Mr. Prince sighed, holding up a folder. “No pass, no play, Godson.” He then nodded at Jane. “Ask her to get you out of trouble. She has been nominated as your tutor for English.”
Ryder opened the folder he’d been given as Jane sat there frozen. Tutor?
“You can decline, Jane,” Mr. Prince said, “but I would really appreciate this. Black Hills would appreciate it if you could help our star player raise his grade in time for the playoffs.”
Ryder spoke before she could. “Who the fuck is taking my spot?”
Jane’s breathing was becoming too fast.
“Who do you think?” Mr. Prince sighed. “We haven’t told him yet, but David has been on your heels ever since you took the position. He’s our best hope if you don’t return. Your best bet is to raise your grade quickly and get back on the field. I don’t think the new coach cares that you’re better. He cares about team players, and you’re not a team player, Godson. You could lose it all.”
Ryder glared at her while Mr. Prince gave her a hopeful smile.
“What do you say, Jane?” He smiled. “Help your boys claim glory their last year here. I’d like to see them both on the field, holding the championship trophy over their heads. And you’ll be the one they have to thank for seeing them there together.”
Jane knew what Ryder was thinking; she wouldn’t help him so David could keep his spot. She wasn’t the smartest girl around, but she knew why they would nominate her—she was the only “A” student who didn’t cower from Ryder Godson.
The bad boy himself growled, “You mean, little b—”
“I’ll do it.”
Three
The last thing Jane expected after her shower, was to open the door to her bedroom from the attached bath and find David waiting in her room. She also didn’t expect to ever come face to face with him wearing only a towel.
Neither of them spoke, and she wondered why he’d come into her room like this. After all, they had a joined bath, and he would’ve heard the water running. Granted, he never used it for himself, but he still would’ve heard. He still would’ve known there was a high chance she’d come out without clothes.
Maybe he didn’t find it odd. There had been plenty of times he’d used the other bathroom in the house and then pass her in the hallway with only a towel around his waist. She supposed it was a normal sibling thing because he barely acknowledged her when those moments passed. He didn’t realize he drove her hormones crazy.
She gripped the towel closer to her chest as he slowly scanned her from her head to her blue painted toenails. “What are you doing here?”
His sapphire eyes returned to her face. “Is that the way we greet each other now?”
She realized he was referring to this morning at the school office. It was more than that for her, though. He used to hug her, kiss the top of her head, call her ‘his Jane’. Now she was just Jane—just the stepsister. There was no way she could blurt out how hurt she was by all of this. She had to pretend she was only thinking about this morning like he clearly was. “I didn’t volunteer to help him.”
“You’re not going to help him.” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. Why did he have to be so sexy doing something so simple? “I mean it.”
“You’re not the boss of me.” She walked toward her dresser, praying he didn’t notice how hot he was making her. God, why did he have to play big brother?
“But you want him to boss you around?” His reflection in the mirror was fierce.
Jane swallowed because if she hadn’t been his stepsister, she’d think he was jealous. “I thought you wanted to win the state championship.”
“You think I can’t bring that for the team?” His glare was sexy instead of frightening.
“I didn’t say that.” She shakily opened her panty drawer. “You’re the one who said it takes the best players, and the guy taking your old spot isn’t the best.”
“Ryder is the guy who took my spot,” he growled, standing to approach her.
Her chest heaved, but she could only stare at his reflection, trembling when his body heat enveloped her.
He stopped just a few inches behind her. It had been a while since he was this close to her, and she noticed how much bigger he’d gotten. His hair was also longer, hanging over his eyes until he did a little jerk with his head to move it. “Just tell me why you’re helping him. Why are you choosing him over me?”
She frowned, confused. “David, I’ll always choose you. Especially over Ryder.”
He watched her for a few moments, then turned her around, grabbing her chin. “Do you mean that? You pick me, even if he’s better?”
Her heart warred with something . . . but she smiled. “You’re the bestest. Always will be.”
That smile that stole her heart so many years ago appeared on his lips. “You haven’t called me that in a long time. I thought I’d lost that title with you when we became . . .” His words died, but his gaze didn’t. A fire that she wasn’t sure was anger or desire swirled in his eyes, either preparing to destroy her or engulf her so no other could get close.
Kingston’s voice carried through the door. “David? Jane?”
David released her, holding his finger to his lips as he went through the bathroom, and she heard him open his main door. “Yeah?”
“Where’s Jane?” his dad asked.
“I think she’s in the shower,” David said in a bored way that made her question whether something special had been about to happen between them just moments ago.
“Oh, well, if you see her when she gets done, tell her to come downstairs. I want to talk to her about this Godson boy.”
David grunted. “Tell her to give him bad advice.”
Her stepdad laughed. “That will reflect poorly on your sister.”
“She’s my stepsister,” David corrected. “And I’m heading out. The team is having a party with the cheerleaders.”
“Behave. Don’t forget you have double practice tomorrow.”
Jane’s eyes stung, and her heart throbbed. The fucking cheer squad picked any reason to party, and they were celebrating David as if he’d not already been on the team. Didn’t he see it as a slap to both his and Ryder’s faces?
“I’ll behave,” David said, his door shutting hard. “I’m not fucking this up.”
“Language
,” their dad chided. “And I know things with Diane . . .”
“Dad—” The rest of whatever David was saying was mumbled, and then their footsteps retreated.
Jane didn’t realize tears were falling from her eyes until she looked in the mirror. Diane was the co-captain of the cheer team, and she’d been the one girl David had gone out with for more than just a single date. They’d gone on nine dates—Jane had counted, and not much time had passed since their last date.
He usually avoided Jane like the plague after a date, especially dates with Diane. He didn’t have a problem letting her hang all over him at school, though.
The only relief Jane had at all was David’s football practice took most of his time, but she knew the cheerleaders were practicing too. There could’ve been more dates she didn’t know about. There could be a lot more to David’s relationship with Diane.
A part of her knew there was more, but she held onto hope that the two worst scenarios hadn’t occurred. She’d die if it turned out David was having sex with Diane, or worse, if he’d fallen in love with her.
Laughter coming from outside thankfully captured Jane’s attention before she spiraled down the David and Diane nightmare.
She knew the view would only annoy her, but she still walked to her window and gazed down into the Godson’s backyard.
They were having their own party, it seemed. Well, she couldn’t call it that. Ryder was there with Luc, Tercero, and Gabriel. Gabriel was the eldest and their guardian. He was hardly home, but he did seem responsible for a Godson.
Her attention shifted to Tercero. She figured Archer and Savaş were at the football party, and he was the only brother not on the team.
She took in his features quickly, her skin prickling because he looked so much like Ryder. Only, he was a paler, leaner version. He never talked to her, or anyone, really. She didn’t know why, but the mystery of him always had her looking his way.
Sometimes she wished she was brave enough to talk to him, but she didn’t think it would do well to talk to someone who looked so much like her enemy.