Brooke Bait

by Rachel Kiss

  But then I was like: Whatever, the chick hates me. And she’s been hurt. She’s damaged and needs a brother—not a dirt-wad guy (aka: the normal me). I can be a brother—after all, I’d planned to do that. Be that. Nothing’s changed.

  So, I pulled it together. Saw her (pretty much) just as a sister—a damaged one.

  But then, man. She kissed me. That changed everything. Because that kiss—that was not a ‘sister’ kiss. And sure didn’t stir up brotherly feelings inside me.

  I was pretty messed up after that.

  I started to think: Man, why would our parents plant a gorgeous girl right in front of me, then run off on trip after trip? Actually leave me alone with her?

  And I was also scratching my head, wondering non-stop: Why does everyone keep acting like a gorgeous, fun girl is not my type???—a hot dancer that smells so good? I guess maybe it’s because she doesn’t have experience? But don’t they know I could give her experience? That I would be thrilled to give her experience?

  I decided: I guess her dad thinks it’s fine, because she’s made it clear, I’m not her type. Who knows? Maybe he planted the gorgeous girl in my care to torture me. It’s working. ‘Cause man, I’m dying a slow death.

  CHAPTER 36

  NOAH

  NOAH

  When I brought Peyton home from that party—honestly thought I was saving her from Fenton and an awkward, unwanted encounter—I had only one thought in my head: I needed to kiss another girl. Any girl. Hard and long and mind-numbing. To get my mind off my stepsister’s kiss. I was pretty sure it wouldn’t work, though. Still, I intended to try. Hard.

  CHAPTER 37

  NOAH

  NOAH

  Before leaving the house to attack a girl—crash my mouth on hers and try to crush the thoughts of Peyton’s tantalizing kiss that was now haunting my tortured love-struck brain—I heard Peyton on the phone, talking to Summer. And I realized with a groan, I blew it for her. I dragged her away from the party, and she had actually liked Fenton. She’d wanted to kiss him.

  It had kind of killed me a little hearing that. But well, if she liked Fenton—okay. I had to deal with that (though man, that kiss.) So, really, the whole thing blew. But I figured I could fix things—and really it would be better, right? If she was tight with Fenton, it would be easier to keep my hands off her. And my mind off her. And my poor, craving lips off her.

  Only then, I got to the hockey party, and my heart got jabbed. I realized I was too late. Fenton had already hooked up with another girl. A very easy girl.

  I blew sweet Peyton’s chance at her first boyfriend.

  This being an awesome brother stuff was not working out the way I planned.

  I mean, I now wanted her in a very un-brotherly way, and actually dragged her away from her dream guy.

  I sort of sucked as a brother.

  I didn’t like owning that.

  CHAPTER 38

  NOAH

  NOAH

  At the party, I ran a hand over my face, unable to get Peyton out of my head.

  But I tried. Really hard. I was up close and personal with a bunch of different mouths and tongues and bodies—and at the same time, I was trying to ‘un-interest’ myself in Peyton. I mean, get back on the ‘brother’ track.

  My confused thoughts went pretty much like this—… well, I’m not going to tell you how they went. But they didn’t go the way I intended. Instead, it ended up being every girl I kissed at the party turned into a fantasy of me kissing Peyton.

  So, instead of me telling you my guy thoughts during that party, I’m going to give you an excerpt from my thoughts a couple days before that—when my thoughts were fairly angelic, and un-hormonal, and … nice.

  See I had to write this “thing” in my English class. Since the teacher said it wouldn’t be graded or even read, I wrote about Peyton. Just because I liked thinking about Peyton—she was like a puppy to me, something I’d always wanted, and now it was right in my house. And it made cupcakes and soap.

  She sings Sonny and the locks in the shower. Man, she’s such a goofy cute little kid. She makes me smile…. Though, okay, I have to admit, she doesn’t seem like a kid to me anymore. I mean, when she first came to our house she didn’t either. She took my breath away … and sort of spoiled my plans to be the ultimate big brother to her (although, okay, we’re the same age—still, I’d planned to be protective … and perfect). But her unexpected hotness kind of made that hard. However, I got over it pretty fast … pretty much. I mean, she was so cute when she got caught eating my awesome lasagna—in the dark.

  And the way she tried so hard to be mean, when you could just tell she was the nicest, sweetest person in the world. (And she makes her own soap) (And sings boy-bands in the shower).

  I wrote on and on. When I was finished, I was like—wow, realizing I’d come a long way from the first moment I’d seen Peyton. It had taken a lot of willpower, but I had stayed on the path, being her brother.

  But THEN she kissed me. Oh, man.

  All my “brother” plans took a dive out the window.

  In case it’s not clear: I had a bad night at the party. For one thing, now all I wanted to do was be with Peyton. For another, I now knew she wanted another guy. And then to top it off, I had to deal with the agonizing thought it was my fault she didn’t nab her guy. I mean, she’d totally had her chance, and I dragged her away from it.

  I couldn’t deal with that.

  So, that actually helped. Helped me once again start to pull it back together—once again get with the ‘brother’ thing … but THEN I walked in on her in her underwear!! I saw my dream-girl practically naked. So, the end. No more brother stuff. Sorry.

  CHAPTER 39

  Peyton

  Peyton

  I blink, totally confused at what Noah just told me.

  He says it again. Like to confirm it. “Peyton, you know me. I’m IDespiseSonny123. I learned how to make lasagna for you. I practiced it. Perfected it over the years—for you. For when you came here—so you could have at least one thing—something—that you liked when you got here.”

  Trembling, I whisper in awe, “You’re IDespiseSonny123?”

  He nods.

  I swallow, trying so hard to believe it, but it seems too wonderful and amazing and astounding to really be true. “You’ve been following me all these years?”

  His answer is a slow, silent nod.

  My heart explodes.

  He says softly, “I just wanted you to know someone was out there. Someone cared.”

  I can feel tears welling in my eyes.

  Lots of times I felt like I had no family. But I guess I did. Not a reliable mom or dad. But whether I’m fully able to believe it or not, Noah has proven himself to be reliable. He was there for me. He’s my family. Maybe all I really have … but maybe he’s all I need. He was there with me when I felt all alone. The only person.

  I guess maybe a brother is what I’ve needed all along.

  When I try to explain this to Noah, he shakes his head, looking kind of sad.

  “No, I mean it,” I tell him earnestly. “Noah, you’re my family. I’m so thankful that I have you—that you’re my brother.”

  He clears his throat, shaking his head again. “Peyton, I hate to break it to you, but I’m not exactly feeling brotherly towards you these days.”

  He stares into my eyes, making me dizzy. He wets his lip and then says meaningfully, “I missed you a lot while you were at your mom’s.”

  CHAPTER 40

  NOAH

  NOAH

  When Peyton went to her mom’s house, I spent the entire time thinking about her … in a totally not brotherly way.

  And at night I kept waking up in a cold sweat, worried she wouldn’t come back. That she would stay at her mom’s forever.

  So, when she finally came back I was breathless. And I knew I had it bad.

  “Man,” I groaned. “I’m in love with Peyton.”

  I was not pleased.

 
; CHAPTER 41

  Peyton

  Peyton

  Noah grins at my stunned expression. He says with a tiny laugh, “I’m sorry Peyton. Brotherly—that’s not exactly a word I would use to describe the feelings I’ve had for you lately. In fact, it’s like the total opposite of that word.”

  Unable to digest what he’s saying without embarrassingly spontaneously bursting into confetti, I quickly change the subject. Back to one I still can’t wrap my mushy, awe-struck brain around.

  I whisper in reverent awe, “You’re IDespiseSonny123.”

  He grins at my coming back to that (and changing the subject from his ‘non-brotherly’ thoughts).

  He nods. “I’m IDespiseSonny123. So, yeah, I know you, Peyton. And more than that, you know me. And you like me.”

  He stares into my eyes. “I’ve been following you all these years, Peyton.”

  Feeling tears of emotion welling in my eyes again, I choke out, “Why?”

  He runs a hand through his hair, he shrugs, “I don’t know. I guess, at first, it was just because you seemed lonely.”

  I wince. I feel like I’ve been slugged hard in the stomach by his answer. Like Bianca was right after all. I swallow hard. “So that’s why you’ve been so nice to me?—you feel sorry for me?”

  “Yeah, that’s why,” he says total deadpan.

  He gives me a playful smirk. “Look you’re not exactly ugly, okay? So, I’ve been having duel feelings running though me, and they are kind of ripping me in half. One part of me wants to be brotherly towards you—but the other part of me … well, like I said, the other part of me isn’t feeling brotherly. At all. And that part of me keeps creeping in and making me kiss you and stuff.”

  I whisper, “I like the kissing.”

  He grins. “Well, I like giving you what you want.”

  I breathe out a laugh. “Well, I’d like to hear you sing Sonny and the Locks.”

  He groans, but then raises his eyebrows with a grin. “Right now?”

  I nod, still laughing.

  To my total amazement, and thrilled delight, he starts singing my favorite Sonny song—loud and bad.

  “Okay, okay, I believe you,” I tell him.

  He raises an eyebrow. “Are you saying you want me to stop?”

  “I’m saying I want you to do that other thing that I like.”

  He tilts his head, a smile creeping on his lips. “The kiss?”

  Going up in flames, I nod.

  Immediately, he’s next to me, smiling so big. He takes me in his heavenly arms, sending happy tingles through my delighted body. He whispers in my ear, “You know Fenton isn’t around, right?”

  I nod, unable to speak as his warm lips softly brush against mine.

  “So you want this? You want me?” His question sends a thrill through my entire body. I murmur breathlessly, “More than anything.”

  He grins against my mouth. “Like I said, I like giving you what you want.”

  Then he kisses me hungrily.

  EPILOG

  So that was our first date. The ‘fake’ date ended up to be a real date. One of two-hundred-thousand-million. What I’m saying is—it was just the beginning. The beginning of awesomeness.

  As for the rest of my family, they’re not perfect, but I know they love me. They do. They’re just soooo not perfect … but Noah is. And he loves me too.

  Really!

  He said so. Right in my ear. On our first date. And then a hundred-thousand times after.

  LOVE!!!!!!!!!!

  So, Is anyone out there? Yes. And he loves me dearly.

  His lasagna told me so.

  (Plus he spontaneously sings me Sonny songs.)

  (And hey, he does mini-golf for me. All the time.)

  And …

  Well, the list goes on and on and on.

  Like I said, Noah is perfect.

  And he’s my BOYFRIEND!!!!!

  Yay spin-the-bottle!

  Yay Bianca!

  And—most of all—YAY ME!!!!!

  Oh, by the way, we’re in college now together. I guess I should mention that.

  Like I said, YAY!!

  ******

  Update: If you want to read more about Peyton’s friends, Anna and Tate, from the restaurant Peyton works at, read the author’s new book, She Ain’t Mine … But I Want Her. (It will be out the middle of December 2016—so may be out by the time you read this. Look for it.) If you want to read more about Peyton’s best friend, Summer Baker, and her secret crush on her stepbrother, Mason Archer, read the author’s novel, Louder Than Words. (The first few chapters of Louder Than Words are provided after the following book info.)

  Summary of She Ain’t Mine … But I Want Her:

  **TATE: Okay, I have a thing for my best friend’s girlfriend, Anna. I always have. So I avoid Anna. Like she’s the flippin’ plague. So, of course, she thinks I hate her. She complains I won’t even look at her—but that’s because if I do, I’ll stare at her. Never stop. Ever. So, it’s better this way—her thinking I hate her. Problem solved, right? Well, you would think so. But then, my best friend, Sawyer, catches me staring at her. His intentions are good, but his proposal is … well, it’s going to get me in trouble. Because I like Anna. A lot more than he thinks. So, her kissing me for my birthday?—(oh that’s his proposal, by the way)—if he talks her into it … Maaan, this can NOT end well. ‘Cause I want to kiss the girl blind.

  **ANNA: My boyfriend, Sawyer, wants me to kiss his best friend, Tate—as a “gift” to Tate. A birthday gift. Not going to lie, I’ve always been uncomfortably drawn to Tate. Always. But Tate avoids me. At all costs. I’m pretty sure Tate hates me with a fiery passion. I mean, Tate won’t even look at me, and will LEAVE a place, rather than hang out if I’m near. So the request is … unusual. To say the least. Especially because Tate is a GIRL. (And, you know, I’M a girl—one with a boyfriend.) But Tate is kind of like a boy. A really, really cute dreamy one. One I think about wayyy more than I should. So, a kiss? Hmmmm.

  Note: She Ain’t Mine … But I Want Her is based off the author’s book: Fall For Me. It is a twist on that series, but parts are the same.

  Blake’s best friend, Griffin Piper, is from the book: His Kiss.

  Summary of His Kiss:

  Ally’s world was totally on track: the right boyfriend, the right school activities, the right plans. But then she is bribed into kissing the school “bad boy.” (Griffin Piper.) Now nothing is right. Nothing! Because all she can think about is … His Kiss.

  .

  Note From the Author, Melanie Marks:

  I hope you liked the story.

  There will be more to their tale in the future.

  If you would like to receive email notifications of my newest books, email me at:

  MelanieMarksA (at) Comcast.net

  MelanieMarksA@comcast.net

  Note about the story: If you want to read more about Peyton’s friends, Anna and Tate, from the restaurant Peyton works at, read Rachel Kiss’s book, She Ain’t Mine … But I Want Her. (It’s only a dollar right now.) If you want to read more about Peyton’s best friend, Summer Baker, and her secret crush on her stepbrother, Mason Archer, read Melanie Marks’ novel, Louder Than Words. (The first few chapters of Louder Than Words are provided next.)

  Summary of

  Melanie Marks’ novel:

  LOUDER THAN WORDS

  When seventeen year old Summer Baker is stalked by her obsessed ex-boyfriend she’s forced to ask for help from her secret weapon—her “bad-boy” ex-friend, Mason … but that’s a lot of ex’s. Also, Summer’s not sure her heart can take re-connecting with Mason. Mason who had once—no matter how brief of time—been her “stepbrother.” Mason with his smokin’ hotness and lingering stare.

  Still, Summer is forced to call on him, and he comes to her rescue. Just like she knew he would. But the problem is: Summer has always had a secret crush on Mason. But—whoa!—suddenly he’s looking at her all hungry and longing-like. And he says all the right
words to get her heart spazzing. It almost has her thinking he craves her too. Almost. But let’s face it, actions speak louder than words and Mason has put out zero action … unless you’re talking about action with other girls. He’s put out plenty of that. Grrr! He breaks girls’ hearts at lightening speed and has made-out with every hot girl at their school … that is, every hot girl except Summer. Because in Mason’s mind, Summer is off-limits. But that bites.

  ***

  Louder Than Words is available now

  http://www.amazon.com/Louder-Than-Words-Fall-Me-ebook/dp/B00I3OX6IS

  (Note: Make sure it is by Melanie Marks)

  *Note: Below are the first chapters of Melanie Marks’ novel, Louder Than Words. Keep reading. After that there is a romantic story added called, More Than a Crush.

  LOUDER THAN WORDS

  by Melanie Marks

  CHAPTER 1

  Furious, I text, “Bring me back my clothes. Now!!”

  I’m in the school’s empty locker room in only a towel, dripping wet. Freezing. And seething.

  My nostrils flaring (probably), I quickly text more, “Brian, I know it was you. I SAW your smug face during swim practice this morning. Bring. Them. Back. NOW!!”

  Only moments later Brian texts back, “I don’t have your clothes, Summer. Try the thousands of other boys whose hearts you broke.”

  I growl, making motions to throw my phone. Only I don’t throw it. ‘Cause it’s my phone.

  Shivering, I cringe realizing this nightmare almost didn’t happen. I almost didn’t come to swim practice this morning. Almost. I was so close to skipping it. ‘Cause practice isn’t mandatory on Fridays. Totally optional. But I’d wanted to show Coach I’m as devoted to swimming as I am to cheerleading. So I came. Then Coach didn’t even show. Nor most of the team. Just a couple of guys.