by B. B. Hamel
Dad looked concerned. “Was it the food? I’ll talk to the staff.”
“No. I’m just exhausted. Excuse me.”
I turned and left the dining room, not bothering to look back.
I knew I probably looked even crazier to him storming off. I could only imagine what our parents were thinking. But if I had to sit for one more second at that table with that smug, self-centered, gorgeous asshole, I was going to scream.
I went upstairs as quickly as I could and closed my bedroom door, flopping down on the bed. I closed my eyes and breathed, slowly getting myself under control.
Cole was back. My mistake husband, my secret shame, my stepbrother. The guy that made my body feel things I never thought I could feel. He had been so charming back in paradise, but now he seemed only cocky and brash.
Part of me had wanted him to come back, not so that I could divorce him, but so that I could get to know him. Yeah, it was crazy. We only knew each other for a few days, but still. Something felt right when I was with him, like it would be easy to be myself.
Plus, he was absolutely stunning. Even his smell drove me insane, which was totally unlike me. I didn’t usually get really into a guy’s looks, but he was something else, something I couldn’t explain. And I felt it right between my legs every time he grinned at me, even when he was being an ass.
But I couldn’t let him keep thinking that I was just some crazy stalker. I grabbed my laptop and navigated to the official marriage registrar, dealing with the agonizingly slow website until finally I found it.
Our marriage license. I hadn’t looked at it in a long time, and it felt like it wasn’t real. But I knew it was since it was from a government website and was on official government letterhead with all the seals and whatever.
As I went to hit print, there was a soft knock at my door.
“Yeah?” I called out.
“It’s me.” Cole’s voice.
“No, thanks.”
The door opened and he came inside, shutting it behind him.
“You can’t just barge in here,” I said, annoyed.
“Your dad sent me to check on you.”
I sat up, frowning. “Well, I’m fine.”
“You sure? Looked like you weren’t fine at lunch.”
“Yeah, well, you’re an asshole, and I’m looking forward to when you’re out of my life.”
He laughed, coming closer. I took a sharp breath of air into my lungs as he looked around my room, clearly judging the décor. I hadn’t updated it since I was in high school, so it was embarrassingly late-2000s, but whatever.
“Cool posters,” he said.
“Thanks.”
He picked up a Nirvana CD from my dresser. “You a fan?”
“Yes. Don’t touch my stuff.”
He put it back. “Me too. Nevermind is my favorite album.”
“Mine too,” I said grudgingly.
“See, sis, we have so much in common.” He sat down on the edge of my bed.
“Stop calling me sis.”
“What should I call you then? Wife?”
“That’d be more appropriate,” I mumbled.
“Come on, Alex. You think I really believe that shit? I know you’re just trying to get back at me for fucking you and then disappearing.”
“I don’t care about that,” I snapped back. “And I’m not lying.”
“Okay, okay,” he said, holding his hands up. “That’s fine, whatever. We can at least be civil.”
I sighed. “I can prove it to you.”
“Go ahead.”
I turned the laptop toward him. “See? That’s an official marriage license. Take a look.”
He pulled the computer toward him and looked closely at the screen. His face clouded over for a moment as he considered it, but I couldn’t read his expression.
Finally, he looked up. “This is impressive,” he said.
“You believe me now?”
“I mean, it’s impressive that you’d go to so much trouble. It’s a really good fake.”
I gaped at him, uncomprehending. “You think I forged this?”
He shrugged. “Sure. Wouldn’t be impossible. Doesn’t look all that real to me.”
I wanted to scream. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “But it’s from a government website!”
“Is it?” He shrugged, standing up.
“Cole,” I said through my teeth, “you have to understand. We are really married.”
“Look, sis,” he said, “I had a good time with you. Frankly, I still get hard thinking about that tight pussy.”
I blushed and looked away. “Stop,” I said.
“You don’t want to hear about it? In the jungle I used to think about your body. I dreamed about making you sweat. I wanted to track you down and get you off one more time, and look what happened.”
“You’re not getting anything off. You were just an attractive stranger.”
“Glad you still think I’m attractive.”
I sighed, completely exasperated. “That’s not what I said.”
“It is, actually.” He crossed his arms, smirking at me. “Look, you can keep up this whole marriage joke if you want, but I’m not interested.”
“It’s. Not. A. Joke.” I practically spit the words at him.
“Fine, whatever you say. But we might as well get along.”
“Look, if you think this is all a joke, will you sign some papers for me?” I got out of bed and dug into my bag. “I have them in here somewhere.”
“Really? You carry around fake divorce papers?”
“Not fake,” I said, ignoring him. “Ah ha! Here we go.” I pulled them out and showed them to him.
He glanced at them and handed them back. “No, thanks.”
I felt like falling over. “Come on. Please?”
“Begging now?” He smirked and grabbed my waist, pulling me against him. I stumbled right into his chest, my heart beginning to hammer. “Sounds familiar.”
“Cole,” I mumbled. I breathed in his smell and it all came rushing back again, the way he made me feel, the way my back arched under his strong hands. He was the same man I knew back then, except he was being an asshole for some reason. “Don’t be a dick.”
He laughed, whispering in my ear. “We both know this is what you want.”
“I just want a divorce.” I pushed myself away and he laughed again.
“Whatever you say, sis.”
I made a face. This day was just too insane, too intense. I needed to be done with all this. Maybe tomorrow he would be more willing to listen.
“When are you leaving?”
He cocked his head as he opened my bedroom door. “Leaving?”
“Yeah, like, leaving my house, going home.”
“You don’t know.”
I looked at him. “What?”
“Oh, this is getting better and better.”
“What are you talking about?”
“My mom is moving in with your dad.” He was halfway out of my room. I felt a bolt of lighting run through my core.
He turned back, smiled, and spoke slowly.
“And I’m staying here for the summer.”
4
Cole
After months in the Thai jungle working my ass off, training harder than I had ever trained before, I came back home and suddenly had a wife.
I’d thought she was fucking with me. I really did. I hadn’t been able to tell if she was just a psycho trying to trap me into a relationship or some shit, or if she just wanted to bust my balls for not calling her after the vacation was over. But as soon as she showed me that marriage certificate, I knew it was real.
That wasn’t any reason to stop messing with her, though. The way she looked when she got so angry it was hard for her to speak drove me absolutely wild. I’d never before wanted to throw a woman down on the floor and fuck her raw right where we were standing, but Alex made me feel that way. Maybe I hadn’t gotten that far before, but I wanted it now.
I f
ucking needed her again, that was for sure. My time back home was supposed to be all about debauchery and catching up on lost time, but as soon as I had laid eyes on Alex again, I’d known that shit was done. I knew what I really wanted.
It was her lips, wrapped around my cock. I wanted to hear her pant my name, to feel her body stiffen as she came, over and over.
Except she was my wife and my fucking stepsister.
How could so much change? I go away into the jungle for one year and suddenly my shit is all blown up.
I wasn’t the marriage type. I wasn’t interested in having babies with her, moving out to a house with a white picket fence, none of that bullshit. But I was interested in fucking her sweet pussy rough and deep. Finally having her completely.
And plus, what else was I going to do? I had no other plans or prospects, not yet at least. When my new stepfather suggested that I move in with them, well, it just seemed too good an opportunity to pass up. So why the fuck not? I hadn’t lived with Cindy in years, but that was fine. Frank’s house was fucking enormous, so I doubted I’d even run into her.
Best of all, though, Alexa’s room was right next door. I could practically hear her panting my name already through the thin walls.
Alexa didn’t emerge from her room for the rest of the night, and that was fine with me. I was too busy unpacking my shit to really care what she was up to. I had plenty of time to tease my new stepsister, or maybe I should think of her as my new wife? Either way, I would get what I wanted soon enough.
First, I needed a workout.
I dipped down and grunted, finishing up my set. My body was covered in sweat as I caught my breath, changing the song on my phone. The music blared through the buds in my ears.
Frank had a decent gym down in his basement. It wasn’t exactly professional quality by any means, but he did have a nice set of machines and free weights. There was enough to get my lifting routine in and then some. It made sense that he had a gym, considering how fit the man was for his age.
As I began to cool down, something caught my eye over near the stairs. I looked up and saw Alexa waving at me.
I pulled the buds from my ears. “What’s up, sis?” I said.
“Don’t call me that,” she grumbled as she came downstairs.
She was wearing a thin pair of short cotton shorts and a sweatshirt. Her hair was all disheveled, and she looked like she had just woken up from a nap. And all I could think about was fucking her up against the mirror, making her watch as I fucked her tight pussy deep.
“What can I do for you?” I asked her. “Come down to sweat with me?”
“No, thanks. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“If this is about marriage, I’m not interested.”
She made a face, and I had to bit my tongue to keep from laughing at her. “This isn’t about the fact that we’re married. Well, it is, but not exactly.”
I leaned up against the wall and crossed my arms. “Spill it.”
“Did your mom talk about our parents and their jobs with you at all?”
“Not really. Can’t say I’m interested.”
“Well, try to be. Apparently their marriage is some huge scandal or whatever.”
“Because Cindy’s company bought Frank’s?”
“Yeah.”
“Get to the part where I should give a shit, sis.” I loved the look on her face, pure annoyance.
“You should care because she’s your mother.”
I rolled my eyes at that. “You don’t know Cindy very well yet, but she’s not exactly the nurturing type.”
She was silent for a second. “Yeah, maybe I can see that.”
“Cindy and me aren’t on the best terms.”
“So why are you even staying here, then?”
“Because I need a place to stay while I get my fighting career going again.”
“Don’t you have savings?”
I laughed, shaking my head. How naïve was this girl?
“Savings are for people that know they’re going to be around in a year, sis. I put my body on the line for a living. Planning for the future is tough when you’re not sure you have one.”
She frowned at that. “Seems pretty crazy to me.”
“Maybe,” I said, moving toward her, “but you’ve never felt what it’s like in the ring.”
“I’ve seen it on TV. Looks like it hurts.”
“Hurts like hell,” I said, stopping right near her. I could tell her breath started coming quicker. “But I feel more alive in there than I do any other time. I don’t care about the past or the future; in the ring, it’s just my opponent and me. It’s pure, fast, and dangerous.”
“Not my kind of thing,” she said.
I wanted to tip her chin back and bite her lip. Maybe I’d teach her to make it her sort of thing. In fact, I could see it being something she enjoyed, maybe even loved.
“Yeah, well, that’s fine.”
She shook her head, stepping away. “Whatever. The reason I’m here is to tell you not to tell anyone about what happened between us.”
“Why? Embarrassed?”
“Our parents don’t need another scandal. It could ruin them.”
“Can’t say I care all that much, honestly. No offense. Your dad seems like a nice enough guy, but my mom has never given me a reason to give a shit.”
“Do it for me, then,” she said, exasperated.
“What’s in it for me?” I asked, smirking at her.
“I won’t tell anyone what a big fucking asshole you are,” she snapped.
“That’s no secret, sis.”
“Just don’t talk about it, okay?”
I shrugged, turning away from her. “Sure. Whatever you say.” It didn’t matter to me one way or the other; I just loved giving her a hard time.
“Okay. Thank you.”
I stripped off my shirt and began to towel off. I caught her staring at me out of the corner of my eye but didn’t say anything. I wanted her to enjoy the show. It was obvious how much she wanted me, too, by the way she reacted every time I so much as came near her.
She may have acted like I was the biggest dick in the world, but she wanted my big dick, and I knew it.
“Still on for tomorrow night?” I asked her.
She nodded, biting her lip. “Yeah.”
“See you then.” I gathered up my stuff.
“Where are you going?”
“Taking a shower. Care to join me?”
She blushed, looking away. “No, thanks.”
“You sure? I’d love to tongue your lovely little pussy while the warm water runs down your body.”
She bit her lip again and then turned and left the basement without another word.
I watched her go, grinning hugely.
The next day, I was too busy calling up my contacts in the fighting world to bother with Alexa. I found a nice spot up on the roof deck in the sun, set up my laptop and phone, and began to make my calls.
Back before I left for Thailand, I had a pretty decent career. Promoters were calling me up all the time, begging me to fight random guys all the time. I was lucky enough to get to be a little selective with who I fought and when. Now, though, I needed to take whatever fights I could get, prove that I was still worth watching.
That was something I liked about fighting. Nobody gave a shit who you were or what you looked like. If you could fuck some guy up with your bare hands, then you were good to go. Skill was the only thing that people looked for, and I had plenty of it.
Unfortunately, I had to prove that still. Even though I had just gotten back from training with Skad, which was a huge boost to my profile, I couldn’t just jump into the ring with some big-name fighter.
After maybe an hour or two, I finally had a match set up for the next week. Normally fighters wanted more time to study tape and shit like that, but I wanted to get into the ring as soon as possible. My manager wasn’t too happy about that decision, but he could go fuck himself. The fight w
as with some young guy who probably considered himself lucky to get into the ring with someone a little more established, like me.
But that made it a dangerous match. I didn’t know the kid and he didn’t know me, so we were going into this blind.
As I sat there Googling his name, Frank slowly came up the steps.
“There you are,” he said. I looked up from my laptop.
“Frank.” I nodded to him.
He stood near the railing, looking out over the city. “Nice view, isn’t it?”
“It is,” I said.
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Frank said, sitting down at the table with me.
“Go for it.” I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms.
“Cole, I’m glad you’re staying here with us. The house is usually very empty for Alex since I work so much.”
“I’m happy to help.”
“It’s just, I want to make this work, with your mother. But things are difficult. We have a lot of outside stress.”
I nodded, frowning. “Alex mentioned some of that.”
“Yes. Well. Your mother wanted me to say . . .” He looked away, clearly uncomfortable. “She wanted me to say that we hope you’ll try and help out, while you’re around.”
“Frank, did Cindy send you up here to try and tell me to behave?”
He sighed, shaking his head. “It’s not like that.”
I held up a hand. “Yes, it is. And it’s fine. I don’t blame you one bit.”
“I do mean it when I say I’m glad you’re staying. I hope you’ll at least try and be friends with Alex.”
“I’m sure me and your daughter will be very close.”
“And try to get along with your mom, too.”
“That I can’t promise.”
He nodded. “Good enough.” He stood up to leave. “Sorry to have bothered you. Consider this matter closed.”
He turned to leave. “Frank?” I said. He looked back at me. “Don’t be my mother’s errand boy. She doesn’t respect that.”
He opened his mouth as if he was going to respond but decided against it. Instead he just smiled and left.
I watched him go, curious. Most men would have gotten pissed off at a comment like that, but he seemed to genuinely take it to heart. Or at least he did on the outside.