I wanted to run out, find that Ewan prick and punch his fucking face in. Arizona looked like she was about to cry, so I relaxed instead, letting a slow grin spread across my face.
“Do I look like a guy who needs to pay chicks for sex? I’m not that ugly, am I?”
She gave me a watery smile. “No, of course not. I should never have believed him. I guess at the time I really thought he was telling the truth. I had no idea he liked me, so I didn’t think he had any reason to lie.”
“Yeah, well it’s not like you really knew me at the time. You couldn’t have known any better,” I said in a soothing tone, trying to stop her inevitable flow of tears. “Besides, a lot of rich guys pay for sex. They think it’s just easier that way. Not me, but yeah…it does happen. I’m not surprised you listened to him.”
She jerked her head up. “Really?”
“Yeah. I get it. I mean, I wish you’d actually spoken to me about it and saved us all this drama, but hey – it’s actually been kinda fun giving each other crap for the last few weeks. Some of the insults you’ve come up with for me are fucking classic.”
She gave me another weak smile, and I grabbed her hand. “I forgive you, okay? We’re all good.”
She nodded. “Thank you. I don’t deserve it.”
“Sure you do. I’ve been just as bad. Remember how I made you dress up in that nurse costume?”
“You think I could forget that?”
With that, she suddenly burst into a fit of hysterical giggles.
“What’s so funny?” I asked as she practically shrieked with laughter, tears running down her cheeks. We were getting some pretty strange looks from other customers in the café, and after a few seconds I couldn’t help joining in her mirth. It was contagious.
“It’s just so ridiculous,” she said. “We’ve been so horrible to each other, all because some douchebag friend of mine made up some crap to keep me away from you.”
“Remember when you threatened to throw me out a window?” I said, guffawing at the memory.
“It was a figure of speech,” she said before erupting into another fit of laughter. “God, why is this so funny?”
“Because it is.”
Our fits of laughter finally died down a few minutes later, and she gazed at me. “How’d you know I was here, anyway?”
“Like I said before, I knew something was up the second you texted me back saying you had no idea what I was talking about when it came to Ewan and that note. So I…uh…”
My voice trailed off sheepishly, and she arched an eyebrow. “So you did what?” she asked.
“You left your laptop unlocked and signed into iCloud, so I used the find my iPhone program thing to track you down. The little GPS thing showed that you were right here. I came right away ‘cause I wanted to confront that dude and find out once and for all what the fuck was going on.”
“Stalker,” she said, her eyes crinkling around the corners.
I put my hands up. “I know, I know. You can take out a restraining order later. By the way, seeing as we’re doing this whole apology thing…well, I’m sorry for being such a prick to you these last few weeks. I was reacting to how you were acting, but I should’ve just manned up and asked you what your problem was straight away. It’s not all your fault. So I’m sorry too.”
“Hm…I’ll consider forgiving you,” she said with a playful smile. “Seriously though, it’s fine. Let’s just try to move on. And…uhh…let’s pretend last night never happened. I was drunk as a skunk.”
“No problem,” I said, although there was no way I was going to forget seeing her naked and begging for it anytime soon.
We sat in silence for a while as she drained her milkshake.
“He told me what the note said,” she finally said, peering at me over the top of her tall glass.
“Yeah, well, I meant it. I wanted to see you again.”
“Why?” she asked.
I shook my head. “You know why.”
“I want to hear you say it.”
She was just teasing me now, and I grinned and leaned forward. “Fine. I liked you, okay? You were funny, smart, beautiful…I didn’t care that you lived in the middle of nowhere. I still wanted to see you again.”
She chewed on the end of her straw, a half-smile playing on her lips. “And do you still like me?”
She didn’t even need to ask. We both already knew the answer to that question.
Fuck yeah.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ARIZONA
It’d been several days since the revelation of Ewan’s bad behavior, and I still felt incredibly guilty for the way I’d treated Mason. He’d made me feel a lot better when he said he understood why I chose to believe my friend over him in the first place, because I didn’t know him from a bar of soap and I honestly hadn’t even considered the fact that Ewan might’ve had a reason to lie to me. But still…holy cow, I’d been a bitch.
I’d spoken to Tina about it right away, and she’d given me some more tidbits of information. Ewan had also lied when he’d told me he had an aunt here in Newport, and he’d never even asked Tina to accompany him. He’d made it all up just so he could come and visit me alone without making it look like I was the only reason he came.
“I still can’t believe he lied about all of that,” Tina said, shaking her head. We were on Skype with webcam chat discussing Ewan again, and I sighed.
“I know. Have you spoken to him about it?”
“Yeah, at work last night. He tried to turn it all around on you and make it look like you were a massive bitch, but I told him to piss off. I don’t care if he’s apparently liked you all this time, that’s no excuse to lie like that and make you feel like shit.”
“And you never knew he was interested?”
She shook her head again. “No. No one did. It’s so weird…we’ve known him for so long, and he never said anything about being interested in you.”
“Yeah, it is weird. Can I ask you something sort of in relation to all that?”
“Of course.”
“You know how when Mason kicked Ewan out of the diner that day, Ewan said all that stuff about me having changed? Do you think it’s true?” I asked.
I nervously chewed on my lip as I awaited her response.
“Of course not!” she replied. “He’s just pissed that you rejected him. Sure, you have a rich father now and live in a big mansion, but that doesn’t mean your whole personality has changed. The Arizona that I always knew insisted on working hard to make a living, and from what I can see, you’re still doing that. Do you know how many people would’ve just never worked again and taken a free ride from Roy if they were in your situation?”
“I guess.”
“So no, you’re still the same old Arizona, only you have a new house and a new family now. Everything else is still the same. You’re still a hard worker, you’re still sweet and kind, and you’re still my favorite person. And still a virgin, I might add.”
She was right. Ewan had just been angry that I’d rejected him, and he had taken his anger out on me by making horrible comments guaranteed to make me feel like crap. As for the virgin thing…well, that still hadn’t changed, but I was starting to think that I wanted it to.
“Anyway, how’s things with Mason now?” she asked.
“Um…good. We’ve been hanging out a lot. No more pranks, although we still tease each other a lot. But that’s just fun.”
“And are you considering anything?” she said, playful smile on her lips. “I mean, he obviously still likes you.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. He’s been really great, and yeah, he’s made it pretty clear that he’s into me. You know, he told me he hasn’t even been with another girl since he met me.”
“Really? Wow. So you’re thinking of maybe taking things to another level?”
“I’m starting to feel like I might be ready, yeah,” I admitted. “I always said I wanted to wait around for the right guy, and well, he is pretty perfect.”
“He’s also your stepbrother,” she said in a warning tone. “I know you guys aren’t related or anything, but you know what people are like. If something happened between you two and everyone found out, it might cause some drama. I’m not saying don’t do it, I’m just saying be careful.”
“Yeah. That’s true.”
“Then again, you shouldn’t listen to me,” she said. “I feel like all I’ve done is give you a buttload of bad advice. Like when you first met Mason, I was encouraging you to go for it, and then after what Ewan told us, I was dead against it. And now I’m back on Team Mason. So my only advice now is to just ignore what everyone else says and listen to yourself. Go with your instincts. They’ll always tell you what’s right. I know that sounds totally corny, but you know what I mean.”
I creased my forehead in thought as I considered her words. She was absolutely right. I needed to listen to my heart and go from there, and if my heart was telling me that Mason was the right guy for me to lose my virginity to, then that’s what I wanted to do, regardless of whether or not we had to keep it a secret from our parents for a while.
“If I do decide to…you know…with Mason at some stage soon, do you have any advice?”
She laughed. “Arizona, as I live and breathe…are you asking me for sex advice?”
I blushed. “Well, it’s not like I have any idea what to do. I don’t want him to think I’m some pathetic starfish who just lies there.”
“Okay, well to begin with, don’t listen to any of the ridiculous tips you read in magazines. Men are pretty simple, honestly. Just participate. Find your rhythm. Take the lead once in a while.”
“Take the lead?”
“Yeah. I mean, initiate things or get on top. Believe me, guys think it’s hot as hell when it’s the girl who starts things off. Just don’t do it while you’re drunk like you tried to the other night!”
Well, that was some food for thought…
By the time we’d finished chatting, I was certain that the idea that had been rumbling around in my head for the last few days was a good one. I didn’t want to be a virgin anymore. I was sick of it, and I’d waited long enough. I wanted to finally experience being with a man and sharing that kind of intimacy, and Mason was the perfect candidate now that all our drama had been sorted.
He was hot as hell, smart, and kind. The night that he’d taken care of me after I visited Tom in prison had really proved that. He’d done it despite our differences, and he’d honestly made me feel like I was the only girl in the world. Contrary to my initial impressions of him, he wasn’t just a dick with a silver spoon hanging out of his mouth.
I knew he was my stepbrother and some people might have a problem with that, but for some reason that only served to make the fantasy even hotter. Since I’d discovered Ewan’s lies about him and we’d ended our cold war, we’d been hanging out and doing a lot of things together, and it left me completely and utterly frustrated to spend so much time with him without experiencing so much as another kiss. I knew he was just trying to respect me and take things slowly, but I went to bed each night with every part of me tingling, especially the area between my thighs.
So that was it. I’d made up my mind.
I was going to seduce Mason, and I wasn’t going to regret it for a second.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MASON
Sweet Jesus. Arizona was sexy as hell, but never before had she looked this overtly sexy. I’d taken her out to dinner for the third time this week, and she was all dressed up in a tight white bandage dress that displayed every inch of her curves along with tall stilettos that could only be referred to as ‘fuck-me heels’. Her eyes were framed with lashings of mascara, and her lips were stained a deep pink. Again, sweet Jesus. I could barely keep my eyes off her, although to be fair, I also couldn’t keep my eyes off her when she was in sweats with no makeup on. She didn’t even need any of that crap to look amazing.
She was just fucking magic. Her eyes, her lips, her tits, her waist…all of it. And yet she was somehow still so innocent. I desperately wanted to tear her clothes off and fuck her brains out, but at the same time I felt bad for even thinking about it. Usually chicks threw themselves at me so I knew just how badly they wanted me to fuck them. There was never any question about it.
But Arizona. Christ, she was an enigma. Still a virgin at nineteen, and I had no idea what it would take for her to change her mind on that. Don’t get me wrong, I totally respected her decision and would never try to force her into changing her mind…but damn, it’d be nice if she did. I’d spent so many nights jerking off, imagining it was her hand wrapped around my cock, slowly stroking up and down, and I was starting to go a little crazy.
“What do you think of the salmon?” I asked, pointing at her dinner plate with my fork.
“Oh…um…it’s good,” she replied, fidgeting with her napkin.
She seemed kinda nervous tonight, and I wondered why. Since we’d resolved our issues and started hanging out, things had been cool between us. Cool in a good way. We’d talked, laughed, shared and mocked each other endlessly about stupid stuff, just like real siblings. Only I didn’t want to be her brother. Hell no. I wanted to be her friend, her lover, her confidante.
Shit. I wanted to be her boyfriend. None of my friends were in steady relationships, and they basically viewed men who did want girlfriends as total pussies. I admit I used to be like that myself, riding on an endless carousel of women, never even considering the possibility of taking it any further than a one night stand or a friends-with-benefits scenario.
But things were different now. I could imagine myself waking up next to Arizona every morning and never getting tired of seeing those wide hazel eyes or that messy black hair of hers. She wasn’t like all the other girls I knew with their too-skinny aerobicized bodies, collagen-injected lips and overly-painted faces. She was real, and to me, that was perfection. All those other girls might look okay during a drunken night out, but in the cold light of day they were a lot less fuckable and definitely not relationship material.
“So Roy and Layla are away for the weekend,” Arizona said, carefully studying my face for a reaction.
“Yeah, I know,” I replied. “What about it? Are you annoyed you weren’t invited?”
She laughed. “No, not at all. I’m just glad we have the house to ourselves for the next few days.”
Was she saying what I thought she was saying? Surely not.
“Go on,” I said, lifting my fork to my mouth and chewing slowly, pretending to play it cool.
She leaned forward and lightly stroked her hand over my arm, and I felt a bolt of electricity jolt straight down my spine. My cock stood to attention in my pants, and I looked down at her hand and then back up at her.
“I think we should get out of here,” she said. “This restaurant seems a little crowded.”
Okay, she was definitely insinuating something sexual. She’d never had a problem with noisy restaurants before, and the hand on my arm was the clincher. She wanted it. She wanted me. I wasn’t about to say no. If that’s what she wanted, then that’s what she’d get. I paid the check and drove us home as fast as possible without breaking the speed limit, and a thick silent tension filled the air. I don’t think either of us knew what to say in those moments.
Before we got out of the car I turned to her. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, you know. This should be your decision and yours alone,” I said.
“I know,” she replied. “It is my decision.”
This was so much hotter than I’d ever imagined this kind of scenario might play out. She was making the first move on me, which wasn’t something I’d expected from a girl like her at all, at least when she was stone-cold sober unlike the other night. I still couldn’t even believe it was happening. I was used to chicks hitting on me, true, but this was different. For once in my life, I didn’t feel like the sleazy, arrogant man-whore everyone else assumed I was. Right here, with her loo
king at me like that, I felt complete instead.
She grinned and stepped out of the car, and I followed her upstairs before leading her into my bedroom. She’d never actually been inside it before, and she gazed around at all my stuff, chewing on her lower lip as she did so. As much as she was trying to seem confident, she was still nervous, and I needed to try and chase that fear away.
“So…I guess I’ve been a bit of a bad influence on you, huh?” I teased, slow grin spreading over my face.
“I can be bad too,” she said, although I could still see the hesitation in her eyes. They mirrored everything I was feeling. Fear. Anticipation. Lust.
“Oh really?” I asked, arching a brow. I wanted to tease her the same way she’d been teasing me, but at the same time it was getting hard to ignore my rapidly-stiffening cock.
She bit her lower lip. “Uh-huh.”
This was it. Show time. I took a step towards her and slid an arm around her waist. “In that case… why don’t you show me?”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ARIZONA
There was no going back now. I’d set something in motion that couldn’t be stopped, and deep down I knew I didn’t even want it to stop. This was my moment. This was my night.
Mason searched for confirmation in my eyes, and I knew it was there. It had been burning brightly inside me since the moment we met, as much as I’d tried to shove it aside, and I knew tonight I was more ready than ever…ready to become his and his alone.
I tilted my head up to kiss him, and he lowered his mouth to mine in response. Our lips grazed together softly at first, but we were both impatient from all the weeks of sexual tension building up between the two of us. He pulled me in closer, our bodies meshing together perfectly in a tight embrace, and I moaned softly into his mouth as his tongue explored mine in a kiss so hot it could’ve set the ocean on fire. I could feel his hardness digging up against my thigh, and it sent wild shivers down my spine as I pictured it finally thrusting inside me.
Mine - A Stepbrother Romance Page 12