Mask - A Stepbrother Romance

by Daire, Caitlin

  “Just wanted to tell you I’m giving you a ride to class once you’re done,” I said with an angelic smile. “Your Mom asked me to.”

  “Why?” Sasha crossed her arms defensively, glaring at me as I matched her gaze. It was like we were having a staring contest in the middle of her room.

  “Probably to get us to bond,” I replied, rolling my eyes. She did the same. At least we’d bonded over that.

  “Fine, let me just use the bathroom and we can go,” she said.

  “It’s just across the hall.”

  “I know, your Dad showed me,” she said. “But thanks anyway.”

  She pulled her toothbrush out of her toiletries bag, and I could barely hide my smile as she headed for the bathroom we now shared.

  “I’ll just be a minute,” she said. “I need to brush my teeth.”

  “You do that,” I replied, voice dripping with amusement. My plan was already being put into action, and she’d only been in the house for an hour or so. Amazing.

  I waited in front of the bathroom, mentally replaying the steps I’d taken before Sasha arrived. The day before, I’d bought some red food dye, and I’d also bought a fancy bottle of mouthwash for our shared bathroom before placing it on her sink.

  Do the math.

  Obviously she’d notice that the mouthwash was red when she saw it, but it was raspberry-flavored, so she wouldn’t expect anything less. There were plenty of different flavored mouthwashes in various colors around these days. My favorite was a green spearmint flavored one. Of course, that never stained my teeth green…

  I just had to hope she didn’t look in the mirror too closely when she was finished.

  She came out of the bathroom a moment later and looked at me like she’d just smelled something rotten. I smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes.

  “What, don’t you ever smile?” I asked her, affecting an innocent tone.

  She didn’t reply. She headed for the stairs instead, but I stood in her way, giving her a flash of my pearly whites.

  “Come on, just one smile,” I begged.

  Sasha glared at me, then stretched her lips into a grimace that could have been a snarl, but was most definitely not a smile. Best thing of all?

  Her teeth were the color of blood, and she looked like a vampire.

  I snorted and barely managed to cover it up as she shot me a suspicious look. My prank had worked—she looked like she’d been drinking blood moments ago. Excellent.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked.

  “Life,” I responded in the most serious tone I could muster up. “It’s just amusing how fate has brought us together.”

  “Right. Whatever.” Sasha rolled her eyes and started walking downstairs.

  I followed suit, trying to hide the smile that was playing on my lips. I carefully steered Sasha past the kitchen so no one would tell her she looked like a bloodhound, and then we got into my car.

  I revved up the engine, still grinning, and started driving towards our college campus. I could feel Sasha’s burning gaze on me, but I didn’t say a word. I wanted her to come out of her shell a little first.

  “So, what’s your major?” she asked me after several minutes had passed. I grinned to myself. I’d broken her will to be silent, she’d spoken up, and things felt slightly more normal now.

  “I’m pre-law. Now you know why I tend to argue everything,” I said.

  She snorted.

  “What’s wrong with that?” I asked.

  “I should’ve known,” she said, shaking her head. “You’re going to be a vicious legal shark in no time.”

  “I’m going into environmental law,” I told her calmly. It felt so good to mess with her, and I loved seeing her squirm. “Save the planet, that kind of thing.”

  “Oh,” she replied, sounding surprised; like it was such a huge shock that I wasn’t some sort of stereotypical jock. “That’s...actually nice.”

  “What’s yours?” I asked, looking at her as we stopped at a red light.

  “Psychology,” she said a little shyly.

  “Cool,” I told her, flashing a grin. “Maybe you can treat me one day. You know, for my severe medical condition where I sleepwalk and shoot people. Or was it stab? I’d have to ask Chelsea, although she probably won’t return my texts ever again.”

  She snorted, and we shared a conspiratorial look. “Yeah,” she giggled. “Sorry about that. You kind of deserved it, though.”

  “Well, maybe my Dad should’ve pranked me instead of you,” I replied.

  Sasha gave me a blank look in return. “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “Well, I wanted to get back at him that night,” I explained. “He never told me he got married, let alone invited me. Anyway, he hates Chelsea and her family, seeing as they’re his political opposition, so I brought her along just to piss him off. She’s not really my girlfriend. She’s just kinda crazy and tells everyone we’re dating, but she knows we’re not.”

  A short silence followed, after which Sasha looked at me, puzzled. “I thought she was your girlfriend, and she was there so you could make fun of me.”

  “Nope,” I said, giving her a side-eyed glance. “I didn’t even know you’d be there.”

  “Oh,” she said in a small voice. I could tell realization was dawning on her. She’d initially thought I’d known she was my stepsister, and she’d thought I was just messing with her at the dinner. Now that she knew the truth, maybe this could change something between us, and we could go back to being tentative friends like we’d been when we’d made up after our class argument the other week.

  Or maybe we could be something more than friends.

  “Here we are,” I told her as I parked on campus. “You need me to walk you to class?”

  “Um…okay, sure,” she said. Oh, so the ice princess had melted a little bit. Good job, me. “That might be nice.”

  Then she smiled at me, and I nearly lost it at the sight of her blood-red teeth. I could’ve told her right then and there, but it was so damn funny. She seemed like a good sport, anyway. Stifling my laughter, I got out of the car and opened her door, and then I walked her over to the building where her women’s studies class was.

  We said our goodbyes and waved at each other, and I stared after her as she left, taking in her perfect curvy figure as my cock twitched in my jeans. She really was a stunner. It was a goddamned shame that I was technically related to her now.

  She looked over her shoulder once she reached the door to her class, and the smallest of smiles lit up her face as our gazes connected. It made me feel strangely hot, like I had a fever or something, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. It was just the damned Texas heat, that’s all.

  At least that’s what I was going to tell myself.

  ***

  I was sitting in my last class of the day when my phone started beeping with a load of incoming messages. I discreetly pulled it out to check what was going on, and I nearly lost it as I opened the Matcher app.

  WHAT THE HELL LOGAN??

  I WILL KILL YOU, YOU JACKASS

  I could barely hold back my laughter as I started replying to Sasha. It had taken her several hours to notice she had blood-red teeth...a great success in the prank department. She must’ve been furious, but I couldn’t help teasing her some more.

  I shot back a text: Please don’t suck my blood :(

  No one even told me all day! Oh my god, I am going to die of embarrassment, she replied.

  But you’re already dead! Need company in your coffin tonight?

  I HATE YOU

  Don’t worry, I threw out all the garlic…sis.

  Fine, be like that! Game on…bro

  I’m no match for a vampire!

  Actually, you are a match for me, according to this app :)

  I grinned at her reply, feeling like a fool.

  “Something you want to share with the class, Logan?”

  I jerked my head up from my phone. My professor was right next to me,
his tone clipped as he stared down at me. I shook my head with a grin and pocketed my phone.

  It was official. Living with Sasha was going to be fun as hell…

  Chapter 7

  Sasha

  I couldn’t believe Logan had pranked me. Actually, no…I could. I did believe he was capable of pulling every nasty prank one could imagine, even if it was as horrible as having me gargle that godawful colored mouthwash. The cunning bastard had obviously sneaked food dye into it.

  What was strange was the fact that nobody had even told me for the whole damn day. God, what everybody must have been thinking of me! I couldn’t let him get away with this so easily, so it was time for me to escalate our silly little prank war. As immature as it was, it was honestly kinda fun. I just had to think of something that would not only serve Logan right but also scare the shit out of him.

  And it totally had to be something more embarrassing, of course.

  As I walked back to my spacious new home, my mind raced like crazy, trying to think of something, but right now, my mind was officially completely blank.

  “Hey, you’re back, sis.” Logan’s voice hit my ears as I stepped into the living room, and I looked up to see him sprawled on the couch with a wide grin on his face.

  I couldn’t wait to wipe away that smarmy smile from his arrogant—and yet still devastatingly handsome—face. “Should I ask Martha to give you a pint of blood for dinner? Is B-positive all right for you?” he asked me with mock concern.

  I feigned an angry expression. If he thought I was actually really pissed about the red teeth prank, he might think the prank war was over, and he’d never see my next one coming…

  “Oh, screw you, Logan. Joke’s over.” I brushed past the sofa and took the stairs two steps at a time to my room.

  “Sure, sis. What fun that would be with you…”

  I heard Logan calling out to me as I left, but I didn’t answer and then shut my bedroom door with more force than usual, still putting up the pretense that I was really mad.

  I threw my bag on the bed and went over to the dressing table mirror. The furniture in my new room was beautiful; some sort of French antique wooden arrangement, and I couldn’t believe my luck to be living somewhere like this. The whole house was wonderful, and George was incredibly generous for giving us so much and letting us live here with him. Speaking of George, I hadn’t exactly been here long, but I’d already gotten the distinct impression that he and Logan weren’t on the best terms. I vaguely wondered why as I inspected a chipped fingernail before picking up a wide-toothed comb.

  As I pulled the comb through my hair, which was now frizzy after the long day I’d had with back-to-back classes, I yawned and noticed from my reflection that there was still a hint of that stupid red liquid on my teeth, even though I’d scrubbed them as best as I could as soon as I’d realized what Logan had done. Oh boy, it would be a long time before I lived that incident down on campus. Practically half the student body had seen me wandering around looking like a vampire.

  Not wanting to use the bathroom I shared with Logan just yet in case he’d booby-trapped it with something else, I finger-rubbed the rest of the stains from my teeth. I had to give credit to him for finding such a stubborn food dye—just as stubborn as him—which managed to stick all day long.

  I decided to go for a walk, figuring some fresh air would clear my head and give me some ideas on how to exact my revenge, and after changing into running shoes, I put on my iPod and stuffed some cash into my jeans pocket just in case I wanted to stop somewhere for a soda or snack. Jogging downstairs, I couldn’t see Logan anywhere, and I felt a slight pang of…wait, no, it was nothing. For a second, I’d actually kinda wished he was there and missed him, but that was ridiculous. I couldn’t miss someone I barely knew.

  “Aren’t you going to have dinner with the rest of the family, dear?” Martha—the Ryder’s housekeeper—asked with a kind smile as I walked past her while she fluffed up some cushions. She was a nice lady and I’d liked her almost immediately upon meeting her. “It’ll be ready in half an hour.”

  “Oh, I’m just going out for a quick walk,” I replied with a smile. “I’ll be back in time for dinner.”

  “All right. Have a nice walk!” she said.

  I smiled again and waved before heading outside, and as the fresh early evening air hit me, I felt as if my mind was beginning to return to its normal state. Moving in with Logan Ryder had been a shock to my system, but now that I was already getting used to living in his house, I was over it.

  Oh, who was I kidding? I wasn’t over it, and I totally enjoyed this sort of shock to the system. I’d never felt this alive in my life before. Logan’s entry into my life was like a cyclone that had finally stirred things up and brought some excitement to my usually rather dull existence. But that didn’t mean I was letting him get away with that stupidly embarrassing prank he’d pulled this morning. He was going to pay for it.

  As I walked down the street towards the nearby commercial area, I looked through the still-open stores until something caught my attention; Winfrey’s Toy Store. It looked like it was about to close, and a devilish smile quirked up my lips as a mischievous plan took shape in my mind. Oh, this will be so much fun!

  I jogged across the road and pushed open the door.

  A tall brunette lady greeted me with a generous smile as I breezed inside. ““How can I help you, sweetheart? I’m only open for another ten minutes, but that’s plenty of time for us to find something. Looking for a gift?”

  “Great. And yes, I’d like something for my brother,” I said with an innocent flutter of my eyelashes.

  “Of course. Do you have something in mind? How old is he?” she said.

  “He’s ten,” I replied. Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie—Logan was mentally ten, right?

  “What does he like? Trucks? Games? We actually just got some new editions of the Settlers of Catan board game. It’s been very popular lately.”

  “Actually, I was wondering if you have some rubber animals. Reptiles or snakes,” I asked. “He loves that sort of stuff. God knows why!”

  She gave me a rueful smile. “My son is the same. Anyway, I think we have some near the back. I’ll just have a look.”

  She smiled and headed down one of the small aisles before returning to the counter and placing a range of rubber snakes, crocodiles and lizards before me.

  “I’ll have this one, please,” I said, pointing to a very genuine-looking green and yellow snake that was as thick as my wrist and almost two feet long. That would definitely do.

  I mentally clapped my hands with glee as the sales lady wrapped it up and printed off my receipt. Oh, Logan was totally going to freak out when he found this snake in my planned location…

  Let’s just say he wasn’t the only one who could booby-trap a bathroom.

  After I returned from my walk, I hid my secret weapon deep in the new closet which I’d so neatly organized earlier this morning. Had it really only been a few hours ago that I officially moved in to the Ryder house? It felt like days already.

  Now I had to think of an appropriate time to execute my plan, and for that I needed to keep a tab on Logan’s routines.

  As I closed my closet door, my phone buzzed, and I picked it up to see a notification from the Matcher app. You have a match!

  Good lord, who was it now? Last time I’d received this notification, I’d been matched with my stepbrother of all people. I loaded the app, and to my surprise it was approval from Jason Lowry. Of course…I’d forgotten that I’d only showed interest in two profiles the other day—Logan’s and Jason’s.

  I opened Jason’s profile and went to his photos. Damn, he was hotness personified, and I eagerly swiped thought his pictures, one after the other. Some of them were from nightclubs, a few were from sports games, and more than a few were shirtless pictures.

  In every photo he had his signature panty-dropping grin on his face, and I couldn’t help but compare him with Logan.
As much as I hated to admit it, deep inside, I knew that if I had to choose between the two of them, Logan would be the one I picked for sure.

  Oh, stop it, I admonished myself as I pictured his sexy smirk and sparkling blue eyes in my mind’s eye. Nope, don’t even picture him.

  Logan was my stepbrother and that meant he was totally off-limits forever. Besides, Jason had only shown interest in my profile. It didn’t mean he’d expressed his undying love for me, so it wasn’t like I even needed to pick between him and anyone else. It was better if I kept my toes on the ground and my head straight, and didn’t read too much into things that weren’t certain yet.

  My phone buzzed again, and this time it was a message. Assuming it was from Jason, I opened it, but it was from Logan.

  I see you’re online….are you hunting for men, sis? Got any willing victims yet, or do you need my services? I can totally drag a few girls out for you if that’s what you’re into. ;)

  Of course…I was sure he could very easily drag out a few chicks who’d blindly follow him anywhere. I rolled my eyes and typed a quick reply.

  Thanks for offering, but I’d rather accept help from a giant squid.

  Whoa, sounds like someone’s a bit pissed. PMS? I’m sure there’s some chocolate lying around here somewhere. Try the cupboard.

  Okay, blaming a woman’s apparent bad mood on hormones was one step too far. I was actually starting to get a little annoyed with Logan, even though I’d only been faking my annoyance earlier. I took a deep calming breath. Kill ‘em with your sweetness. I repeated the mantra in my head and then thought of the plan I’d built up in my mind, and my lips tugged up from one corner as I envisioned the scenario. My sexy stepbrother just didn’t know what I had up my sleeve for him as I typed a sweet, innocent response.

  Yes, PMS….that must be it. Thanks for telling me about the chocolate :)

  I closed the app and went down for dinner when I heard my Mom faintly calling my name.

  “Here she is,” Mom said, flashing a smile at me. She was standing next to George in the dining room, and she was glowing with happiness. I gave her a small smile and took a seat at the table.