Sext Me (Accidental Stepbrother Book 2)

by Stephanie Brother

  When I arrived in the area I used to call home I paused for a moment to orient myself. I hadn't really been back here since Dad sold off the apartment after I left for college and got a smaller, cheaper place for one that I’d never been to. I usually stayed with a friend or found a motel while I did part-time work to pay for my stay through the school breaks.

  I headed in the direction I wanted. I didn’t hold any nostalgic feelings for the area. It wasn’t like I had any friends that lived nearby.

  Even though it had been a while, I still vaguely remembered where Barbara lived. It was a bit of a walk before I arrived. The place looked like it would pass for an old motel, except all the rooms were actually homes. Her house was the one right at the edge, and I walked over and knocked.

  Only then did I worry that Barbara might be out. I didn’t know what she did; I didn’t know if she even had a job. It had been years; things could have changed. I had no reason to worry, though. The door opened after a while, and there she was. Barbara was a tall, slim woman with blonde hair, always messy and pushed away from her face, with wrinkles starting to show at the corners of her eyes and mouth. She was dressed in a crop top and a mini skirt, and she frowned when she saw me, though it cleared almost immediately.

  “Noah, right?” She said, tilting her chin at me. “Are you here for your dad? If so, then I’d appreciate it if you could get him out of my house. I’ll head out for a bit.”

  She stood aside to let me enter, then walked out and closed the door. As usual, she minded her own business.

  I walked further into the room, and sure enough, Dad was there. He sat on the old, decrepit couch, curtains hung on the only window in the room half closed, making the room a little dark, watching TV with a beer in hand. He looked up as I entered, looking completely unconcerned as if this was any of the last times I’d come and found him here.

  “Yo, kid,” he said, raising up his beer. “Want something to drink? There are a couple more bottles in the fridge.”

  I frowned. “No, Dad. I don’t want a drink. What I really want right now, though? Is an explanation.”

  He tilted his head and had the gall to pretend he didn’t know what I was talking about.

  “An explanation for what?” He asked, sounding puzzled.

  I frowned, hands clenched tightly by my sides, but I didn’t walk forward to punch him like I really wanted to right then.

  “What exactly do you think you’re doing, Dad? Tina is broke, and she’s devastated because of what you did to her. She trusted you, and you go and do a thing like this.”

  He frowned. “What, do you want your cut already? It’s not convenient right now, but if you can wait for a little, I’ll send you your college money, every single cent.”

  “Dad!” I felt rage pour through me and the urge to punch him increased. “I don’t need you to give it to me; I can manage just fine by myself. What I want is for you to return the money.”

  His head shook. “I can't do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not ready yet.”

  “That’s not a good reason,” I countered.

  “Give it a rest, kid!” He snapped. “This is going to be good for both of us, and it’s not like I took everything! There’s still a trust fund, and the money in that is plenty. So, they’ll be totally fine.”

  He tipped his head back and swallowed what was left of his beer, before he put the empty bottle on the table. My emotions were a little complicated, seeing him look so unruffled, and I wondered if he already knew Tina wouldn’t try to go to the police over this. How he made a woman like her fall for him, I had no idea.

  “Dad, please,” I said. “Please just give the money back. I’ll talk to the school. There’s no way I can get a scholarship, but there’s nothing wrong with holding back for a year, either. And unless you’re trying to tell me this is how you’ve always lived your life, there are ways to get the money you need without stealing it. Or have you done this before?”

  He actually looked offended. I almost snorted.

  “Of course not!” He said, indignant.

  “Then try and find some other way. Hell, she was willing just to give you all that money, you could have at least stuck around and paid it back if you’re so confident this venture of yours will make it big. Just stop this before things get worse.”

  He gave me an exasperated look. “Kid, why can't you just let this go?”

  I took a deep breath and released my hands, when I spoke, it was with a calm I hadn't felt in ages.

  “I can’t, Dad, because I’m in love with her daughter. And I don’t want her to find out about that just yet, thanks to you, but I want to be able to tell her eventually because she means a lot to Sara. I know you might not understand what that is like, Dad, but it’s more important to me than finishing college this year.”

  His eyes widened a little, and I knew I’d caught him by surprise.

  “You should at least give her back some of the money, so she can survive for the time being,” I continued. “Even if you don’t pay back the rest of it, she’s not going to do anything. As you said, the two of them are very close, so Sara has no trouble giving her mom her trust fund money. Then, as soon as I graduate and get a job, I’ll give you a regular allowance. I’ll also try and pay back whatever’s left that you owe them. You can include my college money in what you give back; I’ll find a way to handle that myself, too.”

  I was pretty much putting a heavy burden on my back, but I didn’t know how else to do this. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but it wouldn’t be impossible, either. I just had to work my ass off now that I was in my final year.

  Dad watched me pensively for a while before opening his mouth.

  “You really like that girl that much?” He asked.

  “Too much,” I replied immediately.

  I was done with all the talking, so I turned and walked away. I’d wait for a couple days. If nothing happened, I’d tell Sara where he was. If she chose to send the police to pick him up… then I’d have to assume it was the last I’d see of Dad for a long time.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Sara

  A few weeks passed. Mom refused to do anything about Greg. Noah had told me he’d found his dad, but because Mom didn’t want to, I left it alone. I could only steam about it.

  I woke up one morning to my phone ringing. I heard a groan from beside me, before Noah shifted around and grabbed the phone.

  “It’s your mom, Sara,” he mumbled, still half asleep.

  I blinked my eyes open and took the phone, then slid out of bed so I wouldn’t bother him. Mom already knew about us since I’d told her we were seeing each other a couple weeks back, but she didn’t know we were this close already. It had both surprised and delighted me when she was happy for me, unconditionally.

  “Hey, Mom?” I said, covering a yawn. “What is it?”

  “Honey, why do you sound so tired? Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  It wasn’t all that early in the morning, but Noah and I had been up late last night, and I felt exhausted. Only, it was the good kind of exhausted that came after long, fun rounds of fulfilling sex. Of course, there was no way I was telling Mom that.

  “I was just up doing some assignments,” I said, quickly coming up with the excuse. “I’m sorry. What is it, Mom?”

  “Sara, I got the money back!”

  I blinked a couple times, then frowned, wondering if I was still sleeping.

  “What did you say, Mom? You got the money back? Really?”

  I heard movement behind me. I glanced over, to see Noah looking at me as he slowly sat up in the bed. His expression was astonished, probably as much as mine was.

  “Yes! I just got a call from the bank this morning, all the money is back. Greg hasn’t said anything to me, can you ask Noah if he’s talked to him?”

  “Sure, Mom,” I said distractedly. “I’ll ask. And, I’m happy for you.”

  She sighed. “I’m just glad to have it ba
ck. Your father left it to me after all, and he worked hard to obtain it. Anyway, you can go back to sleep, honey, you still sound a little tired. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Later,” I murmured, then cut the call.

  “Dad returned the money?” Noah asked as soon as he saw I was off the phone. “He really returned all of it?”

  I nodded. “According to Mom, yes. I’ll ask for more details some other time. Have you heard from your dad?”

  “No, I haven’t,” he said quickly. “He took so long, I really didn’t think he was going to…”

  As he spoke, he got off the bed with the sheets wrapped around his waist and picked up his jeans. I realized I was naked, but after a second, disregarded it. I walked over to the bed and sat down and tugged on the edge of the sheet to cover myself a little, but it wasn’t anything Noah hadn’t seen before. I still had fresh marks from last night to prove it.

  Noah checked his phone and was still for a long minute.

  “Noah?” I called tentatively. “What is it?”

  He glanced over at me, then came back to the bed. His expression was strange as he handed the phone to me. I met his gaze as I took it.

  “I got a text message from Dad,” he said quietly.

  I looked down and read the message.

  “Don’t worry about paying for college anymore. It’s paid for the whole year.”

  “Wait, really?” I said, turning to him.

  He shrugged. “I’d have to go to the office and clarify it, but he wouldn’t send the message if it was a lie, right?”

  I checked the timing of the text. It came late last night while we were both busy, so we didn’t hear it. That meant he must have cleared it yesterday, right? I did sigh in relief, though, because we were nearing the semester’s tests, and he couldn’t take them without his tuition paid. This came at just the right moment without me having to figure out a way to either get Noah to take my money or get it done without him knowing. Neither would have been easy.

  “But,” I frowned. “If he returned Mom’s funds and still paid your tuition, where did the extra money come from? Mom told me it was all back.”

  He was surprised again, having only realized the fact when I said it.

  “I have no idea,” he admitted. “I’m not sure he’d tell me if I asked.”

  “This means you can quit your part-time job, right?”

  He frowned. “Uh, not exactly. Even if my tuition is paid, there are other expenses, like living expenses, that I still need money for. I don’t know if he paid for me to stay in the dorms, either, for this and next semester…”

  Not long after, we got ready and headed out. It was a weekday, so we had classes, just later in the morning than usual or I would have tried holding back last night.

  “Guess what?” I heard Tracey say a while later.

  I looked up at Tracey. She, me and Hayley were outside after class, studying, when she broke into my thoughts.

  “What?” I asked, a trace of a smile on my lips.

  She and Hayley both grinned.

  “Sext Me is back online!”

  They broke out into giggles, and I joined them. Tracey and Hayley were now my closest friends. When they heard about the Sexy Me line and the rumors Alicia and Caroline helped to spread about Noah and me, they were supportive. In the end, I explained to them most of it, if not the whole story.

  Of course, I knew the line wasn’t actually back online. I was just playing a harmless prank on Noah. Although, in a way, this was also to help both of us.

  Ever since Alicia and Caroline started spreading those rumors, I couldn’t go anywhere without people looking at me, whispering. If the same thing happened to Noah, he didn’t seem to care much. I, on the other hand, could not stand it, even knowing the rumor would die down on its own if I let it.

  For this one day, the rumor was going to spread far and wide, and I was going to get rid of it in one swift blow. Well, Tracey and Alicia were going to fix it. I was going to be busy.

  That night, when I went back to my room, I found Noah outside, pacing a tight circle in front of my door. I smiled, but tried to school my expression so I wouldn’t give the game away early.

  “Noah?” I called.

  He froze, then slowly turned to me. His expression was tight, but when he saw the frown on my face, he looked even more agitated.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked slowly.

  His expression was stiff for a moment, before he tried to smile. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  I hummed and turned away from him, pretending to search in my bag for my keys.

  “About what?” I asked, sounding disinterested.

  “Just something important… have you heard any rumors around the school?”

  I hummed again, pulling my keys out.

  “Have I?” I murmured. “There was one thing, if that’s what you mean. A new rumor about Sext Me…”

  The door unlocked, and I walked inside. Noah followed quickly behind me, as if afraid I would close the door on him.

  “I swear it’s not me,” he blurted out. “I heard about it this morning and I tried to get rid of it, but it’s not my account and I don’t know whose it is! Sara, I swear, I haven’t started it up again, okay?”

  I let him stew a little, keeping my back to him as I set my bag on the desk then went to the fridge and pulled out some drinks for us. Then, I moved to set them on the bed, before finally turning to Noah.

  He looked at me with such an earnest and anxious expression that I couldn’t help softening.

  “You don’t have to look so worried,” I said, walking over to him.

  He immediately relaxed in relief. “You trust me?”

  I cracked a smile. “Well, it’s me this time, so it would be totally unfair of me to let you take the blame for it, right?”

  His face dissolved into shock, and the look was so funny that I couldn’t help giggling.

  “I’m not doing it, either,” I said, amused. “You’re the only one for me, Noah.”

  Stopping in front of him, I circled my arms around his neck and kissed him. He was frozen for another couple seconds, but in the next moment, he relaxed and kissed me back, filling me with warmth.

  Epilogue

  Noah

  All the drama surrounding the Sext Me line died down. Sara refused to tell me how she did it, but it meant we didn’t have to worry about people staring and murmuring about us as we moved around campus together.

  The rest of my final year in college was uneventful. There was only one more surprise, and it came from Dad.

  When I was worried about getting funds from part-time jobs to keep me up, after he’d paid all my tuition, he sent me money and told me not to worry about working, just hurry up and graduate, then find a proper job.

  I’d wondered where all the money came from, and he answered when I ask, despite what I thought. His business venture took off. Like, really took off. While he didn’t become a millionaire overnight, he was definitely nouveau riche.

  It was the day of graduation, after I’d already gone up and received my degree, I saw him. I stood with Sara, who’d also invited her mom. I wasn’t sure how to react, and immediately, turned to look at Sara and Tina, but neither of them seemed angry. Dad gave a wry smile as he stepped away a few feet from us.

  “Hey, son,” he said casually.

  I scowled. “That’s all you have to say? After disappearing for most of the damn year? Would it have killed you to call a few times?”

  “You never called, either,” he said defensively.

  I rolled my eyes and walked over to pull him into a bear hug. I still wasn’t okay with what he did, but he paid it back, and he was still my dad. He was awkward as he patted my back, but I didn’t expect any less or more from him. When we broke it off, Sara and Tina had come closer. Sara seemed a little irritated, but Tina looked very cool.

  “Greg,” she said calmly.

  Dad shifted his eyes away before lookin
g back at her, even more awkward than he was with me.

  “I… came because I know I owe you an apology. Both to Noah and Tina. What I did was out of line. I didn’t let myself worry about it because I knew I could get it back quickly, but everything could have just as easily gone south. And I… should have taken your feelings more into consideration. I’d like to ask for forgiveness, but I don’t think I deserve it.”

  I had nothing to say. He was my dad, my only family. Unless he killed someone, or didn’t try to right his wrongs, I would ignore whatever he did. Not to say I wouldn’t be mad, but he was trying, and it was all I could ask for. Sara and I both looked at Tina, who just stared at him. It lasted for a while, but no one said anything, and Dad started to fidget.

  Then, she spoke.

  “At least you’re honest. And there’s no need to ask for forgiveness, I’ve put the whole matter behind me. I’ll take it as a warning to be smarter next time.”

  Internally, I was impressed with Tina. Even Sara had a grudging expression on her face as she stopped glaring at my dad.

  Then, Tina smiled. “I hear your venture is doing well. I’m happy for you.”

  Dad ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

  “I actually ignored a few pitfalls thanks to some advice you gave me of your own experiences, so I guess I should thank you for that.”

  My mouth gaped open as I stared at Dad, because he was suddenly not acting like himself. I felt a tug on my robe, and looked to see Sara press a finger to her mouth, then off to the side. I nodded, and followed her as we walked away from our parents.

  “Is it okay to leave them alone?” I asked, still a little worried.

  Sara snorted. “Don’t look down on my mom, okay? You should be more worried about your dad, but they’ll be fine by themselves. They’re both adults. Besides, I’d like to have you all to myself sometime today.”

  I smiled as she slid her hand into mine, folding our fingers together. There were people milling around, other graduates meeting up with their families, friends and partners. I’d met up with my friends before, and it was enough for me. What I really wanted, was to go back to Sara’s room. It was still the middle of the day, but we could just lay in bed holding each other and wait for the day to be over. If only I didn’t have so much to do.