Anti-Stepbrother (2 page)

Of course, he usually called to talk to his mom, but there was chit-chat with me as well.
How are you? How’s your summer?
He’d tease me about whether I had a boyfriend or not. I teased him back about girls while my stomach did flip-flops, hoping there’d be no one serious. Based on what he’d told me, there hadn’t been anyone.

Face it, Stoltz. You thought you were that girl.

I did. I really did, and I realized now how stupid I’d been.

And I was stupid for coming to this party. That was it. I needed to go.

There were people everywhere once I got back upstairs, and as I swung around I heard, “Whoa. Settle, girl.”

My elbow had made contact with someone, and as I looked to see who my victim was, my eyes first landed on a very muscled and defined arm. And the tattoos. Holy crap, the tattoos! They covered the entire arm.

I kept staring. I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t help it. The bicep bulged a bit, and as it did, a snake tattoo moved with it, giving the illusion that there was actually a real snake on the arm.

“Something wrong with you?”

My gaze jerked up, away from the snake and right into a pair of startlingly dark (and gorgeous) eyes. They were fixed on me, bearing a mix of irritation and confusion.

“What?”
He asked what was wrong with you
. I shook my head. “No, sorry.” I’d hit him. “I didn’t see you there, and I was trying to leave.”

The irritation faded, and his eyes crinkled up, along with the right corner of his mouth. “I figured with the whole hitting thing.” He paused a moment. “You’re leaving?”

I nodded. “I don’t know anyone here.”

He looked behind me. “Didn’t you come up from the basement? You don’t know anyone down there?”

“I got lost,” I said quickly. A blush was working its way up my neck. “Are you in this fraternity?”

His mouth pressed together. “Unfortunately. Why?”

Kevin loved being an Alpha Mu brother. He’d been so proud when he announced his pledge was accepted. His father was an Alpha Mu, too. Why this guy didn’t seem happy about it was lost on me. Kevin had only talked about how supportive the Alpha Mu family was of its brothers and the strength of their national network.

“I was wondering if you knew where the door was.”

He seemed to relax. His shoulders lowered a bit and that snake moved again as his bicep bulged out, then flattened. He gestured behind me.

“Take the first right and follow it through. It’ll take you out the side door. You’ll want to avoid the living room. The guys are trying to get girls to play naked beer pong, and—” His eyes moved down and back. “—no offense, but you’re an easy target.”

I was what? I drew to my full height and prepared a scathing remark…and he turned to leave. He took two steps and the group behind him had swallowed him up. He was gone.

Asshole!

I slipped out the side door, begrudgingly grateful to the asshole because no one was there. As I walked past the living room from the outside, a loud cheer spilled out, just as he’d warned me.

“We got some boobies!”
That was met with more cheering, more laughter.

I was on the sidewalk when I heard another shout.
“She’s in there! She’s with Matthews.”

I picked up my pace and stepped away from the house. I could see a guy being pushed back from the front door when I rounded the corner. Two guys held his arms as they moved him down the steps, toward the sidewalk.

I stopped underneath a tree where they couldn’t see me. Matthews? Was he talking about Kevin?

The door behind them opened, and one yelled over his shoulder, “Get Caden. This is his brother.”

Whoever was coming out turned around and went back in without shutting the door.

“And shut that damn door!”

The door closed with a bang.

“No.” The guy they were pushing away from the house put on the brakes and twisted to evade their holds. “I’m going in there to get my girlfriend! I don’t care what my brother says.”

“Don’t, Marcus.” The first guy got in front of him.

Marcus puffed up. His nostrils flared. “Don’t tell me
don’t
. She’s my girl, and Matthews is a piece of shit.”

I shifted closer to the tree so I could hear better.

“Yeah. Maybe.”

“No maybe. Look, let me go in the side door. No one will see me. My brother doesn’t have to know. I’ll go in, find Maggie, and we’ll leave. I promise. No fighting. I swear.”

The first guy snorted, folding his massive arms over his equally massive chest. His legs stood apart in a bouncer’s stance, like he was ready to go against an angry crowd. He shook his head slowly. “We can’t do that, and you know it.”

“Your brother is probably coming out here anyways,” Silent Muscle added, speaking for the first time.

Marcus gave a frustrated growl, and his hands clenched into fists for a moment. The fraternity guys held their ground. I had a feeling this wasn’t their first time keeping an angry boyfriend outside.

The door opened, and a familiar voice said, “What is going on out here?”

The two fraternity brothers moved aside, letting the newcomer step forward. As he came into the light I could see it was the
asshole
, snake tattoo guy who “helped” me inside.

“Caden.” Marcus stepped toward him. “Let me go in and get Maggie. That’s all I want.”

“Right.” Caden/Asshole grunted. “Because you’re not going to beat the shit out of him at all.”

“Kevin’s a piece of shit, but I wouldn’t.”

So it
was
Kevin they were talking about. That girl had a boyfriend.

“I want to rearrange his face, but I won’t. I know the tough spot that’d put you in.” Marcus added, “I swear.”

The door opened again behind them. A new guy stepped out. “Kevin’s coming.”

A girl’s voice carried from inside the house. “Something’s going on outside. What’s going on out there?”

Caden stepped around the new guy and pulled the door shut. “When Matthews comes out, close that fucking door.”

“Yes, sir, Caden. I will.”

“Business like this doesn’t spill to outsiders.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’ll keep guard better. I promise.”

To prove his point, when the door opened once more, Kevin appeared and the guy shut the door behind him almost as savagely as Caden had. He looked at Caden with a slight smile and nod as if to say,
I got it.
See
?

Caden shook his head and turned to my stepbrother. “What’s going on?”

Kevin regarded Marcus, who had his hands back into fists. He was barely holding himself back.

“Matthews is here now,” Caden said to his brother. “You can state your problem.”

Marcus snorted. “Are you kidding me? Maggie’s snuck out by now, probably the same way I would’ve snuck in.”

A thought entered my mind, and I turned. There, just coming out the side door I had come from, was the girl Kevin had been kissing in the basement. She stopped when she saw me. Panic flooded her face, but then she took off, heading the opposite direction down the sidewalk, and she wasn’t quiet about it.

“Maggie?”

Oh no. I knew what was going to happen, and I braced myself.

Marcus flew around the side of the house, stopping at the sight of me. He frowned, then focused behind me. I looked too, but she was gone.

“Who are you?” Marcus asked.

I prepared for the question that would follow.
Have you seen my girlfriend?
But when I looked back, the rest of the guys were standing behind him.

Kevin stepped toward me, his eyebrows bunched together. “Summer?”

I gulped and found myself looking beyond his shoulder to Caden, who was glaring at me, pinning me to the spot.

I gave a half-hearted wave. “Hey…everyone.”

“Summer?” Kevin said.

Caden frowned as he stepped up beside him. He turned to look between us. “You two know each other?”

I opened my mouth, but Kevin said hastily, “She’s my sister.”

“Stepsister,” I clarified.

“Stepsister.” Kevin turned so he was closer to me than Caden.

The two were almost squaring off, their sides to me, and for one really weird and tense moment, no one said a word. I glanced between them. Caden was taller by a few inches. Both were gorgeous, but in different ways. While Kevin had the dashing good looks, blonde locks and pretty eyelashes, Caden just looked badass. He had a pretty face too with chiseled cheekbones, but his dark hair, tattooed arms and no-nonsense demeanor gave him an air of authority. He was more muscled than Kevin, who was lean, but something had me guessing that Caden could out-fight
and
out-run my stepbrother.

I’d always had Kevin on a pedestal, and for the first time, he looked less than. He now stood against a guy who seemed more male in almost every way—except being a smooth-talker with the ladies.
But no.
I shook those thoughts away. They didn’t make sense. Kevin was… I frowned, guilt flaring up inside of me. No matter my hurt at seeing Kevin kissing another girl, he was family, right?

Raising my chin, I moved next to him. I stared back at Caden, showing my support for my stepbrother. “I actually came to surprise him, but changed my mind. He was on the phone downstairs. That’s why I left.”

Marcus exhaled a loud breath, stepping back from the group.

I ignored that, and I tried to ignore the sudden shift in the suspicion Caden had been sending Kevin’s way. It landed right on me, and I gulped, feeling the full force of it. The guy was smart. He knew exactly what I’d just done.

So did Kevin. I sensed his sideways glance, and then the back of his hand brushed against mine. I figured that was his way of thanking me.

“Really?” Caden raised an eyebrow.

“Really.” I raised my head in challenge, despite how I felt inside. I was covering for Kevin, the guy I was in love with, and it was wrong. I blinked a few times. Whatever. It would work out in the end. It had to.

“Yeah.” Kevin coughed. “I was on the phone with her dad. He called because he couldn’t get ahold of her.” He said to me, “You’re supposed to call your dad.”

“Uh, thanks.”
Was I really?

He shrugged, trying to look casual and cool at the same time. “No problem.”

Caden didn’t say a word, only observing the exchange between us, but Marcus snorted and rolled his eyes.

He flung his hand out, pointing to me. “Come on, you guys. You can’t be believing this chick. She’s Matthews’ sister. Of course she’s going to lie for him.”

“Let it go, Marcus.” Caden’s tone was weary, and I had a feeling this showdown had happened before.

I studied the other brothers’ faces, and they were all the same: tired. Kevin shrugged his shoulders again and cocked his head to the side, but he didn’t say anything. His gaze fell away from Caden’s, and he looked at the other two fraternity brothers.

The bravado he’d adopted when I covered for him fell away, just slightly, but he still cleared his throat and forced a happy note in his tone. “I’m thinking it’s time to get down and get a drink. You guys game?”

They regarded him, and Silent Muscle grunted. “I’m always down for a drink. Fuck this drama shit.”

Kevin stepped between the two, clapping their shoulders. “Let’s do shots. It’s that kind of night now.”

The three headed inside, leaving Marcus, Caden, and me behind. Before they disappeared, Kevin glanced back over his shoulder and nodded, giving me a half-grin. Then they were gone.

Kevin had left me. Again. Déjà vu hit me. I felt like I had three months ago when I’d woken up the morning after and he was gone. I’d just covered for him, and he went off to take shots with his fraternity brothers. I frowned, not liking how that sat with me. The fucker.

“Why?” Marcus spat the word at me, his jaw clenched. “Just, why? I know you saw her. You must’ve.”

Guilt spread in me, but I didn’t say anything. What
could
I say? He was right.

Caden sighed. “Leave her alone. He’s her family.”

He reached a hand out to rest on Marcus’ shoulder, but Marcus dodged and turned on him, his eyes flashing.

“I get it. He’s your fraternity brother, but I’m your
real
brother. One of these days, you’re going to have to pick a side, Caden. Fuck Dad. Fuck him and his stupid fucking fraternity.” He seared us both with an accusing look. “I don’t give a shit who covers for Matthews. It’s going to be an all-out war.”