The girl just came, I’m pretty sure, but something seems wrong. Between her moans, she’s glaring at Blane. “Emme?” she asks furiously. “As in, your little stepsister, Emme?”
Blane is quiet. The girl pushes him off violently, and I’m sure he could have stopped her, but he just lets her. She picks up her clothes, humiliated and throws him a disgusted look.
“You could have at least called me by another name, you sick fuck,” she spits out at him, and then she storms out of the garage, while I stare with my mouth open.
What just happened?
Before I have time to think, Blane raises his gaze and his eyes meet mine.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I turn around and try to run off, but he reaches me in two seconds, grabbing my hair and pulling me back. It hurts and I yelp with pain.
“Let go of me,” I say angrily.
He doesn’t, instead he uses his free hand to turn me around so I’m facing him, his other hand still tangled in my blonde mass of hair.
“How long have you been standing there?” he demands, and I blush like a beet.
“Long enough,” I reply, not sure why I’m being such a brat.
He just stares at me, hard. I don’t know why, but I can’t seem to look away.
“Emme …” he starts softly, and I’ve never heard him use this voice on me. He’s always rough, never paying me any mind, like I’m a portrait on the wall he’s not particularly fond of.
“Leave me alone,” I whimper, and then I do something I regret in a split second. “You’re sick to the bone. Let go of me.”
Just like that, his hands, his beautiful, strong hands, are off me. And we keep staring at each other, contemplating what just happened.
I just accused him of being a pervert, when all I want is those hands back on me.
But it’s so wrong. Forbidden. It can never happen.
And as he turns around and leaves abruptly, I know I’ve ended this between us before it even started. Even though it breaks me in half to know that, I know it needed to be done.
Because Blane and Emme?
They can never be.
***
In a daze, I finally find Aiden in the driveway, the car already running in the front.
“Took you long enough,” he moans as I make my way to the car, but I refuse to look at him. He looks too much like Blane …
“Let’s go, babydoll,” he says as we sit in the front and he revvs up the engine. And all I can think about is Blane fucking that girl while I wished it was me on the hood of that car …
Chapter 4
Surprisingly, life goes on.
Slowly, painfully, but it moves forward, without a single call from Blane.
I spend a lot of time with Aiden, to the point where he’s practically living with me. He’s so sweet, so worried, always next to me, holding me when I cry, consoling me when I feel like I might break in half.
Today we’re in my living room, because I’m refusing to leave the house. It just feels safe here, even though some might think I’m a little bit morbid for staying in the place that housed to much pain, so many people who aren’t here any more.
Aiden’s stretched out on the couch, playing some kind of violent video game, as I’m engrossed in my book.
I’ve always been a big reader, ever since I was a child. It’s just easier to get lost in the world of fiction sometimes – when it all gets to be too much …
“Aiden,” I ask softly, closing the finished book with a thud.
“Yep,” he responds, his eyebrows knitted together in concentration. He can see I’m hesitating, and I’m surprised when he puts down his controller and focuses his attention on me. When did he start caring? I wonder. Sure, we were always close, but I never thought he would treat me like this …
“Tell me,” he says and offers a nice, albeit a little impatient smile, his eyes flickering back to the TV screen where his game is paused.
“Well,” I begin nervously. What I’m about to suggest would send Blane in a rage a few weeks ago, and while I’ve offered before, I’m not sure how Aiden will accept my preposition. “You’ve been staying with friends now for how long?”
“A few weeks,” Aiden answers non-committally. “You know I can’t go back there. Not now that I know what he wanted to do with you.”
I nod slowly. He refuses to talk to Blane, and while I understand, I feel awful for breaking their bond. They used to be thick as thieves, and now it’s all gone to hell because of me.
And I can’t help it, but I don’t share Aiden’s sentiment. Every time the phone rings, I still wish it was him …
“You know I appreciate it,” I say sincerely, and we share a secretive smile. It’s always been like this between me and Aiden – like we were actual siblings, not just related by marriage. We just click.
“Well, I was thinking,” I finally say, offering a shy smile. “You’ve been here a lot, right? I thoguht … maybe you’d be more comfortable if you stayed here for a while?”
This is the moment of truth and my eyes are glued to my stepbrother’s face, searching for answers. I’ve wanted them both in this house since everything with the inheritance went down, but Blane outright refused to even discuss it. He was bitter about losing all the money, and too proud to let me help him.
But Aiden …