Crash: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (9 page)

Luke

Well, that had gone horribly wrong. Maybe I was wrong about Katherine. Maybe she really was the… no, I wasn’t going down that route. She wasn’t a stuck-up bitch. She was just a troubled girl who’d lost her father and then lost more than eight months of her life.

I just had to try harder. I’d have to be extra nice to her—try to be more understanding about what she was going through. Sure, she was really trying my patience, but if I were just nicer, more understanding, maybe she would come around.

I knew our parents would flip out at the thought of us being together, but what was the alternative? Some chick like Ashley who would cheat on me or make me absolutely fucking miserable with her incessant chatter about fingernails or whatever the hell girls like her yapped about?

Katherine was different. I was certain of it. Yes, she’d been a little standoffish. But she wasn’t like the other girls I’d gone out with. And I was starting to feel possessive of her. Not in the way a brother feels toward his little sister, but in the way of a boyfriend who would rip some other guy apart for even looking at his girl.

The proof of this came not long after I brought Katherine the panda. Our parents had insisted on taking us all to the movies, and when we arrived at the theater, a group of Katherine’s friends happened to spot us. They all swarmed her to tell her they missed her and to ask her how she was doing since the crash.

And then it happened. Some punk stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, picking her up off the ground.

“You look gorgeous, baby girl,” he told her.

She giggled and said, “Long time, no see.”

“Too long!” he said. “Way too long.”

I felt like slinging his head through the popcorn machine or wrapping his slimy little throat in one of the ropes that marked the concession line. I cleared my throat loudly.

“Oh, right,” Katherine said. “Everybody, this is my soon-to-be stepbrother, Luke. Luke, this is…everybody!”

They all said hello. All of them except the slimy punk, who just tilted his head back in a reverse nod.

“What are you here to see, baby girl?” the punk asked her, draping his arm over her shoulders. “Maybe we can sit together.”

“Um… sorry, Chad, it’s kind of a family day,” Katherine said. “Maybe some other time.”

The bitter disappointment on his face was almost reward enough for not punching his nose down his throat.

“Alright, I get it,” Chad shrugged. “I’ll call you.”

The group headed to the concession stand, and Katherine’s mother said, “You can go sit with your friends if you want.”

“No, that’s alright,” Katherine said. “I’d rather sit with you all.”

I had to choke down a grin. It was probably too much to hope she wanted to sit with me, specifically, but at least she didn’t want to sit with the punk that had hair hanging over one eye like some kind of
sk8r boi
. What a dipshit.

We got in line behind her friends and ordered popcorn and drinks. I was almost wishing we didn’t have a lot of money so we’d be forced to share a tub of popcorn. How pathetic was that?

We got to our seats, and wouldn’t you know it? The punk was sitting right in front of the only four empty seats in the theater. He grinned obnoxiously and turned around in his seat to ogle my girl. What the fuck? Why was I suddenly calling her ‘my girl’ in my head?

I resisted the urge to claim her with an arm around her shoulders. I didn’t think that would go over too well—with her, or with our parents. But I shot him a glance that could have cut through glass.

Dad had picked a horror movie, and apparently Katherine’s mother loved them. I guess it was too much to hope that she’d be scared and leap into my arms. Nope. She must have been used to those types of movies. Damn.

After the movie, we dropped Katherine and her mother off at their house. Katherine and I stood around staring awkwardly into space while our parents made out like teenagers at the front door.

“Oh, god, get a room,” Katherine groaned.

Her mother pulled away from the kiss and snickered.

“If you don’t like it, don’t watch,” her mother shrugged with a grin.

“They’re just jealous that we’re in love and they’re single,” Dad said.

I groaned, and Katherine said, “Okay, that’s my cue. I’m going inside, now. Thanks for a fun afternoon, Steve.”

“Anytime, kiddo,” Dad said.

I watched as Katherine opened the front door and stepped inside. Then she paused and turned around.

“Thank you for the panda, Luke,” she said softly.

Her hair fell over her shoulder, and she peered up at me through a veil of lashes. She bit her lip, and then walked away before I had a chance to say anything.

“Panda?” Dad asked.

“Luke brought her a stuffed panda a few days ago,” Katherine’s mother said. “It was so sweet.”

“I just figured she could use some cheer,” I shrugged. “No big deal.”

Lucy put her arm around me and said, “It was a very big deal. I know she’s been a little out of sorts since the accident, but she’s been sleeping with that thing every night.”

Suddenly it felt like the air was sucked from my lungs, and my heart flopped like a fish. Did it really mean that much to her?

“We’d better get going, Lucy,” Dad said. “Luke has classes tomorrow, and I have to be up early for that meeting.”

“Alright,” Lucy said, snuggling with Dad for another moment. “Call me when you get home and let me know you’re safe.”

“I will, darling,” Dad said.

I turned away as they did their kissing thing again, heading toward the car. I grabbed the door handle and turned to glance up toward Lucy’s bedroom window, and I noticed the curtain flutter. She’d been looking down at me. Or at least at all of us.

Maybe there was hope after all. As long as that punk from the theater didn’t interfere.

Katherine

I’d been watching Luke as he went to the car, and then he turned around and looked right at me. I’d quickly released the curtain, but I feared I was too late. He must have seen me, surely. Damn.

I flopped onto my bed and wrapped my arms around Oswald, which is what I’d decided to name the panda Luke had given me. Oswald was the only one who knew how I felt about Luke, and he was the only one who ever would.

How could I let anyone else know? This guy was about to be my stepbrother, and when Mom and Steve got married in June, he’d be truly off limits for good. There was no stopping it. Less than a month away.

Ever since Luke had brought me Oswald, I had begun to realize the reason I’d been so terse with him all along. I had this intense attraction to him that I knew I could never fulfill. How could I? The whole world would think I was some kind of disgusting pervert if they knew I had a huge crush on him, right?

I mean, technically we weren’t related and never would be. Even when our parents married, it wouldn’t really mean anything as far as the law was concerned. But… ugh, it just seemed so weird. I mean, if one of my friends had a thing with her stepbrother, I’d think she was insane.

I heard the slam of a car door and the roar of an engine, and I knew they were leaving. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach.

“What am I going to do?” I asked Oswald. His huge glass eyes stared blankly back at me, and I sighed. “Even you think I’m crazy, huh?”

My phone rang suddenly, and I glanced at the screen. Chad.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hey, you! Been thinking about you since the movie,” Chad said. “I was thinking, maybe you’d like to go grab a bite with me tomorrow.”

“I have classes tomorrow,” I pointed out.

“Oh, I heard you had to delay Berkeley until fall,” he said.

“I did, but I’m taking some art classes at the community college until then,” I explained.

“Oh, cool. I’m going to be starting art school in the fall,” he said. “What are you taking? Painting?”

“Oil painting and sketching.”

“I’d love to see your work sometime,” Chad said. “Maybe I could bring my sketchbook tomorrow on your lunch break and buy you lunch. You can show me your stuff, and I’ll show you mine.”

“I don’t know, Chad, I’m a beginner and my stuff isn’t very good,” I argued.

“You’re making excuses,” he pointed out. “I’m coming to take you to lunch, and that’s final. What time do you normally eat?”

“Twelve thirty,” I answered reluctantly.

“Great, I’ll pick you up and take you wherever you want to go,” he said. “See you then.”

He hung up before I could object, and I started to think maybe it would be good for me to hang out with other guys. I mean, I couldn’t have Luke anyway, so maybe taking my mind off him would do me some good.

The next day, Chad was waiting for me in the parking lot after class. He pulled up in his yellow convertible Corvette and opened the door for me.

“Got your sketchbook?” he asked me.

“No, I forgot it in my locker,” I lied.

“No worries, I can look at it another time,” he said. “I’ve got mine. So where would you like to eat?”

“How about Sloane’s?” I asked.

“Fine with me,” he said, starting the engine.

Sloane’s was the one place I figured I’d never run into anyone I knew. It was a tiny little restaurant on the outskirts of town that hardly anyone ever went to. They happened to have killer BLTs, but I had to wonder how they stayed in business with so few customers.

At the restaurant, I chose a booth in the back. The last thing I wanted was for word to get around that I was seeing Chad, because it totally wasn’t like that. I just wanted a distraction from Luke.

Chad had been trying to get me to go out with him for two years, ever since he moved out here from New York. He was cute, I guess, but he just never interested me. I hated leading him on, but I was feeling desperate to shake this infatuation with Luke.

I slid into the booth, and Chad pushed himself in beside me. I started to object, but he pulled out his sketchbook and started showing me some of his drawings. I kind of felt awkward asking him to move.

“Can I get you guys something to drink?”

The waitress stared down at us with a stupid grin on her face like it was so cute that we were sitting together.

“We’re not together,” I blurted out.

“Excuse me?” the waitress asked.

“I was just saying we’re not dating or anything,” I told her. I don’t even know why I felt it was so important to clarify this to a complete stranger.

“Oh, okay,” she said. “Um. Can I get you a drink?”

“Coke,” Chad said.

“Coke,” I parroted.

“Coming up.”

“Are you feeling alright?” Chad asked after she’d left the table.

“Yeah, why?”

“That was just… weird. I think you kind of freaked her out,” Chad said.

“I guess,” I shrugged. “She was just looking at us all starry-eyed like we were a couple, and I thought I should let her know we weren’t. Aren’t.”

“What does it matter?” he asked.

This, I couldn’t answer. I didn’t even fully realize it myself at the time, but in retrospect I realize I didn’t want word to get around to Luke that I was out with Chad. It wasn’t like Luke and I were together, or that there was even any hope of it, but for some reason I just felt the need to keep it quiet.

I had a BLT, and Chad had a burger. I ate quickly, but Chad seemed to take forever to finish his food. I was beyond ready to go. He drove me back to campus, and when we got there, he insisted on walking me to my second class.

Just as we were nearing the classroom, Chad decided to throw his arm around my shoulders. And who should happen to be waiting for me outside my class but Luke, whose face contorted into fury at the sight. I shrugged Chad’s arm off, but it was too late. Luke flew at Chad and knocked him to the ground, climbing on top of him and punching him repeatedly in the face. I started to scream, and two professors broke up the fight.

“Alright, both of you to campus security,” said one of the professors. “Right now!”

I watched in horror as Luke and Chad were hauled off, still swiping at each other and cursing at one another as the professors pulled them along by their collars. I felt like I’d just witnessed a scene from seventh grade.

“What the hell just happened?” a girl I recognized from my drawing class asked.

I shook my head and said, “I really have no idea.”