Infatuation: A Rebel Stepbrother Romance (3 page)

“Flynn?”

“I’m going.”
Shit, man, get a grip.
The lotion squirts into my hand and I take a second to warm it up. She jumps when I touch her, and I love how she’s off-balance around me. At least I’m not suffering alone. She pulls her ponytail over her shoulder, then pulls the straps of her suit down. Leaning in, I get a whiff of coconut and a peek at her breasts spilling out of her suit. Pink, pointy little nipples, begging for my fingers and tongue.

“Flynn?” she prompts.

I’m so focused on her tits I totally forgot what the hell I was doing.

“Sorry.”
Get your mind off groping her and rub the fucking lotion on her.

Not happening. The coconut scent mingles with her natural scent, completely intoxicating me into stupidity. My hands linger on her shoulder, and before my brain knows what my hands are doing, I turn her around and lean down to kiss her.

At first she tenses up, but then her body surrenders, melting into mine.

Her slender arms circle my neck, pushing all our parts together. My hands slide down to cup her ass, and she doesn’t protest at all. The soft slide of her lips and the tentative touch of her tongue against mine send fire straight to my cock. She’s definitely getting jabbed if I don’t back up a couple inches.

Moving away elicits a moan of protest from her throat, and she presses herself against me again.

All right then.

My fingers trace the elastic of her suit over her ass. Running my hand forward, my knuckles brush against bare, slick skin.

Fuck me.

She moans and her hips shoot forward. That’s an invitation to explore as far as I’m concerned.

Pounding on the door interrupts the best kiss I’ve had since the last time I kissed Ella, and I let out a silent curse as she pulls away.

The dazed look on her face and the way she sways on her feet do nothing to calm my raging erection. I did that to her.

“Guys, it’s me! Open up,” Summer shouts. Great timing.

“I guess we should get that?” I ask, hoping she’ll tell me to ignore it.

“Sure.” She swipes at her lips with the back of her hand. Is that a bit of disappointment turning her mouth down?

Throwing the door open, I glare at Summer. “What?”

Her gaze drops to my shorts, and I’m sure the evidence of what she disturbed is still obvious. “I hope I’m not
interrupting
, but we’re all headed to the beach. Thought you might like to come?”

Ella touches my back as she approaches. “Sure.”

“Oh my gosh, I love that suit,” Summer gushes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Ella blush. “Thanks. It’s nothing like yours, though. Wow.”

Still reeling from our mini makeout session, I hadn’t even noticed Summer’s choice of beach attire. That right there tells me how much kissing Ella fucked me up. Summer’s banging body is covered in a tiny, metallic gold one-piece that can barely be called a bathing suit. After showing off, she throws on a T-shirt and grabs Ella’s hand.

With no other choice, I follow the girls.

So fucking close.

Chapter Three

What just happened?

Flynn kissed me. Touched me. I wanted him to do so much more. Instead, I’m following Summer downstairs, with Flynn behind me.

Summer stops so abruptly I almost ram into her. When I glance up, the reason for her sudden stop becomes clear. Lena’s waiting downstairs in what can only be described as a micro-bikini made out of hot-pink tissue paper. Ridiculous stiletto mules finish off the outfit, and she’s spread enough oil over her tanned skin to grease a pig. Centerfold beautiful.

Between the two of us, there’s no contest. Flynn will fall for her charms again this weekend, and I’ll have to sit by, watching. Pretending I don’t care.

Summer’s mouth twitches into a nervous smile. “Interesting look, Lena.”

Lena’s lip curls. “This old thing?”

My eyes roll.

“Hey, Ella,” Lena calls out.

“Hi, Lena. Good to see you.”

Lena nods, then dismisses me. She pushes past Summer and me to latch onto Flynn. “Hey, handsome.”

Flynn’s gaze shoots to me and I shrug. No matter how much I wish it weren’t true, I’ve got no claim on him.

He pulls out of her embrace. “Hi.”

“Excuse me, young lady. You need to cover up when you’re inside. Save that stuff for the strip club,” the check-in lady shouts from across the room.

I stifle a laugh, while Lena actually looks embarrassed for about a nanosecond. Then she thrusts her chin in the air and struts out the front door. Summer and I snicker. Even Flynn’s struggling not to crack a smile.

As we follow behind Lena, I groan at her exaggerated walk. Her butt winks with every damn step. She ought to look ridiculous in this quiet beach community, but she’s so gorgeous it doesn’t matter. I glance over at Flynn, but his eyes are focused on his feet.

I’m not sure what to make of that.

We kissed! The memory of his lips on mine, his hands on me . . . how far would we have gone if we hadn’t been interrupted?

Butterflies bounce around in my stomach as I imagine all the possible scenarios.

We run into Stu’s brother, Brady, on the beach. He hugs his sister-in-law to be, then gives me a squeeze and shakes Flynn’s hand. Lena, of course, gives him an inappropriate kiss while rubbing her breasts all over him. Clearly annoyed, he takes a step back.

The boys take off for the water, and Lena follows them.

Wrapping my hand around Summer’s arm, I stop her from running down to the water. “I need to talk to you.”

She raises an eyebrow.

“Flynn and I kissed.”

“You what? When? Oh my God, that’s awesome!” Like the drama queen she is, she tips her head back. “Finally!” she shouts at the sky.

I can’t help laughing. “Hush. Don’t get too excited,
someone
banged on our door and stopped us.”

“Who? Oh, me. Sorry. So, go talk to him.”

“I can’t. We can’t. You know that.”

“Why? You’re not blood-related. Who cares?”

“We’ve known each other since we were thirteen.”

“So?”

“You don’t understand.” I can’t explain the way Flynn’s monster of a father forbade us from ever being a couple. That he’ll disown Flynn, taking everything he’s worked so hard for away from him in a heartbeat. And God only knows what he’ll do to me.

“I can’t compete with Lusty Lena,” I say instead.

“Um, if you haven’t noticed, he’s been trying to keep his distance from her.”

“He just doesn’t want to hurt my feelings.”

“Look, I know she’s not your favorite person in the world, but she was a big help to me when my dad passed away.”

Even though Summer didn’t intend to make me feel bad, I do. I’d been locked away at boarding school when Summer’s father passed away. It took me three days to arrange a way home. I arrived in time for the funeral. Lena had been the one there for Summer.

To lift away the sudden gloominess, Summer elbows me in the ribs and lays down a challenge. We race down to the water and dive in.

I’m a strong swimmer. As I’m moving through the salty water, there’s a tug on my leg. I shriek and suck in a lungful of brine. After thrashing around like an idiot, I realize—no, it’s not a shark—it’s Flynn.

Big hands settle around my waist and lift me out of the water.

It takes a minute of coughing and choking to catch my breath. The whole time I’m hyper-aware of Flynn’s hands around me.

“Shit, sweet stuff, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare the shit out of you.” The concern on his face, along with the old nickname, leaves me speechless. My head bobs up and down like a moron.

“I’m okay,” I finally sputter.

My hands settle on his broad shoulders for balance. We’re totally alone out here. Over his shoulder, I spot Summer on the shore talking to Lena.

“I got you.”

“Yeah,” my gaze strays to his lips.

“What happened up there, lil’ sis?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can we do it again?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you know, girl?” he asks playfully.

“I know your ex is glaring daggers at us right now.”

My hands move from his shoulder to his chest, to push myself away, but I end up studying his ink and marveling at his muscles instead.

He’s holding me so tightly, I couldn’t get loose anyway.

“You know she and I are over, right? I never should have been with her in the first place.”

I’m surprised to hear him say it so bluntly.

“Does she know that?”

He sighs and finally lets me go. “I don’t want to make this weekend awkward for anyone. Even Lena. We’re here to celebrate Summer and Stu, but after the wedding, you and I need to have a serious talk.”

The last thing I want to do is rehash all the reasons we can’t be together. Without answering him, I swim away. As annoying as it is, I admire his desire to treat his ex with respect.

Lena greets me when I get out of the water. “You two looked cozy.”

“Well, he is my stepbrother.” Where the hell is Summer when I need her?

“I know. This time next year, you’ll be getting ready to go to our wedding.” She sweeps her gaze up and down the beach. “Maybe we’ll have it here too.”

“Is
he
aware of that?”

Lena glares at me. “We’re keeping it quiet until after the wedding. Not to steal Summer’s thunder and all that.”

“Oh, of course not.”

“Everything good, ladies?” Flynn asks as he settles an arm over each of us.

Of course Lena snuggles into his side, and I reassess my earlier opinion about him being nice to her.

I could choke Lena for her ridiculous, possessive display in front of Ella. The hurt on her face went straight through my chest.

“I think I swallowed too much saltwater. I’m going to head back,” Ella says, shaking my arm off her shoulders.

After she leaves the beach, I lay it out for Lena. “Knock your shit off.”

“What, you can’t seriously be interested in your sister?”

“She’s not my sister, and our relationship is none of your business. You and I are done.”

When I reach the boardwalk, there’s no sign of Ella.
Room.
She has to be in our room.

I catch up to her at the front desk. She’s chatting with the clerk—probably asking for a room switch.

As usual, she stuns me. I stop and stare at her profile. She’s always been pretty, my little Ella. Her thick, shiny, long blonde hair has mesmerized me since we met at age thirteen. I’ve known her long enough to know it’s natural. It fluctuates from almost white-blonde in the summer to a honey shade in the winter.

Only once did I have the pleasure of waking up with it spilling over my pillow.

I want to remedy that situation this weekend. We’re not kids anymore. There’s no reason we can’t be together. If our parents don’t like it, tough shit.

If
Ella can handle me, and I’m not so sure she can.

A few seconds later, I’m seeing red. Some motherfucker I’ve never seen before has his hand on her arm, chatting her up.

What the fuck?

Nope. No fucking way. Ella’s
mine
.

Throwing on my cocky-asshole face, I stroll up and place a hand around her waist, deliberately playing with the tie of her beach cover-up. “Hey, lil’ sis, I’ve been looking for you.”

Oh, man. If looks could maim, I’d be nursing a punch to the balls right about now.

“I’m sorry, Calvin. This is my
step
brother, Flynn.” She introduces us and then slaps my hand off her hip. “Flynn, this is Stu’s cousin, Calvin.”

“Nice to meet you,” Calvin says, extending his hand for a shake. I give him a hearty hand slap and glance down at Ella.

“I’m heading up to our room, babe. You coming?”

Her face turns crimson, the color traveling down her chest.

“No.”

“That’s okay, Ella. I need to catch up with Stu about some stuff for the bachelor party later.”

“Okay.”

After he leaves, she turns and marches up the stairs without giving me another glance. I enjoy the view for a second before following.

She almost slams the door in my face, but I slap my hand against it, easily pushing my way in.