Stepbrother: The Game He Plays Page 10

  I realized now was definitely not the time to tell any of them I was related to the Osborne brothers or that I was dating one of them. Kind of.

  The next day at work, I took all of my breaks with Gray and her group of friends. She invited me to hang out with them later that night at a local pizzeria. Justin and Joe were coming home tomorrow and I really wanted to tell Gray who they were to me before she found out from someone else. Especially who Justin was to me.

  I just didn’t know how I would do it or when. I arrived early hoping Gray would too so I could talk to her about Justin, but when I arrived Ryan was the only one there.

  “You’re early.”

  “Yeah, I left a little early because I was afraid I’d get lost,” I lied.

  “I’m glad you did. I was hoping it would be just the two of us for a little while,” he admitted. His words were genuine and the burn reset in my cheeks. “Do you wanna go in and get a drink before everyone else gets here?”

  The streetlight lit his already-clear irises.

  “Okay.”

  We were only alone for a few minutes before Gray arrived. I could see he was just as disappointed in her early arrival as I was. She ran up to me and slung her thin arm around my shoulder. Both of us pretended we were happy to see her.

  “Hey, is this guy bothering you?”

  “Not at all.” I laughed. He revealed his playful yet sexy smirk before tipping his head in gratitude.

  “Good to know,” he said standing up. “Because it turns out you may be just the kind of girl I’ve been waiting for.” His words intrigued me and I was getting used to the warmth they caused in me. He had a different effect on Gray. Her mouth dropped in offense.

  “Hey! That hurts!” she teased holding her heart. She looked over at me and smiled before looking back at him. “And what kind of girl is that exactly, Mr. Davis?”

  He didn’t have time to answer, although a part of me desperately wanted him to before others from our party arrived. Before walking away to shake his friends’ hands, he leaned down and whispered into my ear, “Guess we’ll have to finish our conversation another time when we know we won’t be interrupted.”

  He pulled back from me slowly. His set eyes testing mine with their stare. The small smile spread across my lips told him I was looking forward to it.

  Throughout the evening, I enjoyed getting to know everyone there and the relationships they were having with one another, had had with one another, or wanted to have with one another in the near future. But it was also an uncomfortable conversation for me too. It was as if everyone was okay with sharing each other. Ryan noticed and leaned toward me.

  “You can see why I don’t get involved,” he said. I nodded hoping their conversation would move on from sex to something I knew more about.

  “Do you have any brothers or sisters, Karley?” he asked.

  I was happy for the change in subject but not the topic.

  “Um, I have two stepbrothers.” A month ago I would have answered the question differently. I would have said no and not thought twice about it. I was worried he would ask me about them. Then I would have to tell him, all of them, about my relationship with the Osborne brothers. I thought I was ready to tell Gray earlier. Now, I was unsure. Listening to her talk about seeing Joe again reminded me I needed to hold off.

  “I overheard their father telling someone they come home tomorrow,” Gray said. The excitement in her voice was undeniable. “This year, Joe is going to want me. And I’m going to let him do whatever he wants with me.”

  While all of the other girls playfully screamed, my throat tightened at the thought of him. I wondered what he was doing right now. If he was excited to come home tomorrow. If things between us would be different this time. It took a while to get him out of my thoughts and focus back on the new conversation at the table.

  At the end of the night, Ryan walked me out to my mother’s car. After I unlocked the door, he opened it for me.

  “Thanks,” I whispered.

  “So, maybe we can finish that conversation sometime soon.”

  I looked up at him. He was close. Close enough to lean forward a few inches and kiss me. I didn’t move.

  “Maybe.”

  “Hopefully,” he whispered moving in closer. In one quick motion, I caught my breath and sank into the driver’s seat.

  My retreat from him surprised him but it also seemed to intrigue him.

  “You should know one thing about me, Miss Woods. I like a bit of a challenge.”

  Before I had a chance to respond, he closed my door gently and stepped back as I turned on the ignition. I wanted to look up at him again. He was waiting for me to. Watching every move I made inside the car. I was extending my stay longer than necessary while I debated looking at him again or not. Finally, he softly tapped on the window, and when I glanced up at him he raised his hand to say good-bye. The smile on his face was honest. It was enough to make me stay but the ringing of my phone and Justin’s name appearing on the screen reminded me I needed to drive away.

  The hours couldn’t pass fast enough at work the next day. Justin would be home tonight and excitement rushed throughout my body the entire day with thoughts of seeing him again. Finally, three o’clock came and I rushed to the time clock and ran outside to meet my mother.

  As usual, she was late.

  I tried calling her a few times but she didn’t answer. The boys still wouldn’t be home for a couple of hours so I wanted to take a shower and find the perfect outfit to wear when we picked them up at the airport. I had pretended to reluctantly agree with my mother when she asked me to ride to the airport with her and Bill to pick the boys up, using the excuse that I had no other plans. It wasn’t necessarily a lie. He was all I wanted to do. Nothing else. No one else mattered.

  “Need a ride?”

  I turned to see Ryan standing beside me. Although I had looked, I hadn’t seen him all day. At lunch, Gray explained one of the motors in the ski lifts had gone out and he had spent all morning outside trying to diagnose the problem in order to fix it. “Didn’t I see you here yesterday, too?”

  “What?” I asked. And then I remembered. He’d walked outside yesterday after work while I was waiting for my mother. She was always late.

  “No, she’s on her way.” I crossed my fingers playfully.

  “You can give her a call and tell her not to come. Trust me, I wouldn’t mind giving you a ride.”

  The double meaning of his flirtatious words didn’t go unnoticed. They were tempting. Everything about him was tempting yet unavailable according to Gray. Maybe it was his age or his cool, unyielding confidence that made him an outsider to their group. Untouchable. Whatever it was, I liked it. Heat raced throughout my body. But so did a small voice. It repeated itself inside my ear: taking him up on his offer wouldn’t be a good idea.

  I didn’t listen to it.

  “Okay.”

  My phone rang. It was my mother. No doubt telling me she would be late again. I told her I had a ride and was on my way home.

  On the way home, we talked about the resort. His dad owned the maintenance company contracted at the resort, and after college Ryan came back to help his father.

  “Since I don’t work the concession or the slopes, I’m kinda outta the mix. Plus, I don’t like the drama that goes on there.”

  “Yeah, that was kinda mentioned last night,” I reminded him. “But you said you don’t stay out of all the drama.” His familiar smirk lit his face.

  “You’d be surprised what I have to do to entertain myself around here.”

  “Oh, yeah? Like what?”

  He shook his head.

  “When the time is right, you’ll find out.”

  I laughed it off.

  “Okay, but it does sound like a lot of drama does go on.”

  “Yep! Too much. But it’s a lot of the same shit that happened in college. Sex, drugs. Well, not as much drugs but just as much sex.” His eyes flickered in my direction. My face wa
rmed with embarrassment.

  I never worked in an environment like he was describing. I’d never tried drugs or had sex. I didn’t want to expose my naiveté to him.

  “It sounds so risqué.”

  “Oh, it can be,” he warned smiling. “Fortunately, the owner stays out of it, of course. I mean, the guy has bigger things to worry about than his pot-smoking, promiscuous employees and all of his sons’ admirers.”

  He rolled his light green eyes in extreme exaggeration. The laugh he forced sounded annoyed. He didn’t seem impressed at all by either Osborne brother. I understood. I didn’t want to talk about either of them right now.

  I thought about the girl in the newspaper and silently agreed with what Ryan said. Bill definitely had more important things to worry about than his sons.

  “But sometimes,” Ryan said as he laughed and leaned closer to me, “when something major happens, he has these big meetings about how the resort is a place of business so it’s important to be professional. It always involves the seasonal help because that’s when the most trouble happens, when they come into town!”

  “Sounds crazy,” I said thinking I should tell him about my relationship with Bill and his two sons. Instead, I asked him about the girl that Beth mentioned Joe dated.

  “Beth mentioned someone died here a few years back.”

  “Do you mean the ski instructor?”

  I shrugged my shoulders unsure if that was her or not.

  “The girl she was talking about at the pizza parlor last night?”

  I nodded.

  “Her name was Madelyn. Everyone called her Maddie. She was super sweet and completely gorgeous! Probably my first hard-core crush.” He gave a vulnerable smile before continuing.

  “She started working at the resort last winter. She and I hung out a couple of times. We got along because neither of us wanted other people to know about our private business. But unfortunately for me, she hit it off with the oldest Osborne brother. Immediately. Right before the season ended, she was found dead on the slopes.”

  “Oh, my God,” I whispered. My thoughts were not on the girl but Joe. He must have felt so broken losing her.

  Ryan nodded slowly and released an extended sigh.

  “Yeah. I’m the one that—”

  “Oh, turn here!” I interrupted pointing ahead.

  He noticed the name on the mailbox.

  “Are you related to Bill Osborne?” he asked looking over at me with confusion.

  I hesitated before answering.

  “He’s my step-dad.”

  I knew he was curious, maybe even offended that I didn’t tell him after all he had just shared about Bill.

  “I don’t want a lot of people to know, Ryan,” I whispered still looking over at him. “I don’t want to be treated differently because of who he is to me.”

  His furrowed brow relaxed.

  “I won’t tell anyone,” he replied honestly. “I have a secret of my own I might share with you one day.”

  I smiled playfully wondering what secret he held.

  His thundering red Chevelle stopped near the front porch and he put it into park. I grabbed my bag and started to open the door when he reached his hand out to me.

  “Karley?” He paused to take a deep breath. “Some of us are going to see a movie the day after Christmas. Would you like to go? Maybe you and I could get a drink after—”

  His eyes drifted past me and focused on something else. I turned to see Justin standing on the porch. Immediately, a smile spread across my face. I expected the same from him. He didn’t smile back as he took a few slow steps toward the car.

  Something was burning in his eyes. I wasn’t sure if it was confusion or anger and didn’t understand why it would be either. My smile disappeared.

  “Um, maybe I should meet you guys there.”

  He hesitated before tearing his stare away from Justin.

  “Uh, yeah, sure,” he mumbled already glancing back toward Justin.

  My heart was stuck in my throat.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Ryan.”

  He didn’t respond. From the porch Justin monitored every move I made, arms crossed over his well-defined chest. He was confident in his stance. Watchful as Ryan drove away.

  “Hey.”

  I couldn’t hide the nervousness in my voice.

  “Who was that?”

  His question confused me because he acted like he recognized him moments ago.

  “A friend from work.” He was still staring in Ryan’s direction. I wanted his eyes on me. “I thought you weren’t coming home until later.”

  He paid no attention to my latter comment.

  “A friend?” he echoed quietly.

  “Yeah.” My steps were slow toward him. “He helps his dad with maintenance at the resort. Why are you already home?”

  He was uninterested in any of the details, still staring past me toward the thin dust cloud Ryan’s car left in its wake.

  “Justin?”

  “I thought I would surprise you by being here when you got home. It looks like I’m the one getting the big surprise.”

  My breathing became difficult. I stopped walking toward him.

  I turned my head away from him. Other than the anger in his eyes, there was no evidence Ryan had been here. It took several tries but I finally swallowed the pain in my throat and turned back toward him.

  “Aren’t you happy to be home?”

  He was already on his way over to me.

  “I’m not sure anymore?”

  His steps to me were slow yet determined. When he lifted his hand toward my face, it startled me. The anger in his eyes disappeared as he narrowed them curiously and I swear I saw the corner of his mouth rise in satisfaction at my reaction. Placing his hand under my tucked chin, he lifted it without force. I relaxed under his touch.

  “Are you happy I’m home?”

  His warm breath hit my face with seduction.

  I barely nodded.

  “Tell me.”

  His demand was gentle. His upper lip curled up playfully under his softened eyes waiting for my response. He was okay. We were okay again.

  “I’m happy you’re home,” I whispered.

  I felt silly saying the words out loud and a quiet giggle escaped my lips. Again, he didn’t find it silly. He expected it. After the last three weeks, I’d gotten used to him telling me how he felt about me and the expectation he had for me to do the same. But now that we were face-to-face, my courage wasn’t as easily found.

  He took a dominant step forward, and feeling his hard body against mine sent an explosion of warmth throughout my body. I welcomed it immediately.

  “Then, I’m very happy to be home.”

  The throbbing pain between my thighs was almost unbearable.

  “You want me to kiss you, don’t you?”

  My whispered answer was more of a plea.

  I remembered the sweet taste of his kiss. I bit my lower lip in anticipation of it. Under his stare, my body quivered yearning for it. He waited until the time was right for him.

  He was in control. He liked it that way. Wanted it that way between us. He’d proven that to me two nights ago. I thought with everything I had done for him that night I had proven my loyalty to him.

  “Oh, honey—”

  My mother’s voice called from behind him.

  He released my chin and stepped away from me, leaving me unsteady on my feet.

  Oblivious to what he was doing, she walked past him and took my weakened body into her arms.

  “I am so sorry I forgot. Did your friend already leave? I wanted to thank him.”

  The weight of Justin’s stare kept me from hearing her words.

  “Honey?”

  Her eyes were wide staring into mine.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, Mom, I’m fine.”

  I caught my breath just in time to watch him turn and walk into the house. His sly, crooked smile proved he was proud of the hol
d he had on me.

  After a few hours, his gentle knock tapped against my door. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

  “Come here,” he whispered.

  I slowly walked over to him, running my fingers through my messy hair so I could put it in a ponytail.

  “Don’t,” he said taking my hands, “leave it.”

  He let go of my hands as I looked into his eyes. He ran his hand down my hair, then put it on the back of my neck, pulling me closer to him.

  “Waiting for you is very hard.”

  His eyes were soft but intense. I wanted him to kiss me. I leaned up on my toes to touch his lips with mine but he backed his head away.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked tugging on the back of his shirt as I held it tightly in my hands.

  “I wanna make you smile the way he did.” His voice was low but pleading.

  “You do.”

  I reached for his lips again. He backed away.

  “I only want you to smile that way for me.”

  I leaned my face away from his unsure of his meaning.

  “Ryan’s only a friend.”

  He said nothing. He was searching for another answer in my eyes. When he didn’t find it, his face softened. He released the back of my neck, tracing my jaw with his finger. The familiar warmth rushed over my body. He moved in closer to me. My lips barely missed the tip of his chin. He lowered his arm to his side and I wondered if he was going to touch me again. But I couldn’t wait. I leaned closer to him and softly kissed his neck. He tilted his head back as he spoke.

  “I only want you to smile that way for me,” he repeated.

  “Okay,” I whispered. I continued kissing his neck. He leaned his head back down and took my face in his hands. I breathed in his scent as he pressed his lips against mine.

  At first, the kiss was soft as we stood in each other’s arms. Instantly, a rough, uncontrolled kiss took its place. With one swift move of his body, he pinned me against the wall as he continued to kiss me. My thoughts begged him not to stop until I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

  “Justin,” I whispered into his ear as he kissed my neck, “someone’s coming.”

  When he didn’t stop, I wasn’t sure if he heard me or if he didn’t care.