Stepbrother Bad Boy Read online

  Stepbrother Bad Boy

  by

  Veronica Daye

  About Stepbrother Bad Boy

  Back in high school, Shane Ventana was the shit. I mean he was hot, popular, mysterious, the ultimate bad boy. I swear the guy could wet panties by just cocking his brow. Not that his cock or his brow were anywhere near me, Shane didn’t know I existed.

  But there I was, busy with my daily Shane stalking in the halls when the unthinkable happened–my dad eloped with Shane’s mom. And to make matters even worse, Shane took it out on me. My life couldn’t get worse, right?

  Wrong! I fell in love with him. I mean there he was, my dream guy, in the room right next to mine. I couldn’t help myself. But who falls in love with their stepbrother? Don’t answer that.

  Just trust me, everything was perfect. Well, it was perfect until he left. But life likes to screw with me and just when I thought I was over him, I heard the words that made my heart start beating all over again–“Shane is coming”.

  Stepbrother Bad Boy

  Copyright © 2015 by Veronica Daye and Flirt Publishing/A Division of Jaded Speck Publishing LLC

  Cover Design by CT Cover Creations

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Part I

  The Devil You Know

  ~ One ~

  “Rosalie! Hey Rosalie DeLeo!”

  I looked around the open door of my locker and down the wide hall as I heard my name. Noelle, my best friend, held her books tightly to her chest as she quickly walked over with a huge smile on her face. Noelle had thick red curls, freckles, and always smelled like the bubble gum she constantly chewed.

  “Did you see him today?” she asked.

  “Him?”

  “You know, him,” she said, her eyes widening.

  I knew who she meant, but sometimes I liked to pretend I didn’t. The last thing I wanted to do was admit to anyone that he was always on my mind. Noelle leaned against the lockers while I grabbed my books for the next class.

  “Yeah, I saw him after homeroom this morning. Why?” I asked.

  “Because he looks so freaking hot today,” Noelle said as she fanned herself. “I think I saw a new tattoo too.”

  He was Shane Ventana. He started at our high school last year and everyone thought he was hot. Shane had shaggy dark blond hair that fell onto his forehead and piercing green eyes. He was tattooed, mysterious, an honor roll student, and captain of the basketball team. Shane was everything rolled into one and there was no one else like him. And like most everyone else in school, Shane had no idea I was alive.

  “He’s been working on that sleeve for a while,” I said. “My parents would kill me if I got a tattoo. I mean he’s not eighteen yet, doesn’t he need their permission?”

  “Really? That’s what you’re thinking about? No wonder you’re still a virgin. His tattoos make me wonder if he has any we can’t see,” she said, snapping her gum and raising her brow at the same time. “You know what I mean?”

  “Everyone knows what you mean, Noelle. And I am not a virgin. You know that.”

  “I know you dated Ben Miller for a while, I know you had sex with him, but I’m sure he didn’t make you cum. That, in my book, makes you a virgin.”

  “Shut up,” I said, laughing.

  Looking past her, I spotted Shane coming down the hall. I cleared my throat and widened my eyes, letting Noelle know he was coming this way.

  Noelle calmly leaned against the lockers as I tried to not stare at him. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans with a chain that hung from his waist and a dark blue short-sleeved t-shirt that clung to his body. As he walked past a group of guys, he lifted his muscular arm and they high-fived.

  Stop staring, Rosalie. Look away now. He’s not blind, he’s going to see you staring. Wait...is he looking at me? What do I do?!

  I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He was close enough that I could see the stubble on his chin that dipped into a dimple. His green eyes were right on me, but more than on me, they saw into me.

  My heart pounded so loudly that I was sure everyone could hear. But he didn’t turn, he didn’t look away. Heat spread over my skin and up onto my cheeks. The way he was looking at me was like he knew what I looked like naked.

  Relax, Rosalie, you’re not naked. Crap, why did I have to wear this stupid shirt? Naked might’ve been better.

  “S’up,” he said with the slightest nod as he walked past.

  Faints.

  Surprised to find myself still standing, I quickly glanced at my locker mirror. Eye liner not smudged, light brown hair not too limp, and my ugly yellow and black shirt because I didn’t get to do laundry. Just my luck that the one time he notices me, I look like an idiot.

  “Holy shit,” Noelle said. “You gotta talk to him.”

  “What? Nooo,” I said, slamming my locker door close. “He probably thought I was someone else.”

  “We have to go to the game tonight. Maybe he’ll talk to you again.”

  “Tonight? I can’t. I told my dad I’d go to dinner with him and Joanna.”

  “Your stepmom?”

  “Yes, well no, they’re not married. I don't think my dad will ever get married again,” I said. “They’ve just been together forever.”

  The warning bell rang and Noelle and I headed in different directions to our classes. Once she was out of sight, I ran down the steps to peek out the glass doors towards the smoking porch where I knew Shane would be.

  I was running out of time before class started, but I didn’t care. I had to see him again. I couldn’t believe he spoke to me. I didn’t care that it was barely a word, it was something. He knew I existed.

  Shane was sitting on one of the cement ledges that surrounded the porch. His cigarette hung from his lips. He cupped his hands around his lighter to keep it from blowing out as he lit the cigarette.

  If Noelle knew I was there she would push me to talk to him, but I couldn’t. I just wanted one last glimpse of him before my last class and the weekend started. As he blew the smoke from his lungs, a few cheerleaders gathered around him. He leaned towards a tall redhead next to him and kissed her. Shane didn’t have one girlfriend, he had many. And I hated every one of them. Okay, maybe hate was a strong word, but I definitely envied them.

  There was no way he meant to say hi to me. I was invisible in school. I was the girl without the designer clothes and with the double-digit size. I wasn’t the girl that Shane Ventana noticed.

  But apparently I’m the girl who stalks him, I thought.

  As I headed back up the steps to the classrooms, I promised myself I would stop obsessing about him. But even as I swore it, I knew it was impossible.

  ~ Two ~

  As soon as my dad honked the horn, I ran out of my bedroom and down the steps to the front door. I never liked being at home and it seemed the older I got, the more my mother and stepfather did things to make me uncomfortable. Especially my stepfather.

  My parents divorced when I was five. My father was heartbroken and would give me poems and music to give to my mother, but she wanted nothing to do with him. She had already found someone else and he moved in soon after and later became my stepfather Jim. All of it left me confused.

  I loved my dad and remembered doing so many things with him when
I was little. But after they divorced, I hardly saw him. He wasn’t allowed to call and my mother said so many bad things about him, I didn’t know what to believe. It wasn’t until the past year that my dad and I started spending a little more time together, but it still wasn’t much.

  “Where are you going?” Jim barked as I reached for the door.

  “Dinner with my dad.”

  “You don’t go anywhere without my permission.”

  “I told Mom,” I said as I opened the door and waved to my dad.

  “She should have said something to me.”

  Then take it up with her, I thought. I wished I could say something like that, but I didn’t dare.

  “I’ll see you later,” I said as I stepped out the door.

  “Where’s my kiss?”

  I hate this.

  I stepped back into the house and he stooped down. I quickly kissed his cheek, making sure my lips barely touched his rough skin.

  “That didn’t count,” he said. “Do it again.”

  Swallowing hard, I pursed my lips again and kissed his cheek quickly, making sure my lips touched his skin even if it was only for a second. I held my breath as I waited for his verdict.

  “Better,” he said. “Since you’re just going out for dinner, I’ll expect you home in two hours.”

  “But I’m going out with my dad,” I said.

  “Two hours is enough time for dinner no matter who you’re with.”

  I closed the door behind me and sucked in some of the cold night air. My body was in knots like it always was after talking to Jim. As I got into my dad’s car, he nodded his head towards the house.

  “Everything okay?” Dad asked.

  Looking towards the house, I saw Jim standing in the doorway. The porch light reflected against his bald head and I imagined smashing a two-by-four into it. As I smiled at the thought, I turned back to my dad.

  “Everything’s fine,” I said as I waved in Jim’s direction.

  The further Dad drove down the street, the more relaxed I felt. The knots in my body loosened up and I breathed easier.

  “Where is Joanna?” I asked. “I thought the three of us were going out to dinner.”

  “It’s going to be four of us. She had to drive to her ex’s to pick up her son. They’ll be meeting us at the restaurant.”

  “Son? I had no idea she had kids. How old is he?”

  “I don’t know. I think he’s around your age. She doesn’t talk much about him. He lives with his father.”

  “That’s a little weird,” I said.

  “It was a weird situation. You probably don’t remember my friend Ryan from when you were little, do you?” he asked. “This was after your mother and I...”

  Got divorced. He could never say the words.

  I thought for a while, trying to remember any of my father’s friends, but no one came to mind. My memories were a crap shoot. Some things were as clear as if they happened yesterday while other memories just weren’t there.

  “No, I don’t remember him.”

  “Ryan and I taught at the middle school together. We were really good friends, but then something happened to him. He would vanish for days and his wife, Joanna, would call me crying on the phone asking if I had heard from him. Ends up he was doing drugs. Eventually he chose his addiction over her and they got divorced. She was really upset about it. So I guess that gave us something else in common.”

  “But how did Ryan get custody if he was an addict?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s none of my business.”

  They seated my father and me right away when we got to the restaurant. I sat across from my dad, assuming Joanna would want to sit next to him. My father kept checking his watch and after fifteen minutes, he started to look worried. As he stretched his neck to look towards the hostess stand, a smile spread across his face and he stood up and waved to Joanna.

  I carefully folded my napkin and looked towards the doorway. Shane entered the room and slowly walked in our direction followed by Joanna. My heart leaped in my chest like a cartoon character's.

  Shane’s her son??

  Joanna kissed my father’s cheek and smiled sweetly at me. She looked perfect, like she always did. Her thick dark hair was pinned into an updo, bringing more attention to her high cheekbones and tanned skin. As she sat down, her expertly manicured hands hung her expensive bag on the back of her seat.

  Shane yanked the chair next to me out from the table and sat down. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t even look at the table. Other than his chair being near, he might as well have been somewhere else.

  “I’m glad you could join us, Rosalie. It’s always nice to see you,” Joanna said.

  “It’s good seeing you too,” I said.

  I meant that. I liked Joanna. She never had a bad thing to say and she seemed to make my father happy.

  “Rosalie, this is my son Shane,” she said, then paused as she waited for him to reply. A brief look of disgust crossed her features. “Shane! Don’t do this to me,” she snapped.

  I jumped at Joanna’s tone, but it seemed I was the only one at the table not used to hearing it. Despite knowing Joanna for years, I suddenly felt like I didn’t know anything about her at all.

  Shane stretched his legs out and leaned back. He rubbed his cheek as he scanned the restaurant. I had been waiting for him to turn towards me and notice me so that I could say hi, but it was clear he could care less.

  Joanna closed her eyes for a second and let out a long breath. When she opened them, a calm smile appeared on her face.

  “Rosalie, I hope your father didn’t spoil the surprise, but the reason we asked for you both to be here is to tell you we got married.”

  “We have been talking about it for a while but didn’t want to make a big deal out of it since we’ve both been married before,” Dad said. “You know I hate weddings. So we just went down to City Hall and made it official.”

  My crush is now my stepbrother? I have the worst luck.

  I drank a sip of water and choked. As I coughed uncontrollably, Shane whacked me on the back. This wasn’t the kind of attention I wanted from him. I must have done something really bad in another life.

  “You couldn’t tell me that over the phone?” Shane sneered at Joanna. “You made me miss the game tonight.” He pulled out his cell phone and looked at the time. “I’ve got better places to be.”

  As he stood, he tapped his phone and held it up to his ear. Joanna’s hand reached out and grabbed his arm, but he yanked it away and started walking to the door. With a look of sadness mixed with embarrassment, she ran after him.

  “Congratulations, Dad,” I said, trying to act like nothing weird happened.

  “I’m sure you’re surprised. You know Joanna and I have been together for years now. I thought it would be nice if you and Shane were our witnesses, but Joanna didn't want to wait.” He looked towards the entrance and frowned. “Sorry about how he acted. I’ve only met him a few times, but Joanna tells me he gets into a lot of trouble.”

  “What kind of trouble?” I asked, wanting to hear more about Shane.

  “I don’t know the details. I’m sure it’s just your typical bad boy thing. He’s got the look and the attitude down. I see boys like that all the time in my school.”

  That look like Shane? I must be in the wrong school.

  Joanna returned to the table alone with a fake smile plastered on her face. As she maneuvered into her chair, she waved off my father when he pulled the seat out for her.

  “I’m sorry about that,” she said. “Shane’s friend picked him up, but he’ll be joining us on Sunday.”

  “What’s Sunday?” I asked.

  “Sorry, I forgot to mention it to you earlier,” Dad said. “We’re putting an offer in on a house. We were hoping you and Shane would come and tell us what you think of it. Can you make it?”

  I nodded my response, but the only thing I could think about was seeing Shane again in a couple of days
.

  ~ Three ~

  I spent most of Sunday morning trying on different outfits and discovering I hated my clothes. I needed something perfect for when I saw Shane. I didn’t care how ridiculous it was, or that our parents got married, all I could think about was spending some time with Shane Ventana outside of school.

  After trying on everything in my closet twice, I finally settled on a pair of jeans that made my ass look good and a blue sweater. I thought about the other girls at school who looked so put together no matter what they wore. I was sometimes jealous of them and thinking about how Shane had dated most of them, now was one of those times. I was nothing like them.

  As I ran a comb through my hair one last time, my phone rang. It was Noelle. I stared at her name on the display for a moment, debating whether I should answer or not, before tapping the button.

  “Hey, Noelle,” I said.

  “Hey, I haven’t heard from you all weekend. Do you want to come over?”

  Dammit! This was why I shouldn’t have answered.

  “I can’t, my dad should be here any minute. He and Joanna are going to buy a house and they want us to see it.”

  “Us?” she asked.

  Crap! I cannot keep a secret!

  “Umm yeah, us. Joanna has a son.”

  “No way! You had juicy gossip like this and you didn’t share?”

  “Well, it’s really not a big deal.”

  “Okay, Rosalie. Except I know you and when you say that, that means that it is. So spill.”

  “Fine, jeez, you can be such a bitch sometimes,” I joked. “My dad and Joanna got married and now they’re buying a house together. That’s it.”

  “Hmm, you’re leaving something out,” she said. “Tell me about Joanna’s son. They’ve been together a while so he’s not a baby. Is he hot? Is that why you’ve been quiet?”