Anti-Stepbrother

No matter what Kevin said to her, she could see my feelings.

“Okay!” The leader shouted, pulling my attention back to her. She paused, then circled her hands in the air. “Let’s get on it. We’re out of here in FIVE MINUTES!”

As soon as she finished, a frenzied rush came over the group. People ran across the lot. Guys climbed on top of trucks and stood in the beds. Car doors slammed shut and everyone began hollering and whistling.

Shit.

Everyone was leaving. I’d completely missed whatever the leader had been saying. I turned to Kevin, but he was gone. I saw him climbing into an SUV down the row. Wait. Avery? I began searching for her as vehicles pulled out of their spots and passed me.

I hurried forward, still looking for Avery. I couldn’t find her. Then I stopped as I saw the last of the trucks pull out. I twisted around, and there was one left—the heavily decorated one with the pool. A group of guys and a few girls were in the back, and the leader prepared to join them.

“Hey, uh…” I called to her, but paused. I didn’t know her name.

She looked up. “Yeah?” Her eyes darted around. “Your friends left you?”

I nodded. “I was with my stepbrother. My friend must’ve thought I’d go with him, but…” I gestured to the empty lot now.

“Gotcha.” She looked over her truck, a frown forming. “Listen, we’re full. You’re a volunteer? I don’t remember your name. You must not be a part of CSC. I’m Jill.”

“Summer. I came with Avery. You know, it’s fine. I can head back to the dorms.”

“Okay. Sorry about your friend and brother.”

I waved it off. It was fine, just the small burn of humiliation, but then I heard the sound of another vehicle pulling into the lot. I turned around, expecting to see Avery or even Kevin, but nope. Caden pulled up, and my welcoming smile faded.

His window rolled down. “Is my brother still here?”

Jill stepped up next to me. “Hey, Caden! Are you joining the cause?”

He shook his head, looking between us, then at me as he answered her. “No, just need to find my brother. His phone is off. I knew he was doing this with you guys.”

She glanced down at her clipboard. “Uh…his group is supposed to cover the Rose Creek neighborhood. No surprise there. You could head up there to find him.”

“Okay. I’ll do that. Thank you.”

“Is something wrong?”

Caden shook his head. “No. That’s fine. I’ll track him down.” He glanced at me again, lingering one more time.

Jill noticed. “Oh, hey—” She jerked her head toward me. “Do you mind a stowaway? She got left behind by her buddies. She can hop in with the others if you find them.”

I closed my eyes a moment. The burn of humiliation went up a notch.

Caden grinned. His cold look lifted, just a bit, and he pointed to the passenger door. “That’s fine. Hop in, little Matthews. This is starting to become our thing.”

Jill regarded me, her attention suddenly more focused when she realized Caden knew me.

I felt my face getting red, and I shook my head, backing away. “Nah. That’s okay.” I pointed over my shoulder. “I should get some studying done.”

“Summer.”

Caden’s voice stopped me. I wanted to make my escape. The thought of being in his vehicle again, in such close proximity with him, had sent a whole host of sensations through me. I had knots in my stomach, and stupid butterflies doing somersaults around them, but as much as I tried to make my legs leave, they didn’t move.

“Get in.”

It was a softly worded command, but those two words had more power over me than my own brain did. I found myself going around the Land Rover and getting in. As I shut the door, I saw Jill get in her truck, still watching me.

I’d come to this event a nobody, but suddenly, with the acknowledgement that Caden Banks knew me, I knew I wouldn’t be a nobody for long. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that or not. Girls who were somebody were also targets. Maybe I still wanted to be a nobody?

“Why’d you do that?” I asked Caden as he pulled away. “And it’s Stoltz. I’m not a Matthews.”

I couldn’t keep that question in. A touch of panic settled at the bottom of my stomach, lining my insides, and I couldn’t get rid of it. I knew I was overreacting, but I couldn’t shake the look that Jill and everyone else in her truck had given me.

Maybe I liked being boring after all. I could be invisible.

Caden threw me a frown, turning at an intersection. “Say what?”

I twisted in my seat, facing him, and ignored all the other emotions going on in me. It was him. He made me crazy. I only acted like this in his presence. “They were all looking at me. Why did you do that?”

He gave me a crazy look, like I’d grown two heads. “What the fuck’s your problem?”

A new, more-alarming sensation dipped low in me, all the way down between my legs. I was attracted to him. I slammed back into my seat. I couldn’t be attracted to him. He was Asshole Caden. Granted, he was my asshole, and that was the wrong thought too. I took a breath. I had to calm down.

I had to be reasonable.

“Now people know that I know you.”

“Is there something wrong with knowing me?”

“Yes.”

“What? What was I supposed to do? Pretend you weren’t there?”