Anti-Stepbrother

I straightened up. “Really?”

“You should sleep with him.”

“What?!”

“I mean it. I don’t usually encourage casual sex, but if it’s with Caden Banks, then hell yes. Get some if you can. You’ll look back when you’re old and thank me.”

I started laughing, then realized she was serious. “You’re not joking, are you?”

“I mean it. Forget being your RA, I’m being a friend. Fuck Caden Banks if you get the chance, then tell me all about it afterward. I’ll live vicariously through you.”

Just then Caden walked out of the gas station with two cups in hand. “I have to go. He’s coming back.”

“Okay,” she said quickly, her voice sounding hushed suddenly. “I mean it. Screw his brains out.”

“Wait!” She was about to hang up. “I need Maggie’s phone number.”

“Oh yeah. Not needed,” she said.

Caden opened his door and got in, observing me. “Still on the phone?”

I held up a finger. “What do you mean ‘not needed’?”

“They just got here.”

“Where?” I covered the phone and said to Caden, “Maggie and Marcus are wherever Avery is. They just got there.”

“We’re at the country club,” she said. “It’s almost five o’clock. We figured all the rich folks would be drinking here, and I guess they thought the same thing. Tell Caden we’re at the Rose Creek Country Club. He’ll know where it is.”

“Okay.”

I hung up, and when I told him, he rolled his eyes. “Fuck’s sakes. Of course they’re there.”

“I take it you know the place?”

“I used to work there. I hate that place.”

After pulling into the country club’s parking lot and parking between a Ferrari and a Porsche, Caden grunted. “Yep. I still hate this place.”

“You worked here?”

“My freshman year. My dad’s friend owns it.”

“What happened?”

He took his keys out and reached for the door handle, but paused to look at me. “I hate fake people. Guess what kind of people hang out in country clubs?” Then he was out the door and heading inside.

I didn’t have time to sit back and laugh because I agreed. He was halfway across the lot by the time I got out and hurried behind him. I caught up to him on the sidewalk, but instead of going through the main entrance, he circled around the building to a wooden patio. It was full of people eating, drinking, or just sitting and talking. Caden cut through the tables and went down a flight of stairs. I paused behind him, in the middle of the stairs, to get a look at where he was going.

Three different pools spread out at the base of the hill, a lazy river connecting them. Caden headed to the middle pool, and I recognized Marcus, Avery, and others from the CSC lot. I kept scanning for Kevin.

I found him.

He was by the third pool, which was relatively empty, with only a few women swimming. One guy was doing laps, and my stepbrother stood underneath a palm tree near a bunch of other shrubbery. I could see the walking path behind him, and I knew he was trying to hide. He wasn’t succeeding. A hand appeared, cupping the side of his face.

My chest tightened, and I looked over to where Caden was approaching Marcus’ table.

I didn’t know who it was under that tree with Kevin, but I had one guess. It started with M and rhymed with saggy.

I’d started toward them when Avery blocked my path. “Hey.” She held her hands out, gesturing to where Caden and Marcus were talking. “What’s up with that? He looks pissed.”

Caden was the least of my problems at the moment. “I don’t know. I, uh, I have to go to the bathroom.” I looked around. “Where is the bathroom?”

Her eyebrows shot up and she moved back a step. “If you had to go to the bathroom, you would’ve gone inside, where the bathrooms are.” She studied me intently. “What’s going on with you?”

I sucked at being an actress. I rolled my eyes. “Fuck it. Look.” I nodded in Kevin’s direction.

She looked and then gasped, stepping in beside me. She shook her head. “Caden and Marcus are right there. They’re so stupid. I don’t get what Marcus even sees in her. Does she have a magical vagina or something?” She sighed. “I mean, she can be really fun, but still I don’t get it. I honestly don’t.”

I started forward again. “I’m going to put a stop to it.”

“Wait.” She grabbed my arm, holding me back. “Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“Why?” She pointed to Kevin and Maggie, who were now kissing. Or I thought they were kissing. His head was moving a little. I felt a twinge of hurt in my chest—the way he had with me that one night.

“Think about it,” Avery said. “They’re going to get caught. I mean, they’re stupid enough to get together at the same place Marcus and his brother are, and it’s during the day. It’s inevitable.” Her voice lowered. “So, let it happen.”

“Let Kevin get pummeled, you mean?”

“No, let fate happen. Don’t protect him. Don’t protect any of them.” She snorted, raking a hand through her hair. “They don’t deserve it. Trust me.”

I was tempted. I could feel his lips on mine, his hands touching me, how he’d pressed down on me. A whole host of sensations coursed through me, but they didn’t matter. I gritted my teeth, and I had to actually shove down the longing I’d been experiencing since that night, but I did it.