Anti-Stepbrother

“I’m not going to. If anything happened to her…” His smile softened. “Caden could’ve lost you. I saw the look on his face when you fainted. That guy really loves you.”

I frowned. “I was dehydrated. That was it. They gave me fluids for half a day and I was fine.”

“I’m not talking physically. He almost lost you. Caden’s lucky to have you.”

“Oh.” Well, that made me feel good. “Thank you.”

“Sooo, are you going to keep hating me at family stuff? We have summer coming up soon. Things will be awkward if we’re both home and you want to kill me.”

“I never wanted to kill you. More like maim, rip out your guts, castrate you.” I lifted a shoulder. “You couldn’t hurt if you were buried. But if your guts had been pulled out and then put back in with some really bad stitching? Yeah. That would’ve been perfect.”

“Yeah.” He echoed, a hard glint in his eyes. “That’s what I meant.”

“Just so we’re on the same page.”

“And you have absolutely no feelings for me?”

I didn’t think twice. I grabbed the shoe next to my suitcase and threw it at him.

He ducked, and it hit the wall behind him. “Okay, okay.” He stood, his hands covering his face. “I’ll get out of here.” He paused at the door, turning back. “It’s been three years, but I’m excited to actually have a sister now. For real. No bullshit.”

I scowled. “Let’s just try casual acquaintance first. I still don’t fully trust you.”

“And you shouldn’t, but you will. I’ll prove myself to you. I can be someone you can think of as family.” He waved as he disappeared down the hall.

The jury was still out, but after this talk, my need to rip out his guts might’ve lessened. Just a small amount. I had to stop and appreciate this moment, because right here, it hit me how thankful I was. I came to college to be with my stepbrother, but I fell in love with the anti-stepbrother instead. Kevin was an ideal, a Band-Aid over a wound, but not Caden. He was the good, the bad, and the stuff in between. He’d make me feel all of it. He was everything.

He was my everything.

Avery appeared in my doorway a second later. She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “Was that Kevin?”

“He wanted to apologize for being a slimeball.”

“He’s going to need more than one apology for that.”

“Yeah.” I tossed a pair of sandals on the bed. “How many pairs of shoes did you pack?”

She picked up the sandals and placed them in the suitcase, sitting on my bed. “Uh, I packed…twelve different outfits and four pairs of sandals. I’ll probably end up buying clothes and shoes there. You can never have enough, especially when we’re going to Key West. I can’t wait for tomorrow. It’ll be amazing.”

Marcus, Avery, Colton, Caden, and I were going on spring break together. There were rumors that Diego might fly down to join us. Caden wasn’t sure about that, he tended to be selfish. He liked to keep Diego for himself, but since I took Colt to Diego’s bar one time, there’d been no turning back. Marcus and Avery came the next time, and I was pretty certain that Marcus developed a guy crush on the bar’s owner. Diego wasn’t having it, though. Diego had a new bromance going, and it was with Colton. He declared it the weekend before. I wasn’t sure who was more miffed, Caden or Marcus. Then again, Colton looked a bit wary himself.

All in all, I was hoping Diego would come.

“I know it’s kinda sad that their parents are getting a divorce, but yay for their dad relocating down south and having a house for us,” she said. “That’s a major perk.”

“For us, since we’re the girlfriends.”

She shared a smile with me. “Oh yeah. And I know I’ve not said it yet, but thank you for passing out in February. Ever since then, Marcus has been the most attentive and loving boyfriend ever. Apparently you scared the shit out of him. He said he never wanted me to do that.” She glanced down to her hands. “He said Caden could’ve lost you, and he never wanted to lose me.”

I laughed. “I’m glad. You guys made it official the next week too.” I stood back, gazing down at my suitcase. “I’m done. I think my bag is over the weight limit.”

She picked up one of the bikinis. “Caden will tear this off of you in two seconds.”

“Here’s hoping.”

And the next night, after we flew to Key West and spent the evening dancing and drinking, he did just that.

THE END