"Do you want to play with me, Jaxie?"

My mom smiled as my new sister took me by the hand and led me toward her bedroom. "Dinner will be in about an hour, kids." My stepdad smiled, too, and he pulled my mom close and kissed her on her forehead.

I'd never known what girls liked to play, but when my mom started dating Gene, his daughter seemed cool. She liked to ride bikes, climb trees, and best of all, she wasn't afraid to get dirty on the baseball field where my friends and I liked to be any time we could. As we spent more time together, it became clear she could handle a ball and glove pretty well, and she could hit a baseball better than some of the guys. They never seemed to mind when she tagged along, partly because of her skills, but also I'd observed several of them staring at her. I guess she was kind of pretty, but I secretly thought they liked her because she had bigger boobs because she was a couple of years older.

We settled into playing a board game, one of her favorites that she nearly always won. I was almost finished finding all the clues I needed to solve the murder. I only lacked the mystery weapon. I could feel victory in my clutches when she suddenly shoved the board away, playing pieces and cards scattering across the carpet.

"What did you do that for?" I asked, angry that she'd ruined my chance to finally win.

She played with a piece of her hair. "I dunno. I'm bored."

"Well, next time, just say so." Irritated, I started collecting all the pieces and putting them away in the box.

"I think my father really likes you," she said, still twirling her hair around her finger.

"Well, that's good, right? I mean, my mom likes you. A lot."

She shrugged. "I guess." She eyed me shrewdly. "He does seem very affectionate toward you."

I had no idea what her point was, but I guessed what she said was true. He was constantly squeezing my shoulder, patting my back, and recently he'd started hugging me. But isn't that what dads, even stepdads, did?

"My mom does the same with you," I pointed out. "It's just part of being a family."

She shrugged again and put the game away. That night at dinner, I noticed she focused more of her attention on my mom, complimenting everything, helping clear the table, and at one point, I saw her hugging my mom. Normally, she avoided contact. I supposed it was a good thing since my mom was now her mom. My mom appeared thrilled with the new situation.

Eventually, it was my bedtime. It might have been my new awareness, but it felt like Gene was extra attentive. He sat on my bed and rested his hand on my back while he listened to me recite my prayers. He touched my cheek when he said goodnight, then leaned over to kiss my forehead. "Good night," he said. "I love you, Jaxson."

I couldn't bring myself to repeat the words. I squeezed my eyes shut to recall my real dad. I remembered him swinging me up in his arms and carrying me on his shoulders when I was little. And he was always the one who tucked me into bed at night, and he, too, kissed me goodnight and told me he loved me. Maybe my new sister was jealous that she had to share her dad's attention with me. It wasn't any different than how my mom now had to split her time between us. I wasn't jealous; my mom was happier than she'd been in a long time. Still, there were times I missed it being just her and me.

Later that night, I thought I felt a hand running down my back and lingering over my butt. I could feel fingers squeeze one of the cheeks. I struggled to wake up, rolling over as I did, but by the time I was fully alert, I didn't see anyone else in the room. A little creeped out by what must have been a realistic dream, it took me awhile to fall back asleep.

I didn't know it was to be the first of many long, sleepless nights.