Sacking the Virgin by Ryli Jordan (18)

Chapter One

KATE

I didn't think I'd managed to sleep soundly through the night in the six months since I'd met David. It seemed like every night, I came awake gasping and writhing against the sheets, caught up in the phantom memories of his hands gently stroking down my curves...spreading my legs and plunging his fingers inside of me...kissing a heated line down from my mouth to my breasts…

And now, it was affecting my naps as well. I'd never been the type to dream during short naps, but… I slipped my hand between my legs, marveling at how wet I already was.

But it wasn't really a surprise, given the dream that I'd had. I always imagined David's stronghands playing me like a well-tuned instrument. Of course, I had no way of knowing what it would actually feel like to have his solid, muscular form pressed up against my soft curves. I had no idea what his hot, throbbing length would feel like gripped in my palm—or better yet, slotted up between my legs, buried deep inside of me.

But I could imagine.

I practically moaned as I slid my fingers inside myself. I had long since quit feeling guilty about using him as material to get off to. He might be my stepbrother now, but we weren't related by blood, and besides, he was dangerously handsome. What did it matter if I got off to thoughts of him? Nothing would ever come of it.

I whimpered as I brushed my fingers across my clit, keeping the fingers of my other hand working inside of myself. The dream had already gotten me so close, and it wasn't long before I was coming hard, biting my lip to keep from breathily gasping his name.

Slowly, I brought my eyes open.

At some point, I was going to have to sort through my feelings for David. I had an unhealthy amount of like for him—especially considering he'd been on an extended business trip for the past six months, so I'd only really seen him for the two weeks leading up to the wedding. I hardly knew the guy; for all I knew, he might be a total asshole. Granted, there had been witty banter between us, and he'd been able to make me giggle. But this fixation was mostly just based on physical attraction.

And now that David was back in town, I didn't need to be embarrassing myself tripping over words at family dinners or anything like that.

Speaking of which… I sighed and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I squinted at the clock—5:45pm. That gave me plenty of time to get ready for David's welcome-back dinner that night. I pulled out the green wool dress I'd been planning to wear for the occasion, smoothing my hands over the thick fabric. Then, I went to take a shower and start the process of getting ready.

I made it to Mom and Alex's house at the exact same time as David did, walking up the front walk just as he was pulling into the driveway in his flashy silver speedster. I vaguely remembered Mom telling me he was staying in a fancy hotel downtown; I didn’t really understand why since he could stay for free at our parents’ house, but then again, I had never had hundreds of spare dollars to just toss around.

I waved to him and waited for him to stop the car and get out. It would have been rude to head inside without waiting, right?

I gave him a hug that probably lasted a beat too long, but it just felt so good to be pressed against his warmth. “Hey David,” I greeted. “How was London?”

David shrugged, grimacing a little. “Cold. Rainy. Grey.”

I laughed a little and shoved at his shoulder. “Come on, I'm sure you had an amazing time.”

David gave me an impassive look and then nodded towards the front door. “We should probably get inside, I guess.”

I followed him inside, trying not to feel hurt by his obvious brush-off. I trailed after him into the dining room, where Mom, Alex, and David's cousin Luke were waiting. “Hi everyone,” I greeted, leaning in to hug Mom and kiss her on the cheek. “It smells amazing in here.”

Mom smiled at me. “We're having a minor feast, apparently,” she said, shaking out her napkin and placing it in her lap. She smiled over at my stepbrother. “It's wonderful to see you again, honey. How was London?”

David sighed and dropped into the seat next to Luke, leaving me the seat across from him. “It was fine,” he said. “Just fine.”

“You don't sound like you enjoyed yourself very much,” Alex commented.

David rolled his eyes. “Dad. Look, I'm sorry if I don't have much enthusiasm, but I literally just got back home this morning, and I'm jetlagged as all hell.” He gave a very fake smile. “But if you need more pep in your lives...”

I winced; no wonder he was acting so brusque. No one really seemed to know what to say in response to him. Finally, Mom cleared her throat. “Well, why don't we get some food in you? I'm sure that'll make you feel better. Bet you didn't get many home-cooked meals in London.”

The maid began bringing in our plates, laying them down one by one in front of us.

David turned pointedly towards Luke. “What have you been up to lately, Luke? How's the job search been going? Or haven't you started on it yet?”

Luke scowled at him. “Shut up, dude,” he muttered under his breath.

“Luke, you aren't job-searching, are you?” Mom asked, looking curiously at the man.

David arched one eyebrow, giving his cousin an incredulous look. “Oh really?” he asked. “You didn't even tell them that you were fired?”

Lucas slammed down his cutlery, giving David a look that could kill. “Dude, what the hell. I mean, as though it wasn't bad enough that you fired me from your company, but–“

“You didn't do any work!” David cried exasperatedly. He spun to face his father. “Dad, seriously, I can't believe you're letting him live here like this. You know why he got evicted, right?”

Luke stood abruptly, his chair screeching against the wooden floor. “David, shut up,” he hissed. “Seriously, man, what the hell are you trying to do?”

David sat back lazily, smiling patronizingly at his cousin. “Apparently,” he said, glancing between his dad and my mom, “Luke got arrested for dealing cocaine. They threw out the case because there was no proof that the drugs weren't just left behind during this party that he'd had earlier in the week, but his landlord didn't want him in the same building as their sixteen-year-old daughter—with good reason, I'd say.”

Luke covered his face with his hands. “Not cool, man,” he muttered. He looked earnestly at our parents. “I really wasn't dealing,” he said earnestly.

Mom looked appalled. Alex looked like he didn't know whose neck he wanted to wring first, Luke's or David's. “Did you really need to bring this up at the dinner table?” he hissed at his son.

David shrugged. “Whoops.” He grinned crookedly and stood, dropping his napkin into his chair. “Does this mean dinner's over now? As much fun as this has been, I think it’s time I went home to sleep.”

“Sit down,” Alex snapped at both of them. “Remind me again how old the two of you are—you’re acting like children.” He scowled back and forth between the two of them. “Now Luke, why don't you explain what's really going on. Bearing in mind that David seems to know more about your story than you've been telling us over the past couple weeks.”

Luke didn't sit, though. Instead, he remained standing behind his chair, white-knuckling the back of it. “Everything that David's just told you is true,” he gritted out through his teeth. “Like he said, the jury exonerated me, so it isn't something that's going to go on my record or anything like that. There were some news stories about it, though, which is how my landlord found out about it. And how HR found out about it.”

“And then I fired him,” David said simply, challenging the table with his eyes. “We simply can't have someone with a record like that on our payroll—I don't care whether it's on your official record or not. We're pushing to grow our UK branch, plus expand to elsewhere. Your actions jeopardize that. And it's not like you were the most reliable worker anyway.” He sneered. “In fact, I bet you can't even tell me one project you actually worked on the whole time you were employed with GDC, Ltd.”

“He's just afraid people would accuse him of nepotism if he let me keep progressing in the company,” Luke explained to their parents. “I do an excellent job in the design department, and everyone seems to know that except for him. And furthermore, he has never even been down to the design department to see me at work firsthand. He's only–“

“Going by what other people have told me,” David acknowledged. “Which seems to belie your statement that 'everyone knows' that you do an excellent job.” He folded his arms across his chest, arching an eyebrow at his cousin.

“So you've been living here under false pretenses,” Alex finally cut in, frowning at Luke. “You have no job, no place to live—and yet you're going out drinking most nights and...frolicking...with young women left and right—don't think we've been oblivious to the women that you've brought back here.” He shook his head. “I'm afraid if you want to continue living here, there are going to have to be some rules laid down.”

“I'm not fifteen!” Luke cried, looking aghast.

Alex shrugged. “Then quit acting like it. Now sit down and finish your dinner.”

“I'm not hungry,” Luke snapped, slamming his chair back forwards and stalking from the room without a backwards glance.

There was a long silence in the room. I took a bite of my dinner, hoping it would prompt everyone else to follow. Unfortunately, that didn't work.

“Is it really necessary for me to be here?” David gritted out, directing the question at his father.

Alex gave him a dark look but didn’t say anything. He stabbed a bite of meat and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly. After a long moment, David began eating again as well, radiating frustration. We finished the rest of the meal in silence.

Chapter Two

KATE

David was out of there like a flash when the meal was done. “God, can you believe that?” he asked me as I came out the front door. He pulled his vape away from his mouth and exhaled a plume of smoke, looking dangerously sexy in his black leather jacket and jeans.

I leaned against the opposite porch rail, waiting for him to elaborate. When he didn't, I shook my head. “You kind of were the cause of all that,” I pointed out.

The man gave me a sidelong look. “Sure,” he said. “Luke has no right to be living here, does he? I can't believe they're just letting him...leech like that.”

“Well, yeah,” I said. “It's not like they don't have space or the money to put him up for a little while until he gets his feet back under himself. And anyway, it's not really any of your business, is it?”

David rolled his eyes, shoving his vape back into his pocket. “Look, do you need a ride home?”

I paused, taken aback. “You've been acting like an asshole all night,” I said flatly. “And now you want to offer me a ride home when you don't even know where I live?”

David sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “That offer is expiring in five—four—three–“

“Okay, okay,” I said, waving my hands. “Yeah, I'd appreciate that. I'm only about a mile or so from here. Towards the city.”

“Come on, then,” David said, waving me towards his car with him.

I slid into the passenger's seat and had barely buckled my seatbelt when he threw the car into reverse, skidding backwards down the driveway. “Jesus,” I muttered under my breath.

“Relax,” David said, rolling his eyes. “I've been driving like this for years.”

“Why are you being such a dick tonight?” I snapped.

“Maybe I'm always like this,” David countered. “You don't know me.”

“True,” I agreed, frowning at him. “But I don't think you're normally like this. So what's up?”

David sighed. “I don't want to talk about it, okay. Can you just give me directions so we can get to your place?”

I glanced out the window but kept my eyes mostly trained on him. “Go left at those lights up there,” I instructed. “But if there’s something bothering you, you know you can talk to me, right? We’re...kind of family now.”

“It's just been a long flight,” David said. “And I'm only home for a month, but there are all the holiday events and all sorts of family bonding time while I'm back. What I really want to do in that time is work from home and lounge around in my underwear all day. I deserve some time off.”

I swallowed hard, trying not to picture what he must look like lounging around in his underwear on his no-doubt plush leather sofa. “So you were trying to stir up a little family drama to get out of the family time?” I asked.

David sighed again and ran a hand back through his hair. “Yeah, I guess. Where am I going up here?”

“Left again,” I said, without even bothering to look. “Why didn't you just tell them that you need some personal time?” I asked. “You didn't have to go after Luke like that.”

His face twisted. “It's better that I go after Luke like that. The kid needs to clean up his act, and I'm not the only one who thinks that. He's not going to do that if our parents are babying him and letting him live there rent-free with no job. God knows what he's even doing with his days, although shagging random girls is a likely possibility.”

“Are you jealous?” I asked, unable to stop myself.

David gave a short bark of laughter, glancing over at me. “Are you implying that you think I'd have any trouble getting a girl into bed with me?”

I stared at his dark eyes and bit my lower lip, trailing my eyes down his chiseled jawline. “Probably not,” I admitted. I shook my head and pointed down the street. “It's that house over there.”

David pulled into the driveway and stopped the car. “Are you going to invite me in for a drink?” he asked, staring straight ahead.

I continued to watch him for a long moment. “All I have is water, juice, or vodka and juice,” I finally said.

David crooked a half smile. “That's fine.” He slipped out of the car and headed up onto my front porch, waiting as I slowly came up the walkway after him.

I felt a bit fluttery at the idea of having him there in my house with me. Quickly, I did a mental run-through of the state that I'd left the house in that evening. Granted, the place was nothing compared to the posh penthouse I knew he lived in, but it was cozy enough.

I unlocked the door and led the way inside. “I'd give you the full tour, but there's not really much to see,” I said, laughing a little self-consciously. “Bathroom's through that door, though, and you can make yourself comfortable on the couch or wherever. What did you want to drink?”

David shrugged. “Let's get started on the vodka and have a little bonding time, hmm?”

“Sure,” I said weakly, even though that really sounded like a horrible idea. I went into the kitchen and grabbed two glasses, plus the vodka and juice. “So how was England really?” I asked lamely as I came back into the living room.

David shook his head. “Nope. I don't want to talk about England.”

“Then what do you want to talk about?” I asked, feeling a bit of frustration.

David rubbed at his eyes. “Sorry,” he looked over at me, looking genuinely upset at my tone. He pulled me into his arms, much to my surprise. “Sorry,” he mumbled against my hair. “I just need a little human contact. I've been so focused on being...professional lately that I just need… I just need to talk to someone normal.” He pulled back away and laughed a little. “Sorry, I know that's a little over-the-top, I just...” He trailed off, looking uncertain.

I stared at him for a long moment. “All right, fine,” I said finally, picking up my drink and taking a sip of it. “But what do you want to talk about?”

Chapter Three

KATE

Over the rest of the night, I found that David was actually an entertaining conversationalist. Once we determined that England was off the table and settled on the topics of books and films, he really started to open up.

It helped that we'd finished the bottle of vodka between the two of us, too.

At the end of the night, I called David a uber, making sure he had my address so he could come back to pick up his car the next morning. If it had been anyone else, I would have let him just crash on the couch, but…

There had been a moment, near the end of the night, when he'd leaned in to pick up his glass at the same time I'd reached for the bottle of juice. Our hands had tangled somewhere in the middle for a moment, and David had looked at me as though with new eyes. He'd brought his other hand up to lightly stroke my cheek, making me sigh and close my eyes for a brief moment. When I'd opened my eyes again, I'd been sure that he was going to kiss me, his head tilted slightly to the side and his eyes questioning. He'd even leaned in a little bit, enough that if I'd leaned forward as well…

Instead, I had stood up and moved to the armchair on the other side of the room. This was my stepbrother, after all. Anyway, he was probably only interested in me because he was drunk and apparently lonely.

The next time I saw him was at the next family holiday party. This one wasn't just for family, though—instead, it seemed like half the city was gathered there in our parents' house. It felt a lot like their wedding, actually, and I knew I should probably know most of the people—most of them were people from the upper echelons of society, people that Alex had known forever.

I stared nervously at the long line of cars spread up the block and brushed my hands down along the red dress that Mom had bought for me. Apparently, Alex had been hosting this party for years now, but every year it seemed to get more and more lavish.

I made my way into the busy house, already feeling a bit claustrophobic. If I hadn’t just been there earlier that week, I might have thought I’d got the address wrong and come to someone else’s house. Everything had been transformed.

In the front hall, there was not one but three Christmas trees, each decorated with fake snow, lights, and an array of (probably fake) presents underneath. There were glittery snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. What wasn’t pristine white was decorated with green fir garlands—but not the fake kind that most people had; no, these were real, and their piney scent lingered in the air, mingling with the homey scent of baking cookies.

But there wasn’t a homemade cookie in sight: instead, waiters in sharp tuxedos were gliding around with trays of champagne, spiced wine, and cider, and when I ventured into the dining room, there was a festive spread of savory cheeses, bread, meat pies, and other assortments—but all the desserts looked absolutely perfect, and I doubted Mom had had a hand in baking any of them.

David was the person I saw that I even knew, and I made a beeline to his side. “Hey Kate!” he cried, throwing his arm around me. The heady and intoxicating scent of his aftershave mixed with spiced wine hit me strongly, and for a moment, I could do nothing except lean into him, breathing deeply. Then, I realized the crowd around him was made up of five very attractive females, some of whom I vaguely recognized from the wedding.

I smiled thinly at them and casually shrugged off David's arm. “Hi, David,” I said. Then lied: “Your father was looking for you.”

David frowned and glanced around at his coterie. “Do you know what he wants?” he asked in an undertone.

I shrugged. “No idea.” I felt kind of bad sending him on a goose chase, but I didn't really want to watch him flirting with all my colleagues at this party, and I didn't think that was too much to ask for. Anyway, I was sure Alex must have some more productive use for his son. He'd at least maybe get the man to slow down a little on the drink.

Finally, I located my friend Tanya on the other side of the room. I almost hadn't expected her to show up when I'd explained how fancy the party was going to be, but then again, she was probably there in the hopes of scoring herself some hot trust-fund boyfriend or something. “If you'll excuse me...” Without waiting for a reply, I ducked into the crowd and made my way over to Tanya. “I can't believe how busy it is here,” I said to her, pulling her into a hug.

“Hey darling,” she greeted me. “Who was that?”

“Who?” I asked.

“That man you were just talking to, the ridiculous flirt. And please tell me he's single...”

I blushed and shook my head. “That's my new stepbrother,” I told her. “I mean, not so new now, but he's been at his company's office in London for six months, so that's why you haven't seen him around yet. His name's David.” I made a face. “He's kind of...conceited.”

Tanya raised an eyebrow at me. “I didn't say I wanted to date the guy, but you'd have to have no eyes if you didn't want to sleep with him.” She gave me a look. “Although I suppose you might feel differently about him since he's your family.”

“He isn't really,” I said. “I mean, he is now, but it's not like we're related by blood or anything.” I sounded a bit too defensive, I knew. But I couldn't seem to get the words to stop. “I think he's ridiculously attractive, okay?”

There was a grin tugging at the corners of Tanya's mouth. “Oh do you? And have you made a move on him yet? Since he isn't a blood relation and all...”

“Of course not,” I hissed. “Can you imagine how awkward that would make things in the family? Anyway, he is a bit of a playboy, asshole so I’m not interested in someone like that.”

“Well, he is some eye candy right?” Tanya asked. “Whew! What I would do to him…” Her voice trailed off and she winks at me. “But if you're intent on not sleeping with him, maybe I'll try my hand in the ring.”

“Don't,” I said immediately. I blushed brilliantly and tried to think of a way to back myself out of that hole. “He's family,” I reminded her. “And you're one of my best friends. Same thing, I don't need these family gatherings to be even more awkward.”

“Sure,” Tanya said, hiding her amused grin behind the rim of her glass.

Chapter Four

KATE

Watching David flit around the party chatting with seemingly every attractive and available female was not the way I wanted to spend my night, though. “So how has work been?” Tanya asked. “Did you ever get that promotion that you mentioned might be in the cards?”

I rolled my eyes. “No,” I muttered. “They decided they’d be better off hiring from outside the company.”

Tanya shook her head and laid a hand on my shoulder. “Oh honey,” she said sympathetically. “Your boss is just a bit of an idiot. One of these days, he’ll actually find the time to try something that you’ve cooked and will see that you can do much more than a simple line cook position. After all, you did go to culinary school…”

“A lot of good that’s doing me.”

“At least you’re still enjoying it, right?” Tanya asked.

I sighed. “Yeah,” I agreed reluctantly. “I guess that’s better than a lot of people have.” I looked around the room, trying to come up with another topic of conversation.

“You're staring at him again,” Tanya pointed out gleefully, and I took another large swig of champagne.

“Glad someone is enjoying my misery,” I muttered.

“Aww, darling,” she said. “Maybe the reason he isn't talking to you is because he's attracted to you too but he also knows that your relationship would be doomed.”

“Tanya, I don't like him,” I protested, but I knew she didn't believe me. And I couldn't seem to keep my eyes off David, watching jealously as he brushed back Linda Mathewson's hair and laughed at something she said in response. “It's just sickening,” I said. “What type of guy really sleeps with everything with legs, outside of a movie or a college dorm?”

“I'm sure that's all this is,” Tanya said, still smirking. “Look, he's headed into the kitchen; why don't you go after him and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble in there.”

I stared at him for a long moment and then stood abruptly, realizing as I did so,  I could tell how tipsy I was. The world swayed for a moment, but I eventually managed to right myself. “I'm going after him,” I declared. “But not to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. That's his business. I just...am looking for something to eat. That isn't sugar cookies or party appetizers.”

“Whatever you want to tell yourself,” Tanya said, taking another sip of her drink, still smiling knowingly.

I walked slowly into the kitchen, wanting to make sure I gave David enough time that it didn't look like I was, in fact, just following him. In the kitchen, it was just the two of us. He was leaning against the counter, his fingertips pressed to his eyeballs. “Starting to get hungover already?” I asked teasingly.

David jerked and then stared at me, his mouth hanging slightly open. He shook his head slowly and then looked away, biting his lower lip. For a moment, he looked unsure of himself—which wasn't anything I had ever associated with David before. Not that I knew him all that well, though.

He sighed shakily. “Kate,” he said in a low voice, reaching out and pulling me closer to him.

I stumbled a couple steps, surprised by his movement, and ended up standing between his legs looking up at him with wide eyes. David's hand came up to softly caress my cheek, his thumb sliding across my cheekbone and down my jawline. He sighed again, more heavily this time.

“Kate, you don't know what you do to me,” he said in a serious undertone. “Ever since I laid eyes on you the week leading up to our parents' wedding...” He swallowed hard.

I laughed sharply and pushed away from him. “Don't, you’re drunk” I said sharply.

“Don't what?” he asked, actually looking confused.

I paused for a moment, although instinct was screaming at me to get out of there. I put my hands on my hips. “Look, I know your type,” I said finally. “I know I'm...” I waved a hand at my form, feeling a blush start forming on my cheeks.

David reached for me again, his hands coming to rest on my cheeks. “You're what?” he asked, breath ghosting over my lips. “You're absolutely gorgeous, is what I think.”

My breath caught in my throat. Surely he knew want I was getting at… we are related…by marriage of course. I shook my head; of course, he didn't mean that. He just saw me as an easy target who would fall head over heels for him—or worse, he saw me as someone he could tease. I found myself suddenly blinking back tears.

“Oh, Kate,” David said, releasing me and taking a step away. He sighed heavily. “I know,” he said. “I know we can't do this, not when our parents are...” He turned earnest eyes back on me. “But you are gorgeous, and if you don't know that…well, I wish I could be the one to show you.”

I stared at him and then took a step closer, realizing that he was actually being serious—or he was drunkenly a better actor than I ever could have expected. “You really mean that?” I asked.

“100%,” David responded. He bit his lip again and then tilted his head questioningly to the side. This time, I surged forwards into the kiss, surprised at how pliant his lips were. I'd expected him to kiss like we were battling like he was trying to show me how dominant and how possessive he could be. But there was none of that. Instead, he was curiously tender, as his hand came up to card gently through my hair.

I moaned quietly as he caught my lower lip between his teeth and tugged at it. I slid my arms around him, and David arched against me so that I could feel his hard length trapped between us. Suddenly, he flipped our positions, pressing me back against the counter and leaning up against me, his arms bracketing me and keeping me there so that I couldn't get away even if I tried. His fingertips dropped teasingly down from my jawline to my shoulders and then to my breasts. His thumbs played with my nipples through the fabric of my dress, and I couldn't help but move into his touch.

“I want to fuck you right here,” David growled into my ear. And even though I knew it wasn't right, I whimpered in response. He slipped a hand down between my legs and hummed softly as he stroked along my panties. “Feel how damp you are,” he murmured against my neck. “It's like you're just waiting for it.”

“I am,” I said, voice raw with honesty. “You don't know how much I want this.” Then, I winced. “I mean–“

“Me too,” David said, the tips of his digits pressing into me through the silken fabric. “God, I bet you would ride my cock so beautifully. I bet you could take it so deep and–“

Before he could finish that thought, I tugged roughly at his hair and brought him into another searing kiss. His lips slotted perfectly against mine, in a way I had never experienced before. I could feel little zings of pleasure shooting down my spine, winding me up more and more.

When his fingers slipped my panties aside and plunged into me for real, I had to pull away from the kiss, pressing my forehead against his and biting the inside of my cheek so I could keep from making an embarrassing noise. Suddenly, I became aware of our surroundings and of just how exposed we were there.

And of the sound of high heels coming down the hallway just outside.

I frantically shoved David away from me and turned to face the cabinets—yanking my skirt down to where it should be—just before someone entered the room.

“Oh, hi,” David greeted the woman brightly.

I took a couple deep breaths, giving myself a moment to compose myself, before I turned around as well, giving a fake but cheery smile. “Hi Tanya,” I said, voice faltering slightly. Of all the people to interrupt us…

She gave me an apologetic smile. “Your mom is looking for you,” she told me. “For real.” Her eyes slid over towards David. “You might want to...um...” She reached over and helped flatten out his hair a little, tugging his shirt back to its proper place. “And Kate, you may want to...actually go find her, before she finds you.” She gave me a meaningful look. I glanced over at David and then fled the kitchen.

Chapter Five

KATE

A few days later…

I looked distastefully around the crowded mall, noting the incredibly long line that stretched from the coffee cart. “Mom, did you really have to bring us here five days before Christmas?” I complained. We had always come Christmas shopping together, but we'd never done so this late in the season before. Things were nuts, and I had a feeling that by the end of the day, we were all going to be on edge.

Mom gave me a look. “Honey, this was the only time all of our schedules were free at the same time,” she reminded me, gesturing around.

Because of course, it wasn't only the two of us this year. Instead, there was also Alex and David and Luke and Luke's friend Jen.

Mom clapped her hands together. “All right. So keeping track of all six of us together is probably a hopeless cause, and anyway, we probably all need to buy gifts for one another, right? Why don't we pair off? I'll go with Alex. Luke and Jen, you can go together. And that leaves the new siblings, David and Kate.”

I winced. “Why don't we switch it up a little?” I asked—no, begged. “Mom, why don't you and me–“

She cut me off with a look. “You and David have had hardly any sibling bonding time since you met,” she reminded me. “I really think it would be a good idea if the two of you got to know one another a little better and–“

I tuned her out, thinking of the way I already knew the feeling of his fingers slipping deep inside of me, crooking just enough against the walls of my vagina that I could imagine myself writhing and driving my weight down against his hand… I was sure my blush was visible to all of them—hell, it was probably visible from space. I swallowed hard and shook my head. “Okay, okay,” I said, interrupting her diatribe about the great things about having siblings. “David and I will shop together. Sheesh.”

“Could you have made that any more awkward?” David hissed as we peeled away from the rest of the group.

I scowled over at him. “Well, maybe I wanted to make sure that you don't go getting any ideas,” I snapped, folding my arms over my chest. “This is just shopping, okay? Nothing else.”

“Do I need to remind you that you're the one who came after me the other day? When you saw that I was alone in the kitchen, you could have turned and left. And don't think I've forgotten how wet you were before I'd barely touched you. You want this just as much as I do.”

We were both silent for a long moment, staring at one another. Finally, I rolled my eyes. “Let's just get this done with. Come on, I already know what I want for my mom; let's start there.”

We shopped in terse near-silence for a little while. “I'm really stuck on what to get for Alex—your dad,” I admittedly after about twenty minutes of looking at ties. All the patterns and colors seemed to blur together after a while, and how was I supposed to know what the man would like anyway? I hardly knew him.

David looked at me in disbelief. “You've been looking for ties for my dad?” he asked. “Jesus, if I'd known that's what you were looking for, I would have stopped you ages ago. I thought you were looking for a friend or something.”

I frowned. “But he wears ties. Ties are a nice gift, right?”

David snorted and reached out to catch my shoulder, turning me away from the ties and leading me out of the store. “Come on, let me help you find something he'd actually like to get.” As we walked through the mall, with him still steering me with a hand on my shoulder, he said, “Dad wears ties because he's expected to at work. And every year, my Aunt Lucille gives him a new tie—those are all the ties that he owns. But he secretly hates the things.”

“Oh,” I said faintly. “What did you get for him?”

David shrugged, grinning over at me. “Same thing I get for him every year: a box of nostalgia. A bunch of the candy that he grew up with, plus stupid things like Slinkys and Silly Putty and whatever else he can use to keep himself occupied when he's on long calls at work.”

“Huh,” I said. “That's surprisingly thoughtful.”

David rolled his eyes. “He's my dad, Kate. I'm not such a heartless human being that I don't try to get him a decent gift.”

I blushed. “I didn't mean it that way.”

“Well, what way did you mean it, then?” David shook his head. “No, I don't even want to know.” He stopped us outside a bookstore. “Dad likes new fiction bestsellers. I'm sure you can find something he wants here while I go pick up something elsewhere. I'll meet you back here in twenty minutes.”

“Wait, but how will I know what books he already has or has read?” I protested.

David shook his head. “Kate, it's the thought that counts, right? Does it really matter if you give him a book that he already has? Better that than a tie.”

“Fine,” I muttered, folding my arms across my chest. “But where are you going to be anyway?”

“Don't worry about it,” David said. “Just go pick a book.”

I wandered through the shelves for a while and finally settled on a book. I was waiting in line to pay when David materialized next to me. I gasped and jumped a little. “You scared me!”

David looked genuinely contrite. “Sorry about that,” he said, smiling down at me and pulling me into a one-armed hug. He peered down at the book that I'd selected and flipped it over to read the back. “Hey, well done, this actually looks pretty interesting.”

I snorted. “Thanks. I did actually try.” I paid for the book and slipped it into the bag with my other purchases. I frowned, trying to figure out what else I needed. Just a gift for David, I was pretty sure, but it wasn't like I could buy that while he was there next to me. I didn't have the faintest idea of what to get for him, even, and it wasn't like I could just ask him—that would ruin the surprise. I'd figure that out some other time that week. For now… “Think I'm about done shopping,” I said.

“Yeah, me too,” David said. He glanced at his watch and grimaced. “We've got another 45 minutes before we have to meet everyone, though.”

“Mom will need all of that time too,” I muttered, knowing this from previous experience.

David snorted and slung an arm around my shoulders, steering me out into the crowds again. “I'm sure we can find something to do. Maybe get some food?”

“Not hungry,” I said. “I really just want to get away from all these people.” I looked around distastefully.

Suddenly, David tugged me sideways into a shop. “Well, you're in luck, because there's hardly anyone in this...hat shop.” He grinned over at me.

I raised an eyebrow at him and looked around the shop. “Yeah, and this is so much fun.” I glanced over at the bored-looking salesperson who was eyeing us critically. “She clearly knows we're not in here to buy a hat.”

“But we could be,” David said, a devilish gleam in his eye. “Come here.” He pulled me over one of the walls of hats and selected one at random, dropping it down on my head.

I looked in the mirror at the ridiculous—feathered—purple hat that he'd put on my head and couldn't help but giggle a little. “That looks… Well, it's not really my style.”

“Maybe not,” David said mock-regretfully. “Let's try another one.” He swapped out the hat I was currently wearing for an even more ridiculous one that was shockingly blue and sequined. “How about this one?”

I snickered and shook my head. “You can do better than that.”

David raised an eyebrow at me. “Challenge accepted.” He turned back towards the wall of hats and then glanced over at me. “Okay, close your eyes. Are you ready for this?”

I snorted and obediently closed my eyes, waiting impatiently to see which of the absurd hats he would choose next.

“Okay, open your eyes.”

I slowly opened my eyes and found myself staring up at David. He blinked down at me and then slowly reached up to brush a bit of hair off to the side. “Wow,” he said quietly. He cleared his throat. “That hat, uh, actually really suits you.”

I snorted and grabbed the mirror, wondering what kind of joke he was playing on me. But he was right: the hat really did look good on me. The burgundy color went perfectly with my dark brown hair, and the cute almost-fedora style with the rakishly tilted brim slimmed my face somehow and made my cheekbones really stand out. I laughed a little self-consciously and turned back towards David. “Uh, yeah. Definitely not what I was expecting.”

David brought his hand up to cup my cheek, looking like he wanted to say something more. But just then, a pointed cough sounded off to my left.

I stumbled back away from David as I realized Luke and Jen were standing there. “Uh, hi guys,” I said quickly.

Luke raised an eyebrow. “So I kind of expected it, but the two of you are officially...” He made a rude gesture with his hands.

I felt my face start burning. “No,” I said emphatically, shaking my head. “We were just kidding around with these hats and stuff. David threw this one on my head and made all my hair fall in my eyes, so he was brushing it back out of the way.”

Neither of them looked convinced, of course. David drew himself up to his full height. “Look, nothing's going on—we're definitely not...” He repeated the same gesture, and oh, I didn't know why it actually turned me on to see him do something so lewd with his fingers. (Fingers that had been inside of me at the holiday party, my mind helpfully supplied.)

“Whatever you say,” Luke said, but I could tell this wasn't the last we were going to hear of this. “Are you guys done? We finished early and were just wandering around. Do you want to get some food?” Without waiting for an answer, he and Jen started towards the front of the store, leaving David and I to trail behind. I shot David a guilty look, but he was resolutely staring straight ahead of himself.

Chapter Six

KATE

The next big hurdle was Christmas. And it was definitely a hurdle, since by now Luke already seemed to know that something was up between David and I—although I'd managed to avoid him all week after the shopping trip, somehow, except for a passing awkward moment on our parents' front porch as I'd been walking in and he'd been walking out. I'd tried to pointedly ignore him; he'd reached out to pull me into a hug, one hand gently cupping the back of my head as though he'd like to tilt my face up into a kiss. I'd quickly pulled away from him and gone inside, firmly shutting the door between us.

He couldn't do anything on Christmas, though, I figured. Our whole family would be there, and there wouldn't be these private moments that we kept having.

We had a fun day. It started with a late brunch, followed by opening our presents. Once all the gifts were opened, Mom put on a movie, and it was almost as though this was just another Christmas for us. But where normally we'd be curled up on the couch together, this year it was Mom and Alex on the couch and the rest of us—David and I, plus David's cousins and various other relatives who lived in the area—scattered around the room on armchairs and cushions and wherever else we fit.

“You've been quiet today,” Luke said, cornering me in the kitchen as I went to refill my eggnog later that evening. It was cozy out in the living room, everyone curled up with books, a few of the cousins playing cards over in one corner, and a Christmas special playing in the background for those who cared to watch. But I couldn't help feeling antsy. David had disappeared just after dinner, and I was itching to do the same but I didn't want anyone to think I'd disappeared with him.

I shrugged a little in response to Luke. “I'm not feeling great,” I said. It wasn't totally a lie. Of course, he would probably think I meant I was getting sick or something. But mentally I really wasn't feeling great. There was this cloud of nostalgia that had been hanging over me, plus I'd been on-edge about the whole thing with David, trying my best to make sure he never managed to corner me. I hadn't thought to avoid Luke as well.

Luke smiled sadly at me. “That makes two of us,” he sighed, hopping up to sit at one of the counter stools. He leaned his face against his hand. “I wanted Jen to come over,” he confessed.

I frowned, wondering why he was telling me this and took another sip of eggnog. “Why didn't she?” I asked, figuring I'd humor him. Maybe if I could stay on his good side, he wouldn't air his suspicions to Mom or Alex.

“I didn't ask her,” Luke answered. He sighed. “I think I actually like her. Like, as...potential girlfriend material, I guess. That's new territory for me.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh?” I couldn't stop my sarcasm: “Is the sex with her really that much better than with your whole string of one-night stands?”

Luke winced and dropped his head down against the counter. “We've never had sex,” he admitted. “So I wouldn't know.”

“Well, you've done one thing right then, I guess,” I said, hopping up to sit across from him on another of the stools. “Does she know that you like her?”

“Of course not,” Luke said, sounding miserable. “Look at me. My life is in pieces at the moment. I don't know why she still even talks to me. I live with my uncle, I don't have a job, I don't have any skills, and for all anyone knows of me, I'm a total asshole of a manwhore.”

“Your words, not mine,” I said, tilting my glass towards him. I frowned thoughtfully, though. “But that's a good sign, right? That she's still willing to be around you. You must not be doing all wrong in her eyes.”

“Yeah, but...” Luke sighed, lifting his head. “Sorry, I don't mean to bother you with all of this. I guess we're not even related except tangentially. I just...” He shook his head. “I'm just lonely, I guess.”

The raw note in his voice resonated with something inside of me. “Yeah,” I said, swallowing hard. “Yeah, I know that feeling.” I studied my hands for a long moment.

“You've got David, though,” Luke said. “For whatever, you're doing with him. Which I don't want to know, because he and I are related.”

“We're not doing anything,” I mumbled. “He's my stepbrother.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well. I mean, it could be a lot worse, right? And it's not like the two of you grew up together or anything like that. There are no laws saying that you can't marry the guy, even. Just might make family gatherings a bit awkward if the two of you break up, that's all.” He managed half a grin.

I shook my head. “Look, I appreciate the stamp of approval, but it's not going to happen anyway. I mean, have you seen the girls he flirts with? Leggy and blonde and...” I gestured down at myself. “I’m not looking for a relationship and neither is he, but I don’t want to be played like a toy.”

Luke shrugged. “I saw the two of you at the mall. You were cute together. And David looked like he was actually enjoying himself, for the first time in, oh, never? Don't rule it out. One of us deserves to be less...lonely tonight.”

“Are you actually telling me that I should go find David and—and what? Just kiss him and expect that everything is going to work out?” It was a sign of the amount of eggnog I'd already had that I was actually considering this, I knew. But I took another sip of my drink anyway.

“I’m sure he’s in his childhood room; that’s where he usually retreats to during these things. You know where that is,” Luke pointed out, slipping off his stool. “I'm going to go see what everyone is up to and try to cheer myself up. Thanks for the chat, though.”

Chapter Seven

KATE

When David answered the door to his room, it was dark inside, as though he'd been sleeping. But his eyes were bright, and he didn't appear to be just waking up. “What do you want?” he asked shortly.

I paused for a second, taken aback by his tone, and then pushed boldly forwards, leaning up one my tiptoes so I could kiss him. For a long moment, nothing happened, and then his lips slowly moved against mine. His arms came down around my waist, pulling me into the room with him, and then he kicked the door shut.

He pulled back, staring down at me, his eyes glinting in the light from his computer screen. “Didn't expect that,” he said honestly.

“Good surprise or bad surprise?” I asked, but I didn't wait for his answer before I leaned in to kiss him again. The kiss was raw and uncoordinated, a desperate mix of attraction, surprise, lack of inhibitions, and need.

After a moment, David pulled back, staring down at me. “How drunk are you?” he asked. I moved to kiss him again, but he pulled away. “No,” he said. “How drunk are you? I don't want to do something you'll regret in the morning.”

“I doubt I'll be the first drunk woman you've ever slept with,” I scoffed.

David gave me a considering look. “That's true,” he agreed, his thumb coming up to stroke along my cheek in a gesture I was rapidly becoming familiar with. “But you aren't just any woman, I hope you realize.”

I snorted. “I'm sure you say that to all of them,” I muttered, ducking my head.

David made a soft noise. “Kate. Kate, look at me.” I reluctantly lifted my eyes. “Kate,” David said again, leaning in to kiss me gently. He cracked a small smile. “Can you imagine how awkward it would be if I made you hate me? We are family now. I imagine there will be plenty more of these family events organized by your mother in our futures.”

I sighed and pushed him away. “I don't want to hear that you're being considerate just because I'm your stepsister. In fact, I'd prefer to forget about the fact that I am, in fact, your stepsister.”

David shook his head, stepping back in close. “Kate, I've wanted you since the moment I first laid eyes on you. And I know that's not something that maybe we're supposed to act on, but I really, really can't help myself. You're so fucking beautiful...”

His hands slid down around my waist, and I felt a punch of lust hit me right in the gut. “So what happens now?” I asked.

David shrugged. “You're the one who came to my room. I'm still waiting to see what you had planned.”

“I didn't have anything planned,” I said, but my eyes slid guiltily over to his bed.

David arched an eyebrow at me. “Oh really?” He glanced over his shoulder at his bed as well, one of his hands still stroking soft lines along my side. “Well, maybe we could just...lay down and get comfortable for a little while. I had a movie on...”

“Sounds great,” I said shyly, moving towards the bed with him. I paused next to the bed and then boldly reached behind myself and undid the zipper down the back of my dress. “I don't want it to get all wrinkled,” I said, shedding the fabric.

David made a sound as though all the air had been punched out of his lungs and crawled on his knees across the mattress to get closer to me. “Jesus,” he muttered. “Warn a guy before you...” His eyes roved hungrily over my body. Then, he slowly settled himself back against the headboard, moving deliberately to remove his own slacks and button-down. “Come here,” he said finally, holding his arms out to me.

I crawled into the space between his legs and leaned in to make out with him some more, our tongues moving hot and slick against one another's. I moaned as David's hands came down to cup my ass, pulling me off-balance so I fell firmly against his chest.

He growled and rolled us over so that he was on top of me. We were both still wearing our underwear, but I could feel his thick cock nudging at my entrance, and I couldn't help but arch helplessly against him, driving down against his member.

He trailed kisses down the side of my neck and straight down to my navel, igniting a line of fire that went all the way down to my core. “Fuck, David,” I groaned, twisting my fingers in the sheets.

I can’t believe this is happening, but I have to ask him, “Do you have condoms?”

“Yep, always,” He smirked devilishly up at me and slowly hooked his fingers into the elastic band at the top of my panties, dragging them slowly down my legs. Then, he bent in and placed a soft kiss to the folds between my legs. His tongue flicked lightly over my clit, making me whimper. Meanwhile, his fingers came up to thrust inside of me, expertly stroking in a rhythm that quickly had me gasping and tangling my fingers in his hair.

“You like that?” David asked, his smirk widening.

I rolled my eyes at him, ready with a snarky response, but before I could voice it, he changed the angle of his fingers, and I found all I was capable of was a wanton groan as I fell back against his sheets. I glanced towards the door, suddenly struck by the realization that anyone could walk in at any moment—and they likely would, if they heard us groaning and gasping.

“It's locked,” David said, following my gaze. “And one of the perks of living in a house that costs a fortune is that the soundproofing is excellent.” He grinned at me. “I'm going to have you screaming my name by the time I'm done with you.” As though to prove his point, he suddenly reached up and twisted on of my nipples between his deft forefingers, drawing a yelp out of me.

I caught his shoulders and pulled him up into another kiss. “Come on,” I begged, palming his hard dick. He didn't even have his boxers off yet—something we definitely needed to rectify. I tugged at the material and made a soft noise as his manhood sprung free, a drip of precum already there at the head. He retrieved the gold foil package from his jeans on the floor and sheath himself.

“Impatient?” David asked, nipping at my jawline. But he quickly lined himself up and slid his member deep inside of me. I gasped and writhed against the sheets, fingers clenching and unclenching. David froze, although he was practically shaking with the effort of doing so. “Too much?”

I groaned and urged him onwards with my heels in the small of his back. “That feels so good,” I said. “I've just never been filled like this before.” My breath caught as he shifted slightly out and then thrust back in, opening me up even more if that was possible. He started moving against me, a slow drag out and then a quick movement to fill me up again. Our hands roamed over one another's skin, perfect points of soft friction.

“Wait,” I groaned, pulling away from him and turning over onto my knees, presenting my backside for him. I looked back over my shoulder at him.

David stared at me, pupils blown wide. “Jesus, Kate,” he murmured, reaching out to stroke a hand down the curve of my ass. He positioned himself behind me and slotted his dick back inside of me, pushing in even more deeply than before. For a moment, I could barely breathe. I felt a tear run from my eyes – all my emotions and horny feelings built up. “Is this okay?” David asked, sounding concerned.

I mewled and rocked back against him, trying to convey just how okay it really was. “David,” I groaned as he continued to hesitate. I reached a hand back and lightly slapped his thigh in reproach. “David, move.”              

David chuckled and complied, pulling back and then quickly snapping his hips forward. I practically keened at the perfect feeling of us slotting against one another. My arms gave out, causing my upper torso to collapse down against the bed, but my hips stayed up, with David's fingers holding them in a bruising grip as he continued to piston his hips back and forth. The new angle was right on the edge of being too much for me to take, and I dragged my hands across the sheets, fingers scrabbling for purchase. But I didn't want him to stop.

Instead, a couple minutes later, I gasped, surprised at how quickly he'd got me to this point. “David,” I whimpered. “David, I'm about to...” I clenched my fingers around his wrist, eyes squeezed tightly shut. I could feel the walls of my pussy fluttering against his length, reflexively tightening and loosening as I shook through my orgasm. I fell even more bonelessly against the bed, moaning as David continued to use me to bring himself to a climax of his own. It didn't take long before I could feel him spilling his seed inside the rubber, still buried to the hilt. Then he crumpled down as well, barely managing to roll to one side and keep from crushing me.

He languidly dragged his palm across my skin and I rolled over to prop myself up on one elbow and look at him. “That was...”

David nodded. “Yeah,” he said breathlessly. “Yeah, that was.”

Chapter Eight

KATE

Afterwards, we lay there in the dark, each of us staring up at the ceiling. I wanted to curl into him, but I didn’t know how he would take that. Instead, I settled for resting the back of my hand against his side. Suddenly, a fit of giggles that burst forth.

“What?” David asked, glancing over at me. He even looked a bit self-conscious, as though he thought he might have done something wrong.

“Sorry,” I said. “I'm not laughing at you, just–“ I waved a hand between the two of us. “This. What is this?”

David sighed and sat up, moving to the edge of his bed. “Well, I mean...” He shook his head. “If it's going to be something, we're going to need to tell our parents,” he said.

I winced. “Mom's not going to like that.”

“Dad probably won't either,” David said grimly. “But he'll accept it if that's...really what I want.” He cocked his head to the side. “Is this really what you want?”

“Are you actually saying you'd enter a relationship with me? Or are you asking that we just keep having sex? I assume the latter is more your style.” I needed to clarify that now, before I got things all wrong and made things awkward.

David stared at me for a long moment and then moved over to my side, pulling me into his arms. “Kate, it would be best if we see what happens,” he said quietly. “And look, I'm headed back to London at the start of January. If you came with me, we wouldn't need to worry about being found out for now, and we could see if this was even something we wanted before we told everyone about it.”

“That actually...sounds like a good plan,” I said slowly. “But what about my job?”

David shrugged. “I make more than enough to support both of us over there. You could stay with me at my flat. Make things a little less lonely for me to come home to. And we could just see where this goes. If at any point you want to leave, I'd buy you a ticket straight back home.”

I frowned, looking over the plan from all angles. “Okay,” I said finally, nodding decisively. “Okay.”

David beamed at me. “Okay,” he echoed. Then, he pulled me in for a gentle kiss.

“We really should be getting back downstairs,” I said breathlessly when we broke apart. “They're going to start getting suspicious.”

David put a finger over my lips, shushing me. “I've been hiding out during the holidays for years now,” he admitted. “You're the first person who's ever come looking for me. And what, do you really think one of our parents is going to think that we're sleeping together? They'll think we're just having sibling bonding time, maybe having some drinks and watching a movie.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “So if we don't have to go back down there yet, what are you suggesting?” I asked.

David grinned and pinned my arms above my head so that I couldn’t have gotten away if I’d wanted to. “I think we probably have time for another round,” he said.

“I couldn't agree more.”

Chapter Nine

DAVID

The morning after Christmas, I woke up with a hangover of massive proportions. It felt like someone was trying to split my head down the middle, and I was afraid that if I moved even a little, my nausea would catch up to me in ways I didn't even want to think about. But when I rolled to the side, trying to find a slightly more comfortable position against the pillow—if that was even possible—I rolled over against someone else's warm, smooth skin. Frantically, I tried to remember the details of the previous night and found that I couldn't.

I blinked my eyes open and forced myself up on one elbow, looking at the planes of gentle curves spread out in front of me.

Kate.

I groaned and flopped back on the bed. Suddenly, it was like the movie-memory of the previous night wouldn't quit. I could remember ever detail of the sex, but what I could remember most of all was the promise to take her with me to London so that we could explore this relationship of ours.

There was no relationship between us. There couldn't be.

I could remember Kate giggling when we'd gone back downstairs. Could remember her taking another sip of champagne, her eyes sliding over to me. Could remember Luke's knowing looks. Could remember Kate's hand brushing my lower back as she passed on her way to the bathroom. Could remember coming back upstairs and finding that we just couldn't keep our hands off one another. Could remember doing it all over again.

And here we were—lying together in bed, stark naked, in our parents' house. I only hoped I'd had enough sense to lock the door, but given how drunk we'd been…

Kate made a soft noise of protest as I extracted myself from her grasp and climbed out of bed. I'd much rather continue lying there—burrow into the thing for hours and hours until the hangover faded and I felt marginally more like a real person—but I couldn't risk being there in bed with her if one of our parents came to check on us. If they hadn't already.

I closed my eyes and silently counted to ten. What the hell had I been thinking? Not only was this a bad idea, but this was a bad idea. Of epic proportions.

Anyway, what did I think I was doing, inviting Kate back to London with me? I could have any girl I wanted there, a girl with long legs and a short skirt and a sexy accent. Not that Kate wasn't attractive… I loved her petite frame, full breasts, and curves, and somehow that total girl-next-door demeanor was incredibly sexy.

To be honest, though, a lot of my attraction to her probably had more to do with the fact that I wasn't allowed to be sleeping with her since she was my stepsister. You only want what you're not allowed to have, right?

Kate made a soft noise and rolled closer towards me, closing her fingers around my bicep. Slowly, she blinked her eyes open, her face falling into a soft smile. “Good morning,” she said.

I looked at her with a hollow face, hoping she was at least twice as hungover as me—but she didn't look it. In fact, she seemed remarkably refreshed. It made me even more irrationally angry with her for the whole thing. I mean, obviously, it takes two to tango, but…

“We can’t do this again,” I said icily.

Kate's smile slowly slid off her face, and she tugged the comforter up to her chin. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I know I should probably have already left, I just… I didn't realize this was...one of those things. You seemed so interested in me, that I almost hoped...” She sounded lost and hurt, and I was sure she was telling herself all sorts of things in her head about how she wasn't attractive and whatever else. And to be honest, I felt a certain stab of guilt at that.

But it was better if she thought I was an asshole and we both moved on with our lives. This could never happen again; she had to realize that. I was interested in her—of course, I was. She had the sweetest smile, and the moments we had spent together were awesome. I couldn't seem to forget about her when we were apart, even when I didn't know her that well. But despite my current state of near existential crisis, I knew nothing good would come of this.

When I didn't say anything else, Kate slowly sat up and then slipped out of my bed. She carefully kept her back to me as she pulled on her clothes from the previous day. “You know,” she said once she'd finished dressing, “I actually thought there might be a decent guy somewhere in there. I can't believe I fell for that.”

I snorted. “Well, rest assured that you're not the first woman to fall for that, and I'm sure you won't be the last either.” I felt like an ass saying that line. What I wanted to say was, ‘Kate, it’s the timing; I spoke too soon. You are what I want, but maybe if we wait…’ But that's something I can still barely admit to myself.

Kate paused for a minute and then shook her head, her back still turned to me. I wondered if she was crying, or what her facial expression might look like just then. Some perverse part of me wanted to know how much I had managed to hurt her. But she left the room before I could do anything else to her.

There was something special about our romp in the sheets last night. It had definitely been just a good, hard fuck, but at times I had been able to feel our heartbeats pulsing in time with one another's. I had felt alive and at home, so to speak. I wanted to break through this barrier, but I knew the relationship would only be perceived in a bad light. I wanted to say that I didn't care, that no one could judge us for being two virile, attractive, and smart people. I love to fuck, she loves to fuck. What can I say?

But at the moment, everything in my head seemed to be a jumbled mess. I definitely needed to take some time alone and try to sort things out before I got in over my head. The last thing I wanted to do was to hurt Kate. 

Chapter Ten

DAVID

I managed to avoid the house, Kate, and the rest of the family time between Christmas and New Year's, mostly under the guise of visiting friends and having other engagements. And it wasn't entirely a lie. One of my good friends, Anna, was back in town for the holidays as well, and we'd kind of picked up our relationship where we'd left off—I was headed to her old house to see if the magic was still there. Maybe, just maybe, this thing with Kate was just symptomatic of not having slept with anyone I cared about in a while.

“Hey David, how’s it going?” Anna asked with a smirk. Memories flooded my brain as I thought about all the places in and around this house where we had fucked. And it was just that for us: straight-up, carnal desire. It had started back in high school when I didn’t have a girlfriend and she was too busy as cheer captain to have a steady date. Whenever there was a chance and her parents weren’t home or when my parents were out of the country, back when they'd been married, she and I had gotten together to practice some naughty, filthy things beneath the sheets.

“Are you alone?” I asked bluntly.

“No, but I will be later,” she said as she brushed her brunette hair to side with a sexy smile, her almond eyes dancing and sparkling up at me. My cock twitched with the way she looked at me and with the electric energy that always seemed to hang there between us.

I brushed her hair back with one hand, trailing my fingertips along her cheek. “I’ll come back then,” I said. “We need to quit taking so much time off from one another.”

Anna licked her lips suggestively and took a couple steps so she was back inside. Before she closed the door, I said, “Hey, tell everyone I said hi.”

“Sure, David.”

I turned around to leave. I knew no one there would be happy to see me after my three or four long years of absence. Anna and I had always given one another advice, but she was cold on the inside, and I had to wonder if she would care if she never saw me again. And her family, well—don't even get me started.  High-end, over-achievers with brand-name, luxury underwear and a level of cold in their souls that matched the frigid temperatures in the deepest pits of hell.

See, the one thing I enjoyed the most about sleeping with Anna was, it was totally, 100% uncomplicated. We went in with the thought that we were still going to always be just friends—friends who might sometimes have sex but always just friends. The time apart was good for us and gave us a chance to explore other sexual pursuits. And there was never any worry about either of us getting too attached to the other.

As I walked back to my car, I thought back to Kate’s question when I had first come back to the States. ‘How was London?’

London was a bitter and lonely place, besides the occasional date and a couple “friends with benefits” arrangements. Stress at work had me looking for a release frequently, but nothing seemed to give me exactly what I needed. Anyways, I never really had the energy to devote to anyone. By the time I came home, I was a caustic, strung-out mess, not expecting anything. No hopes. No dreams. Maybe I could hope to see some old friends, but there was nothing else waiting for me back home.

But Kate’s presence had made the times at the old house feel like something special for me. It actually felt like the holidays for the first time in ages.

I swore mentally. She was popping up in my thoughts again and again.

I wondered if she would have taken me up on the London offer if I had kept the relationship idea on the table. This time I’d tone it down some and just invite her there for a few weeks or longer if she chooses to stay. The wrathful winter had already started there and it wouldn't be a pleasant place to live for a while now, but I only had a week or two left here at home. London could be a place to figure out what we were doing and explore the fire between us. She could always come back home when she wanted, no strings attached.

I wanted to know if Kate would agree, but I knew I had to ask her properly this time, rather than rushing headlong into a half-drunken commitment that was sealed with a kiss.

I set aside my plans to meet Anna that night and dialed Kate's number. She answered on the first ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” I said in a low voice. I actually hadn't really expected her to answer, and somewhere deep down, I was pleased that she had. Until I heard her next words:

“Fuck you, David. I didn't mean to answer the call.”

“Wait," I said quickly before she could hang up. Kate, wait. I’m so sorry for Christmas.”

"And what," Kate asked bitterly, "you think you can just apologize and I'll hop back into bed with you?"

"That's not what I'm calling about," I said. I paused. "I mean, it kind of is, but— Just, not like last time, okay? What I really want instead is–"

"Save it, David," Kate said, sounding like she was about to hang up.

"Wait, Kate," I repeated, a pleading tone in my voice. "We had something, right? You must have felt it. At least give me a chance to explain myself..."

Kate sighed, and I could imagine her dragging a hand back through her long hair. "Fine," she said at last. "What is it?"

I paused. "Maybe you should come over," I suggested. "So I could say it in person." That way, she wouldn't be able to just hang up on me.

Kate laughed mirthlessly. "If all you want is to get me to come over and have sex with you again, you could at least have the decency to just say that outright."

"That's not what I'm asking," I said, a hint of frustration creeping into my voice. But more than just being frustrated at her insistence that I was only looking to have sex with her, I was honestly a bit baffled. Didn't she realize what a catch she was? She was sexy and funny and absolutely adorable at times. It was just a complicated situation. But she seemed to have totally misread my every action.

I'd need to fix that. Make her really feel special to me. Maybe I could take her out to a nice restaurant for dinner, or buy her something pretty. But something told me that those material gestures would mean nothing to her. I had never been with a girl like that before, though, someone who I couldn't just splash money on to fix every situation. I would have to think carefully when it came to Kate.

"Kate, you know there's a lot of chemistry between us—neither of us can deny it. That was there long before we had sex with one another, and I expect it's going to be there for a long time from now. I need you to hear me out on something, and I'd like you to be here in person. Can you grant me that at least? For the sake of the chemistry between us."

I could practically hear her resolve cracking. "All right," she finally sighed. "But only because I think we need to be on good terms. For the sake of our family."

That wasn't really the resounding answer that I craved, but at least it was something. "I'm over at the Empire Hotel on Main Street," I told her quickly before she could change her mind. "Do you think you can meet me here in an hour or so?"

"Why don't you just come over here?" Kate asked peevishly.

"It's neutral territory," I said. "It's just an impersonal hotel room. And anyways, that means that you can leave whenever you want to, without things being awkward. I thought you would appreciate that."

"That makes sense," Kate said after a long moment. "But I swear, any sort of funny business when I get there... I'm not having sex with you, understand?"

"Okay," I agreed, because I knew it was the only way to get her to come over. Anyway, I knew that I had hurt her before, with my insistence that we never have sex again. I could only hope that she would be willing to give me a second chance.

But I was sure everything would change once we were face-to-face with one another again. If we'd still been feeling such a level of attraction for one another when I was over in London, when we'd only met briefly in that week leading up to our parents' wedding, I knew that when we were in the same room with one another, there was no way we'd be able to deny our needs.

I smiled a little and went to clean up a little before her arrival.

Chapter Eleven

DAVID

The plan was to talk about the whole London thing before we fell into bed together. I definitely didn't mean to just fall into bed with her again without talking, as much as I might want to. But the very sight of her, in a cute little dress and boots, had me half-hard in my pants already, and watching her bend over to slowly undo her boots and slide them off was the breaking point.

I came up behind her, grasping her hips. "You have such perfect curves," I told her, still marveling at them.

"David," Kate said warningly, but I didn't miss the way she shifted back slightly so that my needy cock rested in the warm cleft between the firm mounds of her ass. But then she stood up, turning to face me. "I'm here so we can talk," she reminded me.

"I know, I know," I said, dragging my eyes from her lush lips up to meet her gaze. I tried a cheeky smile. "But don't you think we could talk better if we got rid of some of this sexual tension between us?" I reached out and lightly dragged the pad of my thumb along her jawline, hearing her breath hitch just the minutest amount. "I'm already hard and ready, and I can tell that you want this just as much. I know you wore that outfit just to tease me, but I bet you're already damp down in those pretty panties of yours."

She looked guilty for a moment, and I couldn't control my urges. I pressed her back against the wall, stroking a hand down her side. "Tell me to stop," I whispered, leaning in to kiss her. "As soon as you ask, I will."

Instead, she whimpered breathily into the kiss, turning her head to the side to deepen it before I even tried. I slid my hand down between her legs and found that she was just as wet as I'd predicted.

Kate's head dropped back, revealing the long line of her throat. "Please," she begged, her fingers clutching my biceps.

I grinned ferally at her and set about divesting her of her clothing. When we were both naked, I pressed her back against the wall again, ignoring the fact that we were still standing in the entrance to my suite of rooms. I didn't think we could make it to the bed, or even to the couch, which wasn't that far away. Those twenty steps were a marathon, with the fire coursing through my veins. I needed to take her right there if I wanted to slake my lust.

I lifted her hips and guided her down onto my throbbing member, unable to wait any longer. I rested my forehead against her clavicle, groaning softly.

"I need your dick inside me," Kate moaned urgently.

"Just...give me a second," I told her breathlessly, feeling like if either one of us moved even a little, I would climax already. She couldn't know how good she felt, with the walls of her tight pussy squeezed around me, her entire lady-garden slick with need.

I pinned her hips in place and then slowly rocked up into her. This time, we both groaned. I couldn't help grinning at her, wanting to make some quip about whether she still wanted to refrain from having sex, but I didn't want to spoil the moment. Instead, I continued to slide in and out of her depths, changing the pace to keep her guessing.

"I'm so close," Kate moaned suddenly, her fingers desperately digging into my muscular shoulders as she scrambled to find any sort of purchase that would allow her to control our movements.

I tightened my grip on her hips and bent my knees a little further, rocking up into her with more force and speed than I previously had. That was enough to push her over the edge, but I wasn't quite there yet. I continued to push her through her orgasm, but then I pulled out.

"What–" Kate said breathlessly, but before she could finish the question, I pushed her down onto her hands and knees on the plush rug there in the hall. Then, I slotted the tip of my dick in between her legs and thrust inside with one smooth motion. Kate whimpered in overstimulation, but pleas for more kept falling from her lips.

I set a ruthless pace, draping myself down over her back so I could get the angle just right and she could feel me fully seated inside of her warm folds. On each thrust, I swiveled my hips slightly to the side so that my tip pressed along the inner walls of her slit. The dual stimulation against the head of my manhood combined with the feeling of her walls encasing me brought me quickly to the very edge of my orgasm.

I spent a couple moments trying to think of anything unsexy that I could, wanting to wring another orgasm out of Kate as well before I allowed myself to climax. But my mind went completely blank; all I could think about was Kate, with her sweet scent around me and her warm skin beneath me and those little noises that she made still falling from her lips and urging me on.

A couple more thrusts, and I could feel my balls begin to stutter against her hips, my seed spilling hot as I buried myself deep inside of her in one final thrust. But it was enough to bring Kate off as well.

"Oh fuck!" she wailed, sounding genuinely surprised as her body tensed beneath mine and she experienced another incredible climax. I could feel her trembling as she collapsed even further down against the floor, seemingly unable to keep herself up anymore.

I squeezed her hand in mine, not even sure when we'd linked fingers. Slowly, I brought my eyes back open and rolled off of her and onto my back on the soft rug.

We lay there after the perfect, dual orgasm. "That was...amazing," I said quietly. Kate hummed an agreement. But the further I came down off my orgasm, the more I struggled to think of what to say to Kate now. How could I just blurt out my desire to have her come over with me? Now it was just going to seem like another sex-induced plan, as though I hadn't thought this through.

“The London office is really coming together, and we're starting to pick up some interesting clients," I said, hoping I could make her see that I really had been thinking about the future in London, about us in London. "It won't be long now until we're able to really start netting some big fish. It's likely going to be very profitable for GDC. And I'm proud of that.”

When I glanced over, Kate looked mildly confused at my abrupt change in topic from sex to work, but she shrugged. “You should be proud,” she  said. “I mean, it sounds like you've really taken on a lot of responsibility over there.”

Yeah, well, I've been in the company for nearly ten years now,” I pointed out. “And I'm good at what I do.”

“Must be nice, coming back home for a little while, though,” Kate mused. “You get to do all those things you don't do over there. Eat Mexican food. Drive on the right side of the road.”

I laughed. “Yeah, those are definitely bonuses. Although now I'm so used to driving on the left side of the road that it's almost just as confusing trying to retrain myself to drive on the right side. And like I said, I thought I was going to have more time to just sit around in my underwear and watch shitty TV or something, but instead, I keep getting dragged into all of these family bonding experiences. That's been...nicer than expected, though.”

“Yeah, it’s been fun getting to bond. Not just with you, either; Alex and Luke are great.” Kate grinned slyly over at me. “That's the only reason I keep tumbling into bed with you—much-needed bonding experiences and all.”

I snorted, sliding a hand down her side and then boldly in between her legs. Kate squirmed, still clearly a bit oversensitive after coming so many times already. “I can't imagine that you're enjoying yourself here,” I teased. I wanted to ask her about London, but I didn't feel like the timing was really right. Better to keep things light for now, have a good afternoon and use that maybe as a base to build on.

Kate groaned and pressed down against my fingers, her hands coming up to press against her face as though that was the only thing grounding her at the moment. “God,” she breathed. “I don't even know if I can possibly come again.”

“You can,” I said confidently, grinning at her. I leaned down to tug one of her nipples with my teeth, causing her to moan and arch against the rug.

She fisted a hand in the back of my hair, tugging just this side of painful. “Show me,” she begged, urging me forwards with her heels until my prick was pressed against her slick pussy. “Please, David, I need it so bad.”

I grinned and plunged my fingers into her, pushing her towards higher and higher levels of pleasure.

That evening, I left Kate angelically sleeping against the sheets, and although there was still a lot that we would need to talk about, I was feeling better about our situation.

I went over to Dad's place to talk about some future contract deals. Anna had been texting, but I ignored her completely, finding that I just wasn't interested in her in the face of what Kate and I had.

“You look exhausted,” Linda said as I entered the sitting room. She frowned at me. “Haven't you been sleeping? You know, I really think you shouldn't be staying in a hotel for so long. We have plenty of space here, and I'm sure it would be more comfortable...”

There was no way I was telling her that I was sleeping just fine, only the two-hour nap I'd had late that afternoon had done little to help me recover from the five orgasms I had had with her daughter. I was jealous of Kate, whose face when I'd left had still been utterly relaxed in the type of deep sleep that only true contentment could bring. I hadn't had the nerve to tell her my wish for her to come to London with me, but we'd had a wonderful, blissful day.

“I've been sleeping all right,” I said. When she looked unconvinced, I tried a lie: “I had to conference with some potential clients who live in England. They only had morning availability at the moment, so that meant I had to get up in the middle of the night to call them since I'm not currently in England. But I couldn't trust this project to someone else.”

Linda frowned. “It seems really demanding of them to make you do something like that during the holidays,” she said.

I shrugged. “You don't know the advertising business like I do,” I said. “If I didn't agree to do the call on their terms—in the morning, on a date when they had availability—there would have been someone else who was more than happy to meet with them at that time, and then they would have gotten hired on to that project instead of GDC. I couldn't let that happen.”

I felt kind of bad lying to her, but it was for her own sake.

Fortunately, it was enough to satisfy Linda. Now that we were all there, sans Kate, we moved over into the dining room, with Linda keeping up a steady stream of chatter about the evening's menu, the weather, and other chit-chatty conversation topics. In the meantime, Kate knocked and let herself in, joining us in the dining room. Perfect timing and clearly not forced. She should have had plenty of extra time to rest, and it wasn't apparent that we'd spent the afternoon together.

She was looking resplendent that night in a burgundy sweater, with her hair tugged back into a somewhat haphazard French braid. She had on a little makeup around her eyes and on her cheeks, although she didn’t need it. I wondered what could have prompted her to do so. She usually dressed pretty plainly, especially when it was unlikely that she'd be photographed like she might at one of the larger events. Personally, I was always more than happy for her to be fuck-ready in sweats and makeup-less.

Which had me wondering if she was going to do something else that evening after she had dinner with us. She couldn't possibly have a date or something like that, could she? The thought bothered me in ways that I wasn't ready to examine.

“What?” Kate asked suddenly, raising an eyebrow at me.

I paused, aware that I'd been staring, and cleared my throat. “Uh, I just wanted to say...you look particularly pretty tonight.” It was a stupid thing to say, with our parents sitting right there, but hopefully, it would seem innocent enough. She was glowing, and I couldn’t completely confirm that it was from the pounding, sucking, licking, and touching that we had done earlier.

Linda smiled encouragingly at me. “She does look pretty, doesn't she?” she said. She winked at her daughter. “See if you can get her to tell you what the occasion is, though; she always refuses to tell us anything.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “Mom, do I need to have a reason to dress up a little nicer?” she asked. She frowned. “This isn't even really that much nicer; I just threw on jeans and a sweater.”

“And a little makeup,” I helpfully supplied. “And you did your hair.”

Kate shrugged again, but I thought I detected a hint of a smirk there.

Over the course of the evening, I definitely felt a heightened sense of attraction around her. I couldn't seem to stop thinking ahead to the next time I'd be able to claim her lips or open her up in front of me. And part of that heightened sense of attraction stemmed from the nervous tension between us, because of this secret game that we were playing. I could only hope that no one else was any wiser about it.

By the end of the evening, I found myself wishing just that everything was out in the open about our relationship, about my feelings, about London.  When it was time to leave, I gave Linda and Dad quick hugs and then nodded at Kate before scurrying out the front door.

Chapter Twelve

“Hey, David!” Kate called from the porch as I was opening the driver's side door. I knew we needed to talk at some point, but it didn’t seem like the right time. I started to pretend as though I hadn't heard her, but when I glanced back towards the porch, I saw that Dad and Linda were still there behind her in the doorway watching us.

I looked at them, jealous. They had a relationship that I wanted. Something real. I could see it in my dad’s eyes and the way he talked to Linda. “What's up?” I asked, my tone neutral not to sound overly excited.

“Would you mind giving me a ride home?” Kate asked, her voice sickly sweet. “It's just so cold this evening...”             

“Sure,” I yelled out behind the door. “Get in.” Kate walks from the house and slowly towards the car, swinging her hips exaggeratedly as she went. “I really appreciate it,” she said, still using that fake tone of voice.

“How did you get here?” I quizzed once we were both in the car, the doors slammed shut around us.

“What do you mean?” Kate asked innocently. “I took an uber.”

“That was smart,” I smile. “Look, I need to talk to you, okay? It has to do with Christmas night, and I don't think we quite resolved anything after your petty exit.”

“You kicked me out!” Kate laughed a little, then paused and glanced out the window. “Do you remember where my house is?”

I loosened my grip and put the car in drive. Her laugh and tone made me think I could tell her the truth this time. “Of course I remember where it is,” I muttered. “So what's so important?”

Kate looked at me and then peered out in front of us. “No—it's a left here, not a right.”

I frowned but then swerved in the direction that she'd indicated. Vaguely, I realized that I did, in fact, recognize that little house on the corner, but I wouldn't have remembered that this was the way to go unless it had been for Kate reminding me.

To be fair, I was distracted, though. In these close quarters, it seemed like all I could smell was the scent of her perfume, a gentle touch of vanilla that was subtle and yet overwhelming in the confines of my normally sterile, leather-scented car.

Kate was silent for a long moment. She fidgeted and gripped a lock of her hair. “Can I come inside?” I asked, wondering how I was supposed to get her to speak. She didn't seem to want to tell me about whatever was on her mind, but it apparently was something that I just had to know. And I was hoping my own confessions would come out smoothly too, and that I would be able to invite her to come to London with me.

“I want you with me in London,” I finally blurted out. When I looked over, her cheeks were a bit flushed, and she was staring straight ahead of herself. “We would need to discuss things, figure out some way to tell our parents about it so that it doesn't seem suspicious. We would need to–"

“Um what? You are confusing me.” Kate said.

I blinked at her, feeling utterly flummoxed. "What do you mean?" I asked. I shook my head and ran a hand back through my hair. "Jesus, Kate. Of course, I want you to come with me. It was just a lot at once during Christmas. Like I said, there's just a lot that we have to think about–"

"You don't want me to come with you," Kate interrupted. "You want someone to come with you, sure. You want to have an easy fuck-buddy while you're over there. Someone you can call up with a moment's notice who'll come over and fuck you until you're raw and finally relaxed. But that's not me, and I'm not coming to London for that."

"That's not what I'm asking," I said exasperatedly. "If you would just listen to me–"

“I'm going to London anyways," Kate said, interrupting me again. "I'm young. I've never really had the chance to travel before—because unlike some people, I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth—and the idea of living in a foreign city... Like I said, my office has positions over there that I thought I might be able to be transferred to. So I asked my boss about it. Figured there was no harm in trying. And they've agreed to send me over there for at least a year.” She fixed me with a challenging stare. “It's not up for discussion,” she told me. “I just wanted to make sure you knew.”

I shook my head. “Kate, just listen to me for a minute,” I told her, trying to be rational. “Imagine what it would look like to our parents. Don't you think they would realize that there was something more between us? And…”

“Why would they realize that there's something more between us?” Kate asked bitterly. “You hardly said two words to me at dinner, and your reluctance to even drive me home did not go unnoticed. As far as they're probably concerned, we don't even act like stepsiblings, let alone like...something more.”

“Right, but that's what I'm trying to say. There are some things we need to talk about, some very real logistics we need to figure out if we're going to make this work. I think it's great that you're coming to London—I was going to ask you to come with me, actually. Ask again, for real. But there are some things we need to talk about."

“I thought we were just fucking," Kate said bitterly. “That's what it was, right? Getting it out of our systems, I guess.” She shook her head. "And that's what London is going to be, too, isn't it?"

I glanced over, surprised to hear those words coming out of her. “Well, do you really think we're ready for the relationship conversation yet?” I asked incredulously. “Kate, I don't know what to tell you, but I'm not normally a relationship kind of guy. I want you in London with me, but I’ve never been in an exclusive relationship. We both need to consider what we are doing to our careers, our lives.”

Kate's face twisted and she turned to look out the side window. “Okay,” she said quietly. We pulled up in front of her house, and I not-so-patiently waited for her to get out. “Well, I'm moving to London,” she said again. “Like I said, I just wanted to let you know, but it's not something that's up for discussion. I'm not looking for your permission or anything.”

“The fact that you're still sitting here makes me feel like you are,” I pointed out.

Kate gave me a startled look. Then, she grimaced a little, her hand reaching for the handle of the door. “I've already told my mom,” she told me, not looking at me. “She knows how excited I am about this. So, uh, like I said, just thought you should know before it...comes up at the dinner table.” Without another word—without even saying thanks for having given her a ride—she slipped out of the car and slammed the door shut behind herself.

I sat there in her driveway for a long moment, fingers tightly gripping the steering wheel as I tried to figure out what I was feeling. And wondering how things had gone from my wanting to ask her to come to London for a few weeks to explore this relationship with me to me feeling anger at her for doing something so stupid, irrational, and...long-term. I was thinking a couple of weeks, geesh! I think the anger was mainly at the fact that she hadn't consulted me. I wanted to be part of the decision-making process, especially if we were going to start a relationship together. But at the same time, somewhere down in there, I could feel a faint sense of hope. What if she did move to London and we managed to…

But no; I quashed that thought before it was even fully formed. Resolving to quit thinking about Kate's luscious curves and her cute little giggle, I quickly threw the car into reverse and headed for my hotel, resolving to head for the bar as soon as I got there. It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Thirteen

DAVID

Holiday time had always been busy for us. Dad always threw his Christmas party, and then I was always dragged along to a couple other parties over the course of the season. Of course, every year, we went to the Nelsons' New Year's party, because everyone in Dad's circle went to that party and it would have been practically scandalous to miss it unless you were in the hospital or something extreme.

But this year, Dad had also insisted I attend the general winter holiday party hosted by the Whittakers in the days between Christmas and New Years. Dad was trying to finalize a business deal, and Greg Whittaker was one of the people he was trying to finalize it with. They would probably spend half the evening talking shop, and it would look good for Dad to have me there charming his guests, showing that he was responsible and a real family man. Or something like that.

It was just another thing I had to do during my precious time off from work, but there was a big difference between ruining my day because Dad was asking me to do something rather than ruining my day because someone else was asking me to do something. Anyway, going to a fancy holiday party, eating a lot of expensive food, and getting tipsy was a lot more fun than holiday shopping leading up to Christmas.

That evening after the driver parked us in front of the house, I carefully did my tie with practiced hands and smoothed my hands down my suit jacket. I glanced over at Anna, who was looking absolutely delicious in a floor-length, slinky, red silk gown that left very little to the imagination. “Ready for this?” I asked her.

Anna snorted and reached into her purse, pulling out a small flask. “What do you mean, am I ready for this?” she asked. “We have a tradition, remember?”

I laughed a little and took a swig from the offered flask, swirling the whiskey around my tongue.

“You seem preoccupied lately,” Anna said. “Anything you want to talk about? Or is it just boring work stuff that you can't seem to leave behind even during the holidays?”

I shook my head. “I wish, honestly,” I said. I frowned, wondering if I should just admit to her what it was that really had me a bit distracted lately. Anna had been my friend for a long time—we'd grown up together—and she understood me in the way no one else could. She might be able to provide some sort of insight into what I was actually feeling. But admitting to her that I had slept with Kate…

Anna shrugged. “Look, you don't have to tell me, it was just an offer. Pass the flask.”

I blinked and then took another swig from the flask before passing it back to her. “I slept with Kate,” I finally said.

“You're going to have to be more specific than that,” Anna said, arching an eyebrow at me. “There are a lot of Kates in the world out there. Are we talking Kate Giulliani, Kate Benton, Kate Lewicky, Kate...” She started listing off Kates that we'd gone to school with.

“No,” I interrupted her. “I slept with Kate. My stepsister.”

Anna blinked. “Oh. Oh.” She laughed a little, and I reached over to punch her arm. “What? It's funny!” She shook her head. “That's… I mean, that's bad. Even for you.”

“I know,” I said miserably. “It was just some stupid drunken thing on Christmas, or at least it was supposed to be, but now we keep having these stupid family get-togethers since it's the holidays, and… I don't know.” I wasn't sure I was ready to tell her the part about Kate moving to London. I still didn't really know what I was feeling on that one.

“Do you have feelings for her?” Anna asked. " I just don't know why this is such a big deal for you.”

I was silent for a long moment, and Anna took that as her answer, letting out a low whistle between her teeth. “Well, that's huge, David,” she said. “I mean, I know you, right? Hearing you actually admitting to having non-platonic feelings for someone... She must be special.”

“That's not what I want to hear,” I muttered.

“So what do you want to hear?” Anna asked, passing the flask back.

I took a long sip, my throat burning a little as I swallowed it down. “I don't even know,” I admitted.

“Ah,” Anna said, a hint of a smile on her face. “So I suppose that's why you've been so preoccupied lately—because you're still trying to figure out what to do with the feelings you have.” She fixed me with a serious look. “I mean, I can't really tell you what you should do in this situation. It's a little beyond what I've ever experienced in the past. But personally, I'd make sure I wasn't doing something I'd regret. Kate isn't the type of girl you can just cut out of your life entirely if things go wrong. But then again, I've never seen you even considering having feelings for someone before, so...” Anna shrugged.

I stared pensively out the front window for a long time and then took another hearty sip of whiskey before putting the cap back on the flask and handing it over to its rightful owner. “All right, let's go inside,” I sighed.

When we got inside the house, we found it filled with a bunch of bright, jewel-toned colors, because the Whittakers had apparently decided to forego the traditional holiday party styles and go for something unique. Everywhere we looked, there were bright red ribbons, bright purple and yellow flowers, green banners, and a whole kaleidoscope of other colored ornaments and decorations.

It was kind of gaudy if you asked me—and especially since everyone expected holiday parties to look like holiday parties, with snow and icicles and gingerbread houses and everything else. By choosing not to play by the standard, I could only assume that Greg Whittaker didn't think he would be able to rival, let alone top, some of the other fine holiday parties of the season. That made my lip curl.

Anna elbowed me in the side, but she was grinning. “You're doing it again,” she told me. “That thing where you judge everyone based on their ability to host a party.”

“Well, it's an important skill to have,” I said defensively. “For someone of his standing, if he's expecting to close business deals with his peers and invites them all over for–“

“Shh,” Anna said. “Look, champagne.” She started moving across the ballroom, tugging me along by the wrist. I was so caught up in looking at the decorations that I didn't see Kate until it was too late.

Anna quite literally bumped into her. When Kate turned around to see what had just hit her, her mouth open to say something, she froze, looking back and forth between Anna and me. I saw something flicker across her face, but it was gone before I could identify it.

“Kate,” I ground out, nodding my head at her.

Anna's eyes went wide. “So you're the Kate I keep hearing about!” she said. She held out her hand. “I'm Anna. David and I have been friends since we were, like, five. I punched him in the nose and he pushed me in a puddle.”

Kate blinked and awkwardly shook Anna's hand. “Uh, sounds like quite the relationship the two of you must have,” she said.

“We're not in a relationship,” I said quickly, a bit too defensively.

“No one said you were,” Kate said breezily, but her eyes kept slipping back and forth between the two of us.

“So what do you think of your new stepbrother, eh?” Anna asked Kate, grinning at her.

Kate gave me a quizzical look for a second, and I wondered if she realized that Anna knew we had slept together. Because of course, the bad thing about telling anything to Anna was that the woman didn't have an ounce of tact.

“I mean, he's all right, I guess,” Kate said, and I wondered if she was talking about my looks or my personality.

Anna laughed, either way. “Yeah,” she agreed, reaching up to ruffle my hair in an unmistakably possessive gesture that I almost appreciated if it meant that Kate realized I was off-limits. “He is pretty all right, isn't he?”

“Hey Kate,” another woman said, coming up to our little group. I vaguely recognized her as one of Kate's close friends, but I couldn't remember her name. Whoever she was, she glanced between us, carefully giving Anna a once over. Then, she sneered. “Kate, there are a couple single guys over there who wanted me to bring you over if you're interested. And they are hot.”

Kate gave me a long look and then shrugged at my lack of response. She turned to her friend. “Sounds great. Maybe I'll let one of them take me home tonight.”

I knew, I just knew she wasn't that type of girl, but I couldn't help the jealousy that flared up as I watched her walk away, again exaggerating the swing of her round hips, which were emphasized by the flowing material of her green gown.

I turned quickly and walked in the opposite direction, eager to put as much distance between us as I could.

Chapter Fourteen

DAVID

I breathed a sigh of relief as we finally made it to the drinks table. Quickly, I chugged down two glasses of champagne, not caring what it looked like to anyone who might be watching. Kate would, I was sure, but I didn't want to talk to her about London in front of all these people. 

“Well, that was interesting,” Anna laughed, appearing at my elbow. “So that's Kate?”

I scowled over at her. “Keep your voice down,” I hissed, glancing around. “I don't need everyone to know–“

“Darling,” Anna drawled, placing a hand on my forearm. “For one thing, calm down. For another, don't you realize that everyone in the vicinity of the two of you can feel the sexual tension there? And I mean, it's not like you wouldn't make an attractive–“

“Don't go there,” I interrupted. “Don't—I need to get out of here.”

“We just got here,” Anna pointed out. “It would be pretty rude for you to leave already. Anyway, we haven't even tried any of the food yet. And it looks amazing. Come on. Another couple drinks in you and you'll be feeling better. Then we can go be social butterflies like we were raised to be, and then at the end of this long and painful evening, maybe I'll let you take me home and screw me senseless.”

“Nope, doubt it,” I told her honestly. I couldn't help glancing over to where Kate and her friend were chatting with some guys I didn't know. They were pretty attractive guys, I had to admit. I didn't like the situation, not when I really wanted to stride over there and grab Kate's wrist, pulling her out of this party and taking her back to the hotel, where I would pin her up against the door and–

Anna gazing at me now. “What do you say you and I find somewhere in here where I can...show you a little incentive, maybe?”

I raised an eyebrow at her, laughing a little. “Oh, it’ll be a quick ‘bj’,” she said.

I buried my head shaking it. I know I shouldn’t give into this, but it’s just a blow job I think to myself. Just some closure because I’m completely done with Anna after this.

We finally found a bathroom in a semi-deserted area towards the back of the house, and we slipped into it together. It was large, even though it was clearly not one of the main ones in use given its location.

“Already quite hard, hmm?” she asked teasingly. “Are you thinking about her?”

I gave her a guilty look, not sure what to say in response to that. The thing was, Anna and Kate were totally different lays, but I couldn't help thinking of Kate right then, imagining her hands on me. I could only imagine what it would be like to have Kate someplace like this, where we were being so very obvious about something so naughty.

“It's okay,” Anna said, misreading my hesitation. “I don't mind if you think of someone else. But if you want me to stop–“

“Why the fuck would I want you to stop?” I growled, grabbing a fistful of hair at the back of her head.

“I want to blow you until you cum,” Anna said, pushing me back a little so she could hop off the counter, and oh, didn't those words send zings of pleasure shooting straight to my throbbing dick.

I turned so I was leaning back against the counter, bracing my hands on either side of myself as Anna dropped to her knees in front of me. She slowly undid my belt buckle and then the zipper on my jeans, tugging them and my boxers down to the ground and lightly kissing the very tip of my dick.

I couldn't stop a ragged moan falling from my mouth, and Anna grinned up at me, her blue eyes bright with her own excitement.

Slowly, she slid her mouth along my shaft and then slipped the whole thing into her mouth with one go.

“You're getting better at that,” I groaned, putting a hand on the back of her blond strands to hold her there for a moment, enjoying the pressure as she hollowed her cheeks and fought to pull back and set her own pace. When I continued to hold her there, she reached up to pinch me just behind the balls, and I let go of her for a second, a burst of star-bright pleasure/pain shooting through my body.

The door swung open, and I stared dazedly at Luke, trying to process what was happening.

“Whoa, dude!” Luke said, throwing a hand up to shield his eyes. “Lock the door next time!”

“I did!” I snapped, even though clearly I must not have. I pulled away from Anna, erection already wilting as the moment slipped away. It wasn't even really that I wanted to get off with Anna, anyways. That was the most frustrating thing of all: I was almost glad that Luke had interrupted us, that I hadn't actually come with someone other than Kate. But that was a stupid thing to think when it wasn't like Kate and I were exclusive. (And whose fault is that?, I asked myself disgustedly.)

Angrily, I inspected the door and found that the locking mechanism still turned and clicked, but it wasn't quite long enough to actually be effective. “Idiots,” I muttered under my breath, staring around distastefully at the tacky beige bathroom.

I quickly tugged my pants up, redoing my belt, and reached out wordlessly to offer Anna a hand up. She at least knew better than to say anything until we were back at the party. “Come on,” she said with the patience and gentleness of a saint. “Let's go eat our weight in food.”

Chapter Fifteen

DAVID

A little while later, Luke caught up with me. After what he had witnessed earlier in the bathroom, I hadn't really expected him to seek me out. Anna had already left for the evening with Joe, another mutual friend, and I'd been thinking about getting out of there and going back to the hotel. I just needed to say my goodbyes…

When Luke came up to me, I frowned at him. “So you're back to sleeping with Anna, huh?” Luke asked with no preamble, leaning against the wall next to me. “What about Kate?”

I stared over at him, mouth agape. Then, I quickly brought my features back to neutral. “How do you know about Kate and I?” I hissed. “Did she tell you–”

Luke held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Whoa, calm down. I mean, she didn't really have to tell me; you guys are...pretty obvious about it, to be honest. I think a blind person could tell how attracted you are to one another.”

“How?” I asked, frowning. I had to figure out what it was we were doing wrong, and we had to figure out some way to correct it. We couldn't let anyone else find out about it…

Luke shrugged. “I mean, if you're not staring at her, she's staring at you. And when the two of you are interacting with one another? You could feel the sparks from a mile away. Nothing like a little passionate verbal foreplay to set the right tone for everything else. And if that weren't enough, well, we all noticed when you and Kate both just happened to disappear at the same time on Christmas. Multiple times. And for you, it might be normal to retreat to your room during family gatherings. But it's not so normal for Kate to disappear in a house she doesn't know, especially not when she's such a social butterfly normally.”

I blanched. “You all noticed?” I asked.

Luke shrugged. “I mean, no one really said anything about it. But there were definitely some pointed conversations about where the two of you might have gotten off to.”

“Dad included?” Luke nodded, and I pressed my hands to my face, feeling utterly mortified.

“But I mean, they all know how you are,” Luke said snidely. “No one expected it would last. And I'm sure they're all relieved to see you're still sleeping around with Anna.”

“You fuck around too,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, but not with family members,” Luke reminded me. His eyes tracked Kate as she crosses the room. “She does look good in that dress, though, doesn't she?”

I swatted his arm, giving him a warning look, and he smirked at me. “Don't worry, I'm not touching her.” He paused. “But, uh, I really don't think anyone would be too concerned if you wanted to… Just as long as you don't make things awkward. It's not like the two of you are actually related or anything.”

“I don't need your permission,” I snapped.

“I know,” Luke said. “But what I mean is, I don't think your parents would mind either. Otherwise, they probably would have come to find the two of you on Christmas.”

I watched him walk away and then abruptly turned to watch Kate. She was dancing with the guy from earlier, looking like she was having a wonderful time, if her grins and laughter were anything to go by. And gosh, I could just watch her swing her hips and twirl like that for ages, especially as she did a particularly quick twirl and her skirt spun out, revealing a healthy amount of that pale, porcelain skin.

She fell back in the guy's arms, still laughing breathlessly, and I watched as his hand slipped lower, resting first on her lower back and then cheekily slipping down to caress her ass.

That was when I decided I had had enough. I marched across the room, dodging other dancers as I went, and tapping her insistently on the shoulder.

She looked surprised when she turned to see me. “I'm a bit busy right now,” she said coldly, making to turn back to her partner.

I caught her shoulder in a firm grip, keeping her from completing the action. “Your mom asked me to make sure that you got home all right,” I lied. It probably wasn't the best line to use, but Linda had already stopped to say goodbye to me a little while ago, so I figured there was a possibility that she would never find out. Anyways, I wasn't really thinking about that future problem at the moment. I just needed that guy to quit touching Kate like he might be going home with her at the end of the night. 

“Well, I'm not ready to go home yet,” Kate said.

“Well, that's too bad for you because I'm leaving, but I promised your mom that I'd get you home,” I said.

“You're too drunk to drive anyways,” Kate scoffed.

I rolled my eyes. “No shit, sherlock. That's why I hired a driver for the evening. He's waiting with the car outside.”

“I'm not leaving yet,” Kate said. “I'll make my own arrangements—I'll call a cab.”

“Bet you don't even know the address where you are,” I challenged. “How would you handle calling a cab?”

Kate looked momentarily embarrassed, and I counted that as a victory. But then her dance partner stepped in. “I mean, I can handle getting her home safe,” he said, smiling warmly at Kate. “Can't give an exact time for it, big brother, but Kate's a responsible adult and can make her own plans.”

I scowled at him, not sure if I was more offended by him calling me her 'big brother' or his condescending tone. “Stay out of it,” I snapped. I turned back to Kate. “Look, like I said, I already promised your mom I'd get you home safe. You don't want me to have to break my promise to my new stepmother, do you? We were all just starting to get along as a family...”

Kate looked momentarily torn at that. “I just can't believe she asked you, of all people, to get me home safe,” she finally said, but I could tell that her resolve was cracking.

I shrugged. “Well, she did. Now, can we please go? I'm nearly desperate to get out of this tie...”

Her partner sneered at that. “So why don't you take home a girl who will undress you, David?” he asked. “That's what you usually do at these things, isn't it? Come to think of it, where's the girl you arrived with anyway? Did she finally get sick of you?”

“Again, this is really none of your business,” I snapped at him, suddenly recognizing him. Five years of foreign university later, Michael Westin was just the same smarmy asshole that he'd ever been.

Michael's face twisted into an ugly grin. “I bet you're just trying to take her home so you can fuck her as well, right? I know how you are with pretty girls.” He reached out and boldly stroked one of Kate's breasts. “Are you jealous?”

I punched him square in the nose, and he fell back on the floor, howling in pain.

Kate stared at me in shock, as did a few of the people around us who realized what was happening. I blinked, not having though through that action at all, just having reacted to what he was saying. I must be drunker than I had thought… I swallowed hard, only imagining what my father would have to say to me when he heard about this. Especially if this screwed up his deal with Greg Whittaker, I would be in for some serious lectures on responsibility and respectability. There wasn't much he could do at this point, of course, since I'd been independent for years, but… Well, I did like to stay on good terms with him.

I turned to Kate. “We're leaving,” I hissed. But I turned to stalk out of there without once looking to make sure she was with me.

Surprisingly enough, she followed meekly behind me and climbed into the back of the car with me. “That was a little interesting,” she said quietly.

I gave the driver the address of her house and then fell silent.

“Hey,” Kate said, reaching over and running a finger down my knuckles, which would probably be an ugly shade of purple by tomorrow. “That was kind of sexy, you know. I've never had a guy fight for me before.”

I closed my eyes and counted to ten, letting out a deep breath. “I wasn't fighting for you,” I said finally.

“Oh,” Kate said, sounding like she didn't quite know what to say.

After a long, silent drive, we reached her house (it wasn't that far away, but it felt like it took ages to get there, no doubt partly due to the thick, swirling snow that was falling outside). Kate paused, her hand on the doorknob. “Is that it, then?” she asked me, looking like she was almost disappointed with me.

I turned to look at her, feeling an almost desperate urge to pull her into my arms and just...hold her? I frowned at that altogether girly sentiment and shrugged. “What do you want me to say?” I asked.

“You could admit that you were jealous,” Kate said. “You could tell me why you're going home with me instead of with Anna.”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingertips. “Can I come in?” I asked, surprising myself. Maybe surprising both of us, if Kate's expression was anything to go by.

“I don't think that's a good idea,” Kate said, moving to get out of the car. “I don't do one-night stands.”

“So we'd better do it more,” I told her cheekily. “We could have a string of one-night stands, at least.” That, of course, wasn't what I wanted, but she still didn't seem to realize that, and I doubted she would take the word of a drunk guy who had just punched someone out at a party. 

“Not what I meant,” Kate said coldly, opening her door.

I reached out and caught her wrist. “I know,” I said. “Look, can I just come in? Not to have sex or anything like that. I just… I don't know. Never mind. Forget it.”

Kate sighed. “Fine,” she said after a minute. “Fine, you can come in. You're not staying the night, though.”

I nodded solemnly and then climbed out of the car, following her inside.

Chapter Sixteen

DAVID

We binge-watched a few movies that night, and each time Kate got up—to get popcorn, to refill our drinks (just water for me, and juice for her), to go to the bathroom—she sat back down closer and closer to me, until by the end of the night, she was snuggled into my arms, her back pressed against my chest. She fit there as though she belonged there, I thought distantly, staring down at her soft, shiny hair. I leaned my cheek against the top of her head, giving up all pretense that I was still watching the movie.

“You tired?” Kate asked, her voice sleepy and quiet.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, nuzzling her a little. “Really comfortable here, though.”

Kate carefully extracted herself from my grip. I could have detained her if I'd wanted to, but I figured she needed to use the bathroom again or something. When she stood there with her hands on her hips looking down at me, though, I realized my mistake.

“You need to go home, then,” she told me firmly. She held up a hand to forestall and protests I might have. “I don't want to hear any arguments. You agreed to leave. And it's my house.” She paused. “I can't...have a repeat of before.”

I stood slowly and stretched, yawning widely. When I looked back at Kate, I was amused to see she had been ogling my abs where my shirt had ridden up. I tugged it back down, keeping my hands teasingly on the hem as though I might take it off at any second. “Are you sure you don't want me to stay?” I asked her.

She blinked at me, looking for a moment like she didn't even know what I was asking. But then she scowled. “Oh no,” she said, shaking her head. “Oh no, no, no. You're not going to charm me into it again. I swear, if you–“

I closed the distance between us and swept her into a dramatic kiss, feeling her protests melt against my lips. I slipped an arm around her lower back just as I felt her knees give out, her weight falling heavily against my support.

“God,” she said shakily as I pulled away. Then, she shook her head again. “I mean it, David,” she said warningly. “I'm not going to have sex with you. Now, please. I want you to leave.”

I cupped her cheek in my palm, watching her eyelashes flutter a little. “Oh Kate,” I said sadly, lightly stroking her cheekbone. I leaned my forehead against hers for a long moment, just reveling in this closeness. I swallowed hard. It was probably the first time I had ever wanted to stay over with a woman and not have sex with her. I just wanted to hold her, to possessively treat her as though she was my own for the night.

And I had missed our conversations. Kate and I were great in bed, and if we had more time together, to talk alone, about the facts of our lives, about the things we grew up dreaming about. .. I wanted more than what we had now, wanted something that I seemed to only be capable of finding in Kate. But I wasn't sure how to go about telling her that. And I knew I shouldn't be saying—or even thinking any of that. It was too early in our relationship.

“Luke says he thinks our parents knew we had sex on Christmas,” I said suddenly.

Kate's eyes widened, and she went a couple shades paler than usual. “Really?” she asked. She blushed brilliantly. “Oh god, what does my mother think?”

I shrugged. “I don't know. I don't think Luke knows. But he says that if they wanted to stop us, they would have come to find us.”

“I mean, Mom wouldn't have wanted to walk in on me like that, and I bet Alex wouldn't have wanted to walk in on you either.”

“True,” I said. “But they might have knocked on the door.” I shrugged. “Look, I don't know. I just...”

“But it doesn't matter anyways,” Kate said firmly. “Because this isn't what you want. I'm not what you want. You just want me to want you.”

“That's not it,” I said frustrated. “I mean, not to sound like an arrogant prick, but I already kind of expect most girls to want me. I'm attractive, and I make shitloads of money.”

“Wow,” Kate said, shaking her head as she pulled away. “Wow. I can't believe I slept with you.”

“Wait,” I said, catching her wrist. “I mean, it also helps that I'm intelligent and can hold a conversation. And I can cook decently too. And… Well, there's a lot of things.”

“But you'll sleep with every woman you meet who fits your standards,” Kate said bitterly. “And it means nothing to you.”

“Kate,” I said. I sighed and looked away from her, staring out at the snow. “Look, Kate. I don't do relationships. I never do relationships. You're going into this fast, as though a little bit of knowledge about someone and one night—or a few nights—of great sex might mean you're soulmates and destined to be together forever. I don't believe in that kind of stuff. And I'm not sure how to go about getting to know someone better. Especially if you're living here and I'm living in London.”

“Except that I won't be living here,” Kate pointed out. “I'll be living in London as well.”

“I know,” I sighed. “But if you were living with me in London… Don't you think that's a lot of pressure to put on a relationship all at once?”

“That might be the first sensible thing I've ever heard you say,” Kate said, looking thoughtful. She shook her head. “I really am going to London anyways,” she said again. “I've already okayed it with work. I'll be there starting in early February, once I straighten out my affairs here and get someone to rent out my house and everything.”

I took a shuddering breath. “Then maybe once you're in London–“

Kate placed a finger over my lips. “Uh uh,” she said, shaking her head. “Don't say it, David. Not now, not when you're still drunk. I don't want to hear more promises about the future from you and then have you wake up in the morning regretting all of this.”

I nodded slowly. “That's fair,” I said. “I'm not making any promises. But it would be a shame for us both to be in London and not at least meet up for dinner sometime.”

“It would be,” Kate agreed.

We were silent for a long moment, just staring contemplatively at one another. Finally, I broke the silence. “I'd really like to hold you,” I told her. “I don't want to have sex, and we'll keep on however many layers of clothing as you think we need. But I'd really like to hold you. That's...not something I normally do.”

“All right,” Kate breathed. “I'd like that.”

Chapter Seventeen

DAVID

The New Year's party was surprisingly low-key that year. I almost didn't go, after having a long talk with my father about my behavior at the Whittakers' party. But in the end, he decided that if I didn't go, it looked almost worse than my going. He did stipulate that I needed to make a public apology to Michael at the party, and I hadn't fought him on that one. I just hoped the idiot's face was even more spectacularly bruised than my knuckles.

I didn't go straight over to start flirting with the cluster of girls in the corner like I normally would have. I didn't pick a random woman that I wanted to kiss at midnight. I didn't head straight to the bar to get a drink. Instead, I found a group of guys my age and attached myself to their conversation. They seemed a bit surprised at first, but everything quickly relaxed into some semblance of normal.

I couldn't keep my eyes off Kate, but that was nothing new. I at least tried to be a bit more discreet about it today, which was probably made easier by the fact that I wasn't drinking as heavily as I normally did at these things.

Midway through the evening, Kate came over to me while I was grabbing some food. “Want to find a secluded place to kiss at midnight?” she asked under her breath. “Or is that a bit too much commitment for you? I mean, I'm sure you have a line of girls all desperately vying for your kiss tonight...”

I shrugged a little. “I'm not really interested in kissing just anyone,” I admitted.

“You haven't really been drinking that much, either,” Kate observed. “I've noticed.” It sent a thrill through me to know that she'd been watching me just as much as I had been watching her. “Is something wrong? Are you sick?”

“Nah. I just don't really feel like it tonight.” I looked down at my plate of food and decided I had everything that I wanted. “Hey, do you want to go eat outside in the gardens? Usually, they have little fires spaced out in private nooks so that people can get some time alone.

Kate raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you sure that's a good idea? People might notice we've disappeared together again.”

“Not at a party like this,” I said. “And especially not this late into the night.” I glanced at my watch. “It's only about forty-five minutes until midnight, anyway. Maybe we can find someplace quiet out there where we can kiss.”

Kate blinked and then nodded. “Okay.” She followed me out into the gardens. “You seem different,” she said as we walked through the dark gardens, listening to the soft music and laughter spilling out from the party.

I shrugged again. “Yeah, well. Let's just say I've thought long and hard about punching Michael Westin in the face, and I'm repentant.”

“You had a long talk about that with your father, didn't you?” Kate asked, grimacing in sympathy.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “But the most interesting part of the conversation was when he said he doesn't care who I sleep with, as long as I keep my private matters private. Apparently, everyone seems to have overheard the reason that I punched Michael as well.” 

Kate stopped walking for a moment and then hurried to catch up. “So they know, then,” she said. She was frowning. “Mom didn't say anything to me about it.”

“I mean, what's she going to say?” I asked cynically. “It's not like she can call you up and be like, yeah, so you and your stepbrother, you guys are allowed to keep having sex together if you want to!”

“There are more tactful ways to say it, I'm sure,” Kate said, but she was hiding a grin.

We turned into a small labyrinth in the gardens. Kate looked curiously around us, but she didn't ask where we were going like I wanted her to. Finally, I just came out with it: “The center of this part is my favorite, and no one is ever really there—probably because it's a bit confusing, but I memorized the directions a long time ago. It's the perfect spot for a midnight kiss.”

I said the last words right as we turned the corner into the center of the maze. Where Dad and Linda were already sat on the bench, curled together near the fire. I stared at them for a long moment, hoping beyond hope that they hadn't heard those last words come out of my mouth. But there was no way they wouldn't have; I hadn't been particularly quiet about them since I hadn't expected anyone to be in there.

“Like father, like son,” Dad said ironically, grinning over at me. “Are you really the person who's been in here every year for the past ten years? I never got a good look at your face because you were always making out with someone, but I guess that makes sense.” He smirked. “I was so happy to find the place empty this year.”

I could feel my ears burning and glanced over at Kate, who looked just as embarrassed as I felt. “Uh, we were just...” she stammered.

Linda gestured to the other bench, looking amused. “Alex and I talked about how this might happen, back before the wedding,” she admitted to us. “Two attractive kids in their twenties, meeting for the first time. We kind of joked about this kind of thing happening.” She sighed. “I'm not going to say I'm thrilled with it, and it will take some getting used to for everyone, but...” She shrugged. “What can you do? The heart wants what the heart wants.”

“It's nothing serious,” Kate was quick to blurt out.

“Yet,” I amended, looking down at her.

Kate gave me a surprised but pleased look. “Yet,” she agreed.

“Well, why don't the two of you have a seat, and we'll have some family time before both of you jet off to London?” Dad suggested.

When Kate and I sat down on the other bench, curled in very similar positions to our parents, it suddenly felt the most like family that I'd felt in a while. And the kiss at midnight felt like hope.

THE END