Bad Boy - A Stepbrother Romance by Caitlin Daire, Alyssa Alpha Read Free Book Online Page A

only part of me that wanted to get acquainted with him was my fist. I mumbled a vague response, unable to form a coherent sentence. At least he was pretending this was the first time we’d met so we didn’t have to acknowledge where we’d really met and make things awkward for our parents.
    “Now, what on earth is this on your shirt, Finn?” James asked. “Did someone throw a drink or a bottle of sauce on you? You’re filthy!”
    Finn kept looking at me, a small smile turning the corners of his lips up as he replied to his father. “It’s blood. I got in a fight outside Clancy’s,” he said, not even taking his eyes off me for a second. “But don’t worry, it’s not my blood.”
    Ew. Did he think he was all awesome and hardcore for getting into bar fights? I guess he was even more of a douchebag than I already thought.
    “You couldn’t have changed shirts before you graced us with your presence?” Grandma asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s so unhygienic…my goodness!”
    Good old Grandma. She’d only just met the guy, but she was already giving him a dressing down for looking so disgusting. And no wonder. Seriously, the guy was hot as hell, as much as I hated to admit it, but showing up at a Michelin-starred restaurant with blood on his shirt was unbelievably gross.
    “I’m sorry…Adelina, was it?” he said. “I was already late, and I didn’t want to be even later, so I rushed straight over here from the bar.”
    “You can call me Mrs. Villanueva, young man,” she replied, her voice stiff. “This first name nonsense is far too familiar.”
    I stifled a giggle, glad that she was treating the prick exactly how he deserved—like a bad little boy. Ironic, because he obviously tried to present himself as having a bad boy image…just not the kind of bad boy my Grandma saw him as.
    Mom and James looked uncomfortable, clearly aware that this was off to a bad start, and James glanced over at me before quickly changing the subject. “Sorry, Rory, what were you saying just before Finn arrived? Something about the security here?”
    “Err…nothing,” I mumbled. “It’s okay.”
    Truthfully, I would have loved nothing more than to have security drag Finn away so that I wasn’t forced to share a dinner table with him, but I was going to be sharing a lot more than a table with him soon, given that we had to live together, so I bit my tongue and tried to ignore him as he slid into the booth next to me.
    My body had already started to betray me. The warmth from his leg next to mine under the table was making my heart race like mad as heat blossomed between my legs, and I kept staring straight ahead, praying he wouldn’t somehow notice.
    “So…made the big announcement yet?” Finn asked, glancing around the table.
    James nodded. “Yep.”
    He looked beyond pleased with himself, and my Mom’s megawatt smile practically lit up the room. I couldn’t help but grin despite my horror at the stepbrother situation, and my grandmother did the same. Even though Mom had selfishly eloped, we couldn’t deny how happy she looked, and that made us happy too.
    “I’m so happy to finally meet you, Finn,” Mom simpered, reaching across and touching his hand. He immediately drew it back and slid it under the table, his smile faltering for a second.
    “Er…yeah. Me too,” he muttered.
    “Rory always wanted a brother, and now she has one. How exciting, right?” she went on.
    I couldn’t even pretend to keep smiling at that, so I took a sip of water and nodded, hoping no one would notice my sudden change in expression. Finn’s hand suddenly crept up onto my bare thigh, and I almost spat out my mouthful. He looked straight ahead, pretending that nothing was going on, and I struggled to maintain my composure as I tried to figure out what to do without drawing attention to what was going on. On the one hand, I didn’t want to make things weird for Mom and James while they looked so enraptured, but on the other