Bender by Stacy Borel Read Free Book Online Page B

may not have a set of parents who give me whatever I need, but I’m capable of taking care of myself. Camden doesn’t need to know anything about me. He passed judgment on me the moment he set eyes on me. So please, keep this to yourself, okay?”
    He watched me for a few short seconds before he scrubbed his hand down his face. “Fine, but you know he’s going to notice this at some point.”
    “No he won’t. And even if he did, he wouldn’t care.” I knew he wouldn’t.
    He shrugged. “If you think so. But I have a feeling it would bother him more than you think.”
    “Whatever. Let’s go back downstairs so I can finish this movie with Sarah and get her back home.”
    As I shut the door and used my new lock, I heard the front door open and close.
    “Who the hell are you?” Camden’s deep voice boomed through the open space.
    “I’m Sarah, who the hell are you?”
    Dodger was already at the bottom of the steps chuckling at my sister’s response, and I was trying to shove the key in my pocket and race down the steps without falling.
    “Sarah!” I scolded. “Watch your mouth.”
    She shrugged indifferently. “What? He started it.”
    I seriously hoped my mother wasn’t letting her talk like that while I wasn’t around. Camden looked over at me as my feet hit the last step and started to glance back at Sarah but did a double take at Dodger and me standing together. I gulped. I had an idea of what it looked like since we’d both come from upstairs.
    His jaw worked back and forth. “She belong to you?”
    My mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. I wasn’t sure how to respond to his sudden anger. His tone was clipped and the way he referred to my sister was as if she were an inanimate object. “If by belonging to me you mean, is this my sister, then yes, she belongs to me.”
    “Huh,” he grunted. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”
    I took a defensive stance, crossing my arms over my chest. “You might if you were around more. This is the third time she’s been here.”
    His eyes flared. When it came to Sarah, I never held back. I’d played mama bear to her on more than one occasion. This was no exception.
    “Yeah well, I work. You know, going out and earning a paycheck.” His sentence was dripping with sarcasm, and it ruffled my feathers.
    “Excuse me? I work. How do you think I pay for this place?”
    “Doesn’t matter how you earn it. As long as you’re paying, I don’t care.”
    “Oh well that’s a real fantastic attitude to have about someone living in your house.”
    “It is what it is, Blue.” He shrugged, and it made my blood go from a slow simmer to a boil.
    “Seriously, what’s with the nickname?” I nearly shouted.
    “Hey,” Sarah piped up over the top of the couch. “Trying to watch a movie here.”
    “Yeah, she’s trying to watch a movie, keep it down,” Dodger cut in. I’d totally forgot he was still standing there, and he was looking highly amused by the heated argument Camden and I were having.
    “Shut up Dodge,” Camden clipped.
    His younger brother just chuckled. “No way man. I agree, the kid is watching a movie, and you two are making it difficult to hear.” He looked between us. “Shew! There’s some serious sexual tension in this room.”
    Camden growled and ran his hands through his sweaty dark hair. “Christ, you don’t know when to fucking quit.”
    “What’s sexual tension?” Sarah’s curious eyes peered at me.
    I turned to glare at Dodger and Camden. Flinging my hands up in the air and slapping them back down on my legs. “Oh my gosh!” I exclaimed, grinding my teeth together. Whispering really low, I pointed to both of them. “Thanks a lot. And watch your mouth. She’s only eight.” I moved toward the couch and said, “Sexual tension is just when everyone is really happy and having a good time.”
    I heard someone snort behind me. That was it, Sarah wasn’t coming back here until I gave both of them a talk about how to