BIG: (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance) by Emme Rollins Read Free Book Online

there—he ended up in the hospital. I had to make sure he was okay...” Her voice trailed off when he glared at her.
     
    She put a hand on his forearm, feeling the tightness of the muscle underneath, saying softly, “It wasn’t because I was ashamed of you.”
     
    “Sure felt like it.”
     
    She drained her drink and put the glass on the coffee table, then turned back to him, keeping her voice and gaze as steady as she could. Then she confessed. “Don’t you think I’ve spent years wishing I’d walked away with you?”
     
    “What would you do if I saw a guy treating you like that again?” he asked. “Because I’d do the same damned thing.”
     
    “Ric, you’re the one who taught me to expect more,” she urged. “There isn’t ever going to be another ‘Ryan’ in my life.”
     
    “You didn’t answer the question.”
     
    “This time? I’d walk away with you.”
     
    The drink hit her hard suddenly and she dropped her dizzy head down into his lap. Ric surprised her by stroking her hair. She stroked the back of her knuckles against his front, letting all her tension go. His face blurred a little above her, but his grin was clear enough.
     
    “You never could handle alcohol.”
     
    “I’m just a little squiffy. That’s strong stuff...” She struggled to put her words in the right order as they came out of her mouth. “Besides, you should be chuffed I’m still such a light-weight. That means that I haven’t spent four years at University building up my tolerance.”
     
    “Nice reframe.” Ric laughed. “So, if you haven’t spent the past four years partying—what have you been doing?”
     
    “Missing you.”
     
    Crap.
     
    The words were out before she could even think. And now they wouldn’t stop.
     
    “I mean, I know now why I never you saw — you were losing all that weight and rebuilding your life—but there were too many Christmases and birthdays without you, Ric.” Her voice sounded far away, even to her. “I missed our late-night phone calls. Our football versus rugby arguments. I even missed sparring with you about the Second Amendment. Your incessant need for the right to bear arms everywhere, even in the bathroom —”
     
    “Okay, that’s one argument I didn’t miss.”
     
    Did that mean he missed all the other things, like she had?
     
    Then she laughed. “You even had a gun in the gym , for God’s sake!”
     
    “Ugh. You’re so English.”
     
    “All right, let’s not go there. Not while we’re getting along so nicely.”
     
    She lay quietly in his lap for a while, loving the feeling of being completely relaxed with him again. His hand was still in her hair, petting gently, his thumb occasionally stroking her cheek.
     
    She knew it was wrong, but she wanted him. She wanted to go to bed with this new Ric, press skin-to-skin with him, his arms wrapped round her front, and with nothing in the world to worry about.
     
    So much history, though. So much to work through.
     
    “You’ve changed,” he said suddenly, but it wasn’t an accusation.
     
    “I hope so.” She pulled herself up and climbed into his lap.
     
    Ric didn’t stop her when she straddled him, draping her arms over his impossibly big shoulders. She was heady, both from the alcohol, and from their closeness.
     
    “I’ve grown up a lot,” she informed him, feeding him facts he couldn’t know, given the length of time they’d been part. “I’ve learned things.”
     
    “What have you learned, Leesa?” he asked, sounding like he was indulging a small child.
     
    “I’ve learned to speak up.” Her spine straightened and she saw him glance down at the cleavage that motion suddenly put on display. “I’m not afraid to say things. Or ask for things. If I want something, I mean. I’ll ask.”
     
    “Oh yeah?” They were face-to-face. She could smell the alcohol on his breath. “So ask. You didn’t climb into my lap for nothing.”
     
    For all her brave words, all she could