Getting Mine: A Stepbrother Romance by Adair Rymer Read Free Book Online Page B

put Stacy Miller in her place? I couldn't believe I even had the nerve to show up, I felt ten feet tall. Arsen was right! If you don't like who you are, act like the person you want to be! I needed to find him and tell what I'd just done.
    I'd picked up a red cup and had it filled with beer, mostly because I assumed that that was what you did first when you went to a party. I had a great start and didn't want to screw it up.
    Tonight was a first for me in so many ways. It was my first party, the first time I'd ever snuck out of my house, and my first beer! I took a sip and nearly gagged, it was horrible. I'd always heard it was an acquired taste, something you'd grow into. I couldn't fathom growing into ever liking that.
    While scanning for a spot to discretely dump the beer out I spotted Arsen, he was lounging on a couch by the in-ground pool. No one was swimming of course, it was too cold for that, but it was the perfect place for them to smoke.
    I slid the patio doors open, subdued my beaming smile and went over to him. He was surrounded by people as usual, but for the first time ever, I didn't care.
    “Hey, Arsen.” I said, trying not to cough as I entered the smoke cloud that surrounded them.
    “Val, fuck, you made it!” Arsen handed the joint he was smoking to someone else and wobbled to his feet. He looked ten times more messed up when he stood up. He went to give me a hug and half fell into me. “So glad you got over yourself and just fucking showed up. This is great, right?”
    “Yeah...” My confidence was beginning to falter. I immediately had second thoughts about being here. He was the only reason I came to this stupid thing and I didn't know how much longer I could be around him in this condition.
    “You know, we've never fucked. We should really fuck.” Arsen laughed.
    I didn't know if he was joking, serious or just high, either way I didn't like this side of him. I tried to laugh it off, like everyone else. They were all too stoned or drunk to care how much of an asshole he was being.
    I wanted to be in his world , I reminded myself. This was part of that world, I guess.
    “Right here, right now, let's do it.” Arsen squeezed my ass.
    I shoved him off. Arsen crashed back into the couch and everyone laughed even harder.
    I didn't know what I expected, but it wasn't this. This really broke my heart. I'd hoped he'd ask me out or something. Now, I saw how stupid that hope was. This was such a mistake, I turned and left. Arsen was leaving soon and was just out for a good time, he didn't give a shit about me.
    I never wanted to see Arsen Constantine ever again.
     
     
    Present.
     
     
    “So this is where you escaped to...” I found Arsen on the Jeter's balcony. His short cropped hair waved slightly in the wind. He was watching the tide crash against the rocky Cape Cod shores. “ Arsenal. ”
    Arsen cocked his head like something smelled bad. “I guess I didn't escape far enough.”
    “Why didn't you tell me?” Why did it always feel like he was hiding something from me?
    “Tell you what, exactly?” He turned to me. “Hey, Val, remember me? I spend my nights trying to beat another man half to death for money. How are you these days?” Then he looked away. “None of that shit really matters. Why should you care what I do?”
    He was right. Why should I care?
    Several long silent minutes slipped by. I had so many other questions. Where did you go? Why did you come back? But above all, only one has been burning in my mind every day like clockwork.
    Why did you leave me, Arsen?
    “I tried to hate you, you know. At first, right after you left. Then as the years passed, I just tried to forget you.”
    “How'd you do?”
    I chuckled defeated, then shrugged. The alcohol made all of this a little easier. “You're a hard man to forget.”
    Arsen paused for a moment, then looked hard into my eyes. “I knew,” he cleared his throat and continued. “I knew what our parents were going to