Good Stepbrother (Love #2) by Scarlett Jade, Intuition Author Services Read Free Book Online

anything else.
    He left the house minutes later, the door slamming in his wake. I showered and curled up on my bed. Shit. I can’t control myself . Any attention was better than none at all.
    ***
    I floated through most of my ninth grade year in a haze. Part of the haze was the constant supply of E that I scored from my new buddy Peter. My mother was marrying Carter’s dad, it would happen by summer, and I just didn’t want to think about it. So I didn’t.
    “Bri, should you be taking them all the time?” Britney worried as I popped another pill to get me through the rest of the day.
    “Shut up,” I snapped back, swallowing it down with a handful of water from the bathroom sink. “I’m fine, I can quit anytime I want to.” I fluffed my hair and applied my favorite bubblegum scented lip gloss.
    “I’m worried about you,” she started again, touching my arm.
    I shrugged her off. “Don’t worry about me, I’m just fine.” I smiled brightly. “See?”
    “I see,” she said softly, shaking her head. “As long as you’re sure.”
    I straightened my skirt and blew the mirror a kiss as I gathered my things to go to class. “I’m positive, babe.”
    Whispers circled through the lunch room later that Carter Travis and Gabby Denver were going on a date later that night. It bothered me, and I wasn’t sure why. I should’ve been happy that he had found a girl like him to date. But it burned me up inside. I wanted to be his one and only but not at the same time.
    “Find out what you can about this date,” I hissed to Jennifer, who pulled out her cell phone and went to work trying to dig up details. I took a bite of my licorice and chewed slowly as I watched him. I would just ruin his date…
    “They’re having pizza tonight, apparently,” she whispered, showing me texts from girls in our class.
    I pursed my lips. “Oh, really?”
    “What are you gonna do?” Britney squealed in excitement.
    “I’m gonna take him down a peg or two.”
    They giggled and I focused in on my target. If Carter Travis thought he could move on from me, he was crazy.
    Later that night, he showed up from the garage, where he’d been working for months now. I had to admit, he’d bulked up some over the summer and he didn’t look half bad in a tank top and low slung greasy pants. His hair was getting shaggy again and I wanted to mess it up. A knock came at the door not long after he walked in and he opened it. His best friend Kirby, this large, oversized leprechaun, stood on the step.
    “What are you doing here?” he asked him, taking a long drink from his water bottle.
    “Uh, hello, we have a date tonight,” Kirby sighed.
    I snickered, “Going gay?” as I walked past him down the hallway.
    “Buzz off, Barbie,” Kirby snapped. I flipped him off and he yelled, “You wish!” He turned to Carter. “You look like a grease monkey.”
    “I am a grease monkey.” Carter laughed.
    “Go get a shower. We are supposed to meet them at the pizza parlor in twenty minutes! It’ll take us fifteen to walk there.”
    “Don’t worry,” Charlie interjected, “I’ll drive you boys. I’m glad you have a date, Carter.”
    “Okay, let me get a shower.” He ran upstairs and I could hear the shower running while I stewed on the couch. It burned me up that he was going out with her. She was a nobody, and she freaking chewed the ends of her braids! Gross. What a loser! I decided then and there I would ruin the date. He came back downstairs a few minutes later and my mouth went dry. He looked…hot.
    “Do I look okay?” he asked Kirby.
    “You look like a loser,” I quipped, and Carter narrowed his eyes.
    “Takes one to know one.”
    “Ouch, you do bite,” I smirked, gripping my chest like he’d wounded me. I ran upstairs as fast as I could go, pulling my phone out of my pants as I ran. I dialed Peter’s number. “Hey Peter, baby, feel like giving me a ride into town?”
    He happily agreed. After all, I was amazing and he knew