Stepbrother Broken (The Hawthorne Brothers Book 2) by Colleen Masters Read Free Book Online Page A

Coming in here with their
hipster-ass skinny jeans and their big ideas, shoving their pervert ways down
our throats. They need to go . ”
    “ No, Thompson, ” Luke growls, his voice low and deadly, “ You ’ re the one who needs to go. ”
    “ Fuck you, Hawthorne, ” the man spits, “ What are you, one of them now? ”
    “ I ’ d
rather be one of them than one of you any day, ” Luke
replies, shoving the man away with his foot. “ Now,
are you gonna walk out of here on your own? ”
    “ I don ’ t
think I will, ” the bald man says, puffing out his
chest as he pulls himself to standing.
    “ Suit yourself, ” Luke shrugs.
    I
jump back as he lunges across the circle and grabs our aggressor by the scruff
of his neck. Instead of rushing to the skinhead ’ s
defense, the men around us clear a path the door, cheering Luke on. I guess
they don ’ t really care who ’ s getting beat up, as long as there ’ s a fight to watch. Someone wrenches open the front
door, letting in a burst of warm night air. Without a word, Luke drop kicks
Thompson over the threshold. A round of applause and raucous hollering goes up
around Luke as he slams the door behind that asshole, brushing off his firm,
capable hands.
    “ Well shit, ” Danny murmurs behind me, and Luke makes his way toward
us, “ Looks like you caught yourself a
keeper, Sophie Porter. ”
    “ Luke …” I
breathe, as he stops before us, “ I … I
don ’ t know what to say. ”
    “ I do, ” Danny
cuts in, “ Thank you, man. ”
    “ Of course, ” Luke shrugs, “ Just keeping the trash out as best
I can. I like this place too much to see it overrun with idiots. ”
    “ I ’ m
so sorry this happened Danny, ” I tell my friend, lacing my
fingers through his.
    “ It ’ s
OK. I ’ m all right, ” he assures me, “ I ’ d
just … I ’ d
like to get out of here now. ”
    “ Of course, ” I reply, squeezing his hand, “ Let ’ s call a cab. ”
    “ I could drive you, ” Luke offers, nodding toward the door, “ My car ’ s out front. ”
    “ No, it ’ s OK, ” I tell him, not wanting to
impose. “ I think you ’ ve done enough for us tonight. ”
    His
brow furrows as he looks at me, the expression on his sculpted face totally
unreadable.
    “ Whatever you say, ” he says evenly, tucking his hands into the pockets of
his jeans.
    Between
our mind-scrambling make out session and the jarring conflict with that
asshole, I ’ m feeling totally disoriented. Part
of me wants desperately to stay here and see what happens with Luke, but the
rest of me is way too unsettled by what just happened to see this night
through. I ’ m sure that if Luke wants to see me
again after tonight, he ’ ll let me know. But for right now,
I just need to get out of here and get Danny to safety. I owe him that.
    “ Cab ’ s
on its way, ” Danny murmurs, after pressing a few
keys on his smart phone. “ I should find Greg and say goodbye. ”
    He
holds out his hand to Luke, who gives it a firm shake. Without another word,
Danny moves off into the crowd in search of his friend. I cross my arms tightly
across my chest, my eyes glued to the floor as I stand awkwardly beside Luke.
Just a couple of hours ago, he was just my handsome, arrogant teacher, all
ironed shirts and unwarranted advice. I knew how to handle myself around him.
But the Luke I met tonight — the man who knew how to turn me on
with a single touch, who was ready to jump to a total stranger ’ s defense because it was the right thing to do — he ’ s unlike anyone I ’ ve ever met. And suddenly, I feel like I ’ ve forgotten all my lines in the middle of a scene.
    “ You ’ re
quiet all of a sudden, ” Luke observes, laying a hand
on my arm.
    “ Just a little rattled I guess, ” I manage, keeping my eyes averted.
    He
withdraws his hand, staring at me with that same indiscernible look.
    “ That ’ s
fair, ” he nods, looking away from me.
    I
bite my lip, feeling as though I ’ ve said