Stepbrother WHOA! (The Stepbrother Romance Series #5) by Claire Adams Read Free Book Online Page B

or I give a
single fuck about it.” I took a deep breath. My hands were shaking, but I
didn’t want to show a single sign of how emotional I was about the whole thing.
“By the way—if you really have such a problem with us seeing each other, it
might have been a decent idea to make sure we knew the two of you were
seriously dating when it happened, instead of presenting us to each other as
step-brother and step-sister long after we’d already met and hooked up. What
kind of adult pulls that shit? You guys were dating what—a couple of months
when you got married? Are you kidding me that it never occurred to either of
you that with kids going to the same college, they might have already met?” Mom
put her silverware down and looked at her plate, biting her bottom lip and
looking thoroughly humiliated; but the thing that was strongest in my mind was
getting back at Bob for everything he’d said to both Jaxon and me.
    “I’d also like to point out that really, from what
I’ve seen, you’re a miserable damned father. Jaxon would honestly be better off
poor and on the streets than living with a guy who thinks it’s so much fun to
tear him down constantly. I can’t even imagine how much he hates you—I’m ready
to hate you and I’ve only known you a couple of months!” I took a deep, shaking
breath. “If I were in his position I’d be in jail for killing your ass by now,
and I don’t know why he isn’t.” Bob’s eyes widened as he stared up at me. I
shook my head.
    “Look, you asshole. All you do is make your son
miserable and humiliate him in public and around people who care about him.
From what I can see, even with all the shit he was involved in as a teenager,
Jaxon is at least a million times better as a person than you could ever hope
to be. As far as I’m concerned, if you and Mom got divorced tomorrow she would
have wasted far too much time with you because you’re a miserable fucking human
being who deserves to die alone. How about instead of insulting and humiliating
people you’re supposed to love and care about, you grow a damned heart or maybe
even a soul and actually—oh, I don’t know—give a damn about them?” I took a
deep breath and exhaled. Abruptly I had nothing more to say at all; every last
bit of my pent-up rage towards Bob was spent.
    I realized that everything around me had gone
completely and totally silent. Where only the people at the tables nearby had
been able to hear Bob’s remarks about how terrible Jaxon and I both were, how
disgusting it was for us to date, it seemed as though everything in the
restaurant had come to a screeching halt sometime during my tirade. I felt the
blood flood into my face. I glanced at my mom; she was still staring down at
her plate, but the look on her face was a mixture of hurt and humiliation,
rather than just embarrassment. Bob was still staring up at me in shock, his
eyes wide, and his mouth slightly open.
    I felt exhausted and completely humiliated. I
couldn’t stay in the restaurant for a single moment longer. I took a deep
breath and swallowed against the tightness I felt in my throat. It seemed like
every last person in the restaurant was staring at me; there was no way I could
sit down and have dessert, or pretend like nothing had happened. There was also
no way that I was going to give Bob even a momentary opening to react to what I
had just said—I could only imagine what he would be like if I showed even the
slightest sign of backing down. I picked up my purse and looked at Mom again.
“I’ll call you later, Mom. Have a safe trip home.”
    I walked to the door, and as I opened it to go out,
the restaurant seemed to come to life behind me; everyone was suddenly keenly
interested in pretending like nothing had happened at all. I shook my head as I
walked out of the door. Fuck, I
thought, stepping into the cold with the realization that Bob and Mom had been
my ride. How the hell am I going to get
back to campus?
    Luckily for