Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 23745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Blake, on the other hand, looks more like he’d be at home out on a farm or working as a lumberjack. And that’s way more attractive to me. In fact, the moment he walked into the kitchen and I set my eyes on him, I felt something hit me.
I guess after spending four years with high school boys, I felt like I was staring at a real man for the first time.
I hear the sound of footsteps behind me as I’m scrubbing at the salad bowl with a sponge and turn to see Blake come into the kitchen. He leans against the doorjamb and crosses his arms. “My dad make you do the dishes?”
“I volunteered,” I reply. “He cooked, you painted my room. I’ve gotta do something, right?”
Blake nods in a way that I can’t quite interpret, then tilts his head to the side.
“That’s nice of you. Are you one of those nice girls, Luna?”
Oh boy. Where is this going? I finish the salad bowl and set it in the dish strainer, then turn back to him.
“I dunno.” I shrug. “No one’s ever asked me that before. Is that something you ask every girl you meet?”
Blake chuckles. “No, not really.”
“So I’m just special then?”
“Well, yeah,” Blake replies. “You’re my new step-sister. I’ve got to get to know you. You could be one of those crazy chicks.”
I smile broadly. “Yeah, but aren’t crazy chicks the most fun?”
Blake purses his lips. I can tell he’s doing his best to hide a smile. Eventually he shrugs and kicks his foot, moving away from the door.
“Yeah, but only if you’re dating them, which given our status as step-brother and step-sister, we can’t be doing.”
Is he teasing? I can’t tell. Either way, there’s only one way I can respond anyway. “True.” I nod. “Very true.”
Blake nods as well, and then one of those uncomfortable silences settles over the room. One of those moments where neither of us really knows what to say, and we both just sort of look at each other.
I can feel the heat begin in my fingertips, then continue up my arms, warming the rest of my body until it settles in my stomach. I’m praying the entire time that I don’t blush. That would be a nightmare in a moment like this. I have to keep it together. We’ve only just met. Now is not the time to be falling to pieces.
“Well, I’m going to head up to my room,” Blake finally says, lifting some of the tension from the moment. “Congratulations, by the way.”
“Congratulations?” I ask. “On what?”
“On graduating.” He smiles. “Doesn’t it feel so nice to finally be out of high school?”
“Oh,” I laugh. “It sure does. If I have to deal with any more high school boys, I think I’ll shoot myself.”
Blake chuckles and gestures to himself with both hands. “Well, no high school boys in this house, so don’t you worry.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“I set you up on the pull-out couch in the living room,” he continues. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Yeah, for you to not pull out, the terribly filthy thought just jumps into my mind as I watch him turn and walk from the room.
Christ, I don’t ever think dirty things like that, and now I’ve just barely even met Blake and my internal monologue has turned into something out of a porn movie? What is happening to me?
I turn and dry my hands on the dish towel and head into the living room to find blankets and pillows all laid out for me on the couch, which has been pulled out into a bed just like Blake said. It hasn’t been made yet, though, so I change into my nighttime shorts and a tank-top and get to work on that, the whole time unable to ignore the fact that there’s a gorgeous man just one floor above me.
He was so much nicer than I expected too.
When my mom told me she was getting re-married and that we’d be moving in with her new husband, I was more than skeptical; I was terrified.
I’d met Carson before, and he was nice enough, but you never know. A guy might just be pretending to be nice around his new girlfriend’s daughter so he can sucker her into marrying him, and then end up turning into a complete dickhead later on.
And then the whole step-brother thing…
The son of a real estate broker? What could sound more privileged and jerkish than that? I was expecting Blake to be a total spoiled asshole. But so far, he’s completely subverted all my expectations. And maybe that’s why more and more dirty thoughts keep entering my mind as I make the bed...
I’m replaying that moment we shared in the kitchen as I’m tucking in the blanket, and that’s when it happens–