Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23355 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23355 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
What in the hell is happening?
Adam, for his part, looks just as stunned as I feel. His mouth opens slightly, then shuts.
“But I can handle it,” I protest quickly, my voice shaky as I try to fight the rising panic inside me. “I don’t need someone to babysit me. I’m perfectly fine on my own.”
Mom shakes her head, blond bob flying. “Laurie, it’s for your safety.”
“Mom, please. I’ve lived on my own for years at this point.”
“This is the best option, sweetheart,” my mom says, her voice soft and understanding, but there’s no room for argument in her tone.
A million arguments form in my head, but they die in my throat before I can speak them. When Mom has made up her mind, there is no changing it, especially in the middle of a dinner party. I need to count my losses and maybe try again later.
Adam, who is still silent, clearly isn’t going to help us escape this personal hell. So I guess that leaves it up to me.
I take a deep breath, trying to steady my shaking hands. “Okay,” I whisper, though it feels like the word is getting caught in my throat like I’m choking on it. “Okay.”
Adam doesn’t say anything. He just nods slowly, his jaw tight, his expression unreadable.
And in that moment, I realize that the next year is going to be nothing like what I expected.
2
ADAM
I should have known that my night was about to be fucked as soon as I saw Laurie descend those stairs. I’m a perceptive man most of the time, but for some damn reason, whenever Laurie is around, my brain stops functioning correctly.
Seeing her here, unprepared, was bad enough. But then my fucking Dad and his new wife, Melanie, informed us that she wasn’t just an inconvenient attendee of the dinner party. She’s Melanie’s daughter.
My fucking stepsister.
Now I’m positive I’m in hell.
My words failed me completely at the news, but luckily Laurie kept her composure enough that Dad and Melanie didn’t catch on that we knew each other already. There wasn’t any real reprieve, though, because after the second bombshell that we’d be living together for a year, it was time for dinner. And of course, Laurie was seated directly across from me.
She’s beautiful, of course, looking every bit the woman I remembered—only more polished, more alluring. She’s wearing a dark blue dress that clings to her tits, hips, and ass so well that I have to force myself not to ogle her. Her hair is loosely waved, and she looks so effortlessly put together that it’s hard to believe we were both just given the biggest shock of our lives.
Then there’s the fact that no matter where we are, no matter what bullshit titles her mom and my dad put on us, everything in me wants to reach across the table, grab her wrist, pull her close, and kiss the hell out of her.
That knowledge is eating me alive.
But Laurie, it seems, is just fine. She gives me a polite, friendly smile as the staff sets our plates down, and she barely even stutters over her words as the conversation goes on.
As the main course gets served, Dad clears his throat.
"So, Laurie," he begins, and she stiffens. "Tell us, what's new?"
"Not much, I'm afraid," she admits. "I decided to take a break and move home."
Her eyes flick over to me, then back to my father, who's nodding as he cuts into his steak. "I remember hearing about that, of course. Your mother was a little sad, I think, about how it didn't work out. What happened, exactly? If you don't mind my asking."
"No, I don't mind. And, well, the truth is that the job market in the fashion industry is brutal, and I simply didn't make the cut."
At first, I'm impressed by her no-nonsense honesty, but when I consider her words again, I frown. Fashion industry? I’d already come to the conclusion that Laurie wasn’t a damn bartender like she told me in the past. So she works in fashion, huh? Looking at her, it makes perfect sense.
"Oh, no. What a shame," my father murmurs.
"That's all right. I'll find a way," Laurie says, lifting her glass in a toast.
"That's a positive way to look at things. Very impressive, young lady." Dad smiles and turns to his wife. "You've raised a strong woman here, Mel."
"Thank you, honey. Though she was always a headstrong little thing." She glances over at Laurie with a fond smile, and Laurie just laughs, but she still can't quite hide the tightness in her expression.
By the time dessert is being brought out, I take a single bite of the crepe cake and excuse myself. I'm desperate to get some air, desperate to be done with the charade of being strangers that Laurie and I are forced to subject ourselves to.