Read Online Stepbrother Bastard by Colleen Masters - Free Book Online Page A

that the plan when you left this
morning? ”
    I
bite my lip, willing myself not to start crying again. The only reason I left
without saying goodbye, was that I didn ’ t
want to get my hopes up of something more with Cash. I didn ’ t
want to ruin what happened between us by making an ass of myself the next
morning. But would you look at that? I seem to have done it anyway.
    “ I ’ m
really sorry, Cash, ” I say imploringly, “ Please,
let me explain. I don ’ t want you to hate me —”
    “ Maddie,
for the love of Christ, don ’ t turn this into a
fucking soap opera. I don ’ t hate you, ” he snaps, exasperated, “ I
told you. I don ’ t care. Just drop it, OK? ”
    I
hold my tongue, trying to see past the steely mask of indifference he ’ s
wearing. We may not know each other very well, but this isn ’ t
the man I spent all of last night with. He ’ s
icing me out. He thinks I bailed this morning because I wasn ’ t
into it, and he doesn ’ t want to look bad. What
we have here, as the movies say, is a big ol ’ failure to communicate.
But something tells me that communication isn ’ t
going to be Cash Hawthorne ’ s strong suit.
    “ Goddammit,
Cash! ” John roars from the
kitchen doorway. I spin around to see him towering above us on the patio, fists
clenched.
    “ Hey
Pop, ” Cash nods, producing a
pack of cigarettes from his back pocket.
    “ Don ’ t ‘ hey
Pop ’ me, ” John growls, “ What
the hell did you do to my fucking lawn? ”
    Cash
glances back at the semicircular skid marks the ATV cut through the grass. “ Oh
yeah. You ’ re right, ” he says, lighting up a
smoke. I try not to fixate on his lips as they cradle his fresh cigarette.
    “ Fix
it, ” John snaps, “ And
put that fucking thing out. That habit will kill you one day. ”
    “ What? ” Cash replies, feigning
amazement, “ Smoking is bad for you?! ”
    “ Maddie, ” John says to me, forcing
a deep breath into his lungs, “ I can ’ t
slug him without having to foot the bill for a decade of therapy. You do it for
me, OK? ”
    “ Little
late for that, ” Cash
mutters under his breath, taking a long drag on his cigarette.
    For
a second, John fixes a look of pure rage on his oldest son. My body goes stiff
with apprehension, and I halfway expect John to launch himself off the patio
and right at Cash’s form. But thankfully, the eldest Hawthorne manages to take
a breath, turns on his heel, and marches away. Before I can say another word,
Cash hops back on the ATV and races in the other direction, toward the garage — cigarette
still held between his lips. I, for my part, stand rooted to the ground,
looking plaintively after him as he goes.
    “ Well, ” I mutter, eyeing the deep
tire ruts left in the fresh-cut grass, “ It
wouldn ’ t
be a Porter family vacation if it wasn ’ t
totally fucked. ”
     
    I
spend the rest of the evening intently chopping up vegetables and herbs for
dinner, trying my damnedest to get a hold of my runaway mind. Of all the men in
the world, I had to have my first one night stand — and
best sex of my life, I may add — with the son of my mom ’ s
new “ man
friend ” ?
What are the chances, even — a bajillion to one? Now,
I get to spend the next two weeks under Cash ’ s
withering gaze, pretending it doesn ’ t
hurt like hell that he ’ s acting like we ’ re
strangers. I know we only got to spend one night together, but he doesn ’ t
feel like a stranger to me. I felt more connected to and engaged with him than
I have with anyone in years. That can ’ t
just mean nothing, can it?
    Maybe
if I ’ d
just told him all that, instead of leaving him a note like an asshole, we
wouldn ’ t
be in this predicament. Of course, there ’ s
the whole weirdness of our parents maybe being an item, but I honestly don ’ t
buy that my mom can stay interested in this new guy for more than a couple
weeks. Tops. By the time we ’ re ready to hit the road,
she ’ ll
have moved onto