Read Online Man Up Stepbrother by Danielle Sibarium - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Danielle Sibarium
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runs a hand over my hair and nibbles on my earlobe, sending shivers through my body yet again. His mouth has me so distracted I forget I asked him a question. "When you walk into a room, the whole place lights up, like someone drew the blinds wide open and lets in the most brilliant, the most dazzling sunlight ever."
His arms pull me tighter against him. He's hugging me from behind, and my arms resting on top of his squeeze back. We spend a few minutes in warm, comfortable silence before he speaks again.
"I'm sorry, I have to ask. Why were you with such a narcissistic prick for so long?"
I wish he didn't bring Bailey up. My ex is my Achilles heel. He knew how to play me, how to manipulate me in ways no one else in my life did. He's my biggest embarrassment and greatest regret.
I wanted so bad to believe in him, in us, that I buried my head in the sand. I didn't want to see it at the time, but the moment he'd told me Talia was pregnant, I realized I’d known he'd been fucking her all along. I just couldn’t, or didn’t want to find physical proof to back up my suspicions.
I understand why Jagger asked. Seeing her bulging belly earlier in the night shouldn't have set me off, but it did. I wanted the storybook ending to my relationship with Bailey, and she ruined it. She stole it away for herself.
It doesn't matter that I never felt the unyielding passion for Bailey I've read about in books. It doesn't matter that he never felt the need to rip my clothes off the second we got home drunk from a party like I'd seen in movies and heard about firsthand from Lexi. Or that we never had a make-out session that set me ablaze the way the one with Jagger just did. I thought we worked.
"I wanted us to work."
We were friends and we loved each other. We were compatible. He knew all my secrets, and I thought I knew his. We wanted the same things in life, so it seemed, and understood we sometimes had to sacrifice time together to achieve them.
When Bailey couldn't come to Lexi's wedding because he had to go away for work that weekend, I didn't sweat it. When he occasionally didn't show up to special dinners that we planned because a client had a problem that needed his immediate attention, I didn't think twice. Even when we went a full month without having sex at the end, I let him convince me he was just physically exhausted from working so hard.
I'll admit I'd been tempted to stray, to test the waters with Jagger before I knew his mother was marrying my father and that Bailey knocked up that piece of trash that followed him around everywhere. There was a point where Bailey was so preoccupied I don't think he would've noticed. Not even if he came home and found Jagger passed out in our bed. That's how bad things had gotten.
By the time I realized what was right under my nose, it was too late.
Jagger and I were stepsiblings and Bailey had shattered me to bits.
"I thought he loved me." A tear slips out of the corner of my eye when I hear how ridiculous and weak I sound. Did I really let him humiliate me because I needed to feel loved? "Bet that's the most pathetic thing you ever heard."
"Hey, no tears over him," Jagger coos, kissing the top of my head.
"My tears aren't over him. They're over me. I didn't realize it until right now. I'm disappointed in myself that I needed to feel loved so badly I let him hurt me. I'm an idiot."
"C'mon, sunshine. Stop putting the blame on yourself. All you did was trust in the wrong person."
"Yeah." No big deal. Suddenly I wish Jagger's arms weren't around me. I don't think I'll ever let myself love or trust anyone again. Not the way I trusted Bailey. Jagger threatens that resolve. Hell, he threatens any resolve I have. I want to push him away, keep him at a distance, so I don't fall for him any further. As is, I'm already splattered on the pavement. I don't think there's anything left of me for Jagger to break.
"Hey, never doubt yourself. The right guy will appreciate how smart and
His arms pull me tighter against him. He's hugging me from behind, and my arms resting on top of his squeeze back. We spend a few minutes in warm, comfortable silence before he speaks again.
"I'm sorry, I have to ask. Why were you with such a narcissistic prick for so long?"
I wish he didn't bring Bailey up. My ex is my Achilles heel. He knew how to play me, how to manipulate me in ways no one else in my life did. He's my biggest embarrassment and greatest regret.
I wanted so bad to believe in him, in us, that I buried my head in the sand. I didn't want to see it at the time, but the moment he'd told me Talia was pregnant, I realized I’d known he'd been fucking her all along. I just couldn’t, or didn’t want to find physical proof to back up my suspicions.
I understand why Jagger asked. Seeing her bulging belly earlier in the night shouldn't have set me off, but it did. I wanted the storybook ending to my relationship with Bailey, and she ruined it. She stole it away for herself.
It doesn't matter that I never felt the unyielding passion for Bailey I've read about in books. It doesn't matter that he never felt the need to rip my clothes off the second we got home drunk from a party like I'd seen in movies and heard about firsthand from Lexi. Or that we never had a make-out session that set me ablaze the way the one with Jagger just did. I thought we worked.
"I wanted us to work."
We were friends and we loved each other. We were compatible. He knew all my secrets, and I thought I knew his. We wanted the same things in life, so it seemed, and understood we sometimes had to sacrifice time together to achieve them.
When Bailey couldn't come to Lexi's wedding because he had to go away for work that weekend, I didn't sweat it. When he occasionally didn't show up to special dinners that we planned because a client had a problem that needed his immediate attention, I didn't think twice. Even when we went a full month without having sex at the end, I let him convince me he was just physically exhausted from working so hard.
I'll admit I'd been tempted to stray, to test the waters with Jagger before I knew his mother was marrying my father and that Bailey knocked up that piece of trash that followed him around everywhere. There was a point where Bailey was so preoccupied I don't think he would've noticed. Not even if he came home and found Jagger passed out in our bed. That's how bad things had gotten.
By the time I realized what was right under my nose, it was too late.
Jagger and I were stepsiblings and Bailey had shattered me to bits.
"I thought he loved me." A tear slips out of the corner of my eye when I hear how ridiculous and weak I sound. Did I really let him humiliate me because I needed to feel loved? "Bet that's the most pathetic thing you ever heard."
"Hey, no tears over him," Jagger coos, kissing the top of my head.
"My tears aren't over him. They're over me. I didn't realize it until right now. I'm disappointed in myself that I needed to feel loved so badly I let him hurt me. I'm an idiot."
"C'mon, sunshine. Stop putting the blame on yourself. All you did was trust in the wrong person."
"Yeah." No big deal. Suddenly I wish Jagger's arms weren't around me. I don't think I'll ever let myself love or trust anyone again. Not the way I trusted Bailey. Jagger threatens that resolve. Hell, he threatens any resolve I have. I want to push him away, keep him at a distance, so I don't fall for him any further. As is, I'm already splattered on the pavement. I don't think there's anything left of me for Jagger to break.
"Hey, never doubt yourself. The right guy will appreciate how smart and
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