Read Online Redemption: A British Stepbrother Romance by Jessica Ashe - Free Book Online

of the press, and Oliver hadn’t told Maisie either judging by her reaction.
    Oliver having a son was going to make it so much harder to hate him. It had been hard enough not to look at him every ten seconds today, while he stood there in full view wearing those tight shorts and crossing his arms to reveal his toned biceps. Now I had to factor in that he was a father to a kid whose parents had died. Oliver wasn’t making it easy on me.
    Perhaps he really had changed? He’d only been eighteen when I last saw him. He was old enough to play for England, but still immature enough to take his mistakes out on me. But Oliver was twenty-six now and he looked every bit the grownup he hadn’t been before.
    “We should be going,” I said. “It’s hard enough driving on the wrong side of the road. I don’t want to be tired while I’m doing it.”
    “I can drive you to the hotel,” Oliver offered. “Or you can stay at my place.”
    Maisie looked at me excitedly. I didn’t need to be fully awake to figure out what she wanted to do and why, but I rejected the offer anyway.
    “My team’s playing at the weekend,” Oliver said, just as I was about to turn and head back to the car. “It’s a top of the table clash, so the game’s sold out, but I can get you VIP tickets if you want them.”
    “That’s really not—” I began, before Oliver interrupted.
    “You’ve already rejected dinner and a ride home. I do hope you’re not going to reject this offer as well. Maisie, tell your sister it’s rude to reject a polite invitation.”
    “Okay, okay,” I said quickly, not wanting Maisie on my case as well. “Thank you Oliver, we’d love to watch you play.”
    “Excellent. I’ll give you all the details tomorrow.”
    Oliver walked off and Maisie and I headed back to the car, although we both walked to the wrong door on the first attempt.
    “You’re in a weird mood,” Maisie said once the engine was running. “Why don’t you want to hang out with Oliver more?”
    Because I don’t trust myself around him, I thought. Because if I see him playing rugby there’s a good chance I will want to run onto the pitch and let him tackle me to the floor.
    “I’m just tired,” I replied. “It’s been a long day. And an eventful one at that.”
    “I know,” Maisie agreed. “I can’t believe Oliver adopted Shaun. Although, I guess it’s not that different to you and me.”
    “Of course it’s different.”
    “Not really,” Maisie insisted. “You look after me more than Mom for the most part. And you’re insanely protective of me, because you still blame yourself for the attack.”
    “You’re making me feel really old right now.”
    “Well, you act it sometimes. You need to chill out a bit.”
    “I agreed to go to Oliver’s rugby game,” I said. “I’ll be better once I’ve gotten over the jet lag.”
    “You don’t need to watch me play all day either. I noticed Oliver is finished with his work just after lunch. Why don’t the two of you hang out and do fun things instead of just watching me training?”
    I wanted nothing more than to spend the afternoon doing “fun things” with Oliver, but that couldn’t happen. I used to hang out with him all the time eight years ago, and that ended in my heartbreak. I couldn’t go through all that again.
    The summer would be over before I knew it, and then I’d be back in Virginia working two jobs and volunteering at the center, while Oliver made millions playing rugby.
    Oliver might have changed, but perhaps the problem was with me. I hadn’t changed. I’d never moved on from what happened eight years ago. How could I when I was reminded of it every time I looked at my sister?
    I’d have to move past it. I couldn’t spend the entire summer avoiding Oliver, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. He looked every bit as delicious as he had eight years ago, and now he might not be a complete asshole. That made him the perfect package, except for one