Read Online Stepbrother Soldier: A Forbidden Military Romance Novel by Emily Whittaker - Free Book Online Page B

happy, even
if we could never let him know why we
were so happy. These were the thoughts that finally lulled me to sleep.

 
    In the morning, birds were singing. Birds sang every morning, of
course, but this time I heard them and smiled. I felt even more sore than I had
the evening before, but it made me smile even wider to think of why I was so
sore. I bounced out of bed – yes, bounced, the way Ashton had accused me of
doing that time in the kitchen – and down the stairs.

 
    The house was quiet, the lights off. No one was in the kitchen, but
there were two coffee cups in the sink. I wandered out to the living room and
looked out the front window. Both the Admiral’s Mercedez and Ashton’s pick-up
truck were gone. My heart seemed to freeze as I realized what that meant. My
smile was wiped away in an instant. I rushed upstairs and into Ashton’s room,
not bothering to knock. It was bare. The weight-lifting equipment and computer
were gone, the mattress was gone, everything was gone.

 
    He didn’t even fucking say goodbye? I thought angrily; true, he was only in town,
which was a twenty minute drive, and I could see him
whenever I wanted, really, but I was mad that he hadn’t woken me up to tell me
and say goodbye.

 
    He just left in the wee hours of the morning, like someone on the run.
Irrational as it was, I felt like he was running away from me. I knew, in the logical part of my brain, that it was his father
he was trying to get away from, but part of me just couldn’t believe that it
had nothing to do with me.

 
    I spent most of the day pacing around the living room, trying to find
something on the TV that could distract me. I tried calling Ashton’s cell phone
a few times, but he never picked up. I sent him texts, too, which went
unanswered. If he was trying to avoid me, he was doing a splendid job.

 
    Frustrated and feeling ignored, I loafed about until it was dark. I
was waiting, mostly, for the Admiral to get home so I could at least ask him
about the apartment and about Ashton. I wouldn’t ask too many questions, of
course: after the day before, I was very aware that discretion would be of
utmost importance when dealing with the Admiral. Still, a few innocent
questions couldn’t be too revealing.

 
    It seemed like midnight before I heard the Admiral’s car pull up, but
it was really only about nine. Even before he got into the house, I had an idea
that he’d been drinking. I could tell by the way it seemed to take him forever
to get the key in the lock. I’d rarely seen the Admiral drunk. Almost never,
actually. The few times I had seen him drunk, he’d been pretty jolly and then
passed out.

 
    Now, as he finally managed to let himself in, I watched him sway and
stumble over the doorway. His eyes were glazed over as he scanned the room. I
don’t think he even realized I was there until he saw me the second time.

 
    “Hey, kiddo,” he slurred. Kiddo?
That’s weird, I thought. There were many things the Admiral and I did not
do: one of them was affectionate pet names.

 
    “Uh, hi,” I said, eyebrows raised. He looked like shit. Honestly, just
awful. I decided not to ask him any of the questions I really wanted to, even
though I knew him being drunk would probably actually be the best time to ask
him.

 
    “How are you,” he said, shambling across the room
and plopping down next to me on the couch.

 
    “I’m fine, Admiral. How was your day? Did you
help Ashton move?”

 
    “Yeah, he moved. And I forgot the pizza. We went to -hic- the
Statesman after,” the Admiral said, hiccupping in between his words.

 
    “It’s okay,” I said, getting up. “I’ll make you a sandwich. You should
eat something.” There was something sad and disappointing and sickening about
seeing the Admiral like that. I just had always seen him as so in control…

 
    “You’re –hic- you’re the best, Christy, you really –hic- are, really,
just like your mother,” the