Bad Boy: A Stepbrother Romance(26)

The new normal was the old normal—working days in the hotel, nights in Helvetica…except now I’d get to see Rory and her family occasionally, giving me apprehensive smiles whenever we ran into one another in the hotel.

I tried to steer clear of Rory as much as possible. Not because I wanted to, fuck no, but because I figured she wanted me to stay away. She didn’t make any attempt to approach me or hang out, so I stayed out of her way and purposefully tried not to bother her. She’d had enough of my teasing, and even though it was even harder to stay away after the kiss, I made myself keep my distance.

Tonight, I was getting ready for a rager of a party. My friend Brian was having his bachelor’s extravaganza in my suite, and I was actually looking forward to it. Maybe some booze and strippers were all it would take for me to start acting like the old Finn Grayson again.

Still, I figured I should let Rory know that there’d be some commotion on her floor…at least that’s what I told myself as an excuse to go to her room. We hadn’t spoken in a week now, and the tension between us had been sky high the last time we were forced to have dinner together with the family. I also had a nagging feeling that her abuelita was on to us. Nothing seemed to get past that firecracker of a lady.#p#分页标题#e#

I shut the door of my room and strode down the hallway to Rory’s. My heartbeat had sped up for some reason, and I felt like a goddamn teenager, like most of the time when I was around her.

I was about to knock on her door and get it over with when I heard soft laughter coming from the other side of the door. My hand formed a fist and I waited. Did Rory have a guy in there with her? Jealousy streaked through my veins, making me tense and nervous. She couldn’t possibly turn me down and then bring some jackass to her room, right under my fucking nose, all within the space of a week.

Could she?

I stopped feeling like a horny teenage boy and launched into full-on thirteen-year-old-mean-girl territory by leaning against the door and eavesdropping. The sounds coming through the thick door were muffled, but I could just about make out what she was saying.

“I know, it was really funny,” she said, laughing softly. There was a long pause before she spoke up again, and I knitted my eyebrows together, trying to figure out who the hell she was talking to.

“Yes, Britney Spears! He’s a horrible, horrible singer, Dana. Seriously, I thought I would die laughing. So funny.”

Her sparkling laughter followed as I realized a few things.

One—she was talking on the phone to one of her girlfriends as opposed to the imaginary hunk I’d wanted to drag out of her room by his hair.

Two—she was talking about me. She was describing what had happened in the elevator to a chick called Dana, and apparently, she thought I was funny.

I realized I was smiling like a fool a moment later, so I quietly cleared my throat and tried to stay grounded. I listened for more, desperate to hear the thoughts which Rory would never tell me willingly.

“Yes, I know I’ve told you a million times.” She giggled in embarrassment, which only made my grin grow wider. “Oh my god, Dana, stop! He’s my stepbrother now, remember? Of course I wouldn’t!”

Was it just me or was her voice a little too shaky with nerves? So she had thought about me in that way, as much as she was trying to deny it. Little minx.

“Dana!” she gasped. “Don’t be so horrible! I would never, ever, ever, ever do that...no, you don’t get it. I could never sleep with him.”

Sure, I mouthed against the door. We’ll see.

“Stop calling me a social goblin! I know I need to go on more dates. And no, I will not take any more blind dates from you. We all know how that ended last time.”

Quite well, in my humble opinion.

“Don’t you dare! I am not going to a sex shop with you!”

Oh? Things had taken an interesting turn.

“I do not need a vibrator, Dana.”

Pause.

“No, not a butt plug either! Jesus, will you let it go?”

She was angry and giggling at the same time, and the whole thing was making me grin like a fool. I only felt a little bit bad for invading her privacy, mainly because I was learning some fascinating stuff about my sweet, innocent stepsister.

“Oh, okay. I’ll see you later for drinks anyway, right?” she said a moment later before pausing for a few seconds. “Yeah, I know you can only stay till eight, it’s cool.”

Another pause, which I used to back away a little, scared she’d exit her room at any moment and bust me eavesdropping the same way I’d busted her the other week. She said goodbye to her friend, and then nothing happened for a couple of minutes until I heard her speak up again.