Smash_ A Stepbrother MMA Romance(92)
“Clearly.”
“Don’t be so uptight, college girl,” Reid said.
“I’m not uptight.”
“Right. You practically walk around with a back brace on.”
“Aren’t you supposed to say that I have a stick up my ass?”
“I’d like to put something up your ass.”
I ignored that. “Just because I’m not an animal like you doesn’t mean I’m uptight or whatever.”
“Sure it does. You need to loosen up. I know exactly what would do it.”
“Okay, enlighten me.”
He leaned toward me. “A big fat orgasm. Preferably from my hard dick.”
I blushed and looked away. “You’re just proving my point.”
“I’d rather be an animal and getting laid than an uptight science dork.”
As I prepared my wittiest and most cutting retort, Lindsey appeared behind the counter.
“Hey, Climber,” she said.
“Linds. What’s up?”
“Nothing.” She looked at me. “You want to come outside? I’m on break for a bit.”
I nodded. “Absolutely.”
“See you around, Climber.”
“Sure,” he grunted, going back to his food.
I stood up and followed Lindsey outside where we sat down on the curb, our backs against the wall. I was feeling pretty grateful for her pulling me away from my conversation with Reid.
“Oh man, my feet are killing me,” she grumbled, pulling a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her pocket.
“I didn’t know you smoked.”
“Started two years ago. Helps with the stress.” She put one between her lips and lit it, breathing deep. “Want one?”
“No, thanks.”
We sat there for a second in silence as she took another deep drag.
“You and Climber close?” she asked.
“He’s my stepbrother.”
“Oh shit, that’s right. I always forget. What’s it like having him as a stepbrother?”
“I don’t know. It’s fine when he’s not being an asshole.”
She took another drag. “Must be nice though seeing him walking around the house without a shirt.”
It’s even better than you think
.
“We keep out of each other’s way,” I said.
“I bet. He’s a busy guy around here.”
I blinked. “What’s that mean?”
She grinned at me. “You know what I’m talking about.”
“No, I really don’t.”
Her face fell. “Oh. Never mind.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“Just the climbing. Shit like that.” She took another drag.
I looked at her sideways. “Yeah. I mean, he does climb a lot.”
“Anyway, how are things with you?” she asked quickly.
She was being weird, but I had no clue why. What was Reid up to?
“Things are good. I’m home for the summer.”
“You graduate?”
“Yeah, I sure did.”
“Congrats, Becca. That’s amazing.”
“What about you?”
“Oh, the usual. I work here and live over in the apartments with some girls.”
“You have your own place?”
“It’s not the Taj Mahal, but yeah.”
“That’s awesome.”
“Well, it’s mine along with two roommates.”
“Anyone I know?”
“Nah.” She took a drag of her cigarette.
“Still, that’s really cool.”
There was a short silence as we looked across the parking lot together. It was becoming really clear that a lot of time had passed between us. We hardly knew each other anymore. The simplest details about each other’s life were complete mysteries.
“Hey, so, there’s this cool party happening tomorrow night. You want to come?”
“Sure, why not.”
“Reid’ll be there. You can probably get a ride from him.”
I frowned. Great, that was exactly what I needed. Some party with my asshole stepbrother. My sexy as hell stepbrother. My animal stepbrother.
“Okay, cool. That sounds fun.”
“Awesome. Reid knows where.”
“You see him a lot?”
“Not really. I mean, our circles touch sometimes, but only once in a while. His people are a little . . .” she trailed off.
“A little what?”
“Rough. But you didn’t hear that from me, okay?”
I blinked. What did she mean, his people were “rough?” From what I remembered, Reid hung around with a bunch of nice guys. They were popular jocks, and all of them were dumb as bricks, but they were nice enough kids. Nobody got in trouble, least of all Reid.
Did something change? How was I just noticing it?