Stepbrother Anonymous(13)

He swept the air from my lungs as he eased slowly into the parking lot, which was already filling up with rows of cars.

“I don’t think we can.”

“We can do anything, precious. Life is ours for the taking.”

“You say that like it’s so simple, so easy.”

“It is when you know something is right. I’m a guy who lives by his instincts. If it doesn't feel right, I don’t do it. But this…” His palm tightened at my knee. “Everything about you feels right.”

“What, are you going to move up here? I just can't up and leave everything—”

“I would, for you.” The bike pulled to a slow stop, his eyes hovering over mine as we shared a thousand unspoken words.

“I can’t ask that of you. I’m sorry, Hudson, but I think we just chalk this up to—”

“What? To a one-night stand? To a fling? I told you, it was never that for me, and it’s the furthest thing from it now. I love you, Sky, and I can’t just turn that off.”

“I know, I know, I…” My heart nearly cracked open. “I love you too, but—”

“But shit.” His face hardened, and he pulled me from the bike, setting me on my feet and straightening my dress for me. “The big moment’s about to start. We should get in there.” He was effectively shutting me down. I’d hurt him. Somehow, I’d hurt this strong, stubborn, maddening man. What had my life become?

We walked side by side, Hudson’s hand noticeably absent from my own as we walked into the garden my father and Hudson’s mother had chosen to be married in. We trekked down the aisle, splitting when the usher escorted me to the groom’s side, Hudson to the bride’s side.

A thousand pounds of cement crashed down on my chest then, making it hard to breathe as I settled in my seat and tried to focus on the next few minutes. I swiped at the screen of my phone, fighting the tears from my eyes as I sat still, waiting for this goddamn wedding to start so that it would be over and I could get the hell out of here.

My phone vibrated with a message, an unknown number popping up on my screen.

“Weddings are for happy tears, not sad ones.”

I smiled, sniffing before I typed back. “Are you just staring at me from over there?”

“You're the most beautiful girl in the room, how could I not?” Came his instant reply.

Fingers of love unfurled in my stomach as I wished he were sitting right beside me now. To hell with what anyone else thought; he made me feel better, and that’s all that mattered.

“You’re a charmer.”

“So that explains why your stepbrother found his way into your pants this weekend. ;)”

I nearly choked on my tongue with his last text. I shot a glare over the crowd at him, and he shrugged, that cocky grin deepening on his face.

“I don’t know if I hate you or love you.”

“Acting like stepsiblings already.”

“Hudson!” I typed out fiercely, my heart thundering as an amused grin finally spread its way across my face.

“What? Made you smile, didn’t I?”

I turned, sending him one long look before his grin cracked open and he chuckled loudly. A few of the people sitting around him cast him a glance before he shrugged and waggled his eyebrows at me.

God, I loved that man.

Damn me to hell if it was wrong, but the way he lit me up could not be denied.

The music started then, and I made a point of tucking my phone into my purse so he knew I was onto his games and he couldn’t fuck with me through the whole ceremony. Even if the ceremony would be a whole lot more interesting if he did.

My father made his way down the aisle, pausing to wink once at me before stopping at the altar. He was such a sweet old guy, and when my mom had up and left him for another man when I was three, he hadn’t batted an eye, only went on raising me the best he knew how. He even jumped into a half-assed marriage with a woman when I was a teenager under his sweet but misguided assumption that I needed a mother figure. I think she and I fought more than the two of them did. Thankfully, that marriage didn't last long; within six months she was talking to a divorce lawyer. It was good to have my dad back, and it wasn't long after that he began grooming me to run his accounting business alongside him, and I liked it. And while maybe it wasn’t my dream job, it kept me happy and kept a roof over my head, so I was thankful for all the things he’d given me.

I didn’t know anything about Hudson’s mom, but if she raised a son like Hudson, then I had to have hope she was a good woman who would be there for my dad. If Hudson had gotten any of his loyalty and protectiveness from his mom, then I had a feeling my dad would be A-OK.