Stepbrother Inked(57)

       
           



       

Addi exhaled and shook her hands out, like the words had physically  pained her. She wasn't big on speeches and even less so on 'mushy,  heartfelt crap', but she was here and she supported me, so I considered  myself lucky.

My dad didn't look impressed.

"I appreciate the fact that you want to support your friend, Addison,  but I'm sorry. A few well chosen words aren't going to change my mind on  the matter." He paused when his phone rang and frowned at the caller ID  before answering. "Art Sharp speaking."

I watched the change in his face, watched it morph from bad to worse.

His stricken expression made me feel dizzy. What now? As if the situation wasn't bad enough already.

That big thing, that huge one, that I needed to make him see, it had just happened.

Too bad it was impossible for me to be happy about it.





I found Flor waiting in the parking lot of the hospital, sitting on the  hood of the silver Mazda he'd had since he was eighteen. His arms were  crossed tight over his chest, but it was hard for me to appreciate them  given the circumstances. When he glanced up at me, I looked down,  staring into the blue eyes of the vampire girl on his right forearm; it  was easier to stare at her than to try and decipher the expression on  his face.

"She won't see me?" he asked, and I shook my head. My stepmom, always  slender and chic and put together, had been a wreck, lying in that  hospital bed with a faraway look that made it easy to forgive her for  the things she'd said about me earlier today. This is not just Florian's  fault. Maybe your daughter seduced him? Did you ever think of that? The  family fight of the century felt like it'd taken place weeks ago, not  hours.

"She started to cry when I went in," I said, trying not to feel hurt by  her rejection. I swallowed hard against the emotions. Today had been so  full of angst and frustration and yes, an overwhelming sense of love for  Florian. He hadn't backed down, not even against his mother or the wild  flying fists of my father. He'd declared his love for me blatantly and  without apology. I would've smiled, but the situation didn't really  allow for it. The air was humid and heavy, yet somehow it was still  freezing cold outside. I guess winter really was on its way. "My dad  literally told me to get the fuck out."

My head snapped up as Flor's boots scraped across the pavement and he  came over to stand next to me, putting his hands on my upper arms. I  shivered at the sudden rush of warmth and finally gathered the courage  to look up into those beautiful eyes of his. They had this oh so subtle  slant to them that made me wonder where Flor's father had been from. He  definitely hadn't gotten those from Gram Gram's Germanic heritage.

"No more little sister?" he asked softly and this time, I knew he wasn't talking about me.

I shook my head.

"No more little sister," I said, wondering if he'd be angry with me.  River's miscarriage was not our fault. I knew that because I'd been  standing there when the doctor said it, when he'd assured my dad that  the stress of today wasn't to blame. According to him, women over forty  have a one in two chance of late term miscarriage. Unfortunately, my dad  didn't seem to see it that way. When he'd told me to leave, his voice  laced with heartache, I'd seen it in his eyes. I was terrified of seeing  that same look in Flor's.

I watched him closely as he brushed a loose strand of hair over my  shoulder. In those emerald eyes, I saw guilt and frustration and maybe a  little bit of shame, but I didn't see anger. He doesn't blame me. I  licked my lips nervously.

"Flor, I'm sorry," I said, but he was already shaking his head,  bracketing my face between his warm hands. His scent washed over me,  mixing with the damp smell of rain and storm that was clinging to the  air around us. Flor leaned down and looked me straight in the face.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Abi." I tried to nod, but Flor held  me firmly in place. "Abigail, don't. Don't blame yourself for what  happened today." Flor sighed and released me, running his hands down my  upper arms, just like he'd done that night three years ago, outside of a  party I never should've been at. "Even if my mom hadn't found us out,  she still would've lost the baby, and this fight would've happened  anyway, down the line somewhere."

"I know," I said, leaning into him, relishing the warmth of Flor's body,  "but the hope is gone, Flor. My dad will never forgive me for this.  Never."

"If your dad's too stubborn to realize that this wasn't our fault, that  you're so worth loving even my presence shouldn't be able to diminish  his affections for you, then he's an idiot." Flor touched my chin and  made me look at him again. "And Abi, now that we're together, you have  to know, the hope  …  it's always there."                       
       
           



       

Flor pressed his lips to mine, softly, sweetly, gently.

He was right, of course, but only time would tell if my father could see it that way.



I squinted at the test tube in front of me, filled with wheat germ, warm  water, and dish soap. The top layer was entirely alcohol, drawing up  little white strands of DNA that were supposed to be put on a slide and  inserted into the microscope at my elbow. Don't ask what wheat germ DNA  has to do with forensic science; it's a mystery to me, too.

I was paired up with Camo Girl again, doing my best to ignore her  mumbling and her ridiculously over the top flirting with our instructor.  He was kind of a jerk anyway, but I wasn't sure if I'd wish this girl  on anyone. In the last thirty minutes, she'd already managed to break  two glass beakers and come this close to spilling boiling hot water on  my bare arm.

I finished the sketch in my lab book and took a step back, watching as  she inserted a pipette and sucked up some of the liquid. I wasn't  surprised when she splashed the majority of it on the countertop instead  of the slide. I took the opportunity to check my phone while she  fumbled around, and saw that there was a text from Flor.

And also one from my dad.

Holy crap.

It'd been two weeks since we'd been outed. And two weeks since my stepmother's miscarriage.

In that entire time, neither River nor my father had contacted either of  us. Flor had tried to see her, but she'd refused to see him; she  wouldn't even let him into the house. I tried to tell Flor that it  wasn't his fault, that she just wasn't ready to see anyone, but I knew  it was killing him inside. And my dad? Well, his stress response usually  went like this: rage, silence, acceptance. I kept thinking I could wait  him out, that eventually he'd at least agree to see me, but I too was  being shunned. I'd even gone so far as to make an appointment at his  office, but his secretary had called an hour later to tell me it was  cancelled.

It wasn't fair, but it was my life. And Flor was worth it. Just being with him made me happy.

Please come to the house tonight around five.

That's all I had from my dad, no explanation. Truth be told, the words  terrified me. This is it. He's cutting me off. No more apartment, no  more tuition money, no more car.

No more Dad.

Flor's text confirmed my fears.

Mom says we need to talk. 6 tonite. Meet @ the shop after schl?

I told him I'd be there and put the phone back in my pocket.

I'd be there, but first I needed to survive another hour with my lab partner.



On Bent Wings was busy, as usual, crowded with girls lounging on the  couches and flipping through the artists' portfolios like they were  actually considering getting something. From past experience, I knew  most of them were just there to flirt or find someone to fuck, but I  didn't care anymore. As soon as I walked in that door, Flor only had  eyes for me. That, and he was tattooing a very large, very hairy older  man. Pretty sure there was no chance of that going anywhere.

The buzz of needles greeted me as I moved up to the counter and let  Flor's warm smile wash over me. The black latex of his gloves clashed  beautifully with the brightness of the tattoos on his arms, making me  feel all lightheaded and giddy. He'd worn those gloves once, touched me  with them in places low. Crap, I think I just flooded my basement, as  Theo might say.

"You got a text, too, didn't you?" he asked, barely looking up from the  unicorn tattoo he was inking on the man's thigh. It was certainly  …  an  odd piece, even though Flor's art style did it justice.

"Yep," I said, feeling the eyes of the other girls crawling all over me.  As soon as Max walked in though, their attention shifted. I smiled at  him and he smiled back. It was still a little tight between us, but Flor  was (mostly) staying at his own place (oftentimes with me) and Max was  still dating Rhonda. We'd even managed to have dinner together at Plank  Town, the four of us with Addi and Patrick. Things were looking up in  that department at least. It takes strong freaking friendships to  withstand shit like this.