AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But even though sense and logic tell me otherwise, ever since that night, I’ve lied in bed anxiously staring at my bedroom door, trying to manifest Noah walking through it just to punish me again. His brand of wrath is the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted, and I, for one, would be totally okay with having seconds.
“Are you getting a chill, Skylar? My sweater is right there if you need it,” Curt says worriedly, successfully pulling me out of my illicit thoughts. He points his chin to his discarded wool sweater hanging on the back of a nearby chair, while my cheeks instantly heat up, as if I was just caught doing something I shouldn’t have.
Wasn’t I, though?
Imagining my stepbrother’s fingers making me come isn’t exactly what I’d call me being on my best behavior.
“Are you getting sick, sweetheart? You look flushed. Come here so I can check your forehead for a fever,” my mother orders, concerned, putting her scissors down in favor of seeing if I’m getting sick.
I am sick, Mom.
Very sick.
Just not in the way you think.
“I’m fine, Mom. Just a cold wind that must have passed,” I lie, unwilling to tell either one of them the truth of why my body can’t stop shivering.
“Put Curt’s sweater on just the same. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”
Not wanting to fight her on this, I get off the bench swing to grab Curt’s sweater just to ease her worry. But just as I’m reaching it, the familiar sound of a motor bike approaching stops me in my tracks. My heart pounds in my chest as Noah pulls up our driveaway, his long blond hair flying in the wind, making him look almost ethereal in his rebellion.
“I told that boy a million times to wear a helmet. I swear he doesn’t use one just to spite me,” Curt grumbles under his breath.
“I’m sure that’s not the reason why. You must be patient with him, love,” I hear my mother reply softly. “Or you’ll just end up pushing him away even more.”
“I’ve been nothing but patient, Clara. Something’s got to give. I’m at my wits’ end where Noah’s concerned. Maybe I should let Boyd lock him up and spend a few nights in a jail cell just so he realizes his actions have consequences.”
My mother’s shoulders slump at that remark, but she quickly recovers to put on a bright smile when Noah gets off his bike and starts strutting up the stairs to the porch.
“Hi, Noah. Did you have a nice ride?”
“Hmm,” he mumbles in response to her, preferring to place his sole attention on his father. “What’s all this?”
“What does it look like?” Curt snaps, annoyed, and I don’t miss the light squeeze my mother gives her husband’s shoulder to keep him calm. Curt lets out an exhale and relaxes his tense form. “Clara thought I would benefit from a cut, so she volunteered to do it for me.”
“Isn’t that what barbershops are for? Are we that broke, we can’t afford to let a professional do it for you? Can’t be that expensive,” Noah retorts, leaning against a pillar and crossing his arms over his majestic chest.
A chest that I know holds nothing but strong, hard abs hidden way underneath his black Henley. Abs that he let me fondle with my fingertips just a week ago and have been taunting me ever since.
“How would you know?” Curt chuckles sarcastically, pulling me out of my perverse reverie. “You haven’t cut your hair in years.”
I watch Noah’s face scrunch up, hatred burning in his gaze toward his father.
My mother catches the look, too, and quickly tries to do damage control before Noah says something that will dampen the good mood we’ve enjoyed for the better part of the day.
“If you’d like, I could trim it for you? I’m not a professional like you said, but I’ve cut my girls’ hair all their lives. If you’d let me, I’m sure I could trim yours.”
The hope in my mother’s voice guts me. She’s always trying to climb over Noah’s fortress walls, hoping that one day she’ll be able to live in his heart as he lives in hers. My mother’s love for Curt immediately extended to Noah and she’s been on a futile mission to win him over since she and my stepfather exchangedI dos. It saddens me that Noah is unable to see just how wonderful my mother could be to him if only he gave her half the chance.
“Don’t waste your time, Clara,” Curt grumbles, throwing a disappointed side-eye to his only son.
Just as it pains me to see how dismissive Noah is of my mother, it also pisses me off how Curt never gives him the benefit of the doubt. Sure, he’s an asshole, but Noah is still his son. He should be in his corner as my mom is for me and Daisy. But since the first day we stepped into this house, I have yet to see Curt have Noah’s back on anything.
As if hearing my thoughts, Noah’s lips slant into a roguish smile that tells me he’s up to no good.
I should know, since I’ve been at the receiving end of that smile a million times before.
“You know what? Why not?” Noah’s grin stretches further.
