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Chapter One
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Hunter
“Don’t even.”
I turn and look at my dad who took the words right out of my head. I cock my eyebrow and give him a look telling him exactly what I think about him and his wife.
“Excuse me?” I take my eyes off him and turn to stare back outside at my sister and the girl with her. The little thing is dwarfed by my sister, but all eyes are drawn to her because of those knock-out curves. She might be young, but she doesn’t have the body of a teenager. She has the body of a full-grown seductress.
She bobs up out of the water and pushes my sister, both girls horseplaying with one another in the pool. They’re enjoying the last couple of days of summer by hanging out at the pool and just being happy and carefree teenagers. I came over to see my sister not knowing Ember would be with her this afternoon.
“She’s too young.” It’s a phrase that’s been trapped in my head from the day I met the small brunette.
My mind drifts back to the beginning of summer and meeting this girl. She was dressed in pink and had flowers in her hair. She looked just like a summer fairy.
“And your cousin.”
My father’s voice cuts through the memory like a hot knife to butter. Even though I’ve been telling myself I can’t have the girl, the three words my father says piss me off. She’s not my cousin. She’s my stepcousin.
“Like that’s ever stopped you or Uncle Roger. Besides…” I shot him a narrow-eyed glare, “You know there is no relationship between her and me.”
This man might be my father but that doesn’t mean I have to like him. Or the way he lives his life. I’m not trying to be all sanctimonious. I just don’t like him.
“The way you’re looking at her says otherwise.”
I step away from the window and come to stand right in front of my father, squaring off. He’s been backing down from me since I was sixteen and I had outgrown him by a good four inches. I take back after my mom’s father, thankfully, which means it wouldn’t take much to put someone like my father down if I needed to.
“Why don’t you keep up with your wife and leave me,” I jerk my thumb behind me, “and her alone.”
My dad divorced my mom when she wouldn’t go along with his version of romance. He left her -and me- on our own for years while he was chasing after my stepmother, Camile. She didn’t care for kids - even when she had one, my sister. My mom eventually got sick and passed away leaving me with my dad and Camile. They used me as a free babysitting service for Mandy.
“You know your uncle isn’t going to let you anywhere near Ember.”
I give him a smile instead of doing what I want to do and beat the shit out of him for speaking her name. He takes a step back and I knock into his shoulder as I brush by causing him to lose his balance and hit the wall.
He’s right though - as much as I fucking hate it - she is my stepcousin, too young and not for me. As much as I would love to go out to the pool, take her by the back of the head, and show her all the things I want to do to and with her in a kiss, I won’t do it. One, because I’m not my dad or my uncle. I don’t hit on young girls. I don’t take advantage of the innocent - and Ember is as innocent as they come - and I don’t let my passions control me. I am not my father.
Two, seeing the things I’ve seen growing up with my father and Camile has probably changed me in a way that isn’t good for anyone, especially Ember. So as bad as I want Ember, I’ll never have her. But that doesn’t mean I won’t beat the shit out of my dad and uncle for messing with her. It doesn’t mean I won’t watch her, protect her, and keep her as innocent as she is right now. Just because I can’t have her, doesn’t mean they can either.
Chapter Two
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Ember
Oh shit! This is just great. I gnaw on my lip as I sit and try to come up with the smartest thing to do. It doesn’t seem safe to get out of the car. The sun hasn’t fully set yet, but I don’t have long before darkness comes. I lay my head down on the steering wheel and groan. I’m in my stepfather’s car and have only been driving for a couple of months. Me and mom used to live in a place where we didn’t really need a car but moved when she got married to Roger. Thankfully it was in the same school district, so I didn’t have to change schools in my last year.
And now here I am. Alone on the side of the road wondering what the hell to do. It’s not something I really want to do, but I grab my phone and hit the number that’s been saved in my phone for months. I haven’t ever dialed it because I'm a chickenshit. If it rings and he doesn’t pick up, then I’ll just hang up and call my mom to help me figure out what to do next. No harm. Just a call. Nothing important or earth-shaking.
“Hello.” Oh God! He answered.
“Um…it’s Ember.” I hate that my voice is so wobbly. I want to sound confident and strong when I talk to him.
“I know.” He knows. With two words he just sent my well-rehearsed conversation out the window. He knows who I am.
Of course, he knows who I am. He was at the wedding and had come over a couple of times when I was hanging out with his sister. Then another thought zips through my head, one I wished didn’t. What if he’s on a date or with a woman? The thought of disturbing him or interrupting him, especially when he could have a girl with him, makes me want to groan out again. Why, stupid? Why did you call him?
