Stepbrother Bestie (A Stepbrother Romance Novel) by Alycia Taylor

I wasn’t, there wasn’t much that I could do about it. So I might as well
just be happy with what I had.
    Now that Dalilah had me alone though, I
couldn’t help but notice her willingness to assure me that she was the only one
for me; that she was the only person on the planet that I could really trust.
    In a way, I felt that she was right,
especially in light of what had happened with my stepmom, my dad and Valerie. But
in another way, it really bothered me.
    So, after one comment too many, I finally
asked, “Why do you say that, Dalilah?”
    She seemed confused at first.
“Because…it’s true? I would think that you, of all people would realize that.”
    Usually, I liked the fact that Dalilah was
so direct, but today, not so much. “What are you talking about? I’m the one who
ended things with them…”
    Dalilah gave me a slight attitude before
she answered, “I would think that you’d   be able to understand that…” She glowered at me. “Seriously, I have been
here almost every day since you moved out and I have yet to even meet your
mother.” She tilted her head to the side, almost as though she was mocking me
and demanded, “And have you ever even heard from your stepmom, who you seem to
think you are so close to?”
    I went to refute her claims but stopped
short, not exactly being able to defend either one of my mother-figures, my
stepsister, or my father, even though he hadn’t even come up.
    “Well…” I said carefully,, “no, but that’s
just because I pushed them away. I wouldn’t contact me either after treating
Valerie the way I did.” I did have to admit that I was beginning to feel a
little bit guilty for saying what I did to her. The more time that passed, the
more I felt that perhaps I really had taken it out on her too harshly.
    Dalilah barked a laugh. “What? Are you
serious? She deserved every word you said. She is horrible to you. She can’t
even stick up for you with your father and she reaps all of the rewards…” She
raised her eyebrows as though she was wondering why this was even an argument.
“They’re only dragging you down. You’re an adult. This is your life. It
shouldn’t be dictated by people who don’t even care about you.”
    I was uncomfortable with what she was
saying, but wished that I felt more strongly about it as I rebuked, “They care
about me!”
    “Oh yeah? Well, who has been the one
helping you fight your demons for the past three years and who came over to
help you get settled into your mom’s house?” She reared her head back as though
she had just thought of something. “Who has helped you to do pretty much
everything you have needed to do since moving out?”
    “You,” I answered truthfully. “But…”
    “There’s no buts about it!” she bellowed
before she softened her voice and stared at me with conviction. “If you care
about me, then I want you to forget about them.”
    “What?” I demanded, now feeling extremely
angry. “No! They’re my family…Valerie was my best friend.”
    However, my outburst did not seem to
soften her resolve. “She was your best friend,” Dalilah responded with a thoughtful
nod, “and it’s hard to let go, but I think that her actions speak for
themselves.”
    “She tried to talk to me, Dalilah! She
didn’t abandon me.”
    “Yes, but after only one bad conversation,
she dropped you and you haven’t heard from her after that,” she responded, now
glaring at me as though angry that I wasn’t able to see it from her point of
view. Her voice lowered. “This is exactly how master manipulators do it. They
make you feel like you are special, sometimes for years and then they kick the
chair out from underneath you, just when you need their support the most, only
to have you crawling back to them, just so they could do it to you again.”
    I thought about saying something to the
contrary, since I was getting angry at the accusations she was making against
my family; but then, I saw a tear fall