Hard: A Step-Brother Romance by Sosie Frost Page B

The laundry smothered me as I
gave the order. “We have to figure out how to stuff everything I own into one
suitcase.”
    I
hobbled to the bedroom and dropped the armful of clothes onto the already
bigger pile cluttering the floor. Maybe Dad did help more than I thought.
Without worrying about car payments or school, I had much more disposable
income to spend on my wardrobe.
    I
examined the mess. Where did I get a Taylor Swift shirt? That was Azariah’s
doing. I kicked the shirt over to her and finally looked up.
    I
hadn’t welcomed Azariah into my apartment.
    It was
Zach.
    And
he picked up the laciest, pinkest pair of panties I owned. He stretched them
between his fingers.
    “Packing
the necessities?” He asked.
    Oh,
sweet Jesus.
    I
leapt over the bed and slammed shut the suitcase brimming with panties. The bed
frame was a piece of junk. The slats holding the box-spring slipped, and
everything tumbled, including the suitcase. Zach laughed as a wave of panties
cascaded over his legs.
    “What
the hell are you doing in my room?” I shrieked.
    He
jerked a thumb to the door. His t-shirt tightened over his biceps. Didn’t he
have any clothes that fit?
    “You
let me in.”
    “Well,
get out!”
    “Why?”
    “Because this place only has me on the lease. You don’t live here!”
    Dimples,
a flash of teeth, and a quirked eyebrow. He disarmed me without even trying.
    “Relax.
I wanted to see if you needed help moving.” He wagged a folder in his hand. “William
called me. Said he had some paperwork for us. I volunteered to bring it.”
    I
took the folder. “Thanks. Get out.”
    He
declined with a smile. “So, you’re packing? Decided to come stay with me after
all?”
    “I’ve
decided to live in the house that my father passed to me .”
    “I haven’t
had a roommate for a while. Hopefully it’s better than the barracks.”
    “We
are not roommates.”
    “Not
yet. Look at all this packing you have to do.” His grin would suffocate me.
“Seriously, need any help getting this to the car?”
    “Not
from you.”
    Zach
motioned to sit on my bed. I chased him away.
    “Shay,
come on. There’s no sense being angry.”
    I
had every right to be angry. I fluttered around his feet, collecting stray bits
of the sluttiest and most embarrassing underwear I had. I didn’t know what was
worse—the granny panties or the slinky silk ones.
    I
poked his chest as he dared to get in my way, but brandishing a thong at him wasn’t
threatening.
    “You tricked me,” I said. “You had sex with me without saying you were my step-brother.
You lied about who you were, why you found me, and what you were doing. It was
cruel, and I want nothing to do with you now. No help. No moving. No nothing.”
    “How
am I supposed to make it better if you won’t even listen to me?”
    “There’s
nothing to make-better . You are beyond apologies at this point.”
    “Give
me a chance?
    Was
he kidding? I threw the laundry onto the bed. “Zach, you hurt me.”
    His smile
faded. “It wasn’t my intention.”
    “First
I poured my soul out to you, and then we had…”
    And
there I went again, imagining everything I had tried not to imagine for the
past week and a half.
    And
he must have imagined it too. Zach shifted, adjusting himself without making it
obvious he was adjusting.
    That
namesake again.
    Hard .
    He
lived up to it. He was supremely gifted. Just knowing how he had felt, tasted,
and pleasured was too much for me to handle right now.
    Or
ever again.
    “You
are the biggest mistake of my life.” I took a breath, but I didn’t let him
intimidate me. “But you know what? I’m going to take you up on your offer.”
    Zach
tilted his head—a look I’d consider cute and puppyish if I didn’t know better.
He was no little rolly-polly cutie, he was the wolf. Cunning. Sleek. Built for power
and precision. I didn’t meet his gaze. The green was far too inviting for what I
needed to say.
    “You’re
going to come stay at the mansion?”