Stepbrother jerk

Jace

It never fucking failed. The minute I opened

my beer and sat down — finally — at one in

the morning, after an entirely too long day, the

doorbell rang. I glanced into the hallway but

didn’t bother getting up. Instead, I picked up

the remote and turned on the TV. Maybe

whoever it was would go away if I ignored

them.

Ding-dong.

Nope. No such luck.

Another ring, this time, two in quick

succession.

“I’m coming. Hold your horses, man.” Who

could it be at this time of night anyway? When

I reached the door, I looked out the side

window to find a patrol car parked along the

curb. Lights weren’t flashing though, which

meant it was probably Mack.

I sighed. This was getting old.

I opened the door to find Lisa, my twenty-year-

old stepsister, struggling to free herself of my

friend Mack’s hold. He had her cuffed, though,

so not sure what she thought she’d do when

he let go of her.

“Hey, Mack, good to see you”—I made a show

of checking my watch, more for Lisa than for

Mack—“at one in the morning.”

“Jace.” Mack nodded. I knew our wealth

intimidated him, but he could be such a prick.

I’d known him throughout high school. We’d

been in the same graduating class but on

wholly different social spectrums. I’d been

one of those kids everyone liked—students

and teachers alike. Captain of the football

team who could manage to score straight A’s

with minimal study. It pissed people like Mack

off. He’d had to work a hell of a lot harder

and, for some reason, he always held it

against me that he lived in a trailer park while

I’d grown up in a mansion. I was never mean

to the kid — told a bully to back off once —

but all it got me was more resentment. And,

now, he was a cop in our little town. Throwing

all hundred and fifty pounds around whenever

he could.

Good news was, he had a crush on Lisa, who

could always manage to find herself some

trouble. Given my father’s high-profile

government job, that wasn’t a good thing.

“What did she do this time?” I asked, meeting

Lisa’s glare as I did.

“She got picked up on a bust. Pot, nothing

major, but it’s her third time.” He gave her a

chastising look, at which Lisa rolled her eyes.

“Christ, Lees.” I shook my head. “Where the

hell is your head?”

“Screw you, Jace. What are you, my dad?”

The palm of my hand itched to smack her ass

as our eyes locked in battle.

“I got to her before they could make the

arrest,” Mack said.

I expect a favor back.

I only stood there staring at him like I didn’t

follow. It always made him fucking nervous.

“If I got caught, I mean,” he stammered,

exactly like he used to in high school.

I patted his arm. I could give him that. “You

shouldn’t have done it, Mack. Maybe it would

have taught her a lesson to be booked along

with her criminal friends.” That last part was

directed at my stepsister.

“It was pot. I’m not some fucking criminal!”

We both ignored her and Mack shrugged his

shoulder. “Thought it might cause some

trouble for your dad,” he said, oh so kindly.

I didn’t have to say a word because Lisa

shoved at him with her elbow then. He turned

to her, the crush he’d had on her since high

school still apparent in the way he looked at

her now. Lisa, however, ungrateful spoiled

brat she was, just gave him her signature

“when hell freezes over” look.

“I’ll get her out of the cuffs,” Mack said.

“Good idea.” As much as I thought Lisa

needed to learn the lesson a public arrest

could teach, I also knew how bad that would

be for my dad. He was up for re-election this

term, and vultures waited around every corner

for a story like this one to break him. The

damage to him would not be worth the lesson

she might not even learn.

But then another idea did shine its light on

me, one I’d jacked off to often in the last

couple of years.

Mack un-cuffed Lisa and handed her over. I

took her by the arm. “Say thank you to Mack

for his kindness, Lisa.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” Lisa asked,

looking from my face to where I held her arm,

and back.

“I’m trying to make a decent human being out

of you. Now, say thank you so we can let

Mack get back to work. He has an important

job.”

Her eyebrows went up and I almost busted a

gut laughing with her right there. But it had

been a long time since Lisa and I had shared

a smile, much less a full out laugh. Instead,

she turned an expressionless face to Mack

and smiled the most bogus smile she could.

“Thank you, officer,” she said, her voice sickly

sweet.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “I’ll take

it from here, Mack.”

“Have a good night.”

“You know, I think I will. Thanks.” I dragged

step-sis inside and closed the door.

“Okay, big brother, you can let go of me now,”

she mocked.

I was pretty sure if you looked up spoiled brat

in the urban dictionary, you’d find Lisa’s

picture right beside the definition. You’d also

find it alongside words like selfish, callous,

and cold. And she’d been so sweet when I’d

first met her. I guess a lot could change in

five years. Well, it was high time she learned

that lesson. Hell, it was beyond overdue.

“Sure thing, sis.”

She huffed, her eyes on mine, searching for

something. The last few times she’d been

picked up, I’d given her a talking-to, then, after

much begging on her end, agreed not to tell

her mother or my father. But, clearly, I’d been

going about this the wrong way because it’s

not like it worked. Not like she’d never done it

again. And now she stood there, staring at

me, looking a little confused for a moment

before shrugging her shoulders and walking

toward the staircase.

“I’ll let Mom and Dad know about this little

incident when they get home. Let them handle

this. I’m sure it’s what they want to deal with

after a night on the town. Guessing car

privileges are first to go, right? Wasn’t that

what it was? Oh, but wait, with the pot….” I

made a face as if thinking hard, but in reality,

this was too damn easy. “I think that may

impact allowance.”

For a moment, albeit the briefest of moments,

she looked almost innocent. Or scared.

Probably the latter. I’d known Lisa for five

years now. She’d been fifteen when my dad

and her mom had introduced us, saying they

were getting married. I’d been three years

older and had a clue what was going on. My

dad had been open about dating, and he and

my mom had been divorced for years. Lisa, on

the other hand, hadn’t had a single clue. Her

mom had apparently told her a few minutes

before introducing her to me and my dad, and

I still remember the look on her face, how

white she’d gone, how quiet. I remembered

talking to her that night, and every night over

the next few months. We’d gotten pretty close,

but then, something had changed and that

Lisa had disappeared, to be replaced by this

one, this cold, calculating bitch who now

stood glaring.

She came back toward me, stumbling once on

her way. Her gaze scanned me from head to

toe. “What do you want, Jace?”

“What do you mean?” I asked in my sweetest

voice.

“You always want something.”

Well, that was true. But I was only human,

and, in this case, what I wanted was for her

as much as for me. Okay, maybe at the start,

and perhaps during the execution of the plan

forming in my head, it could be perceived as

being more for me than for her, but ultimately,

she’d reap the benefits, too. Although it would

probably take her a while to see it that way.

“What is it, money?”

I gestured around me. This was my dad’s

house. The money she was offering me came

from him. I shook my head. “I’ve got more

money than I know what to do with.”

“Then, what? What do you want to keep this

little incident between us?”

“Like the last two times I kept your secret, you

mean?”

She folded her arms across her chest and

continued to glare then nodded once. It was a

jolty, short sort of nod. I had her, and she

knew it. It made my smile widen.

“You know what I want?” I walked toward her

and put my hands on her shoulders,

squeezing. Oh, but how my palm itched to

bend her over, bare that spoiled little ass and

spank it, taking her down a notch. But it

wasn’t time for that. Not yet. “Believe it or not,

I want you to be a better person, Lisa. We are

family, now, after all. And, quite frankly, your

acting this way is hurting our family, but, most

especially, it’s hurting you.” It was all true. I

did want her to be better, to get over whatever

was going on in her head or talk to me about

it like she used to, and just be herself again.

Be the girl she’d been when I’d first met her,

not this person whom I didn’t like very much.

But she’d cut me off a couple of years ago,

and I had no idea of the reason for it. Well,

okay, I may have had some idea. There had

been one night when we’d been talking. She’d

always come to my room and we’d lie in my

bed and talk. Those nights were nice. I liked

being with her. But then she’d kissed me.

It wasn’t like I hadn’t wanted the kiss, but I

was three years older than her, technically an

adult. She’d been fifteen, jailbait. And — and

this was the biggest and — she was my

stepsister. Yes, there had been a growing

attraction between us, but I was sure I could

keep it cool. And I had. But my rejecting her

had effectively ended any friendly relations

between us. I’d tried to talk to her about it, to

explain that it wasn’t her I was rejecting, but

she wouldn’t talk to me, not any more than

she had to. In a way, I guess I was the reason

for her being like she was, at least partially,

and that made me feel even more responsible

to help fix it. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit

more sordid, and much more interesting,

thoughts crept up right alongside that

responsibility.