Anti-Stepbrother - Tijan Page 0,34

I smiled on the way to my room.

“Have you talked to Caden today?” Her gaze shifted away. “Or anyone else?”

My smile faded, and I stopped. I looked over my shoulder. “What are you talking about?”

“Caden. You took off with him last night, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah.” She’d mentioned anyone else. Why’d she say that?

My euphoria was leaving. Avery was about to pull the rug out from under my feet. I waited for it. “Why?”

“Was he pissed when he dropped you off?”

She should’ve asked what we did last night, where we went. She wasn’t saying anything about that. She didn’t ask if I got laid. There was no excitement. She was all business. The rug started to move.

I swallowed tightly. “He was fine.”

“Was he drunk? Everyone’s saying he was drunk.”

“No. He had a couple at first, but he was sober. He drove home.”

“Oh.” I heard the worry in her voice.

“Did something happen last night?” I slowly pulled my bag around to hug it to my chest. “Is Caden okay?”

She snorted. “Caden’s just fine.” She began backing away. “I wasn’t there, and I have to get a meeting, but you might want to call him. I know you guys have some type of friendship going on.”

“What happened?” I started after her.

“Call him, Summer.”

“Why? What’d he do?”

She was at the door to the stairs now. She paused and let out a sigh. “He beat the shit out of someone last night.”

“Who?”

“Your stepbrother.”

One quick yank and the rug was gone. I was on my ass.

I didn’t have Caden’s phone number so I tried Kevin. No answer, so pulling on my big-girl panties, I marched the eight blocks to their frat house.

Okay, I didn’t march. I started out marching. I was dragging myself when I finally got to their block. My calves were tight and burning.

Note to self: I needed to work out more—or at all. This was embarrassing for a sports medicine major.

I walked up their front sidewalk and rang the bell.

I wasn’t sure who to ask for, Caden or Kevin. For some reason, the sympathy card wasn’t there for my stepbrother. With the shit he’d been doing, he probably had it coming. I knew Caden wouldn’t kick me out this time, but as I waited for someone to answer, I still felt some nerves in my gut.

…and I kept waiting.

And waiting…

I frowned, knocking again, this time harder.

“It’s a frat.” A girl spoke up behind me, reaching around me to open the door. She held a box in her hand and stepped inside. “Just go in. No one’s going to answer the door unless there’s a cop on the other side.”

That made complete sense.

I followed her in, and sure enough, the living room was full of guys playing a video game. Across the hall two other guys stood around the pool table. The girl yelled out a greeting. The guys gave her distracted hellos before she disappeared down the hallway and up the stairs.

I stood in the foyer.

And no one cared.

The pool game finished, and both guys walked past me, into the kitchen. The video game ended, so the guys rotated. One of the players who’d finished sat down on the couch to watch, and the other started to walk past me.

“Hey!” I stood in front of him.

“Hey.” He looked me up and down. A second, and much warmer, “Hey” came out, and he stepped closer to me. “Who are you here for?”

I scratched my chin. Kevin or Caden? “Is Kevin Matthews here?”

“Oh.” He sounded disappointed, and he pointed to the basement. “If he’s not in his room down there, who knows. He got his ass kicked last night. You’re the new chick already?”

“New chick?”

“He and the old one split yesterday, in a nasty way. He got his ass handed to him last night, so if you’re going down for a quick poke, expect to be on top.”

“I’m not here for that.” I frowned. “And not with him.”

“Oh?” Interest bloomed in his eyes.

“Not with you either.” Then, screw it. “Is Caden here?”

His shoulders dropped completely. “Him too?”

“No.” Everyone just assumed sex all the time. Was that normal? “We’re kind of friends, I think.”

“I don’t know if Matthews is here, but I know Caden isn’t.”

“Do you know when he’ll be back?”

He headed down the hallway, shaking his head. “Caden doesn’t really answer to anyone.”

Kevin’s door was slightly ajar, and I pushed it open to see him putting clothes into a box. With his back to me, he was flinging shirts, pants, socks, and shoes across the