Rock Hard: A Stepbrother Romance Page 0,51

all the people who were hooked on the drugs he was responsible for.

And yet he had good reasons. I wasn’t around for all that time. I was too busy out at school to really help out. When it came down to it, Reid had stayed behind, had given up his promising climbing career, and had continued to sacrifice for his family.

But what a sacrifice. Was that really his only option?

Reid was a drug smuggler. He worked with gangsters. He helped pay for his mother’s cancer treatment with drug money. He was partly responsible for the drugs that were flooding into Ridgewood.

Despite the lies and the danger and everything else, all I could think about was his strong hands on my hips, his dick slipping deep between my legs as he fucked me in the deep forest. My heart practically fluttered every time I so much as thought his name.

I slipped out of the house early the next morning and went to work, my mind a distracted daze of conflicted emotions. The Blue was as good a place as any to try to forget as I bustled between tables during the busy day shift.

Part of me was worried that I’d run into Reid, but he didn’t show up. I didn’t know what I would do if he did. I was totally shocked when he first told me, but as time went by I found that I wasn’t totally angry with him.

Because I had no right to be angry. I was the one that left the family, even though Cora had made it clear that she wanted me to graduate.

Reid had stepped up. Reid had put himself in danger in order to help the people that he loved.

Still, it was a huge shock. And he had been lying to everyone for a long time.

The morning slipped by like sand through my fingers, one table turning into the next, and I floated through it all on autopilot. Really, the only thing I could concentrate on was what Reid said to me the night before.

And the look on his face. Almost empty, blank, like he didn’t care about what he was saying. Like he was resigned to being whatever it was the smuggling made him.

As I began to wind down my shift, finishing up my last tables, I looked around the diner. Lindsey had just walked in and was heading into the back. I walked quickly to intercept her.

“Hey, Lindsey,” I called out.

She stopped. “What’s up, Becca?”

“Can I talk to you?”

“Sure. I was just coming in to get ready.”

“I’ll be off in ten.”

She looked a little confused. “Okay, sure.”

I turned on my heel and walked away. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her, and I wasn’t ready to talk about Reid’s smuggling right there in the middle of the floor.

Ten minutes flashed by, though, and I was no closer to figuring out what I wanted to say to her. I walked into the back and found her leaning up against the wall.

“Sit with me while I smoke?” she said.

“Sure.”

I followed her out back and we sat down on the curb. She lit up a cigarette, taking a deep drag.

“I know about Reid,” I said quietly to her.

She raised an eyebrow at me. “What about him?”

“I know about the pills.”

There was a moment of silence between us as she began to process that fact. She took another deep drag, keeping her face calm.

“What about the pills?” she asked finally.

That pissed me off. “Now you’re going to act like you don’t know anything?”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

I gaped at her. “You’ve been dropping little hints ever since I got home, and now suddenly you don’t know anything?”

She frowned. “Sorry, Becca.”

“I know about everything. About Reid and the smuggling.”

She shook her head. “I can’t talk about this.”

“How much do you know?”

“Becca, seriously. We can’t talk about this.”

Suddenly I noticed that her hand was shaking as she took another drag. She blew smoke out of her nose and looked around nervously.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on. I just can’t talk about that.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Wasn’t my place.” She looked at me seriously. “And it still isn’t.”

“But you know about him. That’s pretty obvious.”

“Yeah, I know some things.”

“What’s going on?” I said, frustrated.

She glanced around. “Okay, listen to me.” She stubbed out her cigarette and leaned close. Her breath smelled sour but I had to keep my face near her mouth to understand what she was whispering.

“This morning, some guys came to my apartment. I