Rock Hard: A Stepbrother Romance Page 0,63

and slammed the door. He smirked at me as I stormed inside.

“Night, Becca,” he said as I got onto the porch.

I whirled on him. “Don’t come into my room.”

“If that’s what you want.”

“It is. Good night.”

I threw the door open and went directly upstairs. Cora and my dad were already in bed. I shut my door and locked it.

I knew I was a little drunk, and maybe overreacting, but I was pissed. So pissed that I didn’t want to see my stepbrother.

For the first time in what felt like a long time, but was really only a few nights, I fell asleep without Reid’s touch.

Chapter Eighteen: Reid

The night was dark and windy as I hiked fast, heading away from the house.

Becca was safely in her room, probably busy pouting about our fight. If she didn’t want me, then fine, I wouldn’t bother her. She had no clue what I was trying to do for her, no clue at all what I had done for my family, and she was acting like I was an asshole or something.

Maybe I was. But I didn’t need that shit from her. I didn’t need that shit from anyone.

I had bigger problems to worry about.

The forest was quiet as I made my way north toward the van. I couldn’t be in that house with her, not while she was looking at me like I was a piece of shit. The van wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it was dry and had plenty of blankets. I’d slept out there many times over the years, though usually it was because I felt trapped at home.

Now, I was feeling trapped in my own fucking skin.

It took me less time than I would have guessed to make it to the van. I pulled the door open and climbed in, slamming it shut behind me. Darkness swallowed up the space, and I fumbled with a candle and a lighter. After a minute, weak yellow light illuminated the beat-up interior.

I leaned back against the wall, a pillow propped up behind my head. I pulled out my phone and idly scrolled through some bullshit social media, mostly trying to distract myself.

But what had happened earlier kept coming back, over and over.

It wasn’t just Becca talking to Jay. That was bad enough. But it was what had happened before that, and what I was going to do about it.

I hated obsessing, but there was something important that I wasn’t quite seeing. Something that could potentially help get me out of the situation I was making for myself.

Outside the van, an owl hooted. It probably spotted a mouse scurrying through the thick underbrush and was about to swoop down for the kill.

I had to be like that owl.

I had to sharpen my talons.

I’d gotten a call from Thom earlier that day, well before I dragged Becca away from the party.

“How’s it coming, Climber?” he asked.

“Still no money for you, but I’m working on it.”

“Good. I mean, I have total faith in you.”

“What do you need?”

I clenched my jaw, leaning up against my truck. I had just left the Blue, narrowly missing Becca’s shift by only a few minutes. I wasn’t sure why I was avoiding her, but I felt like I needed to put a little distance between us while I tried to figure shit out.

“I think I have some useful info for you.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“Not over the phone.”

I sighed. Thom was getting more and more paranoid. “Fine. Where?”

“Meet me tonight at the usual party.”

“You’re still going to that shit?”

“Like fucking clockwork, man. You have any clue how many blowjobs I’ve gotten there?”

“I feel like it doesn’t count if you have to bribe girls with drugs.”

“Blowjob’s a blowjob, Climber. It always counts.”

Jesus, what a fucking scumbag. “All right, I’ll see you there then.”

“Later, Climber.”

He hung up and I looked down at my phone, almost annoyed that it had rung. What else could Thom have found out so fast that I needed to know? If he wasn’t saying shit over the phone, he must have been pretty scared of the mob.

I spent the rest of the day running bullshit errands, basically anything to keep me away from the house and not thinking too much about what was happening. Eventually I decided to see a movie, just to kill time.

Finally, when the movie was over, it was just about time to head over. I got into my truck and drove, my headlights cutting through the deep darkness of a rural small town.

In all my time spent