Rock Hard: A Stepbrother Romance Page 0,1
last four years because it was too expensive, and our family was a little hard-up ever since my stepmom had been diagnosed with cancer.
That was the hardest thing, being away from my family while someone was sick. Every time I begged my dad to let me move back home, he kept assuring me that everything was fine, that I should concentrate on school. He was always trying to protect me. Fortunately, a year almost to the date, Cora had gone into remission. It had been a long and difficult fight, but she had won.
And I was home to finally spend some serious time with them. School was over with, I had graduated with honors, and I had a spot in a fully-funded graduate computer science program in Texas for the upcoming fall semester. My time back home was limited, but I was excited anyway.
I craned my neck, looking down the street, watching for my dad’s old beat-up Jeep. I hadn’t been home in almost a year and was anxious to get back.
I checked my watch and frowned. He was fifteen minutes late, which wasn’t like him. I pulled out my phone and checked my messages, but there was nothing.
Frustrated, I sat down on a bench and waited.
As much as I loved being home, there was one major roadblock to really enjoying myself every time I visited. He was arrogant and attractive and loved nothing more than to tease me until I turned red. It was completely inappropriate, and yet I couldn’t help but love it. We had a history, me and him, despite our status as stepsiblings.
Almost as if sensing where my mind was going, I suddenly caught sight of my dad’s car. I stood up, eager to see him.
As it pulled up in front of me, my face fell.
“Hey, Becca. Looking good as always,” Reid said, grinning.
Reid laughed as I frowned. “Where’s Dad?”
“What, not happy to see me?”
The answer to that question was way too complex to even start thinking about. I stared into his pale grey eyes, twinkling with mirth at my surprise and discomfort. His face was chiseled and handsome, and his dirty blond hair was cropped short and as stylish as usual.
My stepbrother. The boy I couldn’t help but notice.
“No, I just . . . expected him.”
He laughed. “Relax, I know. He had to work a double at the mill so he sent me to get you.”
I nodded. That made sense. Even though Cora’s cancer was gone, there were still bills to be paid. My poor father was working himself to the bone.
Although he didn’t entirely need to. From what I understood, a lot of that money was coming from Reid. If I had to say one good thing about him, it was that he was very loyal to family. He would do anything to help his mother, and apparently every dime he won from climbing competitions and working as a guide went straight to her medical bills.
And if my father was telling the truth, that was significant money.
He got out of the car and walked toward me. “Let me get that,” he said, nodding at the bag.
I shrugged. “Chivalry isn’t dead.”
“It is. I just don’t want to listen to you complaining about getting your hair wet.” He smirked at me.
I frowned. “I haven’t been away that long. It’s not like I forgot about the rain.”
“Sorry, college girl. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
I rolled my eyes and climbed into the Jeep with a huff. He laughed as he loaded my suitcase into the back and then climbed back into the driver’s seat.
He glided back out into traffic, zooming toward the house I grew up in. I watched the lush, green forest press in all around as the Jeep moved north. There wasn’t a whole lot around, maybe one movie theater within thirty miles, one grocery store, and one tiny strip mall with a few clothing stores and barber shops packed in. There were some diners and restaurants, but otherwise it was mostly just forest, mountain, and rivers.
“How was school?” Reid asked.
“Fine. You know I graduated, right?”
He glanced at me. “Yeah, Becca, I figured that one out.”
I laughed nervously. “Right, of course. I start grad school in the fall.”
“Texas, right?”
“Yeah, in Austin.”
“I hear that’s a cool town.”
“I’m pretty excited about it.”
He was silent then, and I couldn’t help but reflect on the last time we saw each other.
The rain was coming down like crazy as I picked my way along the path. I could barely make