American Stepbrother Read online

  Table of Contents

  American Stepbrother

  Your complimentary bonus story

  Walking A Thin Line

  Playing With Fire

  © Copyright 2018 by Jenna Milford- All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  American Stepbrother

  By: Jenna Milford

  Table of Contents

  American Stepbrother

  Your complimentary bonus story

  Walking A Thin Line

  Playing With Fire

  American Stepbrother

  Chapter 1

  CHLOE

  We were the first ones to board the plane. Already, I was feeling jittery with nerves. My fingers clutched the straps of my rucksack as I followed my mother through the airbridge. The air was stale and smelled of old rubber.

  I quickened my pace, eager to get inside the cabin, so I could enjoy all the luxuries first-class flying had to offer me. Usually, my mother and I flew economy, but my soon-to-be stepfather bought us the tickets as an early wedding gift.

  “Welcome aboard.” A friendly looking flight assistant nodded in greeting before she guided us to our seats.

  The first-class cabin was even better than I imagined. The seats reclined back, turning into full-sized beds. They even had built-in heating!

  “Can I get you anything to drink?”

  “Do you have champagne?” my mother asked.

  I shot her a look. It was only nine o’clock in the morning.

  She grinned. “The drinks are complimentary, dear. We might as well take advantage of it.”

  “I’m sorry, Ma’am,” the attendant only spoke up when we were finished talking, “but, I am not allowed to serve alcoholic beverages until after the plane has reached a certain altitude. I can, however, get you some sparkling water for the time being.”

  “Make that two,” I interjected. “Please.”

  She nodded her head before disappearing behind a set of red velvet curtains.

  “This is nice...” my mother practically moaned as she reclined into her seat, sinking into the soft, leather cushions. Accidentally, she pressed one of the many buttons on the side of the arm rest, causing the seat to start vibrating. “Oh my, don’t tell me this thing can give me a massage.” She closed her eyes, looking like she was floating on cloud nine.

  I smiled to myself, glad that my mother was enjoying herself. Lately, she had been working long days and even longer nights as the company she worked for expanded to adapt to the growing electric car market. I had barely seen her as I finished my last year of secondary school. She almost missed my graduation ceremony, but just when I was nearing the end of my valediction speech, I saw her slip into the auditorium with the biggest bouquet of flowers I had ever seen.

  Now, we were both going to enjoy our summer in the United States, where she would marry her boyfriend, and I would finally get to meet my stepbrother… Adam Villee.

  He was a mystery to me. All I knew was that he hadn’t gone to university and that he had a habit of getting into trouble. Hopefully, we’d manage to get along…

  Trying not to agonize over it, I grabbed War and Peace from my rucksack. The thick tome sat heavily on my lap. In tandem with my biotechnology courses, I had decided to take a course on Russian literature during my first semester at Oxford. Tolstoy had always been one of my preferred authors and I was excited to reread the classic.

  ***

  A few hours into the flight, I closed the book, rubbing the back of my neck in order to alleviate some of the stiffness. My back cracked as I adjusted my posture, rolling my shoulders.

  Beside me, my mother was snoring softly, looking like she was enjoying the best sleep of her life.

  A nap didn’t sound like a bad idea right about now…

  I asked one of the attendants for a blanket.

  She quickly returned with a thick fleece that was nothing like the thin, almost cardboard-like pieces of fabric they handed out in economy.

  I smiled, settling myself into the seat once I was cocooned in the blanket.

  Almost instantly, I fell into a deep, deep slumber.

  In my dreams, I was on the Walk of Fame. All the people I expected to be in Hollywood formed the crowd that lined the red carpet.

  Lady Gaga.

  Jon Bon Jovi.

  Howard Stern.

  Jimmy Buffett.

  Madonna.

  Tiger Woods.

  Oprah!

  The A-list celebrities seemed to go on for as far as the eye could see. They urged me forward.

  It was only then that I realized I was wearing a beautiful custom-made gown. The skirt glittered brilliantly with what had to be thousands upon thousands of sequins. Around my midsection was a thick, silken sash dyed in the richest purple I had ever seen. The highlight of the dress, however, was the shoulder strap decorated with large fabric peonies. They looked so lifelike… I could almost smell their sweet scent wafting through the air.

  Suddenly, a bright spotlight shone on my person. I shielded my eyes with my arm, wondering what was going on.

  “Chloe…” a soft, seductive voice called out my name.

  Strong fingers interlaced with mine, pulling me forward.

  I stumbled on my high heels, crashing into the mysterious man’s chiseled chest.

  “Are you okay?” His voice crept into my skull, turning my mind into mush. “Do you need me to carry you?” he asked, his lips so close to my ear that I could feel his hot breath.

  I shivered, finally gathering the courage to look up at him.

  To my utter surprise, it was Jake Gyllenhaal!

  I gasped, my eyes widening to the size of the moon. I couldn’t believe it. I was actually in Jake’s arms!

  He cocked his head to the side, looking at me with those adorable blue eyes of his. “Chloe?”

  The way he said my name made me want to melt.

  “Y-yes…?” I stuttered, still shaken about the fact that I was in the arms of my celebrity crush.

  “Shall we?” He carefully pried me off his body, much to my dismay, before taking my hand in his and guiding me down the red carpet.

  Paparazzi flashed countless pictures of us.

  It was a dream come true…

  “This is your captain speaking…” The suddenness of the intercom system jolted me from my dream. I sat up, a little disoriented. “… and this is just a friendly warning that we are about to land at the JFK airport in New York and that everyone should fasten their seatbelts.”

  Right on cue, the overhead lights flashed on. Attendants walked up and down the aisle to make sure everyone was fastened and had their seats in an upright position.

  “The current time is 12:03 P.M. The weather is looking nice. A high of 88 degrees Fahrenheit…”

  I did a quick calculation in my head. That was about 31 degrees Celsius. I had never quite understood why America never adopted the metric system. It was so much easier…

  “Hmm… are we already there?” my mother asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

  “Yeah. Seems like you managed to sleep th
rough the whole thing…”

  “Oh my!”

  “Ma’am, if you could please fasten your seatbelt,” one of the attendants directed my mother.

  “Oh, right, right. Sorry.” She quickly buckled herself in, still looking a little wide eyed and bushy tailed. “Well, are you excited?” she asked, turning in my direction.

  “Yeah.” I smiled for her benefit, even though my stomach was twisting into knots. “I just hope it’s as nice as I imagine it is.”

  “Don’t worry, dear. You’ll love America.”

  Chapter 2

  ADAM

  “Adam, can you stop tinkering with your bike? Rachel and Chloe are going to be here any minute.”

  I huffed in response to my father as I continued to polish the side of my motorcycle. The purple finish sparkled in the sunshine, making the bike look even more beautiful.

  Feeling the heat on my back, I shucked off my shirt, tossing it into one of the nearby bushes, much to my father’s disappointment.

  He snatched it and folded it neatly. “Really, Adam, I hope you are not going to act this way when the girls get here.”

  “I don’t know what the big deal is.” I grabbed my beer, taking a swig of it.

  The frown on my father’s face deepened. “I just want you to make a good impression.”

  “If I don’t, is that going to stop you from marrying this woman?”

  “No.”

  “Then, what does it matter?” I turned my back to him and picked up a ratchet, tightening some nuts and bolts that had been rattling near the undercarriage.

  “Honestly… Adam…” he mumbled under his breath before heading back inside.

  Once he was gone, I sighed, letting my shoulders sag.

  I didn’t resent my father for wanting to marry someone. After all, he had divorced my alcoholic mother twenty years ago, raising me all by himself. When I entered middle school, however, he got a promotion at work, and from that point forward, he was barely at home anymore. He would drop me off at my grandmother’s home and it would be months before I saw him again.

  Of course, I never told him how much I missed him. That would be lame.

  So, instead, I started hanging out with the wrong crowd and getting into trouble, hoping it would catch his attention, but all it did was send my grandmother into an early grave.

  So, I guess it’s my fault that I’m all alone.

  It doesn’t matter. It’s not like I care or anything.

  I hopped onto the back of my bike, gripping the handlebars and closing my eyes. There was nothing better than a good, long ride to soothe the mind. I pulled up the kickstand, about to turn on the engine when a car pulled into the driveway.

  Immediately, my father re-emerged, a bright smile on his face. He rushed up to the woman who stepped out of the car, folding her into his embrace before they shared a quick kiss.

  I looked away, cringing at the sight of my father kissing someone. Gross.

  Thud.

  Another door slammed shut.

  A beautiful girl with dark red hair and a sprinkling of freckles across her cheek stood there awkwardly before she spotted me, her bright green eyes glittering like a pair of jades. “Hello! You must be Adam! I’m Chloe!” She walked forward, her hand already outstretched toward me.

  “Fuck off,” I said, having no intention of being friendly with my soon-to-be stepsister. If I was a jerk to her, then she would probably leave me alone and things would just be better that way.

  “Oh… um…” Her arm fell to her side like a deflated balloon. “Sorry…” She looked down, shuffling toward the front door when she tripped on my toolbox. She flew forward, colliding right into me.

  Instinctually, my arms wrapped around her body, holding her close so she wouldn’t fall, but her momentum was so great that I couldn’t steady myself. I fell backward, right off my bike.

  My foot caught on the drag pipe, causing the bike to come down with me.

  I rolled over, protecting her body with mine as the bike crashed on top of me. I grimaced in pain, the heavy vehicle crushing into my back.

  With my hands firmly planted on the ground, I pushed myself up and off the girl. “Get out! Now!” I growled, my arms shaking.

  She just looked at me with frightened big eyes, not moving an inch like if she was paralyzed.

  “Now!” I focused on my breathing, my abs tight in my effort to keep the bike from hurting her.

  “Chloe!” a high-pitched voice cried out.

  Looks like the adults finally realized what was going on. Took them long enough.

  With their combined efforts, they were able to pull the bike off me and into an upright position.

  I rolled off the girl and got to my feet, snatching my bike away from my father. I eased it onto the grass before putting down the kickstand, surveying it for damage. I ground my teeth together in frustration as I noticed a scuff mark on the frame.

  “Is he okay?” the woman asked my father in a soft whisper.

  “It’s best just to leave him alone. He acts like that bike is his first-born child. I regret ever buying it for him,” my father answered, probably thinking I couldn’t hear him.

  “Are you sure we shouldn’t bring him to the hospital or something? He just had a bike fall on top of him.”

  “He’ll be fine. We couldn’t force him to go to the hospital, even if we tried.” My father towed his fiancé toward the house.

  I ignored them as I vigorously rubbed at the scuff mark with my rag. If I had to repaint this…

  Soft footsteps sounded behind me.

  I didn’t bother to turn around.

  “A-Adam…”

  “Go away. Can’t you see that you’ve already caused enough damage?” I snapped, my every word dripping with venom. “And, if you know what’s good for you then you’ll stay far, far away from my bike.”

  She crept forward despite my words. She was so close at this point that the wind picked up her scent and carried it over to me. It was subtle, not like the perfume most girls wore that just made me want to gag. Vanilla… with a hint of something else.

  Before I could figure out what it was, she took another step forward. “Thank you…”

  I whipped around, grabbing her wrist tightly. “I thought I told you to scram.”

  Her eyes widened, filling with fear. Good. Maybe, if she was afraid of me she would leave me the hell alone.

  “I just…”

  “You just nothing. Do you know that this is a Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa? It’s going to cost me a fortune to get all this damage fixed.” I shoved her away, my jaw clenched, my fists tightening. “Get lost before I do something I regret…” I growled.

  At my threat, she quickly scampered away, disappearing into the house.

  I paced around my bike, running my fingers through my hair in exasperation. Great. Just great. Not only would I have to share my home with some annoying girl, but I’d have to do it with a clumsy one who didn’t seem to understand plain English.

  Fantastic…

  Chapter 3

  CHLOE

  I hadn’t spent more than thirty minutes in my new home and already I had gotten off on the wrong foot. I sighed.

  So far, America was turning out to be a great let down. The city smelled even worse than London. The people were incredibly rude, bumping into you without even apologizing. All the glitz and glamor from my dream was fading away. I knew I had come with my expectations set way too high…

  Knock. Knock.

  “Luv, how are you doing in there? Do you need some help?” my mother asked, already opening the door and peeking inside. “Oh my. You’ve barely unpacked.” She sat down on the edge of my bed beside me, taking my hands into hers. “It’s Adam, isn’t it?”

  I bit my tongue, trying to keep my emotions from my expression.

  But my mother always knew how to read me like a book. She pulled me into a hug, letting my head rest on her shoulder, her
fingers slowly running through my hair. “Oh, darling, don’t take it to heart. Boys will be boys. He will warm up to you eventually.”

  “I just feel like he hates me… you didn’t see the look in his eye.”

  “He doesn’t hate you.” She pulled away, carefully pinning a strand of hair behind my ear. “He’ll need some time to adjust, as I’m sure you will.”