Stepbrother Dearest

Chapter 8

Nearly a month passed since that encounter in my bedroom.

Elec had left my bed that night shortly after he'd repeated that I was strictly off limits and that nothing could ever happen between us. It didn't make sense to me that he could feel so strongly about it, considering we weren't actually related. So, I felt that there had to be more to the story.

The worst part about what happened in my room was that Elec started to distance himself. There were no more rude texts, no more invites to play video games. When we were home at the same time, he stayed in his room, and I stayed in mine. He'd also been spending more time at the bike shop or out of the house.

I never thought I'd miss his insults and crude talk, but I would have given anything for things to at least go back to the way they were before I kissed him—and told him I wanted to f**k him.

Ugh.

I cringed whenever I thought about it. But in that moment, I was drunk off him and wanted to know what that felt like more than I'd ever wanted anything. I was ready.

Elec and I had both turned 18 in the weeks since that night. Our birthdays were just five days apart. So, I definitely felt old enough to take that step with someone. It wasn't as if I were intentionally saving myself for marriage or anything. I was a virgin simply because I'd never wanted it with anyone before...until Elec. He'd spent the past few weeks making it crystal clear that it was never going to happen between us.

But I missed him.

Then, one night after dinner, the tides changed, and I got a little piece of him back. Normally, Elec never ate at home, but this particular Wednesday night, for some reason, he decided to join us. Ever since the night I saw how badly Randy treated him, I'd all but avoided my stepfather, except for sitting down with him at dinner. My mother and I were not really on the best terms either because she continued to insist that it wasn't her place to get involved in Randy's issues with Elec.

Elec wasn't making eye contact with me at the table. He'd just look down and twirl the pasta around his fork. At one point, I'd stared out the window to gaze at the neighbor's laundry lined up and drying in the breeze. I could feel his eyes on me. It was as if he were waiting for me to turn away so that he could look at me when he thought I didn't notice. Sure enough, when I turned toward him, his head moved downward again, and he was back to playing with his vermicelli.

Randy was in rare form that night, complaining that the plain dinner of pasta and red sauce did nothing to curb his appetite. He abruptly got up and walked over to the snack closet.

"Greta, what the hell are you doing stuffing all these underpants inside a can of Pringles?" he yelled.

My mouth hung open, and I looked over at Elec. We stared at each other for a good few seconds before Elec snorted and lost it. We both simultaneously burst into laughter. Neither of us could stop.

I loved the sound of his genuine laugh.

Looking over at Randy's confused face made me crack up even harder.

When the laughter dissipated, Elec was still smiling at me and said low enough just for the two of us to hear, "I told you they weren't in my room."

Randy slammed the can on the table in front of me. I opened it and checked the inventory. "These aren't all of them."

Elec winked. "I kept a couple for me," he said seductively.

I rolled my eyes and threw one at his face. He promptly put it on his head and wore it like a beanie. Only my stepbrother would look smoking hot with a pair of underwear on his head. He continued looking at me with the wicked grin I'd longed for. It felt good to have his attention again, albeit briefly.