Unwanted (bxb)

Chapter 2

Cole's POV

"Justin," he replied contemptuously. "My name's Justin."

It was funny how he scowled at me. My new stepbrother seemed offended I didn't give a shit what his and his mother's names were, but I had to admit that at least I remembered his mother's. How couldn't I? The last three weeks, she'd spent more time in my house than I had. Kensley Johnston was now a part of my life, and to make matters worse, she'd brought company.

"Like Justin Bieber? Justin Timberlake?" I asked, knowing it would bother him. "No offense, obviously," I added when I saw his honey-colored eyes open with surprise.

"Not like either of them," he answered a second later. I watched him look at me and then at Charlie, my dog, and I couldn't help laughing. "Probably your limited vocabulary doesn't include the word unisex." Charlie kept growling and baring his teeth. It wasn't his fault; we'd trained him not to trust strangers. With one word from me, he'd turn back into the sweet dog he always was... but it was too fun seeing the look of fear on my new stepbrother's face.

"Don't worry about my vocabulary, it's pretty extensive," I replied, closing the fridge door and turning to face him, for real this time. "There's one word I know that my dog loves. Starts with an A, then two Ts, then A-C-K." He looked scared, and I couldn't help but laugh.

He was masculine built — probably close to six two, but I wasn't sure — well put together, I had to admit. But his face was so girlish it was impossible to have any lustful thoughts about him. Unless I'd heard wrong, he hadn't even started college, but you could guess that after one glance at his shorts, his T-shirt, and his black Nikes. All he needed was to get a buzzcut and look like the typical teenager waiting impatiently for someone to open the doors of some big box store so he could buy the Xbox everyone is freaking out about. Still, I couldn't take my eyes off his hair; its color was strange, somewhere between dirty blonde and brown.

"Very funny," he said sarcastically but obviously terrified. "Get him out of here. He looks ready to kill me." He took a step back. As he did, Charlie took a step forward.

Good boy, I thought. Maybe he could use a scare, a special reception to let him know whom this house really belonged to and how unwelcome he was.

"Charlie, forward," I ordered him sternly. Justin looked back and forth from him to me and stepped farther back until he hit the wall.

Charlie walked slowly toward him, growling and showing his teeth. He was scary, but I knew he wouldn't do anything. Not unless I ordered him to.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "This isn't funny."

But it was.

"My dog usually gets along great with everyone. It's weird that he's on the verge of attacking you," I remarked, amused as he tried to control his fear.

"Are you going to do anything?" He whined.

Do anything? How about I tell you to go back where you came from?

"You've been here, what? Five minutes? And you're already bossing people around?" I said, walking over to the tap and pouring a glass of water. "Maybe I should leave you here for a while to get to know the place on your own."

"I can tell you were dropped on your head often as a child. Now get that dog away from me!"

I turned, a little surprised at his audacity. Had he just insulted me? No one insults me.

I think even my dog got it because he walked closer to him. He hardly had space to move. Then, before I could stop him, Justin turned in fright and grabbed the first thing in reach on the counter, a frying pan. Before he could hit Charlie, I grabbed his collar with one hand and stopped him with the other.