Page 7 of My Weakness

“I hooked up with a guy from work,” Harper winces.

“Fuck, yes. We’ll circle back to that,” Mia mutters as all eyes turn to me.

“I think Reed might be right.”

“Cool. So, I’m going back to college to do — I’m sorry…” Her eyes flash back to my own. “Hold the fucking fort. What do you mean,‘you think Reed might be right’?”

“It’s your turn, Mia. Finish what you were saying, we can circle back.”

“Fuck my turn. Spill. Now.”

The girls’ faces are fixed on mine, they’re all as eager for this information as Mia.

“Last night, my doorbell went, and he was standing on the other side with Chinese takeout.” Mia looks around like he’s still here hiding in the apartment ready to jump out. “He’d ordered all my favorite dishes. I don’t even know how he knew them.”

“Well, shit,” Harper breathes as she falls back against her chair.

“Is he messing with me? Is he doing what I’m doing?”

“What did he say? When you asked him?” Bella prompts.

“He said he didn’t know why he was here, something about it being a mistake and then he ran out of the apartment before I could even process what the hell was going on.”

“Holy crap,” Mia mutters. “Reedwasright.”

“No, I mean, he can’t be. Right?” I look around at them, but they all seem just as confused as me. “You all know what he’s done to me over the years. Surely not, he can’t be.”

“Girl,” Mia exhales. “I think we’ve all missed this one. But, yeah, I do believe your stepbrother is in love with you.”

Oh shit.

Chapter Five

River

Four Years Earlier

She looks stunning. Fucking stunning.

How am I supposed to let her walk out that door? Walk into the arms of another man, a man who will definitely be planning to fuck her at the end of the night. It’s Prom; it’s agiven that the guy gets laid at the end of it, and her dick of a boyfriend will expect nothing less.

I need to do something. I can’t have her lose her virginity to him. My gut clenches at the thought of her losing it to anyone but me. She will, of course it’s not something I get to have, but it’s not something he gets either.

I run up to my room — the room I rarely use — looking for ideas, for anything I can use to stop him.

Raiding my bathroom cabinet, I see it.

EXLAX.

Christ, can I actually do this to her?Yes, I have to. He doesn’t get her, and I’ve got no other ideas.

I make my way back downstairs and head to the bar in the corner of the main living room, mixing her a mocktail, her favorite one, and crushing up some tablets into her drink. I mix the rest of us a martini and carry them over to where my mom and her dad are currently having her pose for pictures.

“A toast,” I say as I hand out the drinks. I hand Ava her glass and she eyes me curiously.

I’m sorry, pipsqueak, but I have to.

***