Kiss Me Again: a Stepbrother Romance (Second Chances) Read online

  And to think how easily we may have passed each other by. She was a cool drama student and I a nervous freshman, but the design school and the drama school kids all hung out at the same bars, though at different ends, or even floors if that were possible. We met on a particularly drunken night at The Avery, and had almost come to blows over who would get the last free booth. Alison had won, her vomiting taking the decision making out of both our hands. I pulled her hair back from her face and waited patiently while she tossed her cookies. It was one of those things that just meant you left the bathroom the best of friends.

  I shook my head now though. She was right. This was something I had to do for myself.

  “Okay, here we go… let’s hope he’s not a weirdo.”

  I clicked on the message to open it up. I started reading, and his gentle words soon soothed my fears. He really did sound like a nice guy. My breathing began to slow again as he talked about his half-sister, and how much he’d enjoyed taking her to the zoo that day. A smile began to break my tight features.

  “He seems great,” I said simply.

  She squeezed my hand and poured the last bit of the wine into our glasses.

  “Good.”

  5

  Cole

  I have never been a big fan of talking on the phone, and though I appear pretty confident I am quite shy in person. I find it hard to relax around new people, and around girls I usually find it impossible. I’ve always let others put it down to the fact I am a bit of a nerd, I study super hard, and love Star Trek and Star Wars, comics, and all that “Big Bang Theory” kind of stereotypically geeky stuff. The only people who know that it is only part of who I am are Jake and Callie. But as the days go by and I chat more and more with Lucy online I realize that most of it is just because there was a big Lucy shaped hole in my heart that I didn’t want to fill with just anyone.

  I felt guilty as hell that she didn’t know it was me at the end of the emails, but I had no clue how to tell her now. I should have done it right away, but with my mind on the trial and not wanting to scare her away I just put it off, and off, and now I couldn’t bear the thought that she would run from me again. I liked having her back in my life. Her quirky way of looking at the world, her worries, and her joys made me feel just the way I always did back when we were teenagers. Work was crazy, but getting in to find a message from her made it all worth it. I looked forward to the evenings when we messaged back and forth all night. I grabbed a beer and sat down with my phone and pretended she was right there in the room with me.

  But not tonight, I thought. Tonight my friends have stamped their feet and demanded I stop being a recluse and go out on the town. I heard the honk of Jake’s classic Mustang downstairs, and hit return on the last message I would be able to send her that night, grabbed my coat and ran down the stairs.

  Callie managed to get us tickets to go and see the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I have loved them forever, and used to force Luce to rock out with me to every album they ever made. Even now they are still one of the greatest bands to see live, and I had been looking forward to the gig so much. Yet, now I feel as if I could take it or leave it, and just stay home and keep chatting with her. She is out herself tonight, so I may as well go, I thought. I would be a pretty sad fuck if I just sat in and mooned over her instead.

  “So, how is the hunt for the final date going?” Callie asked with a glint in her eye as I scrambled into the back seat.

  “As a matter of fact I have a date tomorrow with a personal trainer called Magda. She is about six foot six, is a competitive body builder, and quite frankly scares the shit out of me. I’m going to try and make sure I am so obnoxious that she never wants to see me again!” I winked at her.

  “Don’t you dare piss off any of our customers, Kent. Make her feel super special even if you hate every minute or I will have your guts my friend.” A mean look crossed over her lovely face and I laughed.

  “Cole couldn’t be mean to anyone, even if there was a gun to his head. Gentleman to the core Callie, you know that. Now leave him be. You have three women who have already given us great reviews and recommended the app to plenty of their friends because of the dates he took them out on. He isn’t going to suddenly become a complete shit, even if he wanted to be,” Jake said at her pouting face.

  “Maybe I need to develop a bit more of the ‘treat ‘em mean’ thing. Clearly being such a nice guy isn’t working for me!” I joked, and between us Callie’s face began to return to her usual perkily smiley self.

  “No, don’t you change for anyone sugar. You’re perfect as you are.”

  “Aw, shucks Cal, you’ll make me blush! Now, what have you crazy kids been up to this week? Any dirty gossip for me?”

  “Change would be a fine thing buddy,” Jake snorted. “We work, we eat – occasionally if she lets me have a moment to myself – and we sleep. Nothing left after that.”

  “Tsk, tsk and you two yell at me for working too hard! You need to maybe look up from your laptops occasionally and see what is happening all around you, and especially under your noses,” I said cryptically.

  I saw Jake’s eyebrow rise quizzically in the rear view mirror and I winked at him. His bushy eyebrows furrowed with a look of warning. I chuckled to myself. Nope, I was not going to keep his secret any longer, especially as I was pretty certain I had worked out Callie’s too.

  The gig was loud and Jake had gotten us great seats, but it was crowded and hot in the arena. I found myself feeling hemmed in, and uncomfortable just being there. God, I was turning into an old man, wanting a bit of peace and quiet and desperate to hear from Lucy again.

  I headed out to the bar, leaving my friends bouncing frenetically to the great tracks. With a plastic cup of beer in my hand I walked to a relatively quiet spot by the huge glass walls. I looked out over the city and sighed; it was torturous having Lucy back in my life, nearly within my grasp and yet totally untouchable at the same time.

  Guilt washed over me. I knew I had to tell her the truth sometime, tell her who I really was. As I considered my options I took a sip of my beer and turned back toward the bar. A head of auburn curls caught my eye. I could’ve sworn it was Lucy, but I knew it was only wishful thinking. I was conjuring her up only because she was on my mind pretty much 24/7.

  But even though I had my doubts I had to make sure. I chased the slender back through the crowd, losing her momentarily. Gazing anxiously around me I spotted a pert figure sauntering towards the arena doors, two cups of beer in her hands. She turned briefly as if she felt my eyes on her back. A cute co-ed with big blue eyes and a mischievous twinkle grinned at me. She went to move toward me and talk. I sighed and turned back to my quiet spot by the windows.

  I have had so many moments like that over the years, and it was never her. Maybe I should give up, and should leave her in peace. Just fade back out of her life again; she never needs to know who I was.

  “Hey, you okay? You took so long I got worried,” I hear Callie’s drawl asking me gently. “Did you think you’d seen her again?”

  “Just a cute girl,” I admitted dejectedly.

  “You’ll find her.”

  “I already have.”

  “Wait. What? You found her? Where? How? Why didn’t you tell us?”

  I sighed, unable to put my thoughts into words.

  “Oh, I’m sorry hon… I shouldn’t bombard you like that. But is she okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s fine. Great even. She’s on ‘Wooed and Won’ – but as always I have made a complete mess of it all, and she has no clue that I am me and when she finds out she is going to hate me all over again.”

  Callie frowned. “Cole, from what you’ve told me, I don’t think she’s ever truly hated you. Quite the opposite really, and maybe she misses you and her family just as much as all of you miss her. Maybe she’ll be mad to begin with, but if she loves you even a tiny bit she’ll find a way to forgive all of you.”

  “I wish I could be so optimistic Callie, but she was so a
ngry.”

  “You have to try. Life sucks when you don’t take chances my friend.”

  I could have laughed at the irony. Here was a girl who worked day in and day out by the side of the man I was pretty sure she adored as much as I did Luce, and yet had never so much as made a half-hearted pass at him.

  “You gonna take your own advice Cal?” I asked her, turning the tables. I didn’t want to talk about my shit any more. She looked stunned.

  “Wh…wh…what do you mean by that?” she stuttered, knowing full well what I was implying.

  “Come on, your secret is out. It’s so obvious you love Jake, and that he loves you and yet the pair of you skate around it as if it simply wasn’t there.” Callie’s mouth dropped open. “He shoots me dirty looks when I hint that he likes you, you do the same when I hint you like him. For fuck’s sake, will the two of you just do it and get rid of the hideous ‘will they, won’t they’ soap opera that is our lives?”

  “Oh God, you knew. How long have you known?” she gasped.

  “Oh about you, only very recently, but Jake I knew from that very first day. He fell hook line and sinker, but figured that a ‘fat fuck like himself would never stand a chance with a babe like you’ – his words!”

  “He really does love me?” Her face looked so hopeful I couldn’t help but give her a big hug.

  “Callie, he adores you, now go in there, wrap those inordinately long limbs of yours around that tubby belly of his, kiss him senseless and let him know too. You’ve got ten minutes to get it out of your systems. Then I’m coming back in. You had better be together, but not all over each other by then. I want to enjoy the rest of the show!”

  Callie kissed me and bounced off like a rabbit through the crowd.

  I slouched against the glass, my good deed for the day done. At least two people I loved would end this day happy, even if I was still wracked with guilt and had no way to assuage it. I finished my beer, and having given them a whole half hour figured it should be safe to go back in. I could hear the intro to “Under the Bridge” and I wasn’t going to miss that. Luce had loved it, had played it over and over again, so much so that I had almost come to hate it – but now it always made me feel close to her somehow.

  My friends were standing so close that even a sheet of paper wouldn’t be able to come between them, and were holding hands. But they were just swaying to the music. Clearly Callie had taken my warning to heart. Jake nudged me as I got back to my seat, a look of absolute joy all over his chubby face. I knew it would take a while for it to all sink in, for him to know that it was all real, but it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. They might not look like they fitted together, but they were so perfect for one another. I just hoped that my own happy ending would work out so easily in the end.

  6

  Lucy

  I cried as I stood in the pit swaying to “Under the Bridge.” Sweat and tears mingled on my face and I hoped my waterproof mascara was up for the challenge.

  It was the first song Cole ever played me by the Chili Peppers, and I fell in love with it right off the bat. I remember driving him crazy that summer I played it so often. I even made up a cassette with it on loop

  When Alison said they would be playing at the Arena I had shelled out for tickets for us both, managing to scrape every single cent I had together for them. It was just one of the reasons I was so broke, but I wanted to be there. There was no way I was going to miss it. She wasn’t excited to go, but had come with me anyway. Now here she seemed to be enjoying herself, and was chatting happily with a guy who had accidentally spilled his beer over her in the crush. He was kind of cute, and dressed in his skater boy chic baggy pants he looked perfect for Ali. I watched as she confidently took his number and kissed him on the cheek, then swayed her way back to me.

  “God, that poor guy. You didn’t have to do the full on languorous walk, Ali. His tongue may never be able to be picked back up off the floor!”

  “He enjoyed it then?” she asked irreverently.

  “Oh yeah! He definitely enjoyed it. You gonna give him a call?”

  “Maybe, I’ll give him a couple of days to stew first, though. Keep him interested. He is pretty hot though, don’t you think?”

  “If you like them young and stupid, then definitely!” I teased.

  We both laughed and as the volume and tempo picked up again for “Californication” we fell quiet and just danced. Being out with Ali was great, she got that music was about feeling it and dancing. She was happy to let me just lose myself in it. It was the only time in my life I didn’t feel self-conscious and she just joined me in abandoned pleasure, whether she liked the tune or not. She just got on with it and lived. She was good for me that way.

  We staggered up the stairs to our apartment, our ears still ringing from band member Flea’s stinging bassline and the hot and heavy guitars. We collapsed, exhausted, on the couch.

  “I need water!” Ali announced eventually. “Want some?”

  I nodded eagerly as she tried to drag herself up from her comfortable disarray and head towards the kitchen. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and realized I had missed a message in all the noise.

  Hey Lucy. Hope you had a good night. Just wanted to check you got home safe. Apollo x

  I grinned, and responded.

  Fantastic night. Best in years. Went to see the Chilies. Awesome! How was yours?

  I had barely put the phone down on the arm of the chair when it pinged again. He was online.

  I was at the Chilies too! Wow, what a coincidence. Fucking fantastic right? My two best friends hooked up together, at last! So happy for them, just wish they had got themselves figured out sooner.

  That’s so cute! My friend hooked up too, she met a cute skater boy, but I just wanted to dance. It helps me forget all my troubles and just be me.

  Sounds like a good thing. Hope you don’t have too many troubles, Lucy.

  Too few clients, not enough money, the usual stuff!

  Want me to ask around see if anyone I know wants anything done?

  Nah, but thanks for the thought. I’ll work it out somehow. Gotta do it myself, you know? I’m exhausted, think I’d better get some rest. Final day on my last project for college. Need to have my critical eye ready! Night Apollo x

  Night Lucy, glad you had a good night, and good luck tomorrow. Let me know how it all goes x

  I was still lying there clutching my phone to my chest when Ali appeared with two glasses full of icy cold water. I reached for it like a man who’d been stuck in the desert for days. I drank greedily then sunk back down into my comfy spot.

  “You have the oddest look on your face Luce,” Ali said perceptively. “You’ve heard from the mysterious Apollo again haven’t you?”

  “He just texted to make sure I’d had a good night. He was at the show too, can you believe it? Shame I just missed him, but nice to know he cares enough about me to check I got home okay.”

  “If I didn’t know you better Lucy Rivers, I’d say you were starting to fall for this guy.”

  “He does seem very lovely, but I’m too scared to meet him. What if he isn’t like all the messages? That guy is sweet and caring, wants to know all about me, isn’t scared off by the stuff that isn’t so great in my life, and seems to really want to help me if he can. What if he turns out to be some kind of pathological liar, a sociopath, or even worse, married?”

  Ali snorted then composed herself. “Well Luce, you are only ever going to find out if you actually meet him. Wouldn’t it be better to do it sooner rather than later so you don’t fall too head over heels with his online persona?”

  “Wise as always my friend. But I am too tired to make a decision now. I am going to go to bed, and get a good night’s sleep so I can get a good score tomorrow.”

  “I’m gonna crash too. Night, Luce.”

  * * *

  The next morning dawned earlier than I wanted it to, and I dragged my butt out of bed unwillingly. Alison had made sure there wa
s plenty of cereal and I gulped down a bowl as I made a sandwich to take with me to work. I would find a way to pay her back for keeping her word and ensuring the fridge was well stocked. I was already starting to feel a lot better for it, and could see my skin getting a little pinker and plumper each day. I grabbed my lunch and ran down the stairs. I nearly missed my bus, but the driver grinned at me and pulled back in so I could scramble aboard.

  “Thanks Eddie, boy am I glad it’s you and not Sergei this morning. He would have pulled off just to spite me!” Eddie laughed as he took my fare then waited until I was safely seated and pulled off into the busy rush hour traffic.

  The journey across town took thirty minutes, and I looked over my mood boards to refresh my mind with all the finishing touches I needed to get done today before my clients got back from their vacation, and my tutor came to check it over at five o’clock. I was nervous and caught myself biting my lip a few times, but having something so practical to keep my mind and hands occupied helped.

  My phone vibrated in my pocket and I whipped it out, expecting it to be Alison wishing me luck, but realized there was no way she would be out of bed yet. It was Apollo.

  Go get ‘em tiger! X

  I grinned and put the phone back in my pocket. It was great having someone else in my life again, someone other than Ali who seemed to genuinely care about me. It was strange, but I hadn’t realized just how much I needed it, craved it until he showed up. It was almost like having Cole back in my life - someone who just listened, didn’t judge, and was always on my side.

  I missed him, and I knew I had probably been too hard on him. How on earth could I have expected him to turn his back on his mom, after everything they had gone through when his dad ran out on them? He had been so sure it was all his fault, and it had taken Steph and me months to make him realize that his dad was the one with the problem, not either of them.