BAD HEART: A Stepbrother Romance (A Step Over the Line Book Book 2) by Aurora Hayes, Ana W. Fawkes Page B

’ m right
here. I want you. I want this. I want …”
    My lips quiver and I ’ m ready to kiss Hunter. For
real. To just grab him, pull him in, and just kiss him. See what it feels like
and where it can go.
    Hunter ’ s phone beeps and he backs away. Just like that, I ’ m not longer the center of his
world. The phone, business, it ’ s
all more important.
    Just like my father.
    Hunter takes the call and turns
around. A second later, he ’ s
raising his voice. He ends the call and slaps the wall.
    He turns, swallows, and says, “ I have to go. ”
    “ Bad
news? ”
    “ Business
stuff. I ’ ll take you
wherever you want. I ’ ll
call you later, as soon as I get this cleaned up. ”
    “ Is
it that bad? ” I pretend to
care.
    Hunter touches my face. “ You don ’ t have to worry about me. Or my business. Ever. I
promise. I ’ ll take care of
everything, including you. I ’ m
worth a lot, Jade. I ’ m
worth … a lot …”
    So he ’ s
bribing me with money now?
    Hunter kisses my cheek.
    “ Come
on, ” he says.
    “ No,
I ’ m fine. I ’ ll call a friend. I promise. ”
    “ No …”
    “ Hunter,
go. ”
    He nods. “ Okay. The check is taken care of. If you want to
sit and finish or have another drink …”
    “ Thank
you, ” I whisper.
    He leaves and I slowly follow.
    It ’ s
actually a relief to leave the damn restaurant. I walk near the side of the
restaurant, away from the lights, black carpet, and the valet services. I grab
my phone and text Katelyn. I can always count on her.
    She picks me up twenty minutes
later.
    “ You
look nice, ” she says.
    “ I
feel like a clown, ” I say. “ Just get me out of here. ”
    “ What
happened? ”
    “ Hunter
had to leave, ” I say. “ Typical. Always about the
business. ”
    “ You
two fighting? ”
    “ There ’ s no fighting, ” I say. I look at Katelyn. I
feel like telling her everything. Everything. About me and Jake … the sex, passion, feelings … “ He
tells me so much shit about how he cares about me and then he ditches me. It ’ s just so weird how much he ’ s like my father. Like I ’ m supposed to want that? I ’ m supposed to fall for that? ”
    “ Only
you can answer those questions, ” Katelyn says. “ It ’ s not weird. It ’ s who he is. He ’ s rich and successful for a
reason. ”
    “ What
if I said I didn ’ t want to
be the backseat person anymore? ” I ask. “ I want the
attention. I want to feel like I ’ m
cared about. Even if it ’ s
not right …”
    I stop myself.
    I ’ m
talking about Jake.
    He ’ s
the only one that actually looks at me. He sees me. He comes after me. He gives
me that high of being chased after. And it ’ s
all worth the risk.
    “ What
are you getting at? ” Katelyn asks.
    “ I
need a drink. Right now. ”
    Katelyn agrees and she stops at the
first bar we find. She tells me she ’ ll
be DD so I can drink until I ’ m
happy.
    We walk into the place and I ’ m the most overdressed person in
history. It ’ s a chill bar
and I ’ m in a fancy dress. I
look like a damn fool. So I hide in a corner and tell Katelyn what I want. She
brings back two beers for me and I got to town on them. I should be drinking
something harder, but my stomach flips when I think about drinking vodka. The
night I was drunk comes back to me again … and Jake … he helped me. He
didn ’ t just lick me and
make me come. He took care of me. He helped me when I puked and got me to bed.
    Katelyn sits across from me. There ’ s a look on her face.
    “ What? ” I ask.
    “ Nothing.
Just drink. Then we will talk. ”
    I nod.
    The first beer is good. The second
is heavier.
    “ This
thing with Hunter … , ” Katelyn says. “ I don ’ t get it …”
    “ Neither
do I, ” I say. “ It ’ s
like my father has this all planned out. He wants me to be with Hunter, marry
him, have babies, and have this life … that I don ’ t want. ”
    “ Then
you don ’ t need to have it, ” she says. “ Fuck