Score - A Stepbrother Romance by Caitlin Daire, Alyssa Alpha Page A

hand. “I imagine it must be hard after the whole thing in the hotel room.”
    It was hard…but not for the reasons they likely imagined. It was horrible because every time I looked at Chase, I thought of his hands undressing me and his mouth claiming mine in a passionate kiss, just like they had on that first night. And the worst part was, I longed for it to happen again, even when we were sitting at the lunch table with Lily, chatting about her day at kindergarten.
    I was totally whipped, but I couldn’t say it out loud—that would just mean it was actually real. Better to live in denial than to accept what was actually going on.
    I looked at Michaela and Landon with a worried expression, and I knew they were on the same page. We’d known each other since we were babies, and there was no way I could’ve hidden anything from them. They’d always been able to read me like an open book.
    Yep, they totally knew I had it bad for him.
    I half expected them to say something, but as our eyes met, I found compassion and worry in their looks. They didn’t say a word; instead, they realized I wasn’t willing to say anything about Chase out loud and tucked back into their food.
    I was thankful for that.
    The conversation veered off in another direction as we chatted about life at college and how different it was to high school. A few moments later, Michaela and Landon were busy cooing at some photos of Goldie I’d taken on my phone when someone butted into our conversation with a syrupy-sweet voice I knew all too well.
    “If it isn’t lovely little Lina! I was just sitting over there behind you guys…I thought I recognized that voice!”
    I looked up into piercing blue eyes. Of course. It was Jessie Bond, the mean girl from the party. I sighed inwardly, my heart already picking up its pace. I’d mentally prepared myself for seeing her again, and it was probably good that she’d strolled up to me right now while I was with my best friends. At least they’d stand up for me if I couldn’t do it myself.
    “In the flesh,” I replied, fighting an eye roll.
    She pulled up a chair at our table and sat her butt down while the three of us stared at her in shock. I was pretty sure Landon and Michaela recognized her from when I’d told them about her behavior at the party, upon which they’d subsequently Facebook stalked her, and they gave me some seriously weird looks. I just shrugged in return.
    Jessie grinned at me, and I prepared for the onslaught…but I was more shocked by what followed than I would’ve been if she’d actually insulted me.
    “So, Lina,” she purred. “I’m totally sorry if you got upset the other day at Brett’s party. You know I was kidding, right? All in good fun.”
    I stared at her incredulously. She couldn’t be serious. She’d been so awful to me that night that I’d ended up storming out of the party and into the rain outside, with Chase on my heels, and she was trying to say that it had all been ‘good fun’? Then again, what she’d said wasn’t a real apology, anyway. It wasn’t ‘ sorry I was horrible to you ,’ it was just ‘ sorry you got upse t,’ as if she couldn’t stand to take any responsibility for her own actions.
    “Erm, right,” I replied with a small nod, waiting for her next words. Sure enough, there was something else on Jessie’s agenda, and she didn’t waste any time telling me about it.
    “By the way,” she said. “When you see Chase, tell him to fix his phone. I keep texting him but he never responds. Obviously it's broken."
    She flashed me a smile and reached for a piece of bread in the basket the waiter had just deposited on our table.
    Then I did the unthinkable. I smacked her hand away from the food.
    She gave me such a horrified look that I nearly burst out laughing on the spot, but instead, I did something even more unlikely…I stood up for myself.
    “Tell you what, Jessie,” I said. “You leave right now, and I won’t tell Chase what a