Shackled: A Stepbrother Romance Novel by Arabella Abbing Page A

seemed to be under the impression that whatever was wrong had something to do with him, but that was only partially true. The only thing I could really do to ease his concern was admit the biggest issue.
    “I dropped out of college.”
    Even with the limited lighting, I could see his eyebrows raise high in surprise. “Shut the fuck up. Does your mom know?”
    “Not yet. The plan was to tell her right when I got home and spend the next week smoothing it over, but seeing you and your dad kind of killed that plan. Now I don’t know how—or when —to tell her. But my stuff is being delivered to the house on Friday, so I have to figure it out soon.”
    Jonathan was quiet as he contemplated the severity of my situation, but he kept his hand moving in small circles on my back. I hated to admit that I took great comfort from the small touch—so much so that I would’ve begged him not to stop if he tried to pull away.
    Thankfully, it didn’t come to that. Instead, he pulled me even closer and tilted his head down to press a kiss to my shoulder. I shivered hard, grateful that he didn’t poke fun at my body’s instinctive reaction.
    “Is it wrong of me to say that I’m happy? Because I really fucking am.”
    “Why?” I asked, ignoring his hypothetical question. “Because if you think that this weekend meant that we’re getting together or something, then I’ll tell you right now that—”
    “ No ,” he interrupted firmly and let out a sigh of frustration. “I meant that I’m happy that you’ll be around. That I’ll be able to see you more often. I missed you.”
    “Why do you have to say things like that?” I whispered as I slammed my eyes shut.
    I had never thought that Jonathan would be a romantic, but some of the things that had come out of his mouth this weekend were undoubtedly that. While a part of me swooned with every word, it also felt like I was being repeatedly kicked in the stomach.
    “Because I love you. And I’ll keep saying it until you either believe me or tell me to fuck off.”
    “Fuck off,” I mumbled pitifully.
    A beat of silence passed and his body briefly tensed before relaxing back to normal. When he pulled me even closer against him a moment later, it was my turn to tense up.
    “Nice try, but you’re going to have to try it again with a little more feeling.”
    “Let go .”
    “Never,” he whispered before craning his neck down and sliding his lips against mine.
    I whimpered into the kiss, bringing my hand up to cup his stubble-ridden cheek as he softly moved our lips together. This kiss was far different than the hard ones we shared in the kitchen only an hour or so ago, but my body responded the exact same way. Judging by the strengthening pressure against my stomach, I knew he was in a similar boat.
    When he finally pulled away, I sucked in a shuddering breath and allowed myself to relax again. There was really no point into continuing to try to deny my attraction to him. Even if the timing was awful, I still was willing to try this.
    But before we got caught up in lust again, we really needed to finish this conversation.
    “Okay, fine. Don’t fuck off.”
    I could see the brightness of his teeth as he smiled and it made my heart melt even more than his words. Regardless of what he’d done in the past, he was here with me now . He was in love with me. Or at least he claimed to be, but something deep in my heart told me that he was being genuine every time he said the words. I believed him.
    So in the grand scheme of things, did the past even matter? I didn’t have an answer to that, but forgiveness seemed to be getting closer with every hour that passed.
    “So when did you decide to drop out?”
    “I filled out the paperwork at the beginning of the month. Don’t get me wrong though—it wasn’t a quick decision. I thought about it for a long while just to make sure that I was following my heart and not just panicking. I was so sure of myself when I finally signed