Take (Need #2) by K.I. Lynn, N. Isabelle Blanco Page B

is all you’d get from me.”
    I laugh. Not because I find this funny, but I can hear the doubt in her tone. “You keep telling yourself that.”
    She doesn’t respond. Her stubbornness is almost visible. Without another word, she heads to the entrance of the tree house.
    All right. If that’s how she wants to play it, I’ll continue to go along with it. For now. Eventually, I’ll break her down.
    When it comes to this—to us—she isn’t more stubborn than I am.
     
     
     
     
     

 

    June 10th, 2015
     
     
     
     
    “What is he doing home?”
    I grind my teeth as I pull up into the driveway next to my father’s car. It’s past one in the afternoon on a Wednesday. If it wasn’t for Kira’s car sitting out front, I’d turn my ass back around before walking inside. I’m ninety percent sure he’s cheating on Sonia. All the signs are there—late nights working, missing dinner, fighting, and a waning of affection between them.
    I’m not even out of my car when the asshole opens the garage door and walks out. He stops mid-step to stare at me before continuing on.
    “How did it go?” He shuffles his suit jacket from one arm to the other and pulls his keys out, keeping his gaze from mine.
    “Good. I found an apartment near campus in the same complex Ryan and Dana are in.”
    He gives a curt nod. “How much is that going to set me back a month?”
    I clench my teeth. “About the same.” I hate these conversations. The awkward, stilted flow of forced words from a broken relationship. It’s almost like we’re strangers, and I don’t know if it will ever change. I don’t even know if I want it to. I hate him.
    After throwing his jacket in the car, he sighs and looks up at me. “I wish you’d decided years ago to go to OSU instead of changing in your last year of undergrad. Would have saved me thousands in out-of-state tuition.”
    It takes everything in me not to go off on him, to explode out all the feelings I’ve been holding back for years.
    I shrug, the tension thickening between us. “Yeah, well, it’s where I’m going to get my Master’s, so I figured why not go now?”
    “That, and your sister is going there.” I hate his tone. The way he accentuates that one word.
    “She’s not my sister.” It’s an automatic response, and one I’ve practically growled at my father. Too late to take it back now.
    A triumphant sneer forms on his lips. “The law says so, and everyone knows she’s your stepsister.”
    His attitude screams out that he knows I want Kira. Not that it matters. I don’t care what people are going to think anymore.
    “Fuck that.”
    His eyes flash as he slams the car door and stomps over to me. We’re eye to eye, but that doesn’t mean he stops trying to appear larger than me.
    “Listen and listen good, Brayden. I am your fucking father, and you will respect me and what I’m about to say.”
    I let out a harsh laugh and shake my head, my eyes hard. “After all the shit you’ve done? You lost that a long time ago.”
    He grabs hold of my shirt and pushes me back against the side of my car. Face inches from mine, the explosive, testosterone-fueled rage I know all too well—one of his character traits I inherited—emanates from him. My fists are balled up, ready to lay the fucker out.
    “Stop acting like a little spoiled-ass punk kid. Grow the hell up. You’re twenty-one now, and that means only two more years of tuition from me before you have to pay for it yourself.”
    He pushes off me and heads back to his car.
    “Fine by me.”
    “One last thing.” He opens the door again and points a finger at me. “If you want to stay in this house, make sure you keep your fucking dick away from your sister.” He slips into the car, slamming the door, then revs the engine as he backs out.
    My nostrils flare with each harsh breath, nails digging into my palms. The pain is the only thing that kept me from hitting him, from getting out all of my anger and frustration. Blood