Free STEPBROTHER: Bad Boy Blues (Taboo Romance) by Ora Wilde Page B

Summers, the slut who has always flirted with Darwin, was trying to console me?  Me? 
     
    “They don’t bother me,” I lied, belatedly realizing that by saying so, I in fact admitted that I was indeed affected.  I just bit my lip when those words left my mouth.
     
    “Betty, you were drunk,” she continued, her voice was soft, kind, true.  “You had no full control over your decisions... over your actions.”
     
    She was wrong, of course.  Yes, I was drunk, but I knew very well what I did.  I wanted it.  Well, not the part where the entire school, or so it seemed, saw us kissing with our hands all over each other’s bodies, but I wanted that kiss to happen.  And it did.
     
    “Yeah,” I said, briefly once again, my eyes still fixed on my book.
     
    Then she placed her hand over my shoulder and began to rub its surface, kneading it reassuringly, dotingly.
     
    “You know, screw them!” she uttered with a wide smile.  “They’re so quick to judge.  You know why?”
     
    “Why?” I asked, as I slowly turned my head to face her.
     
    “Because by blasting someone else, they feel like they’re vindicated from their own shortcomings,” she calmly continued.  “Often, the quickest to judge is the one who has the most to hide.”
     
    My eyes widened in surprise.  She made a lot of sense.  And she was very warmhearted... something that I completely did not expect.  All that talk about people being judgmental... I was guilty of that.  I judged her before even getting the chance to know her, all because she was pretty and had a great body... and because she exhibited a profound interest on Darwin.  It was so easy to label her a tramp... because I hated her.  I hated her... and I shouldn’t have.
     
    “I guess you’re right,” I told her.  I was amazed to discover that I was smiling at her... a genuine, happy kind of smile.
     
    “Besides,” she resumed, “if I was also drunk that night, I would’ve kissed someone worse.”
     
    “Someone worse?”
     
    “Yeah.”
     
    “Like who?”
     
    “Like... Colton.”
     
    “Colton?”
     
    “Yes.”
     
    “You’ve got the hots for him?”
     
    “Oh, dear God, no.  That muscle head is as dense as a simpleton.  All he thinks about, day in and day out, are breasts, breasts and more breasts.”
     
    We both laughed... the kind of laughter that was difficult to stop.  We continued guffawing for what seemed like a minute, and then we talked some more.  About her life, about her interests, about the latest episode of The Mindy Project, about the Apple Watch and the Samsung S6, about a lot of things that I never thought we would even discuss.  Heck, I never even thought we would be talking... more so conversing for that long a time.
     
    “Well, I have to get back to my seat,” she said as she stood up.
     
    “Chelsea...” I spoke, my eyes filled with indebtedness.  “Thank you.  Thank you so much.”
     
    She placed her hand on my shoulder once again and gave it a tight squeeze.  She smiled one last time before turning around and walking towards her seat at the back row.
     
    And though I was left alone once more, I felt a little better than before.  I actually managed to focus on my book and comprehend what I was reading.
     
    It was then when another person sat on Darwin’s seat.
     
    “Betty!  What’s this I’ve been reading on Twitter?  About you kissing your stepbrother?”
     
    It was Wilfred, my childhood friend and seat mate - before Darwin took his chair because he had been gone from school for two weeks now due to an illness - who suddenly reappeared and looked fit enough for class.
     
    “Wilfred!” I said, almost screaming.  “I’m so happy you’re back!  Are you okay?  How are you feeling?”
     
    “I’m alright.  Just a case of a really bad allergy.  A text or a poke from you would’ve been nice.  A Twitter DM too, though judging from what I’ve been reading, I’d assume you wouldn’t want to