Free Mockingbird (A Stepbrother Romance) by Abigail Graham

only bookstore in town. They have some regular stuff, too."
    After staring into my soda can for a while, I sigh. "I should thank you. That would have gotten really weird if I didn't have your help. How did you do all that stuff? Like that neck jabby thing and the swingy stuff with Lucas."
    He shrugs. "Practice."
    "So you're just a man about town," I say, eyeing him. "What are you planning to do here now that you've moved here with your father?"
    He shrugs. "I don't really need to work. It's sort of taken care of. I saw a help wanted sign at the bookstore. I might start there."
    "I think that's a joke. Like, the owner needs help because he's crazy. Charity is the only employee."
    "Oh."
    The pizza chooses that time to arrive. I add some cash of my own to make for a generous tip. Apollo takes it all from my hands and moved it to the kitchen, spreading it out on the table. Paper plates and some microwaving later, we sit at the kitchen table while Charity groans and wanders into the room, plops down, and looks at Apollo.
    "Are you a vampire?"
    He blinks at her a few times. "No."
    "Are you sure?"
    "Yes."
    She looks at me. "Did   he make you invite him in?"
    "Eat your chicken."
    She shrugs and pulls the tray of chicken in front of her, slathers the pieces in the buffalo sauce lining the bottom of the tinfoil pan, and scoops up great big gobs of blue cheese dressing before gobbling them down. I resolve to eat some pizza before I lose my appetite from watching.
    "Damn," Apollo blurts out, "This is better than I expected."
    "It's Antonio's. Local place. They know me."
    The three of us eat in silence. Charity eats almost all the chicken, but Apollo tries it and eats the rest, complete with the dressing, while I polish off half a triple cheese meat sensation pizza by myself. Antonio is creative with his naming. When Charity finishes eating, she wanders back into the sitting room and sprawls out on the couch, thankfully laying on her side as she begins to snore.
    "She's going to have a monster headache in the morning," Apollo notes, peering past me to watch her.   "She only has her mother?"
    "Yeah, her Dad was killed in Iraq."
    A pall falls over the room.
    "Oh. Shit."
    "You didn't know. She's a mess. Charity's uncle does a lot for them, gave her the job. She'll probably take over the shop one day. She likes it."
    "She have a boyfriend?"
    "No. She did but they broke up when he moved away."
    "How about you."
    "No, I don't have time for-"
    He's grinning.
    Oh.
    I turn beet red. "As I was saying, no time. You don't get a 4.0 average at a private school by twiddling your thumbs. It took a lot of work."
    "School's over, right? You can let your hair down."
    "Hardly. Now I have to go to college."
    He turns solemn, staring at nothing. "That's how it is, isn't it? You finish one thing and then there's another thing and something else after that, and it's like all the time between them just goes up in smoke."
    I get up and move to the fridge, to grab another soda. As I pass he catches my wrist, lightly, and pulls me to him. A squeak jumps out of me as I fall right in his lap, wide-eyed. Our faces are inches apart. I can feel his breath tickle my chin, warm my lips. Holy crap he's handsome, like model handsome. Just looking at him makes my heart flutter, and more than that, I feel a stir between my legs that makes me bite my lip and rub my thighs together, like an itch.
    Then he kisses me.
    Sparks fly. The world swims around me, and I feel something I've never felt before. This is supposed to be happening . Right now there is a center to the universe, and it is in this room. I slip my arms around him, and he feels so warm under that tight shirt. His arms fall around me, settle around my waist and I breathe against him, pressing my chest to his. The kiss deepens and I feel like I'm falling into a pool of warm syrup, heat flushing through my body.
    As first kisses go, this is pretty good.
    Then I hear my mother's voice, and soft laughter, then