Free Stepbrother: Impossible Love by Victoria Villeneuve Page B

outside.”
    “I know, I let myself get too comfortable here, since there’s no snow on the ground. I’ll be more careful in the future.” She smiled at me. “So did you pick out a dress?”
    “I did. I like the third one, the one with the princess neckline.”
    “I knew you would. You’re such a sucker for princess necklines. Plus the empire waist will look good on you.”
    Leaving my mom, I went back to study and was about ten minutes into it when I heard Jack’s car zooming into the driveway. The way he screeched the tires every time he came in, I was surprised he didn’t lose control and go through the front of the house one day. I rolled my eyes and tried to concentrate, but it was obvious a couple minutes later that he had brought a friend over, and then a few minutes later the smell of pot started to creep through the walls into my room.
    Nope, that’s it, I definitely can’t study now I thought, the combination of their loud laughter, the music pounding through his speakers, and the smell of MJ coming through. Not that I was opposed to the drug, especially, but it wasn’t helpful when I was trying to study.
    The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

Chapter Fourteen
    As I started my new classes, I also began to meet new people. Tina, a girl in my new journalism class, seemed fun, and she quickly fit in with Annie and I to make our little group of friends a threesome. Unfortunately, not all of these new people were ones I wanted to have hang around me.
    In particular, there was one guy in our Introduction to Art History class who sat next to me on the first day. I didn’t really pay attention to him, when he asked to borrow a pen for a second I gave him one, but that was it. Normal looking guy, maybe a bit on the snobby side, probably nice enough, but that was it.
    After our third class he tried to strike up a conversation with me. I was friendly, of course, and afterwards Annie told me she thought he liked me.
    “You should go out with him! If he asks, of course. Which he will.”
    “Meh. He’s not really my type.”
    “Are you kidding? Dressed like that? Did you see his shoes? That guy has money. You don’t have to be in it for the long run, but you could probably get some pretty sweet swag if you go out with him.”
    I laughed. “What kind of woman do you take me for?”
    “I’m just saying,” Annie replied, shrugging her shoulders.
    “He looks like his mom still dresses him,” I argued.
    “Yeah, he does. That’s true. He looks like he hasn’t realized he’s left Eton and can now wear what he wants,” Annie replied, referring to the super exclusive boys’ high school.
    I giggled. She was so right. I mean, I’m sure the guy was nice and all, but he wasn’t my type. Not that I had a type, really. But private school super snob certainly wasn’t it.
    “Well, I don’t need no man to buy me bling, I got a step-daddy who gave me an Amex to do it myself,” I joked. “So no, I’m not gonna date that dude.”
    “I feel like there’s a certain irony about the fact that you don’t need a sugar daddy as a boyfriend because you literally have a sugar soon-to-be-step-daddy. But ok, fair enough. If he comes onto me though, you can’t get mad.”
    “Of course not. You’re welcome to him.”
    * * *
    Three classes later he introduced himself. Oliver was the name of the mystery guy, and after five classes he did ask me out.
    “Listen, I’m wondering if you’d have time to go out with me after class sometime,” he asked as we were packing up our books. I noticed Annie immediately start to slow down her packing so she could watch the conversation unfold.
    “Thanks, but I’m really not interested,” I told him politely, a smile on my face.
    “Fine,” he replied. “Sorry.”
    “No, no problem,” I replied. He left without another word.
    “So? How did I handle it?” I asked Annie in a hushed whisper as he left.
    “Fine. You were polite and nice. He’ll probably sit