Free Stepbrother Backstage (The Hawthorne Brothers Book 3) by Colleen Masters

curious. I mean, I am a pretty fascinating guy.”
    “And so modest,” I mutter, wishing he wouldn’t leave my
side. Any alone time with Finn is hard won. I don’t want to give it up so
easily.
    “What can I say?” he shrugs, standing to leave, “I’m a real
catch.”
    “Hey,” I say quickly, hurrying to follow as he heads off
through the darkened house, “Are you, uh, doing anything right now?”
    “Why?” he asks, looking over his shoulder, “You need me to
buy you booze or something?”
    “Ha, ha,” I say, trailing along after him, “No. I’m just
asking because everyone else seems to have disappeared for the night. I was
thinking we could maybe hang out or something? Get to know each other…?”
    I trail off as Finn pauses by the front door, looking at me
with a blank expression. My heart sinks as I realize my error. Of course he’s
not actually interested in “getting to know me”. He’s not some bashful country
boy who’s going to drink lemonade on a porch swing with me. I’m just a fun
plaything for him to bat around when he’s bored. Why didn’t I just keep my
goddamn mouth shut?
    “Listen,” Finn says, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but the
only reason I agreed to come on this little family vacation was because I
managed to arrange some local shows for my band. That’s my priority, you know?
I’m not here to do any bonding or whatever the fuck.”
    “Yeah. No. Totally,” I say quickly, wishing a trap door
would open up under my feet, “I mean…I get it.”
    A yellow sweep of light illuminates the darkened foyer as a
car horn cuts through the quiet night. Raucous voices call out Finn’s name,
beckoning him outside. Away from me. Finn turns and opens the front door, and I
follow him out into the warm night. There’s a yellow jeep parked at the end of
the driveway, with at least five people hanging out of it already. I recognize
the driver as the brooding man from The Few music video. The two other band
mates are there, too. As are two gorgeous, voluptuous women wearing very little
clothing. Finn waves to the group and sets off to join them. A sudden, daring
thought springs into my mind.
    “Could I come with?” I ask, grabbing hold of the porch
banister as Finn takes the front steps two at a time. “I’d love to see your
band.”
    “You want to come…to the show?” he asks, glancing back at
me.
    “Yeah,” I confirm, “I’d love to see what you guys are
about.”
    “No offense,” Finn replies, “But I don’t think it would be
your scene.”
    Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any more like a dumb
little kid.
    “Oh,” I manage to say, fingers tightening around the
banister.
    “It’s just, the venues we play can be pretty rough,” Finn
elaborates.
    “I can handle rough,” I tell him, determined not to be
written off.
    “Is that so?” he replies, a grin spreading across his face.
    “It’s very much so,” I go on, ignoring the repeated blasts
of the car horn.
    “Well…Maybe if you find some way to prove that to me,” Finn
says, turning to go, “I’ll let you come to the next gig. All right?”
    “I don’t have anything to prove to you, Hawthorne,” I shoot
back.
    “Whatever you say kid,” he shrugs, pulling a pack of smokes
from his back pocket and lighting one up as he walks away from me. “Whatever
you say…”
    I stare silently after him as he swings himself up into the
Jeep, subsumed at once by the tangle of bodies already riding there. The band’s
lead singer turns the car’s speakers all the way up, and riotous rock music
blasts across the lawn. One of the women riding in the backseat spots me staring
wistfully after Finn and gives me a sarcastic little wave. I shrink back into
the shadow of the verandah, embarrassed to have been spotted. The Jeep’s engine
roars to life as the vehicle takes off into the night, leaving me very much in
the dust.
    With a badly wounded pride, I trudge back into the lake
house. The rest of my housemates