Free Stepbrother's Kiss by Penny Blake Page A

splinters of glass flying through the room.
    “Blaze, calm down,” Raine said, raising a hand in protest.
    “How dare you tell me to calm down.  You’re hands were all over my…” He trailed off and turned to me. 
    “You’re fucking him too, Jess?” Blaze continued. “Really?  So what do you do, come to my room and fuck me?  Then come in here and fuck him?  At least tell me that he’s the one getting sloppy seconds.”
    “It’s not like that—“
    “So you two are…sleeping together?” said Raine, looking between Blaze and I.
    “Oh, we’re together, but we’re certainly not sleeping.  Seems she fooled you too, huh Raine?”
    “Blaze, will you just stop,” I said.  Then my attention was drawn to the group of kids from our school standing behind Blaze witnessing the whole mess.  There was more of them than I thought, seven maybe.  They must have all met here to head over to the party together. 
    Fuck.
    “That’s right,” Blaze announced to the room.  “I’ve been fucking my stepsister—who’s also been fucking our legal guardian, Raine Everly.  No, none of us are blood related.  We’re only connected by money and paper and our worthless name.  But my sister here sure seems to like keeping it in the family, isn’t that right, sis ?”
    “I’ve had enough,” I said, grabbing my dress and pulling it on.
    “Why are you covering yourself up?  Why not take off the rest of your skanky get-up and let all the guys here give you a go?”
    “That’s just mean, Blaze,” I said, trying to stop my tears from falling down my cheeks, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.
              “You know what mean is?” he said.  “Mean is being a cock tease for years.  For driving me crazy for years.  Then you finally give it up, and it turns out, you’ve been fucking another guy the whole time.”
    “It’s not like that Blaze.  I wish you would just listen.“
    “How was she, Raine? Was she good?  Did you like the taste of her sweet little pussy as much as I—“
    A crack resounded through the room as I slapped him across the face.  “Enough!” I screamed, poking my finger in his chest. “Just…stop!” 
    My voice cracked and my tears finally began to spill. I tore out of the room, running down the stairs. Then I pulled my car keys from their ring by the door and ran out of the house.
    I had no idea where I was going, but I knew I would never come back here again.
    I raced to my car, turned the key and peeled out of the driveway.
    I would just drive, I thought. Drive and drive until I was far away from the state of Maine, from Raine, and most of all, from Blaze.
    His words echoed through my mind, piercing my heart each time I replayed them. 
    Huge gasping sighs tore from my throat as I drove. 
    Then there was the flash of tail lights, the skid of breaks.
    The shriek of metal crunching and twisting.
    And then there was only darkness.

Chapter 11
    I awoke in the hospital three days later.  Word about what had happened in Raine’s office spread like wildfire at the graduation party that night, and a social worker was called in immediately.
    Since I was only a few days shy of eighteen and Raine could afford the world’s most elite lawyers, the state didn’t draw up any charges against him for his indiscretions with a minor. But he willingly relinquished his guardianship. 
    The social worker visited me every day while I recovered at the hospital.  She told me that Blaze hadn’t tried to visit, though he’d been calling the hospital daily for updates on my condition.
                  Mirabeth hadn’t left the hospital waiting room, and the moment my social worker gave her the okay to come in, she was at my bedside, crying and hugging me.
                  In my severe emotional state the night of the crash, I wasn’t paying close enough attention to the road. The driver in front of me braked suddenly and when I tried to stop, I lost