Free Step Wilde: A Stepbrother Romance by Vesper Vaughn

of everyone involved, but it's three weeks in Italy, so it can't be that bad. I just wish you'd told me sooner you were looking for work." She took more bites of her macaroni as her words slowly sunk into my brain.
    "I'm sorry. Italy?"
    She smiled. "Hope your passport's renewed. And the only way to repay me is to make me a platter of this meal once a week for the next three months. After we get back, of course." I was still gaping at her, feeling her words turn over slowly in my brain.
    "Oh! Not a huge help if I don't give you my guy's number. Here," she said, pulling out her phone again. "You have your cell?"
    I ran into the apartment to get it, my legs shaking. This had to be too good to be true. When I stumbled back outside, I finally asked her. "Wait – when we get back? Are you going to be there?"
    Lydia smiled. "In a few days, yeah. They need a costume supervisor, but I need to spend time here pulling things to send over."
    "And Brian's okay with you leaving for that long?"
    Lydia laughed. "He's thrilled. We need a break, actually. Things have been getting a little too close for comfort recently." She sighed and stared out into nowhere. "This will be the make or break point, I think." She shrugged amiably. "It'll work out how it works out. I'm not worried."
    "Is this you just running away again?" I asked her, forgetting completely why I was standing up and holding my phone in my hand.
    "If it is, so what?" Lydia replied with a smile. "If he were the one, wouldn't I be certain?"
    It was my turn to shrug. "That's what they say."
    "And they who say those things all have a fifty percent divorce rate, so fuck they ," Lydia replied, holding up her phone. "Okay, you ready?" She called out the number and I typed it into my phone, hitting save.
    The screen lit up and the phone vibrated. 'MOM' flashed across the ancient, cracked display. I exhaled loudly.
    "Geez," I said. "Sorry, Lydia. If I don't answer this my mom will call me eighteen more times in a row until I do. I haven't talked to her since she called me after the alumni thing last month."
    Lydia held up a hand. "Say no more. I know Hurricane Penelope almost as well as you do." She pointed at her plate, indicating the macaroni. "I'll just be here stuffing my face with this."
    "Thank you," I replied, hitting the answer button and taking a deep breath. "Hey, mom," I said, bracing myself for an avalanche of words.
    "Livvy! Oh it's so good to hear your voice! I haven't heard from you in so long!"
    I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well I did call multiple times. You must have been busy."
    My mom giggled. "Oh, I might have remembered that you called me once or twice, but that doesn't matter." She paused and I heard her take a massively deep breath. That wasn't a good sign. It meant she was gaining momentum to gust at nine hundred words per minute. "Well, I have been busy, actually. Do you remember the man I met at the alumni event? The one I told you about?"
    I walked back into my aunt's apartment and started pacing the living room, mentally attempting to count the number of cat-shaped vases she had as a means to keep me calm. "Uh, yeah I remember that. Garrett or something?"
    My mom shrieked and then giggled. "You remember! Yes! Garrett. Well, honey. I wanted to wait until I saw you in person, but who knows when that will be? You never come back to Ohio."
    I nearly tripped over Sprinkles, my aunt's favorite cat who darted out of nowhere. "Fuck!" I yelled without meaning to.
    "Honey? Are you alright?"
    I resisted the urge to not punt the furry little creature across the living room, but only barely. "Yeah, Mom, I just tripped over one of the cats. Go on."
    "I'm getting married!" she exclaimed.
    I didn't bother containing the rolling of my eyes. I felt like they might fall out of my head. "That's great," I replied, trying not to sound cynical and failing miserably.
    "Oh, honey, it is! Now, I know that you might be skeptical, but this is the real deal."
    I couldn't hold it in anymore.