Free Side Swiped By My Step Brother by Scarlett Ward Page A

out. The second he sees me, the looks falters, but only for a second.
                  “Hello,” he says.
                  Beside me, Mom grins. “Emma, I’d like you to meet your new stepbrother, Jai. Isn’t he adorable?”
                  My face is probably five different shades of red. I open my mouth to say something, anything, but nothing comes out. I start to stutter but then just clamp my lips together. Jai reaches out, shakes my hand, and then takes a step closer, covertly brushing his lips against my cheek.
                  “Love the scarf, darling,” he whispers, before pulling away.
                  This is not happening. This is not fucking happening. I am dreaming. I’m still hung over and asleep in my bed, in my apartment, and when I wake up, I’m going to realize that it’s really late, maybe the next day even and I’ve missed this dinner completely, but who cares because that would mean none of this is actually happening.
                  My mother is saying something, but I can’t for the life of me understand anything that anyone is saying. And the dress suddenly feels a thousand times tighter, because I can’t seem to draw in a breath, can barely even stand straight. All I’m aware of is Jai, standing there with a smirk on his face. Did he know? Did he somehow know about all of this before we’d even gone out? Was Megan in on this? Were they all? What kind of sick fucking joke was this?
                  “I’ve got to use the bathroom,” I manage to gasp out. I pull away before my mother or Jai can say anything, and hurry off. I cannot get away from there fast enough.
                  In the bathroom, I splash cold water on my face. The dress is so tight it actually hurts to lean over the sink, but the water feels good against my hot face. Still, I can’t seem to catch my breath, cannot seem to wake up from this nightmare.
                  I look at myself in the mirror.
                  “Get a grip,” I say. “Get through this evening. Go back out there, completely ignore him. Or . . . no, don’t make it obvious, but be cordial, and that’s it. Get through the wedding, and then never see him again.”
                  Except—we’d be stepsiblings. I’m sure there’d be some sort of holiday or family gathering that we’d have to be within each other’s vicinity.
                  The bathroom door opens, and I pretend that I’m still washing my hands.
                  “Emma?”
                  I let out a breath and turn. “Hey.”
                  Jessica comes over and stands next to me, our reflections looking back out at us from the mirror.
                  “Everything okay?”
                  “Yeah,” I say. “I just feel . . . a little overwhelmed, I guess.”
                  “It is a lot,” Jess says. “It’s so weird to think that Mom’s getting married again. But good, too. She’s so happy. I can’t remember seeing her this happy. I mean, who knows if it will actually last or not, but . . .” She leans toward me. “And I have a confession: Our new stepbrother is super hot.” She giggles. “I know that’s probably totally wrong of me to say on like so many levels, but he’s gorgeous. I’m like actually a little psyched we get to spend two weeks at the lake house with him.”
                  I feel like gagging.
                  “You don’t think so?” Jess waves me off. “Well, you’ve always had higher standards than me.”
                  I snort. “Yeah, sure. I’m not the one with a fiancé, or a career.”
                  “You’re in school. There’s plenty of time for you to get a fiancée and career. And sometimes, a career and a fiancé isn’t as awesome as you think it’s