Free SCORE (A Stepbrother Sports Romance) by Mia Carson

confused, wondering why it hadn’t occurred to me that Blake would be going Friday. Well, if he gets to have fun, I might as well have some, too , I thought to myself.
    It was dark out when I finally heard Blake’s car pull into the driveway later in the evening. Both our parents had returned from work and had eaten dinner. I wasn’t hungry, still full from my trip to get soup. I debated going to talk to him, but what would I say? I bit my lip and figured distance would be best for now. I flipped quietly through a book, but restlessness made it impossible to focus.
    There was a knock at my door, and I practically jumped up to answer it. Blake stood there with a smirk on his face, leaning casually in the doorway. “Hey, kid. Feeling well enough to help me with some homework?” he asked, winking.
    I shrugged. I didn’t have much else to do. “I guess. What do you need help with?”
    “Sweet. I need you to help me write a five-page paper that’s due tomorrow,” he said with a sheepish grin.
    I groaned and asked, “How much of it have you gotten done?”
    He bit his lip and swiped a few golden locks of hair from his face. “Okay, don’t be mad, but I kind of haven’t started it yet.”
    My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped in shock. “Blake!” I cried. “What the hell?”
    He shrugged. “I’ve been busy with practice. Please, Alyssa, I need your help.”
    “Fine, fine,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest. “Let’s get started.” I followed him to his room across the hall, even though I had just vowed to keep my distance. I couldn’t help myself, though. I wanted to be around Blake. He sat down on his bed, pulling notes and his laptop from his bag. He opened the computer and powered it on. “I can’t write for you,” I warned him. “That’s cheating.”
    “Yeah, yeah,” he said, waving my comment off. “Just help me.”
    Two hours later, we were a little more than three pages deep, and I was getting sleepy. I sat close to Blake on the bed, notes on my lap as I fed him sentences and points to include. He turned towards me, that familiar intensity blazing in his gorgeous green eyes. My heart skipped a beat, and my breathing sped up, my body once again a prisoner to its own desire. Without breaking our gaze, he said, “You are such a better influence on me than I am on you.”
    I blinked and looked away. “I don’t know what you mean,” I said softly, staring intently at his wall.
    Blake’s voice was empty and sad when he replied, and he didn’t acknowledge my response. It was as if he were speaking his thoughts out loud rather than to me. “You are better at everything,” he said pointedly. “You are so smart, and you always know what to do. When you were sick, I had no idea how to help you, but if it was the reverse, you would have known exactly how to handle it.” He let out a huff and kept talking, his voice rising in vigor. “You make my life so much better, Alyssa. You help me and nurture me. You make me want to be a better person.”
    I opened my mouth but closed it, hesitant to speak. I wasn’t sure Blake would hear me because he had continued talking as if I wasn’t there. I could feel him looking at me as he spoke, but I was shaking and would be unable to face him without breaking down. If I started to speak, all of my defenses would crash to the ground. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from telling him how he made me want to be a better person, too, or how I had been wrong about him, or that I cared about him. So I just sat there, struggling to keep every desperate cry inside, not letting him know that I needed him, too.
    He finally ended his rant. “I can see the way I torture you. I confuse you, and I take you for granted. I’m no good for you, and it’s just not fair.”
    I glanced at him and watched him, unable to stop myself. He wore a pained look on his face, and he was finally quiet. It was my turn to say something, and I should have corrected him. I should