Free Getting Mine: A Stepbrother Romance by Adair Rymer Page A

When we walked to school together, I'd always waited for him to come out.
    His house was a lot smaller than mine, but so much warmer. Not physically of course, but with the embarrassing pictures on the mantle, wedding invites stuck to the fridge with magnets and worn in couches, it felt like there was a family living there.
    My father hired a Feng Shui interior designer for our mansion. We had these massive empty spaces with giant tapestries, sparsely decorated with barely functional furniture and various props and awards from the films my father worked on. I had no idea what he was going for unless my father asked for a cavernous, shrine look.
    Romeo barked from the other room and jumped up on me, I couldn't not rub his belly. I liked Arsen's house better, I sighed. Seeing what a family was supposed to look like, made me wistful. I wondered what my house might have looked like if my mom were still alive.
    Arsen gave me some of his mom's clothes to wear while mine dried. I was changing in the bathroom when I heard the knock at the door. Panicked, I started looking for a place to hide. Did the bathroom have a closet?
    Arsen seemed more concerned than worried. He assured me that his mom was at work and that no one else should be coming over. He opened the door to find two men dressed in white hats and black and blue uniforms with ribbons on their chests.
    Marines! Arsen said his father was in the Marines. I didn't know anything about the military except that my father had a general disdain for servicemen and that I wasn't allowed to join any branch. But what could they be doing here?
    “Is Pamela Constantine available?” Asked one of the men. They were rigid and professional and had a sad grimness to them. I had no idea why, but my stomach turned at the sight of them, at what they were about to say.
    This can't be good news.
    “No. She's at work, I can take a message...” I'd never seen Arsen so hesitant, it really unnerved me for some reason. “I'm her son, Arsen.”
    The man who spoke earlier frowned deeply, then began, “Son, it is with great regret that we have to inform you—”
    “My father... He's dead, isn't he?” Arsen asked, his tone was distant and hollow. He knew what this was, he'd probably run through this scenario a million times in his mind, every time his dad was deployed.
    “Yes,” the man said. “I'm sorry.”
    But to have it actually come true... My heart broke for Arsen.
     
     
    Present.
     
     
    His Mustang was insanely fast! There were a couple times that I thought we'd fly off the road and never come down.
    I couldn't help think about what he said about his cock overcompensating for his car and then how it felt in my hand. I swallowed hard, trying not to get worked up, but I could barely wrap my hand around it in the Jacuzzi. My pussy was wet again at the thought of that sliding into me, splitting me in half...
    “Your dad said she was stable?” Arsen abruptly asked. His voice was so much sterner now than it was just a short time ago.
    “Huh?” Dammit, Val, focus! I cleared my throat and shook the thick image away. “Yes! Yes. He said she's beaten up a bit, but it wasn't life-threatening.” I looked at him, but he was singularly focused on the road. “She's going to be alright, Arsen.”
    He only nodded slightly in response. I could only imagine what was rushing through his head. First his dad, then— No. Pamela is going to be alright. She had to be.
    It was a five hour drive to the hospital in NYC, but somehow Arsen made it in just over three. When we got to Pamela's room, she was asleep and in stable condition. She was bruised and battered, and generally in rough shape. The constant whir and beeps of the various machines she was hooked up to, painted a horribly real picture of what a car crash can do to someone.
    And my father, her own husband , was nowhere to be found.
    Arsen stepped out into the hallway and grabbed the arm of one of the passing nurses. “Where the hell is