Free Hard: A Military Stepbrother Romance by Lara Swann

think.”
    Without
another word, she disengaged and walked back into the small pantry that I swore
had been built next to the room leading onto this deck purely for this purpose.
I appreciated the brief time to compose myself and work out what the hell was
going on, and then she was back, holding the ice cream tub and two large
spoons.
    “Sans
iced coffee this time?”
    “Pfff,
figured we’d go straight to the good part.”
    I
grinned and grabbed a spoon as she settled back down against me, my smaller
frame leaning against her shoulder as we didn’t quite fight to fit our spoons
into the not-so-large tub.
    She
didn’t say anything for a while, and I just looked out at the sea, letting the
summer’s day warm me again as my thoughts drifted.
    We’d
done this before - admittedly not that often, but enough that it felt almost
like a familiar routine. When everything was going crazy around me and I didn’t
have any way to deal with it, she was the one person I could let my raw
emotions run rampant with.
    I
sighed and shook my head. I wanted to say this whole thing shouldn’t have
affected me like that - but if I was honest with myself, I damn well deserved a
chance to rage at my father’s insensitivity, at the reappearance of the guy
who’d screwed with my emotions for over a year…and the way my life seemed to be
spinning completely out of control.
    “I’m
so sick of this, Kay.”
    “So
do something about it.”
    Her
no-bullshit response made me smile - that was one of the reasons I loved her.
She’d could comfort me when I needed it, but the moment it was over there was
no hint of pity or worry it would change her opinion of me. Kaylee always told
it how it was, and she was one of the few people lucky enough to have the wit -
or money - to get away with it.
    “Any
suggestions?”
    “Take
some damned ownership of your life for once. Let’s face it - he can bring a
circus into your pretty little manor if he likes, but you don’t have to just
sit here and take it. You have things you want, goals you’ve told me enough
about - why curtail that because he looks askance at you?”
    It
was hard to hear, just as it had been when she’d said it earlier. And if I was
honest, part of the reason I’d yelled at her had been because of the echo of
Seth’s words last night.
    “Still
chasing Daddy’s approval?”
    Kaylee
reached over and bumped my shoulder, bringing me out of those traitorous
thoughts.
    Somehow
my resolution to stay far away from my new ‘stepbrother’ didn’t quite manage to
rein in my mind, which insisted on showing reels of unwanted images and
memories.
    “You
promised me it would be different this time.”
    She
phrased it mildly, but the frustration in her eyes was obvious.
    I
didn’t promise you. I promised myself.
    Which
was worse, to be honest. At least the emotional catharsis had left me able to
listen - and she was right. I’d been so sure my father would understand and
give what I was saying a chance this time. But everything had happened far too
fast, leaving me unbalanced and unable to explain myself properly.
    I’d
been upset about my father’s engagement, how he’d handled it, and the sudden
reappearance of Seth in my life was already driving me crazy, but in the end it
all came down to the same thing. My father had his idea of how life should be,
what was proper and appropriate, and I’d always gone along with it. That had
worked out great for most of my life, but I’d started to think I didn’t want it
to end up dictating my future as well.
    He
was just so hard to talk to sometimes, and when he’d shrugged off my plans
yesterday I’d been ready to give up - again.  But I was done with having my
ideas dismissed outright. He deserved respect, not mindless agreement. I wanted
to take this year to discover more about who I was, what I could do - and now
that he’d invited two complete strangers into my life, it was clearly time for
some measure of independence.
    Who
was it