Free PIERCED - A Stepbrother Romance by Maya Hawk Page B

already an adult by then. And true, DeVonn had hand in raising me. He was the only father figure I’d ever known really, but it was always in a harmless, he’s-my-best-friend’s-dad kind of way.
    Until the affair.
    “You think so?” I play the part of the sympathetic friend because I know my mother has long since run out of those. Choosing DeVonn over her best friend, Diane, alienated her from the rest of her social circle and earned her the reputation of certified home-wrecker.
    “I don’t think he’s been faithful to me since day one,” she slurs. She’s been drinking. Her imbibed state coupled with the fact that she generally lives in a constant state of delusion makes her forget reality sometimes.
    “You were the original other woman, Mom.” I say it as gently as I can, as if she could break and shatter at any moment. “Did you think he’d change?”
    “I’m leaving him,” she says. “I think.”
    “Good,” I say, though more for selfish reasons than anything else. I don’t want to be Lauryn’s stepbrother. I never wanted to be in the first place.
    “I mean, I guess we can go to counseling. Maybe we can save this marriage.” She’s talking in circles, and there’s a clink in the background that could only be the slamming of an empty bourbon tumbler against her kitchen table.
    “DeVonn’s not the monogamous type, Mom.” I sit down with my plate of food, alone, at the head of a long dining table. The spot next to me is where Lauryn should be sitting. “It’s probably time to move on.”
    “God, I love your father so much.” Her voice cracks, and I cringe with the mention of the word father once again. It’s as if she thinks if she says it enough, it’ll come true. I want to remind her he’s not my father, and he ceased to be my father figure the day I found him fucking her on the pool table. “I never thought it’d come to this, you know? He said he loved me more than Diane.”
    She says her name as if Diane was the other woman, and I begin to wonder exactly how long the affair had been going on before I caught them.
    “Is he back with Diane?”
    “Oh, God, no. He wouldn’t go back to that dried up old hag,” she slurs her words again, drawing out the word like haaaaaaaaag . “I think he’s fucking his personal trainer. Some Columbian bitch with tits up to her eyeballs and butt implants.”
    I try not to laugh. I shouldn’t laugh. My mother is hurting, and I love my mother. She’s not perfect but no one is.
    “I need to come out to Miami sometime,” she says. She’s been saying that for years, but it never happens. She can never peel herself away from DeVonn for longer than a few hours, and now it’s all starting to make sense. She can’t be away from him because she’s never trusted him.
    “Yes, Mom. You should come out.”
    “Ugh, it’s so humid there,” she whines, as if that’s the only reason leaving California has never appealed to her.
    “You get used to it.”
    “I’ll check my schedule and let you know.” I know what it means. I won’t be holding my breath.
    “Everything’s going to be okay, Mom.” I slice into a piece of steak, and my mind wanders to Lauryn. “Don’t settle, okay? You deserve someone who will love you no matter how hard it might be.”
    “You’re a good man, Sutton,” she says. “I raised you right.”
    If we want to get technical, she didn’t raise me at all. My nanny, Lupita, raised me until I was fourteen, and then I was practically turned loose like a wild animal. No curfew. No monitoring. No expectations. It was Lauryn who made me want to be a better person. Perfect Lauryn with her perfect grades and perfect smile and perfect personality. I did it all for Lauryn.
    It was always for Lauryn.

 
 
 
 
 
THIRTEEN – LAURYN
     
    My palms sweat as I pull up Gmail and type in James’ email address. I try his first password, the one he uses for work, and he fails. I try a second password, and a third and a fourth. I try the