Beast: An MMA Stepbrother Romance Page 3

  I grab the car keys off the hook on the wall. “Be right back with the hot dogs!”

  “Don’t forget to get enough for four,” Mom says as I’m halfway out the door. I freeze in my tracks. “Four?”

  Mom gets an embarrassed look on her face. “I forgot to mention that, didn’t I? Larry has a son, a couple years older than you. His name is Caleb.”

  “What? Mom, that’s pretty important information!”

  “I know, honey, but I just found out about him myself a couple weeks ago. Larry doesn’t talk about him much. Anyway, Larry did say that he has a huge appetite, so make sure he has enough hot dogs to eat!”

  “Okay!” I nod and walk out the front door.

  Larry has a son? And I’m going to have a stepbrother? This was not part of the plan. My father passed away when I was very young, which means that my house has always felt like a girls’ place to me. I can’t even imagine having a boy walking around. Maybe he’ll spend most of his time up in the megamansion, and I won’t see him very often. That would be ideal. There are no stepbrothers in my summer plans.

  As I pull up to the grocery store, my thoughts move away from the mystery stepbrother and back towards impressing Larry. I know Mom said to get hot dogs, but it just doesn’t feel right serving regular old hot dogs to the CEO of Poodle, so I get German brats instead. Then, I make a couple circles around the grocery store, picking up ingredients for my signature pasta salad and piling them into the cart. What better way to show Larry what an awesome hard worker I am than by making my own dish for his pre-wedding barbecue?

  The rest of the afternoon is a blur as I hop back and forth between preparing pasta salad, picking out an outfit that says “prospective employee,” and furiously searching for recent Poodle news to talk to Larry about when he arrives. The evening is here before I know it, and I still barely feel ready. Mom’s nervous, too. I know she feels like it’s all a dream, like this whole “falling in love with a billionaire CEO” thing isn’t going to last. I’ve tried to tell her to treat him like any normal guy, but it’s pretty rich coming from me, who’s treating a family barbecue like a job interview.

  Finally, after what feels like an eternity of waiting, the knock comes. Mom’s so nervous that she almost drops her fruit salad, so I volunteer to open the door and show them inside. I take a deep breath as I enter the front hallway, focusing on trying to make a good impression on Larry as I open the door.

  Only, Larry’s not there. My wide, professional smile lands on somebody who’s the exact opposite of Larry. Somebody who I never thought I’d see again. He’s wearing more clothes than last time, and he doesn’t have that intense, burning look in his eyes, but the tattoos are a dead giveaway. It’s him.

  Chapter 4: Emma

  Before I can say anything, before I can even think, Beast, whose real name is apparently Caleb, pounces. He gives me a hug, wrapping me up and pushing me against the wall of the entrance hallway.

  Our faces are inches apart. “Well look who it is. My biggest fan.”

  “Let me go!” I knee him in the stomach, but it feels like banging my leg on a rock. Caleb laughs, his whole body shaking against me. “And here I thought I wasn’t getting laid tonight because I had to go to this stupid barbecue.”

  “What? You’re not getting laid tonight!” I say, in the most intimidating whisper possible.

  “Are you sure about that, little Sis? You’ve been around me for five seconds and your heart’s already beating like a fucking drumroll.”

  Unfortunately, he’s right. My body recognizes this as the guy who almost gave me the pounding of my life less than 24 hours ago, and it’s totally ready to finish what we started.

  Something’s a little different about Caleb, though. Those crazy flecks of fire aren’t burning in his pretty green eyes. Last night, he looked at me with desperation, need, hunger. Now, he’s dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, smirking like this is all some kind of big joke.

  If it’s a joke, it’s definitely not funny. I knee him in the side again. “Put me down before your dad sees, asshole.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” With that, Caleb flips me over his shoulder and I let out an undignified squeak, landing on my feet facing the door just in time for Larry Matthewss himself to walk through the door, wearing a button-down plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

  Larry smiles and shakes my hand. “It’s Emma, right?”

  “Uh…” All my preparation for this moment went straight out the window the second Beast walked through the door. Now, all I can do is try not to sound like an idiot. “Yeah. That’s me. Nice to finally meet you!”

  “The feeling is mutual. I’ve heard a lot about you. Your mother says you’re quite an overachiever.”

  Quite an overachiever? Looks like Mom’s talking about me like I’m still in kindergarten again. “Yeah, that’s…one way of putting it.”

  “So was I, when I was your age. Keep overachieving, is all I can say, and eventually, you’ll find yourself in places you never expected to be.”

  Caleb snorts, and I smack him on the arm.

  “And I see you’ve met my son, Caleb. It looks like you two are already getting along. Do you know where your mother is?”

  “She should be in the kitchen.”

  As soon as Larry walks into the kitchen, his eyes drift over to the big glass bowl of fruit salad on the kitchen counter. “You spoil me, Helen.”

  He reaches across the counter and tries to take a spoonful, but Mom grabs his wrist and forces him to drop it back into the bowl. “You can have some fruit salad once the meat is cooked.”

  “Let’s get cooking, then.” He pulls a couple spices out of his pockets. “I took these from the Poodle cafeteria. If you’ve never had them on meat…let’s just say you’re in for a pleasant surprise.”

  Mom looks down at the spices, and then her eyes drift over to Beast. “Is this your son?”

  “That’s him. Caleb Matthewss, the next in line.”

  Mom extends her hand. “Nice to meet you, Caleb.”

  As Caleb reaches across the counter to shake Mom’s hand, he wraps his hand around the small of my back, dangerously close to my butt. My eyes widen, but thankfully I don’t move a muscle and draw any attention to where Caleb is touching me.

  Mom’s eyes travel up and down Caleb’s arms. “I love your tattoos.”

  Caleb shrugs. “Join the club.” Mom laughs.

  I’m about to scream. Mom likes this guy? Am I the only one who can see what an asshole he is? Of course, I’m one to talk, seeing as I’m the one who stuck my tongue down his throat, grabbed his cock, and offered him my body last night. But let’s not bring that up at the barbecue.

  “So. Larry. We have hamburgers and German brats, and none of them are cooked yet. What do you say you show me how to use those spices while Emma and Caleb get to know each other?”

  And just like that, before I can object, Mom and Larry flirt their way out into the backyard, leaving me all alone with him.

  And he’s still got his hand on my back.

  When I try to step out of Caleb’s reach, he puts his hands around my sides, pulling me into his body and wrapping his arms around me. “They’re a cute couple, but they’ve got nothing on us.”

  I make a frustrated noise as I try to wiggle out of Caleb’s grasp, but it’s no use. After all, he’s a professional at this.

  “You heard your mom, Sis. While they’re cooking burgers, the two of us should get to know each other. I think you already know a lot of things about me, but you’re missing the most important part.”

  I stomp on Caleb’s foot, and it gets just enough of a reaction from him that I can shimmy out of his grasp and put the counter between us. “So does your dad know that his pride and joy is part of an illegal fighting ring?”

  Caleb laughs softly. “No. And it’s going to stay that way. Because I’m sure your mom doesn’t know that her pride and joy was in a men’s locker room last night, begging for her new stepbrother’s cock.�
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  It takes every ounce of restraint I can muster not to chuck Mom’s fruit salad right in Caleb’s face. “I was not begging for your cock, you pervert!”

  “You would have been, if my tongue hadn’t been halfway down your throat.”

  I shudder as I realize that he might be right. I wanted him that much. But he was different, then. Or, at least, I thought he was. “You’re not like I thought you were. Last night.”

  Caleb’s green eyes flash for just a second, sparking up a very unwanted heat in my lower half. “That’s because last night, I was in Beast Mode. Right now, though, I’m just Caleb, a normal, red-blooded American. The Beast is locked up inside.”

  Caleb taps his chest with a smirk, and I roll my eyes. “You’re a bullshit artist.”

  “Then why’d you notice the difference? You’ll notice it again the next time it happens. Immediately.”

  Caleb advances on me, backing me up into the cabinet where we keep our glassware. “See, I’m just teasing you about this whole sex thing. Mostly. I just think it’s funny that you can’t hide how hot you are for me.”

  I start to tell Caleb that he’s probably the last person on earth I’d ever want to hook up with, but he shuts that down by sliding his fingers up the inside of my thigh, drawing a moan from my throat. “See what I mean? It’s amazing. But even though I’m just teasing you, the Beast feels differently. He’s been hungry for you ever since he saw you from the ring. He’s dead serious, and he’s not going to stop until he gets what he wants.”

  I put my hand on Caleb’s stomach to try and push him away, but the feeling of my fingers against his abs takes all the strength out of my arm. When Caleb notices how much I’m enjoying the feeling of his body, he takes my hand in his and brings it all the way up his abs and over to one of his massive pecs.

  “The burgers are ready.”

  I snap back to reality as Larry pokes his head through the backyard door. I jerk my hand away from Caleb’s chest, hoping that that little interaction didn’t look as sexual as it was. Luckily, Larry seems oblivious.

  As soon as he realizes Larry’s in the room, Caleb goes from dripping sex to loving, well-adjusted son in a fraction of a second. “Smells delicious, Dad. Ready to go, Sis?”

  As much as I want to kick Caleb in the balls for calling me Sis only seconds after telling me that the Beast inside of him wasn’t going to stop until it fucked me, my prospective future employer is watching. As much as I don’t want to do it, I have to play nice with his son. “Ready when you are, Bro.”

  I’ve never uttered a more difficult sentence.

  Caleb takes my hand, squeezing it extra tight, and we follow Larry out into the backyard.

  “So Dad, you said the burgers are ready, but what about the sausages? Emma’s really looking forward to sausage.”

  I shoot Caleb a death glare, but Larry just laughs. “She won’t have to wait too much longer. Her mother’s finishing them up as we speak.”

  Sure enough, as soon as we sit down around the picnic table, Mom comes by with a heaping plate of sausages, steaming hot and heavily seasoned. She passes the plate to Caleb first, who spears three sausages and moves them onto his plate. Then, he whispers “mine’s bigger” as he passes the plate to me. And judging by what I saw happening in his tight little shorts last night, he’s not lying. I look right into his eyes, put a sausage on my plate, and start cutting it to pieces with a knife and fork.

  “So, Emma,” Larry says, stuffing two sausages into a hamburger bun, “You mother tells me that you’ve got quite the summer planned.”

  “That’s true, I’m going to be pretty busy.” I don’t mention that Larry may have ruined my perfect summer by bringing a foul-mouthed, MMA fighting brute into my house.

  Caleb grins. “Do tell. Is there anything I can join?”

  No. Definitely not. No way. Never in a million years.

  “Um…maybe…I’ll be spending most of my time at an internship, though.”

  Larry looks impressed. “An internships before your freshman year is pretty good. After all, it’s never too early to start building your post-college resume.”

  I want to keep talking myself up to Larry, but I also need to change the subject before Caleb finds out too much about my summer plans and inserts himself into them. I think back to some of the things I read about Poodle a couple hours ago.

  “So, when does PoodleMatch officially launch?”

  He’ll definitely want to talk about that. PoodleMatch is Poodle’s new dating service, designed to set you up with your perfect match based on your phone’s app usage, search history, and online browsing habits. It’s how Larry met Mom. He used an early version of the software, got matched with her, and just started talking with her out of the blue. Personally, I don’t think they seem much like each others’ type, but hey, they seem happy.

  Both Mom and Larry chuckle when I mention PoodleMatch. “Well, part of that actually depends on Caleb. He’s one of the two people overseeing the final testing that’s going to bring it out of beta.”

  I almost spit lemonade all over the picnic table. “Caleb works at Poodle?”

  Larry looks at me quizzically. “Of course, why wouldn’t he?”

  Caleb’s eyes narrow, and his knee presses against mine under the table. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

  “Oh, uh…I don’t know…I guess he’s just so young.”

  Larry shrugs. “That might be a problem in a more traditional company, but at Poodle, we value the youth perspective. After all, if young people aren’t using your dating service, it’s not going to have a very long shelf life.”

  “Oh, uh, yeah, absolutely. The youth perspective is crucial if you’re trying to create a major service. So…uh…where do you see PoodleMatch in five years?”

  For now, it seems like I’ve gotten the barbecue back under control. Larry and I are having a very interesting conversation about Poodle’s long-term strategy, I’m subtly hinting that I’d make an awesome employee once I graduate, and Caleb is mostly focused on devouring his food, chiming in with a snarky comment every once in a while but mostly behaving himself.

  After a few more minutes, Caleb moves some crumbs around on his empty plate and asks where the bathroom is. Mom gives him some directions, and then he hops up from the picnic table and heads inside the house. I’m still in the middle of talking business with Larry, but I can’t help but get more and more paranoid at the idea of Caleb, alone in my house, with full access to my unlocked room. Visions of Caleb sneaking into my room and reading my diary dance through my head, and after a suspiciously long time passes with no sign of Caleb, I know I have to take action.

  “Are you guys ready for a second course? There’s fruit salad and pasta salad in the kitchen.”

  Larry laughs. “I forgot all about the fruit salad. What are we doing sitting out here talking?”

  I get up from the table. “Oh, you two can keep talking. I’ll just get the pasta salad ready and then bring both of them out here.”

  Mom smiles. “Sounds great, Emma.”

  Once I’m inside the house, I nudge the door of the downstairs bathroom with my foot. Empty. There’s no sign of Caleb downstairs, either, which means he’s either upstairs in Mom’s room…or he’s in mine.

  I can hear him laughing as I run up the stairs. “Get out of my room, asshole!”

  Caleb turns, grinning. “I thought this was the bathroom. I was going to just leave, until I saw this.” He points at my summer calendar, stretched out across the floor.

  “You’re not allowed to look at that!”

  “It’s a little too late for that. You know, if you wanted to have a summer of adventure, you should have stuck around last night. I could have taken you home with me and fucked you until Labor Day.”

  I move past Caleb and start to sweep the summer calendar under my desk. “For your information, this is exactly why I didn’t stick around last night. I have better things to do than suck face with arrogant assholes.”

&n
bsp; Caleb pulls the pages of the calendar back out from under my desk. “Like what? Road trip? Pool party? Book signing? Why are you going to so many book signings?”

  “That’s my internship, asshole.”

  I snatch the sheets of paper out of Caleb’s hands and throw them under my bed. “Oh, awesome. Do you know if they’re still hiring?”

  I flop down onto my bed and throw a pillow at Caleb. “I knew you were going to ruin everything.”

  “Who says I’m going to ruin everything?” Caleb reaches under the bed and pulls out one of the calendar pages. “Look. July 11th. You wrote ‘Meet A Boy.’ And look what happened, it’s only June and you’ve already met one. You’re actually ahead of schedule.”

  “My obnoxious new stepbrother does not count as a boy. Hopefully, by July 11th, I’ll have met a boy who’s not you.”

  In a flash, Caleb’s arms are clamped around my wrists. He leans over me, so close that I can smell him. He smells like sweat and body spray, with a faint hint of smoke.

  “Don’t count on it, Sis. If you think you’re going to meet a boy who can fuck you better than I can, you’re going to be waiting a long time.”

  I try to wrestle out of Caleb’s grasp, annoyed at how much I’m enjoying struggling against him. It’d almost be fun…if I weren’t trying to show Caleb that he has no chance with me. Pushing my body up against his probably isn’t the best way to do that.

  Caleb starts to lean in as I struggle, almost like he’s going to kiss me…and then, he jumps up off of the bed and takes a couple quick steps away from me. A second later, Mom sticks her head into the bedroom.

  I blush, thankful that Caleb heard her coming up the stairs. “Oh, sorry, I forgot about the pasta salad!”