STEPBROTHER: Bad Boy Blues (Taboo Romance) by Ora Wilde Page B

gave me a tight embrace.
     
    I buried my face on his chest as I continued to weep.  I inserted my hands between my eyes and his torso to wipe my tears.  I didn’t want his navy blue shirt - my favorite shirt of his - to get wet.
     
    “It’s alright,” he softly said as he kissed the top of my head, unmindful of my hair.  “Everything’s alright, Betty.  We’re alright,” he kept repeating.
     
    Was it out of deep yearning or the need to feel the touch another person, I didn’t know... but I soon found myself wrapping my arms around him.
     
    “You smell like beer,” I muttered, in between my weeps.
     
    “Whisky, actually,” he corrected me, which he followed with a slight snicker.
     
    “Like I could tell the difference,” I replied.
     
    “I wouldn’t know.  You’re the alcoholic in the family.”
     
    “Shut up, Darwin.  It was just one night.”
     
    “It was a wonderful night.”
     
    “Yeah.  It was.  Being caught by the entire school notwithstanding.”
     
    “Yeah, being caught by the entire school notwithstanding.”
     
    We shared a hearty laugh that was restrained a bit because, well, I was still crying and also because we didn’t want our folks in the other room to hear that we’re still awake, entwined in each other’s arms.
     
    “Listen, Betty,” he started to say, “About this morning... that thing with your seat mate.”
     
    “His name is Wilfred.”
     
    “Yeah.  Chelsea told me.  I wish that didn’t happen.  I was confused and angry and lost.  I didn’t know what I was doing.”
     
    “Oh... your girlfriend told you his name, huh?  She’s actually quite nice.  I like her.  She’s good for you.”
     
    It was a lie, of course, as I didn’t want him to know how affected I was.  I had to salvage what little pride I had left.
     
    “Ex-girlfriend, actually, if we are to be technical about the terms,” he said.
     
    My eyes widened in shock.  Thankfully, my face was still burrowed on his chest that he didn’t notice my surprise.
     
    “What do you mean?” I quickly asked him.
     
    “I broke up with her this evening,” he casually answered.
     
    “What?  Why?”
     
    “I’m... I’m not in love with her, Betty.  I never was.”
     
    “Then why did you kiss her?  Why did you allow her to think that you guys were a couple?”
     
    “Because I was protecting you,” he answered, his tone was rigid with certainty.
     
    “Protecting me?” I asked, begging for a deeper explanation.
     
    “People saw you kissing me,” he said.  “I had to divert whatever thoughts they were entertaining away from you.  The only way to do that was to be the asshole that everyone always expected me to be.”
     
    “And by dating Chelsea, you think you became that asshole?”
     
    “Yeah.  The people in school... they didn’t bother you as much when I started going out with her, right?”
     
    “Darwin, that’s not cool.  You used another person.  You broke her heart.  Nothing is ever worth that.”
     
    He paused for a bit as he hugged me tighter.
     
    “No Betty,” he remarked.  “You’re worth that.  You’re worth everything.”
     
    Honestly, I didn’t know how to react.  We were once again opening up to each other, Darwin and I.  We were once again sharing our feelings for each other.  But the cost was simply not right.  I knew how it felt to be hurt, to be rejected, to be left in the dark and desperate for some answers.  I wouldn’t wish that kind of ordeal to anyone... not even to my worst enemy.
     
    “H-How did you end things with her?” I asked, a question which he didn’t see coming.
     
    “I, uh, just told her that we weren’t meant for each other,” he answered as he took some time to search for the right words to say.
     
    “That was it?  You just told her that?  And she was okay with it?”
     
    “I... don’t know.  I just left her at her place and drove off.”
     
    “Damn it, Darwin!  That’s not