Sleeping With My Stepbrother

Chapter 26: Twenty Five

"Wait wait wait. Hold up" Mr. Harrington, the company's new heir, stopped me midway "You mean to tell

us that you broke up with your boyfriend because you saw the guy you loved sleeping with someone

else?"

"Yeah" I answered in a 'duh' tone.

"Where's the logic in that?" He asked

"Well, for starters, when I saw the guy I love with someone else, it confirmed my feelings and made me

realize I couldn't continue stringing my boyfriend with me anymore" I added "Also, the fact that I

randomly stated 'I broke up with my boyfriend because the guy I love slept with someone else' out of

nowhere got you all hooked and wanted more. Thus, I present to you our March cover" I said as I

pulled the cover off the huge cardboard replica of our magazine's March cover.

"So let me get this straight" Senior VP Alicia Mercedez began "Your marketing strategy is clickbait?"

"I mean, it's not clickbait if the story behind the title is related to the title" I said "I mean just look at our

March headline. Readers will see it and think 'no way that's real' but buy anyway because their

curiosity will get to them"

Everyone began exchanging looks.

God, I've been doing this forever, there is no way in hell I was gonna tank this cover pitch.

After a couple of seconds, ms. Mercedez turned back to me.

"Congratulations, Miss Jones. Your pitch is our new March cover" she says before everyone gets up to

shake my hands. "You're a really great asset to this company, miss Jones" she adds

"Thanks you maam" I answer

"One question" Mr. Harrington interrupts "So, you never saw the guy you loved ever again?"

Damn. Who knew company owners loved gossip as much as the next person?

"Uh... well... no" I answered "He never really came back to our hometown since. But I've also never

been home in a long time, so I don't know"

Everyone just nodded before getting up and leaving the conference call. novelbin

"Miss Jones?" Krissy, my assistant knocked on the door "You have a phone call from your mother. She

sounds reallu distraught so I think it's urgent"

"Okay thank you" I answer before picking my phone up to answer my mom.

"Mom?" I answered the phone, but all I could hear was my mom bursting into tears "mom what's

wrong? Why are you crying?"

"D-Dave..." my mom said almost inaudible

"What about Dave?" I asked, as my palms began to sweat, like my body was warning me that what I

was about to hear was something that I definitely wasn't gonna like.

"Dave's gone, Kyls" mom said before she bursted into even more heavy tears.

I didn't know how long I had been listening to my mom brawl her eyes out, but suddenly tears were

running down my eyes as well.

Dave had been my step-dad for 12 years now. I haven't really called him dad but I considered him as

that.

So learning that he had given up after battling with cancer for half a decade now completely broke my

heart.

"Hang in there, mom" I said as I signalled Krissy to come over. Work can wait. "I'm coming home"

As soon as I got home, I stuffed my bag with clothes and hurriedly headed to the airport.

By 4pm, I arrived.

It was rush hour and there was heavy traffic along the way so it was a bit hard to flag a cab, but I

managed to get one. I didn't want to bother mom at the moment. She had her own problems, if not

bigger.

As soon as the cab turned left from the intersection, a hundred memories began their way back to me.

Mind you I haven't been home ever since I left for college. I guess I was always busy and it was so far

away that only mom had the leisure to actually come to me and visit for holidays.

Don't get me wrong, I've been meaning to come home for a long time now. I just couldn't find the time

to do so.

So despite being busy, I knew I had to come home and be there for my mom.

As I drove through the familiar road, I began noticing new things. Like, a couple of shops had just

opened.

Then there were also the old things that had been there even after I left.

One might think that 12 years had been a really long time, and you're right.

I honestly have no idea how I managed to remember the way to my house.

Soon enough, I caught a glimpse of a very familiar rooftop.

I might have only lived there for 5 months, but it was still home.

The cab stopped in front of the driveway, and hurriedly got out. I practically ran to the house,

Mom's car was in the driveway so I was sure that she was there.

There was no need for me to knock. Technically this is still my house.

"Mom?" I said as I went inside. Tons and tons of memories flooding through my mind again.

Nothing changed.

The living room still looked the same. I mean, a couple of new home decor here and there, but other

than that, it still looked the same.

"Kylie" mom said as soon as she saw me, her eyes and nose puffy and red. Then she ran over to me

and gave me a hug before brawling her eyes out on my shoulders.

"Tell me what happened" I asked as I walked mom to the living room.

——

Today was a busy day.

Mom was busy preparing for Dave's funeral, and I decided to help her out by doing the necessary

paperworks.

As I looked over the documents, I saw a copy of Dave's will, which stated that Luke and my mom gets

half of everything he owns.

I guess I've kicked Luke out of my mind, because as soon as I saw his name, only then did I remember

that his dad just died and he was yet nowhere to be found.

"I see you found Dave's will" mom said as she leaned on the door of Dave's office

"Yeah. Says here you and Luke each get half of everything Dave owns" I stated "He must really really

love you if he's specifically stated this on his will"

Mom simply smiled and walked over to me.

I was itching to ask about Luke, but I had to do it subtly.

"Speaking of Luke" I began "You told him about Dave yet?"

"Uhh yeah. He must be on his way by now" mom answered, then silence as I continued looking over

the paperworks all over the desk

"Did I ever tell you that Dave and I noticed you and Luke liked each other? More than step siblings?"

Mom asked, completely stopping me from doing anything

"What?" I asked as I let out laughs, as if I found it really really funny "Mom what even are you talking

about?"

"Don't play dumb with me" mom said "We know"

"It's not like we could do anything. I mean, you and his dad were married after all" I stated in a duh tone

"It's not like you're blood relatives anyway" mom said

"Mom!" I said, a bit louder than normal. By now, I was blushing like a damned teenager.

I am a grown ass woman, but I get reminded of Luke and suddenly I was seventeen again.

"God. Do you know how embarrassing having this talk with you is?" I asked my mom and she simply

cracked up

"Kylie you're a 30 year old woman. Why should you be embarrassed?" Mom said "Besides, Dave and I

had talked about it before. We both approve"

"Oh my god mom. Can you leave me to do Dave's paperwork in peace?" I said, making her laugh even

more.

"Fine" mom said then got up and left the room.

I began to feel relaxed again, when the doorbell rang, and I was very uneasy again.

My heart was pounding like crazy.

And in less than a second, I was gonna find out why.

"Luke!" Mom said upon opening the door, and I began hearing sobs again.

By now, my emotions were literally mixed up.

I was extremely sad about Dave, but was also really anxious about seeing Luke again.

I got up, and took a deep breath.

I wasn't sure if I was gonna show myself now or just let him see me in here at some point, but I soon

found myself dragging myself out to see Luke.

"How you holding up Emma?" Luke asked mom

"I've been better" mom said "And here I thought your dad was tough enough to fight this one. He'd

always brag about how much of a bad boy he was back in the days"

"But enough about me. How are you? Where's Sadie?" Mom asked

"I'm... fine. Sadie's with her mom" Luke said. "Is...Kylie here yet?"

That's my cue, I guess. And I could just imagine my mom smiling.

Before mom could answer Luke, I got out of my hiding spot.

"Luke" I said, making both of them to look at me.

I couldn't say I wasn't stunned.

Even after twelve years, he still looked like how he used to when we were seventeen.

Sure, he slightly aged (add to the fact that he currently had a thick bush of beard), but he still looked

the same.

And my heart was now pounding like crazy.

Mind you, this is the first time I'm seeing him after all these years so this was a pretty big moment for

me. Minus the part about why we were here, anyways.

I think I've been such a coward all these years. I mean, I'm not even friends with him on facebook

anymore.

So you could only imagine how it made me feel when mom randomly told me one night thru phone call

that Luke already had a baby.

"I'll start preparing snacks" mom said before skedaddling towards the kitchen.

"Kylie" Luke said before we slowly walked over to each other.

"Long time no see" I said, unsure if I was supposed to hug him or something. He, on the other hand,

apparently already made up his mind the moment I walked in "I see you've already caught on the

british accent—"

I was tackled into a hug before I could finish my sentence.

And his hug still felt very very comforting and warm that I couldn't help but hug him back. Not caring

that the feelings I've been burying these years had just resurfaced again.

"I missed you so bad Kyls" Luke said "I've been meaning to call you all this time, but I couldn't because

I know it would be hard for both of us if I did"

Before he could confess his feelings, however, I stopped him.

"I missed you too, but now's not really a good time" I said. For god's sakes, I still loved the guy but now

wasn't a good time to create a love story.

"Right. Right" Luke said before pulling out of the hug. He flashed me a smile before grabbing his stuff

and headed up to his room.

————

The funeral was very emotional. We only invited those who really mattered and cared for Dave. Luke

made sure of that.

Afterwards, everyone went back to our house for snacks.

As I went around the room making sure the guests had snacks, I bumped into someone.

"Sorry" We both mumbled, until he turned around and we were both stunned for a sec.

"Justin" I said "It's good to see you. Thanks for coming"

"Dave was like a second dad to me" Justin said "Anyway, how are you doing? I heard from a friend that

you're doing really great at that magazine"

"Uhh yeah. I'm the marketing manager at Cosmo" I said "How are you tho?"

"I'm doing good, thank you for asking" Justin said "I manage my dad's company now, and I recently just

got engaged"

I smiled. I was happy my ex was doing very great.

"Congratulations! I'm really happy for you" I said before giving him a half hug "Anyway, thanks again for

coming"

"No prob" he answered before we exchanged another smile and I left to handle other guests.

Soon, everyone was gone and it was just me, mom, and Luke.

"Go take a rest Emma. Kylie and I will handle it" Luke said.

"Are you guys sure? This place is a mess. And this is a big house" mom said

"We're sure mom" I answered "Now rest. You need it after being awake for days"

Mom just smiled and went up to her room as me and Luke began cleaning up the place.

"You and mom talk about how you're gonna divide your shares?" I asked

"Not yet. We wanted to wait until the funeral's done" Luke stated as he grabbed the plates and cups

"Do you remember that party you had? Where everyone was passed out on the floor?" I asked, making

Luke smile.

"Yeah. I do" Luke said "I also happen to remember you walking around the house that time without any

underwear on"

A blush crept on my face

"Bro" I said "You have like, a kid now. And you're still perving on me?" I stated

"Sadie does not control who else calls me daddy" Luke said, making me burst out laughing

"Luke seriously. What the fuck" I said before looking away to continue cleaning

"Katherine and I were just friends" Luke suddenly defended "I mean.. we have a child together, but it

was just one drunken mistake. I mean, we're still friends, and we tried to make it work, and I love

Sadie, but we just seemed... really platonic. And I don't want her growing up with parents who never

got along"

All of a sudden, there was tension all around the room

"She even knows about the girl I loved that I left twelve years ago because our parents were married"

Luke said before releasing a laugh.

By now, I was completely frozen, but managed to turn and face him

"Luke, why are you telling me this?" I asked. He simply shrugged.

"I don't see any wedding rings on the both of us. Do you?" Luke suddenly said "Well, that, and the fact

that dad nor Emma never really mentioned you getting tied down with some douche LA asshole who

takes instagram photos of his food"

"I can't believe you just stereotyped LA people" I said as I shook my head "Besides, it doesn't

necessarily mean that just because I'm not married yet or anything like you, doesn't mean it has

anything to do with you and my teenage feelings"

Luke crossed his arms, squinted his eyes at me, then smirked.

"You still can't manage to keep your feelings subtle, could you" Luke said, making my eyebrows arch

up

"You're the one to talk. You never knew how I felt about you until I told you before you left" I stated.

Kylie 1: Luke 0

"Are you sure about that?" He asked before slowly walking towards me. By now, my heart is about to

pound out of my chest.

"Uhh yeah" I answered "I mean, if you really knew how I felt, you wouldn't be inconsiderate enough to

have sex with a bimbo for the nth time over the loud sounds of your rock music, while I was in the other

room brawling my eyes out"

"You were dating my best friend!" Luke said "You even sneaked him in and I caught you before you

slept with him and he even high fived me" Okay, Luke is making some very good points and I was just

straight up losing this argument.

But by now, he was already standing in front of me. All of a sudden, we were talking in hushed tones

"That still doesn't mean I still have feelings for you tho" I answered

"Kyls stop talking" Luke said before capturing my lips with his.

And on instinct, I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him closer.

I was still feeling very ecstatic. His kiss still felt like home.

"Wait" Luke stopped midway before he could deepen the kiss "I forgot about Emma"

"It's okay she knows. Dave knows. We're fine" I said before pulling him back again like a very very

hungry lion who haven't eaten for days. Or in my case, 12 years.

"I still wanna make sure she's okay about us now" Luke said, stopping the kiss again "But I'll do it

tomorrow" he added before kissing me again and carrying me.

Of course you know what's about to go down.

This one was guilt-free tho.

Because I wasn't kissing my stepbrother.

I wasn't in love with my stepbrother anymore.

I was simply in love with Luke Michaels.