Sext Me (Accidental Stepbrother 2)

“I had funds saved up for college, and it’s my last year. Dad needed the money for something, and he borrowed it from me. It was summer, and I figured I had months to get the money back before I had to be back in school, but he gambled the funds away and didn’t let me know until the last minute. I’ve been doing some part-time work to get the money back, but it’s not easy, I’d have to push back graduation for a semester, or even a year…”

Mom hummed. “If that was the reason he took it, then I hope you get your college money back.”

Noah grimaced, clearly not happy with her words, and neither was I.

“Mom, I hope you’re not planning on letting it go just like that,” I said warningly.

She frowned at me. “But what exactly can I do? I can't find him. He hasn’t called me or picked up any of my calls. I have no idea where he could be.”

“He hasn’t tried to contact me either,” Noah added. “I’ll inform you as soon as he does, and I’ll return to you anything he sends me. Right now… I know he’s my dad, but he can't be trusted. I really… really do think you should take legal action against him. I tried to talk him out of it but he wouldn’t listen to me, and I didn’t know how to warn you.”

Mom took another sip of her tea before letting out another sigh. She gave a rueful smile as she met his gaze.

“You don’t have to worry, young man. I’m not blaming you for your father’s actions. But I’m afraid I can't even report this to the police because I gave the money to him willingly. I just changed my mind after the fact. I signed a lot of money over to him, and none of it was done under duress.”

I bit my lip. I was pretty sure she could still sue him, but she’d have to find him, and she’d need money for the lawyer. It wouldn’t exactly be cheap. How much money did he leave her with, if any? Suddenly, my heart seized when I imagined my mother being left without food and basic necessities because of this. I grew anxious.

“Don’t worry, Mom,” I said quickly. “I still have my trust money. I mean, you’ll have to wait for a while, but I can give all of it to you. I can just save up my monthly allowances, and I should have enough savings by then to stay afloat before I can graduate and find a job.”

Mom smiled again but didn’t say anything as she took another sip. We would have to keep worrying about what to do in the meantime. Hopefully, Greg could be tracked down, and the money could be retrieved, but I wasn’t holding out much hope.Chapter Twenty-One

Noah

It was a Friday when her mom came to the school, and since she’d already skipped her morning classes, Sara decided to go back home with her Mom. I wandered back to my dorm room, feeling dejected. Classes were still ongoing, so I was thankful I didn’t have to deal with Casey when I got back to the dorm. I plopped down on my bed, rolled onto my back and threw my arms over my eyes.

“Dammit, Dad,” I muttered.

He’d actually gone and done it. I had known, but perhaps, deep inside of me, I hadn't really thought he would go through with it. But he actually ran away with Tina’s money. With Sara’s Mom’s money.

My dad was a criminal.

Fuck!

On the same day I found out, I should have told Tina instead of wavering, no matter what he said. If only I hadn't been selfish in that critical moment, I wouldn’t have excused myself from the table. Instead, I would have sat down and told Tina exactly what Dad told me, even with him sitting right there glaring at me.

I’d certainly feel better than I did now, even if I’d have had to push college back. I wanted to graduate, but it was hardly worth all of this shit.

Where could he be?

I didn’t doubt Dad would actually send me the money for college. He said he would, and I believed him, especially since he boldly told me he was going to con someone out of the funds. How long would it take, though?

As far as I knew, it was the first time he’d committed a crime. He’d be too worried to do something with the money this soon, as he must have feared Tina would report him to the police. I wondered if he had known she’d do nothing in the end. Sara had insisted her mother talk to the police, but Tina had quickly shut the thought down. She really didn’t plan on trying to get him arrested or at least found. And I felt like total crap about it, because she seemed like such a nice person, and my dad did that to her.