He stares me down for a moment, but then starts laughing, raising his arms in the air. I decide I like him on the spot. "Got it, dude. Shit, don't lose it, okay?" he says.
But then his eyes sparkle with mischief, and I know there's something else on his mind.
"Yes?" I ask, already worried.
"I might not be allowed," he says, "but what about you?"
I look at him like he's a moron, trying pretty hard to pretend I haven't thought about it. "We're stepsiblings."
"Yeah," he says, laughing. "That's the best part. You're not related."
My silence answers for me.
"Perfect!" Adrian claps his hands together. "You won't let me have her. I get it, but doesn't mean I won't fight you on it. She's hot as holy hell."
We both take a moment to stare at Cassidy. Unfortunately, she's all wrapped up in a towel now.
"Don't you want her?" Adrian wonders.
And I want to say no. Except that would make me a fucking liar, and I don't like lying. "Hm," I grunt, and he looks triumphant.
"Do you think you can get her?" There's a challenge in Adrian's voice and I give him a hard look.
"I can get her," I reply, trying to stay calm.
"Wanna prove it?" he waggles his eyebrows at me.
"Don't need to."
"What if I throw in a bet?"
My eyebrows shoot up. "What's the bet?"
"A thousand," he suggests, and I laugh, shaking my head.
"Do you think I'm made of money?" I ask, thinking of the meager savings I've managed to save in the past year.
He thinks it through for a moment, looking at Cassidy one more time. "Ah, whatever. You couldn't do it anyway."
"Okay, I am willing to bet on that." The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them, and Adrian looks at me with a new interest sparking in his eyes.
We've walked up to the beach parking lot, and Adrian leans against a very nice Lexus. "That yours?" I ask him, motioning towards the white beast.
He nods. Shit, that's a nice car.
"Not the Lexus, man," Adrian groans. "I got it from my folks. I am not betting a car."
“Come on,” I coax, “If I get it on with Cassidy, the car’s mine.”
“And if you don’t?”
“You get to keep the car.”
Adrian laughs. “I get to keep my own car? That’s no bet. I want more than that.”
I roll my eyes at him. “If I fail to get on the gorgeous Cassidy,” I tell him, “YOU get to have a go yourself.”
Adrian stares me down, then a smile forms on his lips as the tempting prospect dawns on him. "Hell yeah," he says, the mischievous look back in his eyes. "Let's do it."
We shake hands and stare at each other, the bet sinking in as reality, not just some fleeting thought.
"Well, shit," Adrian's laugh is nervous.
"Yeah," I repeat, my eyes wandering to the beach, landing on Cassidy's flame red mane. And I picture that filthy mouth wrapped around my cock, her eyes glued to mine. "Fuck," I murmur.
This might just be the best deal I've ever made.
Chapter five
CASSIDY
Every single day in the beach house is a nightmare. I hate them – sitting around the kitchen table, laughing like nothing in the world matters. Like we aren't some fucked up group of people who can't see eye-to-eye on anything.
The one who gets to me the most is Dom. Every time he's around, I feel an intense hatred towards him. It blends with spikes of heat, making me feel like I'm going to burst into flames any second.
I hate everything he does. Like the way he throws a piece of fruit in the air before bringing it to his mouth and biting into the skin with a crunch. Or the fact that his shorts always sit so low on his hips they almost expose that V-line that leads down to... Well, whatever.
I spend most days on the beach, trying to show the three of them I don't care about their little pretend family. But it's to no avail, because Daddy and his new wifey have got it in their heads that Dom and I need to play the part of perfect siblings.
It's been about a week since I got to the beach house, and I've been doing my best to spend as much time away from the house as possible. I've been avoiding Daddy, wifey, and most of all, Dom. He seems to like the distance, not even sending me any more cheeky texts, which secretly annoys me.
Hanging out at the beach is proving to be a lot of fun though, and I love catching up with what Susie and everyone else have been up to. If the gossip is anything to go by, there are quite a few guys here who wouldn't mind taking me out to that make-out spot. Yet I'm still hesitating. I haven't told the truth to anyone.