Beautiful Brute (Court University 3)

Probably only because I didn’t know them as well.

My friends were taking this way more seriously than they probably should. I mean, what should they care? My drama was my drama. The whole thing had also been a joke, and had I realized the reaction I’d get, I may have reconsidered it. I’d only been trying to get a rise out of my stepsister, which I guessed I’d been able to accomplish…

My only confusion rose with her reaction and why, if she didn’t fucking know how to swim, she went into the ocean after me like Flipper. It was beyond stupid, and I more so wanted to scold her for that. She’d obviously just been trying to play the hero since she hated me.

The decision had almost gotten her goddamn killed.

My buddy with his hand on me was seriously pissing me off, and working it away, I stalked my way over to my other asshole friends blocking my path. I couldn’t even see Cleo from behind LJ and Knight, the girl long gone. I growled. “Get the hell out of my way.”

I got a push instead, Knight like he had a freaking right. I shot out a finger. “Touch me again.”

He didn’t want to test me right now, any of them. None of this had anything to do with them.

Knight got up in my face in response, and rather than allow a brawl to go on right here and now, LJ surprisingly shot an arm out.

He placed it right between us, more so on Knight.

“Let him go,” he said, Royal appearing at his right. He didn’t say anything, and I guessed he agreed. LJ jerked his head in the direction of the dock. “You deserve anything you get when it comes to that girl. Just know that.”

But what did he know?

He knew nothing, none of them did, and rather than put up with their eyes of judgment, I hopped off the boat and onto the dock. I got three more sets of eyes and further judgments along the way, the last of which was December herself. She had her arms folded, but she didn’t look angry.

She just looked sad.

By the time I got to the resort, I’d had no visual on Cleo, which let me know right away she wasn’t in the immediate vicinity. My stepsister was hard to miss between her extended height and breasts for days. She’d actually tried to hide them behind a pair of coveralls before she left the boat. Like they could be covered and conceal the fact that the swimsuit she’d worn made her look like a goddamn wet dream. The thing was about two sizes two small and had her tits spilling out the sides like she was Pamela Anderson in her prime.

It was one of the things that pissed me off even more about her. How she dressed like a complete and total reject, but still managed to look sexy as hell. I’d believed for a long time she’d been playing me with that. But as I knew her longer and longer, caught her staring at her feet more than the world when she strode casually through campus, I wondered how much of it was actually an act. She never saw me when I noticed her walking. I made sure of that, but still, she did it.

Every time she did it.

She appeared to lack confidence, like she wanted to hide or blend in. It made me wonder how much all of that was just her and that she actually didn’t know how hot she was. In the past, I hadn’t allowed myself to frequent the thoughts.

Maybe it was just easier that way.

Easier than now as I looked for a girl I’d been trying to do nothing but break since I’d gotten down here. She hadn’t made it easy. Still around and though I had backed off from her, she hadn’t met my challenge. She hadn’t come to me, and that had floored me. I knew she was attracted to me, still was. I saw that in spades today when I’d had her fine ass pressed up against the boat. Still, she hadn’t come back for me. She’d been harder than I thought to unravel, stronger.

I darted my gaze around long enough to look like a fool, and eventually, I got my head out of my ass enough to try her room. I knew where she, Rick, her mom, and Kit were staying. Rick had even given me a room key. That’d been before we had it out on the golf course, though.

I hadn’t known what was up with Cleo’s friend Kit or where she’d been. And honestly didn’t care. Especially at the present. Getting to the room in question, I tapped on the door out of formality. But when it didn’t open, I went for my room key. The green light clicked, and I reached for the handle, but didn’t have a chance to tug it. The door opened right away.

And my father came out.

My bio dad in all his glory waltzed into the hall, looking pissed the fuck to hell. He wasn’t even dressed for vacation, a dress shirt and slacks on like he was at the office. I’d turned him down for hanging out today. Turned him down for all the days. I wanted nothing more to do with him this weekend.

The sentiment seemed to be shared now.

He had his arms cuffed, puffed up like he actually was pissed at me. It took me all of half a second to realize Cleo was either very much here or had called him. She’d had ample time to do both. She’d spent the rest of our sailing trip by herself with access to her cellphone. She’d also been on the shore long enough to tell my father everything about what happened.

But would she dare?

She just might, my hand scrubbing my hair. “Hey, uh. Is Cleo in there?”

I had no idea what the fuck I was doing. Why was I even here?

And why had my heart felt like it did?

It literally thudded to the point where I could hear it in my goddamn head, reminiscent of how it’d been out there in the water. The rush of letting myself fall off the boat had been one thing, but it’d been entirely another to hear Cleo’s screams, then later, see her struggling amongst the waves. She’d gone in after me, tried to save me.