Blended Hearts #2 (An Interracial Stepbrother Romance Book) Read online

  Ten minutes later, Mr. Wonderful Abs came down dressed in jeans – and no shirt! I looked at him and said, “Okay, does that mean you want to eat by yourself in the kitchen?” and pointed at his chest.

  He looked down and smiled. “I thought you liked nice abs.”

  Smarty pants, I thought. “Not when I’m eating,” I retorted. “It’s either eating with a shirt on with me or dining alone – which is it going to be?”

  I wondered if he was enjoying the banter as much as I did.

  Since the famous lunch the previous week, we were more civil toward one another. We stayed out of each other’s way, but at least we were not playing that stupid cat and mouse game anymore. We were behaving like brothers and sisters should.

  A few minutes – or was it seconds – later Daniel came down with a t-shirt that read: “Been there, done that, got the T to prove it.” I grinned as I turned toward the oven. The pizza was almost done.

  Daniel opened the wine and poured a half a glass for each of us. He brought my glass to where I was standing near the oven, and said, “Cheers. Let’s make it an evening to remember.”

  I answered with, “to friendship,” making sure I emphasized the word “friendship”. We had to get that straight between the two of us. We had to be friends – nothing else. Perhaps my obdurate, immovable position in this matter was silly, but it would be wrong, terribly wrong, to be otherwise.

  When the pizza was served, we ate with appetite. It was everything I expected one of my Mom’s pizzas to be – plenty of toppings, tomato sauce, cheese and a golden crust. Delicious!

  Daniel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We hardly touched the wine except for the glass he had poured originally.

  When it was all done and no crumbs remained, we went to have a look at what was on TV. Friday night was not the best, but we found a movie that we both liked. Again, I sat at one end of the sofa and Daniel at the other. Closeness was truly dangerous for us and we knew it. At least I did. I was well aware of my feelings for him. They were strictly sexual and I hated myself for letting them get the better of me. I wanted to nestle into his arms and have his hand caress me… Good God! Stop it, Madison. You’re being a total nymphet now. I grabbed a cushion from the back of me and cuddled it instead of him.

  I kept looking at Daniel’s profile when a commercial came on. For his part, he had his eyes riveted on the screen most of the time. It was almost as if he was forcing himself not to look at me. Come to think of it, he probably was doing exactly that.

  In the middle of the movie, I had enough of the incessant battle against my feelings. I got to my feet, and said, “I think I’ve had enough for one night.” I walked to the stairs and added from over my shoulder, “Good night then.”

  “Good night, Madison. Sleep tight.”

  That reply was not without meaning, or I thought so at the time. Then Gaby’s voice came to mind: Can’t you just accept a good thing for what it is?

  I had a shower – a long one to take all the fatigue away – and returned to my room to lie down. It wasn’t long before I heard a knock at my door.

  “Come in, if you’re decent,” I replied, sitting up.

  “Sorry to bug you, Madison, but we need to talk.”

  “Talk about what?”

  “About what’s happening to us, or have you chucked it all to experience by now?”

  “No, Daniel, I am not ignoring anything. I’m not setting anything aside. But this – whatever you think “this” is – is not going to happen.”

  “And what do you think this is?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I really don’t. I want to call it friendship, but since neither of us can change the past, we simply have to accept that it was all wrong and move on.”

  I was making sense, but my insides were screaming to jump out of that bed, grab him and kiss him until he begged me to stop. I wanted to fix whatever had been broken between us; I really wanted to have a relationship with him, especially since he had stood up for me the way he had.

  But all of my wishes and hope or even dreams wouldn’t come true if he continued to push for having sex with me again.

  He sat down beside me. “I’m sorry Madison, but I can’t move on,” he declared firmly. “I can’t just forget how I feel about you.”

  “What do you want me to say to that, Daniel?”

  “Just tell me that we have a chance together.”

  “I truly don’t know if we do. It’s not like we can turn the clock back and erase everything that happened, but we’ve got to face it anything else than friendship between us is not going to work – because it’s wrong.”

  He shook his head. “You keep on saying it’s wrong, but I can’t believe it is. And I’m not talking about having free-sex because we feel like it or whenever we feel the urge, I’m talking about a serious relationship here. I’m talking about “making love”, not just “having sex”. It’s not the same thing, is it?”

  “No, it is not the same – far from it. But I don’t even know if I’m ready for all of what “making love” implies. And I don’t know that you are either.”

  “I just can’t accept that we are deemed to remain this thorn apart for the rest of our lives, Madison. I need to make you feel good; I need to feel you; I need to keep you safe…”

  “Don’t say another word, Daniel,” I whispered. “We’re sliding down a dangerous slope here.”

  “Why on earth do you think we’re in danger? Where’s the fire?” He looked around him.

  “Oh, don’t be such an ass!” My nerves were ready to burst. I knew it. It had to happen. Even Gaby had said it: You’ll put your foot in it up to your knee…. “Oh God, Daniel, I’m so sorry…”

  “Right, and I’m sorry too Madison,” he said, getting to his feet. He strode to the door of my room, opened it, walked out and slammed it behind him.

  I had done it, hadn’t I? Instead of finding a solution that we could both accept, I had to get on my high horse and insult him. Well done, Madison! You’re really a piece of work, aren’t you? Daniel had said it and I was.

  CHAPTER 6

  It was barely ten minutes later when I heard another knock at my door. I truly couldn’t believe it at first. How could he be so obstinate? Obstinacy seemed to run in this fucked up family.

  “What do you want?” I hollered through the door.

  “To talk, Madison. Just to talk. Please,” he replied softly.

  Oh, what the hell. Let’s not be childish about this. “Okay then, come in and let’s talk.”

  He opened the door slowly as if he were expecting to be fired upon as soon as he put a foot forward. I smiled.

  Seeing my smile, he grinned. He walked to the bed and sat down.

  “What do you think we should do?” he asked.

  “First, let me say I’m sorry about what I said. You were right, there’s no real danger, no fire, but we can’t ignore that us having sex is not a usual way to behave between brothers and sisters and it might shock a few people…”

  “Are you talking about Dad and Janice?”

  “They are our prime concern, of course, aren’t they?”

  “Sure, but it’s not our fault that they got married, is it?”

  “It sure isn’t, nevertheless, they are parents of two adult children now…”

  “Two adult children who want to have a relationship, right?”

  There was no use denying it any more. I nodded.

  “Yes, that’s what I’d like to see happen between us, but I really don’t know how it can happen. That’s the problem.”

  “I have to agree with you on that one. I don’t know what my dad would do if Janice would tell him that we’re in a relationship…”

  “Why would you think that my mom would blab about us, if she knew?” Did Daniel think I was talking to Mom behind his back?

  “Doesn’t she know?”

  “Of course not Daniel. I know you haven’t had the privilege of knowing your mother before she died, but mothers and daugh
ters share a few things, but not their sex lives. That’s like a private subject, even if you are very close with your mom. And I must tell you, since Mom got married; we haven’t had that many mother-daughter talks.”

  “Okay, but the question is the same,” Daniel said, “What do you think my dad would do if he learned that we had sex?”

  “I don’t know. You tell me.”

  “Probably pack my bags for me and send me to Alaska to cool my heels and other more sensitive parts of my body.”

  I smiled at the thought of seeing Daniel dressed like an Inuit, with his bags standing beside him, in the middle of a raging blizzard. “So, you agree with me that there are some dangers associated with what we’re doing?” I asked.

  “To an extent, yes. But all joking aside, I think what we need to be afraid of – more than of our parents – is the social media. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or even texting each other, if someone was to detect a hint of us having a relationship, it will be the end of us – or at least it would spell disaster for your mom and my dad.”

  I had to agree with that one.

  “But what do you propose we do?”

  “Let’s behave like we have been doing but,” I suggested, “let’s try being friends – just friends.”

  “Here we go again! We’re going in circles, Madison. Just let’s be honest with each other, shall we?” I nodded. “It’s not as simple as that, is it? We have feelings for each other. We have emotions that run deep and we can’t just stop everything for the sake of our social status, now can we?”

  “No, we can’t – not for preserving our social status – but for the sake of our parents.”

  “No, Madison. We have to be honest with ourselves, with our parents and with each other. We want this to work – and I’m not just talking about friendship either.” He lay down beside me. I couldn’t move. I was numb. I had fought for so long and so hard against my own sense of right and wrong that I was surrendering to what felt good.

  I peered into his eyes. “Maybe we should pretend to be friends or behave like we are for the outside world, but for the two of us, and for the time being, we don’t pretend anything. Do you think that would work?”

  He was about to say something when, as if the sound came from the outer-world, I heard my phone ring. I was up like a shot. I unplugged it and looked at Daniel sprawled on my bed. Before I put the phone to my ear, I said, “Do you mind getting out of here…?”

  He hopped off the bed, chuckled and walked out. I shook my head.

  “Hello, Gaby?”

  “Yeah, are you up?” She sounded a little out of breath.

  “Yeah, why? Are you okay?”

  “Do you mind if I come in for a few minutes?”

  That was the strangest request I had ever heard from Gaby. At this time of night, on Friday, she was generally in bed or watching some TV or even online with me, but not asking me to come for a visit.

  “Yeah, yeah, of course…I’ll just get dressed…”

  “Whatever you’re wearing, it’s fine Madison. I’m not coming to check your wardrobe. Just come down so I don’t have to ring the doorbell, okay?”

  “Okay, okay. I’ll be down and get you in a minute. Just hold on.”

  I grabbed my robe from the closet and slipped it on.

  When I opened my bedroom door, Daniel was waiting for me by the railing.

  “What’s going on?” he asked. “Is everything okay?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “It’s Gaby. She’s coming over and she sounded upset. She’s never done that before.”

  Daniel followed me down the stairs.

  I could see Gaby’s silhouette through the front door’s opaque glass.

  “Let me,” Daniel said, brushing past me. “You don’t know who’s with her.”

  I didn’t have time to object, he was already opening the door.

  “Oh, hi Daniel…,” Gaby said, sounding very surprised to see him standing there. “May I come in?”

  “Isn’t Gill with you?” he asked, opening the door wide for Gaby.

  “No, I’ve just come from the gym. I don’t know where he is tonight.” She stepped toward me.

  I took her in my arms and whispered, “What’s going on?”

  Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets and watched the two of us. Same as I did, he probably noticed the fact that Gaby was shivering.

  “Let’s go to the living room. Our parents are out for the evening,” I suggested, taking her by the arm and leading my friend to the couch.

  Daniel took a seat across from us while I sat beside my dearest friend – concerned.

  “So what’s going on, Gaby? Why are you here? Has something happened at the gym?”

  She took her jacket, toque and gloves off. Her hair was still wet. I didn’t doubt that she had gone for a swim. She tousled her hair and then wrung her hands, before she said, “I’m sorry to get you both out of bed so late, but I didn’t want to go home before I talked to you Madison.” She threw a pointed glance in Daniel’s direction.

  He took the hint, got up, and said, “I’ll be upstairs. Just holler if you need me okay?”

  I nodded and returned my attention to Gaby. She had her eyes riveted down to her lap.

  “So, what happened that you’re afraid to go home…?” I reclined to the back of the sofa and waited.

  Finally she turned to me. “You were right,” she mumbled.

  “Right about what?”

  “I usually don’t go swimming on Friday, as you know. But tonight I felt restless and I thought it would give me something to do.” She paused and leaned back beside me. She then turned to me. “About Elise, Sylvia and Simone…” I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling. “I know. I know you don’t want me to talk about them. But I’m sure you’d want to know that they’re doing drugs!”

  “Say what?” I said, much louder than I wanted. “Are you sure? Did you see them smoking a joint or something?”

  Gaby shook her head vigorously. “No, nothing like that, Madison. It’s different. It was a girl … someone I’d never seen before … not at school anyway … and she was talking to Elise and the other two when I went into the café to have a hot chocolate before going home.”

  “And?”

  “Well…this girl – thin as a rail like – she said something to Elise and then Sylvia passed something across the table to her, and then the woman slipped an envelope or some kind of sachet to Elise…”

  “How can you be sure whatever they bought was drugs?”

  “I’m not sure, Madison, but why would they meet this woman at the gym on Friday night and give her money in exchange for something that really looked like one of those packets of coke …like the ones you see on TV. I really don’t know what to think.”

  “And why didn’t you want to go home?”

  “I don’t know. I thought maybe my mom would find it strange that girls from school were found buying drugs at the gym on the same day I was there. She’d think I was doing it too, I’m sure.”

  “Now you’re the one with an over-active imagination, Gaby,” I said. “No one could ever suspect you of doing drugs. I mean, look at you. You’re the picture of health right now.” I shook my head and smiled while I passed my arm around her shoulders. “Did you talk to Gill yet?”

  She turned her face to me. “No, and I won’t either. If he knew what I saw, he’d be capable of getting in trouble for putting himself in the middle of it all. You don’t know him when he’s mad. He’s like that Hulk. Unstoppable like.”

  I had to smile. I could see steam emanating from Gill’s nostrils if he were to learn that someone near Gaby was doing drugs. The guy would be totally unstoppable.

  “What do you want to do then?” I asked my friend.

  “I’ll go home and pretend as if nothing happened.” She grabbed her toque from beside her and put it on. “Now that I’ve talked to someone, I feel much better. Thanks for listening.”

  “You’re welcome Gaby. But tell
me, did Elise or the other two see you?”

  “I don’t know. I mean they saw me go into the café for sure, but I sat sideways from them at a table far enough so I wouldn’t hear them – I didn’t want to have anything to do with them.”

  “Okay, you’ll be fine then.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Gaby looked terrified all of a sudden.

  “Don’t you start worrying, okay? It’s not like you were staring at them or even listening to them. You truly could say that you don’t know what they’re talking about if they bug you about it on Monday.”

  “You think they will?”

  “I don’t know, Gaby. But I would talk to Gill anyway if I were you. If these girls are really involved with drugs, you truly don’t want to know them.”

  Gaby got up and put her jacket on. “You know, before I came in, I was sure you were going to say that. I don’t know if I want to tell Gill anything though. I’m not sure how he’ll react, and the last thing I want is for him to get in trouble.” She lowered her gaze as she slipped on her gloves.

  I was on my feet too by then. I wrapped my arms around my friend in a big hug. When I released her I said, “Don’t you worry, Gaby. Gill is a big boy. He’ll know what to do and what not to do. Don’t sell him short. He’s not going to go crazy on you. Just tell him what you saw and ask him to keep an eye on you just in case Elise and her gang annoy you about it.”

  We walked to the front door together, said “goodnight” and I watched Gaby walk hurriedly down the street toward her home.

  When I closed the door, I was of two minds. Should I say anything to Daniel, or should I keep Gaby’s secret safe with me?

  CHAPTER 7

  I climbed the stairs silently. I figured Daniel was probably fast asleep by now. I was wrong. As I opened the door to my room, I saw him sitting on my bed. Again, I had to roll my eyes to the ceiling. He wasn’t going to give up, was he?

  I took my robe off, threw it on the chair and went to sit beside him.

  “What did Gaby have to say?” he asked, taking one of my hands in his. “She looked upset.”

  I nodded and looked straight ahead of me. “I don’t think it’s that serious. She just saw Elise and her two friends at the gym and felt uncomfortable about the way they looked at her or something. She wasn’t very clear about it, but I know these three can be very annoying…” I wasn’t lying – not really – but something told me that I should keep my mouth shut about what Gaby saw. I was also wondering if Daniel listened to our conversation from the top landing, although Gaby and I didn’t raise our voices.