Blended Hearts (An Interracial Stepbrother Romance Book) Page 3

  I sat down to watch my next program but instead of looking at the big screen, I looked at my phone; I looked at Daniel.

  This is totally stupid, I told myself. When he’s sitting right here beside you, you want him gone and when he’s gone you’re looking at his picture! How crazy is that? I was disgusted with my behavior. It was bordering on the lecherous. Once I forced myself to watch the show and got a little more involved in the story, I began to relax. By the time I was ready for bed, Daniel and his gorgeous body were almost out of my mind. And tonight I took the precaution of brushing my teeth and freshening up in the downstairs bathroom, so I would be sure not to use the upstairs one before bed.

  I was happy that I didn’t have anymore homework to do tonight – only a chapter of my biology textbook to read.

  I liked biology – all of the sciences interested me actually – much better than math or trig, which were two subjects I detested with a passion. I wasn’t bad at them, but I was not intending to choose a career that would involve mathematics.

  The next day – Friday – I decided to leave the house early to meet with Gabby at the local pool. Gabby needed all the exercise she could get since she had begun a diet, and I loved swimming anyway. Being out of the house without Daniel and the family felt liberating somehow.

  When I arrived at the pool, I spotted Gabby right away. She looked very intent on completing her lap. As soon as her head was out of the water and she could hear something apart from the noise echoing all around us, I said, “I’ll be just a minute, I’ve got to change, okay?”

  “Glad you could make it,” Gabby replied between two intakes of breath. “I’ll be here….”

  I rushed to the changing room, got undressed and re-appeared moments later. I entered the water carefully and began swimming to join Gabby in her rhythmic crawl. The two of us enjoyed swimming together. We were really in sync with each other. It wasn’t surprising since we learned to swim together in that very same pool.

  When we were done our ten laps, I came out and sat on the edge of the pool, waiting for Gabby to climb out.

  “You know,” Gabby huffed and puffed, “I don’t know if this is doing anything to move the scale, but it is certainly tiring me out.” I shook my head. “And please don’t remind me that it’s for my own good – I’ve heard it all before, okay?”

  I was giggling happily by then. My friend looked as if she had run into a drum of tomato sauce, so red her cheeks were. Poor thing, I thought, I never wished to be like that – having to diet and exercise to save my life.

  When we got dressed, it was only 8:00 a.m. and we had time to have a bite to eat at the upstairs café.

  “What are you having?” I asked, pulling my wallet out of my knapsack.

  “Just yogurt, some fruit and a tea – that’s all, thanks.”

  I nodded, got up and went to get a tray from the service counter.

  When I came back with the food and drinks, I sat down and we began eating our breakfast.

  In the middle of it, I pulled my cell phone out of my knapsack, and showed Daniel’s photo to Gabby.

  She choked on a piece of fruit and laughed before she said, “I thought you didn’t want to have anything to do with him?”

  “It’s difficult to ignore that hunk of a guy when you have to spend every minute of the day with him; don’t you think?”

  Giggling again, Gabby said, “Really, Madison, what do you want with him? He’s got a gorgeous body – yes, I’ll give you that – but what of it? Are you going to obsess about it?”

  “I just can’t get him out of my mind, Gabby.”

  “And why would that be? Did he come onto you?”

  I shook my head and lowered my gaze to my unfinished yogurt. “It’s just after what happened the other night, I can’t do anything…”

  “Hold on a minute, Missy. What happened the other night?”

  I raised my eyes to meet my friend’s gaze. “I marched into the bathroom and found him totally naked,” I confessed.

  “You did? I mean you really did?”

  I nodded.

  “And nothing on the guy – you mean not a stitch?”

  I nodded again.

  “Good grief, Madison, what did you do?”

  “What was I supposed to do? I ran downstairs to the other bathroom – that’s all I could do.”

  “But did you say anything?”

  “Well, yes. I told him I was sorry and that he should have locked the door.”

  “And all this time he stayed naked?”

  “Well, not exactly, he put a towel around his waist, but the damage was done. His naked body is now imprinted in my mind.”

  “And you took a picture of him? Are you crazy?” Gabby was practically shouting the words.

  “It’s just that I hoped a picture of him fully dressed would be better than seeing him naked all the time.”

  “Did you two talk about it?”

  “No, not really. We just apologized. But really there’s nothing to talk about. I just have to manage the memory, that’s all.”

  When we arrived at school, we just barely had time to get to class. I thought that perhaps I should do something like this every morning. Maybe not swimming every day, but we had the gymnasium and the exercise room at the club, too. This way I could have a quiet morning; I could escape the family before the day started and arrive at school just in time for class, so Elise and her gang wouldn’t have time to bother me.

  When lunch time came round, I thought I would go for a walk, again to avoid the girls and to stay as far away as possible from Daniel. On the way to the park, I bought myself a salad wrap and a can of juice. I thought that bringing my lunch from home would give me the freedom to go where ever I pleased during the break. I reached the park, sat down in the sunshine and began eating in peace. It was so pleasant. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t done this before. I wanted to be out of that darn school and this was one way of doing it.

  CHAPTER 7

  That night, I was happy enough. I had managed to stay away from the family and from the school’s infernal hassle. I felt good actually. My mother had prepared another excellent dinner. That was one good thing about her having a husband – she would spend time cooking and spoiling everyone. I was glad for that at least. But, still, this family affair wasn’t the best. I only felt good because I had found a way to escape the whole rigmarole.

  When dessert was on the table, Daniel hazarded a question, which bothered me no end. “I looked for you this afternoon, where were you?”

  I turned to him and glared. “Are you checking up on me now?”

  “No, I was just wondering, that’s all!”

  “Well, if you want to know, I went to the park. I didn’t want any company!”

  The aggression in my voice was more than evident. Richard and Mom exchanged a quick glance and my mother must have wondered why I was so catty all of a sudden toward Daniel.

  “Okay, okay, don’t go all ape on me, right? I was just worried….”

  “Don’t. Don’t worry about me, Daniel. Just worry about you, and leave me alone.”

  “Madison!” Mom said from across the table. “What’s gotten into you? Daniel was just worried, is that so bad?”

  “Oh, leave it alone, Mom.” I then turned to Daniel. “I’m sorry. I know you meant well. I’m just a bit on edge lately. That’s all. Okay?”

  “Sure,” Daniel said, getting up from the table. “I’m sorry, Janice. But I think I’ll go upstairs. I’ve got a few things to get done before we go bowling tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” Richard said. “If you need to talk, let’s talk, okay?”

  I was surprised. I imagined Daniel was very much his own man. Up until now, I had never thought of father and son having anything to do with one another, except for the usual things. But now I realized that the two men were probably friends, in the same way my mom and I had been before the wedding.

  My mother fixed her gaze on me then, hoping I understood that the bond betwee
n us hadn’t been broken such as the bond between Richard and Daniel still remained intact.

  When Saturday morning arrived, I felt tired. I had stayed up reading for a long while. I loved reading. But now I paid the price for not going to sleep until the wee hours of the next day.

  Still yawning, I made my way downstairs to find coffee in the pot, cups ready to be served and my mom at the grill, making her delicious pancakes on the one side of it and waiting to flip the bacon on the other side.

  I gave her a cuddle and nestled my head against her chest. Right now, I needed my mother more than I would ever admit. She knew it. She didn’t push me away but only asked in a whisper if I wouldn’t mind setting the table.

  “The boys will be down in a minute, honey. They’ll be hungry, I’m sure.”

  I nodded, and pulled herself away from her, smiling gently. I was still in my night shirt and bunny slippers. She had to smile. I probably looked like such a little girl even at my age.

  When Daniel came down, he was dressed in his jogging suit and runners.

  “Good morning, everybody,” he said, sniffing the air. “That’s smells great, but I’ve got to get back to my exercise routine. Would you mind keeping a couple of these wonderful pancakes for when I get back, Janice?”

  “You just go ahead, Daniel. There will be plenty left over when you get back. Not to worry.”

  He then turned to me. I was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping on my coffee.

  “Hey there! How’re you this morning?”

  “Just fine, thanks. And good morning to you too,” I replied, still half asleep.

  “Why don’t you come for a jog with me?”

  “Not today, thanks. Got to sleep too late last night.”

  “That’s fine. No probs. I’ll be back in a half an hour,” he added from over his shoulder, as he ran out of the kitchen and out the front door.

  A few minutes later Richard came down. He looked at me and smiled. “Good morning, Madison. Did you have a hard night?”

  He sat down beside me after he helped himself to a cup of coffee and kissed his wife on the cheek.

  “Rather, yes,” I said. “I was reading and I didn’t notice the time. It was past three o’clock when I finally closed the book.”

  “What are you reading?”

  “Oh nothing really recent. It’s called To the Hilt by Dick Francis.”

  “I see; you like horses or horse-racing then?”

  I was taken aback. I didn’t expect Richard to be reading anything but business magazines or serious books. “Sure. I wish I could have taken riding lessons. It looks like so much fun. Besides, I think horses are wonderful animals.”

  “Yes. I think so too. We should go to the races one of these days.” He turned to look at Mom. “What do you think, sweetheart?”

  “Sure, as long as I don’t have to get too close to the horses, I’ll be fine.”

  “Mom is kinda of scared of them,” I whispered conspiratorially.

  Richard erupted in laughter. “Alright then. We’ll watch the race from afar and then, you”—he pointed to me—“and Daniel can go and visit the stables. Does that sound like a plan?”

  “Yes,” Mom said, as she came to the table and dropped a plate with a stack of pancakes and a heap of bacon on it. “But for now, I’d like you two to eat so that I can get to the bathtub and leave the rest to you, Madison.” She looked down at me. “Okay?”

  “Sure. Will there be enough bacon for Daniel?”

  “Yes. I’m sure there will be enough. Just turn on the grill when he gets back to warm it up.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Later that day, as arranged, the family went to the bowling alley. I wasn’t in the best of mood to start with but I knew my mom would enjoy the outing, so I didn’t want to spoil it for her.

  We rented the shoes at the counter.

  I had to laugh. “You’ve got such big feet, Grandma...,” I said to Daniel, mocking his size 13 shoes when the attendant dropped them on the counter.

  “Maybe I should get some bunny slippers like yours…”

  “You… You saw them?” I uttered, my face turning all shades of red.

  “Couldn’t miss the pink fluff on those cute feet of yours,” he said, chuckling.

  “Alright you two,” Richard said, “let’s sort this out with a match, shall we?”

  “Who’s playing who?” Daniel asked, walking beside his dad.

  “I thought we’d start with you and I against the ladies, what do you say?”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Daniel agreed. “We’re going to annihilate you,” he added, turning to me, “I hope you realize that.”

  “Just watch us,” Mom countered. “You have no idea who you’re playing against here!”

  Having regained some of my aplomb rather quickly, I rejoined, “That’s right, Mr. Big Feet, we’ll have you licking the floor before you know it.”

  “You’ve got them licked, haven’t you, Madison?” Mom said, recalling my licking joke.

  “Right there, Mom,” I agreed as we high-fived each other.

  “Let’s see whose victory it will be, shall we?” Richard said, letting my mother throw the first bowling ball.

  A few minutes later, my mom and I jumped up and down screaming with victory. We had beaten the guys just as we had predicted. We played a couple more games, which evened the scores a bit.

  “See, now that we’ve warmed up a little,” Daniel said to me as he came back to sit down, “we’re gaining on you guys.”

  “Just keep it up, brother, so it won’t feel so bad when we kick your ass in the next round.”

  Daniel laughed. “And you watch and learn, sis,” he retorted, getting up to throw the next set.

  A half an hour later, with Mom and I still beating the boys by a decent margin, Richard suggested switching team.

  “We should play you two against us old fogies,” he said, watching Daniel and I exchanging an uncomfortable look.

  “You’re on, Dad,” Daniel replied somewhat enthusiastically, throwing a glance at me. I just smiled.

  I was definitely not expecting this. I didn’t want to be a team with the guy I tried to avoid any which way I could. But thinking of the competition and mostly about my mom – not to disappoint her; this was her day after all – I returned the smile and nodded.

  The match went well, but the tension between Daniel and me was almost palpable. Then I got back into the game after I chased the image of Daniel’s nakedness out of my mind once again, and I returned to making headways. When I got the next strike, the ever-outgoing Daniel came up to me and gave me a hug. Even though I wouldn’t show it, I was freaking out on the inside. I pulled away without returning the joy Daniel tried to impart when he embraced me. All I could feel at that moment was terribly awkward.

  When we got back home, I exhaled a sigh of relief. Finally we were home and I didn’t have to pretend anything for the benefit of anyone anymore. I ran up to my bedroom, unplugged my phone from the charger and called Gabrielle.

  “Hey you,” Gabby answered at first ring. “How was the bowling?”

  “Well, at first it was okay, because Mom and I played against the guys, but then Richard decided we should switch teams…”

  “How?”

  “Me and Daniel against the folks.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “Oh no, I’m not! It was the most awkward thing ever!”

  “Then what happened? Did you two win?”

  “Yeah, and when I got the decisive strike, Daniel hugged me.” I fell silent at the recollection.

  “What did you do? Did you return the hug?”

  “Of course not. What do you take me for? I pulled out of his arms that quick, I don’t think anyone even noticed he hugged me; I was out that fast.”

  “And then what happened?”

  “Nothing. We just finished the game and came home.”

  “Did he say anything?”

  “You mean Daniel?”

  “Yeah,
who else are we talking about?”

  “No, actually he and I don’t talk. We’re just like avoiding each other. I mean I’m the one avoiding him. And I don’t think he cares one way or the other.”

  “What you doing right now?”

  “Nothing, why?”

  “Why don’t you go online and let’s talk, okay?” Gabby suggested.

  “Yeah, the phone thing gets a bit tiresome. Hang up and I’ll get you on Skype.” I hung up, re-plugged the phone and went to open my laptop.

  As soon as we were online, I felt better – it was as if Gabby was right there – well, she was, sort of.

  “Hey there!” I said. “What are you doing tomorrow? Apart from homework, I mean.”

  “Not much. I thought maybe we could get to the mall and go window shopping for a bit,” Gabby said.

  “Sounds good. Why don’t we catch that new movie? They advertise it everywhere; you know the one I mean?”

  “You mean Furious 7?”

  “Yeah, that’s the one.”

  “That’s an action movie. Do you like that sort of thing?” Gabby sounded a little surprised.

  “Not really, but when we were watching a show, Daniel said it was going to be “the best”! So I thought we might check it out.”

  “And since when do we listen to Mr. Gorgeous Abs?”

  I shrugged and suddenly realized that once again, Daniel and his presence in my life came back to mind. “It’s just a thought. He’s always out with his friends and he’s really into out-there kind of things, so I thought he should know.”

  “Yeah, sure, but it’s a guy thing. I heard my brother mention it the other day too, and he even teased me about it saying that I wouldn’t have the guts to see it.”

  “There you go then. Why don’t we go and show him that we can take it as well as they can?”

  “Okay, but if we don’t like it, we walk out. Deal?”

  “Sure. I don’t want to stay and watch something just because the guys told us it was good.”

  “Alright then. That’s tomorrow taken care of. What about tonight? Do you want to come over?” Gabby asked, although I knew I rarely went anywhere. I was really shy that way.