Stepbrother With Benefits 10 (Second Season) Page 6

  Oh, yes, he really does, doesn't he? Especially with the showers. A red blush creeps up my cheek as I remember our shower escapades from not that long ago. I don't think Ethan was very helpful with the shower, now that I think about it. We did a lot of non-standard showering activities. Hardly following proper protocol, and I'm not sure how the campground owner would feel about that sort of thing.

  Caleb misconstrues my blush, and he blushes even more. "Not that, uh... I didn't mean that, either! I didn't mean that your brother and you... in the shower... er..."

  "Caleb, are you trying to flirt with me?" I ask him. I don't think I'd usually be this bold, but dating Ethan kind of makes it easier.

  "What?" Caleb asks. I thought he was blushing as hard as he could, but apparently not. His entire face is red now. "No? I mean, I don't think so? Are you flirting with me?"

  "What? No!"

  "Oh."

  A sudden idea comes to mind and I think it's a pretty good one, so I decide to just go with it. "If I tell you something, can you keep it a secret?" I ask him.

  "Sure," he says. "What is it?"

  "I know my dad said that I broke up with my boyfriend before, but that's not entirely true."

  "Oh," Caleb says. "You got back together with him?"

  "No, um... I met someone else after that and we're dating but it's kind of a secret. I can't tell anyone yet."

  "You can't tell anyone what?" my mom asks, stepping out from an aisle and joining me.

  Caleb stands stock still, as if we've both been caught and we're in a lot of trouble now. I guess we would be, except it's just my mom.

  "She knows already," I tell him, and he loosens up and breathes a sigh of relief.

  "What do I know?" my mom asks.

  "About my secret boyfriend," I tell her.

  "Ashley!" my mom says, her mouth open in a false show of surprised shock. "You have a secret boyfriend?"

  I roll my eyes at her. Caleb stiffens again. He's kind of funny and cute with how awkward he is. It makes me smile.

  "I was telling Caleb that I have a secret boyfriend but we can't tell anyone yet."

  My mom nods twice. "Ah, yes. Alright."

  "Wait, why can't you tell anyone? Why are you telling me?" Caleb asks.

  "I think it's more that we can't tell my husband," my mom says. "We're not sure if he'd approve yet."

  "Yup. Also, I think that's why Ethan's being extra protective," I add.

  My mom gives me a curious, sidelong glance. Obviously she knows, but she must have realized I'm not telling Caleb everything, too.

  "Does he know your boyfriend?" Caleb asks.

  "Oh, yes," my mom says, taking over for me. "Ethan's extremely close with Ashley's boyfriend. They're inseparable, really."

  Um... I guess that's true? I don't think Ethan can separate himself from himself, so...

  "He's kind of scary," Caleb says. "Is he always like that?"

  "Who, Ethan?" I ask, and Caleb nods. "Yup, mostly, but he's pretty nice, too."

  "Sometimes," my mom adds, "except when he's not."

  "Well, I'm not trying to... to flirt with you or anything. I'm not trying to break up you and your boyfriend," Caleb says, stumbling with his words.

  "Maybe you should tell Ethan that?" my mom says.

  I give her a look. I don't know what kind of look it is, but I also don't know what she's playing at with this. I think it's my fault since I started all this and I can't exactly blame her for continuing it, but if Caleb says that to Ethan out of the blue, um...

  I don't think that's going to go very well. I can tell Ethan beforehand, though. This'll work. This is as good a plan as I can come up with so that we can keep everything a secret and so that Ethan doesn't have to get jealous all the time.

  Though, if I'm being honest, I kind of like Ethan when he's jealous. He gets extra protective and a little rough and I really can't complain about the sexy stuff he does. I'm not sure if last night was brought on by his jealousy or just normal bad boy behavior, but I feel like I should leave my options open.

  I do want him to know he doesn't have to be jealous. I like when he's a little grabby and possessive, though. Will he still be grabby and possessive when he's not jealous? I'm not sure, but knowing Ethan, yup, probably.

  My mom and Caleb are talking about he intricacies of my secret boyfriend, and I feel like I should chime in, so I do.

  "You just can't tell anyone, alright?" I say.

  "Alright," Caleb says. "I won't. I promise."

  "It's just you, me, my mom, and Ethan who knows. No one else does," I say. Jake does, I remember, but... ugh, I'm not even going to think about him. I don't have to for a few weeks, and I plan to take full advantage of that fact.

  "Alright," he says again.

  "Not even your dad. You can't even tell your best friend in the entire world over the phone, even if I'll never meet them."

  Caleb nods. "I swear I won't."

  "Alright, good," I say, nodding firm, trying to sound super serious.

  My mom nods, too, and scrunches up her brow, her lips pursed, looking super serious, as well.

  I'm glad we're all serious here, because I think this plan is either horrible or one of my best yet. Probably not the best, because I kind of think my sexy plans with Ethan are the best, but this is still a good one.

  "Do you want to help us shop, Caleb?" my mom asks.

  "Is that alright?" Caleb asks.

  "Yes," I say. "Just don't try to kiss me or my boyfriend will hurt you."

  "Oh, he's not here though, is he?" Caleb asks, then starts blushing again. "I mean, I'm not going to kiss you but I just... I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that!"

  I glare at him a little, lips pursed, trying not to laugh. Caleb is funny, I like him. "He'll know if you do," I say. "He's not here right now, but don't underestimate him. He's kind of a bad boy, and he's not afraid to get into trouble."

  "If he's anything like your brother, I believe it," Caleb says.

  Yes, well, he's a lot like my stepbrother, actually. Basically exactly like him in every way, because they're the same person, but I'm not going to say that. No one else has to know. Everything will be fine. We'll take this one day at a time, right?

  Yup!

  "Do they have graham crackers here?" my mom asks.

  "Yeah, they're right over here," Caleb says. "Are you going to make s'mores?"

  "We are! Oh, what about marshmallows? Chocolate, too. I saw some chocolate bars up at the counter, so we're probably fine there, but if there's anything else, we should weigh our options before we commit."

  Caleb smiles and he leads us around the store. We get everything for the s'mores, then some fresh bacon straight from the butcher, chicken breasts, some canned vegetables that weren't available fresh in the produce section, and a bunch more. Not too much, but it should tide us over for the next few days.

  While the woman at the counter is ringing us out, I smile over to Caleb. "Do you want to come over tonight for s'mores?" I ask him

  "Uh... is that alright?" he says.

  "Sure, why not?"

  "Er... Ethan? I think he hates me."

  "He probably does," I say, faking a frown and nodding.

  "Ashley! Ethan does not hate him," my mom says, shocked. "He heavily dislikes him, that's all."

  Caleb stands there, mouth open wide, looking at the both of us. He looks a little worried and scared, like as soon as we get back to the campground Ethan is going to search him out and beat him up or something. It's kind of funny but then I feel a little bad, too.

  "Ethan doesn't hate you," I say. "I don't think he does. I'll talk to him, alright? Just don't try to flirt with me or kiss me."

  "You should probably avoid hugs or overly friendly gestures, too," my mom adds.

  "What kind of overly friendly gestures?" Caleb asks. "How do I know what to do?"

  "You probably shouldn't smile or laugh," my mom says. "Also, I'd suggest standing at least arm's length away from Ashley at all times. Do
n't look at her for more than two seconds, either."

  "Are you serious?" Caleb asks.

  "No, not particularly," my mom says, grinning.

  Caleb stares at her like she has two heads. I think it might be an apt assessment at the moment. My mom really seems to like teasing him. It's kind of funny. I start to laugh, and Caleb shuffles side to side for a second before cracking a smile.

  "You'll be fine, dear," my mom says, patting him on the shoulder. "Just be yourself, alright? We'd love to have you over for s'mores later. It'll be fun."

  *** Ethan

  The bait shop is crazy. I don't mean to sound like some spoiled city kid, but they seriously have taxidermy stuff in here, too. It's not a bait shop so much as an all-purpose outdoorsman sort of place. There's guns locked up in cases behind a counter, and archery equipment off to the side, plus more fishing rods than any one person could ever need. The guy who runs the place does taxidermy too, I guess, and he's showing my dad his handiwork.

  I'm not sure if my dad is impressed or scared. I feel like in a situation like this you should be a little bit of both. You don't want to screw around with a guy who makes home decorations out of dead animals. I have to admit, they do look pretty cool, though. There's a large moose head on a plaque hanging high up on the wall behind the clerk's counter. That is not a moose I'd want to mess with.

  Also, there's a bear. An entire bear. It's standing on two legs on a short wooden pedestal, paws stretched out like it's about to attack you. I'm pretty sure if Ashley saw it, she'd faint. It's cool, Princess, I'll catch you. I'm your knight in bad boy armor or something.

  Just so you know, the bear isn't real, though. The taxidermy guy made sure to tell me that. They aren't allowed to shoot bears here. I guess if you see a bear you just punch it or something? Or you hope and pray you never see a bear to begin with. Fuck if I know?

  I go to a cooler in the back and look through my options while my dad talks with the shop owner. Let's see, for fishing we have... worms, worms, and worms. Lots of choices. I go with the worms on the right instead of the worms on the left, because who the fuck likes things on the left? I don't know. Actually, I have nothing against left as a direction, but I just felt like going with the worms on the right.

  I take them over to where my dad and the shop owner are talking, but before I get there I see John, the campground owner.

  "Hey," he says to me, smiling and waving.

  I wave back. "Hey."

  "You all going fishing later?"

  "Probably not today but we brought fishing poles, so we might try at the lake," I say.

  "Nice," John says. "Yeah, it's fun. You could try the river, too. Feeds into the lake, but you can catch different kinds of fish over there sometimes. They're a little more feisty if you're looking for a challenge." He winks at me.

  I don't know why he winks at me, but I guess I look like someone looking for a challenge? I'm fine with it, because it's probably true. Who wants to do easy stuff? Yawn, boring.

  "Caleb knows his way around there and he loves fishing if you want to ask him," John says. "He gets kind of bored hanging out at the campground all day, so he'd love an excuse to take off for awhile."

  "Yeah, maybe," I say, gritting my teeth. Do I look like I want to hang out with Caleb? I guess so, if his dad just said that, but whatever. "Is he here?"

  "Nah, he went to get food. He's at the grocery store."

  Wow. Seriously? I guess this could be a coincidence, but I don't know. He just coincidentally goes to the grocery store when Ashley and her mom are also coincidentally going to the grocery store, and that little fuck is going to have a chance to be alone with her now? Seriously, what the fuck bullshit is that? Obviously I'm not there, either, and that pisses me off, because who knows what he's saying?

  I bet he thinks he's smooth and suave, too. Talking some crap about wanting to lay out under the country sky and look at the stars with her or something. Let's go into the woods. It's magical. Also, take your pants off and let's fuck.

  I really don't like him. Only I'm allowed to tell Ashley to take her pants off so we can fuck. I'm pretty sure one of the perks of being a boyfriend is that you get to say stuff like that. I mean, I don't know for sure, but I'm just pretty sure that's one of the perks. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

  The stars and shit, too. Only I'm allowed to ask her to look at the stars. Why the fuck didn't I ask her if she wanted to look at the stars yet? Fuck. I'm not good at this boyfriend thing. I need to step up my game here.

  Fuck you, Caleb.

  "Are you alright?" John asks me, looking at me funny.

  "Yeah, I'm fine," I say, frustrated. "Just can't fucking wait to go fishing, that's all."

  Yeah, that's it. Makes sense, right?

  I guess so!

  "Ah," John says, giving me an understanding nod. "I know what you mean. There's nothing quite like the sense of calm and relaxation that comes over you when you first cast your line. It's truly amazing."

  "Yeah," I say, trying not to laugh. He sounds so into it. Fishing is pretty nice, though.

  "I'll tell Caleb you might want to go," he says. "I've got to head out, though. Let me know if you all need anything back at the campground, alright?"

  "Sure," I say.

  I decide not to add that I need his son to stay the fuck away from Ashley. I mean, he asked if I needed anything, and I think that kind of counts, but maybe it's not the best thing to say.

  I head over to my dad and the taxidermy guy. They're looking at a fish now. I don't know why anyone would ever do that to a perfectly good fish, because it looks like it would have made a great dinner, but whatever. Apparently you can taxidermy a fish. What the fuck, is that even what it's called? Taxidermy?

  "Worms!" my dad says as I join him. "Great."

  "Did you want to get some of that deer jerky I mentioned, too?" the shop owner asks him. "It's as fresh as it gets. Genuine country flavor and I smoke it at home myself."

  Holy fuck, deer jerky? Seriously, that sounds amazing. I guess I'm drooling or something, because both my dad and the shop owner seem excited by the look on my face.

  "You think we should get some for the ladies?" my dad asks.

  "Yeah, but I don't think we should tell them it's locally made. They're going to think it's Bambi's mother or something."

  My dad laughs. This is kind of nice, just hanging out with him. I wish we did it more often.

  That's what the camping trip is for, though, right?

  Yeah, maybe. Hopefully.

  *** Ashley

  By the time my mom and I get back to the campsite, Ethan and his dad are already there. They're just mulling around, goofing off, and it's kind of nice to see. I know Ethan and his dad don't always see eye to eye, and sometimes his dad doesn't have a lot of free time outside of work, but I think Ethan wishes they could spend more time together.

  I don't know why I think that. I haven't actually ever really talked with Ethan about it before. It's just something I've thought about sometimes. I like spending time with my mom, and I honestly couldn't even imagine not spending time with her. I call her every day when I'm at college and tell her almost everything. I know Ethan doesn't feel as comfortable as that with his dad, but...

  I don't know. Maybe he wants to be? Even if they aren't, I think it would be nice if he at least felt like he could be comfortable talking with his dad about things.

  I suppose I have ulterior motives there, because I want him to tell his dad about us, but that's not the only reason. I'm just not sure what the other reasons are yet.

  "Well, hello there, boys," my mom says after we park and get out of the car. "What kind of trouble are you two getting into?"

  "We grabbed some jerky at the bait shop. Want to try some?" my stepdad asks.

  Ethan's already eating his own piece. He spares a glance over at me while his dad comes to offer my mom some jerky.

  "Ashley?" he asks, holding the bag out for me, too. "It's good stuff."

&n
bsp; I take a small piece and try it. Oh, wow! It really is pretty good. I chew and swallow, and I kind of want another piece, but Ethan's dad is hanging around my mom by the firepit now. He also has the bag of jerky. Ethan sees me staring and he steals a piece for me and brings it over.

  I smile. "Thanks."

  "Yeah, no problem," he says. Then... "Meet anyone interesting while you were shopping?"

  "Huh?"

  "Caleb?"

  "Oh." Um... this doesn't look good. Ethan looks kind of mad, actually. "Yup, he was there," I say, trying to sound casual and nonchalant. I'm not sure if it works.

  "And?" he asks.

  "I don't know. He was just there," I say. It's not like I can explain everything to him right now. "He helped me and my mom with our shopping. He had to buy some things, too."

  "Yeah, sure," Ethan says, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure that was it."

  I stick my tongue out at him. "Well, that really was it. You don't have to be jealous or anything."

  Ethan gives me a look, and it's a kind of sexy, smoldering look, though I'm not entirely sure what it's for. I kind of want to find out what it's for, though.

  He sneaks closer to me and whispers something.

  "Um... what?" I say, confused.

  "Just do it," he says.

  Ugh. I don't know what he has in mind, but I'm pretty sure nothing good will come of it. I'm curious, though. This is a dangerous combination, the demanding bad boy and the curious good girl, but I think I can handle myself now. If not, I'm sure I'll enjoy what Ethan has in mind, so...

  "I have to go to the bathroom," I say to Ethan's dad and my mom. They stop looking lovingly at each other and look over at me. "I'm just, um... I forget how to get there?"

  Ethan grumbles. He's not even grumbling, though! He's pretending to grumble. What a jerk, seriously.

  "Yeah, yeah," he says. "I'll show you. Try and remember, though. I don't want to have to do this every single time you've got to go."

  I glare at him and stick my tongue out. My mom laughs, but my stepdad just rolls his eyes at the two of us. Alright, good, this is sort of going according to plans, I think.