GRIND: A Stepbrother Romance Read online

  The two of them went upstairs too, leaving me downstairs by myself. I glanced at the clock, surprised to see how late it already was. How long had Liam and I been playing on the tennis court?

  As much as I wanted to see him before bed, I made myself get a shower too, and laid in my bed afterward, thinking about how amazing the weekend had been so far.

  My phone chimed on the night stand, and I grinned when I picked it up, sliding my finger over the picture Liam had taken of himself with my phone and used as his contact photo.

  It was so hard not to jack off in the shower. I keep thinking about you. Get some sleep.

  Letting out a sigh, my cheeks hurt from all the smiling I was doing as I replied.

  Maybe next time you'll have some company to help. Good night, Liam.

  Chapter 11

  ALY

  * * *

  I felt silly arguing with myself over which top to wear for the day, to go with the tight skinny jeans I had already picked out. They made my ass look nice and round, and now all I needed was a sweater that showed off my cleavage…

  Settling for my favorite dark green V-neck sweater, I fixed my hair so that it was half up, sprayed a little perfume, and tried to casually walk down the steps as if I wasn't dying to see Liam first thing this morning.

  "Ah, good morning, Aly! You remember Jackson?" Randy called out as I came down the stairs, standing by the closet where both Jackson and Liam were talking.

  I gave Jackson a little wave and looked for my sister and mom, who I found sitting together on the couch, watching TV.

  "Morning," I said, sitting on the other side of Mom. "How are you feeling today?"

  Sage blew her nose noisily into a tissue and leaned back. "Meh. I feel a little better. Still super congested and stuffy, though."

  Mom patted her on the knee. "Some fresh orange juice and more medicine should help. I'll be right back."

  "I feel terrible that you haven't been able to enjoy yourself like the rest of us," I said, giving my sister the tissue box. "It isn't exactly fair."

  "Maybe we'll be able to come back again. I don't know about you but I think Mom really likes Randy."

  I totally agreed. "Yeah, I see it too. It's nice. It's been so long for her."

  Sage nodded and pulled her knees up under her chin, watching the TV as the next court case popped up on screen.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I wondered what was on the list of plans for the day. If I was lucky, there'd be plenty of alone time with Liam on it.

  "All right, all right! Jackson has agreed to round us up some breakfast on our last morning here," Randy called out to everyone, passing into the kitchen area with his arms spread wide. Jackson and Liam followed him, and my eyes followed Liam's butt.

  Sage nudged me. "I forgot to ask you about something…"

  But before she could continue, Mom mentioned something about making mimosas and my sister was suddenly halfway healed, pushing the blanket off her and walking slowly into the kitchen. Only Sage would get up while on her sickbed for some mimosas.

  Breakfast was a chatty affair, and between Jackson and Randy discussing the latest restaurant chain opening up in Napa Valley with my mom, and Sage laughing next to me as she flipped through photos on Instagram, everyone's attentions were scattered. Mine, on the other hand, were right where they'd been the whole weekend.

  I jolted as my phone buzzed silently in the pocket of my jeans, and I slipped it out, chewing on my lip as I realized it was none other than the sexy man sitting across from me at breakfast. Liam pretended to be absorbed in the conversation, playing it cool.

  You should wear that sweater more often. It really shows off your… assets.

  I smiled, tilting my head to the side as I replied back.

  One could say the same about your jeans.

  "I have an idea—why don't we all play a game? When the boys were younger, Selene and I used to play Monopoly and Scrabble with them all the time. Remember that?" Randy laughed, asking his sons.

  "Oh yeah. And remember how bad Liam was at spelling the words out?" Jackson chimed in, smirking over at Liam.

  Liam rolled his eyes. "I was seven. Cut me some slack, will you?"

  "Oh, I haven't played a board game in years," Mom said, taking Randy's hand over the table. "What do you think, girls? Up for a little fun?"

  Sage snorted rather unsuccessfully given the state of her sinuses, but gave me a small smile anyway. "She forgets how terrible she is at them."

  Mom put on an indignant frown, pursing her lips. "I am not bad at board games."

  I looked away when she glanced over at me, waiting for me to come to her defense.

  "Aly! Tell her I'm good at them!"

  Everyone at the table laughed this time, even Mom, who settled back into her seat grumbling, "We'll see just how right I am. Game on."

  My phone dinged again; this time I briefly read the text as it came in, my throat tightening.

  If you play your cards right, you might be seeing me without the jeans on later.

  "Who's texting you?" Sage leaned in and whispered next to my ear as I quickly turned the phone out of her view.

  "Shh!"

  She took it upon herself to shake her head as she picked her phone back up, her fingers flying across the screen. A few seconds later my phone dinged again, and this time it was her.

  Were you on Tinder last night or something?

  Confused, I typed back.

  What? No!

  She clucked her tongue quietly, pausing her insanely fast fingers to take a sip of her mimosa.

  Because I swear I heard you screaming like you were getting murdered. Or like your vagina was getting murdered. In a good kind of way. ;)

  My skin flushed pink for the millionth time this weekend. Betraying my own self, I glanced over at Liam for the tiniest flicker, but Sage was watching. I heard her softly gasp.

  OMG it was LIAM.

  I pushed the phone away from me on the table and pretended to be very interested in the games that Randy had brought out of the game room. "I've always liked playing Spades, myself."

  Into card games huh? How about a little strip poker later? You'll strip and I'll poke…

  Liam's sexy little message came in first, followed by Sage's full line of exclamation points and wide-eyed emojis mixed with a weird eggplant next to an emoji of a pair of lips. What the…?

  “Goodness honey, are you coming down with what Sage has?" Mom's voice cut through the battling texts on my phone, and I slowly looked up at her sheepishly.

  "No…"

  "Your cheeks are flushed, Aly. Maybe you should go take some aspirin just in case?"

  I breathed in and out evenly through my nose, part of me hysterically laughing on the inside from the absurdity of the moment. "I'm fine. I think I might have gotten a little wind-chapped yesterday while skiing."

  Across the table, Liam accidentally dropped his fork.

  "If you say so," Mom replied.

  Buzz.

  Did you wear that short skirt for my benefit?

  Buzz.

  OMG you're looking at him with legit bedroom eyes. You have to spill!

  Buzz.

  Lift it up.

  My mouth went dry and I looked at Liam, willing him to look back at me when he typed those dirty things to me. But he kept on pretending as if everything was normal. Tugging the corner of my lip between my teeth, I hitched the hem of my new flowy pink skirt up.

  Liam dropped his knife this time. "Whoops!" When he bent down, I carefully spread my thighs just wide enough…

  Buzz.

  Am I making you wet?

  I nodded my head just enough to answer him while he was looking at me out of the corner of his eye. The tiniest flicker of a smile showed up on his face, and he was up, stretching tall and offering to take everyone's plates for them.

  Randy plopped down an older version of Monopoly and I inwardly groaned. How on earth was I going to play this long ass game when all I wanted was to go back
upstairs with Liam?

  "Delicious, simply delicious, Jackson," Mom said, graciously bowing her head down in Jackson's direction. "I'm going to need that latest curry recipe from you."

  Dinner was laid back, especially after everyone had decided to go skiing one last time, Sage taking a dip in the pool instead, after breakfast earlier.

  It was pure torture getting all of the dirty texts Liam had been sending to me all day long. It wasn't as though we could just break away from the game—what would everyone think? Would they be suspicious? For every sext I sent Liam, I received three in its place, dirtier and dirtier as the day went on.

  In the supply shed.

  On the jet up in the air.

  Across the hood of my car.

  I'll give you an even better massage next time. I won't be using my hands though.

  Damn. Let me see you wiggle that ass a little more.

  When Jackson had suggested we all hang out in the living room after stuffing ourselves full of curry and rice, I purposefully sat far away from Liam. It was difficult enough to concentrate on the new suspense movie that Randy had ordered On Demand, without adding Liam to it.

  Several times throughout the movie my mind would go off the reservation, wondering when I'd get the chance to be alone with him again. Silently in my head I wished them all to hurry up and get on with it.

  How long would this damn thing take, anyway?

  Mom shrieked and nearly spilled her red wine in her lap as the serial killer on screen pulled out a gun on the main character, sending all of us into hysterics. Maybe it was just the excess of wine and the pouty face she gave the rest of us, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be long before everyone made their way upstairs. At least that was what I kept telling myself.

  Sage's sputtering snoring, as loud as it was, didn't seem to stop Mom from cuddling against Randy's shoulder and falling asleep. I even caught a small smile creep across his face as he brushed a piece of her hair from her face. It was quite sweet… or at least, until I got the next text from Liam.

  Picture for me, you swimming in the pool alone, naked and floating on your back. Now picture me diving in the deep end, but you don't see me come up. All of a sudden your hips are pulled down and I'm sliding my dick inside you.

  Well now. That was an intense picture to paint, a naughty one that I would most definitely be imagining the next time I was in bed alone.

  The next big jump scare on screen didn't effect anyone else but me, and when I looked around me I noticed that aside from me and Liam, everyone else had fallen asleep. Randy with his mouth slightly open, Mom propped up against him, and Jackson with his head in his hand on the arm of the couch, his chest moving slowly.

  Trying to catch Liam's eye, I pulled my arm out from behind my sister's sleeping form and gave him a little wave, pointing to everyone. This could be it. This could be our next moment.

  His fingers were busy on the screen of his phone, the tip of his talented tongue poking out between his teeth.

  Buzz.

  What do you say we continue this upstairs?

  I grinned over at him and nodded, starting to stand up, but somebody coughed and I quickly settled back in, looking from side to side.

  Randy had woken back up, chuckling to himself. "I think it's time for bed, everyone. I'm going to go ahead and take care of the movie now that it's over. Good night."

  I inwardly groaned, wondering if Liam was as frustrated as I felt that moment. The twitch in his jaw told me that maybe I was right. It just figured that the powers that be had a hand in keeping us apart. Just fucking figures.

  My sister, on the other hand, practically hissed when Mom tugged the blanket from her hands. "I'm sleeping down here," she mumbled, drawing the blanket up and over her head as she fell into another coughing fit.

  Shoot. Now we can't even stay down here and hang out, which was the very next plan…

  I pursed my lips, trying not to show just how irritated I was, and after telling everyone a quick goodnight, I marched up the steps and was careful not to slam the door shut, no matter how petulant I was feeling.

  When the phone lit back up in the darkness of the room, I debated on whether I wanted to just sleep in my misery, or if I wanted to continue the torture with reading all the sexts Liam was sending me. Of course, I just couldn't help myself…

  Damn. I'll be thinking about you and that delicious pussy of yours over here in bed.

  The ache between my legs was even more intense.

  LIAM

  Oh yeah? What are you thinking?

  Settling under the covers of the bed, I chuckled at Aly's attempt to get me to sext with her. I mean, I pretty much was anyway, but her wanting more of a picture… Well, two could play that game. My dick was already throbbing hard as I lightly stroked at it through my sweatpants. My hand was by no means an equal alternative for Aly's mouth, much less her wonderfully tight, hot sex, but it was a means to an end.

  And besides, imagining her in the room across the hallway, her fingers down her own panties, touching herself… It was enough to make me come at the thought.

  I was thinking I'd sneak across the hall, wake you up in the middle of the night, and have my way with you.

  A moment later the screen of my phone lit back up.

  No. You have to do better than that.

  I raised an eyebrow, deciding to up the ante.

  Okay, you asked for it. But if you end up touching yourself you have to promise me you'll send me a little treat.

  I waited on pins and needles this time, to see if she was down. Oh fuck… If I had a naked picture of Aly on my phone, I could probably die a happy man.

  The next couple of minutes passed by, leading me to think that maybe Aly just wasn't into the idea of nudes. I couldn't expect a sexy, grown ass woman like her to just drop her pants and Snapchat her ass for me. And I wouldn't want her to, not after she'd been held a prisoner of pleasure all this time. If there was one thing I knew, it was that I planned on changed that ASAP.

  My eyes slowly drifted shut, my arms tucked behind my head. Luckily, right as I began drifting off, the phone lit up, and when I saw there was an image attached I nearly shouted out loud, my grin from ear to ear.

  It was very simple. A close up of silky, light pink fabric just barely covering her bare mound, goosebumps clear across her skin. A few of her fingers on her left hand were slipped underneath the front of her panties.

  I closed my eyes. This was the best kind of surprise yet.

  Chapter 12

  ALY

  * * *

  The trip was over before we all knew it, and of course, that meant it was back to business as usual back in Napa. I felt slow, tired, and even a little lazy after the relaxing and okay, erotic and fun weekend spent in Vail. It was hard to focus on anything else but how soon I could get back into Liam's pants.

  And because mothers have an uncanny knack of being able to put you to work when your mind needs the distraction the most, Mom pulled me aside when I came over once the vineyard had officially closed for the evening, asking me for my help.

  "Tomorrow is our special Valentine's event for the Minerva Winery. They'll be showcasing my choice of wine for the night, displaying it for the guests. Randy has graciously volunteered Spa Unico for our space. It has a large ballroom perfect for the event. You know how these high end events stress me out. Would you mind helping your poor, old mother?"

  I did know how frazzled Mom tended to get when she was faced with hosting literally anything, from a small group of teenage girls for a sleepover, to things like these yearly meetings. It made me wonder why she kept volunteering. "You know I'll help out however I can. What do you need me to do?"

  Which led me to staring at myself in the mirror, twisting from side to side. "Dammit, why is it so hard to just pick something?" I muttered to myself.

  Sage popped her head into the bedroom, and seeing that I was present, pulled the door shut behind her. "Is it between the yellow dress you're wearing and the sp
arkly black one? Because if so… I mean, c'mon. There's no choice, you've got to go with the little black dress. Yellow is so not your color, anyway."

  I let out a sigh, twisting to see how the back of the dress fit across my wide hips. It was bunched up in a weird way anyway. "I hate it when you're right."

  This earned me one of my sister's trademark smirks, and she leaned in closer to inspect her face. "Ugh. There is no way I'm going to be able to cover these bags up under my eyes. I hate being sick."

  "You're still sick?" I asked, unzipping myself out of the yellow dress before hanging it back up on the door. "I thought you were getting better?"

  Sage shrugged. "I mean, I am better, but you wouldn't be able to tell by the puffiness and bags on my face. If my skin keeps it up, I'm going to have more wrinkles than Mom," she said, slightly shuddering to herself. "And I'm just not ready to give up my twenty-something skin."

  Scrounging around in one of the many zippers of my makeup bag, I found what I was looking for and tossed it over to her. "Try this. It's the only way I managed to make it through school without looking like a total zombie."

  She thanked me and worked on her face while I slid the slinky black dress over my head, sucking in my gut to make sure I could fit it all the way over my hips. Once it was in place, I had to admit that it didn't look so bad after all.

  "Wow. See? I told you. That looks so much better on you."

  While I fixed the last strands of hair around my face, Sage finished up her makeup and stood back, watching me, looking as though she wanted to say something. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?" I asked her, getting impatient.

  "You never did tell me what's going on between you and Liam, you know."

  I snorted. Ah, of course that was what the nosy girl wanted to know. "What's to know? We, um, had some fun over the weekend."

  Sage kicked my shin and I cursed. "Oh please. You know I'm going to need to know a few more details than that. Don't leave your own sister hanging!"