Discovering Stella Read Online Free Page A

know how long I had to find out as much about her as I possibly could.
    “I don’t know,” she replied with a shrug. “I haven’t thought about it. I guess that’s up to Todd and Meg. Anyway, um ... thanks for the ride, and thanks —”
    “You don’t need to thank me, Stella,” I said quietly, cutting her off. “And again, I’m so sorry for the way I acted.”
    She nodded, just slightly, before turning around and entering the house with Todd and closing the door behind them. I let out a frustrated breath as I lowered myself into the driver’s seat, staring after her and realising I had to know more. I couldn’t exactly say why. Yes, she was the sexiest chick I’d ever seen, but it was more than that. Maybe it was the broken damsel thing, and because Mum had always tried to teach me to be chivalrous. Or maybe it was because her flip out left me feeling unsettled and like a complete bucket of shit. Whatever it was, I had to know. And I had the perfect way to extend the time I would need in order to do it.

 
    *   *   *

 
    I’d spent the afternoon performing a compression test on Stella’s car, discovering that it did, in fact, have a blown head gasket. For the few hours that followed, I’d stripped down the motor and removed it, finding one bloody huge crack. I couldn’t have been happier.
    Pulling into the driveway of my house several hours later, I was still smiling because I would have to send the cracked cylinder head off to Shepparton to have it checked and tested, which would inevitably buy me an extra week or so. I also hoped that, upon further investigation of her shit heap of a car, I would find further defects that needed seeing to and would inevitably require more time to do so. The result was perfect.
    Opening the front door to my house, the smell of garlic and onions hit me almost instantly, putting an even bigger smile on my face and a hungry ache in my gut. “Smells great,” I called out to my sister.
    “Tell me something I don’t know,” she yelled back. Little smartarse.
    Stopping in the doorway to the kitchen and spying her stir ring a pot, I threw a tape ball at her back. “I can’t,” I said with a smile. “Have I got time for a quick shower?”
    She looked over her shoulder at the ball of masking tape that I often formed out of left over scraps and … boredom, then glared at me. “I hate those stupid things.”
    I waggled my eyebrows. “I know.”
    “You have less than ten minutes. Make it quick!”
    “I knew there was a reason why I love you,” I mocked as I headed for the bathroom.
    She turned back around and scoffed, “Yeah, there are many.”
    I agreed with my sister; there were many reasons. She was only eleven months older, yet it may as well have been eleven years: she was smart, organised, far more mature and, as far as sisters went, she was the best.
    Turning the handle to the bathroom door, I walked in while pulling my t-shirt over my head, eager to wash the day’s grease from my skin.
    “Get out!” a woman screamed, shocking the absolute shit out of me.
    Now hurrying to yank the t-shirt off and away from my face so I could see who the fuck was screaming at me, I became aware I was standing in front of Stella. A wet, towel-covered Stella. Shit! I completely forgot.
    “What are you doing here?” she screeched, holding the towel to her body.
    I couldn’t help but take in her damp golden legs and how her wet hair hung long, clinging to her neck, shoulders and the tops of her tits.
    “Lawson!” she yelled again, snapping my eyes and thoughts from the roaming of her body.   “What are you doing   here? Get out!”
    I locked eyes with her and gave her a small apologetic grin. “I live here.”

T H R E E

 

 
 
    Let’s try this again

 
 
    He lives here? Oh hell no. This is not good. “You can’t,” I stuttered like an idiot, clasping my towel tighter.
    He raised his hand and gripped the back of his neck, showcasing his extremely ripped