STEPBROTHER Love 1 Read Online Free

class.  And I’d never even flown before.
    I felt another piece of paper behind it, so I flipped the plane ticket behind the other piece of paper…
    And about fell over.
    The other ticket was to a three day basketball clinic run by Tamika Catchings of the Phoenix Fever!
    Tamika Catchings… arguably the greatest player to play in the WNBA, ever.
    I went completely non-verbal for the next thirty seconds, gasping and making little squealing, puppy whine sounds. 
    And then my brain reengaged and I started screaming, “Oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god!”
    I threw myself on Paul again, hugging him as hard as I could.
    “Thank you, thank you, thank you! ”
    He hugged me back, and he sighed.
    That sigh meant so much.  It meant he missed me as much as I’d missed him.
    “You’re welcome.  I booked you a room at the Marriot just down the street from where the camp will be held.  I was told it’s where most of the other participants will be staying too, so you won’t be alone.”
    I let go of him… not really wanting to, and looked up at him, shaking my head.  “You’re the best.”
    “Joshua found out about it for me.  I was going to buy you tickets to Cancun… maybe Fiji.” 
    Joshua…
    Joshua had thought to find a basketball camp run by my favorite player of all time.
    I loved Tamika more than LeBron… more than Kobe.
    And he’d remembered…
    I swallowed.  My mouth was suddenly very dry.
    “I guess he couldn’t come,” I said.
    As if magicked out of thin air, Joshua materialized at his father’s side, taller, broader, and handsomer than ever.
    The blue polo shirt he wore only made his eyes look greener than usual.
    I felt every molecule in my body start to vibrate at the same time.  My heart was pounding against my sternum and I gasped in spite of myself.
    Those eyes smoldered—a promise of naughty, reckless things to come.
    I ripped my gaze from him and bit my lip, trying to cause myself enough pain to keep me from staring at the man like I was… like I was…
    In love with him…
    Joshua laughed. 
    My eyes shot to him and that smolder was gone.  In its place was the leer of an arrogant, preening asshole.
    “Don’t worry, princess.  I wouldn’t miss your little party for the world.”  He walked toward me, and then past me, his shoulder brushing against my own.  “Dad made me come.”
    Paul gave Joshua a bewildered look, but then smiled at me again.
    I felt cold all over, except for my face.  My cheeks were burning with embarrassment.   Part of me was ecstatic that Joshua was here.  That part wanted to rush into his arms and kiss the ever-loving shit out of him.
    But part of me wanted to slap him again, even harder than the last time.
    Both parts of me, though, were hurt that he’d had to be forced to come see me.
    It had been two years.
    Not a text.  Not a phone call or a birthday card… nothing.
    Except he’d picked out my gift—a gift I loved—for my dad to give me.
    I hugged myself and plastered my best fake smile on my face.
    I couldn’t let Paul or anyone else know the depth of my feelings for Joshua.
    As Paul told me about some of the great workshops and activities awaiting me at the basketball camp, I stole a glance at my stepbrother.
    He stood over by the front window, slouching against the windowsill, smiling like the big bad wolf at one of my teammates.  Katie Boyd. 
    His eyes slid over her from head to toe… and he licked his lips.
    And then his eyes slid over to me, and the heat that was there when he looked at Katie extinguished, leaving his eyes cold and hard.
    I almost looked away. 
    I wanted to look away.
    Having him look at me like that just plain hurt…
    But I wouldn’t look away, I wouldn’t let him do this to me in my own house, at my goddamn graduation party.
    Not after he’d ignored me for two years.
    I glared back, and then felt my lips twitch into an unexpected grin.
    Whether Paul had forced him or not, Joshua had still come.  He was twenty years