Stuck On My Stepbrother Read Online Free

I’m taking a break in half an hour to get coffee. I’ll get you one then. Americano, with three sugars to shake off the hangover. Deal?’
    I nodded and we headed to the elevator.
    Patrick pressed the button to go up, and then ran his fingers through his thick, blond hair. ‘Jesus, I didn’t even have time to take a shower,’ he said, yawning.
    I thought about my own shower, and blushed.
    The elevator doors pinged and Patrick walked in, me following him. I caught sight of myself in the mirror, under the harsh lights of the elevator, thinking how much more forgiving my own bathroom mirror had been. I didn’t look my best, that’s for sure. And I looked like I’d lost weight recently. I was only slight to begin with. Now I was losing the meat off my bones. It wasn’t good. I’d have a big lunch later. Maybe half a pizza, like Patrick sometimes had at his desk. That’d fatten me up.
    The elevator doors closed, and we began our ascent.
    ‘Look, about last night…’ said Patrick. ‘I’m sorry about Jen. She gets jealous easily.’
    I screwed up my face, not understanding what he was getting about, why Jen would be jealous of me .
    ‘You know,’ Patrick said, running his eyes over me. ‘You’re young, intelligent, pretty…’
    Oh god. Patrick wasn’t flirting with me, was he?
    ‘But Jen is gorgeous!’ I blurted. ‘And she’s good at her job.’
    Patrick pursed his lips, amused. ‘You’re not so bad yourself, you know,’ he said. ‘At the job, that is.’
    At that moment, the elevator doors pinged, and we got out.
    Christina stepped out of her office the moment she saw us. ‘Hey, youse two!’ she shouted, her gruff Scots accent sounding stronger than ever. ‘Get your arses over here. Right noo.’
    I braced myself, took a deep breath, and we walked over.
    ‘I’m so sorry, Christina,’ I began. ‘I completely lost track of time and I–‘
    ‘Well fucking done,’ Christina said, grabbing one of us under each of her arms. ‘I’m proud of youse.’
    My heart fluttered in my chest. So we weren’t getting a telling off. It was a congratulations!  
    ‘Cheers, Christina,’ said Patrick. ‘It’s a shame you couldn’t make it.’
    ‘Aye, I know,’ she said, still grabbing on to us, hard. ‘But family comes first, you know, and my son’s birthday tea was also a great success. Ice cream. Burgers. Cleaning up puke ’til eleven p.m. The full works. Oh, the glamor.’ She finally let go of us, and then gave us a push towards our office. ‘No slacking today though, eh kids?’ she called, as we began walking down the corridor, past the room of journalists, some of whom had already been up for hours. ‘There’s money to be made.’
    Patrick slumped immediately at his desk, which was closest to the door, and I walked over to mine, which was partially hidden behind a pot plant. It was only when I sat down that I realized. Jen wasn’t in the office.
    ‘Patrick,’ I said, ‘do you think Jen’s sick?’
    Patrick looked at Jen’s empty desk and thought about this for a few moments. ‘Ach, she can take her drink,’ he said. ‘She’ll be in soon, like a bear with a sore head.’
    I started up my computer, feeling a little relieved if I’m honest, that I didn’t have to face Jen just yet. And that’s when Christina appeared at the door, with a ghostly complexion and wide eyes. ‘Rose,’ she said. ‘Come to my office, please.’ I’d never seen her look more serious.

CHAPTER SIX
White Bear Problem

    ‘Take a seat, Rose,’ Christina said, pointing to the small wooden chair in front of her desk.
    I hadn’t been into Christina’s office before. She had a reputation for holding all her meetings in the pub, over cocktails, which particularly pleased Jen, it had to be said.  
    The office was small, about half the size of the room that I worked in, and Christina had obviously occupied the space for a long time. It was crammed full of the things she’d accomplished over the last ten