The Bad Boys of Summer Read Online Free Page B

something to say, words that would put into context the sheer amount of emotion I was feeling as I looked down into her eyes. What in the world does a person even say after all this time? After everything I’d done?
    “Hi, Iris.”

3
    Iris
    M y name leaving my stepbrother’s lips was like the slow drip of honey, sweet and almost musical. I bit my lip on instinct and felt a throb from down low as I raked my gaze over the man who’d almost ruined my life a mere seven years ago.
    He’d gotten taller. Christ, I thought guys stopped growing at eighteen, but Slade towered over me more now than he ever had before. He was an imposing figure with broad shoulders, a thick, solid chest, and arms that bulged with lean muscle beneath his scrubs. He’d certainly filled out. Even his face was different, more chiseled, his eyes more intense. Gone was the boy I’d gotten into so much trouble with, and in his place was a man.
    A man whose help I needed. Right. Kellan. I felt awful that I’d almost forgot.
    I cleared my throat, evading my stepbrother’s piercing gaze. “Good to see you’re hot-blooded as ever,” I said, nodding to the two nurses he’d been checking out.
    “Iris Walker,” he said again, like even the sound of my name defied belief. He looked me over from head to toe, and for a second, his tongue darted out across his lips. When he ran his teeth over the bottom one and pulled it into his mouth, that throb between my thighs returned full-force.
    Down, girl.
    “Yeah. Iris Walker. Your stepsister. ” At this point, I was reminding him as much as I was reminding myself. “I need a favor.”
    I should’ve asked him how he’d been, should’ve made small talk. That would’ve been the polite thing to do. But I was in a rush. I wanted to get this over with. I wanted the feelings flooding me—both good and bad—to dissipate and leave me the hell alone, and the only way to do that was to get in, get out, and never look back again.
    With how fantastic Slade looked, that wouldn’t exactly be easy.
    As soon as the word “favor” left my mouth, my stepbrother’s expression darkened. He took a quick look around the hall and said, “Well, it’s going to have to wait. I’m making rounds.”
    I raised an eyebrow at him. “In the cafeteria?” There weren’t any patient rooms on this floor.
    Slade shrugged. “Just taking a shortcut to the elevators. Point is, I really don’t have time. You in town long? You should call me sometime. We can figure out a rain check.”
    He was already moving past me before I could answer. I fell into step beside him. “I get it. You’re busy. We’ll walk and talk.”
    Slade laughed, but there was no joy in it. “Please. I can’t bring my little sister with me on my rounds.”
    “ Step sister,” I said again and caught the look he flashed me. It was a quick one, just out of the corner of his eye, but I could see it, feel it, taste it. There was an electric charge in the air and I could practically hear the gears in Slade’s head turning. He remembered what we’d done, and he knew why I was making the distinction.
    Still, he shrugged it off. “Whatever. Stepsister, then. Still, you can’t come with me on my rounds. This stuff is confidential information.”
    I shrugged too. “Better stop and talk to me, then, I guess.”
    Slade did stop, right in the middle of the cafeteria where everyone could see us. He tilted his head toward the ceiling and shut his eyes like when he opened them, I might have disappeared. When I didn’t, he looked disappointed. He lowered his voice.
    “There are things more important than us having a little tête-à-tête right now, Iris,” he said through his teeth. “People’s lives are at stake. And believe it or not, you dropping in here unannounced after… how many years has it been? Five? Ten?”
    I stared at him. He knew exactly how long. “Seven.”
    “Right.” He snapped his fingers. “Lucky number seven. So after seven years, you show