Stranded with My Stepbrother

Chapter 40

I gave her a wan smile and ran a hand over her hair. “I’m glad he didn’t hurt you. I’m... glad I was there.”

Jocelyn hugged me tightly.

I looked out to the road and saw the dust had died down. “Okay, I think we can start walking.”

Jocelyn nodded and took my hand again. We walked along the side of the road, ready to jump off again if a logger or a fisherman passed.

It was a cool day, which was also a good thing. I sweated just the same, and Jocelyn wiped her sleeve over her brow a few times.

We must have walked at least five miles before we saw the Suburban and boat trailer pulled off to the side of the road.

I looked at Jocelyn. She looked at me. Then, we both just kept walking.

A door slammed and Hank came running up to us. “Don’t be stupid. Get in the truck.”

“It’s a nice day today, isn’t it, Jacey? Good day for a nice, long walk to a bus station,” I mused.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Jocelyn said.

Hank grabbed my shoulder, but I slapped his hand away. “If you want to be helpful, toss us a couple of waters and then fuck off,” I growled.

“Boy, you don’t get to talk to me that way!” Hank barked, but I ignored him.

Jocelyn tugged on my hand, and we kept walking forward.

“Do you have your passport with you?” Jocelyn whispered to me when Hank finally gave up and got into the Suburban, following us at a crawl.

“Yes. And my wallet. You?” I said.

“Just my passport. But I’ll pay you back if you get me a bus ticket,” Jocelyn replied quickly.

I chuckled and barely restrained myself from slipping my arm around her waist. “Don’t even think about it. We’ll call it my birthday present to you.”

“But you already gave me such a nice birthday present,” Jocelyn said.

Remembering being inside her tight, hot, wet body as the sky filled with shooting stars made my balls tighten. I swallowed and tried to think un-sexy thoughts. “I thought it was a nice present, too, but that was sort of a mutual present. You know, something we both enjoyed.”

“Well, so would a bus ride with you,” Jocelyn pointed out.

“I think anything involving the two of us together would be a mutual gift,” I said.

Jocelyn smiled at me, and we continued walking easily down the road with Hank rolling along in our wake.

“Caleb, Jacey, please get in the truck. Hank is sorry,” my mother called out the other window after a while. “We both are. Please, can we talk about this?”

I draped my arm companionably around Jocelyn’s shoulders as a way of protecting her from any guilt my mother might be stirring up at that moment. “Nope.”

“Jacey, get your ASS in this truck!” Hank shouted. “Unless you want me to revoke your college tuition!”

Ah, there it was. The same carrot he was dangling for me. My jaw worked, and a feeling of bitterness coiled in my stomach like a snake ready to strike. “You know, Hank...”

Jocelyn put a hand on my chest, and I stopped walking. She’d turned very pale. “Let’s just get in the Suburban.”

I lowered my voice. “You sure?”

“Yes,” Jocelyn said. “I can’t get financial aid because of how much money Dad makes, and he’ll never co-sign for a student loan so...”

She was in the same boat I was. Damn Hank Collins anyway. “Okay. Okay, baby.”

I climbed in the Suburban ahead of her so she wasn’t the one riding hump and pulled her in next to me. We both buckled up in silence.

Hank was still fuming. As soon as the door was closed and our seatbelts clicked, he stomped on the gas, and we went careening and bumping down the road.

I prayed no logging trucks came from either direction, because the way Hank was driving, there would be zero time to react.

As though we were psychically connected, my mother let out a gasp. “Hank, please, not so fast! Think of the baby!”

Hank slowed down immediately. “Sorry, darling.”