The Stepbrother 2: Noah

Noah-

By the time I was five, I knew my mother didn’t want me.

She’d said it enough times for the words to stick, like gum pressed into concrete, leaving me feeling unwanted.

Unloved.

Unnecessary. I was only here because she thought a baby would trap my father—her rockstar, her ticket to the life she wanted.

He was gone before he even knew I existed.

Took his life.

She sued his estate, though.

She got half of everything he left behind—for me, supposedly. And then she hired a nanny, turned her back, and pretended I wasn’t there.

Then came my sister, Maine.

The second chance.

The baby who was supposed to land her another rockstar husband.

But he wanted nothing to do with her. So, she gave him Maine—spitefully, like a poisoned gift. Sent the baby off to be raised by him and his wife, thinking it would shatter them. And maybe it would have, if he hadn’t exposed her first. He went public, called her out for what she was. The coercion, the manipulation—the things she did to try to keep him. Her career went up in flames.

When she couldn’t get a job and the money for the nanny ran out, she blamed Troy and Scarlett and decided to pawn me off on them too.

She would leave me with them for weeks and months at a time, always managing to show up and snatch me away before I got too comfortable.

The fact that they took me in without hesitation always made me wonder why.

Part of me thought they had an ulterior motive.

My mother always did, but after years of being around them, I realized they loved each other enough to endure anything, including outside children.

Troy was obsessed with Scarlett to the point that it should have been criminal, but despite their dysfunction, they were loving.

Scarlett treated me better than my own mother.

Still, I couldn't look at her without seeing Tiffany's disappointed face.

Scarlett was living the life Tiffany wanted, and I was supposed to side with Tiffany because she was my mother. But deep down, I knew she was in the wrong. Nevertheless, she was my mother. So, I tried to make myself an outsider in a family that welcomed me with open arms.

However, no matter how much I tried to distance myself, I found myself drawn back to them.

Their warmth and loyalty were magnetic, a stark contrast to my mother's cold indifference.

I was tethered to them, not all the time by choice, but their imperfect love felt more real than anything Tiffany had ever shown me.

"Noah," I heard my name loud and clear.

I looked up from where I was sitting in the back of the auditorium.

Troy was waving me over.

"Come take a picture with the rest of the family." He had the biggest smile on his face.

Wiping my sweaty hands on my new jeans, a gift from Scarlet, I rose.

She had bought Jason a suit for graduation; that was his thing.

Expensive suits and quiet luxury.

For me, she had purchased black jeans, a vintage Kurt Cobain T-shirt, and a fresh pair of Jordans. It drove me crazy how considerate she always was; it made it hard to pretend not to like her. And I did like her. I loved how she was protective of me—from the very beginning.

We only had one storm that brewed between us.

Back in sixth grade, this kid Adam used to bully me for having a Black mom.

I told her I didn’t want her to drive me to school anymore.

I knew it hurt her, but she didn’t hold it against me. Then, one day, Adam punched me in the mouth. She was livid. She marched me right to his parents’ house and knocked on their door. When his mom answered, she was starstruck. She had the Scarlett Rose at her door. But Scarlett didn’t care. She snapped on her.

“If your son hits mine again, I’ll kick your ass for raising a little thug,”

she said, hand on her hip.

She leaned close, her usually sultry voice going cold.

“I’ve got enough money for bail and a good lawyer, so play with me if you want to.”

Adam never bothered me again.

I pushed my way through the crowd to join them.

Scarlett and Troy were standing a little apart from everyone else, flanked by half a dozen bodyguards in dark suits who kept the rest of the graduates at a distance, making sure no one got too close to my “family.”

A bittersweet tangle of emotions hit me when Scarlett looped her arm through mine and Troy's hand found its way to my shoulder.

What would I do when it all ended? I had no reason to be around them anymore now that Maine had moved, but I didn't want to think about it.

I stood sandwiched between them.

Ebony and Ivory stood in front of Troy, holding hands. They acted as if they were twins sometimes, instead of half-siblings born three months apart.

My back went stiff when I saw Creed walking our way/ I hadn’t seen her in nearly a year on purpose.

She was dressed more for a tennis match than her siblings graduation, in her white, too-short tennis skirt and white polo.

She had tamed her wild hair into a bun, showing off her pretty face.

She smirked at me before taking her spot right in front of me. She took my hand and pulled it around her waist. She was fucking with me; she wanted me to snatch it away and make the situation awkward. She seemed to enjoy testing me, pushing my buttons just to see how I’d react. But in the last year, it had shifted into something… more charged, and it was becoming hard to ignore.

Not rising to her bait, I splayed my hand over her soft belly.

She was hot to the touch.

I exhaled.

Her gaze flicked up to meet mine. “Shit,”

I muttered under my breath, her and these fucking eyes of hers.

They were like a shot of whiskey, causing warmth in my chest, which spread out, making everything else blur around the edges.

Something dark crawled up my spine.

She knew the effect she had on me, too. I looked away.

This is why I avoided her.

She was an equal mix of her father and mother—sneaky chaos, trouble.

Always trying to pull a reaction from me.

She had been that way since she got her first tooth.

I was six or seven, and she would crawl right up to me and sink her one tooth into my arm or leg, doing it over and over until I pretended it hurt.

Then, she'd crawl off about her business, violent and happy.

She didn’t stop until her bites actually started to hurt, until I was flinching every time she got close.

I wanted her to bite me now.

I'd sure as fuck bite her back, on her plump—.

I stopped myself from finishing the thought.

“Say cheese,”

the professional photographer Scarlett had hired screamed.

Creed leaned into me, her back warm against my chest, her fingers grazing mine just enough to make my skin prickle.

I forced a smile, holding it a beat as the camera flashed over and over, blindingly bright.

“Perfect! Got it!”

the photographer announced.

As soon as she said the words, Creed slipped out from under my arm, shaking me off like she’d had enough of me.

She shot me a quick glance before turning on her heel.

Curious as to where she was going, I followed her a few feet behind into the school while Scarlett and Troy started arguing.