My Stepbrother Biker (Summit Hill Vipers #1)

Prologue Letty

AGE SIXTEEN—

My hand tightens around the ridiculously expensive floral bouquet sprinkled with white roses, mauve peonies, and yellow carnations that I clutch too tightly in my right hand, curling my fingers around the bubblegum pink ribbon as I stare across the dais where my mother and her newest fling currently tie the knot.

My dress matches the mauve flowers, and it’s flattering, at least, not that I ever got to voice my opinion on the design or the color.

This wedding is as close to a farce as you can get.

Why? Because it’s not going to last. Somewhere deep, I think my mother knows it too.

I don’t give a shit that she decided to fall in love for the, oh, what is it now?

The fifth time since my father’s death? There’s no bitterness.

I’m only pissed because of who she chose, specifically whose son I had become linked to by marriage.

Gage Blade.

The cocky senior at Summit Hill High is also the reason I currently live a life of continual misery.

The son of Mifflin Blade, the CEO of Blendcore Enterprises.

One of the wealthiest men in the city. He owns everyone and everything.

Just ask him. His sons are worse, especially the oldest, Gage. Trust me, I’ve learned my lesson.

Gage fit every stereotype of a typical spoiled playboy son who partied too much and changed women as often as his shirt, with one exception.

Gage rode a Harley, wore a leather jacket, and covered his body in a canvas of seductive dark ink.

A rebel and a natural leader, people flocked to him, and it’s more than his gorgeous body, but that certainly doesn’t hurt his rep any.

If you look up charisma in the dictionary, I’m confident his picture will be there. Everyone loved him. . . but me.

Gage ruined my life.

I have every reason to feel the way I do.

The cocky asshole and his brothers made the last six months of my life hell.

Judging by Gage’s expression, he not only knows but enjoys the havoc his presence causes me.

He hasn’t stopped staring at me since we walked down the aisle together. Just my luck, my mother insisted on it.

Gage took advantage of my vulnerability and knew I couldn’t refuse or pull away as he slipped my hand around his bicep and held it the entire time.

It felt like I was being marched to my execution.

The twitch of humor on his lips didn’t help.

His warm fingers squeezed once before releasing me, just to add insult to injury.

Now, we’re standing here in our silly wedding attire, watching our parents say vows neither of them intends to keep.

I can see the stupid amber sparkle in his dark brown eyes and the way he assesses me, lazily dragging his gaze over my body like he has any right to openly ogle me in front of our parents, much less the entire group of witnesses gathered for the wedding.

I’m so distracted that I don’t realize the vows are finished until my mother and Mifflin lock lips. It’s official now. My mother married the enemy.

My mom met Mifflin six months ago, just one week before the most traumatizing and embarrassing moment of my life so far, thanks to Gage.

My mother, Cynthia Jacobs, runs a lucrative home decorating business.

When Mifflin hired her company to redecorate his offices, my mother showed up with the plans.

The whirlwind romance brought us to today, where I have to endure Gage Blade’s unrelenting stare.

I hug my mom and whisper congratulations, watching as she links hands with Mifflin. She seems happy. Maybe this is the one.

Ignoring Gage, I find my seat at our table. Placards with floral embossing denote our names and assigned seats. Nothing is left to chance. My mother has choreographed the whole night, and it’ll go according to her plans. That’s how it always is.

Gage sits beside me, pulling out his phone. He looks bored. We eat in silence even as the conversation around the room rises in noise level. It’s awkward, but hell, so has every instance I’ve seen Gage since the night things went to shit.

“Planning to ignore me all night?” Gage’s brow arches in a devastatingly handsome display of mock concern, and I grit my teeth.

I don’t answer him.

The dance floor opens after a five-course catered dinner, and the newlyweds share their first dance. I try to smile and act the way I’ve been primed to do, but it isn’t easy.

My mother holds out her hand and approaches me as the song ends. “Letty.”

I rise from my seat and join her, trying not to scowl as Mifflin calls Gage. I know where this is going. They want us to play nice and put on a show. After all, the paparazzi are here to ensure the city sees the splendor.

I want to throw something and scream. I won’t. It’s not worth the fuss or the headache that will follow.

The two of us are gently pushed together as the new song begins, my mother gesturing for the guests to join in. I can’t refuse her in front of everyone. Neither can Gage.

His hand grips my waist and squeezes, drawing us closer as his fingertips glide over my skin, and he presses his palm against my lower spine. His free hand closes around mine as we sway to the soft music.

I’m suddenly too aware of him. The heat he’s giving off is nearly suffocating. Gage’s body, so close to mine, is wreaking havoc on my crumbling composure. With only his firm touch, I’m already unraveling like a woven doll he’s intent on reducing to a pile of worthless string.

I try to ignore him as long as possible, avoiding direct eye contact, but that proves unsuccessful when he finally speaks.

“Try not to ruin that pretty face with such a sour expression.”

“Well, I’m with you, so it’s unavoidable,” I retort.

His lips twitch in the corners as if he’s fighting a smile. The bastard is gleeful.

“You think this is funny,” I hiss. “It’s not.”

“No, I think it’s fucking ironic,” he smirks, “and holding you in my arms, dancing with you, feeling your hate, is fucking turning me on.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“You didn’t think so when I had my tongue deep in your tight little cunt.”

He did not just say that.

“How many times did I make you come? Two? Three? I lost count.”

“I hate you.” The words spew from my lips like venom.

“Careful, Letty,” he admonishes. “It’s a thin line between love and hate.”

God. I can’t stand him. He’s so fucking arrogant.

Just because I had a lapse in judgment six months ago and we ended up locked in a bedroom after Homecoming at a party I should never have attended, didn’t mean he had the right to bring it up. I would have blamed alcohol, but I never had a drink that night. No drugs either.

No, to my utter dismay, I was fucking sober when I let him touch me. And it didn’t end there. He made me come three times on his tongue alone. His kisses made me dizzy. His lust consumed me.

Thank God we didn’t go all the way.

Why? I’m not entirely sure. I would have, and he knew it. Hence, the fucking self-assured grin on his handsome face.

Ugh. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to listen to the husky, deep timbre of his voice or smell his cologne with hints of leather, pine needles, and spice. A wild scent that borders on savage. Just like Gage.

“You’re still pissed,” he guesses when I don’t bother to reply.

What can I say that he doesn’t already know?

After the night we spent together, I thought Gage had feelings for me.

I thought he fucking cared. He didn’t. When we saw one another in the school halls the following Monday morning, he stared at me, paused as I waved, and then ignored me.

He straight-up dismissed my enthusiastic smile, starry-eyed gaze, and infatuated hello.

Everyone around us noticed as he walked away.

I’d never been so humiliated in my life.

To make matters worse, his brothers, Liam and Theo, poked fun at me about it. They spread gossip about me and laughed at my humiliation.

Gage’s refusal to acknowledge me after dozens of people knew we went upstairs together at that party only made things worse. Rumors spread like wildfire. Everyone believed he got what he wanted from me, and since he didn’t want to stick around, I had to be rotten in the sack.

For months afterward, I couldn’t figure out what happened.

Where did it go wrong? How could he act like that night meant nothing?

We kissed until my lips were swollen. He had his mouth between my legs for hours.

It was his idea to hold me, wrap my body in his warmth, and watch the sunrise together.

Gage said I made him feel alive. He called me beautiful.

He didn’t have a clue what that did to my poor, innocent heart when he turned his back on me.

I had to pick up the pieces of my shattered heart and the little dignity I had left, holding back tears as he strolled through the halls of Summit Hill High like he owned them.

To almost everyone there, he nearly did.

No one ever said no to Gage Blade or ordered him around.

He had free rein to say and do whatever, or whoever, he wanted.

It just never happened to be me or anything to do with me.

So, yeah, I’m still pissed. That will never change.

“You know, beautiful, if you didn’t glare at me like that, I would think you still had a crush on me.”

I’ve had enough. My arms drop from his shoulders, and I try to walk away, but he holds me so tightly that I can’t escape. His fingers grip my waist like a vice.

“I bet you still dream about me. Do you touch yourself and remember what it felt like when I had my hands on your body and my tongue inside you?”

Oh. My. God.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” I ask, trying to keep my voice down so we don’t draw attention. “This is our parents’ wedding.”

He scoffs. “We both know it won’t last.”

“It’s still shitty to try to ruin it.”

Gage surprises me when he shrugs. “They didn’t give a fuck what we thought about this before they decided to get hitched. Why the fuck should we care now?”

He sounds angry, almost. . . hurt. How strange.

“You don’t like my mom?” I wonder aloud.

“I never said that.”

“Then what is it? Why don’t you want them together?” My breath catches in my throat as I realize the true reason. Gage doesn’t want our parents to get married because he doesn’t want to be tethered to me. “Oh,” I wince. Shit. I hope he didn’t notice the way my voice cracked.

“Don’t put words in my mouth,” he growls, tightening his hold on me further.

I can’t look at him. Not after this. “Fine.”

“I’m leaving after the reception,” he says, like I care what he’s doing.

The change of subject isn’t subtle. I choose not to respond because this entire conversation and dance has been awkward and heart-wrenching.

“My shit is all packed. I’m moving out.”

Why do I care? Stupid. I do, though.

My chest feels tight as his words sink in.

The idea of being around me is so distasteful that he can’t stand living in the same house.

My mom and I packed most of our belongings in preparation for moving into Mifflin’s place this week, with the start of summer break.

Gage just graduated from high school, but I have two years left.

My mother would return after her honeymoon, and I would already have everything unpacked so she could begin her life anew with Mifflin. Never mind that I have to leave the house I was born in and give up living next door to my best friend, Ava Michaels.

“I see,” I finally reply, staring out the long rectangular windows that line the reception hall.

Stars glitter beyond the panes and shine like diamonds on rich black velvet.

The type of night that’s perfect for stargazing or lounging on a blanket as you stare up at the sky, forgetting that the world can be cruel, but no more than the people in it.

“Leticia.”

The use of my name, my full name, not just the nickname everyone calls me, snares my attention as I glance up at his face. In his eyes, I see darkness encroaching on the edges of the rich brown, threatening to snuff out the golden hue in the center that reminds me of warm honey.

“I’ll be back for you.”

I blink because that makes no sense. “What?”

“I’m coming back, and you’re the only fucking reason.”

He’s crazy. “You’re leaving, abandoning your family, and now you’re telling me this?” It pisses me off, raising my blood pressure. I feel my cheeks bloom with heat.

What the hell? What’s the matter with him?

The flecks of amber in his gaze punch holes in my soul as he holds me hostage, his grip still unrelenting. “Refuse to see the truth. Dismiss the signals I’ve been giving. Act like it’s all a lie. Think whatever you want, sweetheart.”

“You’re nuts,” I declare. There hasn’t been one signal, let alone multiple.

“I don’t care what you do in the next two years.”

What the fuck is he talking about?

“Just know that I’ll be back, and when I do, I’ll be claiming you.”

I rear back like he slapped me, too shocked to speak.

“One day, you’ll know everything, and you’ll fucking fall in love with me, Leticia Marie Jacobs. Until then, I’m leaving you with a promise.”

His mouth slams down onto mine, and every rational thought flees under the hunger-driven assault.

Adrenaline dumps into my bloodstream as he deepens the kiss, sliding his tongue into my mouth to delve and consume.

The same tongue that knew me intimately and still seems to remember how to coax pleasure from my body.

An intoxicating and primal need pulses between my thighs right before Gage groans.

How could one kiss be so all-consuming? It sears my brain. Causes my heart to skip a beat. Brands my fucking soul.

“I’ll be seeing you around, beautiful,” he whispers as he lifts his head, nipping at my bottom lip before soothing the length with his tongue.

I can’t speak. I’ve been rendered mute.

Gage releases me and turns toward the door before I gather enough brain cells to reply. I watch him leave, stunned, lifting my fingers to touch the pads to my lips. They feather across the soft skin, mesmerized by the ghost of his touch left behind.

Gage Blade kissed me in front of everyone, including our parents, at their wedding reception. That’s horrifying and insane and unexpected. I’ve just been mind-fucked.

His words echo in my head in the silence that follows his departure. I’ll be claiming you. One day, you’ll fall in love with me.

I want to call him a liar. Shout to the entire room that he doesn’t have any claim on me and never will. Swear that my new stepbrother is playing more games, and he doesn’t mean a word of it.

But I can’t do any of those things.

My head insists I can never feel anything but loathing and anger for Gage Blade.

My heart promises never to forget, already conceding that he owns me body and soul.