BIG: (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance) by Emme Rollins

I’m pretty sure she told the rest of them. I know you like to hit first and ask questions later, but that’s not me. I know I didn’t make a big show of it but—I did cut them off. I did! And I did it because... fuck. I did it because I cared about you. Do care about you. Very much present tense.”
     
    “You cut them off?”
     
    “Yes! You know I did! I told you, in my email—after you went back to Norway. I told you how sorry I was—I told you I wasn’t with Ryan anymore, that I wasn’t going to talk to or see those skanky girls anymore...” She hugged herself at the memory, then looked up at him, seeing the confusion on his face with a slow, dawning realization of her own that left her cold.
     
    “You never got my email, did you?”
     
    “No.” He looked doubtful.
     
    “Oh bloody hell, do you want me to find it in my Gmail?” She reached for her phone in the front pocket of her jeans. “I can prove it to you!”
     
    “No, Leesa.” He waved her offer away. “I get it. You tried to tell me. But... why didn’t you try again? I mean, when I didn’t answer you...?”
     
    “What, I was supposed to chase after you? Besides, like you said, sometimes a man doesn’t want to be followed, right?” Annalesa picked up the gun, flicked off the safety, and fired four quick rounds, missing the bullseye every time.
     
    He stared at her, looking bewildered.
     
    “I was a wreck.” She did her best to keep the tremble from her voice. “No friends and no you. Your email didn’t bounce back to me—I thought you did get it! I just thought you were giving me the silent treatment to punish me. I mean—it wouldn’t have been the first time.”
     
    Ric didn’t say anything as she changed the target again and tried to relax her stance so she could shoot straight. It wasn’t easy. The muscles in her shoulders burned, they were so tight. It probably wasn’t a good idea to be this mad at him with a gun in her hands, she thought wryly, taking a deep, steadying breath.
     
    She felt both misunderstood and persecuted—for a crime she didn’t believe she’d actually committed. So she’d had a hard time standing up for herself back then, it was true. She never would have chosen a guy like Ryan if that wasn’t the case. And Ric wouldn’t have had to step in and defend her.
     
    But she wasn’t like that anymore. She had boundaries. She wouldn’t accept the silent treatment, or quiet, constant anger. The girl she was then—the one who thought she had to swallow herself, all her own needs and wants, in order to make someone else feel better—didn’t exist anymore.
     
    But Ric didn’t know that, did he?
     
    To him, she was still the same little mouse who had timidly shrunk from him after he punched Ryan in the face. Never mind she’d been in shock, never mind the confrontation with Ryan alone had left her sobbing uncontrollably, unable to catch her breath, never mind that once Ric had stepped in to keep Ryan from hurting her, Annalesa was so panicked, all her senses had pretty much shut down.
     
    Ric’s hands came around, beneath hers, steadying her shot. His front was hot and hard against her back.
     
    “You’re shaking.” His voice was soft and low, his breath warm on her cheek.
     
    “I know.”
     
    “I didn’t know...” He swallowed. “I certainly had no idea that my opinion mattered to you that much.”
     
    “You refused to believe it.” She allowed him to bring the gun down but remained stiff against him. “It wouldn’t fit with the image you had of yourself back then. Sometimes I think you liked playing the martyr. And I know damned well you liked having an excuse to hit first and ask questions later. They didn’t always call you ‘Big Dick’ because of your size, you know. Sometimes, it was just because you acted like a great big dick.”
     
    “Ouch.” Ric took a step back from her, letting her go.
     
    “I’m sorry.” She worried her lip between her teeth and took a