Dare: A Stepbrother Romance by Caitlin Daire Page B

their eyes wide.
    Dan turned his attention towards Drew. “You fucking prick,” he said. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you? This is your fault.”
    “Sure, man, keep telling yourself that. It’s my fault that you’re a cheating asshole.”
    Dan’s hands balled into fists, and Drew straightened his shoulders and rose to his full height, towering over Dan’s five foot ten frame. “You gonna hit me?” he said. “Go on. I dare you.”
    I could see the restaurant manager making a beeline for us. Ana grabbed Drew’s shirt and tried to yank him back. “He’s not worth it,” she said, glaring at Dan. “Let’s get out of here.”
    I was still sitting, seemingly frozen, and Ana grabbed my arm, gently pulling me to my feet. “Come on,” she said.
    As we headed out the exit, Dan stormed past us, not even bothering to look back, and more tears welled up in my eyes.
    “If you ever try to screw with my stepsister again, I’ll fucking wreck you, you sack of shit!” Drew called out after him. Dan quickened his pace and soon vanished behind another building.
    “Ana, would you mind catching an Uber home?” Drew continued as we reached the parking lot. “I should take Sophie home.”
    She nodded. “Sure. I think I should go see Zoe and tell her what the hell just happened before Dan gets into her head and tries to deny it.”
    She patted me on the shoulder and then headed off, and Drew looked at me and motioned towards his car. “C’mon, get in.”
    Suddenly I wasn’t sad over being played by Dan, I was angry. Angry at Drew. I knew I was probably misdirecting my emotions, but I was so mad that I wanted to punch him.
    “How could you do that?” I asked, my face turning hot.
    “Huh? Do what? Save you from dating a fucking tool?”
    “No, it’s not that. It’s the fact that you obviously knew what he was up to, and you never told me. I even asked you the other night why you thought he was a jerk, and you said you just ‘had a feeling’.”
    He put up his hands. “Relax. I only just found out he had a girlfriend earlier today. I was chatting to Ana, and she suddenly started going on about this dreamy guy her best friend is dating. She told me his name and some other details and I put two and two together.”
    “So you’ve known all day,” I said, crossing my arms. “And yet you chose to let me and Ana know what he was up to by staging a huge scene in public. You had to humiliate me in front of an entire restaurant just to make your point!”
    He had the good grace to look slightly ashamed. “Look, I knew you wouldn’t believe me if I just came and told you in private.”
    “Bullshit.”
    “Well, would you have believed me?” he asked, his eyes darkening.
    I hesitated. I guess he kinda had a point. If he’d tried to tell me in person, I probably wouldn’t have believed him. I might have just thought he was making stuff up and trying to get me away from Dan for his own selfish ends. But still, embarrassing me in front of an entire restaurant was a pretty nasty way to reveal the truth to me.
    “It’s just…I thought we were kinda getting back on track to being friends again, and then you go and do this!” I said. “Everyone back there was staring at me like I was a total moron! Do you know what that felt like?”
    He shook his head and sighed. “I guess this is what I get for trying to do the right thing for someone I care about.”
    “Oh? How’s the weather up there on your high horse?”
    He took a step closer, towering over me. “Are you seriously gonna keep being a bitch? You should be angry at that fucking prick for stringing you along like that, not me. In fact, you should be thanking me for showing you who he really was!”
    “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” I said before getting in his car and looking out the window, ignoring him as he got in the driver’s side.
    We drove in silence, and when we were home I got out of his car as fast as I could, slamming the door behind me and then