My Sexy Stepbrother is a Werebear
Chapter 3
HELEN
Jack and Mom took me all around the house, which seemed even larger inside than it had from the outside. Jack had a humongous kitchen, a humongous living room, several humongous bedrooms…
Everything seemed to be built for a giant.
The happy couple joked and smiled the whole time. I couldn’t believe I’d doubted my mom’s choice of man. They were perfect together—in love and in business.
They’d met at a craft fair after all. Jack had come with his furniture, and Mom with the quilts, throws, and pillows from her Etsy site.
Now they worked together—Jack still made his furniture, but now Mom upholstered it. Apparently their collaborations were selling like hotcakes.
After the tour, Jack got ready to leave. He was going to meet his son Sam and some friends at the local bar for a boys’ night.
He told us not to wait up, so it sounded like I’d meet Sam the next morning. If he was anything like his dad, I was sure he’d be cool.
Jack and Mom shared a sweet kiss before he took off.
“Have a good night, ladies!” he said, waving at me.
“Don’t drink too much!” Mom warned him.
He mock-frowned. “Who? Me?”
Mom rolled her eyes. Jack winked at me, whistling innocently as he went out the door.
Mom turned to me, shaking her head. “You must be tired, sweetie. We made up the guest room for you upstairs if you want to get some shut-eye.”
“Sleep? Are you kidding?” I gave her a mischievous grin. “Mom, you’re getting married tomorrow. We’re drinking!”
***
Twenty minutes later, I was in the kitchen mixing my Smirnoff with some Coke that Mom and Jack had had in the fridge. Mom frowned as I served her.
“Sweetie, you know I don’t drink much.”
“Exactly. It’s a special occasion.”
I raised my glass from the kitchen island.
“To Ellie and Jack,” I said.
Clink!
We sipped our drinks. Mom made a face.
Sure, Coke and vodka wasn’t the classiest cocktail, but it was my favorite—I wasn’t trying to impress anyone out here in the woods.
“You really love him, Mom?” I asked, the booze immediately loosening me up after such a long day.
She nodded. “I really do. I never feel safer than when I’m wrapped up in his bear hug.” She smiled to herself.
“He’s the best thing that’s happened to me since, well…you.”
“Aww. Thanks, Mom.”
Her words warmed my heart. Mom and I had been on our own ever since my dad’s accident. With his life insurance, we’d had plenty to live on, but Mom had turned into a bit of a shut-in.
Even when she’d started her business, she’d rarely left the house unless she had to pick up sewing supplies or attend some craft fair.
She’d always been something of a loner, and sometimes I worried that she’d end up all by herself in her old age.
Meeting Jack had put those worries to rest.
“So, you like it up here?” I asked, walking out to the living room. Vintage camping gear decorated the walls—paddles and snowshoes and fishing rods. An antler chandelier hung from the high ceiling.
“It’s a big change from Boulder,” Mom answered, plopping down on a big plaid couch near the stone fireplace.
I joined her, looking out onto the massive yard through the wall of glass that made up part of the room.
“I know it seems remote,” she continued. “But I’ve enjoyed being out here in nature. Life’s a lot simpler without Wi-Fi or cell service.”
“There’s no Wi-Fi?!” I shouted, incredulous. Mom just grinned.
“Sorry, sweetie.”
I sighed. “What the heck do you guys do for fun then?”
Mom shrugged. “When I moved out here this winter, we’d snowshoe and hike. Sometimes we just sit inside and read by the fireplace…”
A glazed look came over her as she stared into said fireplace.
I could imagine they’d been doing a lot more than reading a few books over the long, cold winter nights.
Eeeeeew! Get your mind out of the gutter, Helen!
“Do you guys go out or anything?” I asked, changing the subject. The faraway expression vanished from Mom’s face.
“Oh, uh…,” she stumbled. “No, we don’t leave the house much. Jack goes into town when we need something, and I’m always so busy with work, or cooking, or housework…”
“Is he putting you to work?” I asked. I didn’t like the sound of that. I didn’t want my mother becoming a maid.
She might’ve been a homebody, but she wasn’t a homemaker.
“Nothing like that. We share chores. It’s just…” Her voice trailed off as she searched for the right words. “I really like this house.”
Well, that certainly made sense. The place was a damn palace.
“You’re really going to like Sam,” Mom said after another sip of her drink. “He lives here with us. He helps Jack build the furniture.”
“Cool,” I said. “Where did he go to college?”
“Actually, he went to work with Jack right after high school.”
“Oh. That’s um…also cool.”
He didn’t go to college? And he didn’t have Wi-Fi or cell service?
Hmmmm…
Maybe Sam wouldn’t be so cool. If we didn’t have college stories or Netflix in common, what the hell would we have to talk about? Trees and rocks?
Snooooore.
“I’m really looking forward to meeting him tomorrow,” I said, trying to be polite. Luckily Mom was already getting drunk and mistook my tone as genuine.
“He’ll be the big brother you’ve always wanted,” she said, her words slurring together.
“Uh-huh.”
Whatever you say, Mom.
***
Mom and I polished off a whole handle of Smirnoff that night. I hadn’t seen her since Christmas, and her life had been a whirlwind since then, what with the proposal and move and all.
By the end of the evening, I felt closer to her than I had in a long time.
But by morning, I was feeling closer to death.
I was hungover as balls.
Stumbling out of the guest bedroom, blinking in the morning light, I was only wearing a big, ratty Boulder State T-shirt and yesterday’s panties, but I didn’t give a shit—I needed hydration, pronto.
I staggered downstairs to the kitchen and filled up a glass at the sink. The water was so pure and refreshing—probably from some kind of Rocky Mountain glacier or something. I felt resurrected.
I filled up my glass again and leaned against the sink, noticing a sticky note on the island.
Getting honey. Back soon. Love, Ellie + Jack
Honey? Huh?
I was too stupefied to think it through. I wandered over to the fridge to see what I could scrounge up for breakfast. Hangovers always made me hungry.
Then again, what didn’t?
I hummed that Camila Cabello song, shaking my ass along with it as I dug out some eggs and bacon.
Just what the doctor ordered.
“Morning, señorita,” a deep voice snickered.
I froze.
That didn’t sound like Jack.
So it had to be…
I closed the fridge door.
Leaning in the kitchen doorway was Jack—or at least, what Jack would’ve looked like thirty years younger, half-naked, and giving me the smuggest grin I’d ever seen.
I couldn’t stop staring at those abs… That chest…
Uh-oh.
This was much worse than I’d expected.
My new stepbrother…
…Was a sex god!
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