Burned: A Stepbrother Romance Read Free Page B

American musclers like Brock’s Camaro.
    Brock pulls up beside what I’m thinking is a candy red Corvette, a stick figure of a girl approaching from the other side of the parking lot and waving through the windows. She spots me and waves in the exact same manner. Weird.
    Brock gets out of the car and she jumps onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her head into his shoulder. Under the sodium lights I now see her hair is bright pink.
    There’s a weird sensation that scurries across my skin. I try to pinpoint it, prodding until I come up with the answer—I’m jealous.
    I actually step back, a little frightened at myself by this realization.
    Stick Figure hops down and Brock leads her by the hand before me. “Maddy, meet Birdie.”
    She takes my hand, but only the tips of my fingers, shaking them like you would a tissue. “I’ve heard so much about you, Maddy. It’s so nice to finally put a face to the name.”
    I look to Brock. “Cool.”
    Did you just say ‘cool’? This isn’t The Breakfast Club , Maddy.
    Even Brock raises his eyebrows.
    Two more guys walk over. They seem like average Joes that stumbled into a sports store super sale. They introduce themselves as Jay and Axel, seem innocuous enough.
    More guys follow, more hands shaken, eyes connecting—rarely with my own.
    So this is Brock’s clique.
    There’s a food truck selling sloppy burritos in the corner of the carpark. From time to time a car swings in and people get out, hanging around, grabbing their food and disappearing on their way. The smell of sweaty meat is heavy in the air.
    “So, Maddy,” starts Jay, all of us gathered between the cars, my bum warm from sitting up against the Camaro’s grille, “what do you do for a crust?”
    This is going to go down well. “I’m a cop.”
    Axel actually leaps off the bonnet of his car, slapping the ground in a weird, ‘say what?’-cum-krunk move.
    I laugh. “Is it that bad?”
    “Man, if I knew you were bringing the po-po around I would have prepared some mud,” Jay fires at Brock.
    I give Jay the bird. “Very funny.”
    “You in a special squad or something?” asks Birdie, fingernails scratching peeling duco off her equally pink Asian hatch.
    “No, just general duties, I’m afraid. I’ve only been on the force a year or so.”
    Brock’s watching me closely. I can feel his eyes burning into the side of my face. He’s been acting weird, quiet. I don’t get it, but maybe it’s got to do with the scam they’re running. Maybe he’s thinking about business.
    Jay points to Brock. “Your brother here’s had a few run-ins with the po-lice. Did you know that?”
    I shake my head. “I haven’t seen him in a while, sorry.”
    I’m hoping these guys can shed some light on Brock’s whereabouts.
    Jay looks to Brock, something I can’t quite grasp moving between them unspoken. “Got me out of a few tight calls, he has. I owe him.”
    “I hope it was nothing illegal.”
    “No, maam. We’re just a car club. Nothing more.”
    “Sorry, what is it you guys call yourself?” I am genuinely curious.
    “The Midnight Club,” says a shadowy figure walking up to the group.
    “The what?”
    “The Midnight Club. From Main to Second Bridge in twelve seconds. That’s the only way in.
    “Second Bridge to Main in twelve seconds?” I stammer. “That’s impossible.”
    The mystery man winks. “Not if you’re going quick enough.” He moves into the light, whispering something to Brock and then vanishing back behind the cars. I have to find out who he is.
    The boys drift off to the food truck. I pass on a burrito, keen to go without food poisoning at this hour.
    Birdie comes up right against me, bumping her skeletal hip against my own.
    Apart from Birdie’s flamingo hair, she appears otherwise entirely normal. “So, you’re Brock’s sister, right?”
    “ Step sister,” I correct. People always seem to make that mistake. It’s not like we look anything