Step Scandal - Part 3 Read Free

scrolled through his phone as he sat next to me. “Look at that. The divorce between Conrad Fox and Sharon Bliss is officially final. Oh, and they had a pre-nup. Smart people. Makes things a little less messy. Guess that means you and Xavier are officially no longer steps anymore. That’s good, right?”
    I sat up, drying my eyes with the back of my hand. “I doubt it would change anything.”
    “I don’t see anything about you and Xavier anymore. Everyone’s moved on. Looks like the biggest news now is the latest Kardashian feud.”
    “Right back to being chopped liver,” I laughed. “How fitting.”
    “Aw, you’ll never be chopped liver to me,” Elijah said, leaning his head onto my shoulder. He slipped his arm around me and kissed my forehead. “Go tell him you love him, Harps. You’ve got nothing to lose.”
    ***
    I promised myself I’d never be back there again. When I left his apartment that morning after yelling at him, with tears streaming down my face, I told myself I’d do everything in my power to avoid him at all costs.
    It was over. The thing between us that was never supposed to happen in the first place was over.
    But that was this morning.
    The chirping of the crickets and the swarm of bugs that flittered above the light outside his apartment door on the hot summer night that mimicked the one we’d shared before, seemed to be a sign. I’d knocked once and then again but no answer.
    “So much for trying,” I mumbled.
    And then I turned around and bumped right into him. Nothing but brawn and muscles and dark hair, he towered above me, his piercing gaze forcing weakness through my knees and knocking the wind out of me.
    “H-hi,” I stammered.
    “You looking for me?” he asked.
    I tried to swallow, but my mouth was dryer than the Sahara. I nodded.
    “Come inside.”
    I followed him in, my feet firmly cemented by the door in case he completely rejected me and I had to leave as soon as possible before I humiliated myself even further.
    “I know that this might come as a surprise to you,” I said, holding my head high and attempting the impossible task of slowing my heartbeat. “But, I just came to tell you that…”
    A square of white gauze was taped over the inside of his left forearm.
    “What’s that?” I stepped toward him, grabbing his arm and pulling it into me. “Did you get a tattoo? I thought you had commitment issues or some shit like that.”
    He peeled back the tape and gauze slowly, centimeter by centimeter revealed a picture of an anchor wrapped in rope in done in fresh ink into his flesh.
    “It – it matches mine.” I swallowed the lump in my throat before daring to look up into his eyes.
    He nodded as I released his arm from my hold. “It’s an exact replica.”
    “What does it mean?”
    “What do you think it means,” he huffed. He stepped into my space, squaring his shoulders with mine and cupping my face in his hand. “I’m anchoring myself to you. You’re solid. You’re real.”
    “But I thought…?” I didn’t have a chance to finish my sentence before he claimed my lips with his. A heat ignited in my core as my lips caught fire from the heat of his mouth on mine.
    “I love you, Harper,” he whispered as he came up for air. “I always have.”
    “Me too. I love you too,” I admitted. “I was actually coming here to tell you that tonight.”
    “Being together,” he said. “It’s going to be complicated. And it won’t always pretty. You and me, people won’t always understand us. It might feel like us against the world most days, but the ones who really love us will eventually understand. And fuck everyone else.”
    His lips claimed my again as his hands slid down my sides, cupping my ass and lifting me up until my legs gripped around his hips. He carried me back to his room, throwing me on his messy bed and crawling over top of me. Xavier’s lips branded my skin with kisses as his hands tore away every article of clothing I’d shown up