StepBrother: New Rules (Stepbrother Romance) Read Free Page A

were working all day. I’m calling bullshit.”
    “Such unladylike language,” he answered. “You should be spanked.”
    She smiled at him. “Are you volunteering?”
    “Absolutely.” He stirred the sauce. “Actually, I whipped up dinner while I was working today, so all I had to do was heat it up.”
    “Clever boy.”
    “And there’s a glass of wine in the living room. I recorded that fight you wanted to see. If you open my laptop, you can watch some MMA and sip some pinot grigio.”
    “What on earth did I do to deserve you?” Evelyn asked, dropping her bag on the chair and walking into the other room in search of a drink and some entertainment.
    “I don’t know that you do deserve me, now that I think about it,” William called from the kitchen.
    “Whatever. I’ll blow you later. I want to watch this.”
    Evelyn tucked her feet up under her in the big chair in the corner of the room, balanced the laptop on her knee, and reached for the glass of wine William had poured. It felt like no time at all had passed, and she jumped when William touched her shoulder, surprised to see her glass was empty.
    “I’d been calling you. Dinner’s ready.”
    “Sorry.” She paused the video. “This fight is fucking amazing. I thought Miller was gonna tap out in the first round, but he managed to get out of that hold he was in. That guest instructor at the gym last week was just showing me ways to get out of knee holds. Miller’s a fucking genius, though. I thought it was over.”
    William looked at Evelyn with an odd expression on his face.
    “What?”
    “You should hear yourself.”
    “What do you mean?” She narrowed her eyes. “If you’re going to give me a lecture on unladylike language, you can go fuck yourself.”
    William laughed. “That’s not it at all. I think it’s hot when you talk like that—especially when you’re naked.” He shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. “No, what I mean is you should hear how excited you sound.”
    Evelyn shrugged. “I can’t help it. I love MMA.”
    William took the laptop from her, putting it on the coffee table so they both would be able to see it. “Did you think about what your instructor said? About entering an amateur match?”
    “No way. Number one, I’m nowhere near good enough. And number two, if I start coming home with bruises, my mother’s going to know.”
    “Would that be the worst thing in the world?” William walked back into the kitchen and brought their plates into the living room. “Really? I don’t understand why you can’t be honest with your mother.”
    Evelyn took the plate. “You’re right. You don’t understand.”
    “Look, I know you believe she’ll be horrified that her perfect little girl has a tough side, but I think you’re not giving her enough credit. She wants you to be happy, right?”
    “She wants me to be happy, sure. But in her all-powerful opinion, the only road to happiness is ‘keeping your head, heels, and standards high.’ You don’t know how many times she’s said that to me. I can’t imagine what she’d think of a girl with bruises from a fight. She thinks girls with muscles are ugly, like they’re trying to be men.”
    “But you know that’s not true.” William set his plate down, since he obviously wasn’t going to be able to eat anytime soon. “Evelyn, the muscles you have are the sexiest things I’ve ever seen on a woman. You’re beautiful and strong, and you’re a badass.”
    Evelyn shook her head. “Will, I’m not going to spend one of our few evenings together arguing with you. I can’t tell my mother who I really am—what I really like. I just can’t, and you’re going to have to drop it or leave.”
    “I just want you to be happy.”
    “I get it, but I’m done. I can’t tell her, and that’s that.”
    “Well, have you at least told her about us?”
    Evelyn stood up, slammed her plate on the table, and walked toward the door. “I can’t deal with this