You know Steven, she’d said. And I thought I had.
But I really didn’t know Steven McAlister at all.
11
STEVEN
Organized chaos.That’s what this was. I felt like I had been thrust into one of those sappy holiday movies where a down-on-his-luck outsider learned the true meaning of family. It was loud and boisterous, full of teasing and inside jokes. Terry carved the chickens in the kitchen while Cole finished setting the table in the dining room and the rest of us had iced tea in the living room. It didn’t seem to matter that everyone was spread out. The Quinns carried on several conversations at once, laughing and shouting over each other from room to room.
Amy watched the Quinns like an anthropologist visiting a foreign land, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Our family dinners were nothing like this. No laughter. No teasing. No inside jokes. It was loud, though. Dad had a lot of gripes and dinner was his chance to unload them on my mother. With every beer he drank, he got louder and angrier. Mom focused so much of her attention on pacifying him that she barely got more than a bite to eat herself.
I hated going home, so I used school, football, and rodeo as an excuse to stay away as long as possible. Watching Amy watchthe Quinns now, I felt a pang of regret. I should have come home every chance I got. I should have protected her better.
Amy turned to me with an amused,can you believe families are like this in real lifesmile. She had never once given me shit for abandoning her. Hell, she’d been surprised when I told her she could live with me. Surprised, and so damn grateful it made my gut twist with guilt.
I had a lot to make up for with Amy. And if Chloe told her about James? I’d never get that chance. It would be confirmation of her worst fears that I was just likehim.
I had been worried when they disappeared into the kitchen together, but whatever had been discussed, it wasn’tthat. Amy wouldn’t be sitting next to me on the couch right now, sending comically baffled looks in my direction, if she knew about James.
I could feel Chloe’s eyes on me, but every time I looked back, her gaze skittered sideways. I’d linger on the curve of her throat rising out of the chunky knit, ivory turtleneck she wore or the small dimple that formed in her left cheek when she smirked at something her brothers said, and then it was my turn to spin away when she felt me looking. My heart pulsed harder during our stupid game of chicken than it ever had in eight seconds on a bronco.
“Birds are on the table,” Terry announced, clapping his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Let’s eat.”
I moved slowly, letting the throng file out first, hyper aware of Chloe’s simmering presence hovering off to the side. When I fell in line behind Amy, Chloe snagged me by a beltloop just above my ass and jerked me to a stop.
I smirked at her over my shoulder. “Well, hello, there, princess. Something I can do for you?”
“Since you’re asking? The lake’s not quite frozen over yet. How about you take a walk on it?” Her smile was sweet andsharp at the same time, like how I imagined a sea siren would look before she sank her teeth into a sailor.
My shoulders tightened. It shouldn’t have surprised me the way it did. What, did I honestly think that a week of semi-friendly 3 a.m. text conversations meant all was forgiven? Her best friend got hurt because of me. Chloe was never going to let that go.
“What are you doing here, Steven?” she hissed, giving my beltloop another sharp tug.
I rocked back a step to keep my balance and caught a whiff of her strawberry-scented shampoo. “If you wanted me closer, princess, all you had to do was ask,” I murmured.
She went so still that the hairs on the back of my neck stood up in alarm.
Fuck, that was a mistake.
There were only two things I cared about in this whole world, and Chloe Adams held them both in the palm of her hand. She could ruin my life if she decided to. I shouldn’t be goading her like this, but I couldn’t stop myself.
The growl she emitted went straight to my cock. Her hand tightened into a fist around my belt and she shifted onto her toes so she could enunciate every word slowly and carefully into my ear. “I would pull out every single one of my toenails with rusty pliers before I asked you for anything.”
It was tempting to prove her wrong. To drag those jeans down her body and lick her until she begged me to make her come. I wanted to make her forget she hated me, make her forget her own name, make her feel even a little of this twisted hunger I felt. Sure, she’d hate me even more for it after, but so what? She already hated me. What was one more thing to add to the list?
Except…I didn’t want her to hate me. The only thing I hated about Chloe was how much Ididn’thate her.
“I didn’t think you’d be here,” I said. “Your dad said you were too busy with school and work.”
“So you knew Terry was my dad,” Chloe said flatly.
“Not at first. I?—”
“Chloe! Steven! What’s taking you two so long?” Angie called from the dining room. “Come eat.”
Chloe slowly unfurled her fingers and gave me a little shove to urge me away from her. “This isn’t over.”
“I know,” I said wearily, following her into the dining room.
