Ruined By My Stepbrother novel · Chapter 24 of 32
Chapter 24: The Carriage House
He opened the door in gray sweatpants and nothing else, with a paperback in one hand.
His hair was still wet from the outdoor shower.
He looked at me.
Then he looked at what I was holding against my chest.
His knife roll.
"You took it down," he said.
"You left it on my shelf for seven weeks."
"Seven weeks and four days."
"You counted."
"I counted."
I held it out.
He didn't take it.
"That's not why you came," he said.
"No."
He stepped back, and I came in, and he shut the door behind me without a sound.
The lamp by the bed was on.
The laptop was on the desk this time, closed, with a stack of legal papers under it.
There was a cardboard box on the floor half full of old notebooks.
Every one of them said COLD PLATE on the spine in black marker.
"What are those?"
"Nine years," he said. "I'm taking them to the dump on Tuesday."
"Don't."
He looked at me.
"Keep them," I said. "Somebody should remember what you used to be."
I set the knife roll down on the end of the bed.
My hands wanted something to do, so I put them in my back pockets.
I'd changed after service into cutoffs and a gray T-shirt, and I'd still showered in about four minutes.
My hair was down.
He was looking at it.
"Tomorrow's Labor Day," I said.
"I know."
"Your summer's over. The deal's done. You don't owe me another night."
"I know that too."
"So I need to say something before tomorrow. While nobody's on a microphone."
He sat down on the arm of the old chair by the desk, so I'd be the one standing.
He'd learned that about me.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–16 of Ruined By My Stepbrother are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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