My Hateful Stepbrother

Three

When I got home from school on Monday, I went straight to the kitchen. I found a petite girl cooking, and my stepbrother was with her, sitting while they chatted. I tensed up immediately; she was beautiful, looked like a fairy tale character, and her jet-black hair was finely cut. She was smiling at Lucke, but her amber eyes were deep and dark, as if she had lived too much. She also had that crooked smile that caught your attention. If I had been born a lesbian, I definitely would have noticed her.

The girl was the first to notice I was there. She stopped smiling at Lucke and smiled at me, more warmly. I liked her instantly, which I didn't like at all. If she was one of my stepbrother's girlfriends, it was certain we wouldn't have a good relationship; he hated me. Still, I smiled back at her because my mother had taught me to be polite above all.

"You must be Dakota, right?" she asked, her soft voice filling the room. Lucke also looked at me, but his smile wasn't warm, and his eyes darkened as he looked at my body. Yes, it was my fault. I had put on worn-out shorts and a tight-fitting shirt, but I had done it only because I wanted to feel attractive in front of him, I didn't want to keep being at a disadvantage.

"That's me" I replied dryly.

I approached the kitchen and watched her, unsure if I should extend my hand or not, most likely not.

"Don't look at me like that" the girl said, smiling, "I'm Nikki, and I'm Lucke's cousin, not one of his foolish lovers."

I felt a wave of relief wash over me. I gave her an apologetic smile for my hateful behavior and moved a little closer to her, noticing she was chopping vegetables. She had an apron on, but I could see her clothes, black shorts and a T-shirt that said: “These are not my eyes!” Which was definitely appropriate for gawkers.

"Hey! They're charming" Lucke defended when he stopped looking at my legs.

Nikki smiled.

"Yes, any man finds a woman who gives him a b*****b charming. That's gross. Do you even know that STDs can also be transmitted through o******x?"

"I'm very aware of that," Lucke replied flatly.

By that time, I was already behind the counter. Nikki gave him another exasperated smile and continued chopping; the two of them seemed very comfortable with each other. And if she was here, preparing food and talking about his lovers, I imagined they were. Just then, I could smell the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen; if her food smelled that good, I didn't want to think about how it tasted.

"Hey Dakota, do you know how to cook?" Nikki asked. "I need some help, but the men here can't even make hot water."

I was about to ask her what she meant by “men” when a handsome guy appeared in the kitchen. He had tousled blonde hair and a serious expression, but as soon as he saw me, a slow smile appeared on his face. Despite Lucke having brown hair and green eyes, the two looked alike. It must have been because they were both giants and had that infuriating smile that made your heart skip a beat.

"Well, look what we have here" the guy whispered, approaching me.

Quickly, he extended his hand with a pleasant smile. I offered my hand back, but he pulled me into a hug as if we were old friends. I looked at him like he had two heads, he wasn't being annoying or s******c, instead, his hug had been very friendly. However, judging by the looks Nikki and Lucke were giving him, he probably needed to stop doing that.

"I'm Ethan" he murmured, pulling away from me. "But you can call me anything you like."

I raised an eyebrow and looked at him, smiling.

"Does that cheesy line usually work with girls?" I asked.

"You tell me, does it?" He replied smoothly.

When I looked at Nikki, she was frowning at him, and, in fact, Lucke was too. I left my bag on the counter furthest from where they were cooking and told Nikki that I could help her with whatever she needed. She smiled at me, setting aside her bad mood. She sent me to chop more vegetables, apparently trying to get her cousin to eat healthier.

I liked that she cared about his health. Very few cousins did. I had at least three cousins my age, and none of them cared about anything other than their own business.

We got into a pleasant conversation. She was very funny and friendly, which wasn't obvious from her rocker outfit. When I told her that, she laughed and said we were going to get along very well. She also mentioned that Lucke had talked to her about me, which caught my interest. So when Ethan and my stepbrother went to play video games, she told me that he had mentioned the underwear incident and even laughed about it for a while.

She had persuaded him to return my underwear, saying there's nothing worse than losing sexy lingerie. She didn't mention anything about the kiss he asked for, so I assumed he didn't want to tell her, his ego was more important than anything in the world. As the food was nearly ready, we sat on the kitchen stools and chatted about nothing in particular.

"Lucke tells you a lot, doesn't he?" I asked softly, trying not to sound too nosy.

"He's my best friend, so yes, you could say we share a lot," she looked at her hands. "Not everything. Lucke has things he keeps to himself, just like I do. But don't worry, I can keep secrets."

I gave her a smile.

"He hates me," I murmured suddenly, after a few moments of silence.

"I don't think so. In fact, he's attracted to you. I could see how he looked at you when you came in. He doesn't look at many girls like that."

I frowned, interested.

"How did he look at me?"

"Like he wanted to make you his."

My stomach tightened with a mix of emotions. No, Nikki was surely confusing things. She had mistaken hate for passion, as people often do. I refused to think that someone like Lucke could be interested in me, he was an i***t! He had stolen my underwear! And yes, he had asked me for a kiss, but that didn't mean anything more. He was the kind of guy who just wanted to sleep with girls, and I was his new conquest, probably just trying to annoy his father by seducing his wife's daughter. That would explain why he asked me for a kiss and why he looked at me that way.

No one had ever looked at me with desire, I had received looks of affection, compassion, and even hate, but no one had ever looked at me as if they wanted to make me theirs. I wasn't that kind of girl. I was destined to marry a nice guy. Probably a doctor or accountant who would come home and tell me how beautiful I am, nothing too exotic. Those were the kinds of things I liked, and Lucke couldn't be my type.

I laughed nervously, trying not to let my blush give me away.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Do you really think a man couldn't look at you that way?" she guessed. "Let me tell you, darling, you're beautiful. Those glasses make you look serious and sexy, and Lucke doesn't have bad taste."

"Isn't the meat ready yet?" I asked quickly. "I think it smells off."

She smiled, knowing what I was trying to do.

"The timer hasn't gone off yet; there's at least ten minutes left."

I sighed, at least I had managed to change the subject.

***

Lucke and Ethan came just when the food was ready. I looked at my stepbrother as soon as he entered, Nikki's words were still in my head. I shouldn't keep talking to her about that; it was messing with my mind. Fortunately, he seemed more interested in his food than in me, and Ethan was pleasant with me and Lucke, but he was different with Nikki.

He kept looking at her with distrust and even complimented me on the food, ignoring her. Lucke's cousin seemed used to it; she just frowned at him with evident irritation.

When the meal was over, we all went for some ice cream and ate on the living room sofa, watching a scary movie. I had never hung out like this with three guys. My only friend had always been Abby, no one else. She and I met when I was seven years old; she was my neighbor. One day I found her in the yard crying because her father hadn't come to pick her up for her birthday. I consoled her as best as a seven-year-old could, and since then it's just been her and me.

I was aware that my best friend had more friends, but I didn't get along with any of them; they were too loud and annoying. Once I tried to spend time with some of them, but all they did was criticize and criticize. They probably criticized me too as soon as I left. I had no idea why Abby liked being with them, but that didn't matter; after all, I was still her best friend.

But sitting here with them felt very natural. I liked it, especially the fact that my stepbrother successfully ignored me, which was good, right? I was supposed to be happy; maybe he would stop bothering me forever.

When everyone left, I turned towards my room, telling myself that I was happy because I was starting to feel comfortable in my new home.

Yet, something inside me didn't feel happy.