Chapter 5: Eyes on Me: Part 1 – Chapter 4

Garrett “Mia? Your little sister?”

“Will you please stop saying it like that?” I have my head in my hands as Emerson stares at me with a look of shock on his face. I didn’t hesitate to open up to my best friend, especially since he has no room to judge. He’s currently screwing his son’s ex-girlfriend like it’s an Olympic sport and he’s going for gold.

“Wow,” he mumbles.

“Yeah, wow.”

“So what are you going to do now?”

That’s the question, isn’t it? I can’t seem to let this go.

Something happened last night. Something I never saw coming. Obviously, she had no idea it was me on the line, but it doesn’t change the fact that I felt things for Mia I never have before. That was the single hottest moment of my life and I need to figure out .

With any luck, I’ll get up to the lake house, realize there is absolutely physical chemistry between us and last night was a total fluke, so I can go back to being the almost-brother she can’t stand, and we can resume our lives as normal.

“Well, that’s where you come in,” I say, glancing up at my friend and business partner.

“Me?” He looks a little nervous.

“Yeah. I know it’s asking a lot, but would you mind if I take a week off to go up to my parents’ lake house? She’s up there, and maybe if I spend some time with her, I can—’

He puts up a hand. “Garrett, go.”

“Really?” That was easier than I thought.

“Yeah. To be honest, I was hoping you’d go up there anyway. Launching the club has been stressful as fuck, but the hard part is over. You need a break. You’ve been working too hard, stretching yourself too thin. Go up there, spend some time with your family, maybe fuck your stepsister if you want. You could probably use a good lay anyway.”

My face stiffens in a tight-lipped expression. “I’m not sleeping with her.”

He laughs, and I grimace in return.

“First of all, we don’t get along at all. Second of all, I get laid plenty, thank you.’ It’s a lie, but he doesn’t need to know that. “I don’t need to go chasing twenty-three-year-old pussy, least of all my stepsister’s.” I stand up, giving him a pointed glare. “And I have absolutely no intention of getting caught up in some romantic hostage situation like you’ve gotten yourself entangled in at the mercy of a woman who refuses to let you go.”

Leaning back in his office chair, a slow, lazy grin stretches across his face. “Oh yeah…it’s terrible,” he replies sarcastically.

Damn, the asshole wearing a grin like he just got his dick sucked, and for all I know, maybe he did. Charlie is probably hiding under his desk at this very minute, and he’s making this whole relationship thing look pretty damn enticing.

Oh well, it will never last. They’ll have their little fling, have lots of sex, and then it will crash and burn like all relationships do eventually. No thanks. Definitely not something I want or need.

“Okay, seriously, I’ll have good cell service up there. Keep me updated on everything down here. I’ll be back before the end of the quarter. And I’ll brainstorm some incentives—’

“Garrett,” Emerson barks. When I force my shoulders down away from my ears, he continues, “Go relax for a week. The club will be fine. Like I said, you need a break.”

I know he’s right. I do need some time off, but that little voice inside my head keeps nagging me, telling me I can’t stop, can’t rest. That I must keep working and pray the club doesn’t fall apart while I’m gone.

But then if it fall apart without me, it means I was never really needed in the first place, right?

“All right. Thanks, Emerson. Seriously, though. If you need me, just call.”

“Have a good time.”

And with that, I leave his office, walk through the empty hallway toward the front of the club, and wonder how the hell I’m supposed to function for the next week without this place.

As I pull up to the lake house, I wave to my mom and stepdad, who are sitting on the front porch. It’s been almost six months since I’ve seen them, which is a disgrace, considering they only live twenty minutes from me.

“Hey, stranger!” my mother says, standing from her rocking chair and jogging down the steps. When she wraps her arms around me, I’m immediately wrapped in comfort. And assaulted by guilt. “I missed you,” she whispers against my cheek before kissing it.

“I missed you too, Mom. Sorry I haven’t been around much.”

When she releases me, I turn toward Paul, who hauls me into an equally strong hug. As he pulls away, I notice his face is a little more gaunt than I remember, and he’s probably about twenty pounds lighter, but all things considered, it’s not as bad as I feared. He’s still wearing that wide smile and sporting the same deep dimples that Mia inherited.

My mom and Paul got married when I was twenty-one, and since my dad has always been more of a and kind of dad, I’ve seen Paul as a father figure for most of my adult life. His first wife died of a heart condition when Mia was a baby.

“Hey, bud,” he says with that hearty laugh of his. “Glad you could make it this year.”

“Yeah…thanks for having me.”

“Oh, stop. You’re family.” His giant hand lands on my shoulder with a thud, making my knees wobble. I glance around the yard toward the lake, my eyes scanning for that familiar mop of silvery blonde hair.

“Where’s Mia?”

When I hear the screen door slam, I spin around and stare up at the girl standing on the porch, leaning against the banister in a string bikini and denim shorts so small, I can make out the curve of her ass hanging out of the bottom.

Something about seeing her in person after last night has me unsettled. Is this the first time I’m seeing Mia as a real woman and not the little girl I’ve always seen her as? Last night I sure didn’t see her as a little girl, not at all.

She’s looking at me with a mirrored expression of uncertainty—or is that disgust. “What are you doing here?” she asks, and not in an way.

“Mia,” her dad replies in a scolding tone.

“Lovely as usual,” I say in response.

“Be nice,” my mother mutters under her breath.

“Our video chat yesterday must have been pretty convincing,” Mia says, and my eyes nearly bulge out of my head. But thankfully, my mind quickly catches up, and I realize she’s referring to the actual video chat we had yesterday before I put back an entire six-pack and downloaded a camgirl app.

I clear my throat. “It was. I realized I haven’t been up here in a while, so I decided to take a week off. Apparently, Emerson said I looked like I needed it.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” my mother says, putting her arm around my shoulder and squeezing me hard into a side hug.

“Me too, Mom.”

Mia’s flip-flops slap against each step as she walks down toward me, and I have to force my eyes to remain on her face instead of the subtle bounce of her breasts barely covered by that bikini.

When she’s standing a foot away from me, I see her hesitation, and I know regular siblings would hug at this point, but Mia and I have never been normal. And after last night, I don’t even remember how we used to be, but somehow, I find myself pulling her in for a hug, which is a dead giveaway that she’s rattled my sense of reality. She stiffens against me, obviously surprised by my actions—as am I.

I really shouldn’t be noticing the fullness of her breasts against my chest or how good her coconut-scented shampoo smells next to my nose. But I am.

Fuck. Why is this happening to me? Why out of all the people in the world, am I feeling myself drawn toward this ? The worst possible person for me to suddenly be attracted to. But I can’t ignore the way my body is reacting to her presence because of last night.

Maybe it’s just her boobs. I’m a guy, and it’s not like my sex drive can tell the difference between a nice girl’s boobs and a snotty bitch who hates me’s boobs.

As she pulls away, her gaze lingers for a split second on my mouth before looking toward the lake.

“Well, I’m going for a walk,” she says, and I notice her phone in her hand. “You guys have fun catching up. I’ll be back before dinner.”

It dawns on me at that moment that she could be signing on to her little livestream on her walk. Will she get naked and masturbate for strangers in the woods? Probably not. But I’m here to figure out if this attraction toward Mia is real, so I might as well start now.

“I’ll come with you,” I announce, and everyone goes silent while they look at me like I’ve grown a set of tits on my face. Mia and I do not spend alone time together, so I get how bizarre it must look to everyone that I’m suddenly offering to do so now. But I’m here on a mission, and I don’t like to waste time.

“That’s a great idea!” my mom suddenly jumps in, clearly excited that we might finally be burying the hatchet and getting along. “You two go. Paul and I will be inside making dinner. You guys need to catch up anyway! You haven’t seen each other since Thanksgiving.”

Oh, if she only knew.

“Um…” Mia replies, obviously at a loss for words.

“If you don’t mind, of course.” Our eyes meet briefly, and I notice a hint of hesitation in her expression. Then I remember what it was like being able to talk to her last night without her hating me, even if she had no idea it was me she was talking to.

“Sure…I guess,” she mutters before turning around and walking down the drive toward the road. With an uneasy smile back at my mom and Paul, I quickly follow behind her.

The next thing I know, I’m on a forest trail around the lake with a scantily clad Mia. My dick and my brain are both in shock at how strange this is.

It’s awkwardly quiet for a while, and I know this would be the perfect opportunity to get Mia to talk about her secret job. There’s so much I don’t know about her, which is mostly my fault. I never took the time to get to know Mia, and now I only have a few days to figure out why she’s suddenly the only thing I can think about. Maybe getting her to open up about being a camgirl will help me understand it.

Either way, I know that I cannot leave this trip until I know why the hell I’m suddenly hot for my stepsister.