“Yeah, honey.” He smiles. “Got a shit load of fish.”

“Wicked.”

Ripley comes rushing out of the house with a beer in his hand—well, three beers. He thrusts one at me and Melanie, then announces, “I am not out here to act like a sissy. Let’s get this party started.”

“You’re too young to drink,” Jack says, eyeing his son.

“So’s she,” Ripley says, jerking a finger at me.

Jack narrows his eyes. “She’s going to college. You’re in high school.”

“Ah-ah, Papa, it doesn’t work like that.” Ripley grins, waving a finger at his dad.

Jack shakes his head with a sigh and continues inside. Ripley throws himself onto a chair and lifts his boots up on the table, and then he proceeds to study Melanie and I.

“Dude,” I say, smacking his feet down without thought. “We’re going to eat there.”

He grins, big. Well, I guess the ice is broken. “We’re going to get along just fine, you and I.”

I roll my eyes.

“I always wanted a big sister.”

I flinch. “I’m not your sister, Ripley.”

He laughs loudly. “Sure you are, time to deal, Sissy.”

I wish they would all stop saying that. I glare at him and he continues his low chuckling.

“Call me that again, and I’ll deck you.”

His smile is so big, I can’t help but smile back.

“Yep,” he says. “We’re going to be just fine.”

Damn. I kind of like him.

~*~*~*~

“So, Ripley, how’s school?” Mom asks as we’re eating fresh fish, salad and home-baked bread later that night.

“I hate school,” Ripley says, swigging more of his beer.

“That’s a shame. You seem like a smart boy.”

He grins at my mom then turns to me.  “Not as smart as my big sister.”

I cringe. Why must he continue to point out the obvious?

“I’m not your sister,” I snap.

Everyone turns their eyes to me, and I see Blade’s dancing with amusement. Asswank.

“Ari,” Mom says softly. “There’s nothing wrong with him calling you his sister.”

“Yes, there is,” I mutter. “Because I’m not.”

“Honey,” Mom says softly.

Blade chuckles loudly, as if this is amusing him. It pisses me off, and I find there’s an unknown emotion rising in my chest. I don’t need Blade. I don’t need his brothers. I don’t need a replacement family. “A sister is someone you grow up with, you have a bond with, you love and cherish,” I whisper, head down. “Not someone you gain overnight. I’m not their sister and they’re not my brothers. It takes a whole lot more than marriage to throw that word around. I wish you would all stop throwing a word at me, that quite frankly, means nothing.”

I stare around the table and six stunned faces stare back at me. I push out of my chair. “Excuse me.”

Then I turn and walk down the patio. Melanie is behind me in a matter of seconds, following me as I hurry down the path towards the lake.

“You okay?” she asks after a few moments.

“Yeah.” I sigh.

We walk out onto the large jetty and sit down, dangling our legs over the side. It’s a gorgeous, cool night. The stars are twinkling, the moon shining over the water giving it a silvery glow. Birds twitter and fish flutter about, looking for their nightly nook to sleep. Laughter comes across from the other side of the lake and fires crackle along the banks where people camp.

“That was a bit of an outburst . . .”

I sigh and lower my head. “I know. I didn’t mean it to happen. I just . . . I feel like they’re trying to remind me that they’re my new family when that’s not how I want it. I lost my family; I watched them die. I don’t want anyone to try and replace that. I had a sister—I was a sister, and I lost it all. I don’t want to be a sister again.”

“Oh honey,” she says, wrapping her arm around me.

“I’m not trying to be a bitch, but it’s not just the fact that I’m being thrown into a role I wasn’t ready for, but the fact that”—I stop talking and take a deep breath—“he was important to me, Mel. I cared about him. Now he thinks it’s a big joke and he’s making that known.”

“Blade?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I slept with my step-brother, and worse, I care about him. How wrong is that?”

“You have to stop thinking of it like that, because it wasn’t like that at the time.”

“No.” I sigh. “You’re right. It wasn’t.”

“Evening, ladies.”

We both turn with a squeak to see three young men walking down the jetty. I haven’t seen them before, and as they near, I notice they’re all handsome.

“Oh, hi.” Mel smiles, staring up at them.

“Haven’t seen you around here before. You new?”

I stare at the man who has spoken. He’s extremely attractive, in the good-boy kind of way. He’s got sandy-brown hair that’s messy and unkempt, falling loosely over his forehead. His eyes look to be light, but it’s too hard to tell with the sun down and only a dim light shining over him. He’s tall and slim but clearly muscled. He’s got a friendly smile, with two dimples.