I look past her and see Jack sitting at the large dining table with only two of the guys. Where is he? Where did he go? I sigh a little, maybe with relief, and follow Mom inside. When we come into full view, Jack stops talking and stands, coming over and taking hold of me, tucking me into his side. Then he leads me towards the table. “Boys, this is Aria. Aria, these are my boys.”

I smile lamely and wave. “Hey.”

“That’s Ripley,” Jack says, pointing to the one with longer hair, but I already knew that. Then he turns his finger to the one with the buzz cut. “And this is Brody.”

So Blade is the one who I gave my damned virginity too. Yes, that’s right, I was a virgin when I met him, and I made the stellar choice to hand it all over to him that weekend. Well done to me.

“’Sup.” Ripley grins. “You’re way hotter in the flesh.”

Jack glares at him. “Stop it, Lee.”

“Just sayin’,” he mumbles, standing.

“Brody, say hello,” Jack orders.

Brody looks up and me, and there’s a darkness in his brown eyes. He looks like his dad, but he also looks . . . broken. “Hi,” he practically spits and then stands. “Goin’ walkin’.”

I blink as he disappears out the door.

“Sorry about that,” Jack says. “He’s . . . shy.”

Shy. Yeah right. That boy goes far deeper than shy.

“Where’s, ah”—I swallow—“Blade?”

“Right here.”

The thick, sexy voice has Jack and I whirling around. I’m faced with a man I’ve thought about so many times. He might only be twenty-four, but Blade has the masculine thing down to a T. He’s got a big body, like he spends his days working out. His sandy hair manages somehow to give him an edgy look and with the stubble, it makes him look slightly older than he is. Then there are those intense gray/blue eyes.

I know the moment he realizes who I am, because he gets this disgusted look on his face. Yeah, buddy, I’m right there with you. He takes a step back and I shake my head slightly, because I’ll do anything I can to protect my mother from this. He eyes me suspiciously, and then mutters, “You must be Aria.”

The way he says my name, the way it rolls off his tongue, it kills me.

“Yes,” I choke out.

“Aria, honey, Blade here is working just down the road from your school,” Mom says happily. “You two should catch up sometime.”

Jesus.

Someone shoot me.

“Great,” I say, and I know I’ve got a horrified expression on my face.

Shit.

“Where’s Melanie?” I squeak, shoving out of Jack’s arm.

“She’s resting. She’s tired,” Mom says.

“Great. I’m going to explore the lake.”

I turn and rush out the door without giving them the chance to answer. I know I look crazy; I just came back from exploring the damned lake. My heart is pounding as I rush down the steps towards the setting sun. Behind me a door slams and booted feet follow close behind. Great. He’s following me.

“Did you fuckin’ know?” he barks.

I skid to a halt and swing around. “Seriously?” I laugh, low. “You think I’d fuck my damned step-brother willingly?”

He crosses his arms, making his muscles bunch. Holy biceps.

“Then how the hell does something like this happen?”

I cross my arms too. “How the hell should I know? As far as I knew, until two seconds ago, I’d never met you. You didn’t see a picture of me at all from your dad?”

He snorts. “Hell no. They went to a fuckin’ hall to get married and honestly, I really didn’t care about his new life at that point.”

“Nice.”

He reaches up and runs a hand through his hair. “Jesus, this is fucked.”

“Thanks so much.”

He stares at me, his eyes icy. He kind of looks like Liam Hemsworth, only darker and broodier. His face is still youthful, not yet scarred by the journeys of becoming a man, but he’s got an edge that screams he’s older than he actually is. I’d pick him for twenty-six, if I didn’t know better. But then, looking at the size of Jack, it’s not a wonder he’s ripped at a younger age than most.

“About that weekend . . .”

I laugh bitterly. “Really? You’re going to do that?”

He frowns. “I don’t have to, but I’m tryin’ to be nice.”

“Come on now, Bladen, you don’t want to be nice. You’re shitty because you have to explain yourself.”

His jaw tics. “You know what? Yeah, I am shitty. I never thought I’d see you again, so I sure as shit didn’t think I’d ever have to explain.”

“Save it; whatever happened back then is done. I’ve moved on and no one ever needs to know about it.”

He snorts, giving me a skeptical look. “Don’t look like you’ve moved on.”

“Really?” I snap, taking a step closer. “You think you’re that good.”

His lips tip up and I growl loudly.

“Listen, my mother is everything to me so I don’t need her knowing about this. What we did finished the day you upped and walked out with no explanation. From this moment forward, there’s nothing else to be said about it.”

“I didn’t fuckin’ up and leave with no explanation. As far as I knew, it was a couple of fun nights. You never asked for anything more.”