Stepbrother Dearest

by Penelope Ward

Keep the change, or rather, change into these. I’m guessing your current ones are a little wet.

You’re the only girl in the entire world that’s forbidden, and fuck me if that doesn’t make me want you more than anything.”

He gave me a chaste kiss on the lips and continued, “I know that despite my warning, you gave me a piece of your heart anyway last night. And even though I tried to stop it, I gave you a piece of mine. I know you could feel that happening this morning. I want you to keep it with you tucked away. And when you decide to give the rest of yours to another guy someday, please make sure it’s someone who deserves you.”

still dream about your neck. I still think about you every day. For some reason, I just needed you to know that tonight. Please don’t write back.

Thank you for traumatizing me.

know I’m not supposed to care. But when it comes to you, what I’m supposed to be feeling has never seemed to matter.

It was proof that we can’t always choose the moment the reality of a loss hits us. Sometimes, it’s predictable,

and other times, it happens in the place you’d least expect. He hadn’t cried at the wake or the burial but had chosen this moment here in this crowded casino to let go.

When you’re gambling with your heart, taking a chance with money seems like nothing.

“You want the truth? I was fucking my girlfriend and could see nothing but you. That’s the truth.” He took a few steps toward me, and I stepped backwards as he continued, “I got into the shower that night, and the only way I could finish the job was to imagine coming all over your beautiful neck. That’s the truth.” I leaned against the elevator wall as he locked his arms on each side of me and continued, “You want more? I was going to ask her to marry me tonight at her sister’s wedding. I was supposed to be engaged right at this very moment, but instead, I’m in an elevator fighting the urge to back you up against this wall and fuck you so hard that I’ll have to carry you back to your room.”

“You were the best thing that ever happened to me. I hope someday I can say you were one of the best, but for now, it’s only you.”

I’d spend the weeknights reading until I fell asleep with my kindle on my face.

“The trick is to force yourself to open it even though it’s broken. A broken heart is still a beating one.

Thinking back, I’m pretty sure that was the moment I fell in love with her.

As I write this, what she definitely doesn’t know is that a few years later, I came back for her, but it was too late.

My head had been stuck in Elec’s story all day, and it almost felt strange venturing into the real world. It started to make me feel a little panicky with a bit of vertigo, which I got from time to time. My nervous state improved as soon as I saw two of my coworkers, Bobbie and Jennifer, who greeted me as I entered the private room. A

Through death there was life. Through hate there was love. I looked down at my son. “In the end, there was you, and that made it all worth it.”