Traffic picked up as we drove toward the sleepy little bedroom town, home to rich white people who had tired of suburban hellscapes and crowded cities, but couldn’t do without modern amenities like high-speed internet and upscale grocery stores stocked with organic produce and vegan meat substitutes. A yoga studio had gone up in an abandoned Presbyterian church.
Though I applauded veganism and a shift away from traditional religious practices, I couldn’t help but wonder about the people who’d been priced out of living in the community when the rich began their invasion all those years ago. Where were the descendants of the people who’d built these quaint little farmhouses with their bare hands; “century home” plaques adorning their facades while wealthy retirees fretted over paint color and the installation of central air conditioning?
We rode through town and merged onto the highway toward the park, old engine rumbling as Adam pressed the accelerator. He kept shooting me the most irritating glances, eyes drifting down to my chest. I crossed my legs and pressed my thighs together as hard as I could, failing to kill the desire flickering there. I hated how good his not-so-subtle attraction made me feel.
“Are you gonna get a new boyfriend at Rutgers? You should go for a senior or a junior who lives off-campus in an apartment with only one roommate. Those guys are typically done partying and are focused on getting out of school before they work up too much debt,” he said.
The matter-of-fact tone in his voice pissed me off. He goes to college for a year to play fucking football of all things and he’s suddenly a boyfriend expert.
“Who says I want a boyfriend?” I snapped. “I actually care about school. I want to make a difference-”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot. You’re gonna save the world. If everybody would just quit having families, driving cars, and eating meat, then all the world’s problems would be solved and it’ll snow again in northeastern Ohio,” he mocked.
I turned toward him, fuming as a semi-truck blew by us. “You’re being obtuse. I know solving the world’s problems is incredibly complex and that it’s going to take humanity coming together to find innovative methods to fix our problems. That’s why I wanna go to school. I wanna be a part of the solution. I’m not a doomer. I believe in a bright future. We’re gonna have to work really hard for it, but it’s possible.”
To my surprise, he fell silent, eyes darting between me and the road.
I twisted away from him, propping my elbow on the door and massaging my forehead with my knuckles, contemplating the world’s ills. Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure if humanity was capable of coming together in the face of our imminent doom. Just look at what happened with Covid. But I wasn’t giving up, at least not yet.
Adam leaned forward to turn down the music, tapered fingers gently gripping the knob. Even his hands were beautiful. When our eyes met, I looked away, heart fluttering in my chest. I squeezed my legs together as my skin tingled at the thought of his pretty hands on my body, touching me, caressing me.
“You’re smart, Mackenzie. I wouldn’t be surprised if you grew bacteria in a lab that ate microplastics. You could put it in the oceans and save all the sea creatures and coral reefs,” he said.
“That would be crazy,” I blurted. “You can’t just release bacteria into the ocean. You’d have to do years and years-decades-of research-”
“Mackenzie.”
The sincerity in his expression shocked me. “What?”
“Don’t forget to have fun at Rutgers. That’s all I’m saying.” He put the blinker on, steering the car toward the offramp.
The thought of him screwing a different girl every night made me sick. “Like you do?”
He sneered, slowing the car for a stop sign. “You mean lifting weights everyday and getting beat up practicing for a game I don’t even get to play in? What are you implying? I can’t afford to party. I have to keep myself in shape and keep my grades decent if I even want any sort of a chance for playing time.”
I snorted. “Ah, yes, the struggles of the handsome Division I athlete. It’s so hard to pull an ‘A’ in History of Rock n’ Roll.”
He cast me a sexy death glare as he turned right. “What are you talking about? I have no delusions of playing in the NFL. I’m working hard to get a degree so I can get a job when I get out. My scholarship only lasts four years. I can’t fuck this up.”
I recoiled, suddenly ashamed of myself. Where had all this maturity come from? This wasn’t the same Adam who sat me down the day before my freshman year of high school and told me not to tell people we’re technically related.
I rolled my window down and stared out at the bright green meadows and leafy trees as we drove by. We were so close. I couldn’t wait to get out of the car and get away from my obnoxious, hot, confusing step-brother.
He began to shift in his seat, passive aggressively sighing as he tried to get me to re-engage with him instead of using words like an adult. So much for maturity.
I ignored him, focusing on the monarch and swallowtail butterflies.
“You know, if you put actual effort into your appearance, you’d be hot. Quit wearing men’s work clothes and hiking boots everywhere, get contacts instead of those dorky-ass glasses, and make your hair look nice.” His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized me.
Anger erased all rational thought from my mind and any desire I felt disappeared. I should’ve thanked him for that. Wanting to fuck the step-brother you hate is a torturous experience. At least I didn’t have to hate myself.
He nodded his head. “Yeah. I’d say you’re a solid 7/10 on a good day.”
Tears sprung to my eyes. I clamped them shut and sucked in my breath. Self-loathing over how much his words hurt me mixed oddly with my rage.
I spun around, slamming one hand onto the dashboard and grabbing his head rest with the other so I could lean forward. “Fuck you, Adam! You’re a nasty, miserable piece of shit. I hate you.”
His eyes widened as he grinned, turning into a parking lot, the crunch of gravel beneath the tires pleasant. “Did I touch a nerve, Kenze? This is still an issue with Botox Pam, isn’t it?”
“Don’t you talk about my mom like that.” My heart thundered in my ears, nerves raw. “You wanna know the worst thing about you?”
He cocked his head to the side, the brakes grinding to a halt. “What?”
“You’re boring. Basic. And you know it, but you don’t know how to change. You’re terrified you’re going to end up a bad insurance salesman, five-hundred thousand dollars in debt and married to a horrible woman because she foots the bill for the extravagant lifestyle you don’t deserve.” I paused, taking a deep breath, grinning when his face flushed scarlet and twisted with emotion.
He reached across the car, leaning forward so our lips were a breath apart.
My mind reeled and I gasped.
Adam paused, hoovering there for a moment, the click of the door handle behind me loud.
Lust bloomed in my loins, goosebumps spreading up and down my whole body. I held my breath, praying he would kiss me.
He shoved the door open, whispering, “Get out of my car.”
I flinched away from him, tears pooling in my eyes as I gathered my things. I climbed out of the car and ran off toward a trail that led into the woods, totally humiliated.
###
Adam
Thank God there wasn’t anybody else in the parking lot to see Mackenzie sprint from my car to the woods, her ugly backpack slamming against her body as she moved. I couldn’t even see her cute little butt beneath her baggy clothing. She really had no idea how hot she was.
I sighed and parked the car, grateful for the solitude. Fighting with Mackenzie was risky. She was so cute when she was mad, with her cheeks flushed a pretty pink and her delicate brow furrowed, but if I went too far, she really knew how to stick the knife in. I killed the engine and climbed out my car, stretching, trying to get loose.
I’d never be like Greg.
I jogged toward the other end of the trail, not wanting to pass Mackenzie while she made her way to her stupid plants or bugs or whatever her dorky ass was into those days. My lungs burned and my mind screamed for me to quit, but I pushed through my lazy instincts, waiting for the exercise high to kick in.
I’d never marry a woman like Pam, no matter how broke I was.
The gravel crunched beneath my feet as I ran beneath a dense tree canopy, instantly cooler in the shade. A horde of mosquitoes swarmed around my head, bouncing off my face and buzzing in my ears. Sweat beaded on my brow and my t-shirt already clung to my back. I welcomed the discomfort, desperate for any kind of a distraction to keep me from thinking about my brilliant step-sister.
If Danny was gay, then Mackenzie was likely still a virgin.
The thought of her tight little pussy opening up for my dick made me stumble. I caught myself before I fell, taking off into a full sprint in order to keep my blood from going everywhere but my groin. My thighs burned and a stitch lanced through my side with every breath.
It was so unfair. Of all the rich, crazy women Greg could’ve married, he had to marry the one with a perfect daughter. Saying Mackenzie was a 7/10 on a good day was such an obvious lie, I couldn’t believe how bad it upset her. It was a low blow and I regretted it. Assigning someone numerical value by comparing their physical appearance to every other human being I’d ever seen over the course of my entire life was awful. Not only was it shallow, it was just straight-up mean.
The woods around me blurred into a whirl of green, the joyful chirping of birds and the steady croaking of frogs failing to calm my frustrations. I needed to hit something. Tackling dummies were great in a pinch, but a particularly obnoxious running back with a smart mouth and a major inferiority complex came to mind. One of my coaches and the campus psychiatrist told me it wasn’t healthy to take every hit or snarky comment so personally, but that was how I played – angry. It’s easier to use my body as a battering ram when I want to rip the other guy’s head off.
I slowed my pace, the landscape around me coming into focus and I took deep deliberate breaths. Muscle memory took over and my body seemed to move on its own, leaving my mind free to obsess over Mackenzie.
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