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KAI

“ M alakai, it’s only for a few months. Just until your sister can move into the apartment she leased.”

My mother pleads on the other end of the line, and all I can do at this point is say yes.

Isla and I have our issues, like any set of step siblings, but I’m pretty sure most of them aren’t because one is interested in fucking the other.

But I don’t want to just fuck Isla. I want her.

I’ve wanted her since I was the fourteen-year-old boy who stood on the porch with my mom, moving into a new house. With a new family.

Isla was everything to me from that moment on.

I remember it vividly, the way she just smiled at me and blushed when I told her I liked her Giants shirt.

She stared at the ground and said that my mom told her that I play ball and that the Giants were my favorite team.

For the next three years, she was my biggest fan, coming to almost every practice and tryout, working out with me, or simply just playing catch to keep my arm loose.

She would even beg her mother to drive her to my games, even though it was supposed to be time spent with just them.

Isla made me feel special.

Loved .

Wanted.

But when I told her how I felt, how I was in love with her, she shot me down.

“Kai, we can’t! Think about what our parents would think.”

I tried so hard to not want her, to not feel hurt that she didn’t want me too.

Until I realized it wasn’t because she thought it was wrong.

Not that she didn’t want me, because the longing looks never stopped, we spent every moment we could together until I moved to San Jose State.

She just thought she couldn’t have me because our parents were married.

Even when she dated, she still came home to me instead of staying the night with them.

My goody-two-shoes sister just didn’t want to disappoint her daddy. And I’m sure her telling him that she wants to date her stepbrother would probably be just that. A disappointment.

Her living here will be the perfect opportunity for us to rekindle that flame.

Even if it’s been three years since I moved away.

I know I still want her. My love for her never stopped.

“Sure, Ma, it’s not a problem. Isla can stay as long as she likes.

” I smirk, and I can practically hear my mother’s sigh of relief.

The sound of her feet thumping up the stairs tells me she’s going to talk to Isla’s father or Isla herself.

I count the steps she takes once she stops climbing and I know it’s to her and Gene’s room rather than my sister’s.

“Gene… Gene, wake up! Kai says Isla can stay with him as long as she needs. Isn’t that wonderful!”

My stepfather grumbles, and I hear my mother smack him.

“What… oh, thanks, bud.” He says it through a yawn and my mother whispers something to him.

“You’re really taking one for the team, letting her stay with you.

Just FYI, she’s a mess right now, what with that asshole Steve breaking up with her. ”

There it is .

Mom didn’t mention that the longtime boyfriend dumped her.

“Don’t worry, G. I’ve got this. I’ll have all the girlie movies and junk food I know chicks like after situations like this.

” I mean I will, but only because some aftercare will be necessary after what I have planned for us.

I’ll have my sweet stepsister forgetting whatever the fuck his name is in no time.

“Thanks, son. We owe you one. The first game is coming up, isn’t it?”

“Next Tuesday. You guys want me to leave some tickets for you?” What they don’t know is I will always have tickets at Will Call for them. Sue me, I’m a family man.

“Absolutely, Sweetie!” My mother chimes in. “We wouldn’t miss it. Leave one for Isla, too. We can bring her stuff to your apartment and then go to the game afterwards.”

I stretch my arm above my head and look around my bedroom and grin like a fool. “Sounds perfect, Mom. I’ll see you guys on Tuesday. I’ll text her after I hang up with you.”

“She’s out in SJ now with some friends for a bachelorette party.” A door closes on her side and she whispers. “Could you keep your ringer on, you know, in case she calls and is too drunk to get herself an Uber?”

“You got it, Mom. Get some sleep. I’ll talk to you later.”

I hang up and pull up my conversation with Isla.

Kai

Have fun tonight, Sis. I told Mom that it’s cool that you live with me for however long you need.

I pause and think about it for a second on how I want to approach this next part. I think I’ll choose violence.

Kai

Better not let anyone fuck you tonight, princess. I’d hate to break someone’s nose before my first game.

I don’t wait for her response and set my phone on the charging dock, pick my book back up and keep reading.

It’s only nine and I expect she and the groups she’s out with are probably already drunk.

I just hope she has enough sense to call or text me if need be.

My phone pings and I let out a sigh. She’ll call if it’s an emergency.

I keep reading and my phone pings again. And again. Ping. Ping. Ping.

She’s definitely drunk.

Don’t do it, Kai.

Fuck it.

I grab my phone and slide up.

Isla

Omg, Kai, THANK YOU SO MUCH. YOU DON’T NEED TO WORRY. THIS IS A NO-GUY PARTAY.

FUCK

Stupid cap button thingy.

Voice Message

I click the voice message, and I can hear the thump of a bass line in the background. “Kaiiii, I’ve missed you. I’m so happy you said yes. We’re gonna have such a fun time living together. Like when we were kids.”

Totally drunk, and I hate that she’s already putting herself at risk this early in the night. I tap on the cover of my book, annoyed, as I raise my phone to my mouth and hit the record button.

Kai

Where are you at right now, princess? Do you know what bar or club you guys are at?

Isla

Continental on 12th St.

That’s not San Jose.

Kai

Mom said you were in SJ.

Isla

I didn’t want them to know we were going to Oakland and SF for the night. They would have worried.

No fucking shit.

Now I won’t be sleeping tonight.

I was supposed to get up early and meet with a trainer to work on a new routine to help me bulk up and work on my endurance. Guess I’m going to be tired as shit. I throw the covers off and head to my closet to grab some slacks and a nice shirt because I’m heading out to Oakland.

Isla is more important than sleep.

But she’s gonna owe me for this, and I know exactly what I want.

Every inch of her.

I pull up the group chat with a few of the guys from the team and type out a message.

Kai

So I’ve got to head into Oakland to get my stepsister. She’s at a bachelorette party at Continental. Anyone want to come with?

Gael

I’m down

Andres

For sure.

Jackson

Well, if Dre is going, I guess I am too.

Kai

I’ll be downstairs in ten.

Isla, I’m coming for you and you better be ready for me.

An hour later, we’re parking my SUV in a lot a block away from the club.

We get to the doors, pay the cover, and head inside.

I scan the dance floor for Isla and lo and behold, she’s sandwiched between two pricks who have their hands all over her.

So much for this being a “guy-free party.” I feel a set of hands grip my shoulders, holding me back.

“You do not want to make a scene, Kai.” Jackson shouts over my shoulder. “I know you feel some type of way about her, but… You’ve got to use your head, man.”

He means the one with a brain that’s telling me that she can do what she wants because she is a grown woman. Not the one in my pants telling me she looks fucking delicious and I need to have her under my tongue immediately.

Part of me wants to run over there and bash their stupid fucking faces in for touching what’s mine.

Because Isla is mine, always has been mine.

The other part of me wants her to realize she’s fucked up, to see me watching her.

Then take her down the dark back hallway and take it out on her pussy or her pretty little mouth as punishment.

“Just have a good time, bro. Find a chick, or, fuck, find a dude to hook up with and let it go.”

Negative. If it’s not Isla, I don’t want them.

I head towards the bar, purposefully crossing her path and as I push past the bodies grinding against each other on the floor, my eyes find hers. Even drunk, it only takes her half a second to recognize me. Her eyes trail down my body and slowly back up to my eyes.

That’s right, princess. I’m here for you and only you.

I give her a once-over, then look at the men she’s between and sneer, shaking my head I turn and make my way towards the bar to get a drink. My skin prickles on the back of my neck and I know Isla’s following me.

“Kai, what are you doing here?”