Page 20 of Stepbrother For Christmas

A few seconds later, I feel him pull out and lay next to me. Then he tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Are you okay?” he asks sweetly.

“Yes.”

With a smile, Chase leans in and whispers in my ear, “There’s something that’s been on my mind.”

I blink. “Hm?”

“When you mention that this-or-that is bad luck, I can tell that you’re serious. But I’ve been wondering why it is that you think you’re likely to incur ‘bad luck’ at all.” He pauses to gather his thoughts. “So I guess what I mean to ask is, why do you believe in this so strongly?”

I swallow. “Oh. Um…”

He pulls me into a hug and presses a kiss against my hair. “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to,” he whispers.

“No, it’s fine. It’s just that no ones ever asked me that.”

“Really?”

“My friends and family have just accepted that this is how I am.” I hesitate, my inner voice urging me to share my story. “A lot of people see it as a quirk.”

“But it’s not?”

I shake my head. “No. I avoid bad luck causing stuff because I feel like I’m a jinx.” My lower lip starts to shake a little.

“Angel…” Chase whispers before kissing me. “You’re the opposite of a jinx.”

Tears well up in my eyes. “There’s more to it than that. Basically, it all started the day my dad died,” I admit, sniffling. “I killed him.”

He tenses against me. “What?”

“When I was sixteen years old, I snuck out to go to a friend’s birthday party in the woods. My dad went looking for me and died because of it. He was walking to his vehicle when a 35-foot tree fell and landed on top of him. If I had made a better decision, he would still be alive.” I am responsible for his death.

“You can’t blame yourself. You were just a kid. You couldn’t have known what was going to happen. I used to sneak out all of the time. Hell, I snuck into your bedroom the same way.” He sighs heavily. “The tree falling on your dad was a ‘freak accident’ that occurred because of high winds or rotted soil or rotted roots.”

“No, it’s because I’m bad luck,” I state adamantly. “Lots of bad things happen when I’m around.” And maybe I don’t deserve to be happy or have good things happen to me.

“You’re not bad luck,” Chase counters. “And meeting you is the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my life. Only good things have happened since we've met.”

“You’re just saying that. And besides, give it time, and it will.”

“I’m not just saying that and I will give it time because you’re worth the risk. Hell, I’ve designed apps for Android and iOS that I’ve sold for millions. And do you know what tops ALL of that? Spending time with you and talking to you.”

“But there’s been other incidents where people got hurt or even killed around me. For example, my favorite high school teacher died in a skiing accident and my neighbor’s dog got hit by a car on my birthday. If I stay away from people, they won’t get hurt.”

“As a teen, you suffered a lot of trauma that caused you to focus only on the negative. You didn’t make those things happen. They just happened. Sometimes messed up things happen in life that you don’t deserve. I think you should give yourself time and space to gain perspective because you deserve to be happy.”

I nod solemnly at his words.

“I avoid coming home as much as I can. Because I struggle with my mom’s death too,” Chase admits. “And with feeling disconnected from my old life and numb to holidays. We all thought she’d survive the stroke. It still feels like it happened yesterday—even though many years have passed since her death.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Chase.”

“I’m sorry for yours,” he replies quickly. “Just know that being here with you is helping me build new memories.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” he says before nudging my nose with his. “Now close your eyes and rest your worries on me.”

Suddenly my eyes get heavy with sleep.

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