Page 74 of Step Alpha

“I know.” I pull away and swallow. “But I’m going to get scholarships. I’m going to figure it out.”

“Well, you don’t have to. I mean, I’ll need help with the pup. You could stay and–”

“No.” I interrupt before I realize how sharp I sound.

I may have told my mom I’m not jealous of the pup and that may be true, but I’m also not strong enough to hang out in a town where I’ve been ostracized my whole life and raise my mom’s perfect, non-defective pup. Because I’m sure this one will be special. Logan’s genes are perfect alpha stock.

Nope. No, thank you.

“I just mean–”

“It’s okay. I understand.” My mom’s disappointment hits me right in the gut. “It just would’ve been nice to have the pup looked after by family, you know? But it’s fine. We’ll find a sitter or something.”

“Don’t you think you could stay home with the baby? I mean, Logan makes enough money, right?”

My mom nibbles her lip. “I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it yet. I mean, we talked about you staying…”

Ugh. I flop my head back against the headrest. Fresh tears spear my eyes.

“Nevermind, sweetie. We’ll figure something else out. We just thought it might be a good fit.”

Of course, Logan would want me to be the one to stay home and watch his pup. That’s all a misfit like me is good for, right? No scholarships to Duke for me.

Of course, that particular scholarship was not a gift, but a curse to Wilde…

As if my mom guesses at my thoughts, she changes the subject. “What’s going on with you and Wilde?”

I hold my breath.

I can’t tell her what’s happening. I really can’t. Wilde is mystepbrother.

What we’ve done is inappropriate at best.

“Um…it’s a bit of a love-hate situation,” I admit. “He’s a dick, and then he’s nice, and I’m not really sure what to do with it.”

“Huh,” my mom says for the second time tonight.

“Well, he’s going through a lot right now. I almost wonder if the whole arrest was him acting out over Logan marrying me.”

That thought has a queasy note of truth to it. Wilde almost seemed like he’d come home to wage war.

With me.

I know hating school and taking one for the team was also a huge part of it, but my mom might be right.

Once again, my very existence rubs people the wrong way.

“Because of me, you mean,” I say.

“Notbecause of you,” my mom says firmly. “Because of his parents’ recent divorce. He might resent Logan moving on.”

My stomach rumbles audibly.

My mom sends me a sympathetic smile. “I’m starving, too. Let’s get the food.”

I agree, relieved to be off the topic of Wilde. Or Logan. Or me becoming their permanent nanny.

We pick up a dozen Wendy’s hamburgers and french fries and head back to the house.

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