Forbidden (Perfect for them Book 1) Read online

His tone makes me giggle and I explain.

  “No, don’t be silly. Nic is really into him and wants to get to know him better. She made me promise that I’d ask you if we could double date.

  He seems to relax. “Ok, sure. I’ll ask him and I’ll text you later to let you know what he said.”

  I spend about two hours on the phone with Nic and when I get a text to confirm that Nate’s happy to hang with us, she decides to come over, stating dramatically that she has nothing to wear and she needs to borrow from my closet.

  I hop into the shower, taking extra care with my hair and I’ve just finished with the straightener when Nic bursts into my room, literally bouncing with excitement.

  We spend a long time trying out outfits and doing our makeup and at the end, we look into my full length mirror, satisfied with what we see.

  Nic is wearing a red silk and lace top with black shorts and black high heeled sandals while I opted for a simple dark blue t-shirt dress with the designer’s name embroidered in tiny white pearls on the front. The dress is backless, making it a little bit more daring when you look at me from behind.

  White wedge sandals and a matching bag complete my outfit and since I spent all that time straightening my hair, I decide to leave it down, flowing freely down my back.

  Nic hugs me tight. “Thank you for letting me borrow something from your closet! Marc and Nate come from rich families and I’m sure that they’re used to girls wearing designer clothes that I could never afford.”

  I sigh and decide not to say anything to Nic as we’ve had this conversation a few times and there’s no way to change her mind about it. When she and I met, I had never seen designer clothes aside from fashion magazines and articles on the internet when there was some star studded event. After my mom married Dustin, things changed in the respect that I was enrolled at a fancy school and my stepfather wanted me not to be singled out by my rich schoolmates.

  Dustin was generous with everything I could have wanted: clothes, a car, a credit card that he encouraged me to use for anything I wanted. He even started a trust fund for me that I’ll be able to access when I graduate college.

  But what I love about my stepfather isn’t his generosity with material things, it’s the fact that I know he cares.

  Sure, he does take my mom with him when he travels and he was the one that pushed for me to go to boarding school, but whenever he and Mom are in the country and for every major holiday, he flies me wherever they are and he really makes a point to spend quality time with me. He knows me better than my own father does and he’s been more of a father figure to me in the three years he’s been with my mom than my own dad has ever been.

  All he expects from me is to be a good daughter to my mom and a good student and I really enjoy spending time with him talking about philosophy, which is an interest we have in common, and binge watching The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, which are our guilty pleasures.

  I know that he thinks really highly of me and I try to live up to his expectations both academically and when it comes to my behavior in general. I want him and my mom to be proud of me.

  And so far I’ve succeeded, I think with a sigh. The only sore point in my family life is represented by the twins.

  I admit that I had a childish crush on both of them three years ago but they killed any kind of feelings I might have had toward them by totally turning on me and changing their initial kindness into indifferent contempt. It hurt for ages and I thought I was mostly over the heartbreak of them hating me for no reason other than the fact that our parents are married, but I was lying to myself.

  I’m not over it, at all. All those feelings of hurt and betrayal, that longing for their friendship came rushing back the moment I saw them yesterday.

  “Come on, Marc and Nate should be here in ten minutes. Let’s go wait for them downstairs!”

  Nic grabs my hand but stops when I drag my feet, rooted to my spot in front of the mirror.

  I don’t have to say anything for my bestie to guess what’s wrong.

  “You don’t want to see the twins?”

  I shake my head. I don’t want to see them and their friends, even though one of them seemed quite nice when I almost crashed into him yesterday, I’m sure that they consider me a stupid kid, exactly like my stepbrothers.

  “By the way, there’s something I’ve never understood: why does everyone call them twins, when they really aren’t?”

  I explain to Nic that Chase and Reid are twins.

  “They’re fraternal twins, so they’re not identical but they shared a womb and they were born within minutes of each other.”

  “But if they don’t look exactly the same ...”

  “They’re still considered twins. The deciding factor is sharing a womb, not being identical.”

  I reluctantly follow Nic downstairs, hoping that the guys are already out but I’ve no such luck.

  They’re all sitting in the huge living room, playing a videogame, laughing and joking among themselves, looking relaxed and happy.

  That’s until Nic and I walk in because as soon as they spot us, the room grows silent and I feel four sets of eyes zeroing in on me.

  They have different reactions to our arrival: Parker and Reid stare at us quietly but intensely.

  Bryce is the only one that greets us.

  “Hey Kaya, Nic ... you both look very pretty. Are you going somewhere fun?”

  I like Bryce’s smile, it reaches his green eyes and makes that cute dimple appear in an otherwise masculine face, with perfect features.

  His dirty blond hair is cut short by the neck but there’s a little bit of length down his forehead and ears.

  Bryce is handsome in an all American, super hot boy next-door kind of way. He’s as tall and as well built as the twins, Parker is too. After all, they all play football together at Bridgeport U so I can only imagine the strenuous work outs that forged their hard muscles.

  “Actually, we’re waiting to be picked up for a date.”

  Nic chimes in cheerfully and launches herself into the story about how Marc and I have been ‘corresponding’ all winter and how I’m the best BFF in the whole world for setting up this double date.

  “A date? Then maybe Kaya might want to go get changed, so she doesn’t give her date the wrong idea.”

  Chase’s voice has a sharp edge to it, his dark blue eyes suddenly fixed right into mine for an infuriating moment, until his gaze moves slowly down my body in a critical and irreverent perusal.

  I feel heat rush to my cheeks in a mixture of excitement, embarrassment and fury. Fury at him for being a douche and at myself for caring about what he thinks and for the unwanted physical reaction I’m having to that gaze.

  My heart is pounding in my chest and a tingling heat is spreading in my lower belly, making me feel weak at the knees.

  Stop it, Kaya, right the fuck now!

  I try to pull myself together by digging my nails into the palms of my hands until it hurts, to try and regain control of myself.

  I decided three years ago at the end of that summer, when it became clear that the twins’ initial kindness was just for Dustin’s benefit, that I wouldn’t let Chase and Reid make me feel like the annoying little brat of the house. I would stay out of their way but I wouldn’t tolerate their rudeness.

  So I force myself to keep a cool, calm, almost bored tone when I meet his gaze again.

  “And what kind of idea would that be, Chase?”

  I spit out his name pointedly, just to signify what a nuisance I consider him to be.

  He runs a hand through his golden blond hair: it looks different than three years ago. Before he had a ‘Bieber cut’ that made him look more boyish. His new faux-hawk makes him look more grown up, drawing attention to his high cheekbones, his straight, perfect nose and the square, defined line of his jaw.

  Oh fuck, Kaya! Stop looking at your stepbrother as if he was candy. Seriously, I need to get out of this room before he sees the attraction I can barel
y manage to hide.

  I hate myself for feeling this way because Chase might be one of the hottest guys I’ve ever seen, but he certainly isn’t the kind, interesting boy I thought I met three summers ago.

  And his reply to my question, only confirms that there’s no chance for us to ever be friends again.

  “That you’re a cheap lay. That you’ll let him have you on the first date, in his car behind the marina or at Whisper Point. Unless that’s your plan, in which case, your outfit is totally on point. By the way, did our parents see that dress?”

  His words hit me like a slap in the face and for a second I’m speechless, looking down at my dress and not seeing why he thinks that my outfit is so slutty. The neckline grazes my collarbone, the dress ends one inch above my knee, so it isn’t excessively short. Yes, my back is bare but it’s not a plunging opening, the material covers me from the waist down, you can’t even begin to see my underwear.

  I’m about to tell him to mind his own fucking business, when Parker intervenes.

  Chase’s best friend is the quietest of the group, just as brooding as Chase and just as hot but his coloring is very different than my stepbrother’s.

  He has jet black hair and silver eyes that right now are fixed on me too.

  “Whoa, dude! That’s a bit harsh. I don’t think that outfit is particularly slutty. Ease off, will you? After all your sis is eighteen, so she isn’t your responsibility.”

  I suppose I should be grateful for his intervention but something in his tone rubs me the wrong way, so I throw him a sideways glance that conveys my partial annoyance at his interference.

  “Right. What Parker said. What I do and who I see isn’t your business, and FYI, I bought this dress for my graduation party and both our parents were present when I purchased it.”

  Chase shrugs.

  “Whatever! Don’t come crying to us though when your date gets the wrong idea. By the way, who’s the lucky guy?”

  His voice is dripping with sarcasm when he says lucky guy but I choose to ignore him and I decide to just walk away before one of us says something that might make living in the same house harder than it already is.

  My eyes meet Reid’s as I turn on my heels to leave the room. His ice blue eyes are so different and yet so similar to Chase’s. This is the thing with my stepbrothers: they look different and similar at the same time, it’s really hard to explain.

  They’re both about six foot three and have similar builds, similar cut, defined muscles.

  Their facial features are different but you can see a sibling resemblance in their bone structure. Reid’s hair is darker than Chase’s golden blond, it’s a light brown and his eyes aren’t the dark ocean blue of his brother’s but a light, almost transparent blue, like the Caribbean Sea waters by the shore. So while they look different in broad daylight, I think that in the dark, it would be almost impossible to tell one from the other.

  Reid keeps his eyes on me but doesn’t say anything as usual. He looks annoyed and I wonder, not for the first time, if he’s annoyed with the way his brother just talked to me or with me. And since he doesn’t say nothing to make Chase shut up, I have to conclude that it’s the latter.

  4.

  First Date

  Kaya

  THE DOUBLE DATE IS fun and I’m really glad that I asked Marc to bring along Nate and Nic because having them with us makes things less awkward.

  I mean, our situation is weird: I know him and I don’t at the same time. I met Marc last year at a bonfire party on the beach, he was there with some friends of Nic’s. His parents had just bought a beach house in Star Cove, so it was his first summer in Northern California.

  During the year, Marc attended a military high school in Camden, South Carolina. He and Nate graduated this year and have been admitted to West Point.

  After talking a little during that first party, I saw Marc a few more times last summer and he’s a very interesting person to talk to. He’s definitely well read and I have to admit that one of the things that I really like about him, is his manners and his chivalry.

  Call me old fashioned but a guy who opens doors for you and asks your mother permission to write to you during the winter is a welcome and refreshing change compared to certain rude individuals.

  So while I hung out with him just a handful of times last year, there have been several letters and phone calls during the school year. Marc is always kind and so attentive, so interested in everything I have to say. He treats me like a lady and like a grownup, definitely a far cry from the way I was just treated by my stepbrothers.

  “Kaya? Did you hear what I just asked you?”

  Shit, I’ve just got caught red handed. Marc was talking to me and I was miles away, still reeling from Chase’s douchy remarks earlier on.

  I feel myself blush under his bright brown eyes and I apologize, embarrassed by where my thoughts had just gone. Shake it off, Kaya! I’m pretty sure that Chase and Reid don’t waste their time thinking about me when they’re on a date. If they even go on dates, since they are known for their countless hookups more than anything else.

  “Sorry, Marc. I was just looking at Nic and Nate play air hockey. Nate has no idea what he started by challenging Nic to play. She’s hella competitive.”

  Marc chuckles, running a hand through his brown hair rather nervously. I observe his strong forearm, peeking from the sleeve of his shirt that he folded up his arm to play table soccer earlier.

  I’m glad I wore a slightly nicer dress than normal, despite just going to the arcade, because one thing I noticed about Marc is that he tends to dress rather formally. Tonight is no exception: he’s wearing khaki pants, a pale pink shirt and a dark blue blazer. It must be something that comes from the military academy, to always dress a little formally, because Nate is dressed very similarly.

  Thankfully he doesn’t seem too annoyed by my distraction and he asks me again what I’m doing tomorrow night.

  “I was gonna ask you for a slightly classier date, maybe try that nice Italian restaurant that just opened on the marina, just the two of us but I assumed that you’ll be at the party. So would you go as my date?”

  “Party? What party?”

  “But the one at your house, of course! Pretty much everyone’s going. So will you be my date?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  I agree trying to stifle my annoyance at the fact that the twins are throwing a party and no one invited me or even thought about letting me know. I know that they can do whatever they want but after all, I live there too so a heads up would be nice.

  There’s a moment of silence and that’s when Marc extracts a small box from the pocket of his blazer.

  He hands me the box with a smile and encourages me to open it.

  “I was planning to give it to you when I took you out to dinner and make it romantic and all, but I can’t wait. I’ve been thinking about you all year, Kaya.”

  It’s a yellow gold ‘K’ diamond encrusted pendant dangling from a thin chain and I look at it perplexed as to why Marc would buy me jewelry. I mean, this isn’t something I would ever buy for myself, it really isn’t my style but aside from my mom and my grandparents, no one has ever given me jewelry.

  When he takes the chain out of the box and gestures toward me, opening the clasp with the intention to put the chain around my neck, the look on his face makes me take an instinctive step back.

  “Uhm thank you, Marc. It’s really pretty but ... I can’t accept this, it’s too much. I mean, we’re just getting to know each other and—”

  A shadow passes over his face, it’s a disappointed and slightly angry expression but it’s fleeting, it goes almost as fast as it appeared.

  He insists that I take his gift.

  “Please Kaya, accept it. It doesn’t have to mean more than that we’re friends who find each other interesting and that we’re getting to know each other.”

  I hate to disappoint him, especially because he’s looking at me with eager hope and a s
light flush of embarrassment is starting to appear on his face.

  I like Marc, he’s handsome and smart but all of a sudden, I’m unsure that I want to date him. I thought there was nothing wrong in going out and getting to know each other better but this ... I don’t know, writing to each other and talking on the phone was different than being here together. I like him but something makes me feel unsettled and hesitant to go too fast.

  We haven’t even kissed so I don’t know if this is going to go anywhere and taking that gift feels like making a commitment I don’t feel ready to make.

  I want to tell Marc how I feel but I lack the courage to tell him, because I don’t want to hurt him.

  A small part of me wonders if my sudden hesitation has anything to do with seeing Chase and Reid again but I shove the thought away, cupping my face with my hands.

  I don’t even want to go there, I’m so fucked up! I’m out with a guy who obviously likes me and all I keep doing is thinking about two guys who tolerate me at best. I think Reid tolerates me or he doesn’t even notice me for the most part, Chase for some reason really dislikes me. I can’t believe that at the beginning I felt really close to him, I thought that we had so many things in common ... and while I wouldn’t have dared think that an older, super hot guy like him could ever like me, I certainly hoped that we could be good friends.

  “Listen Kaya, honestly, I’m sorry. All I want is to get to know you, ok? This gift doesn’t have to mean anything more than that. Please accept it.”

  I shake my head, feeling terrible about disappointing him but still unsure that accepting that gift would be appropriate.

  “Please, consider it a graduation present. Make me happy, please? I swear that’s all it is. A graduation present, a friendship token and a promise to get to know each other better.”

  I still feel uncomfortable accepting the pendant but I can’t bring myself to say no when I look at his eager expression.

  “Ok, if you’re sure. Thank you.”

  He beams at me, standing up from our table to come and close the necklace clasp around my neck.