Do you ever question the sanity of others more than yourself? Is love something worth losing all of your morals for?
These are the questions I asked myself before I took a leap of faith.
It all started 4 years ago.
**January 2007**
"Scarlett answer the door.! Hurry!" my mother yelled from her bedroom.
We lived in an upscale condo due to my mom's huge alimony checks. Two levels, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms… Awesome, right? Up until now it was.
My mom was prepping to see her new husband. She got married in Italy while we were on vacation. I visited my dad and she walked down the isle with a complete stranger she had only known for 3 months.
His name is John and he has a son my age… Logan. My mother immediately changed her name on everything. From Joanna Parish to Joanna Lerman. She loved his son and said to me daily," I just know you and Logan will become like brother and sister. You'll be spending a lot of time together since you're sharing a room." Then she would run her fingers through my caramel brown and black hair.
I sped towards the door. Not in excitement, but angst. When I reached the door, my messy bun had fallen and my hair was messily draped over my shoulders. I ignored it.
As soon as my hand touched the cold, metal knob, my mother's voice rang out. I saw her emerge from her room in a cocktail dress. When did this become a formal event? I thought to myself.
"My goodness. You could've at least combed your hair." She spat, hatefully. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and opened the door with a bright smile.
John and his son stood on the other side of the door frame until my mother pulled them both in for a hug and pushed them in. John and Joanna practically made out while I stood there and Logan grabbed their bags.
He wasn't as bad as he was when I last saw him. He had scruffy dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. He was about 5'9 and looked nothing like his father anymore. Lucky him.
"Scarlett, honey, this is John Lerman and his son Logan." My mother said with a twinkle in her eye.
"I know mom. I've met them like 5 times already"
John extended his arms toward me, but I simply shook his hand. I've only known you for 5 minutes and you already want to hug and act like a family. Nice try.
He pulled his son towards him and whispered something to him. He cleared his throat and Logan extended his hand towards me with a polite smile. We shook hands and I showed him the room we'd be sharing. Thank god he's trained.
His dad and my mom didn't want to go through the process of buying a house and they thought it would be a good way for us to get to know each other. Whether we wanted to or not.
I could hear my mom's obnoxious laugh coming from the kitchen. That laugh could drive any man away but John loved it.
My thoughts were broken when I heard Logan playing my guitar. I wanted to strangle hm. My guitar was the only memory I had of my dad that I could take with my anywhere. I reached for it and he pulled away from me. Where was the polite, obedient boy that I had shook hands with 10 minutes ago.? His dark blues eyes met my brown eyes and I could sense sarcasm.
I knew the perfect category to place him under… A tool.
"Now Scarlett, it's not polite to snatch from people. What's the magic word?" he said with a smirk.
My eyes slowly rolled around in my head. Was he serious? I know I'm short but I'm not a 5 year old.
"Give me my guitar before I beat you black and blue."
"Close but not close enough."
His eyes roamed around the room and then me. I turned and went to my side of the room, sat on my bed and drew in my tablet. A new drawing was in order. Maybe Logan with devil horns and a tail.
He placed my guitar in the case and sat on his bed. I don't know what this guy's deal is but I might become an only child again if he doesn't quit. I could feel his eyes roaming all over my body. It was so creepy I was tempted to change out of my cropped tee and mini skirt.
I could hear him making comments and mumbling to himself. Maybe he was just crazy or had an imaginary girlfriend.
This is gonna be a long night.
After 2 hours of silence, my mother barged in the room surprised to see us behaving like civilized teenagers.
"Oh isn't this wonderful John. They seem to be getting along just fine." She smiled excitedly and continued, "Scarlett, Logan…," she said capturing our attention. "John and I will be going out this weekend and we're trusting you two to stay here alone. Scarlett please make sure Logan feels at home." And with that she closed the door and shattered my hopes and dreams of getting rid of him.
About 15 minutes later I heard the wheels of suitcases against the wooden floors and then the front door shut with a slam.
A painful silence filled the air once again until Logan ended his suffering and mine.
"So you have to do whatever I ask?"
"Pretty much. Just know that I have access to lethal weapons."
He laughed, "Relax. You watch way to many crime dramas. So where's the vodka?"
I raised my eyebrow at he thought. "Somewhere you'll never find it. Why would you need vodka anyway?"
"I saw the bottle under your bed. You've been a very bad girl Scarlett."
My face turned bright red and I stood near the door. I hid the bottle there after a strip poker party with my friend. We were all wasted and I barely remember anything about that night except losing my virginity during a threesome with my bestfriend and his girlfriend.
"Ohhh," he said picking up the bottle, "brings back old memories huh?"
I shook my head vigorously. "No not at all. It was a… a bad b-break up." My lying was terrible. I wasn't sure why, but I just couldn't lie to him.
He smirked. "There's no need to lie. Anything said… or done between us is strictly confidential." He said placing his hand on my lower back.
His cold hand against my bare skin sent chills up my spine. I almost jumped out of my skin. I heard a slight laugh escape his lips and he pulled me closer. I could feel his breath on my neck.
Why did I feel weakened by his touch? He's my step-brother. I'm not supposed to feel that way. I don't even know him.
"How about we head downstairs, find a bottle of vodka or tequila, come back up here and play a little game?" He said softly and seductively. I don't know what he's up to but I'm too curious to not try to find out.
I lead him to my mom's secret alcohol stash that she never used underneath the stairwell. We laughed as he chased me back up the stairs into my room. He tackled me and we fell on my bed. Our bodies fit together perfectly. For a moment we were lost. His eyes were as blue as the sky. A dark, stormy yet calm sky full of surprises and wonders.
We rolled over and fell off the twin sized bed, bringing us back to reality. Laughing, he opened the bottle and drank. I could tell that a little bit of tequila was almost enough to have him completely drunk.
I ran downstairs and grabbed shot glasses, sliced limes and a salt shaker from the kitchen. No point in having tequila without lime.
"God Logan, slow down." I said returning to the room the see a fourth of the bottle's contents missing. Then again, this wasn't just tequila you get from your closest grocery store. This tequila was imported from Colombia and when my mom first got it she mixed it with tequila imported from Russia, which made it twice as strong.
He sat on the floor in a daze, giggling mindlessly due to his intoxication. "Okay time for the game…." He paused trying to compose himself, which he failed at. "I can't remember shit, let's just play truth or dare." He said falling over.
I laughed as I drank a fourth of the tequila, leaving only about half the bottle.
"I pick truth." I blurted out thrusting my fist in the air.
"What is your stripper name?" Logan said trying to remain as serious as possible.
I stood to my feet and loudly proclaimed, " My name isss…. Sinful Scarlett." I laughed not being able to take the name seriously while Logan seemed slightly turned on at the thought of me being a stripper.
"Pretty good," he said applauding my efforts to think of a name on the spot while drunker than a pirate. "Give a dare and make sure it's good" He instructed while taking a shot.
It didn't take much thought for my subconscious to think of a dare Logan would hate.
" I dare you to…. Strip down to your underwear right now and cover yourself in whipped cream." I fell on the bed and laughed at his expression. My laughter was broken when he took me by my hands and sat me upright, then ran out the door.
He returned with a can of whipped cream. He slowly began to take his clothes off and throwing them at me. It was more comedic than sexy. His next request was a little odd.