BIG: (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

thought their parents might have been in a plane crash, when her world was falling apart around her ears—she had turned to him, had needed him. Desperately, hopelessly needed him.
     
    She knew now what it must have looked like to him—that suddenly she had all these feelings for him in the moment when she needed something.
     
    Only when she needed something.
     
    But Ric had always been there for her. Always.
     
    He’d even punched an asshole boyfriend in the face to protect her once.
     
    And that had been her own fault for not listening to him in the first place. Ric had tried to tell her once that her friends weren’t the girls she thought they were—that those giggling, beautiful, bright-eyed school chums of hers were vicious and abusive to him every chance they got. She hadn’t believed it, hadn’t wanted to believe it, not until she’d seen and heard it for herself.
     
    Once her “friends” showed their true colors, Annalesa had finally been done with them. But she’d never been one for big confrontations—and she had to see them in class every day for the rest of the damned year, after all. At least Ric got to escape seven months out of twelve to University in Norway. So she’d let the girls believe what they wanted to believe—that Annalesa wasn’t “cool” anymore, that they’d outgrown their friendship with her.
     
    She’d been a coward, and had ended those friendships with a whimper—but looking at her stepbrother now, she realized that he never saw it. And clearly, that still hurt. He’d wanted to see the “bang.” And she couldn’t blame him for that. For his hurt and his anger. He had every right to all of those feelings, and more. It broke her heart just thinking about it.
     
    “Hey.” Ric’s voice, much softer, nudged her back into the present. “You asked, I answered. Let’s drop the heavy stuff for now, huh?”
     
    She smiled back in gratitude, relieved at the mutual agreement to totally ignore the subject hanging between them. Weight rolled off her shoulders, leaving her light-hearted with the extra buzz of the drink. He gave her a full smile, a gorgeous one that lit up his face and made her mouth go a little dry. He always had nice teeth, but the contrast against his tan made his grin almost solar.
     
    “Congratulations on your degree, by the way,” he said, changing the subject. “My dad said you earned the hell out of it. I’m chuffed—isn’t that what you Brits say? Seriously.”
     
    “Thanks.” She glowed at the sincerity in his eyes. Making him proud made her feel proud. Her degree in art history was her passion, but it was kind of considered Mickey Mouse in her family—at least on her Mum’s side—of engineers and actuaries. “And you! Mum was so proud when she sent me that email. I thought I would burst, I was so happy for you.”
     
    “Yeah.” Ric’s smile faded just a little. “Too bad we couldn’t tell each other...”
     
    “Nuh-uh.” She shook her head, pressing her lips together firmly, pretending to lock them and throw away the key. “No. Nix that.”
     
    “Nix what?” He blinked.
     
    “No heavy stuff, remember?” Annalesa slice one finger across her neck. “Let’s not talk about us not-talking. So, what are you going to do with yourself now? It must feel strange not studying for anything anymore.”
     
    “Actually, most of the last year was done off-site, so it won’t be that strange. I’m gonna do what I always wanted to do, but never thought I could.” His eyes shone, and that made Annalesa’s chest swell. “I’m gonna head up Ryker Arms in a few years.”
     
    “You’ll be great.” She couldn’t help blinking at his announcement in surprise. Not because she doubted his ability—but because he always had. He’d been convinced, all along, that running Ryker would be too much for him. “You’ve got the metallurgy, the mechanical engineering—”
     
    “And the dissertation on diffusing recoil mechanics,”