CHAPTER 4: TESSIE'S POV

I ran upstairs and disappeared inside my room breathing hard. I couldn't believe my eyes or even any part of my body but most of all, I was mad. I was mad at my father for all the secrets and what they would have done but I was also mad at myself.

His eyes, his face and his smile were stuck in my head. How could all those years of never being crazy about boys be deleted in just one day. I wasn't sure what I was even more mad about. Was it my father for keeping all this from me and then springing all of them at me at once or was it the fact that I had a crush on my stepbrother?

"Oh God!" I exhaled sharply as the reality hit me right in the face. I started pacing up and down.

If my dad was marrying his mother, that meant that we would be living together. How could I reset my mind and and divert my thoughts from what I had spent the whole day thinking about- what I was still thinking about?

"Why does he have to be such a hottie?" I asked out loud in the empty room but a knock at my door made me jump. "Dad, not now please."

"I thought you wanted to talk," he stated and got inside without waiting to be invited in.

"That was before I realized that I was going to have a stepbrother. What the hell Dad! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you would be happy," he stepped forward and sat on my bed with a smile. I rolled my eyes. Did he even have an idea about the consequences of keeping those secrets or did he think it was all cupcakes and rainbows? "You have always wanted a sibling, right?"

"Yeah but not one older than me or even that-" I caught my words before they tripped me. "Never mind."

My father turned to me, "I know how surprising and upsetting this might be to you but this is good for us. All those lonely dinners, monotonous game nights that I'm so sure bored you sometimes staying up with me even when you didn't want to?"

"It's not about you getting married. It's about you not telling me about them before. Some surprises are not cool, Dad. Even when you think they are."

"I'm sorry Tessie," he stated. "Will you forgive your old man and give him a shot at happiness?" I shook my head and looked away. If only he knew that wasn't my greatest worry. "Please?" he added with his softest voice that was sure to get something out of me.

"Can I skip dinner?" I asked knowing it was a long shot. "Fine," I added before he could utter the 'no' followed with a whole bunch of words to explain why I couldn't skip dinner. "Do you even know if they are still here? I'm not the only one who was pissed by your actions."

I took a seat next to Jace silently, since our parents had taken the others. I turned to face him briefly but the moment our eyes met, I looked away quickly cursing whatever forces had led me to do that. He had a smirk on his face that didn't hint at any good but it still made my heart jump. Right then, I knew that I was in more trouble than I had initially thought. All I could hope for was for my mind to catch up with reality and stop seeing him as the guy I had first seen at the bus stop that morning but as my brother. Brother? That was ridiculous.

"Tessie?" I looked up only to find all their eyes on me. I had missed something after being lost in my thoughts. I looked around the table nervously.

"It's okay, I'll lead," Jace stated, his gaze resting on me. It was then that I realized they had been waiting for me to lead 'The Grace' before dinner. I cursed myself silently for straying but the moment Jace offered me his hand, my mind went black again. He raised an eyebrow silently.

What the hell was I doing? My father had the same questioning look on his face. I gathered myself quickly and took Jace's hand and my father's on the other side. The few seconds it took to rehearse the prayer felt like the longest hour I'd had to hold someone's hand. By the time it was over, all I wanted was to be done with and be very far away from that table. I didn't even realize that I was fidgeting until I felt someone stepping on my foot under the table stopping the constant movement. I looked down and then up quickly the moment I realized whose it was.

"You are making me nervous," he stated in a low voice. "Stop that."

I met his eyes and for a second, I couldn't look away. His blue irises dances slowly as if searching mine. I tensed unable to say anything even though I had been so prepared to tell him to sod off. It was my house after all but I had no power. Luckily, he looked away and I managed to breathe.

After suffering through the whole dinner with the conversation coming from our parents and Jace throwing a word in at times, I left the house hoping to take some minutes to myself. I thought about walking down the street to Ava's but I needed to be alone with my thoughts at that moment. That evening however wasn't mine because in the next few minutes, he found me.

"Your dad said I might find you here," he stated and stopped a few steps from where I was sitting. "He also said that you could drive me home."

"What?" I asked in shock. Was my dad out of his mind? For weeks he had been so strict about me being on the road alone but all it had taken him was getting a stepson to let me use my car again? "Unbelievable!" To my surprise, he joined me and sat down. "What are you doing?"

He turned to me and cocked an eyebrow, "Is it a bad thing sitting next to my little sister?" He took out a cigarette and lit it. "I know I'm not the only one who was pissed by this. So, what's our plan?"

"Our plan?" I asked in confusion. "What plan?

"Do you really want a sibling? I for one know that I don't."