Chapter One

I never knew how much I missed her until today.

“Welcome home, Casey!”

The family is throwing a welcome home party for her. I’m downstairs with them, putting on the appearance that I wish I could be anyplace else. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The moment I lay eyes on her, my beautiful, perfect Casey, I know that I missed her. Oh, I missed her so much.

Everybody’s giving her hugs. I sigh exasperatedly and walk over to her, rolling my eyes. “Nice to have you back, Case,” I say sarcastically, smirking.

She looks at me and I notice instantly that there’s something different. The look in her eyes has changed. She’s been smiling, and she scowls and rolls her eyes upon seeing me, all of which is normal. But… I can’t help but feel… something’s not right.

“Good to be back,” she snaps. To the rest of the family she says, “Okay, okay, party later. I’ve gotta unpack.”

“Uhh, I’ll carry this for you,” I say automatically, picking up her suitcase and heading for the stairs, not really paying attention. I hit the railing and fall.

Sounds of “Are you okay, Derek?” fill my ears, but only one is prominent. The sound of Casey laughing. She’s never laughed at someone else getting hurt, not for as long as I’ve known her.

“That was really weird,” I hear Ed remark. “Why would he carry her suitcase in the first place?”

“Ah, you know, just tryin’ to be nice,” I say humorously. I quickly get up and take the suitcase up the stairs and dump it into Casey’s room. Casey’s room, unused for nearly three whole months. I smell the air of her room. Three months gone and the room no longer smells like Casey. It smells like the cleaning products Nora used to clean it every so often while Casey was away.

“Casey…” I murmur.

“Yeah?”

I turn and see her staring at me, an eyebrow raised, one hand on her hip. Is… is she chewing gum?

“Uh, I brought your suitcase up,” I stammer.

She scowls, and then—to my disbelief—she blew a pink bubble and popped it. “Did I say you could take my shit without asking? Outta the way, Venturi.” She grabs me by the shirt and I’m so shocked by her new attitude that I do nothing to stop her from shoving me to the floor before she enters her room and closes the door.

Later, after Nora and George took the kids out at my insistance, Casey comes downstairs and only then do I notice that she is wearing a very short skirt and a tight shirt. Her belly is showing, and the light reflects off a small bit of metal in her navel. I nearly fall off my chair.

“Did— Casey, did you pierce your belly button?!”

She smiles and makes a sort of “Hmm” noise, smoothing her hands over her tanned sides. “You like?” she asks, a seductive purr in her words I’ve never heard from her before. “I got one up here, too.” She points at her nose and I walk over to see a tiny stud.

“How did you get past Nora and Dad’s detection of these?” I ask.

“They’re just stupid,” she answers simply. “Like you.”

Her insults don’t hurt me; she’s thrown them at me before. But this girl standing before me isn’t my Casey.

My Casey?! The words make a small, faint blush appear on my cheeks. I don’t blush.

Casey laughs and puts a hand on my cheek. “You’re awful cute, though, despite being dumber than a wheel of cheese.” She moves closer to me. What’s going on?

“Umm, excuse me, who are you, and what have you done with my stepsister?”

“You’re so dumb,” she says teasingly, leaning forward and brushing her lips against my cheek. My heart leaps and pounds furiously against my ribcage. “You like me, don’t you?” she whispers.

“C-Casey, I…”

“Shhh…” She moves her mouth closer to mine.

I’ve never refused a kiss before from someone I liked. But I turned my head aside and pushed her away. “I don’t like you, Casey,” I say, lying through my teeth but sounding somewhat convincing. “Not like that, or at all, quite frankly. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try weird things like this again.”

Her lip curls back into a snarl. “Go fuck yourself, Venturi.” She storms upstairs.

I wait until I hear her door close before sinking down into my chair and putting my head in my hands. Casey… what happened to you? I usually love having girls like this, but for some reason, with Casey, it’s just not the same. I want to have the old Casey back. The annoying perfectionist. The sexy-without-trying, intelligent woman living across the hall from me. I want her back.

I need her back.