A/N: Okay, please let me know what you think about this! I really want to know!!

People tell me that there are two rules girls have about dating, two that are the ultimate girl code. 1.)Don’t date your friends ex-boyfriend. 2.)Don’t date your friends brothers.

Truthfully, I’ve broken both of those.

So now, I have a question for you; Is there a rule about dating your step-brother?

Of course, asking that question was slightly pointless. Not like he would date me anyway…even if he wasn’t my step-brother.

Maybe I should just start at the beginning, well, as close to it as I’m going to get anyway.

My dad started dating Amy Cole about six months ago. She was a nice woman, with long dark hair, and emerald green eyes. And my dad really seemed to like her, so I was as nice as I could be. I met her a few times, went out to dinner with her occasionally, but that was it. I mean, she must have told me about her kids at some point, but I never really listened.

Truthfully, I didn’t think it really mattered.

Then my dad told me the news. He had proposed to Amy. And she had said yes.

So now, here I was, sitting at Logan’s Steakhouse, waiting for Amy and her kids to show up, so we could all have a “family” dinner.

I made sure I didn’t see Amy, then turned to my dad, firing off questions. “How many kids does she have?”

“Three.” My dad looked at me like I was a little crazy.

“Boys or girls?”

“Two boys, one girl.”

“Ages?”

“Kaitlin, we’ve already told you all of this!” My dad exclaimed. My face must have given me away, because he groaned and shook his head. “You were never listening were you?”

I shook my head, and my dad sighed once again in annoyance. “Okay, this is the last time I’m saying this. The oldest boy is eighteen, a senior, the next is sixteen, a sophomore, and the girl is fourteen, a freshman.”

I frowned. I was a senior. What if I knew the guy? What if I hated him? “Uh…dad? Who is-”

“Nathan!” Amy exclaimed, cutting me off. She kissed him quickly, then beamed at me. “Kaitlin! You have to meet my kids!”

She gestured behind her and I saw two people standing there, both looking slightly uncomfortable. I recognized both of them, though I hadn’t known they were related.

The boy was almost a 6’0”, with dark brown hair, and really dark blue eyes. I had seen him lounging in the student area, always hanging out with the other younger football players. He had to be the sophomore. “This is Evan.” Amy said, putting her hand on the boys shoulder. He smiled quickly.

“And this is Mandie.” The girl was short, only about 5’1”, with light brown, blonde highlighted hair, and eyes the exact same shade as her brother. Neither of them had inherited Amy’s emerald green.

I nodded hello to the girl. I had seen her in the hallways at school, always hanging around the drama kids.

She smiled back brightly, then slid into the seat next to me. Evan took the chair on her other side. My dad was sitting across from Mandie, and Amy was across from Evan.

That left an open chair across from me.

“Aren’t there three of you?” I asked Mandie, frowning.

She smiled at me once again, and her eyes seemed to light up. “Trent’s been at practice. He should be here anytime!”

I frowned. Trent? My mind automatically went through the kids in our senior class. Trent Walker? No, the only practice he did was science experiments.

Trent Tyler?” Practices with drugs.

Trent-

Oh, my god.

I felt my face flush as Trenton Thompson slid into the seat across from me. “Hello, Trent.” My dad greeted with a warm smile.

“Hey, Nathan.” Trent said, not looking at him. Actually, he was looking at me, a small frown on his face. “Don’t I know you?”

I swallowed hard. “Uh, we have English and Chem together.”

“Huh.” He muttered, then he looked at his sister and smiled softly. I stared. I had never seen him look at anyone like that. Ever. “Hey, Mandie.”

She smiled at him brightly. I still stared. Trent was the most popular guy in school. And, the biggest jerk. But not in the way you think. He really just came off as a jerk, I don’t know if he really was one. He was one of those If-I-don’t-like-you-I’ll-let-you-know types of people. And he did let you know. I had even seen him in the middle of a conversation, then look at the person like they were an idiot, and just walk away. In the middle of the conversation!

But girls wanted him anyway. He was one of the best players on the soccer team, tall, hair so dark it was almost black, slim, yet muscular at the same time. He was almost always in either black or blue jeans, and some type of black shirt. His lip was pierced on the right side.

And he had got his mothers eyes.

“So, you’re a senior then?” Evan questioned, looking around his sister to see me.

“Yeah.” I was really uncomfortable.

“Haven’t seen you before.” He said bluntly, taking a drink of his water.

“Evan!” Amy hissed.

“What?” Evan defended himself. “I haven’t!”

“Well, I’m there.” I replied coolly.

“Did you go to the play last night?” Mandie demanded, her eyes lighting up.

“No.” I said, feeling bad as the girls grin faded from her face.

“Oh.” She slumped down in her chair, then sat up again just as quickly. “Trent couldn’t go last night either. He’s going tomorrow. Can you got tomorrow?” She asked, practically bouncing up and down in her chair.

“Mandie has a lead role.” Amy informed me, smiling at her daughter fondly.

“Kaitlin would love to go!” My dad said, also grinning at Mandie. “Right, Kaitlin?”

“Uh…right.” Wrong. I thought frantically, trying to think of a friend I could talk into going with me. Uh…

“Lets all go!” Amy said, her eyes shining brightly. I blinked. “Together! As a family!”

“Mom, I saw it last night!” Evan whined.

Amy’s smile didn’t falter, though her eyes were cold as she looked at her second son. “You can go again.”

“Right.” Evan muttered.

Finally, the waitress came over and we all ordered our food. “So, Kaitlin.” Amy finally said, smiling brightly at me. The same way her daughter had. Creepy. “Do you play any sports?”

“No.”

“Uh, clubs?”

“Not really.”

“Oh.” She said, frowning slightly.

“I am on Newspaper.” I said, taking pity on her.

“Oh!” She looked happy to get this information. “That must be a lot of fun.”

“Wait a minute.” Trent drawled. I glanced at him, only to see his eyes trained on me and a smirk on his face. “Kaitlin? Like, Kaitlin Smith? That girl that wrote the article that got her suspended?”

Amy gasped, but my dad put his hand on her arm. “The principle gave her a choice. Told her to write an another article, apologizing to everyone and saying she as wrong, or he would suspend her.”

“And you took the suspension?” Evan asked, his eyes now showing amusement and interest.

“I wasn’t going to apologize for something that was true.” I told him.

He chuckled and Mandie smiled at me. “That’s awesome!” She giggled.

“Mandie?” Her mother snapped.

“Well, it is!”

They continued to bicker and my mind drifted. I only snapped back into reality when I saw Trent watching me. “What?”

He shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Okay then.” I muttered shifting my gaze away from those intense eyes.

“So, when’s the wedding?” Trent questioned, interrupting his mother and sister.

Amy and Dad exchanged a look, then turned their attention back to us. “We wanted to talk to all of you about that.” He shifted uncomfortably. “We want it to be soon.”

“How soon?” Trent questioned, his eyes watching both of them.

“Uh, a month.” My dad admitted.

“A month?” Evan exploded, eyes wide.

“Uh…”

“Wait, where are we going to live?” I questioned. I knew our house wasn’t big enough…

“Yeah.” Dad scratched his head and I saw Trent watching him intensely once again. “We’re going to look on Saturday. We were hoping you would all join us.”

“I have to be back for the play at four.” Mandie said brightly. “But I can before that.”

“I have football practice.” Evan muttered. “From eight to three.”

“I’ll go.” I announced. Yeah, go me with no life…

“Me too.” Trent said slowly, still studying my dad.

“Dad smiled in relief. “Good.”