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56 || Selfish brat
I’m avoiding my stepbrother. Turns out that’s easier than I thought. Or, it could be that he’s also avoiding me. We don’t get to see each other except at the rehearsals. The only thing going well in my life is the choir practice. If I didn’t have the solo to look forward to, I might have hated practice.
Six more days until the competition begins.
Am I nervous? Hell, yeah.
Will I kill it? Hell, yeah.
But for now, I have to figure out a way to get to school without Calum. Jackson’s car is yet to be fixed. Dad was my ride yesterday and he spent half the time asking about Jackson, if I could handle dating in high school. I want to avoid that today.
Standing in front of my room, I text Amelia to know her location. The door to Calum’s room opens, a little too fast for me to run into mine. I thought he was gone. I beep Amelia again.
“Hey,” Calum says.
His shoes appear inches away from min
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To Tempt My Stepbrother 57 || She’s
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To Tempt My Stepbrother 58 || Painful mess
Dinner is a painful mess. I’m forced to eat on the same table as Calum and Tessa. Dani is in love with Calum’s guest. Dad also seems to get carried away by her jokes. She’s not even that funny.Pointing a fork at Calum, Dani asks, “What time does the show start?” She looks at my dad with a small smile. “I’m not sure we can make it, Pete.”“It’s fine,” Calum answers. “You don’t have to be there, Mum.” To my dad, he adds, “We’ll be fine.”“Yep,” Tessa adds. “We will make you two proud.”I am so tempted to ask what show but I’m still on the mission: Don’t talk to Calum. He brought a woman to our house without my permission.Am I allowed to be furious with him for that? No. Yes. Watching the video and scrolling through the pictures Rose sent didn’t help. I feel like shit for refusing to hear h
To Tempt My Stepbrother 59 || Spill it
CALUMYou don’t know how much you miss someone until you see them again. That’s how I feel with Tessa. For the life of me, I can’t stop grinning at her. Tessa catches me smiling for the umpteenth time and smacks the back of my head. I almost forgot she used to be a fighter. Ben struck gold with her.Walking around my room, inspecting stuff and giving them a look of approval or disapproval, she says, “Your stepsister doesn’t seem chatty.”To tell her or not to tell her about us.I bring out my guitar instead. Tomorrow is the runway show. My nerves are in a knot. I can’t get my head out of my ass because I’m still thinking of Cathy. I knew I fucked up the first time with my words, so I went back a second and third time to fix it but it only got worse. Cathy was not wrong about me wanting her but unlike her, I can’t act on my emotions. I’m older and I should know better.The date wi
To Tempt My Stepbrother 60 || Once upon a time
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To Tempt My Stepbrother 61 || Viral
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To Tempt My Stepbrother 62 || Wednesday
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To Tempt My Stepbrother 63 || Why?
I’m stunned.Everyone but Calum and I leave to watch the first group singing. I drum my fingers against my hip. My nerves are on fire, my insides are quivering with intense fury. I am a time bomb waiting to explode. Calum folds his arms on his chest, cold and unbothered by my reaction.We were over this. The solo belongs to me.“Why?” I whisper.Unshed tears burn my eyes but I don’t give them an escape. I’ll not appear weak in front of him. He scoffs. “You are asking me why?” Reaching into his pocket for his phone, he taps on it for a few seconds, then thrusts in my face. I gulp. “Did you or did you not make this video to spite me, Cathy?”It’s the TicToc video I made and it’s playing on mute. I wipe the tears rolling down my cheeks.“I’m sorry.”“I’m sorry too.” Brows furrowed in annoyance, Calum shoves the ph
To Tempt My Stepbrother 64 || Leave me alone
We are through to the next stage. And the next two stages after. The final is today and I’m more than nervous. I’m freaking out. My head falls back on the window, back to the door of Jackson’s car.The school bus isn’t here yet.“Are you okay?” Jackson asks. He mimics my stance so we are facing each other.“Nope. I’m so frigging nervous.”He laughs. I run a hand through his hair and he captures my wrists. I’ve been trying to break up with him for the last two weeks but it’s futile. Staring into his eyes makes me uncomfortable, I pull back and look out the window. There are students from other schools lining the front.Jackson reaches for my hands but I shove them into my bag, pretending to look for something. He drives me to school daily. Dani is convinced he’s a good boyfriend. Dad doesn’t approve but is only quiet because of his wife. Amelia is w
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