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66 || Two weeks
My fingers drum on my knee in an aggravated rhythm. I steal a look at my dad and he shrugs.
“Now’s the best time for us,” he says. Dani steps behind him with a patronising smile directed at me. Her son flips the remote in his grip. He knew about this. I lean on the armrest and shake my head. “Cathy. We will be back before you know it.”
They are leaving me in this house with Calum. For two weeks. Two weeks. I can’t do this. But looking at Dad’s expectant face, I find myself nodding. It’s their honeymoon, kind of. They never got a chance to have one after their spontaneous wedding. Dad told me they would be travelling but he never mentioned how long. I can’t take this from them.
“Okay.” Walking around the couch to give them a hug, my smile remains intact. I will move in with Amelia until they return. “Have fun, okay?”
“Sure.”
They t
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To Tempt My Stepbrother 67 || I’m done
The girl in the mirror looks like me.Blue eyes. Freckles. Pouted lips. But her hair. Her hair is black, its natural colour. The door to Amelia’s bathroom swings opens while I’m doing my inspection and I drag the beanie over my head.No one has seen the makeover yet.It happened after Jackson left the house. A post breakup makeover. New me and all that shit.Jumping into the bed, Amelia drags the bowl of popcorn from me. I sit straighter and adjust the pillows, hitting play on the movie we were watching before she left to use the toilet.“So you two broke up?” she asks, picking up from where we left off.She stops chewing for a moment to stare at me. I pause the movie and flip position so I’m flat on my back and the popcorn bowl is on my stomach.“I think so. Yeah. He didn’t say anything. But I’m done.”The scene with Jackson replays
To Tempt My Stepbrother 68 || Strictly Forbidden
CALUMBy 5 am, I’m wide awake, waiting for Cathy to show up. The only reason I didn’t storm the streets in search of her was because Pete reassured me she was fine. I weave a hand into my hair, yank it from the root. Talk about frustrating and she will be the first one on my list. Cathy doesn’t want to talk to me yet she goes about acting offended.Fine. Part of it is my fault. I am doing it wrong but I have no clue on how to do it right. I could get in trouble. News travels faster in smaller towns.A relationship between student and teacher is strictly forbidden. Jail term for me. I already spent a year in rehab, I don’t want another time in forced solitude.Sitting up, my head hangs between my shoulders. I can’t give her what she wants. I can’t be to her what Ben is to Tessa, the definition of true love.Cathy can’t have me.My alarm rings at 6 am. I do some press ups in my room, be
To Tempt My Stepbrother 69 || Operation forget Calum
I shove a spoonful of ice-cream into my mouth, leaving stains on the corners of my lips. Amelia makes a funny face. She hands me the tissues to wipe off the stain and my mind torments me with a picture of Calum and me in this same position.I kick those thoughts out of my mind. Today is the beginning of Operation Forget Calum. It has been going okay so far. I haven’t checked his social media. My phone is on silent mode. I am doing okay. Slowly but surely, I will get there.A yawn escapes me and Amelia laughs. We spent all day playing around her house. “You’re sure you don’t want to spend the night?” she asks.“No.” Her sister is back. I wouldn’t want to ruin the sisters’ bonding experience for them. Voices rise and fall around us but they sound distant. I chose our booth for this purpose. Privacy. “I’m fine. Need to go home to face him.” Her smile dims. “Not looking forward
To Tempt My Stepbrother 70 || No hospitals
Calum is heavy. I’ll never know how I manage to get him into the car but I do. Breathing heavily, I dial Amelia on my way to her house. She picks on the first ring, her voice a bit slow, words slurred.She can’t be asleep because I need her help.“Hey,” Amelia says through a voice inflected by sleep. I’m in worse shape. My hands and legs are shaking and every time the car swerves because I’m unfocused, I shudder. “What’s up? Is he okay?”I choke on a sob, shaking my head like my best friend is here to see me. Without glancing at Calum, I know the poor state he’s in. “He’s not okay.”“What happened? Hey, are you okay?” The sleep in her voice clears. “Hey! Cathy. Where are you?”Clenching the steering wheel, the words tumble out of my lips. I am on auto mode, spitting out the little I know. Amelia gasps when I mention blood. T
To Tempt My Stepbrother 71 || All of me
Before Calum wakes, I leave Amelia’s place to get Dani’s car and drop it off at the house. On my return, my stepbrother is still asleep so I crawl in bed with him. Ashley shows up a few times to check on him. A part of me knows she wants me to take him to the hospital, I also know I should do the same but Calum didn’t want hospitals involved.Someone shakes me awake. I pry my eyes open to see my best friend smiling at me. I sit up and Amelia points to the tray she dropped on the bedside drawer. Steam rises from the plate, I squint at it, my brain unable to process the sight before me.“I brought breakfast,” she says.“Thanks.”Our attention shifts to Calum, I place the back of my palm on his forehead. He’s warm to my touch. Giving my hand a last squeeze, Amelia leaves the room. I drag a chair by the bed but Calum doesn’t stir. My stomach growls and I have to force myself to eat.
To Tempt My Stepbrother 72 || Pretty girl
Over the next few days, we maintain the same routine. Cuddling and bathing together. There is nothing erotic about those moments but I won’t give it up or trade it for anything.I roll over on the bed and my body collides with something firm. Calum groans. He peels one eye open and the other follows suit. I love his blues.“Hey, pretty girl,” he says.“Hey, pretty boy,” I reply. He giggles and it’s so cute. Pushing myself up an elbow, I touch the bandage. It has reduced in size. “How are you?”“Okay.”My hand lowers to the other side of him and the blanket falls, exposing my breasts. We share eye contact and my core throbs with an acute need for him. Yes, we have been naked together but it’s different. We were too focused on getting him into shape. I withdraw to my former position, elbows and back on the bed but he tugs me towards him.“Come,&rdqu
To Tempt My Stepbrother 73 || What happened?
Clean and fed, I snuggle up to my stepbrother on the living room couch. Calum smells so good I inhale his scent over and over again. He ruffles my hair and my body sighs in contentment. I look up to him, a finger moving above the bandage that has reduced even more in size to a square. His eyes wrinkle at the corners and he let his hands fall.“You look different,” Calum says.I guess so. Sometimes, I don’t recognise myself in the mirror. I was so used to having a different hair colour each term that I forgot what I looked like in my real hair colour. Like my mum. Propping my chin on Calum’s chest, I play with his stubble.A bang sounds from the television, drawing our attention to the drama we forgot about. I freeze at the scene. A car crash with a lady as the driver.Dark memories roll over me and my pulse spikes. Calum’s arm tightens around my body, his thumb moving in circles on my lower back. My chest cl
To Tempt My Stepbrother 74 || Gone (I)
Calum is gone.Gone.I wake up alone. My palm moves over the bed. It’s warm. That means he couldn’t have been gone for long. I reach for my phone to call him but the blue note pinned to the top of the drawer catches my attention. His handwriting elicits a smile out of me. It looks like the note was written in a rush.I’ll be back soon – CWhy didn’t he just wake me? I dial his number but he doesn’t pick. The second time, it’s unreachable. Who will check his wound? Is this him trying to avoid me after baring his soul to me? That’s not unlike him but I force the doubts out of my mind.Yesterday was different. Calum loves me and I love him too. We can make this relationship work. I head into the kitchen to make breakfast for two.He will be back today, right?False.Few minutes past seven and Calum is not back yet. I pace the living room, phone in
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- To Tempt My Stepbrother 57 || You came
- To Tempt My Stepbrother 56 || Surprise
- To Tempt My Stepbrother 55 || I love you forever
- To Tempt My Stepbrother 54 || Are you scared?
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