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33 || Is he your boyfriend?
In Jackson’s dictionary, later must mean the end of school because he’s waiting for me at the door of my last class. One look at him through the glass and I’m tempted to stay back in the class.
The last student leaves. I follow suit. Jackson beams as he collects my backpack. It’s a sweet gesture that doesn’t feel so sweet right now.
“Are you going for rehearsals?” he asks.
We start down the noisy hallway with his hand hanging loosely around my waist. Every time I push his hand, he brings it back. Doesn’t he get it? Where’s Rose? I need her to get me out of here.
“Yes, I am.”
“Good. I’ll walk you.”
I stop walking. “You don’t have to.”
Jackson blinks down at me in shock. I seize the chance to grab my bag from him. Hurt registers on his face and I almost feel bad for him. But I already told him,
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To Tempt My Stepbrother 34 || Friendships
The next day, when Calum is driving me home, I murmur, “Amelia didn’t come to school today.”Today is the fourth time she’s missing school. Dad said her mother called to inform him on all occasions. She left messages on our WattsApp group. Rose and Taylor think it’s just a sickness like Amelia said but I think it’s something more. Something she doesn’t want to tell us.“I’m worried,” I say. Stroking my shorts, I wait for him to speak. “But she told us she was fine.”That we didn’t need to check on her when Rose suggested the girls come over to her house this weekend. Calum reduces his speed, I don’t mind his pace because it gives us more time together.“Will it be okay to check on her?” I ask.Cars zoom past us in a hurried frenzy, raising a gentle breeze in their wake that rustles my hair. Resting my head on the window, my eyes c
To Tempt My Stepbrother 35 || Sinful glance
Calum is asleep on my return. At least I think he is. Watching him, my conscience pricks me. A ten minute stop turned into fifty minutes. I raise my hand to knock on the window but his eyelids flutter open. He stretches his arms and yawns.“Kinda creepy standing over there to watch someone having his beauty sleep.”I blush. “I wasn’t watching you, Cal.”A beep sounds from the car to signify he opened the passenger door and I bounce to the other side. Silence welcomes us in its familiar embrace. I fiddle with the hem of my shorts while working up an apology. We didn’t do much talking. By the time I left, Amelia was fast asleep. My hand wraps around the seatbelt fixed in its place.Calum breaks the silence first. “Well, that took so long. How did it go? Bad? Horrible? Awful?” On a quick inspection of his face, I see that he is teasing. His lips quirk in that cute pout and my hea
To Tempt My Stepbrother 36 || Undefined but better
“Do you want me to set up your account now?” I ask Calum from the door. I’m bored out of my mind. Dani and Dad went to God-knows-where. Those two are acting like newlyweds. In all fairness, they are newlyweds but it’s not their first marriage.“Right now?” Calum jumps off his bed. I enter his room and shut the door. His main question should be: why not now? I can set up his account with my eyes closed. He pulls on a shirt first before giving me his phone. “Alright then, Cathy. Have fun.”Standing in the middle of his room, I’m torn between sitting on the bed or chair by the study table. He makes the decision for me by patting the bed and I sink into the space beside him.“I need to see what you’re doing,” he says. But I tell myself he wants to be close to me. And that is okay because I also want to be close to him.The distance between us is small. At one point
To Tempt My Stepbrother 37 || B
Awkward is not enough to describe the days that follow after that ‘mistake’. Three days later and Calum is still leaving for school earlier than he usually does. At home, our conversations are a lull; polite and tentative. During rehearsals, he hardly glances my way and it’s infuriating.The past days have been a rinse and repeat for me. Since Amelia is out of her slump, she’s back to being my driver. Whatever happened in her room stays between us. After practice, I would hitch a ride with Rose and listen to her repeat the same question: Is everything okay with your stepbro? He didn’t say a word to you during rehearsal.And I would roll my eyes and say yes.For now, I need to focus on my chemistry class. On what Mr Andy is saying. I haven’t been able to pay attention since he walked in with a pile of sheets. Last week, we had a quiz. There was not enough time for me to prepare but I think I might come close t
To Tempt My Stepbrother 38 || Royally fucked
CALUMI’m fucked. Royally fucked.Cathy kissed me and I wanted to kiss her back. No, I wanted to pin her under me to claim her, kiss her so she would never kiss that boy again. I would have if she didn’t pull back so fast. Days go by and I haven’t stopped hating myself for almost losing control. It’s wrong. I’m her stepbrother, her teacher, I could get into trouble with the law, her father.The age of consent is sixteen, Cathy didn’t lie about that bit. But the American in me feels it’s wrong. She’s young. Cathy can never be mine but I have gone to bed with a boner every night since it happened. My dreams are haunted by her. In my dreams, Cathy is more demanding. We go beyond kissing and I wake up the next morning feeling like a piece of shit. It’s why I have avoided her, spoken as little as possible.But all of that ended when the sly minx showed up after rehearsal. Her friend didn&rsq
To Tempt My Stepbrother 39 || Kiss him
Calum wants me. A man doesn’t look at a lady he doesn’t want naked under him the way my stepbrother is staring at me right now. Since I walked into his room, he has been staring. But he doesn’t act on his desires, neither do I. After the near-kiss incident, I’ll only follow his lead.His tongue wets his bottom lip and my resolve weakens. Telling myself to behave is one thing, doing it is another thing. With Calum in that tank top, it’s increasingly harder to keep my hands to myself. My back digs into the door as I scan the room for any form of distraction. None.“You wanted to see me,” I say at last.Calum jerks out of his daydream. “Yeah.” As he says this, he takes another step closer to me. I lick my lips. My heart is doing high jumps. He is too near. So close. “You’re off probation.”“That’s it?” comes out of me in a squeaky voice. I clear my throat. “
To Tempt My Stepbrother 40 || Do you want to cuddle?
Keep your foot on the brake but don’t step too hard on it. That’s my second lesson for the day. I nod to Calum’s next instruction. He is not a bad tutor but my dirty mind is playing a driving kink.“Relax, Cathy,” Calum says with a smile in his voice. I ease my grip on the steering wheel, well aware my stiffness is from my thoughts. “Alright.”One look around and I nod. I can do this. We start from our driveway. I drive to one end of the street at a snail’s speed. All Calum does is egg me on with a grin, not once complaining of my slowness. Dad would have mentioned it at least twice. I park at the other end of the cul-de-sac and he claps. His expression is a mix of pride, care and admiration.Something has changed between us. Something that can’t be put into words. I release my seatbelt and sit cross legged on my chair. Calum leans on the door with his elbow jutting out of the window.“Do y
To Tempt My Stepbrother 41 || Today
It’s today.I feel it before I wake up. I feel it as I sluggishly get out of bed and dress up for school. A chill eats at my bones, spreading through my veins. I shiver.The windows are closed but I feel cold. It’s not cold from the weather but a reminder of today’s date. I glare at the zombie with sunken eyes and pink hair in the mirror. She looks like me. It was a struggle to sleep last night. To act fine. I don’t feel like doing anything. I just want to curl in bed and cry but I can’t skip school because Dad will know.Our class group is active with birthday wishes to me. I ignore all of them, opening the door at the same time Calum steps out of his room. We bump into each other and he sends me a small smile.“Hi,” is what I say in a voice so cold he takes a step back. He recovers faster than I expected. A finger curls under my jaw, drawing my gaze to his face. He’s worried and I want to
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