Chapter Three

Sage.

The moment my mom’s voice sliced through the garden, reality slammed back into me like a wave I hadn’t seen coming. My chest heaved, my cheeks were burning, and every nerve in my body was screaming with a mix of embarrassment, panic, and something I wasn’t ready to name.

Andre moved first. He rolled off me with that effortless grace that made him look untouchable even in moments of chaos. For a heartbeat, we just froze, staring at each other, the tension thick enough to taste. 

Then, without a word, he straightened, tugged the towel tighter around his shoulders, and muttered, “I will go.”

He didn’t glance back. Not once. Not even at the rapid rise and fall of my chest. 

My stomach twisted as I watched him walk away, his bare feet silent against the sun warmed tiles. 

My knees trembled, and I pressed my hands to my face, trying to steady the chaos inside me.

I shouldn’t have been thinking about him like that. I shouldn’t have let myself watch him, not like this. Not shirtless, not dripping water, not like that.

And yet I had.

I ran, the grass wet under my bare feet, back toward the house, my fingers dragging over the railing for support. 

I slammed the sliding doors behind me and leaned against the glass, my breath shaky. 

My reflection stared back at me, flushed cheeks, wide eyes, chest pounding, and an inner turmoil I didn’t know how to contain.

What was happening to me? Why was my body reacting like that? Why was my mind betraying me with every fleeting thought, imagining touches I would never, could never have? And why, oh God, why did it feel like the only person who mattered right now was him? 

I had been in a relationship with Nick, my ex boyfriend for almost a year, and I never, even once felt anything like this before. 

I sank to the floor of the hallway, pressing my back to the wall, and let out a shaky laugh that was half disbelief, half fear. Andre Wolfe. My stepbrother. My forbidden obsession. And yet, here I was, thinking, thinking things about him that I have never thought about anyone else before. 

I needed him out of my head. I needed something familiar. Someone who made sense. Someone who wasn’t my stepbrother.

Nick, my ex boyfriend. 

I pulled out my phone with trembling hands and scrolled through my contacts until I found his name. My thumb hovered over the screen. Should I call? Should I not? Especially after everything that went down between us. But I needed a distraction. 

“Nick,” he picked up on the second ring, the word trembling out like a confession, “can we meet? I need to see you.”

There was a pause. A long one. My stomach clenched.

“Yeah, yeah, I can come by. Later?”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me, my heart racing in frantic anticipation. “Later’s perfect. But I was thinking maybe now.” 

"Okay, I will be there in a few." he said. 

I hung up and let out a shaky breath, pressing the phone to my chest. Relief washed over me, but it was fleeting. Because Andre. Andre was still in my mind.

I had to start getting ready and find out a way of sneaking out without anyone noticing, especially my mother. 

The house was quiet, the chandeliers casting soft golden light over polished floors. My pulse still wouldn’t slow down. And when the clock finally struck a time I considered “late enough,” I slipped into my shoes, grabbed my jacket, and tried to sneak out.

I had to see Nick. I needed a distraction from the chaos of Andre, from the confusion of desire and taboo that had consumed me all day.

I stepped lightly, tiptoeing through the hall, and reached for the back door. My hand froze on the handle when a shadow fell across the doorway.

Andre.

He stood there, his arms crossed, one brow lifted, his eyes sharp. “Where do you think you are going little saint?”

My heart thudded painfully in my chest, a mix of fear, frustration, and something else I wasn’t ready to admit. “I’m going out.”

“Now?” His voice was calm but edged with a warning I couldn’t ignore.

“Yes. Now.” My voice wavered only slightly, betraying the anger rising inside me. “I’m going to see my boyfriend Nick.”

He stepped closer, his gaze piercing. “I thought you said you guys broke up. "

"Well we got back together. " I lied, getting irritated by his questions. 

"Sage, you shouldn’t be sneaking out. It’s late, and”

“And what?” I snapped, surprising myself. “You are going to stop me? You are going to tell me what I can and can’t do?”

“I’m not trying to control you,” he said slowly, his tone softer now, but still carrying that magnetic pull I could never resist. “I just” He trailed off, frustration flickering in his eyes. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, we are family now.”

“I can take care of myself!” I spat, heat rising in my chest. “You don’t control me, Andre! I can do whatever I want, whenever I want!”

The tension between us crackled, almost tangible, as he stared at me, unblinking. His jaw tightened, and I could see the conflict in his eyes, the same conflict that had drawn me to him like a moth to flame.

“I said I’m going and there is nothing you can do about it!” I yelled, pushing past him with as much force as I could muster.

Andre’s hand shot out instinctively, grabbing my arm, but I wrenched free and bolted, the night air hitting me like freedom and rebellion.

“Run!” I called over my shoulder, not caring if he followed or not. “Go tell our parents if you want! I’m going to see Nick!”

And with that, I disappeared into the shadows of the night, my heart pounding, my mind spinning, and a storm of emotions trailing behind me like fire.