8

CHAPTER Eight

Arlyn

I walked away as fast as my legs could carry me, not stopping until I had put some distance between myself and the gym.

What had I been expecting from him?

I moved to a tall window overlooking the lawn, closed my eyes, and took breathing exercises, trying to calm my racing heart.

It was no use, though.

My heart was doing that stupid trembling thing again.

I smacked myself in the head, knowing I shouldn’t have gone in there, but I had anyway. Not after overhearing his voice through the half-open door. Not after sensing the tension in the air.

The moment I had gone in, I knew something had happened between him and Liam.

And when he looked at me… God.

That glare wasn’t just anger or irritation. It felt like I’d stumbled into the center of a storm that had nothing to do with me and everything to do with me at the same time.

My cheeks still burned at the memory.

What do you want?

I asked myself that same question he asked me over and over. What did I want? I don't even know why I went there in the first place.

But it wasn’t only that.

Beneath his scowl, something else had flickered. Something I'm sure he wasn't sure was there, and I saw it…

And it confused me more than I cared to admit.

I shook my head trying to clear it and moved away from the window heading for my room, but I changed my mind and headed for Ella's instead.

She wasn't in her room, so I went to the kitchen.

She looked up.

“There she is!” She cried out, waving at me with a spatula. “I’ve been waiting for you. I made pancakes because emotional trauma is best handled with sweet things.”

I laughed despite myself. “You really are something else—”

“Oh hush.” She waved her hand. “Here. Sit.”

I obeyed, letting myself sink into one of the stools at the kitchen island.

She grabbed a plate, dumped a stack of pancakes on it, and pushed it to me.

“Eat.” It was an order.

I picked up a fork and cut out a piece. “They taste amazing.”

“I know, right?” she boasted proudly before sobering up. “How are you holding up?”

I took another bite. “I’m… trying.”

Ella leaned her elbows onto the island, her chin in her hands, studying me closely. “Trying is allowed.”

But she didn’t ask about Liam. She didn’t bring it up at all.

I could’ve hugged her for that.

Instead, I exhaled. “Something happened between Reid and Liam. He was upset.”

Ella blinked slowly.

“You spoke to him?”

“…Who?”

Ella raised a brow.

“Reid, silly.”

I forced my attention back to the plate. “I wouldn’t really call what happened ‘talking.’ He looked like he wanted me out the moment I entered.”

“That sounds like Reid,” Ella said with a nod. “But don’t take it personally. He’s… complicated.”

I almost laughed. "Complicated" was an understatement. The man was in a locked room inside a locked house with the keys thrown into a well… a very deep one.

“He was angry,” I said quietly.

Ella’s gaze sharpened. “At you?”

I shook my head. “No. Not at me.”

Her eyebrows slowly lifted, then lowered again in dawning understanding. “Oh.”

She didn’t say more, but the weight of her silence said enough.

I pushed the plate slightly away. “I walked in at the wrong time.”

Ella rolled her eyes dramatically. “There is no such thing as the ‘right time’ with him. He’s moody before breakfast, after breakfast, and during breakfast.”

I smiled at the fondness in her voice.

“I heard that.”

Bradley's voice sounded from behind us, startling us. “... And it’s not entirely wrong.” He got an apple from the fridge and bit into it.

“Are you good?” he asked me.

I nodded.

He gave me a small concerned look for a while, biting into his apple, and then left, leaving us alone.

I exhaled slowly. “I shouldn’t have gone to him.”

Ella snorted. “Probably not. But you’re brave for trying anyway. The guy’s like a walking fortress.”

I rubbed my hands over my face. “I think I need some air.”

Ella nodded. “Want company?”

I shook my head. “It's just going to be a short walk.”

She squeezed my hand once before letting go. “You will be fine.”

Coming from someone who has wanted acceptance so bad…

****

The winter air was crazy, cold enough to leave frostbite if I stayed out too long. But it was exactly what I needed at the moment as thoughts of both Reid and Liam filled my head.

Liam was no longer a part of my life, but the shadow of what he did still clung to me. And now here he was, still tied in with my new family.

And then there was Reid.

Reid with the sharp eyes and sharper words.

Reid, who had looked at me as if I’d shaken something in him without meaning to.

Why did it matter?

Why did he matter?

I buried my face in my hands, annoyed at myself. The last thing I needed was to start feeling anything for a man who clearly didn’t want me near him… a man, I might add, whose dad my mom was married to.

The sound of footsteps on snow jolted me and distracted me.

I looked up sharply, expecting Ella, but instead, Reid stepped into view.

My breath tripped.

He stood a short distance away, hands in his pockets, posture rigid, as if debating whether to turn around and pretend he never came looking for me.

I stood slowly.

“Reid…”

He didn’t speak at first. Just stared, jaw ticking, an unreadable expression on his face. His hair was slightly mussed, the tension from earlier still clinging to him in waves.

Then, without warning, he ran a hand over his face and exhaled sharply.

“I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” he said finally, voice low and rough.

For a moment, I wondered if I misheard him. Reid apologizing sounded like something that belonged in a fantasy novel, not real life.

I blinked.

“It’s… fine.”

“It wasn’t.” He took a step forward. “You didn’t deserve that.”

My heart thudded painfully against my ribs.

I looked away, focusing on a patch of sunlight on the snow. “You were upset. I shouldn’t have gone in.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

The words were quiet, almost reluctant, as if admitting them cost him something.

He toed the snow beneath his feet. “I’m not… great with people.”

I cocked a brow at him. “I know.”

A flicker of amusement flashed across his features. “Yeah.”

We both fell silent.

Finally, he approached the bench and nodded toward the space beside me. “Can I sit?”

I swallowed. “Yes.”

He sat, not too close, but close enough to get a whiff of his cologne.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

Then he spoke quietly. “I heard what you told Ella.”

I felt my face heat up. “How much?”

“Everything.”

I sighed, leaning back against the bench. “That was probably embarrassing for you to hear.”

I hugged my arms. “It’s not exactly flattering to admit I stayed with someone like Liam for as long as I did.”

Reid’s jaw tightened. “That wasn’t on you. What he did was on him.”

I shook my head. “I ignored the signs. The excuses. My friends dropped hints….”

“That still isn’t on you.”

This time I looked at him and found sincerity shining through the roughness, a raw sight.

“You deserve better,” he added, voice firm.

That shouldn’t have made my heart twist. But it did.

I swallowed hard. “Thank you.”

His eyes lingered on mine for a beat too long, his expression unreadable.

Then he looked away. “I told him to leave.”

My breath froze.

“Liam?” I whispered.

Reid nodded once. “He won’t bother you again.”

Something deep inside me loosened, though I couldn't name it.

“Why… why would you do that for me?” I asked softly.

He hesitated before responding.

“You might be gold diggers, but what I hate more than that is trash, and I know now… Liam is trash.”

My pulse fluttered.

I'm supposed to be insulted, but instead I felt warmth.

He didn’t look at me as he said it. His gaze remained fixed on the trees ahead, as if he were afraid of the meaning behind his own words.

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what this meant. But I felt something stir.

The wind swept past us, lifting strands of my hair. Without thinking, he reached forward and gently tucked one behind my ear.

I froze.

He froze.

His fingers lingered a second too long.

Then he pulled them back quickly, jaw clenching as if he regretted the impulse.

“I should go,” he muttered, but he didn’t stand immediately.

Neither did I.

Something unspoken settled between us—alive, pulsing, dangerous.

Finally, he rose to his feet.

“Come back inside soon,” he said quietly. “It’s cold out here.”

I nodded.

He hesitated a beat, then turned and walked back toward the house, his shoulders rigid, his steps deliberate.

Once he disappeared from view, I exhaled shakily and pressed my hands to my eyes.

He scared me.

Not because he was cruel—he wasn’t.

But because he felt like the kind of storm that could uproot things I hadn’t even admitted were planted.

And was my stepbrother also.

But as I stood and began heading back toward the house, one truth clung stubbornly to my ribs:

I wasn’t afraid of Reid.

Not really.

I was afraid of the way I felt when he looked at me sometimes.

But let's face the facts:

He was a temptation I can never allow myself to give in to.

Never!