2

Kitten’s Pov

I don’t know how long I’ve been seated on this bed, letting thoughts of shame occupy my head, but a knock on my room’s door brings me back to reality.

Mum was probably at her workplace by now, and if she forgot something, she would call for me to bring it to her. So it only meant that William was the one knocking. Inadvertently, images of barging into the bathroom to see him in such a state earlier resurfaced in my mind. No one needed to tell me that my ears and face were red now since my cheeks were heated.

How am I supposed to face him with such a look? And wouldn’t that make him pissed?

“Kitten, Kitten!” I hear him call out. 

For a few seconds, I’m short of words with which to respond to him.

“Kitten, I know you’re in there. I’m already done bathing. You can go have your bath now,” he says again, and then I hear him walk away with deliberately loud footsteps as if to assure me.

I remained in my room for another half hour, even downing the bottle of water that was atop my bedside cabinet. Only when I felt I could control my emotions did I finally step out of the room silently.

20 minutes later.

I step out of the bathroom, and I’m on my way to my room. Well, my brother’s room is opposite mine. He should already be sleeping since he pulled an all-nighter.

As I turn the doorknob of my room, I hear his room’s door make a clinking sound, and I quickly rush into my room and slam the door shut behind me.

My right hand is placed on my chest, and I sigh in relief as if I’d just escaped a precarious situation.

Still, I know deep down that this hide-and-seek situation can’t continue forever. For now, I just want to avoid him.

...

The next morning is a Saturday.

Mum doesn’t work on weekends and gets to spend time in the house with us. William is not allowed to game during weekends, and he never complained about it.

It’s 11:00 am. 

As a waitress, I run shifts, and my shift today is in the afternoon, so I have to go. Mum has also left early to visit her friend Moreen, whose husband lost his mother recently. I’m not good with words, and neither am I close to Mum’s friend, so I don’t tag along even for a few minutes.

As I head towards my room, I see my stepbrother standing at my room’s door, blocking entry. Frowning, I ask, “William, what’s the meaning of this? I have work in an hour. Let me rest for a bit.”

“How long are you going to keep avoiding me, Kitten?” he asks. Well, this was an unexpected but not surprising question. And he doesn’t seem like he’ll let me into my room if I don’t give him an answer. But the thing is, I’m also not ready to answer such a question.

“Kitten, this has to stop, and we need to talk,” he says.

“Brother, there’s nothing to talk about. Please stop denying me entry,” I say in annoyance, trying to push him from the entrance to my room, but he doesn’t budge. I keep trying but even when I got exhausted and tried to catch my breath, he’d still not budged an inch. Heavens, is he made of stone?

“Kitten,” he holds my left hand and pulls me along to the sitting room, where he makes me sit on the couch.

Then he sits opposite me. I look away from him with a scowl.

“Lil sis,” he sighs before continuing, “I know this is not easy for you, and neither is it for me. Let’s just pretend that episode didn’t happen between us, okay?” he says gently.

I turn to look at him, “Brother, you scolded me in there.”

“I would do the same thing if it were anyone els, too. Even you, Kitten, would do the same. And I’m sorry I threw that slipper at you. I really regret it,” he confesses. Then he does a shocking thing before me. He walks towards me and kneels down with an apologetic look on his handsome face.

“Please, Kitten, can you forgive me?” he implores. 

Gosh! Even like this, he still looks dashing. I almost want to forgive him immediately, but I can’t be too eager. I need to make him work harder to gain my forgiveness.

“I’ll forgive you only on one condition,” I propose.

He nods without thinking, and I smile.

“Anything you want, sister,” he smilingly responds, to which I nod my satisfaction.

“William, I want us to play a question-and-answer game in your room,” I suggest. I see that he thinks nothing of it as he quickly agrees.

“This game, however, comes with a consequence. You care to know?” I question him while trying to pull off a vain look.

“Yeah. Tell me about it,” he says as he rises to his feet.

“If you can’t answer a question, you’ll have to take off a piece of clothing,” I smirkingly say.

He looks stunned for a moment, but then he agrees. 

“I’m just gonna wear a ton of clothes then. I certainly won’t lose to you anyway,” he confidently says, and I shake my head as he leaves. When he’s completely out of sight, I cover my heated cheeks in utter embarrassment.

Why the heck did I say that? And the surprising thing was that he actually agreed.

Gosh!

I hear him walk to me and I quickly put my hands down and assume a smug look, like I wasn’t coy seconds ago.

“What day do we play it?” he asks, “So that I can prepare,” he adds.

“Anytime you choose,” I say without thinking.

He nods and smilingly says, “Thinking about it, I think it can begin now. I’ll wait for you in my room,” then he turns to leave without letting me contribute my words of objection.

I yank my ponytail in frustration.

“But I have work,” I yell as I rush after him.

“Call your boss that you’re not feeling too well,” he says as he increases his pace to his room.

“I can’t,” I say before entering my room to wear some makeup and grab my bag.

Then I rush out of the room, only to see him blocking my escape. He’s already worn so many shirts, completely prepared for the game.

Geez, he’s more eager than I am! How can I talk my way out of this?

“I forgive you, William,” I say, sighing defeatedly. If this is the only way for me to go out to work, then so be it. I’ll just consider it a loss.

“I’ve called your boss already and she’s given permission for you to have a day off,” he reveals, leaving me in astonishment.

“What? William, how could you do that?”

“Nothing must interrupt the game,” He responds, dragging me into his room.

He then locks the door and puts the key in his pocket. Well, I haven’t entered his room for months and seeing it today, it smells nice and looks squeaky clean. I’m impressed, but I still maintain the frown on my face.

“Sit down,” he offers as he takes his seat on one of the two chairs in his room.

I reluctantly sit with a pout. This bastard is wearing so many clothes; I’m clearly the one at a disadvantage here.

“I’ll go first,” he says, and my frown deepens, which makes him chuckle.

Half an hour later.

The game is still on.

He’s been asking me simple questions, which I find easy to answer, but in return, I’ve been asking really difficult questions. He gets some right and others wrong, and that leads him to take off all the shirts, including the one he was wearing before. Now he was seated opposite me, shirtless. 

I have to be honest, his abs aren’t for show; they’re solid. He must be working out a lot in his room.

Well, it’s his turn to ask questions now. But instead of the simple questions like before, he asks me a difficult math question. 

I grit my teeth unhappily. 

This stepbrother of mine knows how bad I am at math. I was someone who could sleep all through a math period and sometimes even skip class. It’s a miracle that I even passed my math exams.

 And he’s here asking me stuff related to Algebra. How am I supposed to get an answer, even if I study for three days? This slick bastard! 

Well, I can’t do anything against him, can I? Besides, he’s the one losing all this time. I shouldn't be too pained. I just have to be on alert now since he’s become serious.

As the game progresses, he loses once and has to take off his belt.

Then he asks me a question, and this time, the unhappy me takes off my skirt. Now I’m just left with my bra and undies.

Well, we’ve gone to the beach several times before, so it’s not his first time seeing me with a bra and underwear knickers.