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 brought 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, the memory 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 was I supposed to face him with such a look? And wouldn’t that make him pissed?

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

For a few seconds, I was 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 apprised me, and then I heard 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 stepped out of the bathroom, padding towards my room, a hand on my chest, keeping my towel from being impish. Well, my brother’s room was opposite mine. He should already be sleeping since he pulled an all-nighter.

As I turned the doorknob of my room, I heard William's room door creak, and I quickly rushed into my room and slammed the door shut behind me.

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

Still, I knew deep down that this hide-and-seek situation couldn’t continue forever. For now, though, I just wanted to avoid him.

...

The next morning was a Saturday.

Mum didn’t work on weekends and got to spend time in the house with us. William was not allowed to game during weekends (unless it was night), and he never complained about it.

It’s now 11:00 am. 

As a waitress, I ran shifts, and my shift today was in the afternoon, so I had to go to work. Mum also left early to visit her friend Moreen, whose husband lost his mother recently. I was not good with words, and neither was I close to Mum’s friend, so I didn’t tag along even for a few minutes.

As I headed towards my room, I saw my stepbrother standing at my room’s door, blocking entry. Frowning, I asked, “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 questioned.

Well, this was an unexpected but not surprising question. And he didn’t seem like he’d let me into my room if I didn’t give him an answer. But the thing was, I was not ready to answer such a question.

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

“Brother, there’s nothing to talk about. Please stop denying me entry,” I said in annoyance, trying to push him from the entrance to my room, but he didn’t budge.

I kept trying, but even when I got exhausted and tried to catch my breath, he’d still not budged an inch. Heavens, was he made of stone?

“Kitten,” he held my left hand and pulled me along to the sitting room, where he made me sit on the couch.

Then he sat opposite me. I looked away from him with a frown.

“Lil sis,” he sighed 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 said to me gently.

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

“I would do the same thing if it were anyone else, too. Even you, Kitten, would do the same. And I’m sorry I threw that slipper at you. I really regret it,” he confessed.

Next, he did a shocking thing before me. He walked towards me and knelt with an apologetic look on his handsome face.

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

Gosh! Even like this, he still looked dashing. I almost wanted to forgive him immediately, but I couldn’t be too eager. I needed to make him work harder to gain my forgiveness.

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

He nodded without thinking, and I smiled.

“Anything you want, sister,” he smilingly responded, to which I nodded my satisfaction.

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

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

“Yeah. Tell me about it,” he said as he rose to his feet.

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

He looked stunned for a moment, but then he agreed. 

“I’m just gonna wear a ton of clothes then. I certainly won’t lose to you anyway,” he confidently said, and I shook my head as he left. When he was completely out of sight, I covered my heated cheeks in utter embarrassment.

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

Gosh!

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

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

“Anytime you choose,” I said without thinking.

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

I yanked my ponytail in frustration.

“But I have work!” I yelled as I rushed after him.

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

“I can’t,” I said with a scoff before entering my room to wear some makeup and grab my bag.

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

Geez, he was more eager than I was! How could I talk my way out of this?

“I forgive you, William,” I sighed defeatedly. If this was the only way for me to go 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 revealed, leaving me in astonishment.

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

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

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

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

I reluctantly obeyed with a pout. This bastard was wearing so many clothes; I was clearly the one at a disadvantage here.

“I’ll go first,” he said, and my frown deepened, which only made him chuckle.

...

Half an hour later.

The game was still on.

He’d been asking me simple questions, which I found pretty easy to answer, but in return, I’d been asking really difficult questions. He got some right and others wrong, and that led 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 weren’t for show; they’re solid. He must have been working out a lot in his room.

Well, it was his turn to ask questions now. But instead of the simple question I expected, he asked me a rather difficult math question. 

I gritted my teeth unhappily. 

This stepbrother of mine knew how bad I was at math. I was someone who could sleep through a math period and sometimes even skipped class. It was a miracle that I even passed my math exams.

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

Well, I couldn’t do anything against him, could I? Besides, he had been losing all this time; I shouldn't be too pained. I just needed to be on alert now since he’d become serious.

As the game progressed, he lost once more and had to take off his belt.

Then he asked me a question, and this time, the unhappy me took off my skirt. Now I was just left with my bra and undies.

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