003

AVA

The sunlight flickering from the glass windows made me stir.

 I groaned loudly, blindly reaching for my phone on the bedstand, and the second my screen lit up.

Oh Shit!

9:30am.

I jolted off my bed immediately, rushing straight to the bathroom. “Fuck you, Caden Duke,” I muttered underneath my breath as I began to shower.

This was totally his fault. 

After that embarrassing moment in the kitchen, I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard his stupid voice all over again. “Erase whatever sick crush you have on me. It’s embarrassing.”

The worst part was my brain kept creating better comebacks I should have used. 

By 3am in the morning, I was still staring at my ceiling, rehearsing an imaginary argument where I actually humbled him instead of standing there like an idiot. 

The next few minutes passed in a blur with me preparing hurriedly, and in no time, I was all set.

I had less than twenty minutes until the test. 

'Just a quick coffee to keep me awake,’ I muttered to myself as I made my way to the kitchen—except that I didn’t expect to see Caden sitting so relaxed and munching on his toast.

I didn’t bother to greet; I moved quickly to the coffee machine, not wanting to spend more than two minutes in his presence. 

Yesterday taught me that I needed to dead whatever silly crush I had on him. 

“You know I’m not dropping you, right?” His deep voice rang out.

 I ignored him. 

“The school is literally five kilometers away from here,” he added, his tone mocking. “You have legs, and you can only make it for the test if you start running.”

My eyes instantly landed on my watch. Fuck, 10 minutes left!

My gaze flickered to him. “Just for the record, I wasn’t planning on entering that shitty car of yours.” 

I didn’t wait to banter; I bolted out of the house, my steps hurried as ever. 

More than five minutes of walking and I knew he lied; five kilometers my ass. I paused for a second to catch my breath when the blaring of a car horn caught my attention.

I turned towards the noise to see Caden in a sleek black sports car, a smug grin on his face. “Two minutes more, freak,” he shouted before zooming off.

Asshole! 

~~~~~

“The test was cancelled,”

I heaved a sigh of relief, leaning against the hallway's wall to catch my breath, while Mira stared at me with a questioning look.

“Did you run here?” She finally asked. “Your house is quite a distance away, so I don’t understand why you’re breathing this hard if you used the bus.”

“It’s a long story,” I muttered.

“I have all day, Ava.”

“I overslept.”

“Let me guess, dreaming about Caden all night?”

I shot the 'Can you just drop it?' glare. 

She raised both hands. “Okay, okay, relax.”

We started walking towards our class together in silence until she spoke again. “I've got good news though, guess!”

“Mira, I’m too tired—”

“I got us front-row tickets for tomorrow’s hockey game," she squealed in delight. 

If I had gotten this new earlier yesterday, I would have screamed my lungs out, but now? “I'm not going,” I said softly.

“What? Why?”

Because yesterday I found out that Caden, my two-year crush, was going to be my stepbrother, and now I’m living under the same roof with him. He’s arrogant, proud, cold, and definitely hates me.

A sigh escaped my lips; I couldn’t possibly tell her that.

“Mom wants me to visit her sick aunt tomorrow,” I lied. 

“Oh… I thought she died last year, or is there another?”

Shit.

“You’re lying,” she added.”

“For the love of God, I just ran a marathon race; I’m exhausted.”

Thankfully she dropped it. “Well, if you’re abandoning me tomorrow, then you are hanging out with me tonight.”

“Nope.”

“Please, Ava!” She pleaded, her voice rising, but I remained silent. 

She leaned closer. “If you refuse, I’d be forced to scream, and trust me, you don’t want that embarrassment with Caden standing over there.”

My eyes snapped up immediately, searching for him. And when I did, a frown instantly formed on my face.

He was leaning casually against the wall, cheesing with Maya Jennings, like he wasn’t deep inside another lady yesterday. 

Before I could look away, another pair of eyes caught my attention.

Reid Callahan. 

Caden’s best friend and the second-best player on the team was staring directly at me. 

And unlike every normal person, he didn’t look away after getting caught. Instead, a slow smile spread across his face—weird.

Perhaps Caden must have— “Ava!!” Mira’s whining made me turn.

“Okay, fine,” I muttered. “But if it’s boring, I’m leaving immediately.”

~~~~~

I returned home in the evening with less than two hours to prepare. 

Honestly, my normal outfit would have been a hoodie and shorts, but today… I felt like doing something different.

I picked the mini skirt Mira had gotten for me sometime with a red crop top, and an hour later, nerdy Ava was gone.

 I could barely recognize myself; the light make-up, the red lipstick, and my slightly exposed boobs were drawing too much attention. 

I put off my glasses, replacing them with contact lenses, and smiled in satisfaction with the look before heading out. 

The party had already started before Mira and I arrived; she won’t stop praising my look… Music echoed loudly in the room with flashing lights and people dancing recklessly.

“This was a bad idea,” I muttered.

“No, it’s not; try to move your body…who knows, you might finally get Caden’s attention,” Mira replied, handing me a glass of drink. 

I told myself I didn’t give two fucks about Caden. But tell me why my eyes were scanning around searching for him. 

Gotcha.

He rose from the pool, his abs and toned arms glistening with water droplets. I tried not to look upwards, but I guess that was a mistake—our eyes met.

And for a second, it looked like his eyes were moving slowly, taking in my outfit…my mini skirt, my exposed boobs—everything. 

I felt hot instantly, only for reality to slam right into me when he locked lips with Maya. 

The next minutes passed with my eyes finding Caden, laughing around another girl, grinding roughly against Maya, touching her—it was exhausting. 

And just as I decided I was leaving—“You look beautiful tonight,” an unfamiliar voice said from behind. 

I turned…Reid? 

 Reid Callahan was standing right in front of me.

“Thank you,” I said awkwardly. “Hi..”

A small smile tugged on his lips. “You’re Ava, right?”

I blinked. “You know my name?”

“Kind of hard not to, after hearing your friend scream it around campus all day.”

A short laugh escaped my lips. “I'm Reid,” he added.

“Eveyone knows that,” I muttered. 

“Hockey fan?”

“A front-row one, for that matter.”

He broke into a soft chuckle. The conversation barely lasted two minutes before one of his teammates called him away. 

Still…he was surprisingly nice, exactly how I expected Caden to be. 

I glanced across the room again since Mira hadn’t returned from the bathroom.

Bad idea. 

 Caden’s eyes were fixed on me with a look I couldn’t decipher, but it felt suffocating—"Shall we?" I heard Mira say, making me exhale sharply. 

We both walked out. 

******

The penthouse was quiet when I returned. I kicked off my shoes at the entrance before heading to my room, only to pause when I noticed something.

Caden’s bedroom was slightly open; curiosity was truly a disease because I should have walked away.

But that picture hanging on the wall…my feet moved before I could deep-think it. 

The first thing I noticed when I entered was the choice of colors in the room, black. All the furniture, down to the pictures on the wall, was black, except one.

I picked it; a smaller-looking Caden was standing in front of an older woman, both smiling hard. 

His mother.

She was bea— “What the fuck are you doing in my room?” 

His deep baritone voice caused a scare out of me, the picture slipping off my hands instantly. The sound of glass shattering filled the room. 

Shit!

I reached for it quickly, panic settling in. “I… I’m so sorry.”

I reached for the picture; the frame was shattered, but it was still in good shape. 

I stood to my feet, and our eyes met; he was still standing at the door shirtless, and a cold look was on his face. “Having a crush wasn’t enough for you; you just had to be a stalker.”

“I….ummm,” I stuttered, trying to find my words, my heart racing fast. “I needed a pen and—”

“A pen?” He scoffed, walking towards me. “Is that the best you could come up with? Because one is just at the bedstand, why couldn’t you take it and leave?!”

“Umm…” I trailed off, unable to mutter a word because he was now standing in front of me. “Caden, I honestly apologize for the picture, but I need to leave.”

He scoffed. “You aren’t going anywhere until you tell me why the fuck you were in my room!” He inched close, making me step back only to hit the wall. “Which are you, a snooper or a stalker?”

“Neither, I just wanted to—”

“Wanted to do what?” He interrupted yet again, eyes moving to my exposed boobs and then back to my eyes. “Wanted me to notice you? I saw you at the party…the way you’re looking at me…always around me…even went as far as throwing yourself at Reid just for a compliment. 

Anger surged through my veins. “I wasn't—”

His thumb brushed against my lips, cutting me off. “Let’s make some adjustment to rule number one, shall we?” 

I didn’t respond, and he raised my chin softly until our eyes were meeting. “Stay away from me, my friends, and my things.”

I swallowed hard. “For the record, I have always stayed away from you since I got here! Reid actually approached me, and I certainly didn’t throw myself at him, and this…me in your room was a mistake that would never repeat itself.” I said all at once.

“Good,” he whispered. “Now close your eyes.”

“Why should I?” I shot back.

“Because I said so,” he replied, his breath fanning on my lips. “You wanted my attention so badly; now you have it.”

“You’re so full of—”

“Eyes close, Ava.”

I didn’t know why I did—maybe a delusional part of me thought he was going to kiss me, or perhaps it was how commanding his voice was.

Either way, I closed it. 

I could feel him coming closer and closer—my heart was a mess now, beating in a way I couldn’t control. 

Our noses touched, and I arched my lips, just enough to let his touch mine; instead, he pulled back, his lips moving to my ears. “You want to know why I asked you to close your eyes?”

I nodded, not sure if I could mutter a word.

“That way,” he whispered softly in my ear. “You’ll be blind to your shame while you escort yourself out of my room.”

The fuck?

My eyes flew open instantly, pushing him away from me.