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Chapter 105: Rubbing His Back

Author: Nancy's Best
last update publish date: 2026-04-11 05:03:19

HAYDEN’S POV:

The party was loud, too loud.

Music thumped through the walls, bass vibrating under my feet as bodies moved, laughed, shouted over each other. The house was packed with people spilling into every corner, drinks in hand, the kind of chaos I used to thrive in.

Now, I stood near the edge of the living room, half-leaning against the wall, staring at nothing in particular while everything blurred together.

Stephen should’ve been here.

The thought came uninvited, sharp and persistent.

H
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  • RIVAL'S TO LOVER'S: My Step Brother Is Now My Roommate    Chapter 109: Gaze Sharpens Slightly

    HAYDEN’S POV:Stephen didn’t say anything.He just looks at me for a second something unreadable , then he nods once, like he’s made a decision and steps back.“I’ll catch you later,” he says quietly.And then he’s gone. Just like that.The space beside me feels colder without him there, like something solid just disappeared and left me exposed. My chest tightens, but I didn’t let myself look after him. I can’t. Not right now.Because Ariana is standing in front of me.“Come on,” she says gently, nodding toward the path that leads away from the main walkway. “Let’s talk somewhere less… public.”My stomach twist, I nodded.We walk in silence for a bit, side by side but not quite together. The sounds of campus fade slightly as we move farther away, fewer voices, fewer eyes. It should make me feel better.It didn’t If anything, it makes everything feel more real.We stop near a quiet bench under a tree, the shade cool against my skin. Ariana turns to face me fully, crossing her arms loos

  • RIVAL'S TO LOVER'S: My Step Brother Is Now My Roommate    Chapter 108: Irritation Under My Skin

    STEPHEN’S POV: I leave before it gets harder to stay.Hayden is still sitting on the bed when I grab my jacket, his phone loose in his hand, his shoulders slightly hunched like he’s bracing for something that hasn’t even happened yet. He looks smaller like that.It does something to me that I don’t like.“I’ll see you later,” I say, keeping my tone light, normal—like we didn’t just have that conversation, as nothing shifted between us.He nods, but he doesn’t really look at me. “Yeah… later.”I hesitate for half a second. Then I leave.The hallway outside feels colder than it should. Or maybe it’s just me. I shove my hands into my pockets and start walking, my mind replaying everything he said over and over again.You don’t care the way I do.That’s what he thinks.I exhale sharply, jaw tightening.It’s not that I don’t care. It’s that I don’t let it control me. There’s a difference. A big one.But try explaining that to someone who’s already decided fear is safer than honesty.By th

  • RIVAL'S TO LOVER'S: My Step Brother Is Now My Roommate    Chapter 107: No One Else Will

    HAYDEN’S POV:I don’t remember how I got home.Everything comes back in fragments, with blurred edges and half-formed moments, like someone cut the night into pieces and shuffled them out of order. The cold air. The sound of a car door. Ariana’s voice is fading in and out.And then….warmth.That’s the first thing that settles clearly.Warmth and something steady beneath it.I blink slowly, my eyes struggling to focus as the world tilts into place. My head is pounding, a dull, relentless ache pressing behind my eyes, and my throat feels dry, like I swallowed sand.I groan quietly, shifting slightly and that’s when I feel it.A hand that was firm, careful, and resting against my shoulder.“You’re awake.”My breath catches.It was Stephen.His voice is softer than I’ve ever heard it, low and steady, like he doesn’t want to startle me. I turn my head just enough to see him sitting on the edge of the bed, one hand still on me, the other holding a glass of water.For a second, I stare at hi

  • RIVAL'S TO LOVER'S: My Step Brother Is Now My Roommate    Chapter 106: Let's Get Things Figured Out

    HAYDEN’S POV:I didn’t mean to drink that much. It just… happened.One cup turned into two, then three, then I stopped counting altogether. The burn in my throat stopped feeling sharp after a while, dulling into something easier, something quieter. The noise around me blurred into a low hum, the laughter and music melting into the background like they didn’t matter anymore.And for a little while, it worked.It numbed everything.The thoughts, the tension. The constant replay of Stephen’s voice in my head.You’re not ready.I leaned heavily against the wall, staring down at the half-empty cup in my hand like it had answers I couldn’t find anywhere else. My fingers felt loose around it, my grip unsteady.Maybe he was right. No… not maybe. He was right.That was the worst part.A laugh burst somewhere across the room, too loud, too sharp. It made me flinch slightly, my head turning toward the sound before I quickly looked away again.Everything felt off and wrong, like I didn’t belong h

  • RIVAL'S TO LOVER'S: My Step Brother Is Now My Roommate    Chapter 105: Rubbing His Back

    HAYDEN’S POV:The party was loud, too loud.Music thumped through the walls, bass vibrating under my feet as bodies moved, laughed, shouted over each other. The house was packed with people spilling into every corner, drinks in hand, the kind of chaos I used to thrive in.Now, I stood near the edge of the living room, half-leaning against the wall, staring at nothing in particular while everything blurred together.Stephen should’ve been here.The thought came uninvited, sharp and persistent.He would’ve hated this—too many people, too much noise but he would’ve stayed anyway. Probably stood off to the side like I was doing now, arms crossed, watching everything with that quiet intensity of his.And I would’ve been right next to him.Instead, I was here alone.I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand through my hair. This wasn’t what I wanted.All I wanted was to be back in bed, in the quiet, where things felt simpler. Where I didn’t have to think so hard about every word, every look, every

  • RIVAL'S TO LOVER'S: My Step Brother Is Now My Roommate    Chapter 104: The Footsteps

    STEPHEN’S POV:I knew the moment it left his mouth, the hesitation and that tiny pause before he shook his head.It shouldn’t have hit me the way it did but it did.The room felt too small after that, like the air had thinned out and something solid between us had just cracked and neither of us knew how bad the damage was yet.Hayden didn’t move right away. He just stood there, eyes searching mine, like he was waiting for me to say something to fix it or make it easier.I didn’t.Because I didn’t know how.A part of me had already seen this coming. I wasn’t stupid. I knew Hayden, knew the life he had lived before this, the way things had always been easy for him when it came to girls, attention, and expectations.This? This wasn’t easy.But knowing it and hearing him say it out loud were two completely different things.“You’re not ready,” I said finally, my voice quieter than I expected.It wasn’t an accusation. It just… was.His jaw tightened slightly. “I didn’t say I’d never be.”I

  • RIVAL'S TO LOVER'S: My Step Brother Is Now My Roommate    Chapter 20: The prove i needed to sink

    STEPHEN’S POVI didn’t want to go.That was the lie I told myself while Marcus adjusted his collar in the mirror and asked me for the third time if the black shirt made him look “approachable but dangerous.”“You’re going,” he said when I didn’t answer fast enough. “If you stay in the dorm sulking,

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-20
  • RIVAL'S TO LOVER'S: My Step Brother Is Now My Roommate    Chapter 18: I got frozen half way

    HAYDEN’S POVBy the time school ended, the gym already sounded like it was game night.Music thumped through the speakers. The bleachers were packed with students, athletes, and even a few teachers pretending they weren’t invested. Someone had hung handmade signs over the railings. Half of them rea

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  • RIVAL'S TO LOVER'S: My Step Brother Is Now My Roommate    Chapter 13: The Morning Rise

    HAYDEN’S POV The morning came with all sorts of insults. The house was quiet as if it knew what had happened last night and was waiting for me to react. I lay there for a while staring at the ceiling, my jaw tight and replaying everything I didn't want to remember. I heard some footsteps in the

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  • RIVAL'S TO LOVER'S: My Step Brother Is Now My Roommate    Chapter 12: Dark Places

    HAYDEN’S POVI knew something was wrong the second I opened the door.The lights were turned off. Stephen never left the lights off. He hated dark places. The sound hit me next. A breathy noise that didn’t belong in our living room, in my head, or anywhere near my life.I froze.Right there. One h

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-18
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