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*"The day will come when he finally does what he wants, especially since he loves Jona so much. Because even I would do the same thing. I will take what's mine."*

Leandra couldn't get those words out of her head.

She kept replaying them in her mind as she ate lunch with her two best friends, Gelyn and Cely. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate on her food, the thought continued to bother her.

"Your brother is seriously handsome, isn't he?" Cely remarked, sneaking another glance at Leandro, who was sitting at a table ahead of them with his friends. "He's so hot now. I still remember when he was nothing but a cute, innocent little boy."

"Exactly!" Gelyn agreed with a giggle. "They say the cute and innocent ones are the real deal when they grow up."

The two burst into laughter, clearly enjoying their little discussion.

Leandra sighed and listlessly poked at the cordon bleu on her plate.

"I'm not even sure if I can still call him innocent," she muttered.

Cely immediately turned to her, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Oh? Why? Did he bring a girl home and do the deed with her?"

"Pervert."

"Wait, maybe he didn't bring her home. Or perhaps he did, but you weren't around." Cely shrugged. "Your brother is so considerate. Unlike mine, who doesn't even care if the whole family is home. My brother and his girlfriend practically turn his bedroom into their private playground."

"That's nothing compared to my two older brothers," Gelyn chimed in. "I swear, they probably compete with each other in the bathroom over who's bigger."

"Hey! Will you two stop it?" Leandra scolded, her cheeks turning bright red.

Cely and Gelyn burst into laughter.

Unlike Leandra, both of her best friends had boyfriends. They never hesitated to share intimate details about their relationships, leaving Leandra as their unwilling audience. In fact, listening to their shameless stories was how she had first learned about certain things she would otherwise never have dared to ask anyone about.

"Gelyn, stop teasing her," Cely said between giggles. "You're making the virgin angry."

Leandra rolled her eyes at them before following their gaze toward Leandro's table.

As if sensing that someone was watching him, Leandro turned in their direction.

Their eyes met.

Leandra immediately stiffened.

Leandro smiled and waved at them cheerfully.

She responded by sticking out her tongue before turning away.

"Did you see his hands?" Gelyn whispered, practically swooning. "Your brother has such big hands. I bet he's not only handsome but well-endowed, too, Leandra."

"He's only sixteen, so don't even think about rushing things," Leandra warned her.

"That's fine. Inches are what matter anyway," Gelyn replied with a mischievous grin.

"Pervert!"

The two girls laughed again.

But Cely wasn't done.

"Seriously, though. Have you ever caught him doing something... private?"

Leandra froze.

Heat rushed to her cheeks at the unexpected question.

Cely's mouth fell open.

"Oh my goodness. Her reaction says it all!"

"Confirmed!" Gelyn exclaimed.

"Do you think he's eight inches? Something like that?"

Leandra refused to answer. She simply looked away and reached for her glass of water, hoping they would finally change the subject.

Unfortunately, her wish wasn't granted.

"Eight inches of what?"

Leandra immediately choked on her water.

She hadn't even noticed Leandro approaching their table.

"Hey, Ate. Are you okay?"

Leandro reached out to rub her back, but she quickly slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me, stupid!" she snapped, glaring at him.

Gelyn suddenly sat straighter.

"Ah, um... Eight inches..." she stammered, her gaze inexplicably fixed on the prominent veins running along Leandro's hand. "We were talking about... using a ruler. Yes! A ruler!"

She nodded far too enthusiastically.

"Look at those veins, though," she whispered to Leandra.

Leandra kicked her under the table.

"Ow!"

Leandro raised an eyebrow, clearly suspicious, but didn't press the matter.

Instead, he turned his attention to Leandra.

"What do you want?" she demanded. "Why do you keep coming over to me today? If you need something, just say it."

"Wow," Cely remarked. "You're still so harsh toward your own brother."

Leandro merely smiled.

"Nothing. I just wanted to spend some time with you." He scratched the back of his head, looking almost sheepish. "My friends said we don't seem like siblings because our hair and eye colors are different. They also think we're not close."

"Are you stupid?" Leandra shot back. "I have green eyes because of Mom, and you have blue eyes because of Dad. What's so strange about our hair? Neither of us has curly hair. We both have straight hair!"

"Exactly," Leandro replied with an amused smile.

He didn't look offended in the slightest.

Cely noticed that Leandro's friends were watching them from their table. Curious, she leaned forward.

"Is there something you want to ask us?"

Leandro glanced over his shoulder at his friends before looking back at the girls.

"Well..." He hesitated briefly. "Your prom is coming up soon. After that, you probably won't be spending much time on campus anymore because you'll be busy with your theses and graduation preparations."

He paused before continuing.

"My friends were wondering if you'd like to join our group beach camping trip."

Gelyn's eyes widened.

"You mean your entire friend group?"

Leandro nodded.

"There are four of us. Julian and Jan are the only ones who don't have anyone to bring along."

"Oh, I'm in!" Gelyn declared immediately. "Good thing my boyfriend and I broke up last week. Cely's been single for a while, too. You're almost seventeen anyway, so it's about time we found ourselves some new entertainment."

She lowered her voice as she delivered the last part, but not nearly enough to keep Leandra from hearing her.

"Hey!" Leandra protested, mortified.

Cely and Gelyn simply laughed at her reaction.

"So, when is it?" Cely asked Leandro.

"Next week. We'll leave on Friday night and come home on Sunday afternoon."

"Ooh, this is going to be fun!"

Gelyn suddenly turned toward Leandro again.

"What about you? Are you bringing someone?"

"Um..." Leandro glanced at Leandra. "It's fine with me. Ate will be there anyway."

Leandra's head snapped toward him.

"What?! I never agreed to that! Why would I go on a trip meant for people who want to find dates?"

Gelyn gave her an incredulous look.

"So, you want your little brother to go there alone? Just come with us! You always complain that your parents are barely home on weekends. You even said you hate being alone in the house when you're scared."

She leaned closer and lowered her voice.

"Besides, having your brother around isn't so bad. We all know you're practically allergic to boys."

Leandro smiled at that last remark, clearly pleased by the idea of spending more time with his sister.

"Boring. I'm not going," Leandra insisted.

"Fine. I'll just text Mina and invite her instead. I'm sure she'll agree the moment I tell her Leandro is coming."

Mina was their other best friend, another shameless flirt who had recently broken up with her freshman-year boyfriend.

Among the four of them, Leandra was the only one who still considered herself innocent. Unfortunately, that didn't stop people from assuming she was just like her friends-someone who changed boyfriends whenever she wanted to experience something new.

Leandra narrowed her eyes at Gelyn.

"Fine! I'll go. I can't believe you'd actually consider setting my brother up with her."

"Yay!"

Cely and Gelyn celebrated together, even exchanging a high five across the table.

Leandro, meanwhile, quietly smiled to himself.

He had gotten exactly what he wanted.

"I need to buy a new bikini," Cely announced.

"Me too! Something more revealing," Gelyn agreed enthusiastically.

"Seriously..." Leandra muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Let's go meet the guys!" Cely said, grabbing Gelyn's hand and dragging her toward Leandro's table.

Just like that, Leandra was left alone with her troublesome brother.

Leandro pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down without asking permission.

Leandra raised an eyebrow at him.

"You've eaten all the filling from your cordon bleu," he remarked, looking at her plate.

Before she could respond, he casually picked up her fork and began eating from it.

Leandra folded her arms across her chest.

"Seriously? You're stealing my food in front of everyone just to make them think we're close and prove that we're actually siblings?"

Leandro smiled, then licked a few crumbs from his lips.

"What's wrong with that? Maybe people will finally change their opinion of you and realize that you're actually a good older sister."

"Oh, shut up! Give me that. I'm trying to eat!"

She snatched the fork from his hand.

Leandro chuckled softly, seemingly delighted by how easily he could get under her skin.

"Do you want to go shopping with me tomorrow? We can buy some shorts at the mall."

Leandra frowned.

"Shorts? What for?"

"For next weekend."

She raised an eyebrow.

"It's beach camping, Leandro. Don't be stupid. What would I need shorts for?"

His expression changed slightly.

"What? You mean you're going to wear a bikini, too?"

Leandra stared at him as if he'd suddenly grown another head.

"Seriously, why are you so annoying today? Did you eat something bad last night? Or did Mom's slap finally knock some sense out of your brain?"

For a moment, Leandro didn't answer.

Instead, he reached for her glass of juice and took a sip as though it belonged to him. He then set it down, folded his arms on the table, and fixed his gaze on her.

His expression was no longer playful.

"It's your fault."

Leandra blinked.

"What?"

"I've been trying to control myself, but you were the one who took the first step."

Her brows knitted together in confusion.

"W-what are you talking about? I only comforted you last night and apologized because I was the one at fault."

"Exactly." His voice softened, but his eyes remained fixed on hers. "You shouldn't have done that."

Leandra stared at him, waiting for an explanation.

"That hug reminded me of how things used to be between us," he continued. "For a moment, it felt like we were back to the way we were before everything changed."

His lips curved into a small smile.

"And now I've decided that I'm going to do everything I can to get closer to you before you move out and distance yourself from me again."

Leandra's mouth fell open.

"What?"

"You heard me."

Leandro stood up, looking entirely too pleased with himself. Before she could gather her thoughts, he reached over and ruffled her hair, deliberately messing it up.

"See you later, Ate."

With both hands tucked casually into his pockets, he walked away with the kind of effortless confidence that made people turn their heads.

Leandra remained frozen in her seat, staring after him.

A few seconds passed before she finally found her voice.

"What the hell is wrong with that idiot?"

She grabbed her glass of water and took a long drink, hoping it would somehow help her make sense of her brother's sudden change in behavior.

It didn't.

And the worst part?

Somehow, she had a feeling that Leandro was only getting started.