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61 || Calum
I have no phone, no laptop, and no car. I have nothing that can give a clue where Calum is. I don’t even know what day of the week it is.
I’m not living, I’m existing until the first person cracks. Dad is giving me the silent treatment. He’s upset. How can he be upset when all I did was fall in love?
I sit up, tilt my head this way, then that way and blink. My vision clears. I stare at the window. That’s all I do.
But Calum hasn’t shown up.
The door jiggles. The knob twists. I don’t move. I don’t open the door. “Catherine,” Dad calls out from outside. “Cathy.” He pounds on the door. I flop on my back and stare at the ceiling. The pounding on the door increases, and I place a pillow on my face to drown the sound. “Catherine.”
“Go away,” I whisper in a voice I’m certain doesn’t reach him. I want to be left alone.
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Home is where Calum is, so I wait behind. Not in the hospital because I’m not wanted there, but outside in Dad’s car. My fingers strum the steering wheel, and my phone vibrates with texts and calls from Dad.I don’t pick. I can’t.I can’t tell him he’s right. That it’s just us now.Hours roll by as I sit in the car and wait with my stomach gnawing in hunger. I know when Dani leaves. I see her, and she sees me, but we don’t speak. An hour after she’s gone and I can’t endure the suspense anymore, I storm into the clinic. They cannot kick me out when I’ve done nothing wrong. Dad hit him, not me.Thankfully, another lady is on duty. My face is set behind a mask of indifference as I approach the counter. I cough into my palm. “Hi. I’m here for Calum Dissick.”“Gone,” she says without looking up at me.“I’m sorry, wha
To Tempt My Stepbrother 63 || You are here
My eyes flutter open. Two things are evident. One, I’m not in Dad’s arms. I’m on my bed. Two, I’m not alone. Is Calum here? He came for me? I blink rapidly, my vision clears, and the person on my bed smiles.“You came. You are here,” I tell her. Amelia is not Calum but she’s a welcome face. She nods, her hand reaches up to cup my cheek. I move in so we are almost touching. “You didn’t have to come, Amelia Greene”“I had to. It’s what he would have wanted. And you didn’t sound so good the last time.”Because I didn’t feel good. I tug her pillow towards me to share it with her. She stretches the corners of my lips till they move into a smile. Her brown eyes sparkle and I can’t help the laugh that escapes me.“Dad let you in?” I ask. Her reply is a small smile. “You guys are always setting me up.”“Because we
To Tempt My Stepbrother 64 || It’s really over
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To Tempt My Stepbrother 65 || Letters to my love
I wake up with the strong urge to throw up. Amelia is gone so no one witnesses my rush to the bathroom. I feel like shit. It must be what I ate for dinner last night. Or maybe this is what heartbreak feels like. There are no tears left for me to shed as I rinse my mouth and splash some water to my face.Calum blocked me. He blocked his baby.I can’t get over it. I’m not sure I ever will. But the part of me that believes in us wants to give him another chance. I head back to my room with no sense of direction or purpose.What should I do?The laptop on my table stares morosely at me. I haven’t opened it in days. I grab my phone and walk to the table. My fingers run over my face so many times as I try to think up the best plan. I can’t sit here and wait.Instaagram is out of the question.What about TicToc?Heart beating in my throat, I open the app. Calum hasn’t un
To Tempt My Stepbrother Part III: To Marry My Stepbrother
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To Tempt My Stepbrother 1 || Loving can hurt
It doesn’t get easier but you get better at pretending. So much so that when Calum and his bandmates appear on TV, I don’t even flinch or bat an eyelid. Amelia settles down by my left. I feel her eyes on me right before the show starts. She’s worried. She has always been the mother hen but now that Mace is almost here, she’s paranoid.Amelia grabs the remote from the coffee table, dragging it closer so I can place my feet on the table. I send her a smile. She gets me.“Are you sure you want to watch this?” she asks.I don’t want to but his voice works magic for Mace and I love my comfort. I place the bowl of popcorn on my belly and she steals from it. We stare ahead at the TV glued to the white wall of our office. I can’t hear their voices yet because the sound is on mute.“Not really. You know how his voice calms Mace. I don’t have much of a choice here.”A s
To Tempt My Stepbrother 2 || Nothing is the same anymore
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To Tempt My Stepbrother 3 || And a girlfriend
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