Lahat ng Kabanata ng Triplet Temptation: My stepbrothers are triplets : Kabanata 171 - Kabanata 180

~LUCAS~I'm driving Marcella out of the dinner party venue, in her own car, and I can't help but relieve the incidents that happened earlier.~~~I had gotten to the dinner venue feeling all nervous and anxious. I had never stood outside a door and needed a moment before walking in.Not for exams. Not for confrontations. Not even for serious interviews.But earlier tonight, standing outside the dinner hall, fingers adjusting the cuff of my sleeve for the fifth time, I felt something dangerously unfamiliar.Anticipation, and nerves.I didn’t know why I cared so much.It was just a dinner party.Just another crowded university hall with loud music, fake smiles, and people pretending they were more important than they actually were.And yet, as I stood outside the entrance adjusting the cuff of my sleeve for the fifth time, my pulse refused to behave.I looked down at myself again.I have never cared if anyone noticed what I was wearing.But tonight…Tonight

~LUCAS~Marcella does something that completely wrecks me.She presses a soft kiss to my jaw.Then another…..Slow. Gentle. Testing.“Marcella,” I breathe, barely holding on.“Why are you fighting me?” she whispers against my skin. “You kissed me like you wanted me.”Because I did.Because I do.Because that’s the problem.I turn my head slightly and our faces are inches apart.Her eyes flick down to my lips.She looks at me like I’m something she wants.Not a rebound. Not a weapon.Me.And that fear I’ve been ignoring finally forms clearly in my mind.I realize something then — something that hits harder than any jealousy ever could.I didn’t claim her because of my ex.I claimed her because I wanted to.Because the idea of someone else touching her made my chest burn.Because when I said “she’s my woman,” it didn’t feel like a lie.And that realization scares the hell out of me.I’m falling for her.It’s not dramatic. It’s not explosive. It’s quiet and terrifyi

~LUCAS~I can't resist Marcella when she is staring at me with those cute puppy eyes, after asking me to unzip her dress.Those eyes should honestly be illegal.Big. Soft. Slightly unfocused from the alcohol, yet still dangerously aware of what she’s doing to me.She tilts her head just slightly, lips curved in that mischievous smile she always wears when she knows she has the upper hand.And right now?She absolutely does.“Turn around,” I tell her.And my inner mind screams…..“Idiot! You just fell right into her trap.”Because of course this is a trap.Marcella never does anything without knowing the effect it will have.She’s too clever for that.And right now, standing in her dim bedroom with the warm light from the bedside lamp washing over her skin, she looks like temptation itself.She turns around, swaying slightly and smiling seductively.For a brief second she steadies herself with a hand on the dresser, then glances over her shoulder at me wit

~LUCAS~Stella's the last person I expected to see in my house.For a moment, I genuinely think I'm imagining things.“You finally came home. I've been waiting for you.”The room goes very still after Stella says that.For a moment I just stare at her, trying to process what I’m seeing.The dim streetlight through the curtain barely lights the room, but it’s enough.Enough to see her clearly.Enough to see that she hasn’t changed at all. She's still wearing the same dress from the dinner party.She's looking at me like she already knows exactly what I'm going to say next.She's standing in my room like she belongs here.Like nothing ever changed.Like she didn't walk out of my life and leave everything in ruins behind her.If she is here….then where is her new guy? Did she leave him to come to my house? Did she leave him somewhere?Did she drop him off and come straight here?Did they fight?Or worse… did she sneak away from him?What exactly is she doing h

~MARCELLA~Pain.That’s the first thing I feel when consciousness slowly drags me back to the world.A sharp, pounding pain sitting right behind my eyes like someone hired a construction crew to jackhammer my skull from the inside.I groan softly, my face half buried into the pillow before my eyes even open.Bad idea.The movement alone makes the pounding worse.“God…” I whisper hoarsely and open my eyes.Then the sunlight hits.It's blinding. Aggressive. Completely unnecessary for this hour of the morning.Absolutely vicious sunlight pouring straight through the tall windows of my bedroom like it personally rose up this morning with the goal of destroying me.My eyes snap shut again immediately.“Oh come on,” I groan, dragging the blanket halfway over my head.The light feels like knives stabbing my brain.My mouth tastes dry, my head feels like it weighs fifty pounds, and my body is wrapped in that awful heavy sluggish feeling that only comes after drinking