All Chapters of STEP CLOSER, MY STEP BROTHER : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Ariana’s POVThe rain had stopped, but the clouds lingered thick, grey, moody. I leaned against the cold windowpane in the upstairs hallway, watching droplets race each other down the glass, feeling just as stormy inside.Roman had barely said anything to me all morning. Not since that kiss he gave me in the kitchen before vanishing into the library to study.Tension. It never left us for long. It lived between every glance. Every secret touch. Every word not spoken."Earth to Ari."I turned, blinking.Alex stood behind me with two mugs in hand, his blonde hair damp like he'd just come in from the rain. A few strands clung to his forehead, and he was smiling that kind of casual smile that disarmed you without trying.“I brought caffeine,” he said, holding one mug out. “You looked like you were about to drift into the abyss.”I smiled faintly and took the mug. “Thanks.”We stood in silence, sipping. The hallway was quiet, Roman’s door still shut. My chest tightened a little.“You okay?

Roman’s POVI hadn’t seen her in hours, and I was already on edge.Not the kind of edge I was used to not the cold calculation I mastered in courtrooms or the sharp control I kept around everyone else.This was different.This was hunger. Restlessness. Obsession.Ariana.She’d become a drug I couldn’t quit.I paced my bedroom, the moonlight slicing across the walls like silver blades, every tick of the clock making my skin crawl. I heard her earlier, giggling with Lana on the phone down the hallway. And then silence. Then her bedroom door closing.I waited.Five minutes. Ten.Then I moved.I didn’t knock. I didn’t text. I didn’t even care who heard me.I cracked her door open and slipped inside like a thief in my own fucking house.She was lying there in the dark, the soft glow from her phone lighting up her face. Her bare legs tangled in the sheets. My hoodie the one she stole swallowed her small frame.I froze at the sight of her.God.She looked so innocent it made my chest ache. S

Ariana’s POVI couldn’t sleep.Not after last night.Not after that look.The moment my mom opened the door and saw me saw us the room had frozen.Not from shouting. Not from anger.From silence.And somehow, that silence was worse.I’d barely been able to breathe. And now, lying in my bed, every second that passed stretched like wire across my chest.I needed to know.I needed to face her.I got up before the sun rose. My feet padded across the cold marble floor as I walked down the hallway, heart pounding like I was walking toward a firing squad. Roman’s door was closed. So was theirs.But the kitchen lights were on.I found her sitting at the dining table in her satin robe, a half-empty mug of tea cradled between both hands.Her eyes were puffy. Sleepless. Distant.She didn’t look up when I walked in.She already knew.“Mom,” I said softly.She blinked, still staring at the mug. “Do you want tea?”“No.”I walked toward the table. My hands trembled as I pulled out the chair across f

Roman’s POVI was ready to leave.The club was loud, packed, filled with bodies I didn’t care about and girls I wouldn’t touch even if I was drunk out of my mind. I wanted out. Away from the noise, away from the fucking ache in my chest that hadn’t let up since she started pulling away.But then I saw her.And everything in me went still.Ariana.Leaning against the bar, one hand curled around a drink, lips slightly parted as she laughed at something the guy next to her said. Her dress was short red, barely-there, backless, clinging to her body like it was painted on. Her skin glowed under the neon lights, and when she turned just slightly, the slit in her dress slid high up her thigh.Every guy in the room noticed.Especially the one beside her.He leaned in close, too close, whispering something in her ear like he had a right. Like he fucking belonged there.I saw her laugh again.And I snapped.My feet moved before my brain could catch up. My vision tunneled. The crowd blurred. All

Ariana's POVI hadn’t slept. Not really.I kept replaying Roman’s voice in my head, the way he looked at me like I’d broken something sacred. Like I’d given up on us.The thing is… maybe I had.And maybe it was killing me inside.I sat outside on campus, on the edge of a stone bench, watching a group of girls laugh in the distance. They didn’t know what it felt like to be me. To fall for someone you weren’t supposed to love. To wake up every day with your heart in your throat and shame burning down your spine.“Hey.”I looked up. Lana.Her brows were slightly drawn together, concern tugging at the corners of her mouth. She was holding two cups of iced coffee and offered me one like it was some kind of peace treaty.I took it with a shaky hand.“You okay?” she asked, sitting beside me. “You’ve been acting… different.”I tried to laugh. “Test is coming up so...”“Bullshit.”I stiffened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”Lana turned to face me fully now, her expression serious. “Ari, I’ve