All Chapters of RIVAL'S TO LOVER'S: My Step Brother Is Now My Roommate : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Hayden's POV Every muscle in my body stiffened as Stephen placed his lips on mine. I was too stunned to speak, to move. Stephen, however, didn't stop there. He grabbed my chin and kissed me deeper, prying my mouth with his and that was when I lost it.Disgust surged through me and I pushed him away from me instantly, recoiling from whatever the fuck just happened. I wiped my lips once but that couldn't wipe away the disgust I felt toward Stephen right now. I almost gagged as I wiped my lips again and again until they started to hurt.I looked up at him and he looked so pleased with a grin on his lips.“You fucker!” I growled as I lunged at him, aiming to punch that smirk from his face but he ducked so quickly. “Why the fuck would you do that? You faggot!” I yelled in anger and he snorted with an amused expression on his face.I was homophobic. Purely homophobic. It was stupid to see two people of the same fucking gender do insane things to each other. Why would a fucking guy like me

Hayden's POV Stephen didn't move from his position even as I stared at him in disbelief. He actually apologized. He fucking apologized and was even all melancholic about it. That served him fucking right. I was beyond pleased so I stood up from the bed and approached him. I made him straighten so that he was shielding me away from Mom and the dean.“You're such a loser, look at you,” I whispered to him, but he didn't flinch; he didn't even look hurt.“Apologize too, Hayden.” I heard the dean say and I stiffened, glancing away from Stephen to look at him. “You pushed him to the wall. You are the reason the fight erupted in the first place so you should apologize.”My mood immediately soured, and I turned to Stephen, who was staring at the ground like something was interesting on it. The way he was acting robotically made me narrow my eyes at him, and I knew that he was up to something. But I couldn't place my hands on it.“I'm sorry, Stephen. I shouldn't have pissed you off.” I mutter

HAYDEN’S POV The next day started like a hangover without the courtesy of alcohol. My head felt packed with cotton and rage, my jaw still sore from grinding my teeth all night. I barely remembered falling asleep. It was just the TV murmuring something stupid while Stephen and his stupid one-night stand moaned in his room, loud enough to make sure I heard it. I showered fast, dressed faster, and got the hell out before he could say anything stupid. The campus looked the same, but it didn’t feel like it. Every glance felt like daggers. Every laugh sounded like it might be about me. I kept my shoulders straight anyway. I wasn’t going to let anyone see me shrink. That’s when I heard a familiar voice. “Uh…..sorry!” I collided with someone near the humanities building, coffee sloshing dangerously close to my shirt. I grabbed the cup instinctively, steadying it before it spilled. “Watch where you’re…..” I stopped. It was her. One of the girls from yesterday. The whisperer who said s

ELLA’S POVI shouldn’t have come here.The cheerleader field was loud with whistles and laughter, girls stretching, practicing lifts, pretending their lives were uncomplicated. The sun was too bright and my head was pounding. My mouth still tasted like regret.And there she was.Lilian stood near the center of the field, hands on her hips, ponytail swinging as she laughed at something one of the girls said. She looked…fine and untouchable, like she hadn’t just detonated my life by existing too close to Hayden.My chest tightened.I marched straight onto the field. Someone called my name but I ignored them.Lilian noticed me a second later. Her smile faltered, she didn't look surprised like she already knew why I was there.That did it.“Can we talk?” I said, stopping a few feet from her.Her eyes flicked around. “Now?”“Yes. Now.”She sighed and motioned to the side of the field, away from the others. We didn’t go far enough for privacy, just far enough for everyone to pretend not to

STEPHEN’S POVI didn’t remember deciding to leave.One second I was standing in the hallway, Hayden’s door still vibrating from where it had slammed shut, my chest tight and buzzing like I’d swallowed broken glass. The next, I was outside, the night air hitting my face like a slap.I deserved worse.I walked with no direction, hands shoved in my pockets, jaw locked so tight it ached. Every step felt like it was shaking something loose in me—anger, humiliation, regret. Or all three tangled together so badly I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other started.Hayden’s face wouldn’t get out of my head. That look he had when he finally stopped fighting back. Like he’d accepted the role I’d carved into him.You ruin everything you touch.The words tasted bitter now.I cut through campus without thinking, past the library, past the quad where people laughed too loudly and lived too easily. Then I saw her.Ella.She was sitting on one of the benches near the field, shoulders hunched, arms