Stuck Between Two Hotties: My Stepbrother Stole My Christmas のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 11 - チャプター 20

CHAPTER TWELVE:LENA Pov;I didn't sleep.Not really.I lay awake for hours with the soft glow of the hallway spilling under my bedroom door, proof that Cassian was there leaning against the wall, guarding me like some dark, quiet sentinel.Every time the house creaked, every time the wind howled, I waited for the sound of Bryce creeping back up the stairs.But every sound that came after was steady... controlled... deliberate.Cassian.The thought alone warmed something inside me I didn't know how to name.By the time dawn touched the edges of my curtains, exhaustion dragged me into a light sleep. Not deep. Not peaceful. But safe enough.I woke to a soft knock."Lena?"Cassian's voice.Quiet.Low.Too gentle for someone who always walked like a storm.I pushed myself up, heart fluttering as I opened the door.He stood there still in the clothes from last night, same black henley, same dark jeans but his hair was slightly messier, like he'd run a hand through it one too many times. Or

CASSIAN Pov;I didn’t plan to lose my temper.I didn’t plan to say anything that hinted at what I felt what I shouldn’t feel what I’d been trying like hell to lock away since the moment Lena Hale stepped into this house in her soft sweater and trembling smile.But Bryce pushed.He always pushed.And tonight… he pushed too far.The moment Lena’s bedroom door clicked shut upstairs, I turned back toward Bryce. He stood there at the foot of the staircase, chest rising and falling too fast, hands shaking with a mixture of rage and heartbreak.He wasn’t my enemy.He was my blood.But that didn’t matter right now.“You think you’re the hero here?” Bryce spat, trying to rearrange his emotions into something resembling confidence. “You think she wants you?”I rubbed a hand across the back of my neck, grounding myself. “This isn’t about what I want.”“It’s always about what you want,” Bryce fired back. “You’ve lived your whole life shutting people out. Now suddenly you’re the noble protector?”

CASSIAN Pov;I should’ve walked away.I should’ve put space between us the moment she stepped closer when her voice softened, when her eyes lifted, when those words I wasn’t supposed to want to hear left her mouth.“Maybe I want it too.”Those words hit harder than Bryce’s accusations.Harder than Lena walking away from the restaurant with her heart in pieces.Harder than anything I’d tried to bury.I should’ve left the room should’ve run but I didn’t.I stayed.And she stayed.Looking at me like I was something worth choosing.I drew in a slow breath, forcing myself to look away before I lost the last thread of control I had left. “Lena… you don’t know what you’re saying.”“Yes,” she whispered. “I do.”“Emotions are messy right now. You’ve been hurt ”“And you think that makes me too fragile to know what I want?”“I think you’re vulnerable,” I said quietly. “And I’m… not safe.”She stepped too close. “You haven’t hurt me.”“Not yet.”Her breath caught, and that alone nearly undid me.

LENA Pov;Bryce’s question hung in the cold air like frost on glass fragile, lingering, impossible to ignore.“What is going on between you two?”Cassian didn’t move.Didn’t flinch.Didn’t offer a lie to make this easier.And maybe that was what scared Bryce the most.He stared at us with a look I’d never seen on him before, not anger, not heartbreak, not jealousy.Fear.“Bryce,” I said softly, “let’s not do this outside. It’s freezing.”“You’re avoiding the question,” he shot back.Cassian’s jaw tightened. “Leave it alone.”“No,” Bryce said, stepping onto the porch. “Not this time. I need to know.”I inhaled shakily. “Bryce”He looked at Cassian, voice breaking. “You told me you didn’t want her.”Cassian finally turned his head. “I said it didn’t matter what I wanted.”“That’s the same thing,” Bryce snapped.Cassian stepped forward not threatening, but controlled, steady, like he was trying to prevent a fire before it caught.“Bryce. Go inside.”“No.” Bryce’s voice cracked on the sin

LENA Pov;Dinner never happened.Not really.My mother reheated food three times, pacing the kitchen like a pendulum. Senator Ward kept checking his emails, pretending to be calm. My aunt retreated to the guest room with a headache. No one sat together. No one spoke more than necessary.And Cassian didn’t come out of his room.Not once.Not for food.Not for water.Not even when my mother knocked twice and he responded with a curt, “I’m fine.”He wasn’t fine.And neither was I.I kept pacing the hallway, hovering between my door and his. Every time I got close to knocking, fear froze my hand.Fear of pushing him.Fear of hurting him.Fear of the truth between us.But mostly?Fear that he meant what he’d said earlier.“Now I try to stay away from you.”By the time the clock struck eleven, the house was finally quiet. I stepped into the hallway, heart pounding, fingers trembling.One step.Two steps.Three.Cassian’s door came into view.I raised my hand“Lena?”I flinched.My mother st