All Chapters of 12 Days of Christmas with My Brother’s Rival: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

49 Chapters

31 – OF DEEPER SECRETS AND BREAKING RULES

NOELI was already at the door to my room before my phone pinged with a notification from one of my teammates in the group chat. ‘Another Stanford Family Scandal?’ Who Stanford? Perhaps more celebrity gists that I hated to involve myself with.I let myself in and clicked on the video just in time to see two girls verbal sparring. It was none of my business at first until Anahera’s face came into view. The camera panned to the girl she was arguing with…Eleanor.Stanford. Jax. “Isn’t this Jax’s little sister?” Just as I said that aloud, a loud slap rang out. Jax had just hit his sister. In public. In front of a crowd.Shaking my head, I let myself out again, hurrying into the elevator that’d take me down to the party. “Stupid fucking asshole,” I muttered, pacing restlessly in the elevator ride that was taking an eternity.If Coach caught wind of this, Jax could be possibly benched for the entire season or worse. Arrested. In no time, I was pushing forward through the tight crowd

32 — OF ICE RINKS AND PAST ECHOES

ANAHERA Time stood still. I could feel beads of sweat rolling between my breasts and down my back, waiting for my brother’s response. He merely looked at me, eyes narrowed in thought, before he turned and walked out. Without a single word. For the first time ever, I stood up to him, and contrary to what Bella and Eleanor told me, it felt horrible. Like taking a knife and shoving it into my brother’s back. I humiliated him in public. Someone whistled loud and long. “Well, that was intense, don’t you think?” It was Eleanor. “This does not mean I forgive you for ruining my life. Enjoy your solo staycation.” She walked off, her brother following behind. It was me and Noel left in the hallway. Before he opened his mouth to say a word, I shook my head to stop him. “I don’t want to hear anything. Just shut it.” The distance to my hotel room was just in the other hallway, but the weight of guilt crushing me could not let me see it. Fuck, what was I thinking? I br

33 — OF HEAT AND FLEETING IMPULSES

ANAHERAThe last time I felt like this was ages ago. The last time I felt…carefree, happy, buzzing with energy. All of a sudden, I was twelve again and on the ice rink, defying my brother by sneaking out to play with the other kids on the frozen pond a few distance away. Except this time, it was with Noel and we were playing hockey. Hard.I sent the puck sliding into the goal again. “That’s…that is foul play. You had me distracted, Hera,” Noel panted, grabbing another puck. “I can’t believe you’re this good.” I shrugged with a smile so wide my face started to hurt.“Just take your L and move on, Noel. Admit that I’m a better player than you are.” Actually, it was the second time I scored. Noel was several points ahead of me but was doing a terrific job at being humble about it.The motive alone had my heart racing for a reason which had nothing to do with the game. A while later, I collapsed on a chair in the bleachers. “That was a good game, huh?” Noel asked as he made his way

34 — OF HOTEL ROOMS AND SIXTY-NINE

ANAHERA There was no measure to how much kisses Noel showered me with, and to be honest, I’d never been kissed with so much fervor by anyone. In my entire not-so-relevant dating history. He took each second of the precious time we didn’t have, exploring my mouth, tasting my lips and prolonging the ache between my thighs. And each kiss reminded me of what it would feel like to have his tongue swiping over my currently very wet folds. “Noel,” I gasped when he tilted my head back and peppered hot kisses down the column of my throat, nibbling as he went. I was a shaking mess by the time he came back up to take my mouth again. “You.” Kiss. “Anahera Kallio.” Kiss. “Are the bane of my existence.” I let a long moan slip out. “So are you, mister.”His expert fingers finally made their way to the front of my sweater before sliding under to catch my freezing nipples between the tips. My back arched into him, and our kisses turned wild with passion. With those forest eyes gleaming at me

35 — OF GUNSHOTS AND MISSES

ANAHERA Fingers threaded through my hair, tingling my scalp, a voice humming in the distance, my heart beating peacefully as though all was finally right in the world. There was another sound right under where my ear was; a beating heart that matched mine. It felt entirely blissful…Until a loud sound shattered the silence. I jerked awake expecting to meet a disaster, instead I found Noel staring out the window and sunlight streaming into the room. It was as though I imagined his fingers in my hair and the sound of…what was that even?The space next to me, where I thought he was laying on, was cold to the touch. He headed over to me with a frown marring his features. Something was wrong and it wasn’t my imagination.“What was that sound?” I sat up, wrapping the duvet tight around my naked body. “What sound? That was nothing, princess. You should go back to sleep.”I pulled away when he tried to reach for me. “What happened? You don’t look your usual smug, annoying self.” He si

36 — OF FRIENDSHIPS AND FRACTURES

ANAHERABella was more distant than ever when I got home, mind you, it’d barely been two days since I left on what would have been the cure to my exhaustion. I had a day and half to get myself back in order before resumption with Noel, so I decided to spend it with my best friend.It felt like I was slowly losing her and didn’t know how to get to her or stop her from leaving. I didn’t even know what I’d done to bring about the distance.Right now, I was on her doorstep, waiting for her to notice me. “You’re not gonna invite me in?” My voice was raised a notch higher than I wanted to. Looking up from her phone, she replied, “Oh, yeah, sure.” She opened the door wider, stepping aside for me to pass. Determined not to pay attention to that, I tried to act casual. “So, what have you been up to?”“Just work. Nothing much.” She shrugged, sitting down. “I heard what happened at the hotel…” “It’s fine. I’m safe after—”“You know that wasn’t your business to tell,” she bit out harshly.

37 — OF BONDS AND REBELLION

ANAHERA On the train ride home, it was pure torture between fighting hard to swallow the guilt and rage in my throat and blinking back the tears in my eyes.Throughout my friendship with Bella, the only argument was about petty things and barely lasted minutes. I hated that Bella was right. Eleanor never said the pregnancy was my brother’s or tried to pin it on him. Reaching up, I wiped away a stray tear angrily, biting my lips to keep myself from bawling out in a place full of strangers. “Is this seat taken?” Someone asked. Quickly, I blinked away tears, shaking my head. “Just me.”They took the space beside me and thankfully, paid me no mind. My phone buzzed in my purse. For a wishful second, my mood lifted at the thought that it could be my best friend trying to apologize.Taking it out, it indeed was a message from Bella. However, she wasn’t saying the words I hoped to hear. Bella — I don’t want you to take this the wrong way but you need to do as your brother says and stay

38 — OF TED TALKS AND MALICE

ANAHERA Two days later, and my brother still hadn’t said a word to me. Not like I was expecting his calls or anything, but come on, that little spat didn’t justify the silent treatment. Again, it was Dom we were talking about. He wouldn’t hesitate to hold out on anyone he didn’t want to talk to. Especially after what had gone down at his place. So I kept my distance not because it was the right thing to do, I just couldn’t speak to him yet. I buried my focus into my work, obsessively trying to be sure Noel made recovery in time to begin the pre-tournament games. Speaking of Noel, the only thing we’d ever talked about since we resumed was his health and the games. I dared not venture into uncharted territory by entertaining those memories around him. Another two days passed. I’d barely gotten a message from either my best friend nor my brother, the two people whom I held very dear to my heart. “Hey,” Noel’s voice cut through the train of my thoughts as I packed my duffle bag

39 — OF THIRTEEN YEARS AND BROKEN THINGS

ANAHERA I stared at him for what seemed like a full minute before he nudged the door wider and slipped in past me. My protest hung in my throat when I turned around to see he had plopped down on my couch, making himself comfortable. ON MY COUCH! “You’re not joking?” “Did I say something funny?” His eyes roamed for a bit then landed on me. “If you need me to leave, I’ll just…” “Never mind.” I shut the door. “You’re in already.” From my peripheral view, I caught the smirk on his smug face. “This place hasn’t changed since the last time I was here. Except for maybe that bag.” He shrugged. “I was probably too tipsy to even notice. Do you remember?” “Of course, I do.” I rolled my eyes. “You wouldn’t keep your mouth shut and almost woke up the neighborhood with your horrible rendition of Firework.” He let out a dramatic gasp. “Now you take that back. That is my top five of the songs I lined up to perform for an event back in freshman year.” I opened my fridge. “Spea

40 — OF TRUTHS AND AVOIDANCE

ANAHERA When I was back with a glass, Noel had turned toward me. I could tell there was a lot he wanted to say to me with the way his lips pursed.A part of me knew I wouldn’t like whatever he had to ask. “Those years ago, things used to be alright between us until it went awry. What happened?” My drink halfway to my mouth, I paused. “Are you sure that’s something we want to get into today?”He nodded. “I couldn’t stop thinking about why you suddenly grew hostile towards me.” “I do not want to think about it or else I’d have to kick you out,” I said firmly. He apologized, murmuring something about it being in the past and him always blurting things out at the wrong time. My attention had long left the room. Of all the things he could do, he wanted to pretend like he didn’t know what he did to break my trust in him?He wanted to pretend he didn’t try to sabotage my brother’s career before the scouts? Yet again, what was I even doing letting the man into my house? This man had

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