Todos los capítulos de 12 Days of Christmas with My Brother’s Rival: Capítulo 41 - Capítulo 50

ANAHERA“I want to make the most of today.”I cast a sideways glance at Noel over the rim of my coffee cup. He wiped the side of his mouth with a tissue, crumpling it up after.Swallowing, I said, “Is there somewhere you need to be after?”That was when his eyes found me. “Trust me, it’s about you than me and I have a lot of things planned for you today.” Then added hastily, “If you’re up for it.”The words took me by surprise. “Oh,” is all I managed to say. When I was through, he packed the plates and cups, getting out to dispose of them in the nearby bin outside the eatery. I used that moment to wipe my mouth for crumbs, looking at my reflection in the mirror above me.Perfect. “So what have you never tried before that you’d love to do?” He asked as soon as he was back. “Let’s see.” I pretended to think, placing a hand under my chin. “How about we start with changing my clothes into something appropriate?”His eyes roamed down my body. I fought the urge to chalk it to anything m

ANAHERA I’d just settled in bed when my phone buzzed with a message from my supervisor whom I hadn’t heard from in weeks. Dr. Tiare. The woman who managed to make my life shit just by assigning me to the one person I begged her to not to. In the text, she asked that a full report on my patient’s recovery be submitted to her via email. Just that. No calling to ask if I survived the patient. These past few weeks, the only thing I’d managed to keep was tons of secrets, as well as the family I had, away from me. Because of her, and my crazed patient who had somehow managed to make a heart attack seem mild to the frantic pounding of my heart whenever he stood near. I yanked out the clipboard from my duffel with more force than necessary. After I’d compiled the reports into a file, I realized that the one month duration was drawing to an end. And for some reason, it saddened me. “No, Anahera. You can’t be serious,” I chided myself, which conveniently was the only

ANAHERA Of all the places I guessed Noel would be taking me to, nothing prepared me for the sight of… “A Christmas market?!” I shrieked, ignoring the dozens of heads that turned to look in our direction. “Holy shit!” Noel winced. “Language, please. There are kids around.” I slapped a hand over my lips. “I’m so sorry. It’s just…I’ve never been to a place like this despite how much I wanted to as a kid.” “I can see that.” He chuckled. After my parents died, there wasn’t much to sit around for. So Dominik and I moved out and there was the death to it being in my wishlist. This was like a fucking fantasy. A wet dream come true. Only that this one was filled with stringed fairly lights dangling from shop to shop, the aroma of greasy foods permeating the air, the laughter of kids running about. This was paradise. “Let’s get you started on something.” Noel held out a hand which I grabbed without thinking twice. The food stall was the first place we went to. I tri

NOELAnahera was everything but impulsive. However, I feared that her hanging out with me often than usual was starting to rub on her. In ways that her brother would despise or trace back to me. When she started pulling me toward the kissing booth, I did everything to back out of it.She wasn’t drunk. So how could she not have seen “KISSING BOOTH” in bold letters overhead? Even worse that the ambience inside fit the purpose of the place. It had taken me everything to keep my hands off her body tonight since I saw her open her door, wearing nothing but my jersey. Looking like a fucking dream with her hair tumbling down her shoulders in soft waves. Blood had never rushed so faster through my body. I was nothing but a ticking time bomb of desire when she reached around me to hold on during the bike rides. The only thing I could help was my reaction. I’d be damned if I hadn’t bitten my tongue more than once to use the pain to steer my brain out of the gutters. And I was winning.

ANAHERA The bike ride continued in silence without a single word from Noel nor me. I couldn’t find it in me to comment on how beautiful and starry the sky was, or the chill of the morning. What had Gwyn meant by ‘the truth’? Why did Noel seem on edge after that? What was he hiding from me? A draft of chilly breeze rushed into the gap at the opening of Noel’s jacket and I shivered, forced to tighten my arms around him. I couldn’t wait until the ride was over. Soon, we slowed to a stop outside my house. I hopped down without a word, reaching for my purse with numb fingers. But the lingering question in my mind weighed down too much to ignore. I turned around, to find Noel walking toward me as well. “I want you to tell me the truth.” He looked uncertain, yet nodded anyway. “What part about the past are you hiding from me?” His shoulders dropped, as though my question weighed him down too. “If it’s about what Gwyn said, then it is nothing. Like you said, y