All Chapters of 12 Days of Christmas with My Brother’s Rival: Chapter 41 - Chapter 49

49 Chapters

41 — A DAY OFF WITH MY BROTHER’S RIVAL

ANAHERA I spent the next morning obsessing over my choice of makeup or if I ought to let my hair down. Every now and then, I’d alternate between daydreaming and peeking into my chat inbox with Noel last night. Was it real? A schoolgirl’s giggle found its way out of my mouth before I could control it.Yup, it was definitely real.Did this spell anything for us? No, the fuck not. It didn’t mean anything. As far as I could tell, it was just two people doomed never to be, talking about what could’ve been. “And you, Anahera, are going to keep it that way,” I said aloud to my reflection in the mirror, a poor attempt at chastising myself.Too late, because the clock read seven fifty and it wouldn’t be long before—His chat bubbled up few seconds before a message appeared. WITH ME IN HIS INBOX! Shit, now I look like one of his fangirls anticipating a wave from him. Rautio — Good morning, Hera. You ready?Grabbing my duffel bag and checking my outfit one last time, not like it was anyt

42 — OF GAMES AND GLANCES

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

43 — OF FINAL STRAWS AND FALLOUT

ANAHERA When my first ball went straight into the gutter, it solidified what I thought about bowling. It was a terrible idea. I was prepared to hear Noel roaring in laughter at my failure. He didn’t. In fact, he did quite the opposite. He just stepped up beside me, adjusted my stance with gentle hands on my hips, showing me how to follow through. “Like this,” he murmured, close enough that his breath brushed my ear. “Relax your wrist.” I knocked down seven pins. “Oh, I’m so good at this!”He gave a high-five so hard that my palm stung. Guess who also teased me mercilessly when I ruined the next ball?Between turns, we sat down next to each other with our shoulders brushing, trading insults and laughs. Every time he got all pins, he did a ridiculous victory dance that made me snort into my soda, nearly vomiting the drink through my nose. By the time we finished the game, he won by a narrow margin. My cheeks hurt—I mean, my ass cheeks too from falling a few times and my face fr

44 — OF BIKE RIDES AND A NIGHT OUT (I)

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

45 — OF BIKE RIDES AND A NIGHT OUT (II)

ANAHERA “Okay, I was wrong. You were right. This is cool!” I shouted into the wind, hoping Noel caught my words. He did, because his body moved. I, on the other hand, couldn’t get what his response was but I knew it was nothing less than mockery for my unbelief. I used to think helmets were tight, stuffy, smelly cocoons to keep your head in during bike rides and that they were uncomfortable. However, the one on my head begged to differ. The interior was made of the softest, cushiony cotton, even though it weighed a little on me. Not to mention it smelled like cotton candy and Cedar. Like Noel. The man did a sudden swerve to the right and I was forced to clasp my hands tighter around him, locking my fingers together in horror. “Have you lost your goddamn mind?!” I shrieked, uncaring that he heard me. His body shook again. The nerve of him to laugh at me. The ride from then on was smooth having left the city to burst out into our old neighborhood with cleaner air and le

46 — OF BIKE RIDES AND A NIGHT OUT (III)

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

47 — OF MISTAKES AND PHOTO BOOTHS

ANAHERAUnder different circumstances, throwing up my guts would have been a better remedy for my stomachache.After all, it tended to clear pathways in one’s body. Throwing up in the presence of Noel while he held up my hair? Now, that was another level of embarrassment. “Here.” I raised my head to see Rose passing me a bottle of water. She looked sorry for the pathetic condition I was in.After I’d rinsed my mouth, I straightened to my feet with very little glance at the man who just tucked my hair behind my ears. “I’m sorry I ruined your night,” I began to apologize but Rose wasn’t having it. “This happens so often to people around here it’s become normal. If you want, I can give you some honeyed tea to make you feel better.”“Thank you.” Shame pushed forward in my words even as I tried not to dwell on it. So what? People throw up all the time. Fuck. “Are you okay?” Noel asked in a soft tone. He reached up to tuck my hair back. “A little while now and you’ll be feeling bett

48 — OF KISSING BOOTHS AND WET JUICE

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.

49 — OF OLD FRIENDS AND HISTORY

NOELEvery fantasy of riding together into the sunrise dissipated like early morning dew when I saw the empty spot where the bike should be. “Did we just get robbed in the Christmas market?” Anahera’s voice was incredulous as she stepped up beside me, staring in surprise at the helmets on the floor. Like the thief dropped that for us as compensation for taking our means of transport. “Apparently so.” A hand ruffling my head, I rolled the kinks out of my neck. “Thanks to the holiday spirit.” She turned her head to look at me, pity drowning in the depths of her brown eyes. “Do you think you can phone the company to track them down? They couldn’t have gone very far.”Good thinking. I should’ve known another shock awaited me when I pulled out my phone to see it had no service. I let out a silent hiss. “Fuck.”Hera sneezed. Great, not only were we stranded with no service, she’d also caught a cold. “Is there a problem?” “I’m not getting any service.” I shoved the phone back into

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