All Chapters of My Hockey Bully Stepbrother : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Summer's Pov There are some things you hear and your brain just refuses to accept them right away.Gray Ashford was my stepbrother.I kept turning that over in my head like it was a puzzle piece I was forcing into the wrong spot. Gray. Crew's brother. My stepbrother. This house kept unfolding its secrets one at a time, like it was enjoying watching me drown slowly.Gray must have seen it on my face because he shifted slightly and said, "I know it's a lot to take in. But just take it as it is. I'm your brother. You're my sister." He smiled, easy and calm, like he had rehearsed being this gentle his whole life. "And I'm really happy to finally meet you."I blinked. "Happy to meet you too."And I meant it. Strangely, I actually meant it.Then something else rose up inside me, something I had been pushing down since last night. I looked at Gray and said it before I could think twice."Thank you. For last night."He looked at me without saying anything."If you hadn't shown up—" I stopped

Summer's Pov The past two days had been surprisingly good. Gray had taken me around the house properly. The painting studio tucked behind the east wing that I never would have found on my own. The indoor pool that I had completely missed even though apparently it had been there the whole time. We swam, we talked, we laughed about nothing important and everything felt easy in a way that this house had never felt before. I needed that. More than I realized. I had barely seen Crew. And I was perfectly fine with that arrangement. I was not ready to look at him without feeling that slow burn sitting right behind my chest. Yesterday night he had shown up for tutoring like nothing had happened between us, like we were just two people in a room with a textbook between us. He tried once to steer the conversation somewhere else and I shut it down before it even started. Tutoring. That is all this is. Stay in your lane. He did. **** Tonight was English. I set everything up at th

Tyler's PovThe living room was quiet in that comfortable way that only happens when nothing is wrong.Mom and Dad were on the couch watching something neither of them was fully paying attention to anymore. Dad had his arm around her shoulder and she was half asleep against him. I had grown up watching them like this. No fighting, no tension, just two people who actually liked each other sitting in the same room. I never took that for granted even when I did not say it out loud.I was stretched out on the other end of the couch scrolling through my phone. Nothing interesting. Ruby's page was the usual chaos, posts about Cain every other hour like the boy had personally hung the moon for her. I smiled at that because Ruby in love was genuinely one of the funniest things I had ever witnessed up close.I checked Summer's page. Nothing new.I had been texting her every day since that wedding and something was off. I could feel it even through a screen. She was responding but there was som

Summer's PovGray was genuinely the best company I had had in a long time.We hit the coffee shop first, then the ice cream place down the street where Gray spent five full minutes debating flavors like it was a serious life decision. I was laughing before he even made his choice. That was the thing about him. He did not try to be funny. He just was funny.Crew could never.We ended up at a painting supply shop because Gray had remembered that he still needed new brushes and he also pointed out, very casually, that I had still never seen him actually paint."We're doing that soon," he said, dropping brushes into a basket. "Properly. You and me.""I don't know how to paint.""That's exactly why it's going to be fun."I shook my head but I was smiling.We moved through the shop and I was genuinely relaxed in a way I had not been in weeks. No tension sitting in my shoulders. No part of my brain on guard waiting for something to go wrong.At some point I said we should probably head back.

Summer PovI woke up thinking about his hand.Crew's hand. Coming toward my cheek. The flour. The way my heart had completely lost its mind in that moment before I grabbed his wrist and stopped it.I lay there staring at the ceiling and told myself to get over it.Then I got up, washed my face, and decided today was going to be a good day because Ty was coming and that alone was enough reason to be happy.Ruby was supposed to come too but Ruby had texted last night saying something happened with her mom and she had to go somewhere. I read that text twice and almost laughed out loud. Ruby was the worst liar I had ever met in my entire life. Cain had something to do with that sudden emergency, I was one hundred percent certain.I let it go and started getting dressed.I don't know what came over me but I spent more time than usual picking out my outfit. Something felt light in my chest this morning, this quiet wave of happiness that I could not fully explain, and I just went with it. I