All Chapters of Dirty Stepbrother: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

She was leaning against the vending machine outside the gym when I came out, like she’d been waiting exactly there for exactly me.“Where does he go on Tuesdays?”I stopped. “Excuse me?”“Sebastian. Tuesdays.” Val didn’t move from the machine, arms crossed, watching me the way you’d watch something you already had an answer about and were waiting to confirm. “He used to have dinner with my family every Tuesday. Hasn’t shown up in weeks.”“I don’t track his schedule.”“Don’t you though.” She pushed off the machine, closing the space between us, slow and deliberate. “You two are basically attached lately.”“We’re stepbrothers, Val.”“Sure.” She said it flat, disbelief sitting right on top of the word. “You know his father, and mine have been talking about a merger for years. Companies. Not just families. It’s not really about who Sebastian likes. It’s about what makes sense.”“Then take it up with him.”“I have.” Something sharp flickered across her face before she smoothed it back down.

Sebastian couldn’t shake it.The envelope sat somewhere behind his eyes all through practice, distracting enough that he missed an easy pass twice and got benched for the third drill, coach barking his name in that tone that meant get your head in the game.He told himself it wasn’t a big deal. People carried paperwork. It didn’t mean anything, necessarily, that Jae had walked into his apartment with a company logo sticking out of his backpack, some name Sebastian didn’t recognize embossed thick on the corner. Rich families dealt with lawyers and contracts constantly; maybe it was something to do with the scholarship, or financial aid, or some form Jae needed signed by a parent.Except none of those explanations sat right, and he knew it, turning the memory over again on the bench while his teammates ran drills without him.“You’re somewhere else today.”Marcus not the Marcus from the club, a different one, the team’s other winger, a guy Sebastian had known since freshman year dropped

I couldn’t keep my eyes open through the first lecture, and by the second I’d stopped even trying.My body still ached from the night before hockey in the afternoon, then hours at the club after- my legs a strange mixture of good tired and bad tired that didn’t cancel each other out so much as stack on top of one another until I felt like I was moving through water just walking between buildings.I remember sitting down in the empty lecture hall between classes, notebook open, pen in hand.I don’t remember closing my eyes.“Jae.”Something warm settled over my shoulders before the voice registered, and I blinked awake slowly, disoriented, my cheek stuck to the edge of my open notebook where I’d apparently been drooling.Sebastian sat in the seat beside me, one hand still resting where he’d draped his jacket over me, watching with an expression that wasn’t annoyed, just quiet and careful.“How long was I out?”“Twenty minutes, maybe. I found you like this on my way to my next class.” He

I didn’t stop walking fast until I was three blocks from my building, and even then I kept checking over my shoulder every few seconds, convinced the car would reappear each time I let my guard down.It didn’t. By the time I reached my door, hands shaking as I fumbled with the keys, I’d almost managed to talk myself into believing I’d imagined the whole thing: coincidence, paranoia, exhaustion playing tricks on a brain that hadn’t slept properly in weeks.I locked the door behind me anyway. Both locks. Something I hadn’t bothered doing in months.I was still sitting on the edge of my mattress, jacket still on, when someone knocked.Three sharp raps, familiar in a way that made my stomach drop before I’d even opened the door.Sebastian stood in the hallway, jaw tight, something in his expression I hadn’t seen before not concern exactly, something harder underneath it.“Can I come in?”“It’s late, Sebastian.”“I know what time it is.” He didn’t wait for an actual answer, stepping past me

Practice felt different that afternoon, tense in a way that had nothing to do with the drills.Sebastian and I hadn’t spoken since he walked out of my apartment, and it showed: no easy banter on the bench, no shoulder bumps between drills, just careful distance dressed up as professionalism that fooled absolutely nobody on the team.“You two breaking up or something?” one of the defensemen asked during a water break, half joking, glancing between us with a grin that made it clear the whole team had noticed.“We’re fine,” I said, too fast.“Sure looks like it.” He shrugged and skated off, and across the rink Sebastian’s eyes met mine for the first time all practice, both of us looking away just as quickly.I cornered him after, once the locker room had mostly cleared out, my nerve nearly failing twice before I made myself walk over.“Can we talk?”He didn’t answer right away, pulling his bag over his shoulder, jaw tight. “Depends what about.”“I’m not going to tell you everything.” I ke