Chapter Ten
If Chase notices my shaking, he doesn’t react, leading me through the dark rooms with my hand in his.
I’m so fucking scared to look up, to see if people are staring at the two of us.
Would they just see an older brother leading his sister away from her weird ex-boyfriend?
Or is his grip on my hand making it obvious that…
something else is happening with us? It’s tight, like he doesn’t want to lose me.
Maybe May is right. Maybe Chase does feel something for me besides total disdain.
He showed up, saw I was uncomfortable and handled it.
I’ve never been so fucking turned on in my life.
Years of bullying in school with little outside help must have traumatized me into being attracted to anyone that comes to my defense.
Right now my defender is Chase.
But that’s an issue for my therapist and me to work out at a later date.
Right now all I can focus on are the bulge of his triceps and the way my stomach swoops when his fingers tighten around mine, guiding us toward a dark bathroom to the side of an emptier hallway.
Placing a hand on the small of my back, he leads me inside and pulls the door shut behind us.
The lock clicks, and the darkness shocks my system for a moment before a row of vintage style bulbs dangle over a mirror, illuminating a beautiful marble sink. Then Chase flips a second switch and half the lights go out, leaving us in semi-darkness.
The past twenty-four hours have my nervous system shot to hell, and what just happened is still running through my mind.
Adrenaline from just watching Chase deal with my ex is starting to wash away, leaving me slightly shaky.
“I don’t know why you did that to Isaac. It’s not like he hurt me or anything.”
Those dark eyes are locked on me, just like always. Making my pulse take flight.
“No? He cheated on you right? More than once.” He takes a step toward me and I move backwards, hitting a wall.
Sliding to the side, my hand traces the wall until it grips the edge of the counter behind me. Keeping my distance from where he stands by the door, half consumed by shadows. “Since when do you give a shit? I know you set those people on me in high school. You don’t care how people treat me.”
He sighs, scratching his head and looking down at the ground, contrite.
Then he looks back up at me through his dark lashes, his hair falling messily into his eyes.
The whole thing somehow just makes him look ten times hotter.
It’s impossible to look away, and I wonder if he’s aware of the effect he’s having on me.
“Actually, you can blame Danny for that. He thought it might keep the boys from coming around when we went to college if his little brother made some more trouble for you.”
My stomach sinks. “W-what?” Disbelief quickly explodes into anger at how casually this is said. “Are you fucking kidding me? Are you two insane?”
Chase takes another step forward, his eyes falling to my lips. “It’s very possible.”
That pull is growing, the one inside me that wants him. But he’s dropped a bomb on me, that all the torment, all that fucking trauma, was for nothing.
“You have no idea how terrible those years were for me. How much they hurt me. This is…this is too much.” My throat tightens with the wave of emotion I can feel building in my chest.
I put my hands up in between us, trying to get him to stop prowling in my direction because all I can picture are the shoves into the lockers. The words spat in my direction. The rumors spread like wildfire in the hallway.
“Leigh,” he croons, his hand reaching out to cup under my jaw.
The touch is searing. “I didn’t know, okay?
Once I found out, I convinced Dad to let you homeschool.
” Tipping my face up to his, my hands tighten their grip on the counter behind me.
“I can’t make up for our school days, I know that.
But maybe I can make things a little better now. ”
What. The. Fuck. “Is this just because you read my stories? Now you’re turned on or something and you want to mess with me?”
His eyes are so dark. It’s like sinking into a black hole. “No. It’s you, that’s it. You can’t tell me you haven't noticed how I feel.”
“You hate me.” I hadn’t made that up, years of his cold expression, never welcoming me into his family, his home.
“I hated hearing you moan my name today and not being able to touch you.” His words shock my system so much I almost don’t realize he’s moved closer until his hips press against me, his fingers interlacing in mine on top of the counter at my sides.
His lips brush my forehead and suddenly I’m drunk on that feeling.
“I hated watching you slip your fingers inside yourself when it should be mine that get you off.”
My thighs clench, and I’m falling into the hypnosis of his eyes, hanging on every word.
“I fucking hated watching how ashamed you were with yourself after. Is it because you were thinking of me?”
I nod. No point in lying. Things make no sense anyways, so why hide the truth?
“I thought so,” he murmurs softly against my ear.
The tip of his tongue trails along the helix, tracing the outer edge all the way to the spot it meets my neck.
I shiver in his hold and feel his smirk against my skin.
He smells so good. “I know a good girl like you wouldn’t want to think that way about her brother. ”
“Step-brother,” I growl, and a rumble of laughter rolls through his chest, making my heart sing.
“True. Step-brother. So you don’t need to hate the way I’m making you feel right now, okay? You can just…let me have you.”
He says it softly, almost gently. As if that would soothe me enough to heed his words. Let him have me? It sounds so simple how he says it.
“I-..” I lose the ability to talk as his tongue traces my neck to my collarbone.
“How’s the story end, Leigh?” he murmurs against the heated skin of my chest.
“What?” My head is hazy with the absolute horniest of thoughts.
“Your story. The step-brother comes home. He chases her down, on Halloween right? But once he reaches her, it ends.”
“It didn’t end. You stole my computer.”
Another laugh, and he places his hand over his heart. “Got me. I’ve got an idea for you.”
I stare, unable to believe that this is reality.
“If you want this to end, turn off your phone. Leave this room, and we’ll go back to wanting to fuck each other from afar, okay? But if you want to play? Leave it on. Wait for a sign from me.”
I stutter. “A sign? What, when?”
“Ah, ah,” He tuts, leaning forward and nipping the end of my nose. It zings through my body and my toes curl. “I’m writing the ending tonight, you filthy little storyteller. This climax belongs to me.”