My Stepbrother, My Enemy {BL}

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I cleared my throat, the scratchy sound too loud in the stillness of his room, but no words came out.

"Okay," I barely whispered, turning toward the door while my hand instinctively reached for the handle. I had to get out—get away before the tension between us pulled me under again, before my body’s desires convinced my mind to betray itself.

Because, oh God, I wanted him to stop me.

I wanted him to close the distance between us, spin me around, and kiss me like he had before...wild and carefree, as if nothing else mattered beyond those walls. I wanted to forget Ethan’s gentle smile, my mom’s trusting eyes, and every single rule that told me this was wrong. The longing felt sinful, heavy, and intoxicating, curling low in my stomach and making my fingers shake against the cold doorknob.

But I couldn’t give in. Not with so much at stake...Ethan’s heart, our parents’ happiness, the fragile peace we’d all been pretending to uphold.

I walked away without looking back, forcing myself not to see the hurt written all over his face this time, no mask of anger or practiced indifference, just quiet pain that mirrored the ache in my own chest. It made me feel like the worst kind of person, the one who keeps hurting someone already so deeply wounded.

I felt like a terrible person...

My hand gripped the knob, and I was just about to pull the door open when the question that had been eating at me all day finally slipped out.

Stopping, tense shoulders, I turned back to face him.

"Did you have anything to do with the boys being in jail... and Vanessa moving out of Willow Haven so suddenly?"

Adrien leaned against the dresser, arms crossed loosely, moonlight casting sharp lines across his bare chest. He stayed silent for what felt like forever, his eyes glued to the floor before finally letting out a slow, reluctant sigh.