Puck Me Harder: A Stepbrother Romance [BL]

Micah’s POV

"What... what exactly is it, Damon?" I pressed, my voice trembling as the freezing rain lashed against my face.

The terror in that scream had sliced straight through my bones, but Damon’s reaction was what truly frightened me. He turned his gaze from the dark, rain-soaked courtyard below, his eyes black and unreadable as they locked onto mine. The predatory sharpness in his expression vanished, replaced instantly by a carefully constructed wall of indifference.

"Nothing serious," he said smoothly, his large hand wrapping around my arm to guide me firmly back inside the bedroom, away from the edge. He shut the heavy glass doors, cutting off the roaring storm, and flicked his eyes toward the nightstand. "Are you still eating that pizza?"

I swallowed hard, my chest tight with a lingering sense of dread. "Uh, no. I’m done."

"Good. Let’s go," he ordered.

He didn’t waste another second. Grabbing my hand, his grip tight and unyielding, he led me out of the guest room. As we navigated the grand staircases, the chaos of the estate party was still in full swing. The bass was thumping through the floorboards, and the flashing neon lights blinded my sensitive eyes.

Between the deafening volume of the music and the torrential downpour hammering the roof, it was painfully obvious that absolutely no one else had heard that horrifying scream. They were all too lost in their own chemically induced euphoria.

"Come on," Damon muttered a low command near my ear as he steered me through a maze of corridors.

We escaped out the back through the grand kitchen, slipping into the dark, wet night. As we rushed toward the front driveway, my eyes instinctively darted toward the row of luxury vehicles lined up under the dim streetlights. My heart did a painful, complicated flip. Noah’s sleek car was still parked exactly where he had left it.

The image of him flashed in my mind... still trapped upstairs in room four, tangled up in the sheets with that beautiful, wealthy blonde girl. A bitter, agonizing sting of jealousy flared in my throat..

"Get in," Damon commanded, throwing open the passenger door of his car.

I scrambled inside, desperately trying to shield my bare legs from the wind. Instantly, Damon vaulted into the driver’s seat, slammed the door, and zoomed off into the dark. The playful, mocking boy from earlier was completely gone. The rigid seriousness carved into his jawline made my stomach twist into knots. I knew deep down that the scream wasn’t "nothing." It was something catastrophic.

"Are we... are we escaping from something right now?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper over the roar of the engine.

Damon kept his eyes locked onto the dark road ahead, his knuckles white against the steering wheel. "Maybe," he replied tightly. Then, his expression softened just a fraction as he glanced at me. "And besides... I’m fulfilling my promise to you, darling. I’m getting you home before midnight."

The car tore through the rain-slicked streets like a wild animal. Even though my seatbelt was pulled incredibly tight against my chest, the sheer speed sent a jolt of panic through my veins. I raised my hand and gripped the safety handle above my head for double protection, my knuckles turning just as white as his. Damon was driving like a madman, weaving through the storm with a reckless desperation.

Because of his frantic pace, we arrived back at my house infinitely faster than when we had left. The familiar silhouette of the house loomed ahead through the sheets of rain. I stared up at the dark windows.

I turned to look at Damon, who was already reaching into the backseat for a large black umbrella. He shoved it into my hands. "Here you go."

"Thanks," I whispered, my heart hammering against my ribs.

Damon leaned in slightly, his dark eyes anchoring me to the spot one last time. "Don’t worry about a single thing that happened tonight, Micah. Just go straight in there and get some sleep."

"Okay," I breathed.

I opened the door and stepped out into the freezing downpour, popping the umbrella open to shield myself. The moment my feet hit the driveway, Damon violently turned the car around and drove off into the darkness, his taillights bleeding into the rain. I stood there for a split second, a hollow ache opening up in my chest. Was he heading back to the horror at that party? Or was he going home?

I didn’t know. I couldn’t afford to care.

Moving quickly, I sprinted around the side of the house, gripping the frozen brick wall as I carefully navigated my way back to my bedroom window. I hoisted myself up, tumbling over the sill and landing quietly on the carpeted floor.

I let out a massive, trembling breath of relief. The house was dead silent. Noah wasn’t back yet.

Moving on pure adrenaline, I immediately stripped off Damon’s oversized silk shirt. The expensive fabric still smelled heavily of his signature scent... woodsmoke, leather, and a hint of something dark. My heart raced as I carefully folded the material, wrapping it up securely before burying it deep at the very bottom of my school bag. I had to ensure Noah never, ever laid eyes on it.

After quickly changing into a pair of soft, worn-out pajamas, I collapsed onto the mattress. My limbs felt heavy and incredibly weak, a nasty, lingering hangover from the alcohol already beginning to cloud my brain. Staring up at the dark ceiling, I made a solemn, desperate promise to myself:

’I am never touching a drop of liquor again.’

The missing gaps in my memory were entirely too terrifying to think of.

I reached into my bedside drawer, pulling out my phone to check the time. The screen illuminated my dark room, flashing a barrage of notifications. I logged onto the school forum, and the digital space was practically on fire... endless posts, photos, and live updates from the Silver estate party were flooding the feed.

I swiped over to my messages. Raven had texted me multiple times, frantically asking where the hell I was. Beneath her name was a notification from a new, unsaved number.

I clicked on it. The profile picture was a candid, laughing photo of Sunny.

A heavy, suffocating wave of jealousy washed over me as I stared at the screen. They were all out there right now... my friends, my brother, Damon... living in a world of uninhibited freedom. They were drinking, dancing, laughing, and... sinning. They got to exist in the light, while I was forced to hide in the shadows of this quiet room, suffocated by secrets I couldn’t even fully remember.

But what could I possibly do about it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I turned the phone off and shoved it back into the drawer, desperately wanting to close my eyes, wake up tomorrow, and pretend that absolutely none of this had ever happened. I needed to convince myself it was all just a fever dream. At the very least, tomorrow was Saturday. I could sleep in for as long as my body needed, buried beneath the safety of my blankets.

The low rumble of thunder vibrated through the walls, and the heavy sound of the rain slamming against the glass slowly began to soothe my racing mind. I closed my eyes, letting the darkness take over, and finally drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.