Falling for my Enemy's Brother

Merlina’s POV

There he was, Louis O’Connor, standing in the doorway with his hand still hovering mid-air, like he was about to knock but decided against it.

I froze. "Louis." Looking around him, "What are you doing here?"

"Merlina, hey..." He tilted his head, his grin widening. "Didn’t want to interrupt. Heard you talking, figured I’d wait until you were done."

I raised an eyebrow. "Come in." I shifted awkwardly, trying to brush off the weirdness. "You could’ve just...knocked."

He shrugged with a casual ease, as if this was all just normal. "Yeah, didn’t want to interrupt a deep convo. Seemed rude, you know?"

I studied him for a second. "Right." I hesitated, trying to regain my footing. "Megan’s not here, but you can wait. She and Phoebe went out to grab a dress for that party tonight."

Louis’s eyes lit up, his interest piqued. "Brandon’s party, huh?" He pushed off the doorframe and took a step into the room.

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess the whole of Belford’s going."

Louis chuckled softly, a low, amused sound. "That’s Brandon for you. The guy’s got social skills for days. Senior year, too. Last big bash before he’s outta here. No way anyone’s missing it."

I grabbed a cold soda from the fridge, offering it to him with a half-smile. "I’m sure it’ll be legendary."