Page 58 of Heartless Stepbrother
He is nothing.
You’re fine.
You’re fine.
You’re fine.
But the trembling in my legs said otherwise.
I wiped my face, brushed my teeth mechanically, avoiding my own reflection as much as I could. Every movement felt disconnected, like my body wasn’t entirely mine anymore, like I was watching someone else move through the motions.
Back in the bedroom, I pulled off the wet bikini bottoms and put on a loose sleep shirt, the soft cotton sliding over my skin in a way that felt too gentle. Too kind. It made my throat tighten.
I crawled into bed and pulled the blankets up to my chin, cocooning myself in layers of fabric that still smelled faintly of sunscreen and fresh laundry. The scent should have comforted me.
Instead, it made me feel like a child pretending she wasn’t drowning.
The room was dim, the only light coming from the sliver of moon pressing through the curtains. I turned onto my side and curled my knees up, hugging a soft pillow to my chest.
But no matter how tightly I held it, I still felt the ghost of Riley’s chest pressed against me.
The heat of him.
The quiet command threading through his touch.
I hated him for that.
I hated myself more.
Because beneath the humiliation, beneath the fear and the fury and the hollow ache left behind… something deeper twisted inside me.
Not desire.
Not wanting.
Just… confusion.
A dangerous, spiraling confusion that made every breath feel too shallow.
I tried to pull my thoughts somewhere else.
Anywhere else.
The new school.
The new home.
The flight tomorrow.
Nothing held.
Every path led back to the pool.
Back to him.
Back to the moment I realized I had been naïve to think the worst part was already over.
My eyelids grew heavy, the exhaustion finally catching up with me. The storm in my head didn’t stop, but it slowed, the edges softening, blurring, drifting.
