Page 74 of Heartless Stepbrother
“Why?” he whispered. “Your reactions are the best part.”
I clenched my jaw so tightly my teeth ached. He was doing it again, pulling the ground out from under me with words and proximity, cracking me open just to see what leaked out.
But I wouldn’t give him more. I wouldn’t.
I inhaled sharply, gathering the frayed edges of my composure.
My phone buzzed.
A single vibration. Short. Sharp. A blade pressed to the moment.
Riley’s eyes flicked to the sound.
I nearly stopped breathing.
I whipped the phone up, shielding the screen inconspicuously with my palm. Casual. Controlled. Nothing important. Nothing for him to see.
I felt the blood drain from my face, then flood back in a hot rush. Last night I had texted the number that had haunted me for weeks. A risk. A stupid, desperate risk.
And this was the answer.
You have no idea.
My stomach plunged.
Riley leaned back, watching me, not the phone, not the screen, but me. My breathing. My posture. My micro-reactions. His gaze was a scalpel.
“Who is it?” he asked, voice soft and deceptively bored.
I locked the screen instantly. Too fast. Too defensive.
“Spam,” I said. Too quickly. “Just—junk.”
He smiled.
The kind of smile that said:Lie better.
My phone vibrated again, as if mocking my attempt at normalcy.
Riley’s eyes narrowed a fraction. “Persistent spam.”
“Yeah.” My voice was steady only because I clutched the armrest hard enough to bruise. “Persistent.”
His attention lingered on me for one unbearable heartbeat longer, searching, measuring, then he looked back out the window as if he’d given me a gift by not pressing.
I exhaled shakily and angled the screen toward my thigh, just enough to answer without being obvious. My fingers trembled over the keys.
What do you know about Riley Maddox?
The words looked wrong the second I typed them. Too revealing. Too risky. Too much like a terrified girl asking a stranger about the boy sitting inches from her.
But I hit send anyway.
I locked the phone. Slipped it into my pocket. Sat back.
Acted normal.
Pretended my ribs weren’t vibrating with terror.
