To Seduce My Stepbrother

A deal

Shock stops Amelia from acting fast. She shifts gears but it’s too late to do anything, so we are forced to stay put. I try to play it off with a smile but my heart is in my throat. Sweat breaks out on my forehead as Calum’s car slows to a stop directly beside ours. I look away. We are in big trouble.

“Are you stalking me?” he asks, still in his car.

This is our chance to race out of here. Calum slams his door shut and storms towards my side. No. I’m not the one driving. He should face Amelia. He wrenches the passenger door open.

“Get out of the car.”

I plant my foot firmly on the car floor. “No.”

“Well, I asked nicely.”

A scream escapes me as he drags me out of the car like I’m a ragged doll. I swallow my fears and force my face into a neutral mask when our eyes meet. His eyes are wide with anger and I know I have something to do with his temper.

“I’ll ask again, were you stalking me?”

“No. We came here for Rose.”

“Rose, huh?” I nod again because it’s all I can do with my back pressing into the car and his harsh breath fanning my face. “Your phone.”

“What?”

“Your phone,” Calum replies through clenched teeth. I offer it to him and he thrusts the phone in my face. “Unlock it.” Why does he need my phone? I don’t ask, just do as told. He releases me for a bit to swipe on my phone. Amelia finally steps out of her vehicle. He lifts a finger to shut her up before she speaks. “You came here for Rose, right?”

“Yeah,” Amelia answers with confidence. Her arm sweeps across this deserted street. Calum already knows we are lying, she needs to shut up. I try to straighten up but Calum’s glare has me leaning back on the car. He taps something on my phone. “She is waiting for us back there.”

“What are you doing?” I ask.

Calum smirks. “You’ll see.” He dials a number and puts the call on speaker. “Hey, Rose,” he says when the call connects. “It’s Mr Dissick. Where are you?”

“At home. Why? Wait. Sir, where’s Cathy?”

Holding my gaze, he replies, “She’s here. She says hi. Bye.” My stepbrother ends the call with a smug smile. My heart skips a bit. If he tells Dad I was here, I won’t be allowed to see my friends for a while. Moving a step back, he points to Dani’s car. “Get in the car. Now.” No. I’m not going in there. What if he strangles me? I clench my fists at my sides and jut out my chin. He can’t push me around because he’s older or the choir director. “Get in there, Catherine or I swear to God, you’ll never see the walls of the music hall till you graduate.”

That’s all it takes for me to scramble to the car with my bag barely hanging on my shoulders. Amelia offers me a contrite smile as I disappear into his car but f**k her. This foolish idea to stalk him was hers to begin with. The houses here are empty, desolate. Even the streets. If anything had happened to us, no one would have heard us if we screamed for help. I was stupid too for allowing it.

I hum a familiar tune under my breath to calm myself. But as soon as Calum yanks the door open, all the calmness is sucked out through the window. He doesn’t start the car and I’m forced to think about my actions.

For the next few minutes, all he does is tap the dashboard in a beat that drives me crazy with the need to yell at him to stop. I plug my fingers into my ears but the sound only grows louder.

“Fine. I’m sorry, Calum,” I blurt out. Tap. Tap. Tap. Why won’t he stop? He needs to stop. “I’m sorry for stalking you. For lying about my age.”

He stops. There’s silence as he c***s his head in my direction like he’s noticing me in his car for the first time. Amelia’s Audi drives slowly past his car. She honks, then zooms off, leaving me alone to sort out the mess we both created.

I’m never taking ideas or advice from her again.

Calum kicks the car into start. He turns into corners that lead us back into familiar streets. I grip the handle of the door, so tempted to open it and escape this quietness. The silence is worse than the tapping. I’ll take anything but this.

“Did you hear me the first time?” I whisper. Rows of similar houses come into view. Ours should be right behind this street. An image of him reporting me to my dad pops into my mind. I touch his arm and mumble another apology, “Calum, I’m sorry.”

“Okay.”

That’s too easy. And suspicious. I curl against the window to give him all my attention. His muscles flex each time he steers the wheel in the direction we should go. My mouth waters. I know where those hands would fit perfectly.

What were we talking about again? Right. An apology.

“Are we cool?” I ask.

The car grinds to a stop in front of the house. I fiddle with the straps of my school bag to fill the silence. “Were we ever not cool, sis?”

“Stop calling me sis,” I say without looking at him.

“Is sister much better?”

“No, brother.”

He barks out a short laugh that ends as soon as it starts. I like his laugh. The way he tilts his head back and allows it to take full control of his body. He should laugh more often around me.

“What were you even doing there?” I ask.

For someone who’s new to a town I was born and raised in, Calum’s familiarity with the lands is suspicious. We have been warned to stay away from that part of town as residents of that area are not the most people-friendly. My stepbrother is not doing drugs, is he? Wait, he smokes. Does that mean he’s a drug dealer or he was there to buy weed?

“None of your business,” he finally replies. If he says so. I won’t bail him out if he’s in trouble and I’ll convince Dad to stay away. Calum crosses his arms. “Why do you keep failing chemistry?”

“None of your business,” I fire back.

For the first time, Calum faces me squarely. His gaze scrolls over my body, peeling every layer of clothing with those blue eyes. He stops at my face and shakes his head slowly. “Your hair is ugly.”

“Your face is ugly,” I answer with less venom.

“Why do you keep failing chemistry, Cathy?”

I twist my hands resting on my lap. No one has ever asked me that. They just assume I don’t put enough effort into studying but it’s not the case. I pop my knuckles before answering him.

“Because I can’t sing my way through it.”

“What do you mean?”

I can’t tell if Calum is genuinely interested in my reply or simply curious or wants a change of topic. I close my eyes so I don’t have to see the disgust in his when I say, “I guess I’m slower.” Calum lets out a sound I take as an approval to continue talking. “If it takes you one minute to understand something, it will take me one minute and thirty seconds to understand the same thing. So I always try to form a tune with everything but I can’t do that with chemistry. There are too many bonds, symbols involved.”

When my eyes flutter open, Calum is staring at me with a strange emotion. His hand hangs outside the car and a frown has his lips upside down. He must think I’m stupid. I think I’m stupid sometimes when I have to sing out a formula before I remember how to use it.

“I’m a dumbass,” I say before he can tell me himself.

“Nope, I disagree” Calum says with a slight shake of his head. “You’re not a dumbass, Cathy. You’re just different.” My heart flips. If we were cool with each other, I would have thrown myself at him in a hug. “And you sing better than anyone I know.”

Two compliments in the space of one minute. My cheeks pink with embarrassment. I tuck a strand of stray hair behind my ear and lower my gaze.

“Not as good as you, you sing better.”

“If you get a grade higher than F, I’ll put you on probation after you apologise to the entire team.”

“Any grade?”

He nods. “As long as it’s not an F.”

I stretch out my hand and he takes it. A burst of electricity sparks at our contact and my insides tingle. “We have ourselves a deal.” Looking everywhere but at him, I say, “I’m sorry for shouting at you.”

“Anything higher than an F and you’re back.”