My stepbrothers and I

Chapter Twelve:Wrong brother

Chapter Twelve:Wrong brother

Katherine's phone lit up with the incoming video call

Jenna and Marcus. Group call.

She grabbed it, propped herself up against the headboard, and answered.

Jenna's face filled the screen first, way too close to the camera.

"FINALLY. I've been trying to reach you for like three hours."

"It's been twenty minutes, Jenna."

"Same thing." Jenna's face pulled back, revealing her chaotic dorm room—clothes everywhere, fairy lights tangled, a poster of some rapper Katherine didn't recognize hanging crooked on the wall. "Marcus, she's alive. You can stop panicking now."

The screen split as Marcus joined. He was in his dorm too, lying on his bed, laptop propped on his chest. His face softened when he saw her.

"Hey, Kat."

"Hey."

"You look tired."

"Thanks. That's exactly what every girl wants to hear."

"You look tired AND beautiful. Better?"

Jenna made a gagging sound. "Can you two not be disgusting for like five minutes? I have things to discuss."

"What things?" Katherine asked.

"Important things. Life-altering things." Jenna paused for dramatic effect. "Tyler followed me on his private Instagram."

"...That's the life-altering thing?"

"His PRIVATE i********:, Katherine. Do you understand what that means? That's like, the inner circle. The real content. The unfiltered Tyler experience."

Marcus snorted. "The unfiltered Tyler experience sounds like a disease."

"You're just jealous because you're not getting the unfiltered Tyler experience."

"I'll survive somehow."

Katherine watched them bicker. These two. Her two favorite idiots. She missed this.

"So things are good with Tyler?" she asked, cutting through their argument.

Jenna's face went dreamy. "Things are SO good. Like embarrassingly good. Like I've become one of those girls who talks about her boyfriend constantly and I hate myself for it but I can't stop."

"You've been dating for like two weeks."

"Two weeks of PASSION, Katherine. You wouldn't understand. You've been with Marcus for like a hundred years. The passion fades."

"Hey." Marcus looked offended. "Our passion is fine."

"Is it though?"

"Jenna," Katherine warned.

"What? I'm asking a legitimate question. When's the last time you two—"

"ANYWAY," Katherine interrupted loudly. "School starts tomorrow. I'm trying not to think about it."

Marcus's expression shifted. Softer now. "You nervous?"

"A little."

"You'll be fine.

Jenna leaned closer to her camera. "Speaking of different. Have you seen them yet? Today?"

"Seen who?"

"Don't play dumb. The stepbrothers. The unholy trinity. The three horsemen of hotness."

"Did you just call them the three horsemen of hotness?"

"I did and I stand by it. Marcus, back me up. You've seen their Instagrams."

Katherine's head snapped toward Marcus's side of the screen. "You've WHAT?"

Marcus held up his hands. "Jenna sent them to me! I didn't ask!"

"JENNA."

"What? He needed to know what he's up against!"

"He's not UP AGAINST anything! They're my STEPBROTHERS."

"Not yet they're not. happened." Jenna wiggled her eyebrows. "Anything that happens before the wedding is technically not weird."

"That's not how it works."

"That's exactly how it works.

Marcus was watching this exchange with an expression caught between amusement and concern. "Should I be worried?"

"No," Katherine said firmly.

"Because if one of these guys tries something—"

"They won't."

“ It's sickening. God really does have favorites."

"Jenna, I will end this call."

"You won't. You love me. I'm your only source of entertainment in that haunted mansion."

Katherine wanted to argue. Couldn't.

“Can we move on?"

"We cannot." Jenna settled in like she was preparing for a long interrogation. "Details. I need details. What are they like in person? Do they walk around shirtless? Do they brood? Does the quiet one do that thing where he stares into the distance looking tortured?"

"Sebastian doesn't look tortured. He looks like he's looking for how to dispose of a body."

Jenna squealed. "THAT'S EVEN BETTER."

Marcus frowned. "You need help."

"I need CONTENT. Katherine is living in a dark romance novel and she's giving me nothing. NOTHING."

"There's nothing to give. They're just... people. Annoying people who live in the same house."

"Boring." Jenna flopped back on her bed dramatically. "You're supposed to be having a forbidden slow burn with at least one of them by now. Maybe two. Keep the third one for the sequel."

"This isn't a book, Jenna."

"Everything is a book if you write it down."

Marcus cleared his throat. "Can we talk about something else? Like literally anything else?"

"Jealous?" Jenna teased.

"Uncomfortable. There's a difference."

Katherine softened. "Marcus. Nothing is happening. I promise."

He looked at her through the screen. That look he got sometimes—like he was trying to read between her words. Trying to see what she wasn't saying.

"I trust you."

"Good."

"I just miss you. And I hate that you're there and I'm here and these random dudes get to see you every day when I haven't seen you in weeks."

"I know. I miss you too."

Jenna made another gagging sound but quieter this time. Less joke, more acknowledgment that she was third-wheeling.

"Okay," she said. "Fine. Cute moment. I'll allow it. But Katherine, I need you to promise me something."

"What?"

"If anything happens—anything juicy, anything dramatic, anything that would make a good chapter in the novel of your life—you TELL me. Immediately. I don't care if it's 3 AM. You call."

"Nothing is going to happen."

"Promise anyway."

Katherine sighed. "Fine. I promise."

"Good." Jenna blew a kiss at the camera. "Now I have to go,Love you too. Marcus, keep being mediocre. It suits you."

"Thanks, Jenna. Always a pleasure."

She hung up.

The screen went back to just Marcus.

They looked at each other for a moment. The silence comfortable..

"So," he said. "Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

He smiled. That crooked smile she'd fallen for sophomore year. "Call me after? Tell me everything?"

"Everything except the stepbrother drama. Apparently that's classified."

"Jenna would actually kill you if you shared with me first."

"She would."

"Then keep the drama to yourself. I just want to hear your voice."

Something warm spread through her chest. This was hers. Whatever was happening in this house, with these brothers, with this life she didn't choose.

"I'll call you."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Okay." He yawned. "I should sleep. Early class."

"Yeah. Me too."

"Love you, Kat."

"Love you too."

He hung up.

Katherine sat in the silence for a moment. Then she got up, grabbed her basketball shorts, and changed.

She needed to move. Needed to burn off whatever was buzzing under her skin.

The court was dark when she got there.

She hit the lights. The fluorescents flickered on, buzzing faintly.

She grabbed a ball from the rack and started shooting. No structure. Just movement. Free throws. Whatever her body wanted.

The rhythm settled her. Always did. The bounce of the ball. The swish of the net. The echo in the empty space.

She was so focused she didn't hear the door open.

"Late night."

She caught the ball mid-dribble. Turned.

Damien stood in the doorway. Sweatpants. Black t-shirt. Arms crossed.

"I was here first," she said.

"I didn't say you weren't."

He walked in.

She held her ground.

"If you're here to start something—"

"I'm here to shoot." He grabbed a ball from the rack. Started dribbling toward the opposite hoop. "The court is big enough for both of us."

She watched him for a moment.

She went back to her own shooting.

For a few minutes, they existed in parallel. Two people. Two hoops. No interaction.

Then he spoke.

"You're dropping your elbow."

She caught the ball. "What?"

"On your release. Your elbow drifts left. It's affecting your arc." He still wasn't looking at her. Just shooting his own shots. "Fix it and you'll hit more consistently."

"I didn't ask for coaching."

"You didn't have to."

She wanted to snap back. Instead, she adjusted her elbow on the next shot.

Swish.

Clean.

She hated that he was right.

"Not bad," he said. Still not looking.

"f**k off."

"Such language." She could hear the smirk even if she couldn't see it. "What would your boyfriend think?"

"Leave Marcus out of this."

"I didn't mention any names. You filled that in yourself." He finally turned. Ball tucked under one arm. "Guilty conscience?"

"I don't have anything to be guilty about."

"Don't you?"

The air shifted. Heavier now. He was walking toward her. Slow. That predator walk she'd noticed at dinner.

"What do you want, Damien?"

"To understand something."

"Understand what?"

He stopped a few feet away. Close enough to crowd. Far enough to pretend he wasn't.

"You kissed my brother."

"That's not—"

"That's none of your business, And I told you to f**k off."

"You did." He stepped closer. One step. "You also didn't answer the question."

Her heart was pounding now. Not fear. Something else.

"I stopped because it was wrong."

"Wrong." He repeated the word like he was tasting it. "Interesting choice."

"It's the truth."

"Is it?" Another step. Now he was in her space. Looking down at her. "Or did you stop because it was the wrong brother?"

The words hit her like cold water.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

He reached out. Took the basketball from her hands. She let him. Don't know why. "But I don't think I'm wrong."

"You ARE wrong. I'm not interested in Elijah. I'm not interested in any of you."

"Your mouth says that. Your body says something else."

"My body isn't saying anything."

"It's screaming, Katherine." His voice dropped. Lower. Rougher.

"That's called being annoyed."

"That's called being attracted to someone you hate."

"I'm not—"

"You are." He moved closer. So close now she could feel the heat radiating off him. "You can lie to yourself. You can lie to that boyfriend who calls you every night like a lost puppy. But you can't lie to me."

"Watch me."

She tried to step back. He matched her. Step for step. Until her back hit the wall.

Trapped.

He planted one hand on the wall beside her head. Leaned in.

"Here's what I think," he murmured. "I think you came to this house expecting to hate us. Expecting to count the days until you could leave. But then Elijah smiled at you and something cracked. Then you saw me and something else cracked. And now you're terrified because you don't know which way to fall."

"Now you are just sprouting nonsense."

"Tell me to move, Katherine. Mean it. And I'll go."

She should. Every rational part of her brain was screaming to tell him to get away from her.

The words wouldn't come.

His eyes dropped to her mouth. Lingered.

"That's what I thought."

He leaned closer. Lips brushing her ear.

"You want to kiss me too. Don't you?"

Author: Even as the writer , I’m pissed at Katherine she be acting easy as hell.