MY HOCKEY STEPBROTHER'S GAME

THE TEXT

VIVIAN'S POV

Getting me to agree didn't take too much convincing because hearing those words from him was enough. Enough to have me sitting behind my laptop on a Thursday afternoon when I am supposed to be reading 'The Love We Thought We Had' by Collins Ray, a romance tradegy that came out couple of days ago.

That monster.

I stare at the blank document until the words on it blur into oblivion. The cursor keep blinking at me.

"Brook Hunter is a monster." I type, and sigh as I press down the delete button.

"Brook Hunter is cruel."

I delete that too because that's how I got here in the first place.

My hand instinctively move towards my phone sitting on the table. My eyes remain glued to it for a second. My Dad would know what to do. He always does, and my brother would have whooped Brook's ass by now.

I almost pick it up to call when it dwells in.

He's gone. They are gone.

Dead for years, and somehow I always manage to forget.

The grief that I think is fading grips my chest tight, making my breathing constrain and I close my eyes to fight it all away.

"I know you are always brave, My Sunshine." His voice floats in my mind with a smile curling his lips.

A smile that should warm me up yet it only cracks me open some more. It shreds every bit of strength I have put on so far, and I'm as bare as a naked wire.

My phone buzzes beneath my palm, and I jump from the sudden vibration before picking it up to stare at it.

It's an unknown number.

'13 days, 23 hours left. Get writing.'

It read.

My stomach drops at the realization that Brook is counting the hours, and this isn't a huge joke like I thought it would be. He would really realease the footage if I don't.

My heart skips.

What the hell did I get myself into?

I picture his face that night, and a shiver runs through me again. I know it's fear.

My hand tremble as I type. 'Who's this?'

The message logo floats.

My breathing seizes.

'Don't play dumb, Nerd. You know who this is. Or is there anyone you have this sort of... relationship with?'

Something tugs at my throat. I hate that word. I hate him. I despise how easily he blackmails me, and how easily he can ruin me. But that doesn't stop the lingering thought of how his hand on my waist had felt that day. Almost as if his fingers left an imprint on my skin.

The door bangs open so hard that it rattles.

"OH MY GOD!! You are never going to believe what happened with Ryder!" Clara twirls around the room with a big grin on her lips. "We met, Viv, and he was so sweet to me. He's so soulmate coded."

Knowing Clara is knowing she's so dramatic. Always has been.

"His face. His smile. His kiss." She giggles.

I can't feel her excitement even if I try so I adjust and stare at the document I should be working on. I try to type something when she pulls it away, and shut it off.

"It's my love life we are talking about, Viv. You will listen to it, and celebrate with me." She pace round the room, waving her arms, and hugging everything her body comes in contact with.

I love her but at times I wish I didn't have to just endure her loudness. I wish I can open up to her the way she freely does with me.

"I need to tell you something. It's so bad, and I don't know what to do." The words try to come off my tongue but they can't because she's talking again.

Telling me stories of how he treated her, showed her his big apartment, and let her pet his snake, and many more words that just float through the air.

I'm wallowing in the echo of my own thought and how I want to scream my lungs out for once, and release all the held down emotions in me. The bubbling volcano in my chest....

My phone buzz again, and Clara's hand grabs it before I can check what the text is. Her fingers tap at the screen and her eyes widens. The hugest I have ever seen them. She clasp a palm over her mouth.

My mind swirls with thoughts. I hold my breath. A cold run through my bones.

"Oh my god. It's him." She turns the screen over to me.

A profile of Brook Hunter is sitting on my screen.

How did she search that up with just his number?

"It's the hot player guy."

My hand stretches to grab it back when she takes few steps backwards and I grab air instead. She's swiping through our text. My heart is beating so fast. My pulse is thrumming against my skin.

A shock expression spreads over her face.

Did he say something? What did he say?

"Are you guys...dating?"

My eyes buldge.

"No!"

She stares at me for a second, and the urge to tell her everything fights against my chest.

'Actually, Clara, he's blackmailing me with a footage of me touching myself...'

"Are you crushing on him?" A smile tilts her lips sideways.

Shock hits me.

"Ewww. No." I jump out of the chair to take it back before she comes up with more weird conclusions. It nearly falls.

Her face is all shade of red. "Viv.." The tone underneath isn't judgemental instead it's teasing. "You know I won't judge you, right? I told you about Ryder."

I exhale, bitting on my lip. "He's..my stepbrother."

The word taste strange in my mouth. Sour, and gross. Either because I hate him or because this is new. I glance down at the message, and the tightness in my chest disappears.

'Tomorrow. 5am. The rink. Don't be late, Nerd.'

He didn't reveal anything.

I click the screen shut. It's better not to reply. I don't want him conversing with me even though that sounds impossible given the arrangement we have.

My best friend looks like she's finding it hard to breath as she slowly lowers herself onto the bed.

"How? When?" Curiosity sparks in her blue pupils. "How dare you hide that from me? Spill everything right now, Vivian Sterling!"

I inhale and sigh before proceeding to tell her everything. Not everything. Not how I felt when he touched me or how he cornered me against the way or the blackmail. Just things that didn't reveal too much.

Clara would go confront him if she knew.

Maybe someday, I will tell her everything.