Wanting Sera

The headboard slammed against the wall again, loud enough to make the framed picture above my desk shake slightly, and I swear to God I almost lost my f*****g mind right then and there because who the hell makes that much noise at two in the morning when other people are trying to sleep like normal human beings? I groaned into my pillow and pressed it harder against my ears, squeezing my eyes shut as if that would magically erase the sounds leaking through the paper-thin walls separating my room from Rouge’s, but it only made everything worse because now all I could focus on was the muffled moans, the creaking bed, and the low masculine laugh that I unfortunately recognized way too easily. Rouge. Of course it was Rouge. Who else would be shameless enough to turn the entire second floor into his personal s*x dungeon while our parents were away? I threw the pillow across the room with an irritated curse before dragging both hands down my face, exhaustion and annoyance mixing into one ugly headache that had been building since midnight. I had classes tomorrow morning. Actual responsibilities. Meanwhile, my newly acquired stepbrother was apparently auditioning to become the loudest pornstar alive. Another moan echoed through the wall. Then another. Followed by a loud thump that made me sit upright so fast my blanket slid off my legs. “Oh my f*****g God,” I muttered, staring at the ceiling in disbelief. “Does he think he lives here alone?” Ever since our parents left for their stupid romantic getaway three days ago, Rouge had been acting even worse than usual, which honestly said a lot considering he was already insufferable on a regular basis. The guy walked around the house like he owned it, brought random girls home whenever he wanted, blasted music at ungodly hours, and somehow always managed to look amused whenever I snapped at him for it like my irritation was the highlight of his day. I hated him. Actually, no. Hate wasn’t even strong enough for whatever this was. Because it wasn’t just his attitude that got under my skin. It was the way he looked at me sometimes, all lazy and unreadable like he knew something I didn’t, like he enjoyed watching me get angry more than he enjoyed the actual arguments themselves. And God, I hated that too. A sharp gasp came from the other side of the wall, followed by a deep groan that made heat crawl uncomfortably up my neck despite my irritation. I sat there in silence for a few seconds, blinking at the darkness of my room while my jaw slowly clenched. No. Absolutely not. I was not spending another hour listening to Rouge Carter destroy his mattress with whatever girl he picked up tonight. With an aggravated sigh, I pushed the blanket off completely and climbed out of bed before grabbing the oversized pajama shorts hanging from my chair, tugging them on underneath my shirt while muttering insults under my breath the entire time. This was ridiculous. Actually ridiculous. The worst part was that Rouge wasn’t even technically breaking any rules because our parents adored him for some reason. My mother kept talking about how “misunderstood” he was while his father acted like the guy hung the moon despite the fact that he was literally one inconvenience away from becoming my personal sleep paralysis demon. I stormed out of my room barefoot, my patience hanging by a very thin thread as I marched straight toward his door, fully prepared to yell at him until he finally developed basic human decency. But the moment I reached it, I realized the door wasn’t fully closed. It was slightly open. And before my brain could tell me to stop being nosy, my hand shoved against it hard enough for it to swing open completely. The sight in front of me made me freeze so abruptly it felt like my entire body forgot how to function. “Oh my God—” A blonde girl was straddling Rouge’s lap completely topless while another girl sat beside him on the bed, kissing slowly down his neck like she had all the time in the world, and right in the middle of it all was Rouge himself, shirtless, tattooed, completely unbothered, his hand lazily resting on the first girl’s thigh while his dark eyes locked directly onto mine. Nobody moved. Nobody even looked embarrassed. If anything, Rouge looked entertained. “What the f**k?” I blurted out, finally finding my voice as my face burned alive. “Are you serious right now?” The blonde turned toward me with an annoyed expression. “Who the hell is she?” “I thought you said nobody else was home,” the other girl complained while still sitting way too close to him for my sanity. Rouge leaned back against the headboard like this entire situation was mildly amusing instead of horrifying, his eyes dragging over me slowly before a smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. “We were alone,” he said calmly, his voice rough from whatever the hell they had been doing before I barged in. “Until my step-sister decided to kick the door open like the police.” The word step-sister instantly made both girls stare at me differently. I wanted to die. Actually die. My stomach twisted violently as Rouge’s hand slid back up the blonde’s thigh without breaking eye contact with me for even a second, and the worst part — the absolute worst f*****g part — was how relaxed he looked while I stood there internally combusting. Like this didn’t affect him at all. Like I was the one overreacting. “Can you keep it down for one night?” I snapped, trying very hard not to look anywhere except his stupid face. “Some people are trying to sleep.” The blonde laughed under her breath while the other girl rolled her eyes dramatically. Rouge, however, just kept staring at me with that unreadable expression that always made me irrationally angry. Then he tilted his head slightly. “You came in here just to complain about noise?” “Yes?” I shot back incredulously. “Unlike you, some of us have actual lives tomorrow.” A low chuckle left his throat, and God, I hated how deep it sounded. “Cute pajamas,” he said lazily. I looked down automatically before realizing what he was doing, and my face burned even hotter because my oversized shirt had slipped slightly off one shoulder during my dramatic entrance. Asshole. “You’re disgusting,” I hissed. One of his eyebrows lifted slowly. “Yet you’re still standing here.” That shut me up immediately. Because annoyingly enough… he wasn’t wrong. I should have left the second the door opened. Instead, I was still standing there frozen in place while two half-naked girls sat on his bed staring at me like I was interrupting a private show. Humiliation crawled up my spine so violently that I finally snapped out of it, glaring at him one last time before turning around sharply. “f**k you, Rouge.” His laugh followed me all the way down the hallway. And somehow that irritated me more than the s*x noises did. I slammed my bedroom door harder than necessary the second I got back inside, my chest rising and falling so fast it almost hurt, and for a moment I just stood there in the darkness staring blankly at the wall we shared while muffled laughter continued leaking through it like some kind of personal torture designed specifically to ruin my sanity. Unbelievable. Absolutely f*****g unbelievable. Who even continues a threesome after getting caught by their step-sister? Rouge Carter apparently. Heat still burned across my face no matter how much I tried convincing myself it was anger instead of humiliation, and that only irritated me more because why the hell was I the one feeling embarrassed when he was the shameless asshole openly ruining my night? I grabbed my pillow aggressively before yanking my blanket off the bed, already knowing there was no chance I’d get any sleep in this room anymore, not when every tiny sound coming from next door kept forcing those disgusting images back into my head no matter how hard I tried to erase them. The blonde on his lap. His hand on her thigh. The way he looked at me without even a little bit of shame. God. I hated him. Maybe if our parents hadn’t decided to play happy little blended family so suddenly, none of this would even be happening right now. Two months ago, Rouge was just another campus asshole I avoided like the plague. Now he lived across the hallway from me, ate dinner at our table, walked through my house half-dressed whenever he felt like it, and somehow managed to invade every corner of my life without even trying. And the worst part? My mother adored him. I dragged my blanket downstairs with a frustrated sigh before throwing it onto the couch, fully prepared to spend the rest of the night in the living room like some exhausted refugee escaping from a war zone. If Rouge pulled this s**t one more time, I was seriously considering murder. *** I barely slept. Actually, scratch that — I didn’t sleep at all. Every single time I closed my eyes, my brain betrayed me by replaying flashes of what I saw in Rouge’s room like some sick punishment I never asked for. The blonde girl in his lap. The other one touching him like I wasn’t even standing there. The way he looked completely relaxed while I stood there internally dying from secondhand humiliation. Meanwhile, the asshole himself probably slept like a baby afterward. I shifted uncomfortably on the couch and groaned when sunlight hit directly across my face through the living room windows, forcing my eyes open after what felt like barely ten minutes of rest. My entire body ached, my neck was killing me from sleeping on the couch, and judging by the pounding headache behind my eyes, I looked exactly how I felt. Miserable. I stared blankly at the ceiling for a few seconds before slowly sitting up, rubbing both hands down my face as exhaustion settled into my bones all over again. From upstairs came silence. Thank God. At least Rouge and his little circus had finally stopped performing. I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and checked the time before nearly crying. 7:12 A.M. Perfect. Just f*****g perfect. I dragged myself upstairs quietly, mostly because I refused to risk seeing Rouge this early in the morning. The last thing I needed before class was witnessing one of his girls stumbling half-naked out of his room looking satisfied while he stood there shirtless and smug like the human embodiment of a bad decision. Thankfully, the hallway was empty. I moved quickly into my room, got dressed, fixed the disaster my hair had become overnight, then covered the dark circles under my eyes with enough concealer to qualify as witchcraft. It barely helped. By the time I made it downstairs again with my bag hanging from one shoulder, I was already running on caffeine deprivation and pure hatred. Then I froze. Rouge was sitting at the kitchen island, scrolling through his phone like the devil himself had decided to ruin my morning personally. Of course, he looked fine. More than fine, actually. His dark hair was still slightly messy like he’d just showered, and he wore a black shirt with grey sweatpants low on his hips while drinking coffee like he hadn’t committed psychological warfare against me a few hours ago. I immediately looked away. Unfortunately, he noticed. “Damn,” Rouge drawled without lifting his eyes from his phone. “You look horrible.” I scoffed while grabbing a bottled coffee from the fridge. “And you look like chlamydia in human form.” That finally made him glance up. Amusement flickered across his face almost instantly, and I hated how easy it seemed for him to look entertained around me. “Still mad?” I slammed the fridge shut harder than necessary. “Do you seriously hear yourself?” “You’re acting as if you walked in on a murder scene.” “I practically did.” A low laugh escaped him. God, I wanted to throw something at his head. “You know,” he continued casually, leaning back against the counter, “most people would’ve just texted me to keep it down instead of kicking my door open like an angry wife.” My eye twitched. “I’d rather die.” “Relax, princess.” His mouth tilted slightly. “You looked more shocked than traumatized.” Heat crawled straight up my neck again so fast it genuinely pissed me off. This asshole. I grabbed my bag aggressively before storming toward the front door. “Go f**k yourself, Rouge.” “Already did that last night.” I almost choked. Behind me, his laughter echoed through the house while I slammed the door hard enough to shake the walls. I hated him. I hated him so much it was becoming a genuine medical condition.