OFF LIMITS STEPBROTHER

Chapter Two

LEILANI’S POV

I had no idea where Hardin was taking me.

Which was becoming increasingly suspicious considering he had refused to tell me anything beyond, “You’ll see.”

We walked through the corridor, his hand still wrapped around mine, and I tried very hard not to think about the fact that he was holding my hand.

It was difficult.

Mostly because my brain had apparently decided that this was the perfect time to remind me that I had been in love with this boy for longer than I cared to admit.

Not that I was going to call it love.

That sounded too serious.

A crush. An extremely unfortunate, highly inconvenient crush.

That was better.

I gan ee down at the point where his large hands wrapped around mine, as we took the elevator to the top floor of the event building.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” It took me exactly 16 seconds to register that he was referring to the black stilettos i had on.

“A bit,” I flushed, feeling the warmth settle on my cheeks

As soon as the elevator door opened, he pulled me woth him, taking long strides thst I struggled to keep up with till we got to the 3rd door on the hallway

As he reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out the room card, my heart began to beat with endless possibilities.

Maybe he wanted to talk to me.

Maybe he had something planned.

Maybe…

I swallowed.

It couldn’t be what I was thinking.

Could it?

I stared at the card in his hand, then at the door in front of us, trying very hard to come up with a reasonable explanation for why Hardin had dragged me all the way upstairs, away from everyone, while still holding my hand.

None came.

“Hardin… me?” I whispered, more to myself than to him.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

He gave me a strange look before sliding the card against the reader.

“I… I’m sorry, Hardin, but…”

“Surprise!”

My eardrums bled.

The screech was followed almost immediately by the pop of party guns, and I jumped so hard that my hand flew to my chest.

My eyes darted around the room.

My mom.

My stepdad.

Nora.

For a few seconds, I just stood there staring at them, my mouth slightly open.

They had been waiting here?

Oh.

Oh.

The heat that spread across my face had absolutely nothing to do with the balloons or the flowers or the ridiculous amount of effort they had put into decorating the place.

I had just spent the entire elevator ride upstairs imagining God knows what.

And apparently, Hardin had been taking me to a graduation party.

“I’ll take your face as proof that we did a decent job pulling this off, eii?”

Hardin leaned closer, his voice dropping into a whisper near my ear before he released my hand and walked over to join the others.

I watched him go for a second, still trying to recover from the humiliation of my own imagination, before Nora came rushing towards me.

“Congratulations, Graduado!”

She threw her arms around me, nearly knocking me backwards.

“You guys planned all this?”

“Yesss!” she exclaimed, pulling away from the hug with the biggest grin on her face. “And before you ask, no, you were not supposed to know.”

I laughed, finally allowing myself to look around properly.

They really had gone all out.

There were balloons everywhere, flowers arranged on the tables, pictures of me hanging on the walls, and a huge banner stretched across the back of the room with my name written in big letters.

I couldn’t help smiling.

It was… a lot.

But it was nice.

“We’re sorry to steal you away from the party.”

I turned towards my stepdad as he walked over, adjusting the sleeve of his shirt as he came.

I had to commend him, though. Ever since Mom and I got here, he had made a conscious effort to make me feel comfortable. He never made me feel like I was intruding, even though this was technically his family and I had spent most of the evening worrying about whether I was doing too much, talking too much or simply existing in the wrong corner.

“Steal me away?”

He chuckled and nodded.

“But between the party and you leaving tomorrow, we couldn’t have found a better time.”

The smile on my face slowly faded.

Right.

Tomorrow.

I had known I was leaving tomorrow for months. We had talked about it. I had agreed to it. I’d even spent enough nights convincing myself that having my own place was exciting that I should have been completely fine with it by now.

Yet hearing him say it out loud made something in my stomach twist.

“But don’t worry,” he added quickly, noticing my expression. “We’ll be done in time for you to have the last dance at the party.”

“Last dance?” I repeated, turning towards Nora.

“Yes, silly.” She reached over and shoved me lightly in the side. “The masquerade ball is the last graduation rite. Remember?”

“Oh.”

I had completely forgotten.

“Can you see me in the corner, Leilani?”

I turned towards my mom when I heard her voice.

“Sure thing, Mom.”

She waved me over with one hand, and when I reached her, she placed a small box into my palms.

“Here. Open it.”

I looked down at the box, then back at her.

“You got me something?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Just open it.”

I laughed under my breath before pulling at the gift wrapper, careful not to tear it too badly. When I finally got it open, I stared down at the contents.

A dainty Michael Kors watch.

And a key holder.

“You didn’t have to, Mom.”

“Of course I had to.” She reached out and adjusted the strap of the watch against my wrist, her fingers lingering for a second before she looked up at me. “What better way to celebrate your graduation and farewell?”

I looked at the key holder again.

Of course there was a catch.

I knew there was a reason she had included that.

Her hand settled gently against my back as she leaned closer.

“I’m really happy you agreed to this, Leilani.”

I looked up at her.

“I know.”

She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, and I noticed the way her fingers lightly rubbed against my back.

“I know it wasn’t an easy decision.”

“It wasn’t.”

I glanced down at the watch again, running my thumb over the little gold detail on the side.

“But I think it’s time,” she continued, her voice quieter now. “You’ve graduated, and you should have a place of your own. Somewhere you can come home to and know that it’s yours.”

I nodded slowly, turning the key holder over in my palm.

She didn’t need to explain everything.

Not really.

We had already had this conversation.

I knew what staying under the Ligaya family roof after graduation could look like. People noticed things. They talked. And now that I wasn’t the university student everyone could conveniently use as an explanation for why I was still living there, I knew the questions would eventually start.

My mother had spent enough time dealing with people and their opinions. The last thing she needed was for me to become another thing they could whisper about.

“I understand, Mom.”

Her fingers squeezed my shoulder, and for a moment she just looked at me.

“I’m glad.”

There was a small sigh when she said it, and I caught the way her shoulders seemed to loosen afterwards.

I pretended not to notice.

Not because I didn’t understand.

I did.

She wasn’t relieved that I was leaving. She was relieved that I wasn’t fighting her on it.

“So when do I get the keys?” I asked, lifting the little key holder between us.

Her expression softened.

“I stopped by your room to drop them.”

My fingers tightened slightly around the key holder.

I looked down at the keys again, turning them over once, then twice.

I had been preparing for this.

I really had.

I’d spent months telling myself that having my own place would be fun. I’d imagined decorating it, choosing where everything would go, waking up without having to worry about anyone else being around.

But holding the keys made everything feel different.

This wasn’t some plan we had discussed over dinner anymore.

These were the actual keys.

To my own place.

Tomorrow.

My mom must have noticed the way I had gone quiet because she reached up and smoothed a piece of hair away from my face.

“You’ll be fine, Leilani.”

I forced a small smile.

“I know.”

She studied my face for another second before giving my cheek a light pat.

“Come downstairs when you’re ready. Don’t let Nora finish all the food before you get there.”

I laughed.

“That’s impossible.”

“Exactly.”

She smiled and headed towards the door, leaving me standing there with the keys still sitting in my palm.

I waited until the door closed behind her before looking down at them again.

Then I glanced towards the hallway.

Hardin was downstairs.

Probably laughing with someone. Probably surrounded by people as usual. Probably completely unaware that I was upstairs having a small crisis over a key holder.

I wasn’t supposed to be sad. Heck, tye angels would probably think im an ungrateful human

I had graduated.

I had my own place and my mom was happy and happily married.

Everything was exactly how it was supposed to be.

And yet, the thought of leaving tomorrow sat heavily in my chest.

I already knew why.

As much as I was going to miss my mother, my room, the house and all the little things I’d grown used to in my short while of being part of his family, there was one person I kept thinking about.

I was leaving him too.