All Chapters of To Tempt My Stepbrother: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

A comfortable silence reigns over us. I push the tray under the table and hand him his guitar. Calum laughs. “You’re not giving up on this.” “Nope. I really want to hear you play.” His face softens. He fingers a chord and stops. I try not to say anything but my mouth sometimes works faster than my brain. “What is it? I liked it.” “Oh, please. I didn’t do anything.” I make a zipping motion across my lips and toss the keys out the window. “Fine. I haven’t played since…” His lingering statement piques my curiosity. I forget everything about keeping quiet. “Since when?” “Since the band broke up. Don’t expect much.” When the music is in you, it doesn’t matter how long you stay away from it, you’ll feel it when you return to it. Calum leans forward, cradling the guitar in his hand as he readies himse

Calum starts singing and I’m transfixed again by his voice. I heard him sing yesterday but the emotions are new, touching me in all the places Mum’s voice used to touch me. I cross my legs on the chair, too stunned to do anything more. The singing slows to an end but his smile is still intact when he says to his camera, “Alright guys. That’s it for today.” Before he started singing, he made a small announcement and apology for his long, unexplained absence. I know it had to do with his band breaking up but that’s all I know. “See you next time.” He blows a kiss to the camera and my stomach knots with jealousy. I have to find his YuuTube channel ASAP. “Love you. Stay safe.” As Calum’s eyes come to rest on mine after ending the recording, I can’t help thinking what it would feel like to be loved by him in a proper way. Not as a brother or sister but as a man loves a woman, his lover. As if hearing my thoughts, his smile fades. The clapping from somewhere in the room tears his eyes

The car is too quiet. The radio is off. I hate my dad’s incessant questions but I’ll give anything to have him in the car asking me stuff I don’t want to talk about than sit in this silence with my stepbrother. I reach for the radio and he cuts me a look that has me retracting my hand.My elbow juts out the window, my head pokes out and the morning air whips through my hair. The car slows as he is about to make a turn.“Do you have a YuuTube channel?” Calum asks at the traffic light. I’m surprised he’s talking to me after his ominous warning at the house. I shake my head. The light turns yellow. “Okay. I can help you set one up if you don’t mind. You can post some of your singing videos there.” “Okay. Thanks, bro.” One. Two. Three. The light turns green and we speed off. We sit in silence, not as awkward as it was earlier. I toy with the buttons of my shirt for a minute. &

CALUM“Cal, are you ready?” Alice asks again. “Yes.” Another uncertain glance at the door Cathy walked out of, angry and disappointed in me and a knife spears my inside. I might have fucked that one up with my reply to her. I rub a finger over my nose. “Miss Gates?” Alice perks up. If I hadn’t agreed to take her to the clinic, I would have said yes to Cathy’s request. I try not to feel bad. She can ask that Jackson of a guy to take her home. If he can kiss her, then he can drive her home too. “I will appreciate it if you call me Calum. Just Calum.” “And you will call me Alice?” she asks. Alice’s eyes say more than her lips do. And it is obvious she’s attracted to me. I grab my water bottle and briefcase. “Yes, Alice. Can we go?” “Sure, Calum.” Together, we exit my office and step into the chill air. It&rsq

Calum crosses his arms. His lips quirk in that arrogant smile I want to slap off his face. But with Dani and my dad watching, I have to stay composed. I hide my hands under the table. I already know I’ll hate Calum for the words that will come out of his lips and he proves me right. “Maybe your daughter wants to enlighten us.” I hate him. I hate this food. I mutter something under my breath and the table laughs. Was it funny? I stab the chicken and take a big bite of it to avoid talking to them. “As a matter of fact, Pete, I think I might like one of your teachers.” Oh, God. He is lying, right? Of course not. She called him Cal. He let her touch him without his consent. That’s what lovers do and I’m not his lover, just a silly little stepsister he wants out of the way. Tears swim in my eyes. I’m so stupid. What did I think would happen? That the singing would make us close? That momen