My Stepbrother: secret possession

My Very Own Valentine

It's of normal temperature in the Chiron, thanks to the heater.

I avoided looking at him, so I focused my gaze on the Toyota Camry parked across Leigh's vehicle through the windscreen.

My breathing might be steady, but my hands are slightly trembling.

"After a long silence," he begins, "nothing happened between Sofia and me." For some reason, fresh tears start welling up in my eyes again. "I would never want anyone after experiencing you, Ava. You're the one for me. You should know that."

"I doubt it. You seem to move on pretty quickly," I emphasised without diverting my gaze from the Toyota.

"I have feelings too, Ava."

"I saw you at the pool," I retort.

He swallows and shifts his intense gaze from me to the same car ahead of us. I continue, "You seem so comfortable and settled."

He tilts his face towards me again. "It meant nothing. She was just telling me about her chances for medical school. Sofia and I are just friends."

"You're lying," I quickly respond.

"I might not be the perfect candidate for making the right decisions, but I've never lied to you," he counters. "I love you." Softly, he adds, and those three simple words, carrying the weight of the strongest emotions, send a wave through my entire body, capable of either destroying me or protecting me.

But at this moment, I'm lost.

"No, don't say that," I warn him, fighting back the tears that have welled up in my eyes.

"I love you," he continues, undeterred, and the tears start flowing. "I would never deceive myself about it."

I have to bite down on my inner cheeks to suppress the pain inside. "Look at me. Ava, look at me," he quietly instructs.

"Why? So you can see me cry? So you can witness how pathetic and miserable you've made me?" My voice catches in my throat at the end of the words, and my body trembles from the force of my silent whimper.

His fingers wrap around the back of my neck, just like earlier, and he turns my head to face a thousand emotions on his face. "No, so I can be here for you, just as much as I want you to be here for me."

"You don't mean it."

"What can I do to make you believe that I love you? Tell me, and I'll do it. If you want me to go back to the field and shout it to the audience, I won't hesitate for a second." His intense eyes pierce into my sad ones.

My eyes drop to the centre console, and I sniff as a sob escapes my throat. "I'm sorry, Ava. I never meant to hurt you," he says with pained words, but I still don't know whether to believe him.

His warm hand cups my cheek, and his thumb wipes away some tears. From the holder that serves as a cup holder or whatever, since Bugatti isn't just a simple car like every other, Leigh grabs the black flask I turned back to him earlier.

He hands it over to me and says, "Open it."

"It's been a while. I doubt the tea's still good to drink," I tell him. It's been over six hours or more since I received it; I could bet the tea's gone bad.

"I'd check first to confirm if I were you," his lips curl up into a smirk, and those cute tiny dimples appear on his beautiful face.

I wrap my fingers around the tea flask. Slowly and reluctantly, I twist the cap. To my surprise, an unexpected small note and a rose petal spring out and land on my lap.

My curious eyes lift up and meet his staring back at me.

"Open it," he urges me to proceed.

I lick my dry lips, and my fingers unfold the paper until I can see the ink.