My Stepbrother secret-possession

Northerner

"Can I drive the car, Dad?" Lilith asks as we all head towards Mum's SUV, except this time Christian would be driving the family.

"No, Lilith. Why are you complaining if Leigh isn't?" Christian responds to her.

"That's because he always says 'yes' to your commands," Lilith firmly shoots back. "No offence, Leigh, but it's boring as hell." She glances over at an unbothered Leigh, who is engrossed in his phone.

Suddenly, I feel the need to defend him and blurt out, "Maybe you should be more like him and act mature." This catches everyone's attention, including Leigh, who was acting oblivious just seconds ago.

"Thank you, Ava," Christian says to me and slides into the driver's seat.

"Fuck you," Lilith mouths at me. "You're sitting in the back because you're the youngest." She crudely raises her eyebrows, expecting me to oppose. Well, I wanted to, and I also didn't want to.

"It doesn't matter," I reply, lowering the middle-row seat to get to the back. As I take my seat, I close my eyes and let out a soft sigh of relief. However, the strong scent of Leigh's cologne hits me harder than a truck. I immediately open my eyes to find Leigh sitting beside me, giving Lilith the entire second row to herself.

He smiles at me and then turns back to his phone screen, where he is replying to comments on Instagram. I quickly memorise his username and keep repeating it in my head so I won't forget. Christian and Mum are discussing the weather, and how hot it is in September. Lilith, in the spacious second row, is listening to loud music on her AirPods while I do nothing but stare out the window, mentally memorising Leigh's Instagram username, until I feel someone grabbing my intertwined fingers and gently separating them. That someone is none other than Christian's son. That son is Leigh Boyce.

The butterflies that the contact gives me are enough to turn me pale. I can't blush. I don't blush because every part of my body that blood circulates through has instantly frozen. My heart has stopped. Only my eyes are able to study how tenderly Leigh's hand intertwines with mine as he rests both hands on his thigh. I observe how perfectly my hand fits in his big hand. After what feels like a decade, my organs reactivate, and the loud pounding of my heart makes it hard to breathe. I'm sure Leigh can hear it because he places his other hand behind mine and gently caresses my skin with circles. The feeling is warm, electrifying, and anxiety-inducing at the same time. I force myself to swallow the intense nervousness, but you can't simply suppress an emotional feeling that has already permeated every fibre of your being. It's not that easy. I survive for the next twenty minutes in a fidgety state, hardly breathing, as I gaze down at our interlocked fingers.

When we arrive at our destination, I eagerly jump out of the car to take a breath. I don't wait for Leigh—I walk ahead and join Lilith, who is trying to ignore my presence, but I don't care. I'd rather deal with her abrupt rudeness than allow myself to feel the intensity of the connection between Leigh and me and instantly become stifled, suffocating without being able to breathe.

Instead, I engage myself in curiosity and ask Lilith, "Does your uncle have any kids?"

"No," she simply answers.

"Is your dad the eldest?"

"No," she repeats, clearly not interested in talking to me.

"Alright, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I should have had your back," I apologise.

Tilting her head, she faces me. "I'm not mad at you, Ava. Do you think I care about what you say? Nah! Didn't you read the group messages? Embry had the guts to update her Instagram about her date with Leigh but didn't post anything in the group, not even a reply when we all asked her."