Mated To My Stepbrother-Chapter 19
Ethan’s POV.
I stared blankly at her face as she said those words. Truly, I had been a jerk but it wasn’t my fault, I simply didn’t know any other way to express my feelings for her. I had a huge crush on Michelle since the first day I saw her. She mattered a lot to me than any other girl I had dated in the past.
"If you love me, why don’t you just say it?" She asked, jolting me out of my thoughts.
"Why would you think I love you Michelle? Don’t flatter yourself," I scoffed, not wanting to seem cheap.
"Don’t ever talk to me Ethan, I hate you," she declared, walking towards the door that led outside.
"I’m sorry," I uttered with an apologetic look on my face.
Michelle’s POV.
I stopped in my tracks, shocked. Did Ethan just apologize? It is indeed a surprise but I wasn’t going to fall for another of his silly pranks. I stretched my hands to open the door, totally ignoring his apology when he held it in his, pulling me closer as we became locked in a tight embrace. "My heart beats for you Michelle, it always had," he whispered into my ears.
The pain i felt in my heart subsided, as relief washed over me like gentle waves. I disentangled myself from his embrace and left the theatre, smiling to myself.
"Hey Michelle," Mary called from a distance as the closing bell rang , "look who I found," she shouted holding Tim around his neck.
"Tim!" I exclaimed, running towards them. "Where have you been all day, I have been worried sick about you," I said happily, while drawing him in for a hug.
" I’ve been around Michelle, I just had a lot of work to do," he replied smiling. " wait," he ordered. We froze on our tracks, looking at him in anticipation of what he wanted to say. "is that cologne I smell on you?" He asked with a frown on his face.
"Um yea, I was with someone a few minutes ago," I replied with a timid look on my face.
"Mmmm," chucked Mary, "who’s the lucky guy?" She asked, tickling me till I gave a reply.
"It was Ethan," I uttered looking at their faces as it Twisted in astonishment.
"What!" They screamed in unison as they heard his name. "Ethan!" They screamed again, making it seem like they saw a ghost.
I recounted all that happened in the theatre to them as we walked home.
"You shouldn’t trust this guy easily Aria, what if it is all a show to make you think that he has changed?" Questioned Tim angrily.
"Yea, I think Tim is right," supported Mary. "If he wishes to be close to you, I wouldn’t advice you to give in so easily, he has to earn your trust back the hard way because of every bad thing he had done to you," she expressed with a firce look on her face.
"Thank you for everything guys, I’ll definitely consider everything you have said but, I need to have a discussion with Ethan first," I uttered. "Be careful girl, we’ve got your back, always," Mary spoke, patting me on the back.
*******
I passed by Ethan’s room a few times before finally knocking on the door. I was nervous but was determined to speak to him. "Come in," he replied from within. I went in, seeing him on his bed, listening to music with earplugs as I locked the door behind me. He was shirtless, revealing his beautifully built body. I couldn’t help but stare as I imagined touching them. "What am I doing?" I muttered, getting control of myself
"Hey Ethan, I want to speak to you about earlier today, are you busy?" I asked curiously.
"No I’m not Aria, let’s talk, take a sit," he offered ,tapping the space beside him on the bed, as he stopped the music and removed the ear plugs.
I sat beside him on the bed"What you said to me earlier in school, did you mean it?" I asked.
"I meant every bit of what I said earlier today. I’m sorry it took me this long before I could come out to speak my feelings. I’ve always had a big crush on you but I get jealous each time I see you with Tim or any other guy so I resolved to bullying you as a means of expressing myself hoping to gain your attention in the process. After what happened this morning, I knew I had taken it too far. If there is something that breaks my heart the most, it would be seeing you cry. I became even more angry when my dad got married to your mom, knowing there was no way in the world I could date you any longer. I like you a lot Aria, and I would become the best man for you, dropping my bad characters if that is what will make you love me back."
Overwhelmed by emotions, I couldn’t help but hug him as we shared a tight embrace, letting go of all our worries as the whole world seemed to rotate around us. We stopped, stared into each other’s eye for a little while before bringing our mouths closer for a kiss when the door of his room opened and mum came in.
Aria’s POV.
The door opened as mum walked into the room,we became alarmed. He pushed me to the far end of the bed, running to the door to block mum from entering the room.
"Hey mum," he greeted with his hands holding the door post.
"Nate, I need your help with something," she requested. "I think the kitchen tap has something blocking it, can you check it for me, ill’d have asked your dad but he’s watching the baseball game and wouldn’t answer me." She said with her hands in the air.
"Alright mum, on my way," he replied smiling.
"Thanks love,"she replied turning back. "um Nate, have you seen Aria? I haven’t seen her since she came back from school today."
"No I have not seen her, shes probably at Mary’s or in her room," he replied locking the door as mum went back to the kitchen.
"That was a close call, we might not be so lucky next time,"I uttered still shaking from the shock as the goosebumps on my skin gradually reduced. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
"Gotta go help her else, she’ll come banging the next minute," Nate said with a smile on his face as he left the room, closing the door gently behind.
