My Stepbrother, My Enemy {BL}-Chapter 103: Nothing Gets Past Lesbians (BC)

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We’d just stepped out of the boutique, our new jeans making that familiar rustle, when Gigi came charging at us like a lavender whirlwind. Skylar was right behind her, arms full of shopping bags, looking kind of amused but mostly exhausted.

"Noah! Ethan! Check this out!" Gigi twirled around, her dress swirling around her thighs—soft and short, pale lavender with tiny white flowers, the kind you’d expect to see in a spring meadow, not in a mall. "It’s perfect. Flowy but not frumpy, cute without being too baby-doll. I’m totally obsessed."

She hugged the hanger to her chest, her eyes sparkling. "Only issue? It cost more than my rent. Seriously, way more. I thought about putting it back, but then I remembered... winter ball. One night. Memories." She let out a dramatic sigh. "But still. Rent money."

If only I hadn’t spent most of my allowance on a box of new fantasy novels to fill my bookshelf, I would’ve offered to help her out.

Gigi deserved that dress... and honestly, probably whatever else she wanted.

Ethan didn’t even hesitate. "I got this."

Skylar raised an eyebrow, "Got what?"

"I’ll pay for it," Ethan clarified.

Gigi’s head shot up. "Wait, what? No, Ethan, I can’t—"

"Already decided." He pulled his wallet out from his back pocket, took out a sleek black card, and pressed it into her hand. "Just go pay before you talk yourself out of it."

She stared at the card like it was a snake. "Ethan, this is crazy! I can’t let you—"

"Gigi." His tone was firm but warm. "You’ve dragged us through every store in this mall for hours. You found the dress. Just let me do this for both our sakes."

"It’s fine," I added with a smile while thinking about how generous Ethan was.

Her eyes filled up with tears, and for a moment, I thought she might actually cry. Then she squealed—loud enough for heads to turn three stores down—and practically threw herself at Ethan, nearly knocking him over with her hug.

"You’re the best boyfriend ever!" she shrieked into his shoulder. "Noah, marry him. Now!"

I almost choked. Ethan just laughed, patting her back. "Go on. Before the line gets longer."

Gigi pulled back, wiped her eyes, and dashed toward the register, her dress flapping behind her like a victory banner. Skylar shook their head, grinning, and followed her more slowly.

Ethan wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. "See? Easy."

I leaned into him, still buzzing from the moment, my cheeks warm. "You just made her whole year."

He smirked and gave me a quick kiss on the temple. "Totally worth it. Now let’s find a place to sit before she comes back and drags us to accessories."

Skylar stood in front of us, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised like it was a loaded weapon. Their eyes flicked from Ethan’s new jeans to mine, then back to our flushed faces, lingering on the red mark peeking above my collar. The silence stretched out, heavy and accusatory.

Crap! She knows!

"Sooo," she drawled, "where are your suits?"

Ethan cleared his throat. "Uh, still haven’t found any yet."

"Still looking," I squeaked at the same time.

Skylar narrowed their eyes. "You’ve been gone for forty-five minutes. What on earth have you two been doing?"

Wait, we were gone for that long?!

Ethan opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. I felt like I wanted to crawl under a rock.

"We were, uh—" Ethan began.

"Comparing... fabric swatches?" I blurted out.

Skylar blinked. "What does that even mean?"

Ethan rubbed the back of his neck. "Deep... market research?"

Skylar’s eyes fell back to our jeans. "And what’s with the wardrobe change? Last I checked, you both had light wash jeans on."

Silence.

Ethan opened his mouth again. Nothing came out. My brain was completely fried.

Skylar’s lips quirked, then curled into the smuggest grin I’d ever seen.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed, her voice climbing. "You little freaks! You totally got freaky somewhere!"

I made a sound like a kettle boiling over. Ethan’s ears turned bright red.

"You look so messed up!" Skylar laughed, doubling over. "Noah’s practically glowing, and Ethan, babe, your hair looks like it had a rough encounter with a leaf blower. Spill! Now!"

I just wanted the ground to swallow me whole. Ethan laughed—a nervous, guilty laugh—and pulled me behind him like a human shield.

"Skylar, I’ll pay you actual money to never speak of this again," he said in a hiss.

"Too late!" she sang, already pulling out her phone. "This is going in the group chat. Caption: ’Winter ball prep: Phase One—complete.’ Gigi’s going to flip!"

I buried my face in Ethan’s back and whimpered. In the distance, Gigi’s triumphant shout echoed from the register. At least someone was having a normal shopping day.

We barely took three steps before Skylar finally calmed down enough to straighten up, but the smirk on their face let me know we were definitely not out of the woods yet.

Ethan muttered under his breath, "I knew we should’ve waited two more minutes before leaving."

"You mean until Vanessa was three stores away," I whispered, still hiding behind him. "Or until Skylar got distracted by a mannequin."

"Hey," Skylar retorted lightly, though their grin didn’t fade at all, "I only get distracted by hot mannequins, thank you very much."

I groaned into my hands. "Sky—can we please just pretend none of this happened? Please?"

"Nope," she shot back instantly. "Absolutely not. This is the most entertaining thing that’s happened all week. Do you know how dry my social life has been? I needed this."

Ethan chuckled. "Glad we could add some excitement to your life."

"Oh, you contributed," Skylar said, her eyes dancing as they looked between us. "And don’t think I didn’t notice how Noah practically bolted out of that stall like the smoke alarm went off. Subtle? Never heard of it?"

"I wasn’t bolting," I protested weakly. "I was... speed-walking."

"Baby," Skylar said gently, "you were sprinting like you stole something."

Before I could really die of embarrassment, Gigi came bouncing back towards us, bag in hand, her eyes sparkling like she’d just gotten engaged.

"Guys! The cashier said my dress was the last one in stock and someone almost grabbed it, but she held it for me because she knew I was coming back with the card! Ethan, I love you so much, you absolute saint—wait." She paused mid-ramble and looked at us, brows raised. "Why do you all look like you just saw a crime?"

"I wish it was a crime," Skylar muttered under their breath. "At least then I’d be sworn to secrecy."

My stomach dropped. Gigi looked wide-eyed. "What crime? What happened?"

"No crime," Ethan cut in quickly, slipping his arm around my waist like he was trying to shield me from Skylar’s mouth. "Everything’s fine. Sky’s just being overdramatic."

"I am not!" Skylar protested. Then, with a way too dramatic pause, they added, "Ask them why they changed their pants."

Gigi blinked, slowly. Her eyes moved from my new jeans to Ethan’s and then back up, and it hit her so fast, her jaw practically dropped.

"No," she whispered. "No. You didn’t."

I buried my face in my hands again. "Gigi, please—"

"You DID!" she gasped, squeezing the shopping bag so tightly the handles squeaked. "You guys actually—oh my God—no wonder it took you so long!"

"I wasn’t exaggerating," Skylar said proudly. "I clocked it, forty-five minutes."

Ethan groaned. "Why were you timing us?"

Gigi leaned into Skylar like she needed support. "I want to respect your privacy, I really do—"

"No, you don’t," Skylar chimed in.

"—but also," Gigi trailed off breathlessly.

Ethan slipped his hand into mine, giving it a squeeze, and that small touch was grounding enough to keep me from exploding right there in the mall. He leaned down and whispered, barely audible, "We’re never living this down."

"We really aren’t," I replied just as quietly.

Gigi tried to collect herself, breathing dramatically through her nose. "Okay, okay, I’m good, I’m composed, I’m mature—"

"You’re absolutely not," Skylar retorted flatly.

"—but also," Gigi went on, ignoring them, "I’m so happy for you two. Seriously. I mean it. You both look... I don’t know... lighter. Happier. Like something clicked."

I blinked, caught off guard by how gentle her voice had gotten.

Ethan’s thumb brushed my knuckles. "Yeah," he replied softly. "Something did."

Skylar groaned loudly. "Ugh, feelings. Gross. Let’s go grab smoothies before you two start looking into each other’s souls again."

Gigi laughed, already looping her arm through mine as she pulled me along. "Come on, Noah. We still need to get some accessories. And maybe I could get a lip tint that matches that little mark on your neck—"

I choked. Ethan laughed so hard he nearly tripped. Skylar whooped like they’d just hit the jackpot.

And somehow, through all the teasing, chaos, and embarrassment, I just couldn’t stop smiling.