Nathan couldn’t sleep. It was hot.
The weather was so hot. It was his least favorite time of the year and he wanted it to end as fast as possible.
He laid down on his back with his leg folded against the bed and his hand on his forehead.
He didn’t want to be awake.
No longer than he should. Because he didn’t want to keep having nasty thoughts, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to stroke himself.
He wasn’t s*x-starved.
Nathan closed his eyes as he tried again, but the same pictures that kept taunting him for the whole day came back as soon as his eyes went shut.
How could someone look so beautiful while taking just ice cream?
Does everyone lick ice cream off their lips the way she did?
“f**k,” he cussed as he sat up.
What was wrong with him?
For the whole of the day, it’s been the same thoughts and desires, and it left him annoyed.
It was intentional, she did it intentionally, and he wasn’t going to fall for it like some helpless teenager.
A cold cup of water would do just fine.
Immediately, he sat up from the bed and headed for the door.
His hard-on was very visible through his gray pants and he was shirtless.
But no one would be awake, he guessed.
It was 2 a.m. in the morning; everyone should be deeply asleep by now.
He quietly walked down the stairs and found his way to the fridge.
Being cold would help. He grabbed a cup of almost iced water and gulped it down all at once. He immediately felt the brain freeze set in, but he could handle that as long as he achieved his mission.
He bent his head across the counter in the kitchen to be able to contain the brain freeze.
He suddenly regretted his action.
This might end in a headache.
He didn’t hear when a door opened and closed upstairs, and by the time he noticed a frame coming down the stairs quietly, there was no place to hide.
The person’s phone brightness almost blinded him.
“Nathan?” He heard that familiar voice say softly.
The very reason he couldn’t sleep and had to torture himself.
He wasn’t attracted to her. She was okay, and anyone who had done that would have gotten his attention. That was that.
He had not f****d anyone since the day his mom got married, and that was obviously getting to his head. He just needed to get laid.
That was it.
“Oh,” he said as he realized it was just her.
She turned off her phone light and reached for the kitchen light. Before he could protest, she turned it on.
Thankfully, it was just one of the switches she turned on; he didn’t want anyone noticing them.
Her sleepy eyes looked him from head to toe.
He eyed her too.
She was wearing a very small half-top with string sleeves. It was pink.
Her shorts were pink too, only a darker shade of pink. It hung just on her thighs so though skin was open.
She rubbed her eyes then looked at him again; he waited for her to take her time.
“What are you doing down here by this time, and why are you shirtless?” she asked him as her gaze ravished his body.
She hated how her body came to full wakefulness when she looked down his body.
He was ripped. It wasn’t the shirts deceiving her all this while—he had an actual body of a male stripper.
“I came to get water, obviously. And it’s 2 a.m., if you don’t want to see me shirtless, stay in your room,” he said with an irritated tone. “Plus, you’re not exactly completely covered, are you?” he asked her, his voice becoming lower at the last sentence.
Aria looked down at herself.
Oh shoot.
He wasn’t wrong. The tiny fabric she wore to sleep was only meant to be slept in.
The frame of her n*****s was all visible, and for some reason, her n*****s were dully awake.
She didn’t try to cover them. She didn’t want to.
It was just Nathan, right?
Her stepbrother.
She definitely didn’t notice even his lips caught in between his teeth for a second.
While looking up, Aria noticed the bulge on his pants, and her eyes widened.
She looked away immediately.
“Well, I still think you’re dressed more inappropriately than I am,” she said as she walked past him to open the fridge, looking for whatever her eyes could find.
He almost chuckled, knowing fully well what she just saw.
Aria tried to think of anything—anything at all—that would make her forget what she just saw.
Jam, toast, banana.
Fuck.
Why was her brother so frigging huge?
He wasn’t just huge he was long. She saw that. And he was hard. Was that all his d**k?
She suddenly wandered, and she nearly slapped herself.
He is your stepbrother, she kept repeating to herself.
She almost jolted when she felt his hot breath graze her ear as he spoke, “What did you see?” he asked her, his voice low and menacing.
Aria closed her eyes.
She needed to get herself together.
She swallowed hard, then turned to look at him, forgetting to close the fridge.
“Why are you hard, stepbrother? Who’s got you worked up?” she bit at him, and to his surprise—
A smirk appeared on her lips.
“Definitely not you,” he said to her as he walked in and moved closer to her. She wanted to coil up and run.
She was ready to retreat, but she stood her ground. For some reason, she felt that would earn some respect.
Truly, that made him chuckle.
He was surprised, and in a good way.
He watched her lick the top of her lip again, and he moved back.
That wouldn’t do.
That was cheating. And why the f**k did he like it when she did that? With her lips?
Lick it, bite it. It always got his attention.
“Then why don’t you go to whoever it is? I didn’t say I was. Guilty?” she shot back.
Valid.
She was fierce.
She’s got a temper. Not his typical type.
That’s why he loved to make her livid.
Just to see her reaction and be happy with it.
But her retorts— she always does.
She was a badass, wasn’t she?
“I will. Would you love to watch?” he asked her shamelessly.
Adria’s face crunched up with disgust.
“I’d rather watch my dad and your mom make love,” she said with certainty and irritation. And that would no joke be traumatizing.
Wow.
She was good with words. She was good at putting people in their place.
But not him.
She could never win.
Her vibrant green eyes stared back at him with fierceness, contempt missing. Just confidence and indifference.
“I don’t advise you to say things you don’t mean, Nut. I tend to love proving my point always,” he warned.
“And how is that supposed to be my problem?” she asked him, genuinely curious.
A half smile appeared on his face. “You’d see how.”
Her eyes were almost laughing, her face smiling.
Something about her words made him want to do everything he could to take that smirk off her face.
And he would. It was just a matter of time.
He looked down at her body. His eyes lingered on her a second too long.
There was something in his gaze—quietly consuming.
She stared back at him, her eyes lingering around his face. Unwavering.
Not backing down.
He picked up another glass behind her and gulped the water down his throat.
She didn’t blink; she just watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed.
He roughly placed the cup on the counter before turning his gaze to her, then intentionally letting it fall to her breasts.
“I would say you’re reacting to me. But you know, you might say otherwise,” he shrugged. “Maybe it’s indeed cold. Move away from the fridge, maybe,” he suggested before taking one more look at her.
Then retreated up the stairs.
She finally let out a sigh of relief the moment she heard his door close shut—she didn’t even know she was holding it in.
She looked down at her perked n*****s that were more obvious than when she came down.
“s**t,” she muttered.