My Stepbrother, My Enemy {BL}-Chapter 213: From One Storm To Another

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The drive home felt surreal, like I was gliding through a dream I wasn’t quite ready to leave. Snow-covered fields stretched endlessly on both sides of the highway, the late morning sun turning everything into a sparkling, quiet wonderland.

The heater hummed its sounds steadily, warming the car with air that smelled of Adrien’s cologne mixed with the lavender scent from Rachel’s old towels.

I couldn’t help stealing glances at him every so often, his hands resting comfortably on the wheel, dark hair still a bit messy from sleep, eyes focused on the road but with that familiar grin at the corners of his mouth that told me he knew exactly what I was thinking.

Not much had been said since we left Rachel’s...just safe, small talk about the weather, whether the mechanic had done a good job, and if we should grab some coffee.

Yet, beneath every word lingered the memory of last night: how his hands felt on my skin, that low, reverent sound he made when I pulled him close, and the soft promises whispered against my neck when we fell asleep tangled together under a pile of quilts.

I was lost in that replay...my cheeks warm, stomach doing lazy flips, when the car slowed down and pulled onto the shoulder with a gentle crunch of tires on packed snow. My heart skipped unnaturally.

I turned to him. "What’s wrong? Shit did we blow a tire or something?"

Adrien didn’t reply immediately. He shifted the car into park, turned off the engine, and then turned to me with that slow, bad-boy grin that should honestly be illegal everywhere.

His dark eyes locked onto mine...intense yet playful, then he leaned across the console, no hesitation, no warning, and cupped my jaw with one warm hand.

His lips met mine like he’d been craving it.

This kiss wasn’t gentle or shy like the soft ones we exchanged in Rachel’s guest room. No, this was raw, unfiltered Adrien, hungry and confident, a little reckless, like he had been holding himself back all morning and had finally reached a breaking point.

His mouth moved against mine, parting my lips in a way that made my breath hitch and my fingers curl into the sleeve of his coat. He tasted like the mint gum he’d chewed earlier and something uniquely him, and when his tongue brushed against mine with a slow, deliberate pace, heat flooded through me so quickly that I forgot we were parked on a busy highway.

I kissed him back just as fiercely, one hand tangling in his hair, the other clutching the front of his shirt as if I needed something to hold onto before I floated away completely. A soft, helpless sound escaped me, and he responded with a low hum that vibrated against my lips, his thumb brushing along my cheek like he couldn’t believe he had the right to touch me that way.

When he finally pulled back, just enough so our foreheads were touching, breaths mingling in the small space between us—his grin was pure satisfaction.

"I’ve been dying to do that since the second you opened your eyes this morning," he murmured, his voice rough and low. "Maybe even before that."

I tried to keep a straight face, but my cheeks were burning and my heart was doing cartwheels, so I probably just looked breathless instead of unimpressed.

"You couldn’t have waited until we weren’t, you know, parked on the side of the road like a couple of teenagers making questionable life choices?"

He laughed, a warm, rumbling sound. "Where’s the fun in that? Plus, you didn’t seem to mind."

I lightly shoved his shoulder, but my fingers stayed on the soft fabric of his coat. "Shut up, you’re crazy."

"And you’re adorable when you blush," he shot back, giving me one more quick, teasing kiss at the corner of my mouth before settling back into the driver’s seat. "Hold that thought. We’ve got hours until we’re home."

A loud, impatient honk cut through the air...some pickup truck had apparently crept up while we were, uh, distracted.

Adrien glanced in the rearview mirror, lifted a casual hand in apology, and eased back onto the highway with a grin that clearly said he wasn’t sorry at all.

I sunk lower in my seat, hiding my smile behind my scarf as the truck sped past us.

By late afternoon, the sun had dipped low, painting the sky in strokes of pink and gold as we finally rolled back into Willow Haven. The familiar streets felt both comforting and strange, like we’d been away for weeks instead of just one wild, stormy night.

Snowplows had cleared the main roads, but the mansion’s long driveway remained pristine, waiting for us.

Adrien parked near the front steps and turned off the engine. We sat in silence for a moment, the quiet heavy now with the reality of home, parents, and secrets awaiting us inside.

He turned to me, his expression softer. "We’re okay, right? Whatever this is... we’ll figure it out."

I suppose I wasn’t all too sure if he meant figuring what happened to his mother, figuring how to deal with our parents who... let’s be honest, were pretty freaking mad at us, or figuring how to deal with...well us.

I reached over and intertwined my fingers with his. "Yeah," I said, meaning it.

Outside, the mansion lights flickered on automatically as dusk fell, warm and golden against the snow.

Inside, things were about to get a lot more complicated. The Oakfield Mansion loomed ahead as Adrien turned into the long driveway, its windows glowing warmly in the twilight as if inviting us home.

For a brief moment, I imagined slipping inside unnoticed...tiptoeing upstairs, pretending the whole crazy weekend had been a dream we could keep secret just a little longer.

But that illusion shattered when I saw two figures standing beneath the portico lights: Mom in her camel coat, arms crossed tightly, and Keith beside her in a dark overcoat, hands in his pockets, both wearing expressions that could freeze the melting snow at their feet.

Crap, perhaps we should just turn around and go back to Rachel’s at this point.

Adrien let out a low whistle. "Well, damn. Looks like the welcoming committee’s here." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

I swallowed hard. "Maybe they’re just... relieved we’re safe?"

He shot me a sidelong glance that clearly said yeah, right, and pulled the SUV to a stop near the steps. We climbed out slowly, like kids caught stealing cookies, the gravel crunching too loudly under our boots.

Mom’s voice carried across the cold air before we even closed the doors. "Inside. Now. Living room. Sit."

No greeting, no hug. Just that sharp tone she used when she was on the verge of losing it.

Adrien and I exchanged a quick look, mine wide-eyed, and his...more like he barely gave a shit and we followed them like we were being led to detention.

The foyer felt vast and echoing, the chandelier light too bright, every footstep announcing our guilt. Mom didn’t even bother taking off her coat; she just pointed to the long leather couch in the formal living room as if it were a bench in jail.

We sat down. Side by side, close enough that our knees nearly touched, which usually would’ve sent my heart racing in a good way, but in this moment, it felt more like we were standing together against an incoming storm.