Claimed By My Stepbrother novel Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Ethan POV

Morning came like a slap in the face,

The sunlight didn’t gently pour in–it shoved its way through my curtains, bold and blinding and way too loud for the mood I was in. My whole body ached, a raw throb under my skin from the night before. You’d think sniffing a girl’s pajama top wouldn’t feel like being torn apart and stitched back together, but that’s the thing about Camila.

She ruined me in ways I didn’t even have names for yet.

I sat up in bed, hair a mess, mouth dry, heart still stubbornly aching like I’d been through a war.

I felt like shit.

The same kind of shit you feel after a really vivid dream you didn’t want to wake up from. The kind where you had her arms wrapped around her, her head on your chest, her fingers twisted in your shirt–and then the alarm goes off and you’re back to reality where she barely even looks at you in the hallway at school.

I dragged myself into the bathroom, flicked on the light, and stared at the mess in the mirror.

Golden retriever my ass.

I looked like a feral stray who’d just crawled out of a sewer. Hair all over the place, dark circles under my eyes, jaw clenched so tight it popped when Lopened my mouth to brush my teeth.

Cold water. Mint toothpaste. Hot shower. Soap, rinse, stare blankly at the tile while steam filled the room.

It didn’t help.

It never really did.

By the time I pulled on my usual mask–neutral expression, soft gaze, good boy posture–I still felt like there was a storm rolling under my skin. But I had a role to play. That’s what Greg said. The golden retriever act. Smile at her. Don’t stare too long. Look helpful, sweet, harmless.

Harmless.

What a joke.

I padded down the stairs barefoot, the scent of breakfast already in the air. Coffee. Eggs. That faint hint of something sugary. Maybe

waffles.

And then I saw it.

Greg.

All smiles and stupid dimples, standing too close to Camila’s mom. Whispering something into her ear that made her blush like a schoolgirl, then laugh quietly, pressing her fingers to her lips. He touched her elbow, leaned just a little too close.

Disgusting.

The sight punched something in my gut. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. My jaw tightened as I stood at the foot of the stairs, just watching.

So that’s what it was like to have a mate who loved you back.

1/2

Chapter 92

Must be nice.

Greg looked up and noticed me. He

ed immediately, like a soldier caught slacking. Cleared his throat. That polished, fake casual look slid back over his face like a mask, but it was too late. I’d seen it.

Camila’s mom glanced at me too, che

a little red, and looked away shyly.

Ruh.

If Camila had taken that trait from her mother–the sweetness, the softness–I’d probably be dead by now. Heart failure. Brain melt. Something poetic.

But no.

My girl had to be the world’s most stubborn, guarded little brat. The human version of a closed diary with a lock that bites your hand if you try to read it.

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