Falling In Love with Younger Brother

While I was with my boyfriend Jayvon Spears at the claw machine, I accidentally ran into my ex Chandler Hampton, who had a girl with him.

With a dark look on his face, he walked over to me and, in a low voice, demanded to know what was going on.

"Can't you tell?" I smiled and kissed the person next to me on the cheek.

"He's my boyfriend."

It had only been a week since Chandler and I broke up.

"Gisselle, it's just a joke, right?"

As Chandler said this, I could practically see the veins throbbing in his neck.

I was unfazed. "What? You've already got a girl by your side, but I'm not allowed to find a boyfriend?"

The girl next to Chandler reached out and tugged at his sleeve, but he pulled away, clearly annoyed.

Chandler was about to say something else when Jayvon, my current boyfriend, cut him off.

"Excuse me, sir, but you're interrupting our date."

Jayvon put his arm around my shoulders, staking his claim. To Chandler, it was a blatant declaration of war. The two men were almost the same height, and the air between them filled with a subtle tension.

Chandler said to him, "She's my..."

Suddenly, he stopped.

I looked at him, amused, signaling for him to continue.

But he couldn't say another word.

There was nothing between us anymore.

Seeing him lost for words, Jayvon pulled me closer, tightening his hold. He spoke provocatively, "What? If I'm not mistaken, she should be your ex..."

"Enough!"

I interrupted, unwilling to continue the pointless entanglement. Pretending to lean into Jayvon's chest as though I were tired, I said, "I'm tired. Let's go home."

"Okay."

Jayvon grabbed my hand, and as we were about to leave, Chandler yanked my arm hard.

He spoke slowly, his voice calm, but I heard a flicker of desperation in it.

"Are you living together?"

I smirked.

"Of course.

"We get along very well."

As expected, my phone was bombarded with messages from Chandler.

I blocked him on everything, but he kept calling me using other people's phones, determined not to stop until I answered.

When the seventy-ninth call came through, the clock on the wall pointed to 2.

It was 2 a.m.

Jayvon had long since fallen asleep. I went out to the balcony, noticing that at some point, a storm had started. Huge raindrops mixed with flashes of lightning, and thunder rolled incessantly.

It reminded me a lot of Chandler's relentless pursuit.

Just as the phone's vibration was about to stop, I answered.

"Hello?"

Chandler hadn't expected me to pick up. After about ten seconds, he stammered, "Gisselle, I'm downstairs at your place. I didn't bring an umbrella, and it's freezing."

"Good, serves you right."

I spat out the words, calm and measured.

"You didn't move, right? I can see the lights are still on."

"So what? What, do you want me to invite you up for coffee before you leave?"

Chandler was left speechless.

Maybe he never expected me to become so sharp-tongued.

After all, during the six months we were together, I did whatever he asked and was the envy of everyone around me.

"Chandler, don't forget, my boyfriend is still at home. If you don't want to make a scene, you'd better leave, and don't ever call me again."

I said it all in one breath and hung up immediately. Given Chandler's pride, I was sure that no matter how shameless he might be, he wouldn't stoop so low as to keep pushing.

But it proved I was wrong.

Ten minutes later, I heard a loud banging at the door, each knock louder than the last, even drowning out the thunder.

In the bedroom, Jayvon stirred, on the verge of waking up from the noise. I hurried to close the bedroom door, but I didn't want to disturb the neighbors. After mentally preparing myself, I opened the door just a crack.

As soon as I did, a strong force grabbed my arm and yanked me outside. In one swift motion, the door slammed shut behind me. Everything happened so fast that I didn't even have time to react.

Cold arms wrapped tightly around me, contrasting sharply with Chandler's warm breath against my skin.

"If you want to act like a fool, do it somewhere else. Don't disgust me."

I tried to break free from his embrace, but it was like being caught by a python. His arms only tightened until I couldn't struggle anymore.

Something soft brushed against my face. I turned my head, but Chandler's lips landed on my earlobe.

"Gisselle..."

He called out to me pitifully, drenched from head to toe, looking exactly like a wet puppy begging for attention.

But I wasn't buying it anymore.

"Chandler, don't forget how you turned me down."

His grip on my arm trembled.

"I wanted to kiss you, and you told me no. You said you couldn't stand being intimate with anyone other than her. You even said..."

"Stop!"

Chandler pushed me against the corner of the stairwell, kissing me fiercely. In the dark, rain-soaked hallway, my muffled sobs went unheard.

I didn't know how much time passed, but I felt like I was on the verge of fainting. When Chandler finally stopped, we were both gasping for air, neither of us saying a word.

"After tonight, let's forget everything from the past."

I clutched the stair railing tightly.

I held out my other hand to him, showing the scar on my wrist.

"Do I need to end up like her for you to finally let me go?"

That "her" was the secret between us.

Chandler grasped my scarred wrist, his expression complicated, as though he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Another clap of thunder came.

"Chandler.

"I'm so tired..."