My Jealous Stepbrother
DON'T GET CARRIED AWAY

"Very, very handsome." I kept slurring my words, lost in a haze of euphoria. I loved this feeling of floating, not worrying about anything in particular. I was sleepy but didn't want to sleep yet. Ryan's face looked incredibly adorable. "Sam, are you okay?" he asked with concern. "Was there something wrong with the medicine?"

My lips curved into a mischievous smile. "But I feel so good," I whispered, approaching him with a defiant look. "And you...you look great too." Ryan tried to hold back, but I couldn't help but notice how his expression grew more intense. "You're not fine," he said, trying to pull away a little.

"I'm great," I replied as I grabbed his face between my hands and began to pull at his cheeks, he wouldn't get away that easily. Her skin was soft and smooth, and I found it irresistible to touch. Ryan tried to gently remove my hands from his face, but I wouldn't let him. I wanted to keep touching him, exploring every inch of his face. Her cheeks began to flush, and her face seemed to burn.

Suddenly, I realized that maybe he needed some too. "You need medicine," I said as I ran my tongue across my lips, trying to remove the bitter taste of the pill I had taken. Ryan was mesmerized by my lips, and I could tell he was in a bind. There was a flash of conflict in Ryan's eyes as he tried to maintain his composure. His lips moved in an attempt to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. Torn between his desires and the caution urging him to pull away. The sexual tension between us was becoming more and more palpable, and we both knew we were crossing a dangerous line.

My thoughts were clouded by the euphoria and the effect of the drugs. I felt caught in a whirlwind of sensations and repressed desires. Confusion mingled with passion, and the boundaries between the right and the forbidden became blurred.

Ryan, between whispers, tried to restrain himself and pull away from me, but I couldn't help wanting him. "We shouldn't do this," he said in a tone laden with longing and warning. My eyes were starting to get heavier and heavier but I kept myself from letting the fatigue linked to the medication, not even the caffeine I'd had could stand up against the perseverance of the flu medication.

My hands trembling with desire were still on his face and my lips sought his with a desperate urgency. Our bodies drew closer waiting for something more, wanting to give in to the magnetic pull that bound us together. Words of reason and responsibility faded before the intensity of the moment.

"I know," I whispered between her lips.

Our encounters had always been filled with tension, but now it was overwhelming. We burned, but we knew we couldn't let go completely.

The atmosphere was charged with electricity as our eyes met, wrestling with our own feelings and holding back the urge to give ourselves over to pleasure. We were at a dangerous crossroads. Only time would reveal whether our unbridled passions would consume us or whether we would replace the strength to resist temptation and make wiser choices.

As we were about to succumb to our forbidden desires, a sound interrupted our moment. It was like a rhythmic buzzing, coming from my phone that had been lying forgotten on the dresser since morning. Ryan pulled away from me quickly, as if my closeness burned him alive. He walked over to the dresser and picked up my phone, while I remained in my haze, not understanding why he had walked away instead of continuing what we both wanted. I felt there was something I needed to worry about, but my brain wouldn't let me think clearly, I was still wandering in a sleepy, passionate haze.

Ryan put the phone in my hand and answered the call. On the screen was a picture of a younger, smiling version of myself standing next to a tall man in a military suit adorned with several medals. My father.

A shiver ran through my body as my father's voice echoed through the phone. His tone was serious and concerned.

My mind struggled to process the information, but my thoughts were still scattered and confused.

I didn't fully understand what my father was saying, so I concentrated on speaking only what was necessary. "Daddy!" It was hard to pronounce that word and my voice came out more squeaky than expected. Daddy? I only used it when I was trying to convince him to let me do something, or when I was in trouble, I just hoped he didn't notice yet. I noticed how his tone of voice changed when he heard me call him that, he was still a pushover.

"My little girl," he replied sweetly. "I was worried because you weren't answering."

"I was asleep," I explained.

It was just a little lie that didn't hurt anyone, I lay back on the bed next to all those sheets that occupied it.

"Oh, my poor baby. It must be all that flu medicine. How are you feeling? You're resting like I told you, aren't you?" His tone was sweet but also a bit serious, if you heard him talk that way he didn't sound like an ex-military man. He sounded worried.

"Of course I am, Daddy. Y... Ryan is taking very good care of me," I added, looking at Ryan, who was now turned away from me and sat on the bed with an indecipherable expression, rubbing his hands together and avoiding looking at me. He seemed to be deep in thought.

My father's voice stopped dead in its tracks when he heard me say that. Was there something going on that I wasn't aware of? Even though drowsiness was getting the better of me, I wanted to keep listening to his voice. It soothed me and reminded me of when he would sing me lullabies to sleep after my mother passed away. I felt so strange; my mind couldn't focus on several things at once, and what had happened moments before with Ryan seemed to have gone cold, as did the atmosphere in the room and on the other end of the phone line.

My father sighed deeply. "That boy...just don't get too close."

There was something in his tone that worried me, but my foggy mind failed to process the message hidden in his words. I continued to listen to him as I closed my eyes, letting his voice become a comforting melody in the midst of the chaos that enveloped me.

I felt Ryan gently take the phone from my hand, still not strong enough to resist. Although I wasn't completely gone, my body felt weak and I didn't have enough energy to keep my eyes open. "She's fallen asleep," I heard Ryan say.

The reply was the last thing to get through to me... Or was I dreaming already?

"Remember what we agreed on."