Seduced by My Childhood Sweetheart’s Brother
Chapter 123

123–Interested and idiotic

The conversation wraps up quickly after that and Shaun makes his way home. He says goodbyecheerfully as usual but he’s obviously very distracted. I wonder how long it will take him to ask me forAmber’s number. That’s something to look forward to at least. Bellamy had followed Shaun so he couldlock the front door behind him so I grab my phone and start researching different ways to meditate andtips for clearing your mind, focussing. Stuff like that. A lot of it involves creepy ads for potions andspells. Particularly when I added the word ‘focus‘ to the search. Illegal study aid spells came up a lot. Iwish it were that easy. I’m going to have to learn this on my own without magical assistance. WhenBellamy returns, I feel him drop down onto the couch beside me. I don’t look up from the article I’mreading until he clears his throat. I look up and realise that his face is right next to mine. He’s sittingclose. Very, very close. Much closer than he was before. I meet his gaze and he smiles softly.

“I missed you today.” He says quietly. He is so close I can feel his breath as he speaks. I can feelmyself starting to flush red.

“I- I missed you too.” I confess. Bellamy leans in closer, uses a hand to push my hair back behind myshoulders and presses his lips to the side of my throat.

“I loved coming home to you though.” He murders. I can feel the whisper of his lips against my neckand I can’t help but shiver. My hands sit in my lap clutching my phone uselessly. My fingers aresuddenly really sweaty and my mind is blank as I try to formulate a response. I need to say something.Anything.

1

“I saw Shaun’s red thread today. It’s my friend Amber.” I blurt out. Bellamy pauses for half a secondbefore continuing to cuddle into my neck and shoulder. His hands winding their way around my waist,lifting me slightly and turning me to face him.

“Really. That’s interesting.” He comments, his tone mild.

“You- you don’t sound interested.” I manage to squeak out. Bellamy pulls back from me. enough to beable to see my face. A slight smirk crosses his face.

“I’m very interested…” he trails off. Leans in and presses his lips to mine. He starts slowly, leaving lightk*sses on my lips and along my jaw. Somehow I replace my phone sipping from my fingers. It makes alight thud as it hits the carpet. With my hands now free they end up on

123–Interested and idiotic

Bellamy’s shoulders. I’m clutching him so tightly that my fingers hurt. He doesn’t even seem to noticemy death grip and takes advantage of the fact that my arms are no longer between us to pull me evencloser so I’m practically in his lap with both legs swung out to one side. Bellamy’s attention returns tomy lips and he k*sses me again. This time it’s so intense I replace myself struggling for breath. Bellamyadjusts his hands so that one presses against my lower back, holding me close. The other he twistsinto the hair at the back of my head and uses it to guide me closer. My mind is struggling to catch up.How did I end up here? I was just trying to tell Bellamy about Shaun and Amber and then- oh shitAmber. She knows about her

up in and Shaun. Which means she saw me tell Bellamy. Which means she saw… I freezeembarrassment. I can feel anxiety clawing at my stomach. I know I’m not doing anything wrong, but thethought of her seeing this. I feel like I might be sick. Bellamy obviously feels me tense up because hestops and pulls back. He assesses my panicked expression and his pleased expression falls away tobe replaced with concern…. And disappointment. He releases. me and I immediately scramblebackwards off his lap and tumble into the couch. Bellamy turns to sit straight and awkwardly adjusts thecrotch of his pants. The motion makes me cringe. Just how much did Amber see? Bellamy sighs and

drops his head into his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. He appears to be taking a few breathsto calm himself. Not a bad idea. I replace myself trying to match his breathing. Slowly my heart rate beginsto steady. The flush in my cheeks is going to take a bit longer to fade away.

I realise Bellamy still isn’t looking at me. I open my mouth to apologise and explain why I freaked out allof a sudden but Bellamy speaks first.

“What did I do wrong?” He asks quietly. He sounds miserable. What the hell? He thinks he didsomething? Why would he think that? I’m the weird one who gets awkward and overthinks everything!

“I- No! It wasn’t something you did. I was just thinking and I got embarrassed and…” I trail off helplesslyas I realise I don’t know how to explain the issue. Where do I start? I need to tell him how Amber’svisions work. Or maybe more about Oracles first. How much does he know about them? I’m trying towork out what to say when Bellamy speaks again. His voice is practically a monotone and he stilldoesn’t look at me.

‘If you just aren’t interested in me… physically you can tell me. I’ll understand if my k*sses make youuncomfortable.” He forces out. My mind stalls and I completely lose my train of thought. Wait, what? Iknow I’m awkward, but where did he get the impression that I’m. unwilling? Or uninterested at least.The longer I stay quiet the lower his shoulders drop. Okay enough of this. I cross my arms and glare athim.

123- Interested and idiotic

“You’re being an idiot.” I declare. This is enough to get him to sit up and look at me. The baffledexpression on his face is pissing me off. Does he really not know why I’m annoyed?

“You’re being ridiculous. If I wasn’t interested in you that way I wouldn’t let you k*ss me. I wouldn’t k*ssyou back. I wouldn’t sit on your lap or sleep in your bed! Before meeting you I’d

ever even k*ssed a guy! Never even considered it! We’ve only been together a few weeks!” I

throw my words out getting more and more worked up as I go. Annoyed, I turn my back to him andangle myself away from him on the couch.

Bellamy sits in stunned silence for a moment before he groans and reaches out to me. Placing a handon my shoulder he speaks.

“Ry? Sweetheart I’m- I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Shouldn’t have even thought it.” He sighs.

“Please look at me.” he pleads. I don’t want to. If I look at him he’s going to give me big innocent cateyes and I’m going to forging him immediately and I’m just not done being mad

yet. How could he even think that? I shrug his hand off my shoulder. The only response I give him is asmall shake of my head.

“Ryann, please.” He begs. I let my shoulders drop and lean forward. My hair covers my face

like a curtain.

“Why would you say that?” I force out, my voice small. Shoot I sound like I’m crying. I’m not crying. AmI? My eyes are burning. I wipe at my face and replace it wet. Ugh. I hate crying. Stupid Bellamy. This is allhis fault. I spend half my time freaking out because I’m so weirdly AWARE of him and I don’t know howto deal with it. I called a stop for what was actually a fairly reasonable reason but he just jumps toconclusions instead of giving me time to gather my thoughts which he very thoroughly scrambled in thefirst place!