ENTANGLED HEART
VIOLET
My words seemed to hit him like a sudden wave, washing away the anger and frustration. Slowly,he turned,fully facing me,his hands slipping out of his pocket. His expression was a kaleidoscope of surprise, confusion and something deeper.
His green eyes bore into mine, as if searching for a lie,for hesitation,for anything that might suggest I didn't mean what I had just said. Bu I stood firm, though my pulse roared in my ears and my hands trembled at my sides
"You are?" His voice was low,almost disbelieving as his brows lifted slightly.
"I am" I whispered and a strange sense of relief washed through me as if finally admitting it aloud freed me from some invisible weight. But the relief was fleeting, quickly replaced by a sharp sting of reality.
I shouldn't be attracted to my stepbrother
The thought echoed in my mind like a warning bell,but it did nothing to quell the pull I felt toward him. It was wrong. Forbidden. Yet standing here,with his piercing gaze locked onto mine, nothing had felt more inevitable.
Ryan stepped closer,the distance between us shrinking until there was barely a foot of space left. his presence was overwhelming,his scent - a mix of cedarwood and something distinctly him.. wrapping around me like a shroud.
“You shouldn’t feel this way,” he said, his tone conflicted. “We shouldn’t feel this way.”
“I know,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I do.”
His jaw tightened, and he exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through his hair in frustration. “You’re making this impossible, Violet. Do you know that?”
His eyes darkened, satisfaction brimming in them as he took another step closer, closing the gap between us entirely. His hand reached out, brushing against mine.
"Violet" he whispered,my name a plea,a warning and confession all in one.
Before I could respond,his hand cupped my cheek,his touch impossibly gentle. His thumb brushed against my skin, igniting a fire that spread through me like wildfire.
"Tell me to stop. Tell me to walk away right now and I will. But if you don't.."
I couldn't,I wouldn't
Instead of answering,I leaned into his touch,my eyes fluttering shut as the remnants of doubt melted away.
“This is dangerous,” Ryan muttered. “But I don’t care. You’re worth the risk Violet. You always have been.”
His words pressed against my chest, filling me with equal parts exhilaration and dread. What, exactly, was this—us? Were we dating now? Or were we just tangled in an attraction too intense to ignore?
Both possibilities twisted in my gut, leaving uneasy
I didn’t want just an attraction. But a relationship? That was a whole new level of impossible. I liked Ryan more than I’d ever liked anyone before, but the bond we shared—our forbidden connection—made everything so complicated.
“Do you want a relationship?” His question startled me, as if he’d reached into my mind and plucked the words from my thoughts. “Or do you want something else?”
His expression remained calm, but his eyes burned with sharp intensity, cautious in the face of my silence.
“I…” I hesitated, my thoughts a tangled mess I couldn’t quite sort out. Finally, I forced myself to speak. “I don’t want to see anyone else, and I don’t want you to see anyone else either. But I’m not ready for a serious relationship—not until we figure out everything with our parents, with school… with everything. It’s all happening so fast, and I’m just…”
Scared.
I didn’t say it out loud, but Ryan must’ve heard it anyway. The word lingered in the space between us, unspoken but understood.
The tension in his shoulders melted away as I spoke, his body visibly relaxing. “Fair enough,” he said, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “So it’ll be an exclusive non-relationship.”
A puff of laughter escaped me before I could stop it. “Yes, that’s better.”
It was essentially a relationship in everything but name. No labels, no public declarations—just us. For now, that was enough. I’d never dated anyone before, and I needed to know what I was getting myself into.
Still, I was relieved it was exclusive. The thought of Ryan with someone else made jealousy coil hot and heavy in my chest.
“I can’t handle the girls at school,” he said, his tone darkening slightly. “They’re obsessive, stalkers, and they’ll do anything to scare you away from me. But you don’t need to worry. I’ll be there to protect you… always. And our parents? We’ll figure things out with them.”
We.
That single word dissolved some of the fear in my chest. We meant together. We meant I wasn’t alone. Warmth seeped into the cold, hollow spaces in my heart, filling them piece by piece.
“Yeah… we,” I murmured, a small smile tugging at my lips.
Ryan stepped forward and pulled me into a hug. His arms were strong, but his hold was gentle, protective. The warmth of his embrace seeped into me, comforting and steadying.
It was so soft, so… right.
I leaned against him, letting myself savor the moment, but a nagging thought crept into my mind. There were still so many unanswered questions, so many mysteries surrounding him. I needed answers.
“One more thing,” I said, my voice muffled against his chest. I pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. “What’s the distraction you’re trying so hard to avoid? Why do you keep boxing with Jack?”
The question made something flicker in his expression—sadness, maybe even pain. It was gone in an instant, masked by the usual confidence that defined him.
“You’ll know soon enough,” he said quietly, his voice tinged with something I couldn’t quite place.
But for the briefest moment, his guard slipped. His eyes softened, offering me a glimpse of the vulnerability he worked so hard to hide.
And then it hit me. The crude comments, the cocky smirks, the playboy reputation—it was all a mask. A role he played to keep people at a distance. There was more to him, layers I hadn’t even begun to uncover.
The realization sent a shiver through me, my pulse quickening. My perception of him shifted, the puzzle pieces rearranging themselves into a picture I wasn’t sure I was ready to see.
Ryan wasn’t just the arrogant guy who invited me to a party only to leave me stranded. He wasn’t just the player who couldn’t seem to keep his dick in one place. There was more to him—so much more.
The secret chamber in his room. The fights he claimed were a way to clear his head. The distractions he refused to explain.
I looked up at him, my heart pounding. It was like seeing him for the first time all over again.
I didn’t just want to know him—I needed to.
Who was he behind the mask? Behind the bravado? When the show ended and the curtains came down, who was left?
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