Unmasking My Stepbrother

We met playing a popular multiplayer game. He was a top-tier god on the server, and I spent my days trailing behind him, calling him babe left and right.

After three months of dating online, I decided to surprise him. I flew out and sneaked over to his place.

The door swung open. Hubby~ I cooed sweetly.

Before I could throw myself into his arms for a bear hug, a large hand clamped down hard on the top of my head.

"Gemma. Open your eyes and take a good look. Who exactly is your husband?"

My eyes widened at that familiar voice.

Holy shit.

My online boyfriend was my stepbrother!

Chapter 1

We met playing a popular multiplayer game. He was a top-tier god on the server, and I spent my days trailing behind him, calling him "babe" every chance I got.

After three months of online dating, I wanted to give him a massive surprise. I sneaked over to his place.

The door opened. "Hubby~" I cooed sweetly.

Just as I was about to wrap my arms around his waist, a heavy hand firmly gripped the top of my head.

"Gemma, open your eyes and take a good look. Who exactly is your husband?"

That cold, detached voice

Who else could it be but Easton, my stepbrother?

My face dropped. "Easton? What the hell are you doing here?"

He shot me a glacial look. "I should be asking you that. You didn't fly all the way here just to see me, did you?"

"I Of course I came to see you!" I averted my gaze, staring intensely at the tips of my sneakers.

Ever since my mom married his dad, Easton had made it crystal clear he couldn't stand me. If he found out I was his online girlfriend, hed probably be utterly disgusted.

Easton raised an eyebrow. "You came to see me with a suitcase that huge?"

I bit the inside of my cheek and mumbled, "I I don't have anywhere to stay."

My grand plan was to crash at my boyfriend's place. Now, everything was ruined. I gripped the handle of my suitcase, calculating how fast I could book a cheap hotel room for the night.

Just then, the building's security guards rushed down the hallway. They announced that a onceCinCaCdecade, massive blizzard had just struck outside. The entire city was under emergency lockdown.

The entire building was now sealed. No one was allowed to take a single step out the front doors.

I froze, then snapped my head back to Easton, looking at him with wide, hopeful eyes. "So I"

"The second the lockdown lifts, you leave." He dropped the sentence and turned on his heel, walking back into the apartment without a backward glance.

I knew better than to push my luck. I dragged my suitcase and scurried inside after him.

The apartment was massive and minimal. I spotted a dedicated home office and a gaming room.

The gaming room door was slightly ajar. Every single piece of equipment inside glowed in soft pastel pink. I had casually mentioned to my online boyfriend once that my dream setup was a completely pink, aesthetic gaming room.

"You take the guest room near the bathroom. And do not bother me when I'm gaming." Easton paused.

"Lastly, make sure you lock your door when you go to sleep tonight." With that, he stepped into the gaming room.

Before I could even mutter a thank you, the door slammed shut in my face with a sharp click. I stood in the hallway and rolled my eyes hard.

Right then, my phone buzzed violently. My custom ringtone for him cut through the silence. The caller ID flashed "Hubby."

I declined it immediately. He called right back.

I switched the phone to silent, shoved it into my purse, and hauled my luggage toward the guest room Easton had pointed out. Once inside, I locked the door behind me. I pulled out my vibrating phone, took a deep breath, and cleared my throat.

Before every call with my online boyfriend, I would deliberately soften my voice, forcing a sweet, delicate pitch to make sure I sounded nothing like my normal self. That was the exact reason Easton hadn't recognized me.

I hit accept. A gentle voice came through the speaker:

Chapter 2

[Babe, why aren't you answering your phone? Are you busy?]

[Babe, a massive blizzard hit here and the whole city is on lockdown. I was actually planning to fly out and surprise you over the next couple of days.]

[]

[Babe? Why aren't you saying anything?]

His voice was exactly the way I dreamt about it day and nightso deep and intensely sexy it made my bones melt and my knees tremble.

But the second the reality hit methat this was Easton deliberately lowering his voicemy heart slammed against my ribs and the blood drained from my face.

I swallowed hard, forcing my racing pulse to steady. Pinching my vocal cords to keep up the sweet, delicate facade, I murmured, "Listen I don't think we're a good match anymore. We should break up."

A low, breathless chuckle came through the line. "Babe, you literally told me last night you'd never marry anyone else. Nice try, but I'm not buying it."

I ground my teeth together. "Believe it or not, we're done."

His tone shifted, a desperate edge bleeding into the deep timber. "Babe, stop joking. It's not funny."

"I'm not joking. I'm dead serious."

A sharp intake of breath. "No. I don't accept this."

I dug my nails into my palm. "That's not up to you." I stabbed the red button on the screen.

The call vanished. I let out a long, shaky exhale.

Forcing that high pitch had left my throat burning. I unlocked my door and stepped out into the hallway to find the kitchen.

Just my luck. Easton was standing in front of the open fridge, aggressively chugging a bottle of water.

He spotted me and choked, water spilling down his chin. He coughed, his broad chest heaving. When he finally looked up, his eyes were rimmed with red.

"What the hell are you doing out of your room?" he snapped, his voice raspy and harsh.

Jesus. So much hostility. He definitely didn't sound like this on the phone.

I pushed the thought away and met his glaring, bloodshot eyes. "I'm thirsty. Just getting some water."

He shoved a freezing plastic bottle toward my chest. "Take it. Stay in your room unless you absolutely have to. Don't come out."

I nodded vigorously, clutching the cold water. "Don't worry. I didn't see anything, and my lips are sealed."

"Didn't see what?" His dark eyebrows pulled together. The air in the kitchen instantly thickened, a suffocating pressure radiating off his tall frame.

He took a slow step toward me. "What exactly did you see, Gemma?"

I shrank back, realizing I'd stepped on a landmine. "Look, if you cried, you cried," I muttered, my voice losing its bravado. "It's not a big deal. You don't have to hide it."

I had heard his voice cracking on the phone. And looking at him nowthe raw, red-rimmed eyes, the gravelly pitchit was obvious.

"Who the fuck told you I was crying?" He sneered, a muscle ticking in his jaw. "You actually think you're my little sister now? Keep your nose out of my business and back the hell off."

With a harsh exhale, Easton yanked at his loosened tie and popped the top two buttons of his dress shirt. The fabric parted, revealing a glimpse of his taut, sculpted collarbones, but the movement did nothing to steady his ragged breathing.

Right. I caught him in a moment of weakness, and his ego was bruising.

He slid down the wall until he hit the hardwood floor, a heavy, suffocating aura of defeat wrapping around him. After a long stretch of dead silence, he let out a bitter, gravelly breath. "Gemma, why are you still standing there? I don't need your damn pity"

"I'm leaving right now." I didn't spare him another glance. I spun on my heel and marched back down the hall. If I stayed a second longer, my traitorous body might have actually closed the distance to wrap my arms around him.

It was twisted. We were supposed to hate each other. Our entire existence was built on mutual repulsion.

Seeing him fall apart should have given me a sick sense of satisfaction. So why did my chest feel so tight?

My phone vibrated frantically the entire way back to my room. I didn't even need to look to know who was flooding my notifications. I locked the door and pulled out the screen.

Jesus. Fifteen missed calls. Dozens of frantic texts and voice notes.

[Babe, what did I do wrong? I'm so sorry. Please don't be mad at me.]

[Don't leave me. I swear I'll be better. Just tell me what you want.]

Chapter 3

The very last message at the bottom of the screen read:

[Don't break up with me. We promised we'd be together forever.]

Jesus. But we could never, ever be together.

My thumb hovered over the glowing glass. I typed the words out with cold, mechanical precision:

[It was just a joke online, and you actually took it seriously. The game is over now. Blocked.]

Before the typing bubble could even appear on his end, I hit the block button.

A sharp, suffocating pressure seized my chest, crawling up my throat like swallowed glass and burning the back of my eyes. I dragged the heavy duvet over my head, burying my face into the darkness to force my racing brain to shut down.

Deep in the night, a heavy thud echoed against the door.

My eyes snapped open. I stared into the pitch-black room. At this ungodly hour, who the hell was pounding on my door?

Easton's daylight warning instantly slashed through my mindmake sure you lock your door. But even with the deadbolt secured, the relentless, aggressive knocking rattled the hinges. I was a notoriously light sleeper. There was no way I was going back to sleep with that racket.

I crept to the door and pressed my palm flat against the cold wood. "Easton?" I called out softly.

We were the only two breathing souls in this massive apartment. If it wasn't me, it had to be him.

Dead silence answered me. Just as my muscles uncoiled and I turned back toward the bed, the pounding erupted again.

The back-and-forth harassment snapped the last thread of my patience. I gripped the handle, yanked the door wide open, and snapped, "What the hell is your prob Ah!"

My lungs seized. Easton's massive frame slumped forward, trapping me against the doorframe as his dead weight crashed over me. A heavy, intoxicating wave of whiskey and dark cedar washed over my senses. His eyes were glazed over, vacant and sluggish.

"Easton? What's wrong?" I gasped, struggling under his size.

He ignored me. Pushing off my shoulders, he blindly stumbled forward into the room. Each agonizingly slow step was followed by a heavy pause, his entire body rigid as he fought gravity to stay upright.

Shit. Was he sleepwalking?

Rousing a sleepwalker mid-stride was notoriously dangerous. My heart hammered against my ribs as I shadowed his towering figure, watching helplessly as he dragged himself toward my bed.

I braced myself for him to collapse onto the mattress. Instead, his broad shoulders hitched. He stopped dead in his tracks, turning around with terrifying slowness. Before I could back away, his long, heavily muscled arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me flush against his hard chest.

Something freezing and wet dropped onto my cheek. One drop. Then another.

Tears.

Every muscle in my body locked tight. I stood frozen in his crushing grip, paralyzed.

A few seconds later, his arms went slack. He let go, swaying backward before crashing onto my mattress, dead to the world.

I let out a long, ragged exhale, forcing the spike of adrenaline down. I couldn't even be mad. This was his apartment. His bed.

I hastily dragged the heavy duvet over his chest, stepped out into the dark hallway, and quietly clicked the door shut. The living room couch would have to do for the night.

By morning, harsh sunlight sliced through the floor-to-ceiling windows, pooling onto the hardwood in blinding patches. I threw a hand over my eyes, squinting against the glare as I slowly dragged myself awake.

Easton was still dead asleep. I hit the kitchen, fried up a sizzling skillet of bacon and eggs, and headed down the hall to wake him up.

I pushed the guest room door open. The morning light spilled across the bed, washing his sharp, sculpted features in a soft golden glow and stripping away his usual icy hostility. His dark eyebrows pulled together. He peeled his hooded eyes half-open, his voice thick and gravelly with sleep.

"What are you doing in here?"

Chapter 4

I pinched the bridge of my nose and squeezed my eyes shut. "Take a good look around. This is my room."

He froze. His bloodshot eyes scanned the space in disbelief. Once it registered that he wasn't in his master suite, his gaze snapped back to me. "Last night I was drinking. I blacked out. Did I"

"Relax. Absolutely nothing happened," I cut him off immediately. "I just came to tell you breakfast is ready."

Easton let out a harsh breath, his tense shoulders dropping a fraction. Then, panic flared across his face as he frantically patted down his pockets. His eyes locked onto his phone resting on the nightstand, a desperate spark lighting up his gaze.

He snatched the phone and jabbed a contact with practiced ease. The dead, flat tone of a disconnected line instantly echoed into the quiet room. His jaw clenched.

He hit redial. Again. And again.

I had already blocked his number. He was just trapped in his own delusions, stubbornly refusing to accept that it was over. Watching him spiral like this made a strange, tight knot form in the back of my throat.

I opened my mouth and let the ugly truth out. "It's not going to ring. You've been blocked."

His head snapped up. He glared at me, a glassy, volatile sheen pooling in his bloodshot eyes.

I'd clearly hit the raw nerve. He pointed a trembling finger toward the hallway. "Did I ask for your opinion, Gemma? Get the hell out of my sight!"

My blood boiled. I snatched the phone right out of his grip, matching his volume. "Are you done throwing your pathetic little tantrum, Easton? So you got dumped. Big deal. You're not going to literally die without her!"

The air in the room flatlined. He just stared at me, the aggressive fire draining from his eyes, leaving behind a hollow, lost gaze.

After a long, suffocating pause, his head dropped. "How did you know I got dumped?" he rasped.

"I'm not blind. It's written all over your miserable face." I spun on my heel and slammed the door behind me. Whatever. More bacon and eggs for me.

I fully expected us to be at each other's throats after that screaming match. But barely five minutes later, he shuffled out of the bedroom.

I ignored him, reaching across the island to grab the extra plate of fried eggs.

Before my fingers even brushed the ceramic, a large hand intercepted it.

Easton raised an eyebrow. His usual smooth, icy tone floated over my head. "Wasn't this for me? You can't just take it back."

I didn't even bother giving him a response. I shoved the rest of my food down and retreated to my room.

Throughout the rest of the day, Easton tried to strike up a conversation at least three different times. I shot him down with pure silence.

That night, I flipped the deadbolt on my door again, finished my skincare routine, and crawled into bed.

Of course, the peace didn't last. Deep in the middle of the night, that same heavy pounding rattled my door. I didn't even have to guess. He was sleepwalking again.

I groaned, yanking the heavy duvet over my ears to block out the noise. Even in a sleepwalking trance, he couldn't possibly stand out there banging on the wood forever.

I severely underestimated him. It was like he was locked in a battle of wills with me. The pounding just kept coming, a relentless rhythm that screamed he wasn't leaving until that door opened.

Fine. Two could play this game. Let's see who breaks first.

I lost track of time staring at the ceiling. Eventually, the hammering stopped.

But the silence was immediately shattered by a low, muffled sound. It was a suppressed, agonizing sob that sounded like it was being ripped straight from his chest cavity.

This is the last time, I swore to myself. The absolute last time I deal with his mess.

I whipped the door open. Easton was curled up on the hardwood floor, his arms wrapped tight around his knees as he openly sobbed.

I crouched down to his level, studying his trembling frame. Seriously? It was just a breakup. Was a total mental breakdown really necessary?

Chapter 5

Easton had incredibly long lashes. Right now, they were soaked, clumped together by his tears and trembling slightly in the quiet air.

I had never seen him look this shattered.

I stared into his bloodshot eyes. Every time a tear spilled over, I caught it with a tissue. I stayed crouched beside him until my legs went completely numb.

Eventually, the ragged breaths slowed. The crying finally stopped.

He reached out. Just like the last time, he pulled me in.

But this grip was completely different. His arms clamped around me like a vice, crushing me against his chest with enough force to fuse our bones together.

He buried his face into my shoulder. His hot, ragged breath ghosted across the shell of my ear as he mumbled heavily against my skin. "Why does everyone always choose to abandon me? What the hell did I do wrong? Why did she have to throw me away too why"

He was spiraling back into his abandonment trauma?!

My eyes went wide. No wonder Easton clung to me like a lifeline every time he sleepwalked. That deep-seated, paralyzing lack of security was tearing him apart from the inside out.

I knew Easton's mother had passed away a long time ago. When I was five and my mom married his dad, his mother was already a ghost in that house. That meant she had died right when he was barely old enough to form memories.

The massive frame pressed against me started shaking again. I stayed silent, slowly raising my hands to wrap them around his broad back.

I wanted so desperately to tell him: She didn't abandon you. You just don't know who she really is. If he ever found out that his dream girl was actually the stepsister hed despised his entire life, it would destroy him.

There was no crueler joke than falling deeply in love with the daughter of your sworn enemy. An online romance needed to die online. A clean break was the only merciful way out for both of us.

I held him in the suffocating silence until the tension finally bled out of his muscles. Easton slowly pushed himself off the floor and dragged himself back to his room.

I let out a massive yawn. Thank God I didn't have to sleep on the couch tonight.

For the next few days, Eastons midnight routine was set in stone. Hed show up at my door, break down for a while, and wander back to bed.

Every. Single. Night. I was running on empty, sleep-deprived and losing my mind.

Finally, I decided it was time to confront him.

When I walked in, Easton was in the gaming room, deep in a ranked match. I decided to wait until he finished the round.

He was an absolute god in the jungle, effortlessly carrying the entire team on his back. I stood behind his chair, mesmerized by his lightning-fast reflexes and ruthless mechanics, forgetting why I was even in the room.

Suddenly, Easton ripped his headset off and spun his chair around, locking eyes with me. "Gemma. Take over for a second. I need to hit the bathroom."

"Me? But I suck at this game. And I don't even know how to play this champion." I was notoriously trash at gamingthe classic case of loving the game but having absolutely zero skill.

He clamped his hands on my shoulders and shoved me down into his expensive gaming chair. "It's literally the final team fight. We have total map control. Just don't throw, and we win," he brushed off my panic.

With a tight chest, I grabbed the mouse and braced myself for disaster.

Eastons in-game ID was Years With You. It was a matching pair with minesomething cringy like Sweet & Crispy.

I had immediately changed my tag the second we broke up, but his was still untouched. Was he out of name-change tokens?

Curiosity got the better of me. The moment the victory screen popped up, I clicked into his inventory.

Sitting right there in his stash were over a dozen unused name-change tokens.

Chapter 6

I stared blankly at the computer screen, an indescribable knot tightening in my chest.

"Stared long enough?" a crisp, smooth voice murmured right behind me.

The exact same gentle, intoxicating tone that only ever existed through my phone speaker drifted over me. But right now, in this room, it wasn't a romantic surprise. It was pure terror.

I frantically clicked back to the main game lobby, shot up from the heavy leather chair, and dropped my gaze to hide the panic flashing in my eyes. "I'm sorry. I lost the match."

He suddenly let out a low chuckle. The heavy, suffocating hostility in the air instantly evaporated. "It's just a game. Don't worry about it."

"But" I snapped my head up