Falling For My Stepbrother

I take my jacket off and place it on the coat rack. "Not long," I answer. "I just came for my earbuds. Why? How long have you been here?"

He looks outside, an innocent smile suddenly wrapping around his lips. "Before dark," He answers. Wow...that was a few hours ago. How can someone be here that long? Even I can't dance that long... "I've been dancing," Lo shrugs.

"Yeah, I can tell," I say with a small laugh. I look away so that he doesn't catch me staring at his chest. It's weird seeing the way his tattoos disappear into clear skin. It kind of makes him look like an unfinished canvas. "Why have you been here so long? Wasn't dancing in the auditorium enough for today?"

"No," Logan chuckles. "Sometimes I need more. To get my mind off of things."

I frown, "Bad things?"

Logan looks away. In a quiet voice he says, "Yeah."

I realize I've probably pushed the wrong button. Still, I don't understand how a perfect day can

turn into something bad. But it's not my place to ask that. Instead, if dancing is what makes Logan feel better, who am I to stand in the way?

"Ok," I say walking over to Logan's phone. I pick it off of the ground and hand it to him so he can put in the pin.

"What are you doing?" Logan asks me curiously. His eyebrows raised.

"Picking a song to dance to," I say holding the phone out for him to take. Logan looks at me hesitantly. He takes his phone, putting in the pin before stretching it back out to me. I scroll through his playlist, kicking my shoes off as I do so. Most of the songs I don't recognize. It's not like Lo listens to Beyoncé.

I finally choose a song, setting his phone back down. "I'll sit this one out," Logan says taking a seat and leaning back on his arms, his eyes glimmering slightly with curiosity. I think this is the longest he's gone in front of me without putting a shirt on. It's quiet distracting if I'm being honest.

I push a smile and shake my head, extending my hand out for him to take. "No, you're dancing this one with me," I say.

Logan smirks, "You're going to make me?"

"Yes," I reach over and grab his hands pulling him up in front of me. I gulp, turning away quickly to walk to the stereo, hitting play. Logan raises his eyebrows at me and crosses his arms, obviously annoyed that I chose a semi-slow song. I'm honestly trying hard not to stare at his arms. His tattoos bulging out along with his muscles.

"You couldn't pick a more upbeat song?" I ignore him and start dancing. The first lyrics ringing through the studio. My feet and arms moving around slowly and carefully to Believe by Mumford

and Sons.

"You may call it in this evening," Logan doesn't move. He simply watches as I do my best to

dance pointe without my shoes. I step up on my toes, my arms coming above me before moving across my sides. My eyes meet Logan's and I stretch my hand out towards him. "And I'm running through these walls."

Logan steps in with the first, "I don't even know if I believe."

I stop in front of him, placing my hand on his like there's a barrier standing between us. His body moves back but his feet stay planted on the ground. The pace he's going at is almost surreal. I turn on my toes when he's finally back up.

When the instrumental starts to play, Logan's hands touch my waist as gently as if matching the tone of the song. We're both moving slow, almost at peace. I try not to think too hard of his hands and focus instead on the music. Logan reaches for my hand as I lean away. His own strength preventing me from falling.

"I had the strangest feeling," I step away. Letting Logan perform his own little moves along to the words. Even though he dances hip hop, he's just great at dancing in general. The way he easily molds along to a song. Every step he begins to take, he does to get closer to me. I smile up at him, his hands and body moving slow.

"I don't even know if I believe," He kneels down in front of me, hands coming to my waist. I place my hands on his shoulders, lifting my leg up behind me. I turn until I'm behind him, gently pulling him back into standing position. I place my hands over his eyes just as the lyrics sing out, "So open up my eyes. Tell me I'm alive."

Logan turns around to face me. He grabs my hand to twirl me around. Stopping me abruptly with one hand on my waist. His eyes meeting mine and taking my breath away. He bites his lip ring, noticeably gulping. "This is never gonna go our way. If I'm gonna have to guess what's on your mind."

The guitar solo starts to play. We both see it coming, my body instantly moving faster. I grand jeté away. Logan spins around quickly, his feet stomping down together. Hands on either side of his head like he's confused. When I'm facing him again, I take a few turns in his direction. Logan takes the opportunity to slide down towards me like a guitarist during a rock and roll show. He stands up slowly in front of me, his hands trailing up my legs and onto my waist as the new lyrics blast loud and fast, "Say something. Say something. Something like you love me."

We're suddenly moving faster. Quicker. The gentleness of the song is suddenly replaced by impatience. Desire. I've never wanted to dance so badly with someone, yet as Lo and I touch a new feeling of sensuality begins to cloud my mind.

Logan steps back, bringing me along with him. He turns me around, pressing his chest against my back with our arms out stretched to our sides. He's side stepping, back and forth like we're the beat in the song. I admire the way he leads and catch up quickly. That's the strange thing about Lo and I. We don't need choreography to dance and that's never been the way I've danced. Almost as if we move naturally with each other.

The chorus comes back, this time harder than the last, "I don't even know if I believe." I take the opportunity to branch away from Lo. He jumps up, doing a three-sixty in the process. I watch for a second, as his hands and body move along to the music. The way he extends his arms from his chest. How his legs and feet seem to match every move he's doing.

Logan steps back towards me, his hands covering my eyes without touching my face. "Tell me I'm alive," He puts his hands on my waist, dipping me down before quickly bringing me back up.

I smile at him and he smiles back. Our hands link together, he elaborately moves me around him until we're back to back. I quickly think back to the first time we were like this, dancing back to back at Pizza Palooza without a care in the world. We push up against each other, "This is never gonna go our way. If I'm gonna have to guess what's on your mind."

We pull away, Logan showing off a few more moves. Me quickly springing from my heel to toe. Moving my arms around me as I turn. There's one more last beat before the song begins to fade. Logan puts his hands on my waist, lifting me up just as the note strikes. I don't bother striking a pose, I simply put my hands over my head like I'm stretching out to touch the ceiling.

I can't help but start to laugh softly as Logan slowly brings me down. His hands staying on my waist as my arms naturally fall down onto his shoulders. Logan starts to laugh too, both of us panting softly. Another song starts to play, but we don't move.

And that's the thing, we don't move.

My smile starts to fade away as my heartrate beings to increase. We're so close, I can see the streaks of dark blue in his eyes. My body is pushed up to his, our foreheads touching. Our breaths finally even out but suddenly the space between us fills up with electricity instead. His hands feel like radiators the way they send warmth through me. My own hands are locked together behind his neck and no matter how much I know I should pull away, I can't. Almost as if I'm locked into place.

Even though Lo's sweaty, he smells like his apple shampoo and deodorant. His eyes flicker quickly to my lips and I suddenly feel butterflies start to explode in my stomach. I know I shouldn't want him to kiss me, but I do. Even I can't resist the urge to look at his own lips. I stare at his ring, wondering again what it's like to kiss him.

My breath hitches when Logan leans a centimeter closer. Two words suddenly ringing in my head like an alarm that I can't shut off. Kiss me, The thought spreading to my whole body along with a surge of anticipation.

Logan closes his eyes, sucking in a breath, and letting his hands fall from my waist. As he steps back, I let my hands drag over his shoulders and chest before pulling away. "I should head home," He says without making eye contact.

He had to have felt that too right? The urge and anticipation and desire. If it's just me, I'm more screwed than I originally thought.

His eyes flicker across the floor like he's in deep thought. "You know," He tries to break the tension with a small humorless laugh. "Sur might be worried."

I can't even manage to say anything. My mind, heart, and body is more conflicted than ever. I shouldn't have wanted to kiss Logan. Hell, I shouldn't be feeling this disappointed. I simply nod, crossing my arms over my chest to try and control myself. "I-I've got to finish packing up my bag," I manage to stutter.

"Right. You're heading out tomorrow," Lo nods his head like he's just remembering now. He grabs his phone, turning the music off. As if an afterthought he adds, "With Vincent."

I suddenly feel like crying. I'm a terrible girlfriend. I'm a terrible friend. I don't know what to do anymore. Kissing Logan should be at the very bottom of my list of things to do. And hearing Vincent's name shouldn't make me feel disappointed yet relieved. I'm suddenly hit with a pang of guilt. I've never felt more lost than I do right now. I just need to get out of here and clear my head.

I walk over to the small cubbies on the wall where I placed my earbuds. I quickly stuff them in my pocket before licking my lips. "Have a Merry Christmas Lo," I say to try and break the deafening silence between us.

It's more than just an awkward silence. It's tension that can be sliced easily with a butter knife. It feels like I'm walking on a thin sheet of ice. It won't take much for me to fall through into icy waters.

He finally makes eye contact with me. Pushing a smile, he nods, "You too Harper. I'll still see you at my family banquet, right?"

It's probably a terrible idea to go. Especially after right now. But I promised, and I've already talked to Mrs. Sanders. She's going to take me dress shopping. I push my own smile, "Of course." Logan looks away, grabbing his shirt and tossing it into his backpack while pulling out a hoodie. I catch myself staring at his body. Stopping myself, I turn around and head towards the door. Before I manage to leave Logan stops me. "Hey Ross," He says catching my attention. He only ever calls me by my last name when he's being playful. I look over my shoulder at him. He zips up the hoodie, "Thank you."

I frown, "For what?"

Lo lets out a small breath through is half grin. He shrugs, biting on his lip ring making even more

butterflies suddenly leap through me. "Being a good dancer, I guess," He says.

I decide to try and act casual. I smile at him, "My pleasure Williamson."