The Stepbrother’s Hidden Desires

“What’s up?”

Logan’s specialty was ending conversations because he wouldn’t waste time on such matters, and then he’d casually blacklist the person. A message popped up on his phone screen, “Nothing, just wondering when Bella will be back.”

“Probably after the winter break.”

Orla knew Logan quite well. To avoid awkwardness, her conversations always revolved around Annabel, as Logan usually didn’t bother with them.

Logan clicked into her moments out of curiosity. Many of them were updates about Annabel being with them. Last time Annabel said she had extra classes, she actually went racing with Mason. The time she skipped class to go out, she was actually going to watch Mason’s race. The time she came home late, she went to sing karaoke with friends.

After scrolling Orla’s moments, Logan completely dispelled the idea of blacklisting her.

One evening, Ryan suddenly called to invite him out for a gathering.

When Logan arrived, Ryan was already waiting there.

He looked at Logan with a dejected face and said, “I got dumped.”

Logan paused for a moment. It had been less than a month since Ryan started dating Aria.

He took off his coat, poured himself a cup of tea, and said in a relaxed tone, “It’s normal.”

Ryan looked up at him, glaring, but Logan ignored him and called the waiter to order some food.

Ryan sighed in frustration, “Aria said she doesn’t like me.”

“Hmm.”

“Aria said she likes you.”

“Hmm.”

“She said she’s with me to make you jealous.”

Logan furrowed his brow. “Why would I be angry?”

Ryan felt even more frustrated, not just because of the breakup but also because of losing face. He took a big gulp of beer. “Yeah, everyone knows Aria likes you. You’re so cool, surrounded by girls all the time. How could you have time to be angry?”

This sounds full of jealousy, but Logan didn’t care. In other words, he was too lazy to speculate on this kind of immature love.

With his hands resting behind his head and leaning back in his chair, he stated matter-of-factly, “It really has nothing to do with me. That’s Aria’s mood.”

If anyone else said this, Ryan would have thought they were showing off, but he knew Logan wasn’t like that. “Logan, do you even know how to comfort someone else?”

Logan smiled. “How should I comfort you? Since she doesn’t like you, just forget about it.”

Ryan banged on the table fiercely and said, “If I could just let it go, then it wouldn’t be a true love.”

Logan furrowed his brow again, showing confusion.

Ryan stared at Logan like he was a freak for a long time. “You’ve grown up all this time and never liked anyone, right?”

“Does my mom count?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Ryan seemed to understand and crossed his arms. “Damn, you don’t like guys, do you?!”

Logan interlaced his fingers elegantly and quietly. He was a patient listener but also indifferent. He couldn’t empathize with your misfortune. “I don’t like anyone.”

Ryan was stunned for a moment. Logan wasn’t a liar, and sometimes he didn’t seem like he belonged in the mortal world.

He continued his complaint, “I’ve been secretly in love with her since middle school. Four years of waiting, coming and going at her whim, and she treats me like this!” He glanced at Logan again. “Telling you is pointless. You’ve never cared about anyone, so you wouldn’t understand.”

He thought seriously for a moment and finally came up with a comforting word, “Four years isn’t that long.”

“I’m sixteen this year. A quarter of my life spent secretly in love with a girl. Is there anything longer than that?”

Logan didn’t say anything. He rested his chin on his hand, unconsciously stroking his lips. He thought of Annabel’s warm and soft breath on that snowy night. In that moment, his heartbeat was completely chaotic. Did he like her? He still dislike all the flaws in her, so the answer was still no. But regardless of whether she admitted it or not, he had long regarded her as his sister, so he cared, and he had always hoped she would acknowledge his existence.

Ryan complained until late, and Logan accompanied him the whole time. There were several phone calls from home urging them to come back, and they finally left.

There weren’t many people on the street, and the wind was strong, cutting like a knife on their faces. Logan bundled up his clothes tightly. They waited for quite a while before a taxi finally arrived.

Logan was about to open the car door when he said, “Ryan, you go first.”

Suddenly, an arm reached out from behind, followed by a warm body leaning against him.

Logan instinctively moved back, and the person’s body collided with the car door directly. It was a young girl, smelling strongly of alcohol.

“Don’t be crazy, okay?”

A young man ran over, wearing a black hooded down jacket. His voice sounded somewhat familiar. He pulled the girl from behind, and she mumbled and tried to shake him off. “Get lost, I don’t need you to take care of me!”

The man sighed, opened the car door, and forcibly pushed the girl inside. He turned back and said, “Sorry, I have no choice. Can you wait a bit longer?”

When the guy turned his face, both Logan and Ryan were stunned. Wasn’t this Annabel’s intern teacher, David? The lighting was dim, and Logan was wearing a hat and scarf. David clearly didn’t recognize them.

“Well, you go first.”

David thanked them and got into the taxi. The girl in the car suddenly sat up, revealing a beautiful face full of tears, and threw herself into David’s arms.

The taxi drove off into the distance, leaving Logan still in a daze. Ryan pulled his sleeve. “Am I seeing things? That’s our intern teacher Nancy, right? Their relationship seemed unusual.”

Logan shrugged. “Who knows?”

—–

The holiday time always flies by quickly, and before they knew it, it was time to return to school. Annabel came back on the afternoon of the first day of school, dressed from head to toe in designer brands, worth at least tens of thousands. She wore a duckbill cap and a pair of large sunglasses, looking like she could score full marks for pretentiousness.

Thomas specially arranged for a car to take them to school. Annabel went to drop off her luggage, while Logan waited downstairs for quite a while. She finally came down from upstairs sluggishly, wearing a different outfit.

There was no one else in the living room. Annabel cleared her throat. “Hey, Logan.”

“What’s up?”

“Do you think my outfit looks like a student’s?”

Logan looked at her for a moment. She was wearing a long red sweater, black knee-high socks, a white windbreaker on the outside, and had removed the earring from her left ear. Her youthful face resembled a peeled egg, full of youthful vigor.

“Although simple, it looks great, which is what suits her” Logan silently thought to himself, but he wouldn’t say it out loud to avoid making Annabel feel too proud.

“It’s alright,” he replied.

Annabel had a paper bag in her hand, inside of which was a gift box, presumably for David.

The driver pulled into the parking lot, and Annabel spent ages fixing her hair and makeup in the rearview mirror. Could she really be interested in David?

Logan looked somewhat annoyed for no apparent reason and lightly kicked her. “Are you here to report or to go on a blind date? Hurry up!”

Annabel hadn’t seen David for almost a month. As she approached the office, she could already hear his voice from inside. Suddenly, her heart started racing. She stood at the door for a moment, took a deep breath, and then went in.

David was sitting in a chair, filling out a form with his head down. When he saw Annabel, he smiled and said, “Why are you so late? the Grade Director asked me to wait for you.”

“I just got back today. I took an afternoon flight and came straight here after landing,” Annabel replied.

She handed over the gift she had brought. “This is for you, a New Year’s gift.”

David hesitated for a moment, but Paul quickly snatched it from her. “YoooYooo, let me take a look for you.”

Opening the box, they found a basketball covered in signatures, almost all of them from NBA superstars. Paul exclaimed in awe, saying it was already impressive to get just one signature, let alone this many.

“Do you like it?” Annabel asked.

David nodded, touched more by the gesture than the gift itself. He carefully put it away. “I really like it. I’ll treasure it.”

“Now, let me see your holiday homework,” David said sternly.

Annabel chuckled nervously a couple of times. David sensed something was off and, sure enough, when he looked at her work, it was mostly blank, except for half-completed physics assignments.

Paul teased from the side, “I knew it would be like this.”

David felt he needed to be firm with her; otherwise, he would be doing her a disservice.

He immediately put on a stern expression. “What’s wrong with you? Are you just going to ignore the teacher’s instructions? Get your parents here!”

Annabel’s face froze for a moment, then she started to argue, “I couldn’t do it. What’s the point of copying answers? Besides, I haven’t seen my grandma in six months. I have to spend time with her.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

David wanted to help Annabel, but seeing her trying to justify herself made him somewhat angry. “Well, I can’t force you. Let me get the Grade Director here,” he said, picking up his phone to call.

Annabel panicked and snatched the phone, holding it close to her chest. “Can’t I take it back and do it again?” She then extended one foot. “Look, I even tripped over while trying to get these signatures. My ankle is still bruised.” In fact, she was wearing black thick socks, it couldn’t see any bruise.

Even without her saying it, David knew it wasn’t easy for her to collect all these signatures. Seeing her distressed look, David softened again. He picked up a book and lightly tapped her forehead. “Go home and finish it. Hand it in a week later. If you dare to be lazy again, I won’t go easy on you!”

“Yes, sir,” Annabel saluted.

Coincidentally, Logan was walking over at that moment. He had always seen Annabel with a cool and aloof demeanor. When had he ever seen her shy and submissive like this? He couldn’t help but be stunned and find her shy demeanor also quite charming.

David turned his head and happened to lock eyes with Logan. As a top student in both academics and looks, any teacher would take notice of him, especially since he was Annabel’s stepbrother. The boy’s face still had a hint of youthful innocence, but his eyes and eyebrows already showed signs of maturity. David wondered how brilliant his life would be when he grew up.

At that moment, David thought he would be a teacher for the rest of his life. He never imagined that his life would undergo such a big change, and that the slightly naive teenager in front of him would become his greatest rival in life.