A Dare Kiss With My Hockey Step-brother

EDEN’S POV

“I’ll do anything,”

Jaxon paused, his darkening as he stared at me, “Anything?” he repeated.

I gulped, feeling my heart flutter at the sound of his deep baritone voice, “Yes,” I breathed.

He moved closer, and in reflex I took a step backwards, my back hitting the wall. “Be careful Eden,” he muttered, his hand brushing through his jet black hair backwards.

I clenched my fist, holding myself back from running my fingers through his hair, feeling the dark wavy texture as it glided through my fingers.

“Don’t make promises that you can’t keep,”

I wasn’t, he could ask me to jump off a cliff and I would happily do that with a smile on my face.

“Please,” I whispered, unsure of what I was begging for.

Jaxon’s scent filled my lungs, dulling my senses into nothing but mush.

“You really want me to do this?” he asked, his baritone reverberating through my body.

I nodded, feeling the words get trapped in my throat.

“You have to use our words, Eden,” he whispered, his minty cold breath fanning my face.

He stood so close, that if I were brave enough to move, my lips would touch his, giving me a taste of what I had always longed for.

“Yes,” I said in a dazed tone.

Jaxon smirked, his eyes flickering to my lips, like he was trying to read the words I had just said.

My tongue darted out, slowly grazing my dry lips, trying to distract myself from the tension that had cloaked around us.

Jaxon clenched his jaw, his nose flared as he watched the action.

“Okay,” he said, walking away from me before I could react.

I stood frozen in place, trying to process what had just happened in the space of one minute. He had been so close, so close that I could still feel the heat of his body around mine.

My phone dinged, snapping me out of the fog that I had wrapped myself in.

“What did he say?” Isla said the second I picked up the call.

“What?” I said, my mind still foggy from the whole process.

“Jaxon! Did he agree?” she groaned, sounding frustrated at me.

“Yes, yes, he has agreed,” I replied in a soft tone.

“Oh my god!” she screamed.

I had to pull my phone away from my ears, “Could you be any louder?” I teased.

“Sorry,” she said in a low tone. “I just never expected that Jaxon would agree to be a mascot for our fundraiser”

That was the thing.

“I may or may not have…”

“No,” she mumbled. I could already imagine how wide her eyes were. “Don’t tell me you haven’t told him what he is meant to be doing,”

I winced, biting my fingers as I thought about the implications of what I had done.

“I wanted to tell him, but I just chickened out. But look at the bright side, he has accepted,” I said.

“Eden, this isn’t going to be good,” she whispered, I could literally hear the fear in her voice.

“Please don’t tell me,” I said, feeling the tears line up in my eyes.

The adrenaline had worn off and now, I was faced with the aftermath of my actions.

She giggled, “I am surprised that you could pull it off,”

I rolled my eyes, “You make it sound like I can’t make a simple request,”

“Oh you can, but pulling off a lie! To Jaxon Avner, girl! You have literally just sold your soul to the devil,” she said, her voice lowering when she mentioned his name, as if she was scared of him popping out of the shadows like the grim reaper.

I groaned, sliding down to the floor as I hid my head in my hands, “I…”

She snorted, “You begged, well lied to a guy who has the personality of a hibernating dragon, to be a mascot for our very public dog charity fundraiser. You have to tell me what you offered,”

My soul?

My body?

My love?

But I couldn’t say that, not when the society would call me a freak for having a raging crush on my stepbrother.

My heart slammed hard against my chest as I recalled the day I had met him. Dad and his mother had decided that we should all have dinner together to get to know each other.

I had spent the night hating my father for loving his mother. I was selfish, and for once in my life I wanted to have it all.

But the only downside was the fact that Jaxon Avner wasn’t one to fall for girls like me. And he was the hockey captain, which meant cheerleaders were his kind of girl.

I was basic.

“And legally his stepsister,” my mind sneered, reminding the bitter truth that felt too strong to swallow.

“Eden!” Isla’s voice broke me out of my musing.

“Do you think I should talk to Xavier? He will soften the blow and make it less…”

“No!” I quickly cut her off.

Xavier was her boyfriend, but that wouldn’t help the situation. I made the bed, and I might as well just sleep in it.

“It won’t be horrible, Jaxon will do it and I may as well sign away my life as his slave for eternity,” I said.

It wasn’t as bad as I made it sound. Being his slave meant that I would get to be around him, touch his clothes and….

“Eden!” Jaxon growled, his voice echoing through the house.

My heart dropped, “I have to go Isla,”

I barely heard a word she said as I ended the call, running up the stairs to the room that had been a stage in a lot of my imaginations.

He didn’t look made, his arms were crossed on his chest, showing the bleeding rose tattoo, and the one that I couldn’t stop dreaming about.

“You are sneaky,” he said in a low tone.

My cheeks flushed.

“Tell me, what exactly did I agree to?” he asked, tilting his head to the side as he stared at me with a tightened jaw.

I shook my head, trying to clear the lust fog that had clouded my mind. He looked dashing, like a sin waiting to be committed.

It was getting harder to breathe or think. I should have fought more when I was asked to move in with him. But rather, I had acted like an overexcited teenager who was going on an all paid vacation with her crush.

“Eden…”

There, he always whispered my name like I was some goddess he was born to worship.

I gulped, feeling the slight pang at the back of my mind, “A… a mascot,”

The room fell silent. If he had heard me, he said nothing. His eyes raking through my frame. He stared at me like he knew things. Like he could see behind my eyes that I wanted him.

Like he could feel the suffocating lust that gripped me whenever he was close.

And the words, the three words that could destroy us were in constant battle with my tongue, fighting to be set free.

Three taps on my thigh. A trick I had developed over the months.

One; I.

Two; love.

Three; You.

That was enough to satiate me for a while, but for how long?

“A mascot?”

He chuckled, a sharp humourless laugh that did nothing to quell the tension in the room.

“The costume, tell me it is nothing that would hunt me for the rest of my life,” he said in a soft tone.

I winced, he was going to kill me.

“Eden?” he drawled out my name, arching his brow as he stared at me.

“A tail and a big fluffy head,”

We were trapped in another silence.

This was it, he was going to back out.

His eyes hadn’t left my body, I felt like a volcano, slowly working up her disaster.

He smirked. Not the cheery grin that meant nothing. He smirked— a dark, slow one that felt like death.

“Okay,” he said.

My eyes widened, “You will?”

He moved closer to where I stood, his steps regal and slow, a perfect predator going for his prey.

He raised his hand, his fingers touching my loose hair strand as he played with it, “When I want my price…”

I closed my eyes, feeling the ache throb hard in my core.

“I will take everything,”

Heat rushed to my cheeks.

The door banged shut, signalling that I was alone. He was gone, but his words had me gasping for air.

What will he take?

My mind was torn in the wreckage of my reality. I had just summoned the devil.

What have I done?