The street is quiet, with hardly a car passing by. The sun has set, leaving the moon to accompany the bright stars that have taken their place in the darkness. I stroll down the street as the gentle breeze from the evening air blows against my skin.
Why didn't I bring a jacket along?

I stroll through the silent neighbourhood; the houses are all lit up and look so lively.

When I reach the gymnasium called Lilith, referred to as a cheetah's workout centre, I walk through the entrance freely. It's quieter than any gymnasium should be, and most confusingly, it's sparsely populated. It seems they're about to call it a day as I spot two boys clearing up.

"Hello." I politely wave.

"Hey." A young man in his twenties responds, while the other just pauses and gawks.

They don't even bother telling me to come back tomorrow. I'm sure it's my outfit; it doesn't look like someone who is about to lift weights or punch bags.

I should be grateful—I have a slim body that barely gains weight no matter how much food I consume, although I rarely eat excessively. It always surprises Sawyer, as she had to restrict her diet to maintain her Barbie figure.

I can't imagine how the girls would treat me if I dare to gain weight. Embry will probably put me in a national commercial. I'm sure of it.

"I'm looking for Leigh," I say to them.

They both look at each other with suspicious eyes before shooting me an apologetic smile. "Don't know him." The gawking dude responds.

They must be kidding. "Leigh Boyce, he comes here to train." I clarify.

The two boys shake their heads. "Sorry, I can't help you." The first dude says. "We're about to close, so you can come back tomorrow to stalk him."

What the heck? They think I'm a stalker? They think I would walk in here just to meet someone I don't know? They must be insane.

With boiling annoyance surging through my body, I say, "Stalk? He's practically my stepbrother."

Taken aback, both of their eyebrows arch. "Wait? You're Ava? Of course, you are, Ava." The first dude asks, and without letting me reply, he also answers himself at once.

"How didn't I realize it? The accent and everything." The gawking dude chuckles. "I'm following you on Instagram."

Of course, you are.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The other dude apologises. "It's just that girls always adopt the habit of stopping by to see Leigh or tricking us into giving out his personal information. Dealt with quite a few today; I'm just so exhausted. That itself is a workout on its own." With a weak smile, he concludes the explanation.

I'm not surprised; I myself am getting used to girls' behaviour towards my soon-to-be stepbrother.

"It's okay. Is he around?" I get straight to the main question.

"He's at the swimming centre next door." The guy kindly answers.

"Thank you." With an appreciative smile, I leave the gymnasium and head towards the swimming centre, which takes me less than a minute to walk to.

The place is eerily quiet as I walk in. Some bulbs have been switched off or damaged.

When I finally reach the main area, I find Leigh standing across the tall pool with his back to me, arranging some pool equipment, I suppose.

He must be lost in thought because he doesn't notice my presence until I say, "So, this is the place you hide when you're away from home."

Leigh quickly spins around, his eyes widening in surprise as he finds me smiling at him. "What are you doing here?" he asks, still baffled.

"Your dad couldn't reach you on the phone," I answer.

Leigh's brows shift up as he starts. "So he sent you to come get me?" Leigh asks, puzzled.

"Actually, I volunteered. I was missing you." I bite my lip to hide the embarrassing blush threatening to appear.

Smiling, Leigh steps forward in my direction. "Glad to know the queen herself changed her mind. At least next time, she won't send me away for training."

"Mmm... I won't promise you that, because all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." I giggle after saying it out loud.

"I think that applies more to my practice than what you meant." He chuckles as he comes to a halt directly in front of me.

Trying to hold back laughter, I nod. "Absolutely." However, it doesn't take a second before I give in and burst out laughing at my proverb that went ridiculously the wrong way.

"How are you?" Leigh asks after I compose myself.

"Good, I think," I answer with a sigh.

"What happened?" he asks, sounding concerned.

"Just some girl problems. I don't want to talk about it." I say.

"Alright. What do you want to do then?" he asks, a playful smile playing on his lips.

Matching his mood, I say, "I want to kiss you."

"I'm open to that." He playfully winks before leaning in to meet my lips.

He kisses me slowly, taking his time to explore every inch of my mouth as our tongues intertwine like we haven't seen each other for ages. His arms wrap around me, and I bask in the warm, comforting feeling that I was lacking a while ago.

When we pull away, Leigh doesn't say anything. I immediately know that Shakespeare was right: 'the eyes are the window to a person's soul.' In this moment, Leigh's deep-set spring eyes, which bring life to everything he looks at—twinkling beneath his full, sweeping lashes—give me direct access to his soul. I can see contentment, longing, and even a hint of insecurity as the emotions shimmer while he smiles.

"Aren't you tired of staring at me?" he asks, since I don't seem ready to snap back to reality.

"No," I honestly respond.

Smiling, Leigh chuckles softly. "Good, because I don't want you to."

"Mmm." I smile at him. Just when a mischievous idea pops into my head, I don't think twice and use all my strength to shove Leigh backward, causing him to miss a step and fall straight into the pool, while he laughs loudly.

Laughing at his initial startled reaction, I say, "Seriously?" Leigh starts to whine, with his chestnut hair clinging to his skin.

"Don't be a baby." I laugh.

"What did I do? I was just kissing you." He continues to playfully whine. My eyes wander as I smile.

"Sorry," I mutter.

"Great! Now help me out of the pool." He holds out his hand, and with laughter, I grab his hand and help pull him out, only for him to drag me back into the cold water with him.

"Oh my gosh, what the heck." I scream while I laugh as the water drenches my skin.

"Revenge." Leigh laughs harder.

"You're unbelievable." I throw at him.

"I know." He smirks.

I give up arguing with him, so I start splashing water towards him.

His infectious laughter filled the room as my favourite sound invaded my thoughts, and I found myself swimming closer to him until I was face to face.

"Lilith says you come here sometimes to train kids."

"I enjoy volunteering," he replies.

"The kids must like you." I blush after saying it.

"Usually, it's the parents or siblings who bring them, so the kids are all brainwashed into thinking I'm some kind of superhero. Little do they know I have no superpowers." Leigh smiles at me, his intense eyes locking with mine.

"You play football and score touchdowns, so I disagree. That's definitely a superpower." I whisper to the person just inches away from me.

"I disagree too because I only score touchdowns to win you. Just you." His voice is equally hushed.

My fingers trace along his neck to his wet hair as I gaze at his reddish lips. "Thank you."

"For what?" Leigh asks, looking confused.

"For giving me an experience I never knew existed," I murmur to the attractive man with green eyes before me.

"Thank you too." His sincere remark confuses me as well.

"For what?" I use his recent words.

"For making me realize life is worth fighting for." The emotions in his words are palpable, leaving me with nothing but desire—for my soon-to-be stepbrother.

Luckily, Leigh feels the same way as his hand grabs my neck and guides my mouth to his. His mouth is warm and tastes just as it always has. He kisses me deeply, pouring his soul into every touch. I can feel all his emotions as his tongue dances with mine.

Indeed, he gives me a feeling I never knew existed. Right now, I want nothing more than to stay in this water perpetually with the person I love.

Leigh's hands begin to slowly travel down my spine, our lips still connected. I can feel his fingers tracing along my lower back, awakening something I thought I had long buried—my anxiety. The mix of excitement and nervousness makes my breath laboured and my body tense.

A strange ache tingles in the pit of my stomach—a strange ache that ignites a desperate eagerness for what I fear. I pull away from our kiss, involuntarily closing my eyes. Leigh's fingers continue their journey, moving lower towards my thighs, eliciting an almost involuntary gasp... loud enough for him to notice.

Just when I expect his fingers to reach their destination, I feel his lips back on mine, his fingers cupping my cheeks.

"Not now... at least not tonight." He whispers in my ear.

He must be kidding me.

***

I feel relieved in a way, as I have no idea what I was going for, but I also feel the strange desire for Leigh to extinguish the fluttering butterflies in the depths of my stomach.

The desire lingers as we walk back to Leigh's car, where he opens the boot to reveal a medium-sized suitcase.

As he unzips it, he pulls out a cheetah jacket with the number three on it and hands it to me. "It should help," he says while removing his shirt—revealing his perfectly sculpted body, impossible to ignore with his bulging pecs and his six-pack defined against his naturally mild-tan skin.

He changes into a graphic blue shirt and closes the boot. When he catches me still staring like a child licking a lollipop by the Ferris wheel, Leigh smiles and takes the jacket from my hands; he helps me put it on over my shoulders, tucking the tip of my hair beneath it.

"What was so important that Dad couldn't wait?"

Then I remember. Dinner. Damn dinner. I'm sure we spent over an hour. Mom must be so annoyed right now.

"Groceries." I blurt out.

"Groceries?" He smirks.

"Yes, for dinner," I reply.

"Alright, there should be a store nearby. Get in." He orders. I oblige and hop into the passenger seat.

Together, we walk into the house with Leigh carrying the bag of groceries. As soon as the front door closes, Mom and Christian suddenly appear from the dining room.

"Oh my goodness, where have you two been? We were all worried," Mom rushes her words as she gazes between Leigh and me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see your messages. I didn't check," Leigh explains.

"What took you both so long? Look at the time," Christian complains.

"The car stalled," I immediately answer at the same time Leigh says, "She got lost."

"What?" Mom and her fiancé ask in unison, clearly confused.

Unable to come up with an answer, I remain silent with my heart racing against my chest.

"She couldn't get to the gym until someone helped her, and after we grabbed everything from the store, my car refused to start," Leigh explains, saving both of us.

"Why didn't you call?" Christian asks, his concern evident in his voice.

"My phone is dead," Leigh respectfully replies. "Hers is here."

"Oh my goodness, that's why I was worried. I knew something like this would happen," my mom frets, pulling me into her arms. "Why are you wet?" She quickly lets go to examine me.

Great! Just great.

Oh, I was in the pool with your soon-to-be stepson, and I almost let him do things to me—I never thought my mind could ever go there.

"Ava?" Mom repeats, her anxiety triggering my own. My breathing quickens, and I start to swallow rapidly, shivering from the chill of my guilt.

"I... I was... I..." My knees start to give way. I can feel the tears welling up.

"What were you doing?" Mom is completely bewildered when she asks again. "What happened, Ava?"

"What happened to her, Leigh?" Christian turns to his son. "And why do you have wet pants too?"

Perfect. This is the moment where we have no other choice. We are left with nothing but our guilt, forced to confess the truth and face the consequences.

"The gym was closed, so I went back to the swim center to help some kids," Leigh explains. I believe he's telling the truth, considering the gym was actually closing when I arrived.

"And you swam in your clothes? Alright, let's say I believe you. That still doesn't explain Ava," Christian says, his anger evident.

"Cole led her to the swimming center when she stopped by the gym, and she got annoyed for certain reasons and pushed me into the pool," Leigh's response nearly pulls me out of existence. I thought he was the quick cover-up type, but unfortunately, no! He's about to spill everything. He's about to bring my life crashing down.

"When she tried to help me out of the pool, I pulled her in as revenge," Leigh's words continue down the path of sincerity. While overwhelmed with sudden fear, I watch our parents waiting expectantly for a conclusion from Leigh.

Panic-stricken, I force myself to come up with as many lies as possible to avoid my own funeral. "Because he was holding some kids' belongings, and the water was about to damage them," I say, feeling Leigh's eyes on me the whole time. But I keep going. I have to learn to lie or face the consequences that I'm not ready for. "I helped him safely retrieve the items, and that's all."

"Why would you do such a thing?" Mom angrily asks me when answers seem to vanish from my mind.

"I teased her for getting lost," Leigh quickly covers up and concludes my lie.

"You know what, the two of you just go to the kitchen and make yourselves some cereal or a sandwich," Mom sighs heavily. Christian takes the groceries from his son without saying another word.

"I'm not hungry," I inform them, relieved that I've already eaten at Evie's.

Without another word, Leigh and I excuse ourselves. I head upstairs, and Leigh heads towards the kitchen.

As I reach halfway up the stairs, I overhear Christian saying to Mom in a humorous tone, "White pepper turns into black, cabbage turns into potatoes, and ice cream?"

"Ava! It's like she never forgets anything. But she ends up getting herself ice cream. Thankfully, she didn't mix the baked beans with the raw ones," Mom tells her fiancé.

Damn, I definitely messed up the shopping list. But honestly, I didn't pick ice cream.

Then again, I remember Leigh was there, and he's the only one who would definitely have grabbed ice cream for me.

Christian chuckles. "I'll put her ice cream in the freezer."

I walk back to my bedroom, feeling drained of half my energy. I was just excited minutes ago, but it's so sad how this house can dampen all the joy in my mind and replace it with tension.

I head to the bathroom, changing into my nightwear without taking a shower; the swimming I did with Leigh should be enough.

As I crawl into my comfortable bed and reach for my phone, I see nine missed calls from Christian and Mom, along with a text message from Arlen asking if I'm free this weekend.

The tension on my shoulders is enough to fill me with a sense of melancholy, so I push my phone away and allow sleep to carry me off.

Unaware of the time, I faintly hear Mom saying goodnight as my bedroom door opens, but I can't muster a reply with my heavy eyelids.

The next thing I remember is the warm feeling of his hands wrapping around my waist as he pulls me into his strong arms, his lips landing on my forehead as he whispers, "I love you."

It brings me comfort in my sleep, knowing I'm safe, for his perfect scent has consumed my world, and I know I will sleep peacefully tonight.