“Where the fuck is he?”

Crap. “What happened to your date?”

“She was fine when I left her,” he said, shrugging nonchalantly. “Where is he? Is he here yet?”

“You mean you drove all the way home to stop me from seeing Giordan? How much more ridiculous could you possibly be?”

“I can't have you alone with him for Christ's sake. He's a maniac. What if he harms you in some way? Have you ever wondered if he blames you for me dumping me? God, Tim, I never thought you'd be this naive.”

“Wait a second. I don't get. Why would Giordan blame me for you dumping him?” I asked, puzzled. The last time I checked, I was never in support of their relationship. I'd kicked against the idea right from day one. 

Damien avoided my eyes as he mumbled, shyly. “Because he knows you've got a huge arse crush on me and that was the reason you never wanted me to date him in the first place.”

Blood drained from my face. “WHAT?”

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “And I kinda made that up. I'm so sorry.”

“Oh God.”

The doorbell rang, but Damien beat me to open it.

Giordan's turned white. He was visibly fidgeting as Damien blocked the doorway with his bulk, glaring at him. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I just came to see Tim. He...he told me you weren't home.”

Damien moved out of the way for a split second, pointing at me. “There, you've seen him. Now scram.”

“Wait — ”

He slammed the door on Giordan's face and turned the lock. “Now, that's more like it.”

“You fool. What do you think you're doing?” I exploded. “I'm going after him. Get out of my way.” I tried to move past the brute, but he leaned his back on the door and crossed his arms over his chest.

“No,” he said flatly. “You'll have to get past me first. And he's probably halfway home now in fright. What a chicken. You have to be a lot more careful around him. Any form of friendship between you two should stop.”

“We're not friends and you're the root of this mess. You can't just go about charming people and not expect them to get obsessed in the long run. We're all humans, and we have feelings. Plus, the last time I checked you're not my father. So you can't tell me what to do or who to talk to.”

He rolled his eyes. “But I'm your brother.”

“Step — ”

“Elder stepbrother.” He smirked at me. I scrunched up my face in a scowl. Goddamn him. “And whatever I say goes. Look, I'm only concerned about your safety, okay? You're not thinking about yourself here.”

At that point, I decided to give up and move past it. There was no going against Damien, and it did make me mad to no end. How dare him be so bossy and interfere with my life when I couldn't get a glimpse or hold an opinion to his in return?

I decided to ignore him and went back to my bowl of ice-cream and pizza on the table. The vanilla base was already melting. We didn't speak for several minutes as he got himself comfortable beside me. I placed the pack of half-eaten pizza and ruined ice-cream between us so we could share. “Want some?”

God, I was so stupid. Wasn't I mad at him only a few seconds ago?

He didn't respond. Just picked up a spoon and began scooping some ice-cream into his mouth. He took the remaining pizza and gobbled it up.

“Didn't you eat at your date?” I couldn't hide my surprise.

He licked a weak dollop. “Nope. We didn't eat out. Just went straight to the sex part.”

I coloured. “Wasn't she disappointed that you basically abandoned her?”

“No. She kinda get the message at the end that I wasn't into her shit. So it was kind of a mutual separation.”

“Bummer. Seems like she lucked out — ”

Unsure what to make out of that statement, I rolled my eyes and reached out for the last pizza slice before he could get his grubby hands on it. He frowned as I took a bite. “Hey, that's mine.”

“No. Let's share.” I divided it into two, and took the part I'd eaten out from, pushing the other part to him. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you so kind?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Everyone has a limit to patience...but it's not the same with you. No matter how bad I treat you...you still don't mind being nice to me.  I don't get it. Are you a robot?”

It felt like steam was about to blow out from my ears. “Well, no one asked you to run home tonight! I was actually enjoying having the whole house to myself. It was peaceful.”

“Really? So you were planning on using your dildo and fuck yourself on the couch?”

My heart dropped. My dildo!

I'd casually thrown it into my backpack by mistake because I thought it was a magnet, which we were to use for a science project. I'd newly procured it and was actually looking forward to trying it out.

Fuck! He'd taken that too?

He continued. “I thought nerds were smart, but even the dumbest person would know that it's not wise to keep that sort of thing in a backpack. What if you get hit by a scurrying freshman and it gets dropped of your backpack? You could never live down the scandal that would follow. And come a thousand years, many will remember you for it. How have you been getting off? Either your fingers may be sore or you're really good at keeping your hormones in check.”

My face must have turned a thousand shades of red. I wanted to murder him. “You nosy bastard. P.S: I've never used that equipment.”

“Ah. The lies we tell.”

My eye twitched.

“Awwn. I love it when you wink at me. But I can't help you get the release you desperately crave. Dick's out of business, but here's what we'll do. Why don't you...watch a different kind of movie tonight. Some highly intense gay porn that'll get you shooting your loads against the shower walls in no time. I've got a couple I've been checking out recently, and boy, those two are really good at it.”

His words from the other night rang a bell to my skull. Do yourself a favour. Have some self-respect.

That was the height of it. I was done with him tonight and forever. I'd take the high, dignifying road and go up to my room without responding to his vile words but not before scooping the last dollop of ice-cream from him. I threw the bowl at his face. “Take that, dickhead.”

“Oh, yeah? Now we're going to act feisty? I like it.” His raspy laugh reverberated through the house as I stomped upstairs.

That night, I was still annoyed as I worked my over the edge, watching my semen get mixed by the flowing water until it ran down the shower drain. Who did he think he was with his mysterious behavior? He'd tried to play it off like I was the one seeking his attention, when he'd been bugging me while he was supposed to be bumping uglies with a girl. Before coming home and intruding on my encounter with Giordan.

My obsessive thoughts continued till one in the morning when I eventually dozed off. However, I jerked up in fright at three when I heard something like yelling coming from Damien's room.