My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 547

Chapter 547

Gianna

14T

*1500*6

For a second I couldn’t say anything. My forehead stayed pressed against his. My chest hurt in the strangest way because nobody had ever spoken to me like this before.

Most people said beautiful things because they knew how.

Raphael said beautiful things by accident.

My eyes burned again. I hated crying. Especially in front of him. Especially while standing next to a giant snake.

My laugh came out shaky, “You realize this is a terrible strategy, right?” I sniffed and wiped beneath my eye,” You bring me to a sanctuary full of abused animals. You compare yourself to them. You basically tell me you’ve been miserable without me.”

He tilted his head to the side, “That was not the intended conclusion.”

I let out a laugh, “It was absolutely the intended conclusion.”

Then his thumb brushed beneath my eye, wiping away a tear, “I don’t like when you cry.”

I smiled weakly, “Then don’t make me cry.”

“I wasn’t trying to…”

The snake shifted slightly around his shoulders. For some reason that made the entire situation even more ridiculous.

I pointed at it, “You know we’re having an emotional moment while you’re wearing a snake.”

Raphael looked down, “The snake is not interfering.”

“The snake is absolutely interfering.”

“It has been very respectful of our space.”

I laughed so hard I had to cover my face. Raphael looked pleased with himself.

When had this happened?

When had he become funny?

That felt unfair.

After a minute my laughter faded as he put the snake back into its enclosure and suddenly something occurred to me, I didn’t want him to stop talking, not yet.

I looked up at him, “Raphael?”

“Yeah?”

I hesitated, “When did this happen?”

“When did what happen?”

173

15 BRYS

I swallowed, “This.”

My hand moved vaguely between us.

Raphael became very still, his eyes shifted away from mine for a second, “I don’t know when it started but I know when I noticed it.”

My heart skipped, “When?”

His jaw tightened slightly, “After you kissed me on the cheek for the first time.”

My breath caught, “When did that happen?”

I remember kissing him on the cheek in the garage after I found out about Mom’s ALS and ended up hurting Raphael because of it.

Raphael looked away briefly, “It was after you helped me replant my mother’s roses and then we were studying together… That should not have affected me as much as it did.”

A smile tugged at my mouth, “But it did?”

His expression turned completely serious, “Catastrophically. I spent the next three days thinking about it.”

My jaw dropped, “You’re telling me you spent three entire days obsessing over a kiss on the cheek?”

Raphael gave me a nod, “Yes.”

I stared at him, then another realization hit me. My mouth slowly fell open, “Oh my God. Is that why you immediately disappeared afterward?”

A guilty look flickered across his face for half a second.

I gasped, “Raphael Capone. You left me sitting there wondering if I had completely crossed a line.”

His expression became even more serious, “I was conducting an internal investigation.”

I breathed out in amusement, “That’s not an investigation. That’s a crush. Oh my God, you had a crush on me!”

Then I laughed so hard I nearly doubled over.

Raphael simply waited for me to recover, then he added, “Call it whatever, that little touch altered my brain chemistry.”

I took a step closer, wrapping my arms around his neck, “Is that so?”

His hand settled against my waist immediately, pulling me closer, and when he spoke again his voice was so quiet I almost missed it.

“I think….” he frowned slightly, “I think somewhere along the way…” his thumb brushed softly against my side, ” You became my favorite thing.”

My heart was doing things that probably required medical attention. I stared at him and Raphael stared back completely calm. As if he hadn’t just casually destroyed my entire nervous system.

“Do you have any idea how unfair you are?” I asked.

A small crease appeared between his brows. His thumb brushed my side, “Explain.”

2/3

+15 Bors