Beneath The Ice : Claimed By My Stepbrother

A deep groan clawed its way out of my chest as my phone kept vibrating against my nightstand like it had a personal vendetta against me.For a split second, I considered letting it die.It didn’t.I snatched it up without checking the caller ID. “What?!” I barked, voice thick with sleep and last night’s bad decisions.“Are you deadass?” Joe’s voice exploded through the speaker. No good morning. “Coach asked us to be present this morning. We have a new member. And you—as our captain—are still in bed?”My eyes flew open.Shit.I shot upright so fast the room tilted. Sunlight stabbed through the blinds like punishment. My head pounded in protest, my mouth dry as sandpaper. I glanced at the time.Ten minutes.Practice started in ten fucking minutes.“Oh fuck,” I muttered, dragging a hand down my face. Memories from last night came in flashes—neon lights, bass shaking the floor, a body pressed against mine in a dark hallway. Hands. A mouth. Teeth grazing my shoulder. The smell of cologne

CHAPTER 4Theodore~“Mom, you can’t do that!”My voice cracked and pitched higher than I meant it to. I cleared my throat, forcing myself to breathe through my nose before I completely embarrassed myself. Jesus Christ. How could she possibly think this was okay? Sharing a dorm was one thing.Sharing a dorm with him?“Theodore,” my mom said patiently, like I was five instead of nineteen. “You guys are brothers.”“We can never be brothers, Mother.” The words slipped out harsher than intended. My jaw clenched as panic clawed its way up my spine. How do I suddenly become brothers with the guy who fucked me less than forty-eight hours ago?It hadn’t even been two days.She sighed, rubbing her temple. "Noah has nowhere else to go right now. The apartment he was subletting fell through, and with the semester already started, dorms are full. You’ve got that big single room all to yourself. It’s temporary. Just until housing sorts something out.”“My room is built for one person.” The lie slip

Noah~I’d seen a lot of people try to fake control before.Athletes, especially. Hockey guys were the worst for it. All that chest-beating, loud voices and hard eyes, like if they looked confident enough nobody would notice they were falling apart inside. I had absolutely no idea why the fuckers couldn't just have a emotional outburst and be done with it. However, Theodore was different though. Oh no, my dearest step-brother was the type who hid and faked being in control so well. He had a smile that made people love him and played like a fucking god on the ice-rink but I knew quite well that he was far from perfect. Those little cracks were so obvious that how no one noticed was beyond me. Plus, I was pretty sure he had anxiety issues because he looked like he was about to pull at his own hair because I was in the same room as him. He also acted as if he stayed still enough, breathed quietly enough, looked straight ahead long enough people would really think he was normal.It was

TheodoreI should’ve known he wouldn’t let me even catch fucking break.The moment the door shut behind, it was like the entire room had suddenly decided I was today’s entertainment and no one bothered to tell me.“So,” one of the girls dragged out, turning toward me with a grin that already spelled trouble, “you wanna explain that?”I didn’t look up from my notebook. I didn’t even register what the lecturer was saying anymore, but pretending to write something down felt better than making eye contact and confirming that he was even there, talk more of my life was actively falling apart in public. Unfortunately, I wasn't afforded that luxury because the stares got worse and I turned to them as I said, “There’s nothing to explain,” I said, keeping my voice flat like that would magically end the conversation.It didn’t.“Nothing?” another one chimed in, leaning forward like she was about to uncover a conspiracy. “Your very hot stepbrother walks in, calls you baby in front of everyone,

Theodore~ By the time lunch rolled around, I was already in a bad mood, and I knew exactly why. I spotted them before I even sat down. Noah and Nikolai. Together. Again. It shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did, but there was something about the way they stood close, shoulders angled toward each other like they’d been doing this for years, like this wasn’t new. Nikolai said something under his breath and Noah huffed out a laugh, low and easy, the kind that didn’t sound forced or calculated. That irritated me more than it should have. I dropped my tray onto the table a little harder than necessary, the sound cutting through whatever conversation my teammates were having as I slid into my seat and leaned back like I wasn’t already watching them. “They always that close?” I asked, keeping my tone casual even though it didn’t feel like it. A few of them followed my line of sight. “Who?” one of them asked, squinting slightly. “Nikolai and Noah.” That got a shrug from o