My Stepbrother Wants Me-Chapter 206: Poking Gabriel

Julian’s POV

The room felt empty the second Catherine stepped out. I lay there in the dark, my skin still cooling from the heat of her body, and I realized I absolutely hated the fact that she was leaving. I didn’t want her to creep back to her room like a thief in the night. What I really wanted was for her to stay, to close her eyes right next to me and be the first thing I saw when the sun hit the windows. I wanted to wake up with her hair sprawled across my chest and her weight grounding me to the bed. It wasn’t just that I was in love with her; it was deeper than that. I was obsessed. Every minute she wasn’t in my line of sight felt like a minute wasted. I wanted to possess her time, her thoughts, and her space. But the reality of this house always came back to bite, so I watched the door she had just exited, feeling a sense of agitation that only her presence could soothe.

I eventually drifted off to sleep, though it was restless. When the next day arrived, I realized I was going to deal with the usual annoying Monday morning school routine. Gosh! How I hated school days. Glad I was in my finals at least.

I got dressed, and checked how I looked in the mirror. The bruises on my jaw from Gabriel’s fist had already begun to clear, thanks to Catherine for using ice on them. I headed down for breakfast, my mind already scanning for Catherine.

When I entered the dining room, she was already there, sitting in her usual spot. She looked breathtaking in the white dress she was wearing, but I could see the slight fatigue in her eyes that mirrored my own.

I sat down and began the charade of eating, but I couldn’t keep my hands—or my feet—to myself. Underneath the table, I reached out. I found her leg with mine, sliding my foot up her calf and resting it against her knee. I wanted to feel her, to remind myself that we were now an item... practically. I felt her stiffening slightly, but she didn’t pull away. We continued like that, a secret friction happening beneath the surface of a seemingly normal family breakfast.

Gabriel was sitting there, too. He was picking at his food, and I noticed he stared at me a few times with brooding resentment. I almost wanted to laugh at how childish he was acting.

Though he hadn’t said a word since I sat down, I could tell he was paying attention to every movement. He was hyper-aware of us. He noticed the slight shift in our shoulders, the way we weren’t looking at each other because we were too busy focusing on the contact under the table. He was noticing our nonsense, and it was clearly driving him to the edge of his patience.

"Does anyone else hear the annoying noise coming from under the table?" He suddenly snapped with a sharp voice laced with a bitterness he couldn’t hide.

The clinking of silverware stopped. Lucy looked up from her coffee, her expression one of genuine confusion. She looked around the room, then back at Gabriel. "What noise? Please don’t scare me..." she added, raising her legs up. "Are there rats underneath?"

Ha ha ha. Lucy had no idea but I knew exactly what noise he was talking about. It was the sound of our legs shifting and it wasn’t even noisy but of course, only someone obsessed with jealousy would pick up on the faint sound.

He was dying inside. I knew it! Suffocating under the weight of knowing that Catherine had chosen me. He was hurting, and a part of me kinda loved it. I saw an opportunity to twist the knife, to make it absolutely clear that Catherine belonged to me and that he was never going to have a chance.

"I think you’re hearing things, Gabriel," I said, leaning back in my chair and looking him dead in the eye. I didn’t pull my leg away from Catherine; if anything, I pressed harder. "You seem really tense lately. Maybe you should try to go out there and get laid. It would probably help with the hallucinations."

The statement was wild. It came out of nowhere, cutting through the fake politeness of the breakfast table like a blade. The silence that followed was thick. Lisa, who had been busy arranging the side dishes on the buffet, froze. She turned around, her eyes wide with disapproval as she looked at me.

"Julian," Lisa said, her voice stern. "What was that? Jeez! You should control the things you say. If Richard was here, he would definitely not have entertained this."

Lisa was another funny person. She knew the demon her husband was, yet she always appeared devoted to him. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

I couldn’t help it. I let out a dry laugh.

"Why Lisa? What’s wrong with what I said?" I asked, pretending to not understand her shock. I looked at her before turning back to Gabriel. "Everyone at this table is an adult. There’s really no need to act like there’s anything wrong with me giving my brother some advice. He’s clearly frustrated. Telling him to go out and have good sex with some bitch is probably the most helpful thing anyone has said to him all week."

I felt Catherine’s gaze burn into the side of my face. I didn’t have to look at her to know she was furious.

"Julian," she called, her voice low and tight. I finally turned to look at her, and she gave me the most intense "what the fuck is wrong with you?" look I had ever seen. Her eyes were flashing with a mixture of warning and fiery anger. She was trying to tell me to stop, to keep my mouth shut, to consider his feelings.

But I didn’t want to stop. In fact what Catherine just did fueled my pettiness.

I smirked at her, and let out an actual giggled. The sound was out of place in the tense room, a light, mocking noise that made Gabriel’s face turn a deep, dangerous shade of the color of fire. He looked like he was about to explode. He had been holding it in, trying to hold onto his "morality," but I had pushed him too far.

Gabriel stood up so fast his chair screeched against the floorboards and nearly toppled over. He didn’t look at Lucy or Lisa. He stared at me with a hatred so pure it was almost impressive.

"Fuck you, Julian," Gabriel spat.

He didn’t just say it. He raised his hand and shoved his middle finger right into my face, holding it there for a long. He was hurting and couldn’t even hide it... shame.

Could he not see I was intentionally rubbing salt on his open wound? Well, Gabriel has always been blind. He hardly saw through anyone.

"Lisa hope you can see what Gabriel is doing? I think he’s the one who needs to be reprimanded."

I flashed him a smirk.

"What?" Lisa yelled from the kitchen.

Befote I could find her a reply, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the dining room, his footsteps heavy and threatening as he headed for the front door.

A second later, the sound of the front door slamming shut echoed through the house, probably shaking the windows in their frames.

This is what he gets for falling in love with my woman. Besides, this was just the beginning. Next plan was to kiss Catherine in front of him.

Even boys can get messy when they want to.