Falling for my Enemy's Brother-Chapter 37: Weird-Weird, Not just weird

"Maybe we—" Craig started, his voice low and rough, then he cut himself off. He ran a hand through his hair, the frustration clear in the tight set of his jaw. "Maybe we should head back. It’s getting late." Without waiting for her answer, he turned away, the sharp edge of his words hanging between them like a warning.

Inside, Craig’s mind was a storm. Every fiber of his being screamed to close the distance, to reach for her again—to claim her like he’d imagined a hundred times before. But the weight of the risks pressed down on him like a stone.

If Conor found out, if his father caught wind of it... the fallout would be chaos. She was a girl who came to Belford to accuse his family of murder—how could he let himself fall for her? How could he risk being owned, completely, by someone so dangerous to his world?

He clenched his fists, forcing the tension down, fighting the pull that threatened to undo him. He needed control—he needed to hold the line before everything slipped.

Melina’s quiet nod was all the answer he needed. "About my ratings," she said softly, breaking the silence.

He smirked, the tension easing just enough. "I’ll rate you fair enough."

She raised an eyebrow, playful despite the tension. "Are you sure?"

He gave a lazy shrug. "Yeah, no problem."

The small exchange was enough to ease the thick air between them. But inside, neither of them could shake the pull of what had just passed—the unsaid, the almost-confessed.

Craig gripped the steering wheel tighter, his jaw clenched. Every glance in the rearview mirror reminded him of how close they had been, how dangerously close. He wanted to reach over, to tell her to stay—just a little longer—but the fear of what it would mean held him back. If he let himself go, if he showed her how much she already owned his heart, the fallout would be unstoppable.

Beside him, Merlina stared out the window, her mind a battlefield of confusion and longing. The warmth of his touch still lingered on her skin, the intensity of his gaze burning behind her eyes. Part of her wanted to run back inside and throw herself into that dangerous fire. Another part wanted to protect herself from the mess she knew this would become.

The car hummed softly through the night, two people trapped in their own worlds, fighting the same battle but too proud—or too scared—to admit it.

When Craig finally pulled up outside her dorm, the silence stretched between them again.

He reached over the console, hesitating for a moment before his voice broke the quiet. "Get inside safe, yeah?"

Merlina nodded, her voice barely above a whisper. "I will. You too."

Merlina was already moving toward the door, the tension between them still crackling in the air, when Craig’s voice stopped her.

"And Merlina..." His tone was low, earnest, and the quiet urgency in it made her freeze in place. novelbuddy.cσ๓

She turned back slowly, searching his eyes.

"I meant what I said," he continued, "I’ll help you, even if just to prove my brother’s innocence."

Those words hung between them, heavy and real.

She swallowed, feeling a flicker of something she hadn’t expected—hope, maybe, or relief. The weight she’d been carrying suddenly felt a little lighter.

"Goodnight, Craig," she said softly, voice trembling with the vulnerability she wasn’t ready to show.

He didn’t reply, but his eyes held a warmth that spoke louder than words ever could.

Merlina stepped out into the cold night air, the chill wrapping around her like a shield—protecting her from the storm inside, but also reminding her of how much she still didn’t know.

Just as she reached the door, she glanced back and caught him lingering in the driver’s seat, eyes fixed on her until she disappeared inside.

Her heart melted just a little at the sight.

Then the engine started, and he drove off, leaving her with a storm of emotions swirling inside.

Melina barely closed the door before Megan launched at her like a heat-seeking missile.

"So?" Megan’s grin stretched wide. "How was it? Did he almost eat you alive during the tutorials?"

Phoebe popped her head up from her bed, eyes gleaming. "You guys didn’t fight again, right? You look... flushed."

Merlina blinked, a little too long.

"No fights," she said finally, kicking off her shoes with studied nonchalance. "He was... actually fair. Like, genuinely fair."

Megan narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Fair? Craig Lesnar? Is he dying?"

Phoebe gasped. "Maybe it’s some freak tutoring side effect. You made him human."

Merlina let out a short laugh, one she didn’t quite feel. "Right. That must be it."

But her body was still humming. Her chest still tight. Her skin still marked by the feel of his fingers under her chin. That whisper of a touch had branded her. And that look—God, that look—like he saw her down to her soul and still wanted to stay. He didn’t even kiss her, yet it felt like her entire being had been rewired.

One second they were barely touching.

The next, it felt like they were standing on the edge of something that could destroy them both.

And then he stepped back.

Maybe we should leave, he’d said.

Just like that, the fire between them was shoved back into the shadows. Contained. Tamed. But not forgotten. Not for a second.

"Earth to Mel," Phoebe waved a hand in front of her. "You zoned out. What’s going on? Did something happen?"

Melina shook her head too quickly. "No. I mean... nothing. Just... he made coffee. Took me to some cabin by the lake to talk. It was chill."

"Hold up." Megan sat up straighter. "Craig Lesnar made coffee? Like, with his own hands?"

Merlina tried to keep her face neutral. "Yeah. Weird, right?"

He looked at her like she mattered.

He touched her like he’d been holding back for years.

He asked her to trust him—not Conor, not his family. Him.

But she couldn’t say any of that out loud. Not yet. Not when she couldn’t even explain it to herself.

Phoebe scoffed. "Okay, something’s definitely going on. He’s never ’chill.’ Are you sure you two didn’t—" she made a kissing gesture, followed by a dramatic eyebrow wiggle.

Merlina snorted, almost choking on air. "No. God, Phoebe."

But her cheeks betrayed her. Warm. Betrayed by the memory of her lips parting, of her eyes dropping to his mouth, of his eyes doing the exact same thing.

They hadn’t kissed.

But it looked like they both wanted to.

And somehow that felt worse.

Worse because it still lingered. Because she couldn’t stop replaying the tension that coiled so tight between them, one wrong move and it would’ve snapped.

Worse because he stopped it.

He stopped it, not her.

Phoebe tilted her head, squinting. "You’re being weird. Like, ’I’ve done something I can’t undo’ weird."

Megan rolled her eyes. "Okay, but like... Phoebe, give it a rest. The fact that you even think something could have happened? Please. Have you seen them? They can’t stand each other."

Merlina didn’t flinch, but something in her chest tensed. Megan meant it as defense, sure, but that didn’t stop the words from slicing deep. She was just stating the obvious. At least, what used to be obvious. What should’ve been obvious.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes. "No, I’m serious. Look at her. She’s got that... I don’t know, that post-romantic tension glow. Like she just got emotionally whiplashed and kinda liked it."

"I’m just tired," Merlina said quietly, folding herself into the edge of the bed. Her fingers curled into the blanket, as if holding on to something solid might stop her mind from spiraling.

But inside, she wasn’t tired. She was wrecked. Wrecked by a moment that didn’t even end in a kiss, but had somehow stripped her bare.

Why did he stop?

Why did he look so torn after?

And why—after everything—did he still wait in his car, watching, making sure she got inside before he drove off?

None of it made sense.

He wasn’t supposed to care.

But he did.

And now she was caught between the version of Craig she’d heard about... and the one who looked at her like she was the only thing in his world worth breaking rules for.

Phoebe flopped onto her side dramatically, eyes narrowing like she was piecing together a conspiracy theory.

"It’s just..." she started, dragging out the words, "after what happened tonight—I don’t know. Keith thinks Craig’s always weird around you."

Merlina blinked. "Weird how?"

Phoebe shrugged, then gave her a look. "Like... weird-weird. Like he might actually be into you."

Megan choked on her water.

Merlina stared at the ceiling, her pulse doing cartwheels.

And that was the moment she realized—she didn’t know if she wanted Phoebe to be wrong... or terrifyingly right.