One Wild Night

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I just got back from a business trip, and my boyfriend and I had a wild, breathless night.

But as the fog of passion cleared, a cold realization hit me. His rhythm was all wrong. The way he held me, the angles, the touchit wasn't him.

I grabbed him by the shoulder, my eyes scanning his face for any sign of betrayal, any detail that would confirm he was cheating.

The next second, his eyes met mine, trembling.

"Hey... Elias's girl... I can't do another round..."

I froze.

He looked at me with puppy-dog eyes, completely exhausted. "I have a basketball game tonight. If we go again, my legs are going to turn to jelly."

My heart stopped. It was like a bolt of lightning had cleared my dazed mind.

I suddenly realized the man in my bed wasn't my boyfriend, Elias. It was his younger brother, Chase.

The college kid who hadn't even graduated yet.

No wonder his haircut felt slightly different when I walked in.

A cold sweat broke out across my skin, chilling me to the bone.

I yanked the sheets up to cover myself and let out a choked scream. "What are you doing here?! Why are you in my apartment?!"

Silence fell over the room, thick and suffocating.

His long eyelashes fluttered as he stared at me, his voice raw with disbelief. "What is that supposed to mean? You were so happy a second ago. Did you really not know who you were with?"

He looked deeply hurt, like a kicked puppy.

The explanation of my face blindness died in my throat. I couldn't bring myself to say it.

I took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to steady my racing heart. "Where is Elias? Why isn't he home?"

Chase lowered his gaze. "I came down for a game at the local college. The hotels were completely booked, so I had to crash at Elias's. He didn't want to wake me up when he left, so he stayed at the office. Neither of us knew you'd be back early."

His voice trailed off, his expression becoming softer, more helpless.

No. I couldn't let his innocent act fool me.

I gritted my teeth. "Then why didn't you say something before you took your clothes off?!"

Chase's shoulders slumped.

"You kissed me the second you walked through the door. I didn't even have a chance to breathe, let alone explain.

"I know you're worried about Elias finding out. I won't tell him.

"Let's just pretend today was a dream."

As he spoke, he slipped back into his clothes and quietly began stripping the bed, replacing the sheets with fresh ones to erase every trace of what we had done.

It was the perfect, clean resolution I should have wanted.

But watching him, I felt like the worst person on earth.

Finally, as he picked up my lacy thong to wash it by hand, I couldn't take it anymore. "I'll do that."

As I stepped closer, he flinched back as if burned, his eyes rimmed with red.

"I'm the one who dirtied it," he whispered.

God help me. I felt like a criminal.

My phone buzzed. It was a voice message from Elias.

I went to play it, but with Chase's tearful eyes locked on me, a wave of guilt washed over me. I clicked the text-conversion button instead.

Hey baby, when are you getting back? I just learned a new recipe. Miss you so much.

One of the reasons I fell for Elias in the first place was his cooking. He always took care of my sensitive stomach, saving me from a lifetime of takeout.

A small smile tugged at my lips.

Beside me, Chase murmured, "That new recipe he learned? I'm the one who taught him."

I looked up in surprise.

Chase was already pulling open the fridge, desperate to prove himself. "There are still ingredients from yesterday. If you don't believe me, I'll cook for you right now."

Before I could stop him, he pulled off his shirt and tied Elias's apron around his waist.

Why did he have to take his shirt off to cook?

I followed him into the kitchen. Chase was incredibly fast, chopping, washing, and tossing ingredients in the pan with practiced ease. The apron strings wrapped snugly around his waist, accentuating the lean, muscular contours of his back.

"Hey, wait," I stammered, my eyes darting around. "Why are you cooking right now? This isn't the time!"

But the food was already plated.

He turned to me, his eyes full of quiet anticipation. "Tessa, don't you want a taste?"

A taste of what? This raw, athletic college kid?

My mind split into two screaming voices. One was telling me to run, while the other was whispering how dangerous and thrilling this whole mess was.

Chase set the plate down and took a slow step toward me, towering over me. "Tessa, why aren't you saying anything?"

The air in the kitchen grew heavy, charged with a strange, suffocating heat.

"You should call me your brother's girl," I whispered, my throat dry.

He froze.

His eyes darkened. "Is that what you want me to call you when we're in bed?"

The words hung in the air.

Before I could answer, the sound of the front door unlocking shattered the silence.

My scalp went numb.

A second later, Elias's voice echoed from the hallway. "A suitcase? Baby, is that you? Are you home?"

Three of us. One room. Total, dead silence.

Cold sweat poured down my neck as I frantically tried to think of a lie, but my brain had completely short-circuited.

Then, Chase spoke up, his voice perfectly casual. "Oh, hey, Elias. You're back. Tessa just walked in a minute ago, right as I finished making lunch."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

Elias kicked off his shoes and immediately wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off my feet. "Baby, why didn't you tell me you were coming back early? You didn't reply to my texts!"

He spun me around, and my exhausted, dizzy head swam.

Thankfully, Chase cut in. "Let's eat, Elias."

His voice was cool, but as he turned back to the stove, his bare, muscular back was on full display.

Elias frowned. "Chase, where are your clothes?"

Chase paused. My fingers tensed, twisting together.

"They're in the wash," Chase said quietly, heading back into the kitchen.

My heart did a violent flip.

There were clothes hanging on the balcony. But so was my freshly washed lace thong. If Elias went out there...

Desperate, I grabbed Elias by the collar and pulled him down into a hard, sudden kiss.

He froze, caught off guard, but quickly melted into it, returning the kiss with fierce passion.

His breathing turned shallow and heavy. "Baby, wait... Chase is still here..."

Clatter.

A plate shattered on the kitchen floor.

Chase stood there, his eyes instantly turning red.

Elias and I pulled apart.

Elias cleared his throat, looking slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, man. We haven't seen each other in a while. Just pretend you didn't see that."

Chase's lips trembled. "Must be nice... being so swept up in the moment."

Elias didn't catch the bitterness in his voice. "What?"

Chase didn't answer. He knelt down, silently sweeping up the broken shards. From where I stood, I could only see the lonely, tense line of his shoulders.

We sat down to eat, but the delicious food tasted like ash in my mouth.

My entire focus was on the subtle, deliberate friction brushing against my right leg under the table.

I knew it wasn't Elias. Elias was sitting on my left.

The silence at the table was suffocating.

Then, Chase picked up a piece of green pepper and dropped it into Elias's bowl.

"Eat your veggies, bro," Chase said softly. Then, he picked up a perfectly glazed rib and placed it gently into my bowl.

Elias's expression froze.

I choked, coughing violently.

Elias looked at me, his eyes unreadable. "Baby, let me get you some water."

Yes. Please. Anything to break this agonizing tension.

I nodded frantically.

The moment Elias walked away, I let out a long breath and glared at Chase. "What are you doing?!"

He didn't look up, chewing his food slowly. Then, he murmured, "The fridge is on the balcony, Tessa."

The balcony.

The thong.

It hit me like a physical blow.

I sprang up and bolted toward the balcony, but Elias was already coming back with a glass of water. His face was entirely calm.

"What's wrong, baby?" he asked.

I swallowed hard, my throat tight. But I noticed his lips were slightly pale.

"Were you that thirsty?" he asked softly.

I felt like I was sitting on a bed of nails.

Elias didn't ask any questions, but the heavy, unsaid suspicion in the air was driving me insane. I was terrified he was just gathering evidence, waiting for Chase to leave so he could confront me.

The suspense was agonizing.

Finally, Elias looked up, his voice cold and flat. "You should leave today."

He was talking to his brother.

The two men locked eyes. For a moment, the entire world seemed to go silent.

My soul felt like it had left my body.

By the time I came to, Chase was already packing his bags. He walked to the door and gave me one last, lingering look.

"See you next time, Tessa."

The door clicked shut.

Only Elias and I were left in the apartment. Everything looked perfectly normal, yet I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eye.

Suddenly, Elias grabbed my wrist.

I looked up. His eyes were rimmed with red.

"Tessa... you have no idea how much I missed you these past few days."

A suffocating wave of guilt crashed over me. I took a deep breath, preparing to tell him the truth.

But before I could speak, Elias leaned down and covered my mouth with his.

He kissed me with a desperate, almost feral intensity, his tears spilling onto my cheeks.

This time, there was no gentle rhythm. He was burning hot, pulling me into a chaotic storm of pleasure and pain.

In my dazed, drifting mind, I heard Elias whisper against my ear:

"Baby... does he make you feel better than I do?"

My eyes snapped wide open.

"What did you say?!"

But another wave of passion crashed over us, and he didn't answer, pouring all his energy into making me forget everything else. It was as if what I heard was just a hallucination.

He knew my body too well. Within seconds, my thoughts dissolved again.

When it was over, I was completely drained, on the verge of falling asleep.

In the quiet haze, a raspy, quiet voice began to tell a story.

"Chase was born when I was four. He always knew how to charm everyone. I couldn't help but be jealous of him. I took everything he had, all through our childhood. On his eighteenth birthday, our parents and I went on a trip. He called, crying for help. I thought he was just trying to steal their attention again, so I secretly turned off my parents' phones. When we got back, we found out he had acute pancreatitis. He was left alone, and he almost died in that empty house."

Elias paused, his voice cracking.

"I swore to him then that I would never take anything he loved ever again. But Tessa... why did it have to be you?"

The next morning, the apartment was spotless. The leftover food was gone, and my suitcase was neatly put away.

Elias was always like this, quietly taking care of everything.

I picked up my phone and noticed a new contact request.

Tessa, are you coming to my game tonight? I'd be really happy if you did.

I didn't need to ask who it was.

Chase and I had made a terrible mistake, and I needed to end it. I would cut ties with Chase completely, and then... I would beg Elias for forgiveness.

With my mind made up, I called him.

He answered almost instantly.

"Tessa?" His voice had a hopeful lift to it.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Delete my number after this. We can't contact each other anymore."

Silence fell over the line.

Then, a sudden, violent crash echoed through the phone.

Someone on the other end started screaming in a panic. "Chase! Oh my god, Chase! Quick, call an ambulance!"

My heart squeezed tight.

"Chase?! Chase, what happened?!"

The call went dead.

Panic clawed at my chest. Something had happened to Chase. I tried calling back, but it kept going straight to voicemail.

Was it because of what I said?

I spent the entire day in a state of agonizing anxiety.

At the end of the day, Elias picked me up from work. "I have to drop by the hospital. I'll take you home first."

"The hospital?!" My voice pitched high. "Who's hurt?!"

Elias glanced at me, his eyes dark. "How did you know someone was hurt, and not sick?"

My breath caught. I opened my mouth to explain, but no words came out.

The light turned green, and Elias stepped on the gas.

After a long, suffocating silence, he spoke in a low, hollow voice. "It's Chase. He's hurt. Do you... want to come?"

It really was Chase. And it was because of my phone call.

I gripped the seatbelt, my voice trembling. "I have to go, Elias. Please, take me with you."

When we arrived, his teammates confirmed my worst fears.

They said Chase was on the phone, and suddenly his face went completely pale.

A stray basketball had flown right toward him, but he didn't even try to dodge it. He fell backward, cracking his head against the concrete bleachers.

He was still unconscious.

"Chase usually has crazy reflexes," one teammate said, pacing the hallway. "But he got that call from a girl and just lost it. Otherwise, there's no way he wouldn't have dodged that ball."

The hallway fell into a heavy silence.

Elias's expression was grim, completely unreadable.

I stood there, my mind a chaotic mess of guilt and fear. Everything was spiraling because of me.

I took a slow step toward Elias. The urge to confess, to lay everything bare, was overwhelming. No matter what happened next, the tragedy was my fault.

"Elias..." I whispered, my fingers trembling.

He looked up, a raw, fragile pain flickering in his eyes.

"Don't," he rasped, his fists clenching so hard the veins bulged on his thighs. "Don't say it. I don't want to hear it right now."

A dull ache spread through my chest.

Just then, the ward door opened.

A nurse stepped out. "The patient is awake."

Chase lay in the bed, his head wrapped in thick white bandages. Despite the distance, his eyes locked onto me the second I walked in.

"Tessa... my head hurts," he whispered.