Chapter 2

My mouth felt dry, parched, as if I' d been wandering in a desert for days. I swallowed hard, the sound loud in my own ears. My heart hammered, a frantic drumbeat against my ribs. Graham' s arm, warm and solid, was still pressed against mine. He hadn' t moved an inch since I leaned into him. He was a rock, an immovable force, and I was a ship caught in his silent current.

My mind raced, a torrent of chaotic thoughts. What am I doing? This is insane. He' s Brendan' s cousin. The forbidden nature of it all, the sheer audacity, sent a jolt of adrenaline through me. My cheeks flushed, a deep, burning crimson.

Then, without warning, Brendan swerved sharply. The car lurched, tires squealing faintly as he took a bend too fast. Kasey, predictably, shrieked. It was a high-pitched, affected sound, a practiced reaction. "Oh, Brendan! My heart almost stopped! But you're such an amazing driver, darling."

Brendan chuckled, a smug, self-satisfied sound. "Just showing off a little, Kasey-bear. No one drives like me." He clearly relished her adoration, her dramatic flair.

Kasey leaned over, planting a kiss on his cheek. "My hero," she purred, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness.

Brendan pretended to scold her, but his smile gave him away. "Kasey! Alexia's in the car. Behave yourself." His words were a mere formality, a flimsy cover for their blatant disrespect. He was talking to me, but his eyes were on her.

Kasey pulled back, a pout on her lips. She turned to me, her eyes wide and innocent, a picture of feigned remorse. "Oh, Alexia, I'm so sorry! I sometimes forget myself. Brendan and I have been friends since forever, you know. Like siblings, almost. We're just so comfortable with each other." The lie hung heavy in the air, thick and nauseating. Siblings didn't leave hickeys on each other's necks.

A sudden, sharp retort leaped to my tongue. "Do you act like 'siblings' like this at home too, Kasey? Or only when you have an audience?" The words were out before I could catch them, fueled by a potent cocktail of rage and humiliation.

Kasey' s innocent facade cracked. Her eyes narrowed for a split second, then welled up with theatrical tears. She immediately turned back to Brendan, burying her face in his shoulder. "Brendan! She's always so mean to me! She just doesn't like me!" Her voice was muffled, but the accusation was clear.

Brendan' s jaw clenched. He spared me a furious glance in the rearview mirror. "Alexia! That's enough! Kasey is sensitive. You need to be more understanding. Can't you just let things go for once? Be a mature adult." His words, sharp and accusatory, sliced through me. A mature adult. That was always my role, while Kasey was allowed to be a petulant child.

My shoulders slumped. A profound weariness settled over me, heavy and suffocating. The fight drained out of me, leaving behind only a hollow ache. It was always like this. He would always defend her, always choose her. My protests were just noise in his world.

A silent vow formed in the depths of my being. No more. No more enduring, no more understanding, no more being the "mature adult" while my heart was shredded. This was it. I was done.

Under the flimsy blanket I' d brought, my hand found Graham' s thigh. I let my fingers rest there, a silent, defiant gesture. He didn' t flinch, didn' t acknowledge it. His breathing remained even, his eyes still closed.

Another bump in the road. This time, my hand slid further up his leg, my fingers brushing the hard muscle of his inner thigh. The car jolted, our bodies shifting, and my palm flattened against him.

Then, his hand moved. Slowly. Deliberately. Not pulling away. Instead, his fingers curled around my thigh, his thumb brushing the sensitive skin of my inner leg. A shockwave of sensation ran through me.

His fingers were warm, surprisingly soft despite their calloused appearance. They moved with a gentle pressure, a silent inquiry. My breath hitched. I squeezed my eyes shut, a nervous tremor running through my limbs.

I risked a quick glance at him. His eyes were still closed, his expression unreadable, but his jaw was tight, a muscle twitching almost imperceptibly. He remained perfectly still, a picture of repose, but the subtle tension in his frame betrayed him. His throat visibly bobbed as he swallowed.

I looked away, my gaze sweeping over the sharp, strong line of his jaw, the elegant curve of his nose. He was undeniably handsome, in a severe, understated way. Not the flashy, overt charm of Brendan, but a deeper, more compelling magnetism.

Graham Odonnell. The quiet force in Brendan's boisterous circles. The Odonnells were older money, older power, a family the Britts looked up to, despite their own wealth. Graham, a partner at a top law firm, was the epitome of their reserved, brilliant lineage. Brendan used to joke that Graham was "practically a monk," too focused on his career to bother with trivial things like relationships. "He's practically ascetic, Alexia," Brendan had once laughed, "all work and no play."

I remembered seeing Graham around at university. He was a few years ahead of me, always in the library, always impeccably dressed, even for a casual study session. He had an aura of quiet authority, a seriousness that set him apart from the other boisterous, privileged students. I had admired him from afar, a silent crush I never dared to acknowledge.

Our paths had crossed professionally a few times since then. He was an "in-house" consultant for some of the Britt family's more complex legal ventures, and I, as Brendan's girlfriend and an event planner for the Britt Foundation, occasionally found myself in meetings with him. Each time, I' d felt a blush creep up my neck. I' d try to keep my composure, my voice steady, but my heart would always do a little flutter.

He' d always been highly professional, his gaze calm and unwavering, never lingering. Just those sharp, intelligent eyes, assessing, analyzing. I' d always told myself it was my imagination, that he saw me only as Brendan's girlfriend, another extension of the Britt empire he occasionally advised. I was just another project for him.

And yet, there were those fleeting moments. A flicker in his eyes when I made a particularly insightful comment during a strategy meeting. A subtle tightening of his lips when Brendan made a crude joke. I always dismissed it. He was a man of logic, of reason. He wouldn't risk his reputation for a fleeting attraction. I was being foolish.

Once, during a particularly stressful project for the foundation, I' d found myself in his office late at night, reviewing contracts. The air had been thick with unspoken tension. He had leaned over my shoulder to point out a clause, and I' d felt the warmth of his body, the faint scent of expensive cologne and ink. My skin had prickled. My heart had pounded. And in that moment, when his arm had accidentally brushed mine, I could have sworn I saw a pulse throb visibly at his temple. But then, he had cleared his throat, straightened up, and the moment was gone, replaced by his usual detached professionalism.

I tried to tell myself I was imagining things. I was Brendan's girlfriend. Graham was Brendan's cousin. It was all in my head.