Falling for my Enemy's Brother
Chapter 82: Typing…

Chapter 82: Typing...

"I’m not blushing," Merlina said way too fast, focusing hard on the chips in her hand like they might somehow protect her from whatever Craig was doing to her.

Isabel raised an eyebrow, smirking like she’d just won a bet. "Suuure you’re not."

Melissa didn’t say anything, she didn’t have to. One slow, knowing look from her sister was enough to make Merlina’s cheeks burn even hotter.

She shoved another chip into her mouth and mumbled, "Can we not?"

Isabel laughed, already turning back to Carlos’s over-the-top story about sneaking into a soccer match without tickets. But Merlina couldn’t follow a single word.

She placed her phone on her lap, determined to act normal, but her mind was already gone. Lost in the messages. Lost in him.

Her screen lit up again.

CRAIG: Hey, I saw you blushing. I was only teasing. I don’t like you that much, idk.

The smile fell from her face.

MERLINA: I really don’t care.

She saw him glance down at his phone from across the field, then lift his head and flash the smallest, cockiest smile. He shook his head, looked away, and typed again.

CRAIG: I didn’t imagine it, right? The way you melted into me when we kissed...that was real.

Her mouth parted slightly. She stared at the message, pulse quickening.

Her fingers hovered over the screen.

MERLINA: It shouldn’t have happened...

She hesitated.

Deleted it.

MERLINA: It didn’t mean anything...

Backspaced again.

Her thumb paused above the keyboard, then typed:

MERLINA: It was horrible.

She hit send before she could change her mind.

CRAIG: Liar. You almost died just now typing that. Don’t get struck, Merlina.

MERLINA: It was, to be honest.

CRAIG: To be honest...I’ve been thinking about that kiss nonstop. And right now? I want to do it again...slowly. Just to feel you fall apart all over me.

Merlina exhaled softly, her thighs pressed together again, the ache between them blooming fast. That one damn message had her body hot and restless. She bit her bottom lip harder, pulse thudding in places that had no business reacting to a few words on a screen.

Her fingers curled tighter around the phone. God, she hated this...how easily he got under her skin. How just a single text could have her dripping with memory, dizzy with want, craving more.

She shifted, suddenly self-conscious, her eyes darting to Melissa and Alistair. They were both distracted, thankfully, but if any of them caught even a glimpse of the conversation, it’d be over. She’d never hear the end of it.

The idea of someone grabbing her phone, seeing these texts was enough to make her stomach twist.

She glanced up again.

Craig was watching her. But this time, the usual smirk was gone. His face was still, serious. His expression unreadable. His gaze held hers for a moment before he looked away again, lowering his head slightly as he typed.

Her phone buzzed.

CRAIG: I want you, Merlina. In ways I probably shouldn’t say over text.

Those words. They hit her like a wave and she melted instantly.

She re-read the message, heart stumbling over itself. Of all the things he could’ve said, of all the games he could’ve played, this wasn’t one of them. Not this time. This felt different. Real.

She couldn’t believe Craig had said it. Admitted it. Out loud or as close as a text could get.

For a some seconds that felt too long, she sat there, staring at her screen, trying to breathe through the chaos stirring inside her. Then, she typed back.

MERLINA: Please stop.

The reply came almost immediately.

CRAIG: I can’t.

Her chest tightened. She glanced around to make sure no one was reading over her shoulder.

Isabel and Melissa were busy arguing about much money they had left, and Alistair had started a new round of jokes with Carlos. They were all laughing. None of them knew her entire world was flipping upside down in her palms.

She took a shaky breath and typed again.

MERLINA: You can. We have to do better than this.

It was the sensible thing to say, the right thing. She knew that. She also knew she didn’t believe a single word of it.

The screen lit up again.

CRAIG: No. Aren’t you even tired of pretending?! Because I am. I’m so tired of pretending.

The words hit harder than they should have.

She stared at them, heart pounding, everything else fading into a muffled hum. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, over and over. But this time, she didn’t know what to say.

She was feeling so much emotions, it scared her.

She stared at Craig’s message again.

’Aren’t you even tired of pretending?’

Her throat tightened. And in that moment, beneath the glow of festival lights and the echo of laughter around her, the truth settled like gravity—she was tired too. Tired of acting like he didn’t affect her. Tired of pretending none of it ever meant anything.

Maybe she had been for a long time.

Before she could think of a reply, another message came in.

CRAIG: You wanna take a ride?

She gasped softly.

A ride? With him? Now?

She glanced across the field again, but couldn’t see his face clearly in the blur of neon lights and moving bodies.

Her heart stuttered in her chest. The idea was tempting...too tempting. But then the memories came rushing back.

Him brushing past her like she didn’t exist. A whole month went by and he ghosted her, didn’t say a word to her in the hallway when they bumped into each other school, even at the Villa, like they were nothing. Like she was nothing.

No.

Not tonight. She wasn’t gonna make things so easy for him, because of a few possibly tipsy texts.

She typed back.

MERLINA: I’m here with my siblings. I can’t leave them.

Three dots appeared on her screen, like he was typing something.

Then they disappeared.

No reply.

She swallowed hard, locked her phone, and shoved it into her pocket like it hadn’t just broken her heart a little. Melissa and Isabel were already tugging at her arms, dragging her toward a small booth with dark curtains and candle lights.

"Fortune teller?" Merlina asked.

Isabel grinned. "Come on, it’ll be fun!"

"No, no, no...hard pass!" Merlina protested, but it was too late. They were already pulling her forward.

Inside, it smelled of incense and something faintly metallic. The woman behind the table had a face full of piercings, long black nails, and eyes that felt like they saw right through her. Her voice was low and raspy.

She spoke in fast Spanish, muttering things Merlina didn’t quite understand. She reached out with one bony hand and brushed her fingers over Merlina’s palm.

"El corazón no miente..." the woman whispered, voice low and raspy like the wind crawling through dead leaves.

Isabel stiffened beside her, translating slowly, "The heart doesn’t lie..."

The woman’s gaze darkened. Her fingers tightened around Merlina’s palm.

"Ten cuidado... lo que más deseas es lo que más te destruirá."

Isabel froze.

Merlina’s stomach dropped.

"What did she say?" Melissa asked.

Isabel swallowed hard. "She said... ’Be careful. What you want most is what will destroy you.’"

Merlina jerked her hand back.

"Okay, we’re done!" Melissa said way too loud, already halfway out the tent. They scrambled out into the cold night, laughing nervously as they distanced themselves from the booth.

But even as they laughed, Merlina couldn’t shake it. Not the chill. Not the look in the woman’s eyes. And definitely not the tiny bit of sadness, she felt creeping in.

Her phone stayed stubbornly silent. She hadn’t heard back from Craig.

And he was nowhere in sight.

The night was ending, the energy shifting. Carnival workers were packing up, the rides were slowing, the crowd thinning. Her cousins were giggling and recounting the weird fortune, but Merlina’s mind was elsewhere.

Maybe she should’ve said yes.

Maybe she should’ve taken the ride.

She barely said a word on the walk back to the car. They piled in, jackets pulled tight, cheeks red from the cold. Melissa was still complaining about how creepy the fortune teller had been, while Isabel tried to lighten the mood with jokes.

But Merlina’s thoughts were spinning in loops. She kept glancing at her phone, hoping and expecting something.

Nothing.

Just when they hit the road, the car ahead of them slowed to a stop. Then another. Soon, red taillights lit up the stretch in front of them like Christmas.

"Què pasa ? (What’s going on?)" Isabel asked, craning her neck.

Carlos rolled down the window from the driver’s seat. A uniformed officer approached, flashlight in hand. His breath puffed into the frigid air as he leaned down.

"La nieve ha bloqueado el paso principal. Tenemos quitanieves en camino, pero tardarán unas horas. Tendrán que hacerse a un lado y esperar. (Snow’s blocked the main pass. We’ve got plows coming, but it’ll take a few hours. You’ll have to pull over and wait it out.)" The officer said.

"Snow block?" Isabel asked, then a groan erupted from the back seat.

"You’re kidding," Melissa muttered. "We’re really gonna be stuck here?"

Her dad and aunt had been called. Everyone was told to stay put and remain close to security.

So they did.

They pulled over near an old roadside diner that hadn’t seen business in years. A row of stranded cars had already claimed the snow-covered lot, most with passengers sitting tight or stepping out to stretch. Those with alternate routes had already turned back. But for those like them with nowhere else to go, this was it.

Melina leaned against the side of the car, arms folded, her breath misting the frozen air. Melissa was next to her, chatting with Carlos and Alistair, who had taken to rating every car that passed, as if it were some kind of snowstorm edition of Top Gear.

"So many Land Cruisers today," Carlos muttered.

"I’m waiting for something sexy, like a BMW," Alistair replied.

And as if on cue, Melissa’s eyes widened. "Whoa," she whispered, pointing down the road. "That’s a hot car."

Melina didn’t even look up, still scrolling through her phone, lost in a fog of thoughts.

But the others had turned, craning their necks.

"No way," Carlos breathed. "That’s a Ferrari F8 Spider."

"Black. Clean. Damn," Alistair added.

The sleek sports car purred up the lane, slicing through the snow like it wasn’t even there. It rolled to a smooth stop a few feet ahead of them, idling quietly in the hush of winter air.

Isabella whistled low. "Dios mío. Qué bombón, (Oh my God, what a hottie)" she muttered.

That made Merlina look up.

At first, she didn’t see what Isabella saw. Just a parked car. Engine still humming. Windshield catching the light.

The driver’s side door opened.

And then—

A boot hit the pavement.

Then a leg. A broad shoulder.

And finally, him.

Craig Lesnar.