My Brother My Mate

A Necessary Distraction

Anthony's POV

Everything was very confusing. It had been a crazy day.

Why was I feeling so attracted to Mariam, the nerd, now turned into my sister?

There was no explanation.

The passion I felt for her had almost led me down a path of no return.

If I had had five more minutes, I might have even... undressed her.

That had to stop... but how?

I knew it wasn't a matter of cooling my head with cold water, no. This went much further. I needed a distraction, and fortunately, I received at that moment the response to my request to take the test to join the football team.

“Peter is waiting for you on the field right now, Ace,” said Malius when he bumped into me in the hallway. “Where were you, man? I saw you leave after your sister...”

“That doesn't matter now. Come with me to the tryouts. I know how to get that i***t to accept me.”

Malius immediately forgot my sudden disappearance from Spanish class and, excited to find out what my plan was, followed me. We met Steven, Patrick, and Alex on the way to the field, where Tiffany's boyfriend, the fool, was waiting for me. She was also there, surely waiting to see the test results to decide whether or not to come to my birthday party that afternoon.

“I don't usually accept a tryout just hours after receiving the request,” said Peter with poorly hidden arrogance. “But since it's the son of Alpha Damian and Luna Emma, I decided to make an exception.”

I saw Tiffany take her boyfriend's arm while she watched me with a silent smirk on her face. I took the training uniform handed to me by Peter's cronies and changed right there on the field. I wanted Tiffany, the only girl present, to see what she could start enjoying if she decided to join me that afternoon. I didn't miss the times she pressed her lips together as she ran her lustful eyes over my torso.

When I finished putting on the last piece of the heavy uniform, Peter pulled out his stopwatch.

“The first is the speed test. You must run five laps around the field. Now!”

I noticed that Peter had probably pressed the stopwatch several seconds before giving me the start signal. I smiled. It would be worse for him because I was still willing to slow down, following Mariam's advice. It was a light jog, and despite my efforts to lower my pace, I noticed the look of surprise on Peter and his friends' faces when they recorded the result.

I had to lower my performance even more.

Peter's friends tried to make me look bad in the following tests of passing the ball, saves, blocks, and coordinated plays. Despite significantly lowering my skill, it was like playing with five-year-olds, but for the sake of my intentions, I had to endure some embarrassments and let them laugh at me on the occasions when I deliberately missed catching the ball, fell during a block, or failed to push an opponent I could have sent flying to the other end of the field.

“All right, Anthony, yes, I admit it, but honestly, I expected much more from the son of the Alphas,” said Peter with blatant self-satisfaction. I knew then that Mariam's advice had worked and that my humiliation had been worth it. “You're in, St.Claire, but I'm afraid you'll start on the bench, and I can't guarantee you'll get off it this season.”

Peter and his friends burst into laughter, while my colleagues looked at me with disappointment in their eyes. Tiffany clung tighter to her boyfriend's arm and didn't even bother to look at me, but I was in. Peter signed the form, and two of his friends served as witnesses. It was done. As soon as the coach saw me play in the first session, the quarterback position would be mine.

I smiled to myself.

Peter and his cronies walked away, and Tiffany took the opportunity to approach me, sending a signal to my friends to go about their business.

“You didn't fool me, St.Claire,” said the cheerleading captain once we were alone. I was finishing changing. “I know you pretended to be weaker and slower.”

“Oh, really?” I said, surprised by the audacity of the girl who could save me from what I was starting to feel for my sister. Getting Tiffany was now a matter of life or death. “And why didn't you tell your boyfriend?”

Tiffany smiled maliciously, convincing me even more of how much I desired her.

“I'm tired of him, and after what I just saw, I've decided to accept your invitation. Is it still open?”

I finished packing the uniform.

“Of course it is. Nothing would make me happier on my birthday than having your company.”

Tiffany would be the answer to what was happening with the nerdy sister. That feeling, that strange s****l obsession for her, must be some attachment to the life I had led until a day ago. There was no other explanation, or at least I couldn't see one.

With Tiffany by my side, and once she was my girlfriend, that morbid and even repulsive attraction I had begun to feel for Mariam would surely disappear. She was now my sister, maybe not by blood, but legally enough to make even thinking of her as an attractive woman condemnable and sick.

Besides, she was the nerd, the ugly, disheveled, and repulsive nerd from the orphanage, whom no one even wanted to be friends with.

I needed Tiffany, and if for some reason it wasn't her, I would have to find someone else. Green Valley High was full of beautiful and sexy girls who would rid me of that strange and repulsive torment I had formed for the nerd.

“It's lunchtime, and I'm starving, St.Claire,” Tiffany said with a warmer, flirtier smile. “Why don't you tell me about the party as we walk?”

With the uniform bag over my shoulder, I walked with Tiffany towards the cafeteria. With her by my side, I felt calmer. I didn't even worry about thinking about Mariam anymore. We sat together and joked about the surprise Peter and his friends would get when I showed them my real talent. Everything seemed normal again. I made a nerd trip, watching his lunch spill on the floor. I laughed, Tiffany did too, and her joy was contagious. Everything was going well, I was back to being the same as always, until I felt Mariam's gaze heavy on my back.