My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 395

Chapter 395

“Then put me down!”

“No.”

“Raphael.”

“Gianna.”

Her mouth fell open, “Oh my God, I actually hate you.”

A grin pulled at my face as I stepped even closer, “You keep saying that while looking at me like you want to climb me.”

Her cheeks flushed instantly, “That is not what I look like.”

“It absolutely is.”

She struggled harder out of pure annoyance, swinging slightly from the rope again. The movement made her laugh breathlessly for one second before she immediately tried covering it up with another glare.

I noticed and she noticed I noticed that only made her more irritated.

“You think this is funny?” she demanded.

“I think you look cute angry.”

Her eyes flashed before I could react, she grabbed a fistful of my shirt upside down and yanked me closer to her

face.

“You know what I think?” she shot back.

“What?”

“I think you got emotional because I kept escaping.”

A low laugh left my throat, “Babe, you ran straight into my trap.”

“Because you CHEATED.”

“There’s no cheating in hunting.”

“That is literally cheating!”

I shrugged casually, “Sounds like prey talk.”

“Oh, shut up.”

I laughed right in her face this time. I let my gaze drag slowly over her upside down form again before looking

back at her face.

“You abandoned your shoe back there,” I said. “Very Cinderella of you.”

“That was strategy.”

“That was stupid.”

“It worked.”

“You’re hanging from a tree.”

She groaned loudly. Gianna twisted again, trying to grab the knot around her ankles. I slapped her hand away lightly, “Hey!”

“Don’t hey me!” she snapped.

“You’ll hurt yourself.”

“You trapped me upside down like a hunted animal!”

“You liked it.”

Her mouth opened, closed and then opened again, “That is not the point!”

“It kinda feels like the point.”

She smacked my chest upside down this time. I caught both her wrists easily before she could do it again, pinning them gently against her stomach.

For one second we just stared at each other.

Hard.

Watching her lose her mind upside down beneath the tree was the funniest thing I had seen in months.

“You evil little liar,” I said through my grin, dragging my fingers over her stomach again.

Gianna kicked helplessly while laughing breathlessly, her hands trying to shove me away even though she could barely stop squirming long enough to fight back.

“YOU ARE SUCH AN ASSHOLE!”

“There she is,” I laughed, “That’s the real Gianna. I was wondering what happened to you back then.”

“Stop tickling me!”

“Or what?”

“I hate you!”

“You already used that one.”

She swung herself suddenly and managed to smack the side of my head.

I blinked.

She blinked.

Then we both burst into laughter at the same time. The kind that hurt your chest. The kind that made your stomach ache.

Gianna was still laughing breathlessly when I caught both her wrists again, pinning them lightly against her stomach before she could swing herself into another escape attempt.

“You are a little menace,” I told her.

She pushed hair out of her face upside down and glared at me, “You’re the one hanging women from trees in the middle of the woods.”

“Correction,” I said calmly, “I’m hanging one woman from a tree.”

The wind shifted softly through the trees above us. Moonlight flickered across her upside down face while she glared at me like she wanted to kill me.

I stepped closer until there was barely any space left between us. Gianna’s breathing slowed slightly as she looked at me upside down through dark lashes.