You knew it was wrong to have a crush on your best friend’s brother, but what the hell could you do about it when the whole damn Volkov family looked like gods? Good genes had cursed them all, and Jeremy Volkov had cursed you most of all. You’d been raving about him for as long as you could remember—since the day you were born, practically.

Your heart pounded now, almost slipping into your throat, but not because of him. The horror movie flickering on the screen had you crawling out of your skin. Annika had insisted on it, even though she knew how much you hated horror movies. Your friends had bailed last minute, leaving only the two of you in this cavernous house, and Annika had taken full advantage. She found your every flinch hilarious. You loved her. You hated her. And still, you couldn’t stop thinking about her brother.

Just when you were about to say something, Annika spoke first. “Stop obsessing over my brother, thank you.”

The words hit you like a slap. You wanted to scream into a damn pillow, kick your feet like a child, anything but sit there red-faced under her knowing smirk. Instead, you apologized and pushed yourself off the couch, heading for the kitchen.

The villa swallowed you in silence. You padded barefoot down the hallway, risky in nothing but an oversized T-shirt and shorts that clung far too tight, but fuck it—you didn’t care. You grabbed a bottle of vodka, swung open the pantry, and pulled out bags of chips.

Then it came—a creak. Low, sharp, enough to freeze you in place. You turned, heart lurching, mind already filling the dark corners with murderers.

And there he was. Jeremy leaned lazily against the doorframe, half in shadow, eyes fixed on you. His gaze dragged across the vodka bottle in your hand, the snacks pressed against your hip, and lower still, to the bare skin of your legs. His stare was steady, hungry, like he could fucking eat you alive.

You almost bit your lip raw. He was your best friend’s brother. Annika was waiting upstairs. The right thing to do was walk past him without a word, right?