Page 71 of My Ex's Roommates
“I was supposed to be out on a date! Not here!” Casey didn’t even notice the three of us still standing there.
Mora and Chris Hayes noticed us. Chris straightened his suit jacket and smiled at me. “We wanted to come meet your brothers.”
I forced a smile and nodded to the living room. “They’re holding court with everyone else. Thank you so much for whatever you did to get them out. I don’t know all the details yet but I know I owe your family in a big way.”
Carter stepped closer to me. “You don’t owe us anything, Harper.”
“Carter’s right.” Chris clapped his son on the shoulder and eased his wife towards the living room. “I’ve heard some interesting things about your brothers from the warden and I can’t wait to pick their brains.”
Right after they went into the overcrowded living room Silas slipped out and slowly made his way over to me. His eyes were intense but he slipped his hands into his pockets and stayed several feet back. “If we ran out now we could probably get out of the dinner they’re all planning.”
I wanted to see my brothers more but I was feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated. I wasn’t sure I could handle a dinner with everyone. I glanced at the front door and swallowed down the urge to run back to my room and hide. “I wouldn’t mind-”
“Don’t even think about it, you four.” Samantha stuck her head out of the living room and laughed. “We’re going to eat here. I’d offer to cook but…”
“I’ve got it.” Dylan smiled at Silas’ mom and then turned to me. “You could probably still run. Vance would probably come over to go for another walk with you.”
The idea of Vance taking me for another walk made me smile. Looking up at Dylan through my lashes, I shook my head. “I could help cook?”
The three of them stilled. Carter inched closer. “Are you sure?”
I took a deep breath and thought of Truth on three. I wasn’t ready to walk away from them and I couldn’t keep hiding. If there was a chance of us moving past everything, I had to be around them to try. Suddenly self-conscious about how I looked after two weeks of lock-down in my room, I ran my hands over my hair. “Um, yeah. Just… It has to be slow this time.”
Dylan nodded. “Whatever you need.”
63.
***Harper***
“And what are you handsome boys going to do now that you’re free?” Mora batted her long lashes at my brothers as she leaned even closer to them. We were sitting at the rarely used dining table at the back of the house and Mora had insisted on sitting between Danny and Matt. “Besides making up lost time with any long lost girlfriends?”
Casey’s eyes went wide and her cheeks turned a deep red as she glared at her mother. She reached under the table and I saw her punch Carter’s leg, silently telling him to do something.
“Oh, no ma’am. No long lost girlfriends. We’re ready to get back out there, though.” Danny’s eyes moved to Casey in a way that left no question behind his intent. “Being free is going to be an adjustment. It’s too easy to get used to followingsomeone else’s schedule. We have work, though. And Harper. And whoever else happens to fall into our laps.”
I looked between Danny and Casey and sucked in a sharp breath so hard that I also took down a pea. Choking instantly, I doubled over and hacked up a lung until I was able to dislodge the little green devil. My brothers were interested in Casey. All three of them? Had some strange virus landed on Earth that made men gather in groups of three to claim their women?
“You okay?” Dylan’s big hand rested on my back, gently stroking up and down.
The heat of his palm sent warmth flooding through my entire body and I weakly leaned into his touch. I’d just been so cold all alone in my room. I wanted to take things slow and I was still so terrified of them hurting me that I was practically peeing in my pants, but I’d just sat at the kitchen island and watched the three of them move around each other while cooking and stealing glances at me. I’d missed them so much that his touch felt like standing in the warm sunshine.
I looked up at him and when our eyes met, it was a gut punch. The deep circles under his eyes and the sadness I found looking back at me was too much. Without letting the doubt and remaining anger hold me back, I reached up and cupped his face.
His eyes fluttered closed and he pressed his face into my palm. “Harper…”
“Oh, my gosh. Isn’t that just so cute?” Samantha’s voice broke through my daze and I realized that everyone was staring at me and Dylan.
I ducked my face, feeling embarrassed, but Dylan intertwined our fingers and held my hand in his lap. Glancing over at him, I saw that he was smiling back at me. The hope I saw in his eyes hit me hard. It had been easy to paint them as villains who’d hurt me on purpose when I didn’t have to look them in the eye and see the truth.
“Wait. I thought you were dating Silas…” Mora put her wine glass down and frowned. “Don’t tell me that you’ve already switched from one roommate to another.”
“Mom!” Casey pushed her chair back from the table and scowled. “Maybe Harper has feelings for all of her roommates? Would that be so bad?”
Terry cleared his throat. “Well, this seems like a good time to say goodbye.”
“Shut up, Terry. I’m trying to listen.” Samantha pushed her husband back so he wasn’t blocking her view.
“Feelings for all three of her roommates? Is that what’s happening, Harper? Carter? Are you part of this, too?” Mora looked at Chris and clasped her diamonds. “Did you know about this?”
