Page 9 of Fractured Constellations
After that first night, we decided that we were going to ignore our new stepsis for the most part. Make her feel isolated, alone, and regretting thinking that she could just insert herself into our lives. It doesn’t seem like she has any friends, which is fucking weird for a girl of eighteen, but whatever. If she thought we were going to be that for her, then she’s sorely mistaken.
No one takes advantage of a Banks.
Not even a delicate angel with hair of spun gold.
CHAPTER FIVE
“MASQUERADE” BY EUPHORIA, BOLSHIEE
LUNA
After reading late into the night, the sound of the party dies down, and I finally get back to sleep around four in the morning, so end up waking up late. I get ready for the day, using the exquisite shower—that’s better than sex—and head downstairs, shoulders back and head up.
Maybe I’ll get lucky and the guys were having an off day yesterday.
I do get lucky, though not in the fun kind of way, when Jerry informs me that they’re all out for the day, spending time with friends. A pang runs through me, a part of me having hoped that maybe I’d be brought into their fold. That I’d finally have some company other than my own.
Instead, I guess the silver lining is I get the day to relax without having to wonder when they might pop up. As it’s cloudy outside, I decide to have a movie day in the den, indulging in rewatching theMy Fault/Your Faultfilms, plus if there’stime before our family dinner—yay—My Fault: London. It has absolutely nothing to do with the stepbrother trope. Nope. They are good romance films, hot, and the stepbrother thing is a minor factor.
I’m partway throughYour Faultwhen the door to the den is thrown open, causing me to jump with a squeak, and I turn to find all three brothers striding into the room looking hotter than any stepbrother has the right to. Chase comes right over to the couch, and I have to crane my neck to look up at him.
“You’re in my seat,” he says, towering over me.
“I don’t see your name on it, “ I sass back, though my heart feels like it might beat out of my chest. I won’t let them treat me like shit though, because this is my house too, regardless of what they think.
His smile doesn’t reach his eyes and sends a shiver up my spine. “Everything in this house has my name on it. Including the bed you sleep in.”
“Get the fuck out,” Blade snarls before I can come up with a retort, and I freeze, eyes wide as I stare at him. These are the first words he’s spoken to me, and they’re full of a venom that I’ve no idea how I’ve earned. “Did I fucking stutter? This room is off-limits.”
Shakily, I get to my feet as Chase moves to the side, as if the thought of accidentally touching me is abhorrent. The lump in my throat is making swallowing hard as I gather up my things, the film still playing in the background.
“What’s this, pretty stepsis? A stepbrother romance?” Thorn’s teasing voice has me stalling, my cheeks flushing as I’m caught out. “Is that what you want?” His words are said in a caress as he saunters up to me, once again invading my personal space like it’s nonexistent. I look up into those jewel green eyes, which seem to be smoldering, and my embarrassment morphs into heat of another kind, even though I know that these threeare cruel bastards. “You want all of us to fuck you? Make you scream with pleasure? Cry out our names?”
My breathing hitches, his words creating an image that I didn’t dare think about, didn’t want until he said those very words. There’s no denying that my stepbrothers are beautiful, so hot it’s unfair, and that I don’t have maybe a teeny tiny crush on them, even if they are assholes.
“Shame we don’t fuck gold diggers,” Chase states casually, striding up to us and breaking the spell Thorn’s gaze held me under. “Especially skinny ones like you.”
I flinch like he just struck me, and in many ways, he did. I hate my figure, hate that I’ve hardly any curves, that I’m all angles at the best of times, but to have it thrown at me when it’s really not my fault is a pain that I’m not used to.
Deciding that I won’t grace them with my voice, and that if I open my mouth the sob that’s trapped inside me might fall free, I tear my gaze away from his, stepping out from between them both and leaving the room, only my phone clutched in my hand. They can clean up the rest of my mess because fuck them.
I keep my gaze straight ahead until I’ve reached my door, opened it, and locked it behind me. Then I allow myself to crumble, sliding down to the floor and curling into a small ball, letting the sobs fall free.
I should be used to the cutting remarks, the isolation, having suffered it all through high school because I’d missed so much. I guess I’d just hoped that this year would be different, which was blown all to hell when my diagnosis came through. Then again when I heard about the triplets. I thought that maybe, finally, I’d have someone to hang around with. To be friends with even.
But it seems like that was a pipe dream too. I’m clearly destined to be alone, at least until this is over, or I’m dead, whichever comes first.
Is it terrible that I don’t know what outcome I want the most?
After spending the rest of the afternoon hiding in my room, I get ready for dinner, opting for a loose shirt over my tank—no bra, because let’s be honest, I don’t need one with how little I’ve got going on there. I pair it with some high-waisted ripped jeans from my new walk-in closet that is full of designer clothes, all in my style. When I asked Jerry about it, he said Mom bought all the clothes for me, and a twinge went through me. It would have been nice to go shopping with her and make a day of it before the mayhem of my treatment starts.
I grab my new Birkenstock sandals, in shiny gold, check that my necklaces and bracelets are all sitting as I like them, then head out. I don’t think the guys are upstairs still. I’m sure I heard them go down a while back.
Laughter erupts from the dining room as I approach, but abruptly stops when I walk in, noticing the empty small plates on the table in front of the five people sitting down at the table.
“Oh, Luna love,” my mom gushes, rising from her seat and rushing towards me. “The boys said you were resting, so we should start without you.”
“Oh, um, that was kind of them,” I stutter, not wanting to rock the boat and tell her that I said no such thing. “But maybe I’m in time for the main course?”
