Page 64 of My Ex's Roommates
“You love her?” Danny’s quiet question left the table quiet.
I knew how I felt but we hadn’t talked about love. I thought that Carter and Dylan were on their way if not already in love with Harper but I needed to hear the answer just as much as her brothers did. I needed to know that I wasn’t the only one fighting with his whole heart on the line.
“I love her.” Looking away, Dylan frowned for a moment before meeting Danny’s eyes again. “I don’t deserve her afterwhat I’ve caused. I’m sure you agree. You should know that I’m not just going to walk away, though. I love her and I’m not going anywhere.”
Carter smiled for the first time in days. “Same. I love the shit out of your sister and I’m going to pull out everything in my disposal to get her back.”
Everyone turned to me and waited. I raised my eyebrows. “I thought I made it obvious already. I’m so fucking in love with her. She’s amazing. She’s somehow the nicest person I’ve ever met and also the same person who is way too fast to tell us that we played like shit and need to not embarrass her. It may not be normal, what we want with her, but what the fuck is normal? Most people would’ve said her relationship with Jake was normal but it was beyond fucked up. We’re going to show her that we’re right for her and I’d like the other three most important men in her life to be okay with that. It’s asking a lot and you can tell us to go fuck ourselves but your sister is happy with us.”
“Not right now. We’re not counting right now…” Carter added helpfully.
“She’s happy with us most other times…” I cut my eyes at Carter and grunted. “Not the right time to remind them of how much we fucked up.”
The three of them looked back and forth between each other and I held my breath as I waited for their answer. We’d be fighting to get Harper back no matter what but it would be a whole lot easier if they were on our side, or at least not actively against us.
Matt finally leveled a look at Carter. “How would you feel if it was your sister?”
I prayed Carter didn’t answer with a joke the way I knew he typically would. I felt like we were on the precipice of something big and I needed him to pull through.
“I’d be fucking furious. Casey drives me nuts but I love her and I only want good things for her. It would be hard to accept anyone after they hurt her.” Carter looked down at his hands on the table. “It’s hard to say how I’d feel about the man, or men, who hurt Casey because I wouldn’t know their feelings. Iknowour feelings for your sister and I believe wholeheartedly that she’d be happier and better off with us. We’re fast learners and this isn’t a mistake we’d make again.”
Danny took a deep breath and focused on Dylan. “You look like shit.”
Dylan grunted. “Then I look better than I feel.”
“How much have you slept since all this happened?”
“I don’t know. I got used to sleeping next to Harper and it’s not the same without her.” Seeming to realize what he said, he cleared his throat. “We have innocent sleepovers?”
Jay rolled his eyes. “Our sister’s still a baby to us but we’re not stupid. She’s a grown woman. She can do what she wants.”
“In every area of her life.” Danny let the words hang in the air for a moment. “But we won’t get in your way. Don’t make us regret it, though. This place hasn’t been so bad that I wouldn’t be willing to come back. Remember that.”
I let out a breath and felt a weight lift from my chest. We were that much closer to getting Harper back.
“So… Casey?” Jay’s grin was remarkably shit-eating as he looked at Carter.
Carter held up his hands. “Casey does what she wants. Fuck with her at your own risk. You wrong her and she’ll get on her computer and fuck up your entire life. Just ask Jake.”
57.
***Harper***
Every time I opened my bedroom door to go to the bathroom there was something else in front of it. My clean bedding, food, chocolates, flowers, even a new laptop and phone. It was getting to me. They were persistent assholes, I’d give them that. When they weren’t leaving gifts for me I could hear them pacing back and forth on the other side of my door like a bunch of lost puppies. If they started whining and scratching at the door, I probably wouldn’t have been surprised.
It was the same for days and days until it wasn’t. I’d told myself that I hated it, hated that they wouldn’t leave me alone, but the first morning they weren’t outside my door I felt lost. I even peeked outside of my door to see if they’d left me something but they hadn’t. I stewed in my thoughts until lunch, when I was sure I’d hear them outside my door again. When Istill didn’t hear them or find anything I realized I was going to have to venture downstairs to get my own food. It was fair since I’d made it clear to them that we were over and they didn’t owe me anything, but my limbs felt heavier than normal as I quietly went downstairs.
I stepped into the kitchen and nearly screamed. Not only was there someone sitting at the island, but the kitchen was a wreck.
My gasp drew the person’s attention and when they turned around, I saw it was Vance. He grinned when he saw me and hurried over to wrap me in a tight hug. “I feel like I’m seeing something magical here. No one’s going to believe me when I say I saw you.”
I couldn’t stop looking at the kitchen. “What… What happened here?”
He looked around and shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s been like this for a few days, I guess. If you think this is bad you should see my house.”
Dylan’s kitchen was in shambles compared to how he kept it. Something had to be seriously wrong. “Where are they?”
“Oh, um, I don’t know.” Vance looked away and sat back at the island. “You want some food? They told me which cabinet your stuff was in but there was nothing but hot fries and moon pies in it. I was about to call Dylan because that didn’t seem like a real meal.”
