Housemates

Carlee

What do you do in a situation like this? Your husband and your exes being siblings. One completely in the dark. The other two knowing everything and playing mind games right in front of him.

"Remember when Dad chased you around the house because you broke Mom's favorite vase?" Dexter asked with a knowing smirk while August and Dillon laughed. "You stayed over at Aunt Martine's and refused to come back for two days, bruh."

August groaned before taking a sip of his drink. If only he knew the full story.

We had moved from the dining room to the living room while the maids set the table. I was sitting close to August on the chair opposite them, barely any space between us. I wasn't usually this clingy, but tonight I suddenly felt the need to stay near him. Of course the twins noticed. Dillon's eyes flicked to the way my leg pressed against August's, and the corner of his mouth lifted.

"Speaking of the past, bro, how did you meet this gorgeous woman?" Dillon asked.

I immediately tensed. August tensed beside me too, but he laughed it off and threw his arm over my shoulder like it was nothing.

"We met through a mutual friend," August said so smoothly it almost didn't feel like a lie. I just nodded. Lying about how we met had become second nature to me. I never had a problem with it until now.

"You're one lucky bastard, man," Dillon said with a smirk that was clearly meant for me. My throat went dry, and I took a sip of my drink to cover it.

"Tell me about it," August said, leaning in to kiss my cheek. Normally I would have been happy he did that. Tonight I wished he hadn't. "She's the best," he continued, his hand rubbing my shoulder in a way that looked tender. Dillon's eyes followed the movement of August's hand while Dexter just kept staring at me, making me feel completely exposed. It was a miracle August hadn't noticed yet. They weren't even trying to be discreet, and that scared me more than anything.

They kept talking about family, business, and old stories while I sat there wanting to disappear. How did I end up marrying my exes' brother?

I knew August had twin brothers, but I hadn't seen them since we got married. He rarely spoke about them and never kept pictures the way most brothers would, and I only ever heard about them secondhand. The devil twins. I'd assumed they just weren't close, so I never asked. Now I was regretting that decision. Their names only came up a few times at family gatherings, and every time there was something negative attached to them. I used to think people were just being nosy.

"…rlee."

I felt my body move. The sudden shift pulled me back to the present. I turned to look at August, who was gently shaking my arm to get my attention.

"Food is ready," he said softly, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. His eyes asked if I was okay. I just nodded and prayed he wouldn't notice anything different. The moment I turned to look at the two men who could completely wreck my life, I had to physically stop myself from bolting out of the room.

"Thanks, babe," I said as August pulled out the chair for me. He sat at the head of the table while Dillon and Dexter took the seats directly opposite me.

I took a deep breath before lifting my head. Both of them were already watching me with looks I knew too well. I jumped when one of the maids brushed my arm while serving the food, startling everyone including her.

My face burned with embarrassment as I apologized. She continued serving like nothing happened. I grabbed my glass of water and downed the whole thing. I was suddenly so thirsty.

"Are you okay? You're acting weird," August leaned in and whispered. I knew it wasn't pure concern. He just didn't want me embarrassing him, especially not in front of his brothers. I nodded because I honestly didn't know what else to say. He gave me a look that said he didn't fully believe me, but he let it go. We had guests.

They started talking again the moment we began eating. All I wanted was to get up and run as far from this table as possible. I pushed food around my plate because I had completely lost my appetite, but leaving would have been rude.

My soul almost left my body when I felt a shoe trail slowly along my bare skin under the table. My legs snapped back on instinct. It wasn't August. He would never do something like that. Slowly, I looked up. Both twins were smirking at me while still talking to August like nothing was wrong. I couldn't tell which one had done it, but the matching smirks told me they were both satisfied with my reaction.

"So I made the merger and it was the smartest decision I ever made for the company. Profits—" August was cut off by his phone ringing. "Excuse me," he said, wiping his mouth with his napkin before walking off with the phone pressed to his ear.

My eyes widened as I watched him leave, leaving me alone with them. I coughed awkwardly and took another sip of my drink, looking anywhere but across the table.

"Sweet cheeks," Dillon said quietly. I didn't have to look up to know it was him. My face burned at the old nickname. I hadn't heard it in almost a year. "You know you can't avoid us forever. The least you could do is look at us after everything that happened."

I bit my lip and slowly turned to face them.

The polite masks were gone. The looks on their faces told me they weren't pretending anymore. My heartbeat picked up. They were still as handsome as I remembered, and that somehow made everything worse.

"We're under the same roof again," Dexter said, leaning forward and resting his folded arms on the table. "I can't wait to be housemates again." His smirk was wide and completely serious.

"Me too," Dillon added, matching his brother's energy without missing a beat.

I swallowed hard.