𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐌𝐄: 𝐀𝐧 𝐄𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Anita’s pov

“Fuck, this place is huge,” I said out loud the second I dropped my bag in the hallway. My voice bounced off the walls and came back at me like the house itself was answering.

My sister Leah walked out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a dish towel, still wearing that little silk robe she always threw on after sex. It barely covered her ass. “Language, Anita. You’re a guest.”

“I’m your sister, not a guest. And Mom’s halfway across the world so who’s gonna hear me cuss?” I kicked off my sneakers and left them crooked by the door. The marble floor felt cold under my bare feet. Everything in this house smelled expensive, clean, and not mine.

Leah’s new husband Marcus leaned against the doorway behind her, shirt open, jeans low on his hips. He had that post-fuck look, hair messy, mouth still red from kissing. I caught him looking at my legs for a second too long before he smiled like nothing happened.

“You made it,” he said. “Welcome to the madhouse.”

“Madhouse?” I snorted. “Looks more like a museum. Where do you even sit without worrying you’ll break something?”

Leah laughed and pulled me into a hug that smelled like sex and expensive soap. “You’ll get used to it. Guest room’s upstairs, second door on the left. Marcus already put fresh sheets on.”

Marcus nodded. “Towels in the bathroom. Help yourself to anything in the fridge. We’re not formal here.”

I dragged my bag up the stairs, feeling their eyes on my back. The guest room was bigger than my whole apartment back home. King bed, white sheets, a window that looked out over the pool. I sat on the edge of the mattress and just breathed for a minute. Nineteen, stuck here for the summer because Mom decided Europe was more important than me. Fine. At least the bed was soft.

I changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top that didn’t hide much. The air conditioning made my nipples hard right away. I looked at myself in the mirror and thought, yeah, I’m here, in their perfect house, with their perfect newlywed life, and I already feel like an extra.

Downstairs again, Leah was plating food. Marcus stood behind her, hands on her hips, whispering something that made her smile and push her ass back against him.

“You two need a room?” I asked, walking in.

Marcus didn’t even flinch. “We just left one.”

Leah shot him a look but she was still smiling. “Ignore him. Sit. Eat. Tell me about the drive.”

I sat at the big island and stole a piece of toast. “Boring. Hot. Traffic sucked. Your house is ridiculous, by the way. How many rooms do you even need?”

“Enough that we don’t hear each other when we’re loud,” Marcus said, deadpan.

Leah smacked his arm. “Marcus.”

“What? She’s not a kid.” He looked straight at me when he said it.

I felt heat crawl up my neck. “I’m sitting right here.”

“I know,” he said, and his voice dropped just enough that I noticed.

Leah put a plate in front of me and changed the subject, talking about the pool, the gym in the basement, how I should make myself at home. I nodded and ate, but I kept catching Marcus watching my mouth when I took a bite. Every time our eyes met he didn’t look away first.

After lunch Leah said she had to run to the store. “Marcus will show you around. Don’t break anything expensive.”

The second the front door closed, the house got quiet in a different way. Marcus leaned against the counter, arms crossed, studying me.

“You settled in?”

“Yeah. Nice sheets.”

“Glad you like them.” He pushed off the counter and walked closer. “Your sister talks about you a lot. Said you’re the wild one.”

I raised an eyebrow. “She said that?”

“She said you don’t take shit from anyone and you say exactly what you think. I like that.”

I laughed, but it came out lower than I meant. “Careful. You’ll make me think you’re flirting.”

He smiled slowly. “Maybe I am. You’re nineteen, right? Legal. Living under my roof for the summer. Hard not to notice.”

My stomach flipped. I stood up, needing to move. “You’re married to my sister.”

“I know exactly who I’m married to.” He stepped into my space, close enough that I could smell the soap on his skin and the faint scent of Leah still on him. “Doesn’t mean I can’t look at you.”

I should have stepped back. Instead I stayed right there, chin up. “Looking’s free. Touching isn’t.”

His eyes dropped to my mouth, then lower, to the way my tank top clung to my tits. “Are you always this bold?”

“Only when someone stares at me like they want to fuck me in the kitchen.”

He let out a short breath that was almost a laugh. “Jesus. Leah wasn’t kidding.”

I felt my pulse between my legs. The air felt thicker. I could see the outline of his cock in his jeans, half hard already, and the sight made my mouth water.

“Show me the rest of the house,” I said, voice steady even though my thighs were pressed together.

He walked me through the living room, the office, the gym. Every room felt charged. When we got to the pool area he stopped by the glass doors.

“Night swimming’s good,” he said. “The water's warm. Nobody is around after dark.”

“You inviting me?”

“I’m saying the option’s there.”

I turned to face him fully. “And if Leah comes home and finds us in the pool?”

“Then she finds us in the pool.” His voice was calm, but his eyes were not. “You scared?”

“Of what? Getting wet?” I let the words hang.

He stepped closer again until the front of his jeans brushed my shorts. I felt how hard he was. My nipples tightened so fast it almost hurt.

“You’re playing a dangerous game,” he muttered.

“You started it.”

For a second neither of us moved. I could hear my own breathing. His hand lifted like he was going to touch my waist, then the front door opened and Leah’s voice called out.

“I’m back! Hope you two didn’t kill each other.”

Marcus stepped away so fast it was almost funny. I stayed where I was, heart slamming, shorts damp between my legs.

Leah walked in carrying bags, smiling like nothing was wrong. “Everything good?”

“Perfect,” Marcus said, already turning toward the kitchen.

I followed them, sat back at the island, and tried to look normal while my body still hummed. Leah started unpacking groceries, talking about dinner plans. Marcus answered her, but every time he glanced my way the look lasted a second too long.

Later, when Leah went upstairs to change, Marcus passed behind my chair and leaned down so only I could hear.

“Tonight. After she falls asleep. Pool.”

Then he was gone, leaving me sitting there with wet panties and a head full of dirty pictures I shouldn’t be making.

The house felt different now. Bigger. Quieter. Full of things that didn’t belong to me, including the way my body was already reacting to a man who was supposed to be off limits.

I went up to my room, closed the door, and leaned against it, breathing hard. Outside the window the pool water glittered under the late afternoon sun.

Tonight, he said.

I pressed my thighs together and smiled to myself.

This summer was about to get a lot more interesting.