My Ex Is My Future Stepbrother?!

Chapter 1: I Dumped Hercules The sound of splintering wood echoed through the café. Ivy Collins slowly lowered her fork onto her plate and stared at the unfortunate victim of today's tragedy—a solid wooden chair that now existed in two separate pieces on the floor. Silence swallowed the table for exactly three seconds. "Oh my God," her best friend whispered, pressing a hand against her chest. "That's the third chair this month." "It attacked me," the accused replied calmly. "No, Asher," Ivy deadpanned, "I'm ninety-nine percent sure you attacked it." The six-foot-five human disaster sitting across from her glanced down at the broken chair before casually taking another bite of his steak as if furniture exploding underneath him was a perfectly normal Tuesday occurrence. "It made a sound." "BECAUSE YOU SAT ON IT!" The entire café had gone quiet. Somewhere in the distance, someone laughed before immediately pretending they hadn't. Ivy covered her face with both hands. This was her life now—or rather, this had been her life for the past eighteen months. Dating Asher Silas came with side effects. He opened pickle jars for strangers at supermarkets. He accidentally bent metal spoons while eating cereal. He bought his clothes from stores that specialized in dressing professional wrestlers and retired rugby players. He once picked her up with one arm and carried her over a puddle despite the fact that she was perfectly capable of walking around it herself. His hugs felt suspiciously similar to being squeezed by an affectionate bear. And don't even get her started on grocery shopping. "Why do we need five cartons of eggs?" she had once asked. "For the week." "...There are sixty eggs here." "Exactly." "WHO EATS SIXTY EGGS IN A WEEK?" He had blinked at her before answering honestly. "I do." She should've seen the warning signs then. "You know," her best friend said, looking between them, "if I didn't know any better, I'd assume Ivy was dating Hercules." "Please don't encourage him," Ivy groaned. Too late. Asher sat up straighter in his seat. "Thank you." "IT WAS AN INSULT!" He smiled at her in confusion. "Why?" Because no normal human being looked like this! It should've been illegal for someone to possess broad shoulders, an annoyingly handsome face, and enough muscles to make gym advertisements jealous. Whenever they walked together, people automatically assumed she needed rescuing. One elderly woman had slipped her a note that simply read: > Blink twice if you're in danger. Meanwhile, the real danger was him discovering she'd forgotten to eat lunch. "You skipped breakfast again," he suddenly said, narrowing his eyes slightly. There it was. Gym Rat Mode Activated. "No, I didn't." "You drank coffee." "...Coffee is breakfast." "No." "It has milk in it." "No." "It has sugar." "No." "It makes me happy." "No." She wanted a boyfriend. Not a personal nutritionist. "Eat your sandwich." "I'm not hungry." Without another word, he cut his steak into smaller pieces before sliding his plate towards her. "Eat." "Are you serious?" "Very." "No." "You're eating." "No." "Yes." "No." "Yes." "No." Her best friend quietly stood up and carried her handbag. "Where are you going?" Ivy asked suspiciously. "Far away from whatever this relationship is." And perhaps that was the problem. Asher was wonderful. Painfully wonderful. He remembered her favorite flowers despite never buying the wrong color once. He knew she hated olives and secretly removed them from her pizza before giving it to her. He waited outside her office whenever she worked late and never complained about the extra hour spent in traffic just to drive her home. He was patient. Kind. Ridiculously sweet. And completely overwhelming. Being loved by Asher Silas felt like standing beneath the afternoon sun. Warm and beautiful, but sometimes so bright that she forgot how to breathe. She didn't want forever. Not yet. And Asher? He loved as if forever had already begun. That realization frightened her more than she cared to admit. Three weeks later, she sat across from him in silence inside his car. Rain tapped softly against the windows. He looked exhausted. She hated that she'd become the reason. "I don't understand," he admitted quietly, his fingers tightening slightly around the steering wheel. "Was I not good to you?" She laughed weakly and immediately regretted it. "No, Asher. You're too good." He frowned as though that answer made even less sense. "Then what's wrong?" Everything and nothing at all. She was twenty-two and terrified of promises. He was twenty-five and planning forever. She liked pretty boys and spontaneous adventures. He was six-foot-five, meal-prepped on Sundays, and secretly browsed houses he wanted to buy someday. They loved each other. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that they loved differently. "You deserve someone who'll love everything about you," she whispered after a long pause. "Someone who gets excited when you tell them about protein powder or asks if you've eaten six times today." A small smile appeared briefly on his face before disappearing again. "That sounds strangely specific." "Because it's you." His voice softened. "And?" "And I'm not her." Silence settled between them once more. Outside, people hurried through the rain beneath colorful umbrellas while their world quietly shifted inside a parked car. "So that's it?" he finally asked. She couldn't bring herself to look at him. "That's it." Another pause. "Will this make you happy?" No. She knew that much already. But she nodded anyway. "Yes." He sat there for several moments before releasing a quiet breath. "Okay." Just okay. No begging. No anger. No accusations. Only okay. And somehow, that hurt more than if he'd yelled at her. When he finally spoke again, his voice was gentle enough to make her want to take everything back. "If you ever change your mind..." She laughed softly. "Asher" "I'll still be here." Two years later, Ivy Collins would learn that breaking up with Asher Silas was only her second biggest mistake. The first? Well, she was about to meet her mother's new boyfriend's son. And unfortunately for her, he looked exactly like Hercules.