The Consequences of Wanting Two Stepbrothers

Luna Of all the ways to be introduced to my mother’s new man, arriving with my entire life packed into a car was the most humiliating. This was the situation I found myself in. I sat in the passenger seat with my knees pressed hard into the dashboard. My mother had shoved the seat all the way up to fit our boxes and bags in the back. My backpack was on my lap, and I was biting my lip as we stopped in front of this huge, expensive house. “Well,” my mother said. Her hands were tight on the steering wheel. “This is it.” She reached over and squeezed my hand. “It is going to be wonderful, Luna. You will see.” “That is what you told me last time,” I said quietly, my eyes stuck on the house. ‘And every other time before that.’ This was the sixth man since my father died three years ago. You would think I would be used to it by now. But being the teenage daughter she hauls into each new relationship never gets any less awful. “Well, do not just sit there! Let us go inside and say hello!” She found her keys and opened her door, but I could not look away from the house. I have to give my mom credit. She has a real talent for finding these older guys with good jobs, big houses, and nice addresses. It is a real shame they almost always turn out to be complete assholes. I let out a loud breath and pulled my legs free from the cramped footwell. I threw my backpack over my shoulder and yanked my sweater hood down over my eyes. Professor Julius used to work with my father. I might have met him when I was little, but I did not remember him at all. I walked up the front steps like I was going to my own funeral. I kept my head down. The door opened, and just like that, my mother was pulled into a hug by a man who had to be Elliot Julius. I had seen his pictures. I guess you could call him a silver fox. His hair was thinning a little, but for an older guy, he was not terrible. He dressed exactly how a professor should, in a stiff white shirt and shoes so polished you could see yourself in them. He kissed my mother’s cheek and then turned to me. “Luna. It is so good to meet you properly!” He held his hand out for me to shake. Was I supposed to do that? Do you shake the hand of the man your mother is sleeping with? I sighed, took his hand, crushed his fingers as hard as I could, and let go. “Nice to meet you,” I muttered. “Wow, you have a strong handshake. Let me introduce my sons. Sebastian, Julian, you remember Cecilia. This is her daughter, Luna.” I lifted my eyes just enough to see the two guys leaning in the doorway behind their father. My mother had mentioned the professor had grown sons, but I did not think they would be here on moving day. Maybe he had made them come to carry boxes. Looking at them, they could definitely manage it. Sebastian was the tall one. He had the long, lean body of someone who swam a lot. His blond hair was perfect, his face was smooth, and he wore a Sebastianet and a plain tie like he was going to a business meeting. His face was all hard angles and lines, handsome but in a cold way. He gave a small nod in our direction. Julian was different. He was not as tall as his brother, but he was built wide, with huge shoulders and arms that stretched the sleeves of his old t-shirt. His dark hair was long, tied back loosely, and his jaw was rough with scruff. A little dent in his chin caught my eye. He smiled, and it felt real, not like his brother’s. “Hey,” he said. “Welcome to the family.” That word made my skin crawl. We were not family. We would never be family. My mother would play house here until she finally understood this man could not be my father. Then she would end it, and we would pack up and leave again. It is what we do. This is temporary. Everything in my life is temporary. “So,” Professor Julius said, clapping his hands together once. “Shall we bring your things in? I thought we could go out for a nice dinner to celebrate. I booked a table at La Forge for seven o’clock, if that works for everyone?” He looked at my mother for an answer. I saw Sebastian’s whole body go stiff at the name. La Forge was the fanciest, most impossible-to-get-into restaurant in the whole city. My mother gave a soft smile and put her hand on his arm. “That sounds perfect, Elliot.” For one disgusting second, they just stared at each other. The rest of us might as well have been air. ‘It was enough to make you sick.’ “Boys, why do you not grab some boxes and show Luna where she will be sleeping?” the professor said, not even looking away from my mother. “Yeah, sure.” Julian pushed off the wall and walked right past me, out the door toward the car. Sebastian followed, and the dislike coming off him was so strong I could feel it as he passed. I wanted to tell him I did not want to be here any more than they did. I did not want to be the pathetic extra person in my mother’s mess of a love life. I am eighteen. I could have left. But it is not that simple. Someone has to be here to put my mother back together when this falls apart. And it will fall apart. It always does. I walked out after them. They were already pulling our boxes and bags from the car, stacking our sad little life on the driveway. It was depressing how little we had, and how every move left even less behind. “Which are yours?” Sebastian asked, his voice flat. I pointed to the two biggest suitcases. He yanked the handle up on one and started dragging it toward the house. I went for the other, but Julian moved my hand away. He lifted the whole thing, it had to be incredibly heavy, and tossed it onto his shoulder like it was nothing. “Come on, princess. Your room is right beside mine.” “Wait,” I said, hurrying after them with just my backpack. “You live here?” He kept walking and did not say a word. Maybe he did not hear me. Inside, they walked me past a cold-looking living room to a wide staircase. Sebastian set the suitcase down, grabbed the handle with a low sound of effort, and started hauling it up the steps. “I can get that,” I said. He shot me a look that could freeze hell and kept climbing. Everything in that house was white, or cream, or beige. It felt clean and empty, like a museum no one lived in. I did not know how anyone kept carpets that color clean, but a man like him probably paid people to worry about it. At the top of the stairs, we turned left. Julian motioned to the first door. “That is Sebastian’s room.” I was confused. These had to be their old rooms, for when they visited. They could not actually live here. They had to be in their twenties. More than old enough to have their own places. “This one is mine,” Julian said, pointing to the door across the hall. “And this,” he said, shifting the bag on his shoulder to push open the very next door, “is the guest room. Or, I guess it is your room now.” He let my suitcase drop onto the floor beside a big bed covered in a plain beige blanket. The carpet was the color of dry sand. There were boring pictures of seashells on the walls. “So?” Julian asked. “What is the verdict?” I let my backpack slide off and looked around. I lifted one shoulder. “It looks like a hotel,” I said. Then, remembering I should try to be polite, I added, “But it is fine.” Sebastian’s mouth turned down. He definitely thought I was a b***h. Julian just grinned. “Where is the bathroom?” “Right out here,” he said, stepping back into the hall. He pointed to the last door. “That one. We all share it.” “Okay. Thanks.” I pushed between them and went straight for the bathroom. I could feel them watching me as I closed the door and turned the lock. I leaned against the wood and let the air out of my lungs. ‘Holy s**t. The male presence out there was overwhelming.’ “Just breathe, Luna. It is going to be fine,” I told myself. Those guys had their own places in the city. I would only see them sometimes. And we would not be here long. Six months, maybe eight. Then we would be gone. So the two unfairly gorgeous men standing in the hall did not matter. They could not matter. I walked to the toilet and had just started to pull my leggings down when a hard knock slammed against the door. The whole thing vibrated in the frame. “Hey, princess.” Julian’s voice was a deep rumble through the wood. “Be dressed and ready by six-thirty. My father loses his f*****g mind if people are late.”