by G. Bailey
“I guess it is. I never thought about it,” he comments and the big-ass house I thought of appears at the end of the private road. The house is made of brown stone and has big windows at the front and a giant door. There’s a garage extension at the side. I can’t see much else due the snow covering everything, and it’s so bright to look at.
“I’ll get your bags,” Flynn offers, and I look over, catching his hazel eyes as he watches me. I don’t know what he is thinking as I can’t read him, and it annoys me. I can usually tell what people are like, but as I look at Flynn’s perfect suit, his styled hair, and the way he looks at me, I’m confused by him.
“Thanks,” I say and get out of the car, feeling him still watching me. My boots sink into the snow, and I know I should have bought ones that were more expensive when I feel my socks getting wet. Damn it.
I walk towards the house, dragging my feet through the deep snow and trying not to slip and fall. I go to knock on the door when it’s opened. The man who opened it looks in his fifties with dark-grey hair and a matching grey beard. He’s dressed casually in a polo shirt and dark chinos. He’s handsome and reminds me of Flynn straight away, just an older version.
“You must be Elsie. Wow, you look like a lot like your mother, she didn’t tell me that. She simply said you follow your father’s side,” the man says with a medium Scottish accent, rambling a little and giving me a worried smile before offering me his hand to shake. “I’m John Xander, and it’s nice to meet you,” he says when I stand there quietly for a second and don’t reply.
I feel bad for him, marrying my mum when he seems really nice. I’m actually surprised she went after him at all, he isn’t her usual type. Well, the money side of things likely helped, but she usually goes for guys that look like models and spoil her. This guy is attractive but so normal. Normal is not something I’ve ever seen her go after before.
“I’m Elsie, but you know that. Thank you for inviting me here for Christmas,” I reply, and he holds the door open for me to walk in. I walk in, rubbing my boots on the welcome mat and seeing all the snow falling off them.
“You’re always welcome here. It’s your home now, too,” he says, and I silently nod, deciding not to comment on that statement at all. I wouldn’t call it home. I happily take my coat off when I feel how warm it is in here, and John takes it off me, hanging it on a hook by the door next to some others. The foyer of the house is massive and open plan, so you can see a lot of the rooms. There’s a lounge to the side of the massive staircase in the middle and a study on the other side. There is a row of doors behind the stairs and everything seems wooden in here. The wooden floors match the wooden staircase and the cabinets that look full of expensive statues. There’s three massive, dark-grey sofas in the lounge and a giant television next to a large speaker. I step on to the red rug in front of the staircase just as Flynn comes in with my suitcase and drops it near the door.
“What have you got in there? Rocks?” he asks, standing up straight and letting his dad shut the door behind him.
“Books.”
“Remind me to buy you a kindle, much lighter,” he says as he pulls his jacket off and hangs it on the hook. His white shirt sticks to his chest, making me stare far longer than I should at the impressive sight. I really need to get laid.
“No. They’re study books, not personal,” I tell him and John interrupts before Flynn can say anything.
“Let’s go and see your mother, she’s in the kitchen making cookies for you,” John says as he walks over, and I swear my jaw drops open.
“She’s cooking?” I say slowly, and he nods, giving me a strange look and walking towards the furthest door to the left behind the stairs. I follow him into the surprisingly small kitchen, seeing my mother fanning a tray of chocolate cookies with her hand. She turns and smiles widely when she sees me, running over and throwing her arms around me.
“Elsie, I missed you,” she says, squeezing me tighter and letting go. I have to admit that my mother looks happy, and the only times I remember seeing her like that was when she is drunk. Her light-blonde hair is up in a messy bun, and she is still as pale as ever which makes her red lipstick stand out as well as the rest of the makeup she has on. I’m surprised how casual she looks, dressed in black leggings and a long, black shirt. I can’t remember seeing my mum dress this causal in years, it was always dresses or short skirts. She wouldn’t leave her room in the morning unless she had her makeup done to perfection and a nice outfit to match.
“Nice to see you too, mum,” I comment, not knowing what else to say in my shock. The last time I saw my mum, a few months ago, she was drunk in a bar. I had to drag her out after she started dancing on the table and the owners threatened to call the police. That was not a good night.
“So, you met John and Flynn,” she says, walking back over to the tray of cookies and sliding them onto a plate. The sight is surreal to me, as my mum doesn’t cook. I’m honestly surprised how edible the cookies look.
“Yes. I didn’t realise I had a new stepbrother,” I say, and she nods, bringing the plate of cookies over to me.
“You have three, actually,” John tells me, and I shake my head when my mum offers me a cookie and I mentally groan. Let’s hope they aren’t all assholes like Flynn. Or sexy.
“Wow, that’s nice. Look, I’ve had a long day, can I go and rest?” I ask, desperate to get out of this room. My mum frowns at me but quickly hides it when John puts an arm around her and pulls her to his side.
“Of course, you must be tired. Flynn, can you show Elsie to her room?” John asks, and I look over to see Flynn staring at me from behind, well at my ass. He raises his eyes to meet mine and smirks, not caring one bit that I caught him staring.
“Come on then, Elsie,” he says and walks out of the room, not waiting for me. I wave goodbye to my mum and John before walking out, seeing Flynn walking up the stairs carrying my suitcase. I laugh a little when I see how annoyed he is having to carry it up. I walk to the stairs and follow him up, still chuckling a little. He puts the suitcase down at the top of the stairs and walks to the left, wheeling it behind him. The upstairs is just as nice as downstairs, but there are photo frames all over the walls. They are nearly all of John and a dark-haired woman. I’m surprised my mum would be okay with that. Then there are photos of little children, who all look very similar to Flynn. I stop when I see a photo of three babies on a bed together. All of them are the same age and look similar. My stepbrothers must all be triplets or very close in age by the look of the photo. I can’t even tell which one is Flynn as they all look similar with their dark hair and cute matching outfits.
“Elsie, this is your room,” Flynn says distracting me from the photo. I look over to see him holding a door open for me, and I walk in, seeing that he has left my suitcase by the door. The room is lovely, with a big bed and floral sheets that match the curtains. There’s a wardrobe in here but nothing else.
“The bathroom is the next door to the left and all yours. I’m across the hall and my brothers’ rooms are the two next to it. My dad and your mum have the upstairs attic conversion to themselves,” he tells me, leaning against the door, and I turn to smile at him.
“Thank you,” I say, and he goes to leave, then stops, looking back at me.
“My door is always open to you, if you get cold at night,” he says with a wink and then leaves without my answer, shutting the door. Did my new stepbrother just hit on me?
3
Elsie
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” I blurt out when I open the bathroom and the first thing I see is a naked man in the shower. The glass shower door is doing little to hide his amazing body; the toned, muscular build he has and the long, wavy, black hair that covers his eyes. My eyes drop to the impressive cock he has and then back up his body, as I’m unable to pull my eyes away. The man turns to look at me, as I stand shell-shocked by the perfection in front of me.
He shocks me again with his words, “You could join me.”
The man’s voice could make any woman turned on, and I do the only thing I can think of, I turn around and walk back into the corridor, pulling the door closed behind me. The room must have thick walls as I never heard the shower, and I can’t believe that’s how I’ve likely just met another one of my stepbrothers.
“Who are you?” a deep voice says next to me. The voice is slightly gentle, and I turn to see a man walking down the corridor towards me, stopping close and tilting his head. What is with all the handsome guys around here?
“Elsie,” I murmur out, as I look up at him. He has a nice suit on, with a red tie and a red handkerchief in his suit pocket. The man looks just like Flynn, but a little different. He has glasses on, that shape his handsome face and short, dark-brown hair.
“Oh, you’re the new step sister. I guess it’s nice to meet you, but why are you standing outside Ezra’s bathroom?” he asks with a chuckle as I feel my cheeks burning red. I’m not admitting to seeing his brother naked.
“Flynn told me this is my bathroom while I’m here,” I respond, and he laughs a little, making him even cuter. Wait not cute, he is my stepbrother for goodness sake.
“Erm, no. This is yours,” he points to the door to the right of my room. I bet the jerk did that on purpose.
“Well thanks, you are?” I ask, and he offers me his hand to shake. I slip my hand into his, and he lifts it to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles that makes me blush.
“Max,” he says and lets my hand go as I clear my throat.
“I should shower and come downstairs for breakfast,” I say way too quickly, taking a step back, and he nods. Then he steps away a little, and I finally feel like I can breathe. Man, this guy is hot and nice, a bad combination for someone I can’t touch.
“See you downstairs,” he says and turns, walking away. I don’t move for a while, watching him until he gets to the top of the stairs, and he looks back, with a cheeky smile before disappearing out of my sight. I open the door to my bathroom and walk in, seeing it’s exactly the same as the other one. It has a large bath and a walk-in shower. There’s a sink and two cabinets, and nearly everything is white and looks brand new. This a big step up from my university bathroom I share, that has a broken sink and dodgy shower that likes to switch between hot and cold all the time. I take a long shower, washing my long, blonde hair with my shampoo. Thankfully, I had that full body wax before coming here. I hate shaving, and I don’t know why I do it when I’m not with anyone at the moment. My mind flashes back to the man in the shower, then to Max, and finally back to Flynn. My hand slides around my body, and I have to mentally shake myself when I realise that the thoughts of them are turning me on, and it’s just not a good idea. I bet they don’t even like me that way. I quickly finish showering and get out, drying myself off before plaiting my sort of dry hair. I pull my jeans and jumper on before wiping the steamy mirror and staring at my blue eyes in the reflection. It’s just two weeks with three sexy guys I can’t have, I can do this.
I fold my clothes and leave them on the side, checking my phone and seeing a message from Dane checking up. There’s a missed call from my dad, and I quickly call him back.
“Hey, Elsie, how’s the trip?” he asks straight away.
“All good. I haven’t really seen much of mum yet as I only got here last night, Dad,” I tell him, and I hear him moving around the room he’s in.
“The new husband?” he asks me.
“Seems nice,” I reply dryly, tired of being used to find information out about my mum. I listen to my dad go on and on for ages about how reckless my mum is before I tell him I have to go, and I put the phone down. My dad never moved on from my mum, not really. He dated sometimes but never put any effort in. He loves his work too much to really spend much effort on another woman, and unfortunately that means he has lots of time to wonder about what could have been between him and mum. I leave my phone on the side and walk out of the bathroom, towards the stairs when I hear the loud talking. I get to the top of the stairs and see John, Flynn, and Max staring at the door frame. The door is open but there’s so much snow outside that it fills half the doorway.
“Did all that fall last night?” I ask, walking down, and they all look over at me.
“Yes. I think we are stuck here until the storm passes,” John says and shuts the door. I walk over to the window, which is also half-filled with snow, and there’s a massive snow storm outside. Its falling heavily, and you can’t see anything other than white and dark clouds.
“So, a week stuck inside, sounds fun,” the sexy voice of the shower guy drifts over as I see him come out of the kitchen and my mum following behind him, holding a cup of something hot. He looks just as hot with clothes on. I think back to Max’s words and remember his name is Ezra. Ezra has a suit on this time, a black, tight one that shows off his big build, and his messy hair is styled out of his face. His dark-hazel eyes meet mine, so very much like his brother’s but darker. There’s a scar on his eyebrow and something about him is so much darker than I expected him to be. Ezra slowly looks me up and down as he comes over and surprises me when he stops in front of me and holds a hand out. I shake his hand as he speaks.
“Lovely to meet you. I’m Ezra” he says, pretending like I didn’t just see him naked. Two can play at that game.
“Ezra, it’s nice to meet you, too. I’m Elsie,” I say and drop his hand. I look between all the brothers, seeing them all watching me.
“Are you triplets?” I ask, looking between them and back at Ezra, who grins.
“Yes. I’m the oldest by two minutes, then Flynn, and Max is the baby,” he says and Max replies.
“Fuck off I am. There’s only a minute between Flynn and me,” before walking over to me.
“We are going to go and rest. Feel free to have some breakfast and relax, Elsie,” John says, walking up the stairs with my mum. I’m surprised she didn’t say a word to me, despite how much she claimed to have missed me. She does look down at me as they get to the top of the stairs and gives me a fake-looking smile as she looks at the brothers standing close to me and then finally looks away.
“So, we won’t see them for the rest of the day. What should we do with you, sexy Elsie?” Ezra asks, stepping closer, and I take another step back, my lower back hitting the window, and I force myself to look up and keep eye contact with him.
“It’s cold, and we’re trapped in here. We should really get to know each other,” he says leaning even closer and making my breath hitch. I pull my gaze away to see both Max and Flynn watching us closely, and when I look back at Ezra, he simply grins as he leans away.
“Why don’t we feed you first and then play a get to know you game?” he asks me but doesn’t wait for my reply as he walks away.
4
Elsie
“Any more?” Flynn asks as I finish my bacon sandwich and pick up my orange juice, drinking a little. They all seem to be waiting on me, as they didn’t eat much, and I’m getting nervous about this getting to know each other game they have planned. I watch how they all move around each other, they are clearly close. I wonder why they still live here, or if they do.
“Yes. Also, I have a question, do you all live here?”
“Most of the time. We all have apartments in New York, France, and London,” Flynn answers me, as he finishes washing up the plates from breakfast.
“Must be nice to have so many places to live,” I say and stand up off the kitchen stool.
“Let’s go to the living room,” Flynn suggests, walking over to me and placing his hand on my lower back as he leads us out of the room. His hand on my back is all I can focus on as we walk out of the kitchen.
“What kind of game did you have in mind?” I ask Flynn, but it’s Ezra that answers as he walks past us with a bottle of vodka in his hand.
“Truth or dare,” he says, placing the bottle on the large coffee table that’s between the sofas.
“You answer the truth or do the dare, or have a shot,”
he tells me.
I raise my eyebrows as I say, “It’s ten in the morning. Isn’t that a little early for drinking?”
“What are you scared of?” he dares me, smirking a little as I shake my head and sit on the sofa. Max sits on one side of me and Flynn the other, while Ezra sits on the coffee table and turns the TV on with a remote. Once he finds a music channel, he puts the remote down and pulls his phone out. I watch as he puts the phone in the middle of the coffee table and leans over it.
“It’s a spin the bottle app, makes it easier,” he tells me, and I look over to see my name as the dare and Max as the person who gets to ask. Max looks and sits back in his seat looking at me before smiling. I can’t help but think how almost sweet his smile is.
“Okay . . . I want a truth,” he says.
“I might not answer but go on.”
“Are you single?” he asks me, and I’m surprised at how much of an easy question it is.
“Yes, I am,” I reply, and he nods with a happy smile. The guys seem to look at each other before Ezra presses the spin button again. It lands on Ezra and Max this time, with Ezra being the one to choose.
“I choose a dare. I want you to kiss Elsie,” he says. My eyes widen when Max leans closer and brushes his warm lips against my cheek. The kiss is soft, and I have to resist the urge to close my eyes and move my face a little so his lips touch my own. God, it’s getting hot in here.
“That’s not a real kiss,” Ezra says, his voice a little huskier than it was before.
“You never said where I should kiss her . . .,” Max laughs, and Ezra only grins as he presses the button again. It lands on me and Flynn this time, with me being able to choose.
“Okay, I want a truth. What’s the sexiest thing you’ve ever done?” I ask, and he smirks as he leans across the table and opens the bottle, before taking a long drink.