Page 193 of Sexting My Best Friend's Brothers
Harper studies my face, my tired eyes, and then looks down at my stomach.
“You’re really doing this?” she asks quietly. “This isn’t just a fling? A quarter-life crisis?”
“It’s my life, Harp,” I say softly. “I love them. I love them so much it scares me.”
Harper looks over my shoulder at her brothers. Ethan’s watching her with a look of desperate hope. Owen looks like a kicked puppy. Asher’s watching her with careful calculation.
“And you guys?” Harper asks them. “Is she just a flavor of the month? Because if you break her heart, I swear to god, being your sister won’t save you.”
“She is the foundation,” Asher says simply. “There is no Mosaic without her.”
“I would bankrupt the company before I let her go,” Ethan says.
“I love her,” Owen says, his voice cracking. “She’s it for me, Harp. She’s it for all of us.”
Harper stares at them, searching their faces. She crosses her arms over her chest, keeping her walls firmly intact.
“I believe you,” she says finally, her voice hard. “But don’t think this fixes everything. I’m still furious. You lied to me for months. You treated me like an outsider in my own family. That doesn’t go away just because you’re letting me yell at you.”
“We know,” Ethan says quietly.
“So you’re all on probation,” Harper declares, pointing a manicured finger at each of them. “Indefinite probation. If you hurt her, or if you lie to me again, I’m gone. And I’m taking the babies with me.”
She turns back to me, her expression softening just a fraction, though the hurt is still visible.
“It’s weird,” she says bluntly. “It’s super, super weird. And the internet is disgusting right now. And Mom is probably having an aneurysm.”
“She disowned me,” Ethan offers helpfully.
“Good,” Harper snaps. “She didn’t deserve you anyway.”
She looks back at me. Her expression finally crumbles.
“You didn’t tell me,” she whispers, her voice shaking. “I was your person, Tess. And you locked me out.”
“I know,” I say, tears spilling over again. “I was so scared you’d judge me. I was scared you’d think I was dirty. Or that I was tearing your family apart.”
“You are my family, you idiot,” Harper cries, stepping forward.
I collapse into her. We hug fiercely, the kind of hug knocking the wind out of you. I bury my face in her hoodie, smelling her familiar perfume, and the last jagged piece of my heart clicks back into place.
“I’m sorry,” I sob into her shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m still mad,” she says, hugging me tighter. “I’m going to be mad for at least another week. And you owe me so many drinks once you’re not hosting a litter.”
I laugh, pulling back to look at her. “A litter?”
“Twins, Tessa?” Harper shakes her head, wiping her eyes. “You don’t do anything halfway, do you? You couldn’t just have one baby with one brother. You had to have two babies with three brothers.”
“Go big or go home,” Owen says from the couch, grinning tentatively.
Harper shoots him a warning glare, but there’s no real heat in it. She looks down at my stomach. She hesitates.
“So,” she says, her voice dropping. “Twins. That’s a lot.”
“It’s terrifying,” I admit.
“Can I…” She gestures vaguely.
