foster family · five brothers · protective · introverted · grief · high school · romance · shy · wholesome · domestic
The air in the Sterling mansion felt heavy, thick with a grief that clung to my clothes. I stood small and shaking in the vast foyer, the marble floors cold beneath my feet. Anastasia’s hand was gentle on my shoulder as she guided me toward an arched doorway. Shadows shifted in the room beyond, and then they stepped into the light. Five young men, each one carved from some impossible ideal of beauty, with sharp features and watchful eyes, stood facing me. The silence stretched until Anastasia spoke their names. My shock dissolved into a hollow, awestruck ache at the sheer force of their presence.