h i s  b r o t h e r s
COVEY'S POV:

Saturday morning, my weekend starts off with waking up to loud bantering and laughing and talking—which is really out of the blue considering Conrad is the most anti-social person I've ever met.

I throw on a pair of his sweatpants that hang low on my waist, and then I let Cooper Dino out of his kennel before walking out of our room. And yawning, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I blink and feel three sets of eyes turn towards me.

"Shit, bro," one of the guys says, "You must be on Santa's good list to have an angel like that waking up in your house."

Conrad glares at the guy, and I see the resemblance. "Shut the fuck up, Stefan. And go put some clothes on, Covey."

I have clothes on? Sweatpants and a cropped band-tee is a total outfit—

Ignoring his demand, which is only a kind suggestion, I trot up to them and wrap my arms around Conrad's bare torso. His warm skin touches mine and I almost melt into his body. Coco Puff. I feel him flex under my touch and I bite my lip when he drags a finger under the waistband of my pants.

"This is Covey," Conrad says, clearing his throat.

Stefan, I'm assuming his name is—also the name of his younger brother—gives me a goofy smile. "Quindi sei la ragazza di mio fratello?"

Conrad shakes his head and says, "She doesn't speak Italian."

"So you're my brother's girlfriend?" he repeats, this time in English. "Sei molto carina, fuori dalla sua portata." Sticking out his hand for me to shake, he adds, "The name is Stefan, some call me Stefan Salvatore, but sadly my last name's Monroe. It's a pleasure to meet you, Covey."

"Nice to meet you too," I mumble, yawning. Cooper comes waltzing up to my feet and I reach down to pick him up. "Good to see you again, Matteo," I say, acknowledging him for the first time.

"You too," he says, flashing me a smile. The same smile that seems to be in the Monroe line of genetics. "You got a puppy?"

"Yep," Conrad says, his voice coming out curt.

"What's his name?" Matteo sticks his hand out to pet my puppy's ears.

I smile, handing him the dog. "Cooper Dino Monroe." 

"Dino?"

"Yes, respect the dinos," I grumble, glancing up at Conrad for reassurance. "They're very important in life."

"Only your dino chicken nuggets," Conrad says into my ear.

I hit his in his stomach and he groans. Smirking, I say, "Take that."

"Oh, you take it real good," he mutters, clenching his jaw.

I drop my mouth open at his absurdity. Does he not realize there are people here? "Um, excuse me, Sir, you don't get to expose me like that."

"Close your mouth, sweetheart. Don't want my friend down there to get too excited," he challenges, and I shut it quickly.

"So did you forget your brothers are here or..."

"He's just showing off what the rest of us ugly motherfuckers can't get," Stefan says, waving Conrad off. He grabs a three-ingredient peanut butter cookie from off the plate that is on the counter and widens his eyes after taking a bite. "Dang, these are good as hell."

"Those were mine," I pout, going to grab the plate. "I made them for myself, so get your own."

"Well, hello to you too, sugarcakes." Stefan steals one more cookie and I crinkle my nose up. "Sweet as sugar, spicy as hot sauce."

Conrad snakes both his arms around my waist to hug me from behind. "So why did you two show up at my door at seven in the morning again?"

"It's seven?" I ask dramatically. "Holy snizzle crackers, I need more sleep."

He shakes his head. "Yes it is and no you don't. As soon as my idiot brothers get going, we're going to the gym, amore."

Rolling my eyes to myself, I mumble, "Geez, I can't have any fun."

"You'll have your fun later." Does he not have a filter right now? "The gym is just our warm-up."

"Yeah, okay." I search my mind to find a way to hurt his manhood. "I love you too, Coco Puff."

"Coco Puff?" Matteo laughs, almost dropping the dog. "You let her call you—"

"Shut the fuck up, okay?" Conrad seethes, glaring at him. "Nobody said you could talk. As for you, Covey, a word with me please."

I start to nibble on my lower lip. "Yes, Sir."

He holds out his hand for me to take and I put mine in it, but not before looking back to say, "Matty, don't kill my dog. And Stef, no cookies."

"Sure thing, tesoro." Stefan gives me a sly smirk and Conrad tugs me closer to him. 

"Nessun soprannome per la mia ragazza, stronzo," he calls out behind him before taking me back into our room.

"Non capisco," I say slowly, trying to get it right.

"Sì, amore mio, you don't and it's a good thing you don't." Conrad locks the bedroom door and then glares at me. "And you do not get to call me Coco Puff in front of them. When did you think that was a good idea?"

"When you started talking about me like I'm a sex toy," I respond, raising an eyebrow at him. "I understand that our libidos are both crazy, but just because your brothers are here and you've managed to score a below average girl, that doesn't mean you can—"

He shuts me up, putting a finger to my lips. "You're not below average, baby. That's the stupidest thing you've ever said."

"But the audacity you have to make me look like I only want you for sex and money," I whisper, catching his eye contact.

Conrad frowns, shaking his head. "You know that isn't true."

"But they don't," I say, pointing to the door. "Your brothers probably degrade woman to a status of a mere object. So they don't know or understand the concept of a give and take relationship. I fell in love with you. Please start respecting me for that, especially around your family." Putting a finger to his chest, I add, "I don't like feeling as if I'm a bragging factor."

He sighs and takes a minute to process the information. "Okay, I will try to fix that. And I'm sorry if I came across like that." Then he runs a hand through his morning hair. "But to explain myself, I was marking and claiming what's mine. Sexual things are important to guys—as shallow as that sounds—and my brothers need to know that we're intimate and that we have that connection. Especially Matteo."

"That's your issue." I take a deep breath and look between both Conrad's eyes. "You're so focused on how they perceive you instead of how they view us. If you act like a guy who isn't claiming me only for sex, they won't feel inclined to want that from me too. I bet that's what Matteo did to Veronica," I say the last part under my breath.

Clenching his jaw, he steps closer to me and I take a step back. Oh no, calmers downers. "We don't go there."

"You said there was nothing to worry about with her, so it should be fine," I explain, crossing my arms.

And so he straightens his shoulders and nods. "Right, well, I will be a gentleman from now on. Even in front of my brothers."

I give him one of my happiest smiles, kissing his jaw. "Good, because that's why I fell in love with you."

He gives me a genuine, dimpled smile and points to his cheek. I reach up and put his face in my hands to kiss him again. "Mhmm," he sighs, putting his arms around me. "I love you."

"I love you the mostest."

"Sure you do, little fucker," he says, licking my nose. Coco...

Crinkling it in response, I unravel myself from him and laugh. "Weirdo."

He grabs my hand and starts walking back out to the living room. When I catch sight of his two brothers, Matteo is poking Cooper Dino in his side as he rolls around on the carpet, and Stefan has the last cookie in his mouth. Seriously? These guys... their genetics run strong, I suppose.

"What did I say about not killing our dog?" I say, stalking up to the troublemakers. I pick Cooper up and he wiggles around until he's out of my hands and back in Matteo's arms. Wow, traitor. "And I said not to eat the cookies, mister." Pointing a finger at Stefan, I give him an annoyed expression.

He lifts his hands up in surrender, but then that infamous Monroe smile is back. "You're a little fiamma, aren't you?"

Conrad comes up to me from behind and puts a hand on my waist. "Bro, she said not to eat the damn cookies. Respect?"

"Sorry, tesoro, my bad." He chuckles as Conrad's grip tightens around me. "They were just really good."

"I know, my cookies are very good." Oh no, why did I say that?

"You bet they are," Conrad says lowly in my ear. "Love them, and I love you."

I clear my throat and laugh before directing my attention back to his brother. "Don't worry, I'll teach you how to make them sometime. They're pretty easy."

"Bet," Stefan says, pumping his fist in the air. "I like this one, can we keep her?"

"You have absolutely no say in that, but yes, she's my wife," Conrad says, and I look up to see his Adam's apple bob up and down. Since when?

Stefan crosses his arms over his chest. "Damn, I'm your brother and I didn't get invited to the wedding? I see how it is, bro."

Letting out the tiniest laugh, I push Conrad and say, "He's just kidding. I'm not really his wife."

"You will be, and therefore you are," he whispers, making sure he knows I know. Shut up, Coco Puff.

Suddenly, Matteo jumps up from where he is on the floor with the dog and says, "Well, we'll be back tonight. We have some business to take care of right now, but don't forget about us too soon, Covey. And as far as you go, Coco Puff, have three glasses of wine and your negotiation skills ready."

I salute him like the Covey I am and nod. "Adios, soldier. See you later."

"You too, kid," Matteo says, walking away.

The strong arms around me tighten until I'm pressed firmly against Conrad's chest. "You're fucking mine, kid."

"Oh I know, daddy." I turn around in his arms as the front door shuts behind his brothers. "I know."

He bends down to pull my lip between his teeth, dragging it. "Hmm, you're so sweet, love. How is it that you're so intoxicating?"

"I'm still mad at you for objectifying me... in front of your brothers."

"I'm sorry, you know that I am. And I also love you, and I promised to never use those words to sugarcoat the fact that I can be an asshole. I know I have things to work on, and I'm really fucking trying. And 'I love you' doesn't make what I did right," he stops for a second and gulps, "but it should validate that it doesn't matter how people perceive us or you, because we have our own story. Who gives a crap what people think."  

Apparently everyone but you. The whole school, your family, the world. 

Because if only they knew...

But I straighten my shoulders and smile a happy smile. "We can be weirdos and ride off into the sunset together."

He leans down to kiss my lips tenderly. "I would absolutely love to do that with you, Coco Puff 2.0."

******
AUTHOR'S NOTE:

idek, so don't hate me. ilyyyy. i'm also tired BLEH