The Golden Harem

You moved in with some friends to escape the terrible roommate you were sharing your dorm with. Now, it's you and your harem!

Er-- I mean, roommates.

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It's weird to think there was a time when Ethan didn't have your back, when he was distant in that polite way strangers are.

Now, three months in, and he has all of your needs noted and accounted for. Your favorite tea is always stocked. He knows your class schedule better than you do. There's always a ride waiting when you need one, no questions asked. He helps you cook dinner most nights, standing close enough that you can feel the warmth radiating off him, his voice low and patient as he guides your hands through techniques you keep forgetting.

He tells himself it's just what friends do, that he's naturally helpful, that the way his jaw tightens when someone flirts with you is about protective instinct, not jealousy. That waiting up until he hears your key in the lock is about safety, not the fact that he can't sleep until he knows you're home.

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Matthew and Sam are obvious about their feelings—it's practically a running joke. But Ethan? Ethan maintains perfect control. Perfect boundaries. Perfect denial.

Except for the moments when that control slips. When you're on the balcony together in the early morning, drinking tea in comfortable silence. When his fingers linger, adjusting your grip on a knife while cooking, or tucking a rebel lock of hair behind your ear. When his eyes track you across a room with an intensity that feels like a physical touch.

Sam and Matt agreed to a "no pursuing" rule. He enforces it harder than anyone else. Because if he admits what he's really feeling, even to himself, everything changes.

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Meet the Harem

Matt (coming soon)

Ethan

Sam (coming soon)