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As with any live story on The Literary World of Sylvia Hubbard, the number one rule is we don’t harass the author about what’s going to happen next online or in public. You may give subtle threats if you would like her to hurry up or if you feel she is not dropping chapters fast enough.

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Chapter 1 Author’s Notes – This story is not to be confused with Her Substitute Husband… His Boss. The concept is kind of the same in the Why Choose universe, except in this one, I’ve challenged myself with three men instead of my usual two. I wasn’t getting bored. I just thought I wanted a challenge, and my brain was like, Challenge accepted.

As with all my Why Choose, so you don’t get it twisted, it’s strictly dickly and no swords crossing, so if you’re going to be upset by that, I’m sorry to see you go.

Otherwise, enjoy and let me know what you think. All the time, and tell everybody and your mamma. The more comments, the more chapters drop. So help me, help you, help me.

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Chapter One- She Was Fine

“I heard their mother died last week, Tori,” Malea said with disdain.

How had they gotten on the subject of the Carter Brothers? Tori tried to keep her composure. The exasperation she felt listening to her sister go down the list of guys who had crushes on her in the past, and how her current husband, Scott, wasn’t being appreciative enough.

Kevin and Duncan Carter were the oldest boys of Sherrie Carter, who dated their father.

“All three of them were weird,” Tori proclaimed, but she only said this because she didn’t want to get into talking about them, hoping this would deter her sister from going on any further. All three brothers were peculiar, but only one had really caught her attention: Shawn, the youngest brother. Tori secretly had the most enormous, sixteen-year-old schoolgirl crush on the youngest of the Carter Brothers. Tall, light-skinned, with sandy brown hair with streaks of natural blonde here and there. All of the brothers had these strong hands, but Shawn was an artist when he was young, and she could watch him sculpt for hours. Her father had encouraged his hobby by making a space in their backyard, allowing Shawn to come whenever he wanted to work, since their mother lived in a small apartment building.

Perhaps Tori could have had a crush on all three of them because they all looked so good, but Kevin and Duncan were old, like Malea, between nineteen and twenty-one, and that would be just ewww for a sixteen-year-old.

Tori’s teenage brain would grow into overdrive looking at the Carters’ youngest brother, and all she thought about were those strong, beautiful, long fingers of Shawn Carter on her body. And during the Christmas gatherings when her father would invite the boys over to stay in the attic, where they would play video games all night, she could sneak up the stairs, crack the door, and watch them sitting around without shirts on because the attic was hot. Sometimes during the summer, her father would let them stay over to spend time doing chores around the house with him, and she’d fawn over Shawn, cutting the grass all summer with no shirt on.

The brothers were all well-built and light-skinned, but Shawn had a lean, sinewy body that made her tremble. When she would return to her room, she could close her eyes and go to town on herself thinking about him, and that body covering her with all those scenarios from romance books she had snuck and read, filling her thoughts and bringing her to culmination.

As for Duncan and Kevin, they were three to five years older than Tori. She stayed away from them, yet her sister was right; they seemed attracted to Malea. Being in their twenties, of course, they would have had their noses open to anything open to give them anything.

“Oh, look, here on their mother’s social media. It’s recent pictures of them,” Malea said excitedly as if she had them all wrapped around her finger.

Although Tori hardly conversed with the older two, she always remembered Duncan being unable even to make eye contact, as if he were hiding from something. Even in the picture now, his light hazel-brown eyes were downturned. Kevin had been direct with her sister, always saying gaudy things when he thought no one could hear him.

“Those shorts look real nice and tight on those sweet, wide hips, Malea,” he once said.

Malea would roll her eyes and leave wherever the boys were around, disliking them as much as possible and staying away as much as she could when the older boys came around family gatherings. Although Tori remembered her sister would also wear the tightest clothes and shortest dresses whenever the brothers were around.

Her sister would always use her job in hospital administration as an excuse to leave.

Now, as the CFO of one of Detroit’s largest hospitals, Malea still used her job as an excuse to stay away. Her husband didn’t mind because he was just as busy with his administrative janitorial position at the hospital.

Since their father’s passing, the sisters had rarely gotten together, except every three months to have lunch, and of course, there was Malea’s Christmas gathering. Her three kids would come home to their lovely Boson Edison mansion. Tori would take one of the rooms above the garage and spend a weekend trying to appreciate family.

“Family is important, Tori,” her father would say all the time. “I know you don’t like to be around people, but being alone is detrimental to your health. Always make time for family.”

Tori felt that helping her sister practically raise her kids was almost like having kids of her own, and the desire to be a mom was never in the cards for her due to her selfishness. Still, she slept well at night knowing she’d been a good second mom/auntie and had been a benefit to her niece and nephews’ lives.

“Okay, I can understand Kevin having a crush, but what makes you think Duncan liked you?” Tori challenged. “The guy could barely make eye contact or talk with anyone other than his mother or brothers. The most I saw him talk was a grunt here or there.”

“Because he’d stare at me when he thought I wasn’t looking,” her sister bragged. “One time, Kevin said, he agreed with Duncan that I did have sexy, big hips.”

“Too bad you don’t have them anymore.”

“Yeah, but you still do.”

“I didn’t have the luxurious medical insurance to pay to suck all the fat out of my thighs and butt and put it in my chest,” Tori pointed out.

Malea snickered. “All the money Daddy left you, and you could have done it too, instead of throwing it in real estate.”

Tori never regretted her decision to buy property. It was her father’s dream to do so, and Tori wanted to see his dream come true, since she’d been in the way of so many other things her father had wanted to do as a child. Tori also knew her sister wasn’t jealous that their father left Tori with all his estate and personal belongings, although her sister constantly asked to rifle through them. Tori would always give a flimsy excuse, not wanting Malea to bother the items Tori had locked up in her attic, as she didn’t want to bring up the past and how horrid she had been as a child. When she came home from college, Tori never asked Malea for a dime and paid all her father’s expenses with her own money. Once she really got on her feet, she also covered her nieces and nephews’ extra expenses or whatever they desired without asking her sister to reimburse her.

Tori had made a substantial amount of money from her one-of-a-kind rug art business. She’d been able to stay at her father’s side most of his life until his dying days, pampering him with as much love as he had pampered her.

Malea understood their relationship and accepted it. Her older sister had resigned as the favorite when their mother was in their lives. Kimberly Faust Song, also known as Kimmie, had loved and adored Malea but only tolerated Tori until she grew tired of it and filed for divorce, leaving only a Dear John letter for her husband on a Sunday after church services, which she had not attended.

Malea had been pretty torn up about it at ten years old, and Tori was only seven, not because the woman had left their father, but because Kimmie missed Malea’s big day as her first solo in the choir.

“You know it was you who broke them up,” Malea suddenly announced.

“Me? Dad and Sherrie? How was it me?” she asked incredulously, affronted by the accusation, although she’d always had a small speculation that it was her fault, but she never wanted to face that she’d kept her father from true love.

“You constantly complained when Sherrie came over, and then even when she would come over alone without the boys, you told Daddy constantly bad things about her. Remember that time you said she smelled like pee and that she peed all over the toilet seat.”

“But she did. You weren’t around Malea. She was a nasty woman with nasty habits,” Tori said. “I had to sit down on that. I’ve been traumatized about it since. I can’t even use a public bathroom because of her.”

“Oh, please, Tori.” Malea rolled her eyes in exasperation. “But it wasn’t her, it was me.”

Her sister’s confession rocked her. “You peed on the seat?”

Malea kept going. “Honestly, most of the things you accused her of, I did. Remember, you said she left the freezer open and all the food melted. Yeah, that was me too. And she stole your favorite winter socks. All me!”

“Malea! How could you?!”

“Because I could get away with it and you were acting like Sherrie was practically ruining our lives like a spoiled little Daddy’s girl.”

“And what makes you think I broke them up? You were complicit as well.”

“But Daddy didn’t know what I did before he passed, only what you did. He told me, though. In those long nights, I would stay with him when you were busy. He said he loved Sherrie more than any woman he had ever met, and they wanted to get married, but he knew you didn’t like her. He never wanted to hurt us by putting any woman between his relationship with us, so he broke up with her by breaking her heart and sleeping with another woman. Don’t you have his journals?”

Shaking her head, Tori said, “After he passed, I packed all his things up and put them in my attic. I was too heartbroken to go through anything.” She didn’t mention the shame of being selfish and trying to keep her father all to herself. “Once his house was sold and we split all the other things, I couldn’t think of him anymore without crying for a long time.” Tori was feeling a punch in her gut. “He never told me anything. I was only sixteen. A child. Daddy spoiled both of us.”

Malea flinched. “He made up for us losing our mother. He spoiled you, but being spoiled doesn’t mean you have to be mean to other people, Tori, because you wanted Daddy all to yourself.”

Gritting her teeth, Tori said, “You’re still complicit. Just because Daddy didn’t know about what you did, you did fan the flames.”

Her sister shrugged. “My conscience is clear, but I know yours isn’t. I heard what you did a month ago.”

Tori kept her expression inquisitive as if she wasn’t following where her sister was going.

“Sherri’s hospital bills? Her double mortgage? Her car paid off? Tori, I know it was you who paid them.”

“I felt that with her health issues, it would have been something Daddy would have done. He was always benevolent and caring.”

Malea snickered, “Don’t give me that shit. Inner guilt was probably racking your gut.”

“That’s not it,” she denied. “I attended the old church’s fiftieth anniversary, and someone told me of her financial predicament. I donated to help.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Tori. It’s your money,” Malea said with a shrug. “Bet those boys are happy about that, though. I know Shawn’s a foot doctor of some kind, but Kevin’s just a cheap drunk mechanic, and Duncan is working as a sous chef. All together they wouldn’t have been able to put together that kind of money to pay everything off.”

“I didn’t do it to get on their radar.”

Her sister started going down the list of other guys who had crushes on her.

Tori was glad Malea moved on to another subject. When their tri-monthly lunch was over, Tori booked out of there and had the car services returned to the eight-unit apartment building, which she owned. It was one of the things she’d heavily invested in after their father died.

Initially, she purchased a sixteen-unit building and then combined it with the two adjacent properties.

The closest property she tore down to create a courtyard, walking area, pond, and park. The other one was a small elementary school, and she was trying to open a small group home for the elderly, complete with a gym, a weight room, a business center, and a small grocery store.

The school was very old, and after the plumbing was replaced, she was experiencing problems with the electricity, but couldn’t figure out where the issue was located within the building.

This was one of her father’s dream projects, and Tori was determined to carry it to fruition.

Staying at the apartment building was easy for her to manage all the projects, even though she could have earned more money by renting out the unit. She intended to do this, but for now, the four-bedroom apartment was her comfort zone. Being an extreme introvert, Tori loved to walk around the house in tank tops and thick socks, all while running her business and pursuing her hobby of weaving. She made and sold rugs as a side passion. After graduating from college with a degree in Business Administration, Tori devoted her life to caring for and being with her father, leaving her personal life behind. There were men, but not full-time relationships, and there were loves, but the fact that she cared for her father got in the way.

Now she was about to turn thirty-five with no prospects on the table, but at peace with herself.

Perhaps her sister was slightly right. Subconsciously, Tori had given hell to many of the women her father dated because she had wanted him all to herself. Yet why hadn’t her father expressed himself to her instead of telling Malea about it all?

Tori would have quelled her pettiness and let her father be happy. And if her father wanted to see Sherrie before he passed, she would have made it possible, but her father never said a word to her.

Additionally, Sherrie couldn’t have been that upset about her father. A year after their breakup, she married a mechanic and thrived in a nice part of town with him for a while. Although she divorced ten years later, she received a substantial amount of money from her ex. As for her sons, Tori knew more about what had happened to them than her sister did. Kevin and Dunca were grown and gone, while Shawn spent his last year in a private school in Chicago, away from his mother and her new man.

He had graduated at the top of his class, received a scholarship from Wayne State University, and then earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan, ultimately becoming a podiatrist.

Tori closed the laptop because her mouse lingered too long over the message button on Shawn’s social media.

What could she possibly say? Remember me? You’re the guy who gave me my first kiss? Would he remember meeting her behind the garage, pulling her body against his, and pressing his warm lips against hers?

Licking her lips, she remembered the taste of peanuts, but his woodsy scent had made her senses heady. And then he whispered, “Forget this ever happened, and tell no one, Tori.”

A strange first kiss, but one that was very memorable for her.

Reopening the laptop and staring at Shawn’s picture, she saw he was still a high yellow like his mother, but thicker than she remembered. From his other pictures, she saw that he had grown to about six feet, and there was a picture with his brothers. Duncan was about two inches taller than Kevin and Shawn, who were both the same height.

Feeling a real sense of guilt, the picture she stared at was them standing side by side at their mother’s memorial. She had to close the laptop again. Hopefully, the money had been enough to pay off the guilt she had been feeling.

Tori bit her lip, remembering calling Sherrie, “A high yellow whore.” Of course, her father wasn’t around, and when Sherrie told her father what his daughter said, Tori feigned innocence and accused Sherrie of lying on her. She then burst into tears and ran into her father’s arms, doing her best, blubbering and having a partial panic attack.

Her father and Sherrie had been about to go on some stupid third anniversary dinner date, but seeing how upset Tori was becoming, her father canceled the date and made Sherrie go home so he could calm his daughter down. In the past, Tori had gotten so good at pretending a panic attack that her father had taken her to the hospital, and she was so good that the hospital staff solidified that she had a real panic attack.

As Sherrie walked away, Tori made sure she looked back and licked her tongue out at Sherrie.

It had been an awful thing to do, but Tori felt Sherrie should have understood that Tori was just a child -a very spoiled child.

Now Tori felt her life of loneliness was her Karma for what she had done. No one was good enough.

Her current life was really all her father’s fault. He’d indulged her, pampered her, and given her attention twenty-four/seven. Any other relationship with any other man had never compared. Her father came when she called, gave her all of his time wherever she wanted, and forsaken everyone to keep her company.

She could expect no less, but found other men couldn’t do that.

Malea often teased that it would take two men to satisfy Tori, but Tori just felt she could do better by herself.

Having only one man was difficult because, in real life, men wanted the same kind of attention she craved, but Tori was unwilling to give it. Her father failed to teach her that, and now Tori was a grown woman who selfishly loved to indulge in herself and no one else.

Once in a while, there were companions, one-night stands, and occasional romps to sate some needs, but anything more was never going to happen, and Tori was okay with that.

Opening the laptop again, Tori flitted to Shawn’s current social media post. He announced that he had recently been divorced. His wife of eighteen years left him, and he was making a life for himself. They’d had twins who’d recently left for college. He tagged his brothers in the post because, in the picture, he was at a Mexican restaurant celebrating with his brother, toasting his new singlehood. “We’re all eligible bachelors now!”

Of course, there were women in all his comments luring him to call them, but Tori wouldn’t take the bait and say anything.

In the picture, Kevin and Duncan still looked as handsome as Shawn. In fact, Kevin resembled an older version of Shawn, and Duncan was a more mature, thicker version of Shawn. Why she never noticed the similarities until now was odd. They all had strong faces, defined jawlines, and wide grins with beautiful, white teeth. Kevin was doing more of a smirk than a smile, and she could see a little bloodshot in his eyes, indicating he had drunk too much.

Closing the laptop again, Tori ran herself a bath. This ritual was how she relaxed when she was very tense.

After soaking herself in the hot water for about an hour, she reached over to her cabinet by the tub and pulled out her special waterproof toy. A half hour later, feeling even more relaxed, Tori adjourned to her bedroom to find a crime thriller movie, lying in bed with some homemade baked sweet potato rounds and cream cheese with a cheap bottle of wine.

This was her life, and she was okay with it. She was fine.

***

“Are you busy?”

Her sister’s text at nine the next morning caught her off guard.

Unless it was their lunch date or Christmas time, Malea hardly ever texted her, and not so soon after they had lunch for anything casual. Most of the time, if her niece or nephew wanted something or needed her, they’d contact her themselves.

“No,” Tori replied in a text.

“There’s a geriatric luncheon at the hospital’s main campus at noon, and there are some spaces. I was asked if there was someone I wanted to invite to fill the seats. Would you like to come around noon? It’s free. And I thought it would be a nice opportunity for your group home endeavor.”

It would be nice. Very nice.

Tori replied immediately, “Yes, and thank you. I’ll be there.”

Her sister shot her details. Since this was a networking event, she chose a blue business outfit that fit snugly around her waist to accentuate her hourglass figure, and the two-and-a-half-inch blue pumps gave her a nice five-foot-seven height that didn’t make her look short. Malea was five feet six inches tall and hated wearing heels.

Make-up was essential whenever Tori went out, highlighting her dark brown chestnut eyes with a sprinkled cinnamon swirl. The natural long lashes enhanced her eyes. A nice light brown eyeliner under and over her eyes brought out her color, and with a light blue eyeshadow to match her outfit, she appreciated her soft look.

Pressing the auto start on her key chain, she huffed, remembering she needed to take her Subaru Crosstrek to the dealership to get that fixed, but she never seemed to have the time. Fortunately, she at least had a full gas tank, as that was something she often forgot to check.

Her father used to take her tank to get filled.

Driving to the main area from her home on the east side of Detroit took about forty minutes because of lunchtime traffic on I-94, but she knew how to navigate through the parking traffic. Instead of using valet, she parked in the underground parking lot on the lowest floor, near the elevators. Her favorite place. It was secluded, private, and hardly anyone went down that far, so she could get good parking and not worry about too many people around her vehicle. Before getting out of the car, she swept up her naturally wavy hair into a quick French twist, leaving two braids on the right side to give a nice, casual yet business-like look. Lastly, she applied a dark red lipstick because she’d forgotten her caramel lipstick, which matched her lip color at home, and this was the only one available in the car.

Of course, the hospital’s main campus was buzzing, and Tori was glad she had a good night’s sleep to recharge her social battery. None of these people would know she’d gotten her rocks off in a fantasy with Shawn Carter, Tori surmised, giggling to herself.

Arriving at the room where the luncheon was being held, Tori registered and was seated towards the back, but that suited her perfectly.

There was a guest speaker from the City of Detroit’s senior department, and after their talk, everyone had finished eating, but Tori didn’t bother getting a plate. Eating in public wasn’t her forte.

“You didn’t eat,” a deep, melodious voice said behind her.

She turned to the table near her and gasped. As she lived and breathed, Shawn Carter was there!

___ *** ___

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Her Substitute Husband… His Brothers (c) 2025 Sylvia Hubbard All Rights Reserved

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