8. Maya
Maya
Ilooked up at the shadow covering our table, and my eyes widened. Holy crap. She was so freaking pretty. When she looked at me next to Henry, her face turned violent, and my heart began to race. That menace and deranged aggression reminded me of my mother.
“Henry, darling.” She leaned forward, her blouse opening, and my eyes flashed to her…
Holy crap, those couldn’t be real. Who was this lady?
She had the body of a thirty-year-old, and her face was very smooth, like a doll.
Her hair was a weird white color that was dark at the roots.
I had to admit, I was confused by her, but she was beautiful in a very unique way.
Why didn’t my body look like that? Was it wrong that I was kind of jealous?
“Is this your new foster sister?” she asked harshly. “She looks so little. What are you, kid, like fourteen?”
Before I could stop myself, a growl built in my throat.
Ledger covered it with a cough, but I turned my body so I was shielding my boys from her.
Even Malloy was temporarily included. He was a goofy guy, but I was starting to think we could be friends…
just not the same type of friend I was with the other boys.
I was getting really frustrated with not having a word to describe how I was feeling.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” I stated, keeping my eyes and expression neutral.
Her face darkened. “That’s because I didn’t give it to you.”
“Well, that’s a bit rude, isn’t it? I get it, though. Maybe manners aren’t your thing, or you didn’t learn proper introductions? Whatever the case, I’m Maya.”
I put out my hand, and the woman’s face turned red.
Still no introduction, but Henry was silently shaking next to me.
“Henry,” she said, her voice sugary-sweet, “darling, are we going out tonight? My parents aren’t home, so if you want to come over… The twins can also join—my friends don’t have plans.”
My lips pressed together as another growl bubbled up. She couldn’t be their friend. They were mine.
Henry sighed and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’m not free tonight, Becky.”
So her name was Becky?
“With work?” She narrowed her eyes on me. I wondered what he would say.
“No.” He massaged my scalp gently. “The lot of us are busy every night for the foreseeable future.”
My skin shivered as I leaned back into him. Becky offered me a glare, malice flashing in her eyes, and walked away.
Wow, her skirt was way shorter than mine. It was sort of impressive. I sighed and looked back at Henry, his eyes warm on my face as Malloy looked over the four of us.
“Thanks, peanut.” Anani winked. “You looked like you were going to tear off her head.”
“Sounds messy,” I mumbled.
“Firefly”—Ledger looked pointedly at my sandwich—“eat up.”
Malloy lifted a brow with an almost teasing curiosity after examining our interaction for another moment. “So I have to ask, Maya—are you single?”
I jumped as a ripple of growls and low chest noises had Malloy swearing, his eyes lit with humor. Poor guy.
He put his hands up. “Alright, fine. Never mind. I’m just going to assume she’s with all of you.”
“Good assumption,” Anani bit out.
“So I’m with all of you?” I frowned and asked Henry, “What does that mean, exactly?”
The bell rang as Malloy frowned, and all my guys stood up, somehow avoiding my question. I smiled, trying to not overthink it as Ledger helped me up, the other two walking behind us slowly. I looked up at the orange-tipped hair of my friend. Today he wore a comfy hoodie with a bright neon design.
“Ledger?” I asked curiously, “could I get a hoodie like yours?”
He flashed me a beautiful smile that had me smiling in return. “Do you want it right now, firefly?”
My lips pressed together, trying to suppress my hope. “But then you’ll be cold.”
Ledger stopped, and my throat went dry as he tugged his hoodie up and the polo underneath rode up. I made a panicked sound because my body reacted, heating to the sight of his smooth, muscular abdomen. He had tattoos as well. I wanted to see more of those.
“Maya?” he asked, handing me the sweatshirt.
I snapped my eyes up, blushing at being caught. “Thanks.”
He helped me tug it on, and once it was over, he leaned closer against my ear to whisper, “Never be embarrassed for looking at me, Maya. I’m always looking at you.”
Oh.
I really needed to figure out what was going on here—this was getting confusing.
Obviously, I knew I was friends with these men…
but there was this pulsing in my chest that told me they were so much more.
I just had never experienced anything like it, so I didn’t know what it felt like to want to be with someone romantically.
Was this normal, this intense attraction?
It was overwhelming and perfect at the same time—I felt like we naturally fit into one another's lives.
“I’m going to go use the washroom,” I said suddenly, rushing through the door. My heart was beating so fast. What was going on with me?
“Hey.” The red-haired girl from my first-period class stood in front of the mirror. “You’re Maya, right?”
I nodded and pressed my hands against the counter, trying to regulate my breathing. If she noticed, she didn’t comment. Instead, she hopped up onto the counter and offered me a grin. “I’m Jordan McFury.”
“Nice to meet you.” I smiled, trying to not betray how breathless I currently felt.
The woman was taller than me and wispy in stature.
I could see a soft kindness radiating from her deep green eyes, and it comforted me.
I was terrible around women because of my mother; they made me nervous. Not her, though. She seemed nice.
“I’m so sorry you had to deal with Becky.” She groaned. “She is the worst. Absolutely awful. You seemed to hold your own, though.”
“She really didn’t like me,” I stated with a slight frown.
“That’s because you’re with them.” She nodded towards the door, as if motioning to my boys outside.
“She’s been gunning for one of them since freshman year, and now you’re here less than two days and those boys are all over you.
Actually, it’s worse than that—they’re like straight-up obsessed with you.
I mean, that’s probably dramatic, but also maybe not because they’ve been warning everyone off.
We’ve all heard how possessive dragons can be about their mates, but man, I don’t think any of us actually considered how bad it would be. ”
“What do you mean ‘gunning for them’?” I hadn’t missed the ‘possessive dragon’ or ‘mate’ remarks, but the idea of Becky interacting with my friends took center stage in my brain. I didn’t like her doing anything in reference to them.
She kicked her legs while sitting forward. “So you know Marco, right? The older one.”
I blushed, and her eyes popped open.
“It is all of them, isn’t it?” She grinned and clapped. “Shifter society is so much easier to deal with.”
“Shifter society?” I tilted my head.
“Oh, don’t act so naive.” She teased. “I’m a wolf shifter. Half this school is part of one shifter community or another. For example, that asshole Lorn is an alpha for a small bear pack ten miles from here.”
Okay, once again, I would totally ask about shifters later. For now, there was other information I was more interested in.
“So what about Marco?”
“Well, he’s rich!” she exclaimed dramatically. “Like, I mean, really fucking rich. Like his company is worth billions. Billions! Though you probably know that already.”
“Wow,” I whispered, more to myself. “I didn’t know that.”
“But she’s gone after each of them,” Jordan continued with enthusiasm.
“She’s the worst, besides Lorn. My pack is pretty cool, though.
I mean, my dad is alpha, so if it wasn’t, I would be pissed.
You’ll have to come to our pack lands sometime.
Wolf shifters can be aggressive, but most of us are okay.
Plus my dad loves Marco, so I can’t imagine it’ll be an issue to arrange. ”
“Sounds cool.” I flashed a smile. How else was I supposed to react to what she was saying? Jordan didn’t seem aggressive at all, but maybe she was different than the others in her pack? Wait, was she saying she was part of a pack of wolves?
“Oh, another question,” she bubbled out, and I realized I was completely relaxed because of her excitement. “Is your voice naturally like that?”
“Yeah,” I muttered, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. “I had an injury a while ago.”
“That is so cool,” she exclaimed. “I mean, not that you got hurt, but it sounds so unique.”
The warning bell for class rang, so Jordan hopped up and hooked arms with me, leading me into the hallway. “Here give me your phone.”
I handed it to her, and she quickly typed in a number, kissed my cheek, and waltzed into the classroom, leaving me blinking in her wake.
“Maya,” Ledger said, snagging me into his arms. I blushed as the eyes of students still in the hallway bore into us, so I turned into his warm chest.
“I just met Jordan.”
“That’s good.” He flashed a smile, his eyes never leaving mine, before his expression turned serious. “But I need to apologize.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable earlier, firefly. I would never try to embarrass you or make you feel bad.”
I pressed my lips together, but my words came out anyway. “I wasn’t embarrassed, I just couldn’t think around you. My heart was beating super fast.”
A warmth spilled into his eyes as he tilted his head. “So you were looking at me.”
Something occurred to me then, and I spoke freely, trying to distract myself from the butterflies.
“Jordan said some things, and I’m a bit confused.
She said she was the daughter of an alpha and part of these ‘shifter communities.’ She said Lorn was a bear and that Becky was ‘gunning for you guys’ because you’re rich.
What does she mean by all that? After the things she said, I really don’t think the group of us are acting like friends. I’m just confused?—”
“Maya.” Ledger put a thumb on my lips. “Breathe.”
Once I’d calmed down, he answered, “For now, let’s wait on the shifter aspect until we get home, okay?”
I nodded.
“As for the friend thing, you’re right. Friends don’t act like us.”
I knew we would be late to class, but I leaned into him for comfort anyway as I asked, “How are we different? Why?” I was hoping this would clarify some of the intense emotions rattling through me.
Ledger swallowed, worrying his lip. “I think we should talk about this later. Just know that most people don’t act like this with their friends.”
“So this isn’t how I should act toward all my friends?” I rose a brow.
“Absolutely not,” Anani growled softly from behind me. I jumped a little, but his large, warm hands smoothed my waist. My ribs were still tender, but it wasn’t terrible, and his hands made it feel better.
Those embers grew hotter inside of my stomach. Why did I only feel like this around them? It was like my chest was warming, and a voice inside of me was humming happily.
“Huh?” I asked, confused. “So how do I know, then?”
Henry chuckled, walking forward with his hands in his pockets. “Yes Anani, how does she know who gets this special treatment?”
Ledger smoothed my hair thoughtfully. “Only us six, firefly.”
Anani nodded. “Yeah, peanut. Just us six.”
“But you can make more friends, sweetheart,” Henry added.
Ledger grunted at the same time Anani made a distressed sound. Henry rolled his eyes and tugged me into his side. “Don’t listen to them; you can be friends with whoever you want. Just…” He hesitated. “Maybe keep touching them to a minimum.”
I nodded and admitted, “I don’t really like touching other people, but it’s different with you guys. Plus, I sincerely doubt anyone else will want to be friends with me. Don’t worry.”
We walked into class late, Henry making a concerned noise, though I wasn’t sure why.
Our teacher raised a dark brow. “Class has started, please be seated.”
The four of us scuttled to sit down, and I found myself wedged between the twins once more, shivering under the coolness of the open window. A damp wind pushed through the room with a vigor that reminded me of my nights in the basement.
“Sinner.” Hit one from father. “You kneel on the floor because you’re a sinner.”
“Sinner.” Hit two from mother. “We’re going to beat the devil from you.”
“Sinner.” Hit three, father again. “On the floor like the beast you are.”
“Sinner.” Hit four, mother again.
“Maya,” Ledger whispered with concern. His hands were wrapped around my trembling ones as my eyes refocused. I could feel a cool wetness against my cheek that confused me, and I moved my hand up to brush away the offensive moisture.
I blinked, trying to ignore the three intense stares and focus on the task at hand.
I didn’t want them to know how broken I was. When I was alone, no one was around to see me cry. No one was around to see the freak I was, the absolute devil I was. Now that I had people who made me feel wanted, I was in no hurry to lose them.
“What the hell happened in there?” Anani asked as we walked to the gym.
I swallowed and shook my head, my lip tilting down without permission.
“Maya.” Ledger attempted to grab my hand.
“I’m fine.” I crossed my arms tight enough to hold myself together. “Really. Just a bad memory.”
“What caused it?” Henry asked, his warm hand brushing my back.
I shook my head, trying to gather myself. “Let’s focus on class, okay?”
I heard three dissatisfied sounds, then Ledger muttered, “Fine.”
Except as the twins entered the locker room, I was gently tugged back by Henry. His eyes swirled with a dark shade, and a warm shiver crawled across my skin from the energy circulating around us.
“You can’t keep saying you don’t want to talk about it, Maya,” he said quietly.
I licked my lips and shrugged. “It was a bad memory—what is there to talk about?”
Henry’s eyes darkened, but he kissed my forehead and nodded toward the locker room.
He was right. Friends didn’t keep secrets, and I was keeping a lot of them.
Once in the locker room, I changed and tied up my tennis shoes.
Looking at the second-hand shoes, I wondered how I would go about getting a job so I could afford new ones.
There were so many things I didn’t understand, so many elements of living ‘normal life’ that I was just being exposed to, and it felt like I had no time to catch up.
The boys were waiting for me as I came out of the locker room, and when Anani grasped my hand, pulling me towards our class, I felt a surge of guilt. I should’ve told him to stop…but I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to tell him that he could never be anything other than my friend.
They deserved to know, though. I was being selfish, and they deserved better.
I really did have a devil inside me.