12. Maya
Maya
“You burned off her hair?” Sai grinned, his eyes glinting with something I didn’t recognize.
“Only half of it, and I have no idea how I did it.” I yawned, and Atlas turned to me with a worried look.
“Did you not sleep well?”
“I did, I’ve just had a lot of new experiences these past few days.”
“Well, you’re about to have another,” Marco noted. “We’re stopping at the mall before going home.”
Home. I wished it was my home.
Wasn’t that the hardest part about all this?
I could defend and protect my boys all I wanted, but at the end of the day, Becky was right.
They weren’t mine, and eventually they may leave this area—probably for one of Marco’s fancy business trips that the twins had mentioned in passing.
I’d be left driving past their massive empty mansion every so often.
Oh wait! I didn’t even flippin’ know how to drive.
I felt my lips dip slightly before I could hide it.
“What’s wrong?” Sai asked immediately.
“Nothing.” I shook my head, not wanting to bother him with it.
I squeaked as the car came to a stop, and both Marco and Atlas looked back at me as well. Cars honked around us, and I raised my brows because while I didn’t know much about driving, I knew this wasn’t right.
Marco repeated Sai’s question. “What’s wrong?”
“It really isn’t worth having all these angry humans honk at you.”
“Maya,” Atlas demanded.
I sighed. “I was just thinking about how long the six of you were planning to stay in the area. I heard you talking about Marco’s international businesses, and it made me sad to realize you may leave eventually. Now come on, I don’t like the honking noise.”
Marco frowned. “Why would we leave?”
“We wouldn’t leave you, Maya,” Sai pointed out.
Now I was frustrated. You couldn’t just say that to someone. You couldn’t just say you wouldn’t leave them. They couldn’t promise me that.
I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair. “Can we please go?” I turned away, looking out the window until we started moving again.
Before I knew it, we’d arrived at an open-air mall. Didn’t seem very smart to me, considering the weather.
I shook myself, determined to be in a good mood while we were here.
Marco’s hand caught mine, and I smiled up at him, liking how his rough palm felt against my soft one. His eyes searched my face before offering me a smile as well. Butterflies jumped in the center of my chest as I focused on the steps ahead.
“He’s right, you know,” he said as we stepped onto a covered walkway. “We wouldn’t leave you.”
I frowned. “You have to stop saying stuff like that, Marco.”
He made a low noise and paused, tilting my chin up. “Why would I stop?”
I was glad the other two had walked ahead. “Marco, I’m barely friend material, let alone someone you should base your life around. If you guys have to leave town, then you have to leave.”
His eyes darkened. “What do you mean you’re barely friend material?”
I shrugged. “I’m a bit weird. I growl. I set people’s hair on fire, and my mother has yet to be proven wrong about the devil thing. I’m just saying you could do a lot better.”
A low rumble came from his throat as he shook his head. “I really hope your birthday is sooner than Saturday.”
“What?”
“Then you’ll understand what’s going on here, honey,” he muttered, fixing me with a demanding gaze. “Do something for me?”
“Sure,” I whispered.
“For the next few days, just enjoy this, okay? I promise you, we aren’t going anywhere. In fact, I think you’ll find we’re going to grow a bit overbearing.”
“Impossible,” I mumbled.
His smile softened as he slipped an arm around my waist. “Come on. I have to prove to you the overbearing aspect of my personality.”
I grinned. “Doubtful, but I’m willing to give it a chance.”
Overbearing may have been too mild a word.
The three of them were insane. Actually insane. I was buried in a pile of things I had no idea what to do with, and every time I insisted they didn’t need to buy it, they did. The worst part? It was my own curiosity’s fault. I liked touching and looking at things. Especially glittery things.
Who the heck could live without glitter in their life? Now that I’d found it, I wanted to toss glitter onto and into everything.
I didn’t realize it at first, but whenever I showed an interest in an item, it ended up being brought to the dressing room. Now I was standing with the clothing lady, feeling absolutely overwhelmed.
“I don’t understand why they’re doing this,” I muttered.
“Be happy.” She chuckled. “Some man spending this much money on me? I wouldn’t refuse.”
I frowned though. Wasn’t that the point? They didn’t need to do this. In fact, I preferred they didn’t. I looked around, knowing they were waiting, and planned to tell them what I thought. I picked up a light pink jacket.
“This jacket is one of my favorites,” she commented as she helped me shrug into it, running a belt through the loops around my waist. “See? It has a bow in the back.”
I turned my head, and it did, in fact, have a bow in the back. It was actually really pretty.
With a nod, I walked out to the boys, all of them looked up with big smiles. I flushed and paused. “What?”
“Freakin’ adorable,” Sai muttered.
Marco tilted his head and grinned. “Does that have a bow on the back?”
I nodded and turned, Atlas chuckling and making a comment about some sort of present. I remembered my mission then.
“Listen.” I turned towards them. “I really like the stuff, but I can’t accept all this. I won’t use your money.”
“We’re buying it either way, so you either pick what you want or go with whatever we choose for you,” Marco explained.
Sai offered me a smirk. “To be honest, I like the sound of that.”
“I’m only buying what I need,” I stated, crossing my arms. I wasn’t budging on this.
Atlas whistled. “Damn Marco, she’s actually serious.”
Marco stood and walked forward slowly. My heart beat faster and faster with every step, and I didn’t realize I’d been backing up until the large man had me caged against the wall. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.
“Why?” he demanded softly.
“Because I don’t want to spend your money. Friendships are supposed to be equal, and this isn’t equal,” I stated gently but confidently.
Those darkening eyes searched mine as he made a frustrated noise before muttering something to the tune of ‘Why the fuck do I have this money then?’
I raised a brow as he backed off, and Sai offered me a cheeky smile. “Impressive, Maya.”
“Oh! I meant to ask, yesterday when I was leaving, you said ‘mate’…”
All the men’s eyes widened in warning as the store attendant walked out, so I turned and offered her a smile, hoping they’d answer my question later.
She led me back into the dressing room, and for the next hour had me try on an assortment of outfits, some winter and some summer, all of them very pretty.
Labels that said ‘Ralph Lauren’ and ‘Brooks Brothers’ passed me, and when she asked what I wanted to wear out of here, I stopped, confused.
I looked at my uniform, and she laughed.
“I heard they’re taking you out to an early dinner,” she whispered conspiratorially. “Want me to pick?”
“Sure.” I nodded, and she handed me a black A-line skirt with a bow at the waist and a purple sweater that tucked into it.
The neckline was edged in lace that matched the pattern of the tights she handed me.
Before I changed into everything, including the leather boots she offered, she held up a finger as if forgetting something.
“I grabbed these while you were talking to the guys.” She pulled out a cart, and my eyes went wide.
Holy crap. I’d never seen that many pairs of lace thongs and boyshorts and bras in my life.
Which wasn’t surprising, but there were lace items that crossed and hooked and did a bunch of other stuff I wasn’t sure of.
She chuckled and patted my hand. “I’m going to pack it all up. I went with a lot of lace and pastel as well as some darker colors for the winter. But first try this one. It’s a 34B, so I imagine it’ll fit.”
I wasn’t shy about my body at all, so I easily removed my thin white bra and underwear to trade for the purple lace items in her hand. I slid them on my body and instantly felt like I’d transformed into one of those magazine models. I squeaked in excitement.
As I mentioned, I was thin, but this made me look curvy. My breasts were pushed up, and the lace cut across my butt cheeks and emphasized my small waist. My dark hair was exceptionally curly today, adding to the effect. I looked good.
“Angel?” Atlas called. “You okay?”
“I’m great,” I confirmed in a shocking display of confidence.
“Oh Maker,” a deep voice boomed. Both of us turned and saw Atlas, who had peeked in to make sure.
His eyes raked over my body before he turned away, leaving the dressing room attendant laughing.
It got even worse as Sai and Marco both looked in, wanting to see what the fuss was about.
Sai just looked angry, and Marco had this odd, dazed expression before turning on his heel.
Oh! I bet they felt all weird and flushed like I had when I saw Ledger’s abs. I understood that.
“You’ve got those boys wrapped around your finger,” the attendant commented, grinning. “Ah, to be young again. Come on, let’s get you ready to go so I can organize for the rest of this to be delivered today.”
I frowned down at my finger because I wasn’t positive how to tell her the guys were much too big for that.
Once dressed, I tugged on the same pea coat but in black and organized my uniform in a tote bag that matched the dark purse I now owned. It was pretty neat. I walked out through the curtains to find all my men looking intently at me.
“I’m ready,” I announced.
“Oh, I’m ready as well,” Sai muttered, looking like he meant something else.