Chapter 54
Evan
“You look ridiculous.” Seb holds up his phone, taking a picture. He promptly lowers it, frowning. “Say something back. Why are you so quiet?”
“No reason.” I grin at him, then remember Ariana told me not to move my mouth too much.
The woman in question walks out of the bathroom, looking down at her hands. She has more masks in them, alongside one on her face matching mine. “I’ve got a cucumber, rose water, ginseng, and a lemon one. Oh, did you want a sheet mask too?” She looks up at Seb.
I reply for him. “He’s not a fan. He thinks they’re ridiculous.”
The dark haired alpha shoots me a glare. “He misheard me. I said the way he put it on was meticulous.”
Ariana’s face may be concealed, but her scent swelling reveals how pleased she is with her work. “Of course it was. I put it on for him.”
“No wonder it looks good. You look so cute too, bunny. Can you put one on me as well?”
I snort and smooth the damp material back against my face. I’ve never seen this man act so fake. The only genuine part was him calling her cute.
Unfortunately, I understand him. It’s unbearably adorable how Ariana bites her lip and widens her eyes in concentration as she applies the mask. Sebastian sits completely still, one hand on her hips as she gets to work.
She takes a step back, nodding in satisfaction. “Do you feel moisturized?”
“I’ve never been moister in my life.” He responds back, making me cackle.
Nico and Jace filter into the nesting room, joining us in Ariana’s skincare adventure. Once all our faces have been softened to her satisfaction, she cuddles up to us in the nest.
“What about an instrument?” Nico suggests.
The conversation’s somehow found its way to helping Ariana find a new hobby. Now that she has the freedom to do whatever she wants, it seems like she’s run into a bit of decision paralysis.
Not with the pistachio alpha’s idea though. She turns that one down promptly. “I’m tone deaf,” she explains.
“You said you wanted to go to school before, right?” Seb inputs. “You could study if you wanted to.”
Ariana and I both perk up at that. “We can go together,” I point out. We could have little dates, grab coffee, I could carry her book bag, we can study and make out in the library. It’s a brilliant idea.
“Are you encouraging it to have a campus romance or for Ariana’s education’s sake?” Jace asks me flatly, although there’s amusement on his features.
I must have sounded too enthusiastic. “Both.” I answer him honestly. Ariana blows me a kiss and I pretend to catch it and press it to my own lips.
Grinning widely, I can’t believe she used to be shy around us. She used to be quiet. She chats up a storm now. Not that I have any complains, I love the sound of her voice.
Jace turns towards her. “On a more serious note, I’m happy to help you with the application.”
“What would you study, art?” Nico pulls a blanket over himself. This is why none of his suggestions have worked. His only real hobbies are napping and whatever health fad is trending.
“Yeah, graphic design ideally,” Ariana chirps happily. “That’s what I did when I first moved to the city.”
Seb claps his hands. “We’ll have to get you a drawing tablet then. What else? You need a hobby just for fun.”
“Drawing is fun.” She chides him playfully. “But you’re right.” She thinks his words over.
“You could come to the gym with us.” Seb recommends.
Ariana tilts her head. “I don’t know about the gym, exactly. Boxing and basketball were fun, though.”
“Great! That’s another one down,” Nico says encouragingly. “Exercise is always good.”
The omega does a cute little dance with her shoulders at that. She looks between me and Nico. “I know I’m not good at it, but it would be fun to help you guys in the kitchen too.”
From the corner of my eye, I see Jace grimace. “That’s a great idea,” I praise her with a grin.
“Maybe it’s time I learn to cook too,” Seb muses thoughtfully.
I have to fake a cough to cover my laugh now. All of the color has left Jace’s already pale face. He may as well be wearing the sheet mask again.
It’s like I can read his thoughts. Being the guinea pig for Hurricane Ariana’s meals is already scary enough at times. Adding Seb to the mix sounds like a recipe for disaster. There’s a reason he and Jace are restricted to the dining table while we prepare meals.
“Maybe we start with Ariana first.” Nico suggests gently, making Jace send him a thankful look. “We wouldn’t want there to be too many cooks in the kitchen.”
“And I was thinking,” the omega pauses hesitantly, making us nod in encouragement. “Would it be okay if I joined social media too? I thought it would be nice to see how some of my old friends are doing.”
Old habits die hard. We can’t expect her to undo all conditioning from the bastards right away. She’s made a huge improvement already, and all we can do is help her make more.
“Of course you can. You don’t have to ask for our permission.” Seb gently reminds her.
Planting myself in the nest next to her, I fish my phone out of my pocket. “Here, I’ll help you. Lucky me, I get to be your first follower. Does that mean I’m your biggest fan?”
Ariana nestles into my side, pulling out her phone.
I’ll have to go get one of those charms to match with her too soon.
In the meantime, we download apps and set up her profiles together, Seb leaning over my shoulder to comment throughout the process.
This is Coates Industries bread and butter, after all.
Firstly, I add her on each of our accounts. “Let’s take a picture.” I suggest.
Nico takes over her phone since he’s the furthest out. We squeeze together, shoulder to shoulder in the nest.
“Send that to me please,” I ask, passing the phone back to Ariana. We look for her old friends next. It buzzes as they follow her back. She giggles, reading out their surprised DMs, recounting her childhood stories with them, comments on who moved where or got married.
We’ve seen her happy before. But seeing her happy when she’s completely unburdened is twice as precious. I plant a kiss on her cheek, closing my eyes to let the sound of her voice and her calming chamomile scent lull me to sleep.