Chapter 14
“Nice of you to make time for your sister,” Layla said the next day with a goofy grin as Ariel sat down to have lunch with her.
“Haha. How long has it been exactly since you hooked up with, let’s see… four men and disappeared off the face of the earth for days on end?” she snarked.
Layla laughed. “Okay, fine. But tell me, how are you?” Her expression switched to a more serious one. She glanced around. “They aren’t going to join us, right? I get you all to myself for lunch?”
Ariel rolled her eyes. “Yes. They already ate. They’re in the gym. Working off their excess energy, I hope. Well, Kes and Tarin at least. Tarin has this new mission to get stronger and have more self-defense under his belt, some macho thing he’s decided he needs so he can protect me. Stu is out on a mission.” She shifted her weight and drew in a breath, trying not to think about Stu.
“That’s his job, you know? And Kester’s too.”
“Yep. I’m clear.” She picked up her fork and pushed broccoli around on her plate.
Layla reached out and set a hand on her wrist. “It gets easier.”
“I kind of understand why he lost his marbles when I left for the clothing mission.”
“Now multiply what you think he felt by ten times because you’re a woman. People are less likely to mess with Stuart. He’s gigantic and he doesn’t have a uterus.”
Ariel nodded. She was right. “I was a bit hard on him about that trip.”
Layla shrugged. “Hey, I’m not saying you shouldn’t do what you need to do for you. You absolutely should. The clothing mission was for your job, just like Stu is out helping bring more people into the fold for his job. I’m just suggesting you maybe recognize how scared your men will be when you’re gone.”
Ariel glanced around and then lowered her voice. “He made me promise I won’t leave the compound without him or Kes in the future.”
“I think that’s reasonable. As long as it’s okay with you. No reason to piss them off by being defiant about their concerns just to dig your heels in. Hell, after my first trip above ground which took several years off the end of my family’s collective lives, they don’t let me go out without one of them either.”
“You’re right. It’s not unreasonable. Besides, then I won’t be separated from all of them at once.”
“See? Winning.” Layla smiled and took a bite of spaghetti. “Mmm. This is good. So, have you moved everything into their apartment?”
“Mostly. I just have a few more things to pick up from the Schamas’. It’s weird. Surreal, I guess. I’ve never slept with another person in my life, and I’ve had at least two men crowding me every time I’ve closed my eyes. They put off so much heat that I wake up sweating.”
Layla nodded. “You’ll get used to that part. Are you planning to stay in the same apartment? It only has two bedrooms, right?”
“For now. No one seems inclined to even use the other bedroom so far, so I guess we really only need one,” Ariel joked. “Surely they’ll eventually back off a bit and give me some breathing room, right?” she asked hopefully.
“Not a chance in hell.” Layla laughed. “If that’s something you want, you’ll need to ask for it. Demand it, I mean.”
Ariel sighed. “Demand it… Sure.”
Layla laughed again and shrugged. “You may be small, but you’re mighty. Make sure they don’t walk all over you.”
“I’ll try.”
“So, life is grand? Are you happy?”
“I am. I mean, we still have a lot of kinks to work out. It’s been less than two days really since we agreed to make our relationship official. Plus, there’s some old animosity between Tarin and Stuart that they’ve only begun to hash out. Kes and I don’t know much. Whatever it is, it goes back five years to the time Stuart first came to the compound, and honestly, Tarin doesn’t really know either. It’s a long story, but Stu is keeping a secret for someone, and I find it admirable that he keeps it.” It would be gossipy for Ariel to tell Layla the someone was Maya. She shouldn’t really know that herself. It wouldn’t be appropriate to tell Layla. It wouldn’t be appropriate to tell anyone. There was no reason for her to stick her nose in anyone else’s history.
Layla nodded. “That is admirable, but I hate that it put a rift between your men for five years.”
Ariel shrugged. “Yes, but on the flip side, my presence has brought them back together. So there’s that. And I’m glad they’ve at least set their past aside to please me, but I worry it will blow up in their faces one of these days.”
“Maybe they can let it go for good now that they have a good reason to kiss and make up,” Layla suggested.
Ariel shook her head. “Let’s hope.” She set her fork down and leaned closer. “Can I ask you something personal?”
“Of course.” Layla leaned in too.