Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

EDEN

Marley groaned. "I have to admit that when Brock contacted me, I was a little dubious. But this… This is bliss." She leaned back in her pedicure chair and closed her eyes while the technician worked on her feet.

"This was exactly what I needed." Cat sat on the other side of me. "Honestly, I'm embarrassed I didn't think of it."

"Me too," Marley agreed.

"Me three," I said. "I have to admit I'm surprised Brock did. I always assumed he thought it was a waste of time and money, when Mum and I used to come here together."

I tried not to choke up at the thought of her, and our spa days. I wasn't going to let that ruin the thoughtful gesture from my boyfriend.

"People can change," Cat said. She should know.

"Maybe he thought it was a waste of money when your mother did it, but not for you," Marley said. "No offence, but it seems like your mother is spoilt already. Where you, my friend, are not nearly spoilt enough."

"That's sweet of you," I said. "That does sound like the way he thinks."

"He should think about putting you first," Cat said.

"Because he caused the trouble in the first place?" I asked. What would have happened if he'd been honest about his feelings for me from the start? I honestly had no idea. I liked him, and I was attracted to him, but back then, our lives were on different courses. At least, I thought they were. Looking back, it seemed like we were always intended to end up here, one way or another.

"I was going to say because you deserve to be pampered," Cat said. "But that does raise a lot of questions. He was really only with her because he wanted to be near you? I can't decide if that's romantic or creepy as fuck."

"What are you talking about?" Marley asked her. "Of course it's romantic as fuck. He held a candle for her for all those years. He did everything he could to be near her and take care of her. I can't think of anything sweeter."

"You find stalkers in romance books sweet," Cat pointed out.

Marley sniffed. "No I don't, I find them hot. What could be hotter than a man who's obsessed with you? One who'll do absolutely everything to be with you, even against all the odds?" She spoke in a dreamy tone.

"If you're talking about my father, I'm going to gag." Cat grimaced. "I've accepted that you're basically my stepmother, but I don't need to hear all the details."

"Maybe I was talking about Shaw," Marley said. "I remember the way he used to watch you whenever you entered a room. His behaviour was bordering on stalkerish."

"It was not," Cat protested. "He was just looking out for me. Just as well he was, or I wouldn't be here now."

"Which brings us back to stalkers being hot as hell," Marley said triumphantly. "And men willing to wait years for a woman are just as hot." She looked over at me and nodded firmly.

"So are men willing to book out an entire beauty salon so we can have a spa day," I said.

According to the owner of the salon, we had nails, facials and massages to come. The works. And then a car would pick us up and take us somewhere else. If I didn't fall asleep from all the spoiling.

"A-fucking-men," Marley agreed. "A man who thinks to involve the woman's two best friends is a good guy in my books. Although, you should have seen the looks I got from Toby and Cole when the car picked me up. I think both of them were also wishing they'd thought of this."

Cat laughed. "Mine are busy spoiling Sophie and hoping we have a good time together. All three of them said I work too much and deserve a break. Especially Shaw."

"That sounds like him," I said. He was one of the most protective men I'd ever met. If anyone so much as laid a finger on her, or looked at her the wrong way, they would have had to deal with him. I wouldn't like to get on the man's wrong side. Brock might threaten to stop people from seeing me, but Shaw would follow through with it.

"We should do this once a month," Marley said. "Just the three of us doing girly things and being looked after."

"It wouldn't surprise me if our guys were cooking up something to beat this," Cat said. "You know how competitive they can be."

"If they want to make competitive spoiling a sport, I'm a willing participant," Marley said with a dreamy smile. "I don't mind at all if they want to work to outdo each other. Bring it on."

"As long as we don't end up spoilt rotten," I said. I didn't want to end up like my mother.

"We couldn't be rotten if we tried," Marley said. "We're way too awesome for that." She put her nose in the air and smiled.

"Yes, we are," I agreed. "But we should spoil the guys in return."

They both looked at me with mock looks of outrage for the suggestion.

"Us? Spoil them?" Marley shook her head playfully. "What will they think of next?"

"Ha ha," I replied. "They deserve it as much as we do. In fact, they'd probably love having a spa day. I can imagine the guys all getting a pedicure. Maybe a facial too."

"They get massages at work," Cat pointed out. "Well, mine do." She pointed a finger at Marley. "I don't want to know if my father gets massages at his work."

Marley grinned. "Okay, then I won't tell you about the shoulder rubs."

Cat grimaced and placed her hands over her ears. In spite of that, her blue eyes shone with amusement.

"Seriously though, there's a difference between a massage for work and a massage for fun," Marley said. "We should definitely bring them next time. This place is big enough for…" She wrinkled her nose in thought. "Thirteen." She pushed her glasses back into place.

Cat lowered her hands. "Is it big enough for all of those egos? That's the real question here."

"I think we could squeeze them all in," I said. I was tempted to call them and try, but my dark mood still lingered and I didn't want to infect anyone with it. With the season starting, the guys had bigger things to worry about than my feelings towards my mother. They wanted to win and bring home the cup. To do that, they needed to stay focused. And they would. Kage would make sure of it.

"There's plenty of room for all of you and your men, and their egos," the technician who sat at my feet said. Her name tag read 'Nancy.' "If not, we'll fit them in. More men should get pedicures. Especially with bright pink shellac."

The technician beside her, Bella, giggled. "All the bright pink. And bright yellow. Then they'd be fancy."

"I can totally see Cruz with bright yellow toenails," Cat said. "And Easton with bright pink. They're both secure enough in their manhood to wear nail polish."

"I can see Mitch and Kage wearing it, but not Brock," I said. "I don't know about Jagger. It probably depends on which way the wind is blowing. Or if he lets Mitch talk him into it."

I had no objection to men wearing whatever kind of make-up they wanted. Why shouldn't they? We spent enough time putting it on ourselves, they should get to enjoy it too. Although, my guys all seemed to enjoy ruining mine.

"Toby would wear it," Marley said. "And Cole. Oliver too, I guess."

"My father would definitely wear nail polish," Cat said. "Especially if it was for charity, or something like that. He let people do a lot of things to him for a good cause."

"Like what?" I asked.

"He's been dunked at the school fair," Cat said. "Every year from when we started, right up until now. He's worn a dress and let people throw tomatoes at him. He plays paintball with the kids with special needs and always lets them win. He gets covered from head to toe with paint. I've started to think there's nothing he wouldn't do for a laugh and to make some money."

"That sounds like Oliver," Marley said. "He's very giving." If she was an emoji, she'd be the ones with heart eyes right now. She was clearly head over heels for him and her other guys.

I used to envy her and Cat, but now I understood all of the complexities of having a relationship like theirs. It was easier to appreciate all the things they'd told me, now I was walking in their shoes. They'd always said the hardest and most important thing was communication, and that wasn't wrong. That was something we'd have to spend the rest of our lives working on.

I surprised myself with that thought. Not about communication, but about the rest of our lives. I hadn't thought much past the next handful of weeks. The guys were already talking about a new house and I wasn't sure if I even caught up to that yet. Now I thought about it, it made perfect sense. Living with all of them and spending as much time with them as I could. Growing my relationship with each of them, while watching theirs develop and deepen.

All of that seemed so simple, now I gave it some serious thought. But there was still one huge obstacle in my way. I wouldn't feel right moving on, moving forward, until I sorted things out with my mother. Even if that meant agreeing never to see each other again.

That would hurt like hell, but at the end of the day it was her decision. If she didn't want to include me in her life, that was up to her. I had to tell myself it would be her who was missing out if she chose to close that door. I'd have to respect that and move on.

A little voice in the back of my head wanted to cry. I really didn't want to move on without my mother.

I just hoped like hell she'd listen to what I had to say.