by Azod, Shara
The master suite stood empty, but if she decided to stay, they would all be moving in to it tonight. Was she ready for that?
“Yes.”
No. She wasn’t anywhere near ready to make this decision. But she couldn’t put it off. For one thing, even though she was sure Joaquin would give her more time to make up her mind, she was equally certain Kaito would not. He would know she was stalling.
The party was fabulous. Fabulous food, fabulous music. Everything was perfect. Neither Kaito nor Joaquin left her side and at least one was touching her at all times. Not very subtle. She could feel the weight of her decision hanging over her head, building with pressure ever second. She tried to drown herself in champagne, but it wasn’t working. She was sober as a judge about to hand out a death sentence. There was no doubt they cared deeply from her she knew that. The depth of their feelings had taken her somewhat by surprise.
“You know you’re going to have to give us your answer sometime tonight, Michayla,” Kaito whispered into her ear.
Mikki almost spit out her champagne. Leave to Kaito to pile on the pressure. Great. Just to spite him, she decided to throw him off guard.
“Yeah, well I’m ready now.” Shit! Why had she said that?
“Really?” Joaquin stopped and tuned her toward him. “You’ll tell us your answer?’
He looked so excited and more than a little bit scared. She didn’t have the heart to tell him she just said it to mess with Kaito.
“Uh, yeah. Sure.”
What would she say? She didn’t even know. Yet here she was, being hustled out on a balcony to tell them…what? She gave a brief prayer that it would be raining or something, but no, it was a clear night, if a bit chilly. But no sooner did the thought form in her mind, Kaito was draping his suit coat over her.
“Warm enough?” he asked, piercing her with a stare that expected far more than the answer as to whether or not she was cold.
“Yes,” she answered quietly, taking a step back from both of them. No more putting them off, she had to tell them something.
A half formed explanation on why she couldn’t possibly make such a choice right now with so many things changing in her life sprung to her lips. In order to help her put the thoughts into some kind of order, Mikki began to pace, keeping her face carefully averted. She couldn’t look at them. Not now, not with what she was about to say.
“Look,” she began agitatedly, “you have both come to mean so much to me. Despite being mad at the whole grooming thing, I appreciate your belief in me. Not to mention, your choice has made me a hell of a lot of money.”
It was a poor attempt at a joke, but she had to try. Sneaking a look at her faces to see if she got at least a smile, Mikki stopped in her tracks. There was such as wistful gaze of hope on both of their faces, it was stunning.
It hit her like a ton of bricks. These were more than just her friends; Joaquin and Kaito were her family. She loved them. She had always loved them, and not like brothers either. What they hell was she so afraid of?
Never had anyone other than her mother show her such complete love. Not to mention the heart stopping sexual fire they ignited in her. Who really gave a damn what other people thought. She was damned tired of being lonely, and all of a sudden, it was al to clear why she had pushed away every other man that even tried to get close. This was what she wanted. This was home.
“Yes,” she stated firmly. “No, make that a hell yes.”
To hell with the rest of the world. She was going to grab her brass ring and hold on until it killed her.
“Oh, thank God,” Joaquin breathed, letting out a pent of breath.
Then right before her eyes, both men went down on their knees. What the hell was this?
“Michayla Larissa Brown,” Kaito began popping open a tiny box. “Would you do us the honor of becoming our wife?”
Okay, she was definitely not expecting this. In fact, she wasn’t too sure what to expect seeing as how until five seconds ago she was essentially going to say no and immediately move to Atlanta. She didn’t know if it would be legal, or if she would marry one officially and both unofficially, all that mattered was they had come here with a big ass rock, wanting her – forever.
“You bet your sweet ass I will!” she declared throwing herself in their general direction.
“And Michayla,” Kaito said whispering into her hair, “Please stop thinking about Atlanta.”
The End
