“You have the color card?” he asked.
I handed it over, and he quickly got to work putting it in the machine so it poured in the color before shaking it up while she checked out everything in the cart.
Hayes, Greer, and Kota all three pulled out their cards to try to pay.
They didn’t shout or fight, but it was a standoff.
I rolled my eyes and plucked my wallet out of my bag, taking my card out and tapping it to the machine while they were locked in a silent argument.
Mabel started cracking up while the guys looked affronted that I dared to pay for it myself.
“We definitely need a joint account,” Hayes said with a sigh. “Then it’s all the same even if we all have a card for it.”
“Add a trip to the bank to our list of things to do. It seems we have a lot,” I said, signing my name for Mabel before she started handing over bags.
I was so excited to start making this family nest ours.
We’d picked out the things already and had my heat, but it could absolutely use some personal touches.
The guys lugged things upstairs before we all changed into painting clothes.
I had an old pair of black overalls that I put on with a white T-shirt underneath. Not wanting to deal with the mess, I twisted my hair into a messy bun before tying on a bandanna to catch most of the paint splatter.
Even Kota didn’t complain as we got to work painting the room, taking the walls from the pristine white they were before to this soft, neutral cream-brown.
“Oh, oops,” Greer said as he bumped into Kota, streaking his arm in paint.
He didn’t sound sorry at all.
Kota narrowed his eyes before smiling, which was absolutely unsettling.
“Oh, no worries. Accidents happen, right?” Kota said, his voice full of innocence. Thank god we’d put Chorizo out back or this would be so much worse.
Greer backed away, absolutely sensing the danger that was being presented.
“What are you about to do?” he demanded.
Kota just smiled and said nothing.
“I thought we were getting to work,” Greer started.
Not one of us trusted the nod Kota gave.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Greer let out a distressed sound.
We looked over to find a glob of paint sitting in his hair. Kota had the roller working on the ceiling and, of course, looked surprised.
“Now, children,” I said, pointing at them. My deltas turned, narrowing their eyes at me. “Hey, I just call it like I see it.”
There was a shift in them both. The look they shared was united now, not divided… and I was the target now.
“Rylan, could you take this from me?” He chuckled and plucked the brush from my fingers.
Then I turned on my heel and ran.
The two deltas were running after me as I moved through the halls, unsure where I was even going.
I managed to slide downstairs as fast as I could.
