Page 24 of You're ours now

She nervously opens the smallest one first. Her eyes go wide, and her mouth falls open when she pulls out the dainty necklace. We each buy her one gift every year, and this year is no different.

The jewelry is from Julius, and he outdid himself with this one. It has each of our birth stones embedded in an infinity symbol.

“This is so pretty,” she says, and Zayne holds his hand out to her. She gives him the necklace, and he helps her put it on.

Next, she opens Zayne’s gift; he is always the wild card. Mellie could end up with tickets to Timbuktu or a plant. She unwraps a box, opening it to find a candle inside. She pulls it out and laughs, holding it up for us to see. It reads: light me if you’re horny. “There’s more in there,” Zayne says, and she digs around and pulls out a mini vibrator. She giggles and slaps him on the arm.

“I love it, thank you. Just what I might need tonight.”

“Now open mine,” I say, before I can think too hard about Mellie fucking herself while I watch.

She rips the paper from mine and the smile takes over her face. I got her a photo book of all four of us over the years. Her eyes water as she flicks through the pages and I almost regret my choice—of course it’s a stupid gift. Mellie suddenly jumps from the bed and flings herself into my arms, clinging to me and burying her head into my chest.

“Best gift ever,” she whispers against my neck. I squeeze her tight against my chest, hoping we do enough today so this isn’t the last time I get to hold her.

“Don’t crush her, she needs to be in good working order for what we have planned today,” Zayne jokes.

I flip him off and put Mellie back on her feet. Here’s hoping everything works out the way we have planned.

As predicted, Mellie hated the walk, though snapping pictures helped take her mind off the fact that it was exercise, plus lunch at the top of the hike made up for the one measly mile. After we ate and Mellie took a million photos, we headed to our next stop where we all painted awful portraits of Mellie accompanied by so much damn laughter. Next, we moved on to the theater and even though the movie was one we had all seen a million times before, the smile on her face as we ate popcorn and listened to Zayne recite the words was totally worth it.

Now, as I drive us home, my stomach is in knots. It’s time for us to lay our cards on the table and see what happens. I hate surprises and not knowing how things will play out. We could say nothing and go on as normal, but none of us want to do that. We want her to know how we feel, though putting voice to our thoughts and emotions is going to be the hardest thing we’ve ever done.

“Why are you driving so slow?” She knows she has one surprise left, and Mellie loves surprises almost as much as she loves the idea of love. I only hope she has an open mind.

“I’m doing the speed limit,” I grumble, subtly pressing the gas pedal so the odometer reflects that.

Zayne, who is sitting behind me, grasps my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. I’m sure they are feeling these nerves as much as I am.

When I pull into our house and Julius clicks the button to open the garage, I’m hit with the overwhelming need to puke.

Once I kill the engine, Mellie excitedly jumps out of the car and the three of us trail behind her. She makes her way into the living room and squeals as she jumps up and down. There are candles flickering, wine chilling in an ice bucket, red rose petals scattered everywhere, and someone has moved the furniture to the side to make room for a human-sized dog bed, which is piled high with pillows and blankets. Fairy lights decorate the ceiling, and the entire room looks magical. I wish the circumstances were different.

“I’m going upstairs to change,” I mutter, turning and walking away.

The other guys both say the same and follow behind me. None of us say anything else as we all walk into my room, where we have stored the masks. I change into my sweats, but we leave our tattoos visible this time. The mood is somber as we pull our masks into place.

“This is it,” Zayne says. “Let’s go get our girl.”

If only it were so easy.

As we stride into the living room, the lights are off and the room is illuminated by the strings of fairy lights. Mellie hasn’t spotted us yet and is standing, happily squirting whipped cream into her mouth straight from the can. After a second, she looks over her shoulder and screams.

“Storm!”

I fucking break. She’s so panicked that she has called for me to save her. So I rip the stupid fucking mask from my face, revealing my identity, and her eyes go wide, her mouth droppingopen in surprise. The other guys do the same and tears fill her eyes.

Zayne hurries across the room and takes her in his arms. I wait for her to yell and fight him off, but she doesn’t. Instead, she collapses into his embrace as both Julius and I move closer, lingering nearby, unsure what to do next. When she calms herself, she pulls back from Zayne.

“I need someone to explain, but first I need to sit.” She walks over to the big dog bed and takes a seat in the middle, and the three of us do the same.

“I don’t even know where to begin,” I murmur.

“From the start would be good.” She clutches her hands in her lap.

“I work for the company who is makingTrue Love’s Match,” Julius says, and her attention falls to him. She doesn’t look mad, but Mellie is good at holding in everything until she explodes. “When I saw your audition tape, I admit I got jealous, and it gave me an idea. You deserved to live out your fantasy, but I didn’t want to put it in the hands of a stranger. So, I pulled your application.”

She gasps and her hand rises to cover her mouth.

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