Page 32 of Brandishing Beginnings

After an hour of heartfelt reminiscing and tearful goodbyes—despite the fact they’d be meeting up at the bar later that night—my friends finally departed. Jenna and I walked with Kara and Stephanie back to the gym so I could grab my purse and change out of my graduation gowns.

“What the hell?” Kara said as she stopped walking.

I looked up to see three men, dressed in sharp black suits with ties, looking hot as fuck, just a few feet from the gymnasium. Students eyed them as they streamed by, wondering who the hell the three tattooed and pierced, rough and tumble looking men were.

“Hot damn,” Stephanie muttered.

“What’s going on?” Jenna asked, looking from the three women to the three men.

“Kara?” I questioned.

“This wasn’t me. I swear.” Kara shook her head.

My heart pounded in my chest. I could feel my cheeks heating as Jenna looked at me. “Maya?”

“I uh—it’s them.” I nodded toward the men.

“The three guys?” Jenna asked. I had told my sister over Christmas break everything that happened between me and my guys.

Jenna had been properly pissed off for me, but she had also been very supportive of me doing whatever I wanted when it came to them. “Oh, sister. They are fucking hot.”

“Yeah.” I let out a breath, my voice strained. Each man held a red rose in his hand and was watching me patiently. “Why are they here?”

Jenna laughed and said, “I’d say they’re here for you, sister.”

“Kara?” I asked again.

“I uh—yeah. I’d say so. They’ve been asking about you nonstop the last several weeks, seeing if I’d agree to help them with some plan. I told them no.” Kara had always supported my decision to cut ties with those three, despite them being her family. “But if they’re going through all this effort… the choice is yours, babe. I won’t tell you not to.”

“You could just see what they say,” Stephanie reasoned.

“Hear them out,” Jenna agreed.

“And if you don’t like what they say, tell them to fuck off,” Kara added.

I felt dazed as I nodded and slowly walked over to where the three of them were standing. It was so odd seeing them in suits, granted they were all black, even their shirts and ties were black. The three of them seemed to stand up taller—straighter—as I grew closer.

Nico’s long blond hair was no longer shaggy, instead it was sleek and shining in the summer sun. Reaching the middle of his back, his hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail at the back of his neck. His bright blue eyes sparkled and his face was covered in a thick trimmed beard. He looked like something out ofa wet dream.

Next to him, Jason looked a little more hardcore with his neck tattoos rising over the collar of the black shirt, his spiky blond hair styled in a purposely messy look and his pierced eyebrow and a new lip ring glinting in the sunlight—a circle ring in his lower lip that made my mouth water. His piercing gray eyes tracked every move as I slowed to a stop in front of them.

Marcos looked the same as always, if not a little thicker in the arms and shoulders—more muscles bulked on his already thick frame. His dark hair was still trimmed short against his skull, his dark eyes deep pools of sin that pulled me in.

Standing before them, I could already feel myself flagging in my resolve. Did I really want to tell them to fuck off again? Instead, I asked, “What are you doing here?”

“We wanted to congratulate you,” Marcos spoke up, stepping toward me. “Congratulations on graduating.” He handed me his rose.

I did my best not to blush or show too much emotion as I took the rose from him, but it was hard with them so close. Especially with how fucking hot all three of them looked.

Jason was next, stepping forward and handing me his rose. He stared down at me with all the emotions clouding his gaze. His gray eyes shining, like tears were welling, as he pressed the rose into my hand. “Congratulations, Maya. I’m proud of you.” He stepped back before I could respond.

Nico swooped in and kissed the corner of my mouth, as he handed me his rose. I was stunned as he pulled away, his lips pulling up at the corners. “Congratulations, Little Dreamer.”

“We know we fucked things up bad,” Marcos said, drawing my attention back to him. “And we’re sorry for hurting you. Is there any way you’d see yourself being able to forgive us?”

I sucked in a breath. This was the moment of truth. I honestly wasn’t sure what I was going to say either. “I don’t know—”

“We can work with that,” Marcos said immediately, steamrolling over anything else I might’ve said.

---