Page 60 of Brandishing Beginnings

“Close those pretty lips, Maya, or I might find something to stick between them.”

Blushing, I snapped my jaw closed and turned away from him, forcing him to drop his hand from my face. “This is the shit I don’t want to happen in front of Kara.”

“Well then bring your best negation skills to the table.” Marcos’s God forsaken smirk sharpened, if possible.

“I’m already going to be outnumbered.” I shook my head. “What’s to say I’ll even get a say in these negotiations, and the three of you won’t just steamroll over me?”

Immediately the smirk dropped from his face and he shook his head. “Never, Maya. We would never do that. The whole point of this is to hear each other out. If at any point you don’t feel comfortable with any of it, we stop immediately. And nothing we agree to is set in stone, ever. We canalwaysrenegotiate at any time if anything isn’t working out.”

Frowning, I stand up, needing space.

“The whole point of negotiations is communication. It’s the number one thing we value, darlin’. Just be honest with us,” Jason said as he stood up from the kitchen chair.

“Right.” I nodded and sat back down on the couch.

Marcos squatted down in front of me, cradling my face between his large hands. “It’ll be alright, you’ll see. Tomorrow then, after breakfast. We’ll pull out all of our check lists and compare notes. We’ll make a new one for the things we’re willing to try and discuss as a group.”

“OK.” I nodded and sighed. “And if there’s something I don’t want or like?”

“Then we don’t do it, ever,” Jason said sternly from the kitchen. He stood up and walked over to me, stopping when he was a foot from me. “We never want you to feel uncomfortable with us.”

I loved how seriously they were taking this, and nodded slowly. “OK,” I agreed again.

My heart was pounding as I read through the questions once again. I’d read through both the check list and the questionnaire a dozen times in the last several days. I’d printed them out and answered everything I could to the best of my ability, and noted things I had questions about. I’d gone over each answer multiple times until I could recite both the question and my answers verbatim. Even when I was confident in my answers, that they wouldn’t change or that I wasn’t confused about anything, I still reread them.

Now, sitting out back around the fire pit, I was rereading everythingagain, while waiting for my guys to get back with breakfast. I had spent the day before googling everything I didn’t know, then writing questions on the papers for my guys, for a more detailed look at how something might work within our relationship.

It wasn’t long before I heard the telltale sound of Harley’s in the distance—a sound I had grown to love. I was still rereading everything when a shadow fell across my papers. “Come on, Little Dreamer. We’ll talk after food.”

“I don’t know if I can,” I admitted.

Nico crouched down beside my chair and reached for my chin. Pulling my gaze toward his, he gave me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it so much, Maya. We’ll still love you no matter what.”

I gasped, my mouth dropping open in shock. “You love me?”

Nico’s smile was radiant and breathtaking. He pulled off his sunglasses and tucked them into his shirt collar. “Of course I love you, Maya. I told you already, you’re mine. We play for keeps.”

“I love you too, Nico.” I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips.

His hand slid from my jaw to around my neck as he kissed me passionately. I moaned when his hand squeezed gently around my throat. His laugh was rich and full as he pulled away from me. “Come on my Dreamer love. Let’s do this.”

He stood up and held his hand out to me. I grabbed it and let him pull me to my feet. Holding hands, we walked into the house where Marcos and Jason were setting food out on the kitchen table. The Styrofoam containers from the local diner contained all our favorite breakfast foods.

“Change of plans guys,” Nico said as we entered the kitchen. “We’re gonna negotiate first, then eat. Maya’s too nervous to eat.”

I squeezed his hand.

Jason and Marcos immediately stopped what they were doing and looked up at me, both of them examined me carefully. “Alright. Let’s go in the living room,” Jason said.

I swallowed thickly and let Nico pull me into the living room. He dropped my hand as he rounded our massive sectional couch and pulled me sideways across his lap. He pulled the throw blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around my shoulders, before he tucked me against his chest.

Feeling snug and secure, I felt my heart rate slow as I started to calm down. I didn’t know why I was so damn nervous, but being bundled like a baby against Nico had immediately calmed me.

Jason and Marcos took a seat on the couch in front of me, both of them holding sheets of paper. I realized I was still clutching my own papers tightly in my fist and slowly pulled them out from under the blanket.

“No need to be nervous, darlin’. Let’s just do this, so there’s no more build up.” Jason grabbed my papers and set them in his lap. He snatched the top two sheets—his and Marcos's—and placed them on the coffee table before grabbing Nico's. “We’ll just go down the list. It’s mostly alphabetical per category, so it’s simple. Marcos, grab that blank one and we’ll check off things we all like as we go.”

I took a deep breath and kept my eyes down on the papers in Jason’s hands.

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