Page 59 of Mace

He starts to walk along the corridor while my brain takes a second to play catch up. “Hold on, I haven’t said we’ll go.” I chase after him as he moves towards the stairs. “Mace!”

“Get dressed, Maylie, and don’t keep me waiting too long.”

I know I should argue this a lot more, but I’m so tired of everything that the thought of having just one nice thing is almost too much to deny myself. “Right. Okay.”

I slip back into the flat, giving him a final look as if he might disappear like a ghost into the stairwell. As I sag against the door, I glimpse a figure in front of me and let out a startled yelp.

Toby is standing there with his arms folded over his chest, smirking. “You and I need to have a talk,” he says.

I roll my eyes at him. “No, we don’t.”

He ignores me. “He your boyfriend?”

There’s that hot feeling in my face again. “No,” I scoff at him, “but he’s insisting we go to breakfast with him.”

Toby’s grin intensifies. “So, he is your boyfriend?”

“I told you. He’s a colleague… from work. Kind of. I mean… his club owns Temptation.”

“He didn’t look at you like a colleague.”

I wave this off, though secretly, I like it. “What would you know about that? And when exactly do I have time to date?”

I feel bad for saying that when his expression drops. “Yeah, well, you should make time to do all the things you want to. You deserve to be happy too, May.”

My heart feels like it shatters into a hundred pieces. I don’t want him to think I don’t want to be here, that I regret my choices. “I am happy.” I step up to him, pulling him into a hug, and he surprises me by allowing it. Normally, he would give me shit. “Don’t ever doubt that for a second, Toby.”

“I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me. I know Ivy is too, though she hides it pretty well at the moment. But taking care of us doesn’t mean you don’t get to live your life as well,” he says.

There is a sudden choked feeling in my throat. “Well, we’re going to live our life by going out for breakfast withMister Tall, Dark, and Broody. Get changed and make it snappy. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” I sigh. “I’m guessing Ivy isn’t home still?”

He shakes his head, and my stomach dips. I have no idea how to fix any of this.

“She’ll come home eventually,” Toby says firmly.

“Yeah, I’m sure she will.” I doubt it, but I don’t know what to do.

FIFTEEN

MACE

Maylie takes solong to come down that I almost go back upstairs to collect her. When she finally emerges, clutching a jacket in her hands, only her brother is with her.

She also looks amazing. Her long brown hair is pulled into a ponytail, and she’s wearing faded blue denim shorts that show off her legs and a billowy shirt that covers her arms, including the swollen bruising. She’s paired it with black flip-flops and a light dusting of makeup that’s so different from what she usually wears for work.

Desire builds inside me, urging me to claim her mouth. If her brother wasn’t standing next to her, I would wrap my hand around the back of her neck and pull her in for a kiss.

I had no idea about her family situation, and I can tell she thinks it’s going to put me off, but she couldn’t be more wrong. I would have given anything to have an older sibling take care of me after my mother died. Instead, I was subjected to the horrors of the foster caresystem before Maggie took me in. It gives me a newfound respect for Maylie.

Toby is chatting away as they approach, but the moment he clocks my bike, his eyes widen. “Whoa! Are we going on the back of that?”

He reaches out to touch the saddle, but before he can, Maylie tugs him back. “Look, don’t touch.” The chastisement is given with a smile so natural that I understand completely why this kid looks at her like she’s his saviour.

Toby clasps his hands behind his back, as if he doesn’t trust himself, and he bounces his gaze along the length of my Harley. “This is sick,” he exclaims.

“Thanks.”

“As sick as it is, you’re not getting one until you’re at least thirty. In fact, make it fifty.”

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