Page 20 of Mark

“It’s okay. I can buy my own clothes,” I admit. “Shouldn’t you guys be boarding a ship?”

She stops and arches her perfectly curved brow at me. “Don’t disappoint me now, Freya. You had so much potential on the plane.”

I’m not sure whether that’s a compliment or not. “I just don’t feel right doing this now I’m in here. It feels wrong.” The words taste bitter on my tongue because this is all his fault.

“Mark is out there bitching about this being all your fault. Do you really want to walk out there and watch his smug face light up when he realises he didn’t spend anything?” she questions, then turns to Teagan. “Aunt T, I mean no offence. But family or not, girls need to stick together. Unless they are a bitch, and in that case, I’ll happily feed her to the wolves.”

Teagan holds her hands up. “You’ll get no argument from me. I told him to stop annoying Maddox.”

Hayden grins in triumph. “If you don’t start picking stuff, I will. And trust me, with your figure, and going from your style, you might not be comfortable with what I’ll pick out for you.”

“All right. All right.”

She claps her hands together. “You start over there. I’ll start here and we’ll meet you at the changing rooms.”

When she leaves, I turn to her aunt. “Is she always this bossy?”

“Yes, I am,” Hayden answers as Teagan lowers her head, hiding her amusement.

“Come on, sweetie. We should get you some linen trousers and maybe a thin cardigan for the windier nights.”

I take in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Okay, let’s get this done.”

*** *** ***

Thirty minutes later, we are at the till, and both women have their hands full with clothes.

“I really don’t need this much,” I stress, glancing at the large pile.

All the clothes are practically what I had in my case before they were ruined, only now, I have multiple choices since neither Teagan nor Hayden could agree on what colour I should get. In the end, they threw both colours on the pile.

I have multiple pairs of linen shorts in different colours and styles, a bunch of short-sleeved T-shirts and tank tops, and a few bikini coverings, which I feel bad for since I never had one to begin with. But Hayden swears by them and threw in two. I have a few summer dresses and a couple of evening outfits. They chose a couple of different styles, but it’s the dark blue, floor-length dress that I fell in love with. It has a split up the thigh and the back is just thin straps zig-zagging across my back. Hayden picked out a shorter and tighter dress for backup, but for some reason, I think she’ll find a way to swipe it. She’s been eyeing it since she placed it down on the counter.

I glance at the thong bikini, my eyes widening. “I really don’t mean to be rude but there is no way I’ll wear that,” I squeak out, my cheeks heating.

Hayden snorts. “I would hope not. That is for me and I don’t share underwear.”

My shoulders drop. “Thank God.”

She grins at my expression. “I don’t see why you wouldn’t though. You have a beautiful figure.”

“When my mum comes, can you tell her that because she is constantly reminding me of all the carbs I consume.”

Hayden opens her mouth but her aunt gets there first. “Do not do that,” Teagan warns, her eyes widening.

Hayden’s expression drops. “But she said—”

“No, Hayden.”

Seeing my ‘oh fuck, what did I say’ expression, Hayden explains. “I have no filter. It sounds like fun though so maybe when we get back home?”

My lips pull into a smile when I see Teagan lose her stiff posture and sag forward. I turn to Hayden. “It’s a date.”

“I’m spoken for but yeah,” she replies, her attention going back to the woman ringing our purchases up.

My lips part. I want to tell her I’m not gay, but then that might sound like I have an issue with people thinking I’m gay and I couldn’t care less. Sometimes, I wish the world came with an instruction manual.

“We got you a new case,” my mother’s high-pitched voice announces. “And transferred over what didn’t fall into the ocean.”

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