Page 19 of Boys Like You

“It’s okay, she was blinded by the heat at the table.” They all try not to laugh and remain serious. It was worth a try to lighten the mood.

“I thought she took yours first,” Rocky says, and I shake my head no.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Rory demands.

“I… I don’t have money and I didn’t want to be a burden.” Five sets of eyes look at me like I’m crazy.

“Even if you did have money, we would never let you pay. If you come anywhere with us, you don’t need money. We’re gentlemen,” Levi says.

“That’s a bit outdated, don’t you think?” They all look amused.

“Call it what you want, sweetheart, but our parents have raised us right. Well, except Rory’s mum. She’s been a gold digger since birth.” All the guys whip their heads to look at Rocky. “What? It’s true, you can’t even deny it.”

“He isn’t wrong,” Rory admits. The mood shifts when a male waiter starts bringing out the food. The table is covered. Hearing them order and seeing it is two vastly different things.

“How do you plan to eat all this?” I ask, looking at the plates of bacon, eggs, sausages, muffins, pancakes, toast, and omelettes and fruit.

“Like this,” Rocky says, stuffing almost a whole pancake into his mouth.

“We’re growing boys, plus Rocky has to maintain a crap load of calories because he trains so much. The rest of us just love to eat.” Mercer piles his empty plate full of food.

Levi picks up an empty plate and starts to pile it with a bit of everything and hands it my way. There’s no way I can eat it all, but he insists I eat what I can. Within half an hour, my plate is still half full, but the rest is almost all gone.

Rocky keeps picking from my plate, helping me eat it. Mercer growls at him to stop.

“So, what are we doing today?” Rory asks everyone.

“I’m taking JD to my house. Dad has organised a makeover day.” Without so much as a second thought, they all jump at the idea.

“You all want to tag along for a makeover day?” I ask, looking down the table at all of them.

“Hell yes. Carson, well he… You just have to see for yourself. Carson always wanted a daughter, and I know he loves me more than life, but over the years the guys and I always humoured him and played along. We have the best manicured nails for dudes.” All five of them hold up their hands to show me.

Forty minutes later, we pull up at Mercer’s house. It’s a nice two storey, in a gated community called Parkland Place. It’s almost spooky how identical the houses all look. The lawns mowed to perfection, each front yard is separated by hedges, not fences. Each yard has nice full gardens. The outside is painted a mustard yellow colour, the porch painted white. We all walk up the stairs, Mercer leading the way with me standing behind him. He calls out to his dad as we walk in.

My eyes dance around the room. They weren’t lying when they said he gave them all regular manicures. Carson has outdone himself. There are foot spas set up with what looks to be rose petals floating in them, nail polish set up on the coffee table. Towels rolled up neatly on the floor. A single bar stool in the corner with a white sheet underneath. The curtains are closed and it’s dark inside, vanilla scented candles burning around the room.

“Told ya,” Merce says, walking further into the house. Carson comes bouncing into the room, followed by a larger man with muscles in all the right places.

“Hi, you must be JD. I’m Phillip, Mercer’s dad.” He doesn’t offer me a hand to shake or try to touch me, and I know I have Mercer to thank for that.

“Nice to meet you. Thank you for having me in your house.”

“Any friend of our boy is a friend of ours. Now, I’m heading to the gym before my husband guilts me into all this.” We all laugh, even Carson. With a quick kiss and a slap on the ass, Phillip is off and out the door.

“Boys, I made snacks in the kitchen, be gems and get the fold-up table from the garage and bring the food out here.” All the guys get to work, leaving me alone with Mr Cole. I even my breathing. It’s only Mercer’s dad, I’ve met him before and he is amazing.

“My son tells me you need a makeover.” He gestures for me to take a seat on the couch. I follow his lead and he sits next to me. “Your hair looks nice and something about nails.” He picks up my hand and looks at them then back to me, not understanding why I need a makeover. I sigh, explaining it is hard but I try anyway.

“When I look in the mirror and see the blonde hair and the fake nails I feel like a fake. I don’t feel like that kind of girl.” He nods as I speak.

“So, what are you thinking?” he asks, touching the ends of my hair.

“Well, I like the colour of Levi’s hair, how it looks blonde but also looks brown. A more natural look or even the dark brown like Maximus’. Hell, I’d even settle for black like Rocky.” He laughs.

“With how milky white your skin is, if we go too dark it may make you look washed out. I say we start with the natural look of Levi’s hair colour. If it still doesn’t feel right, we can make it darker another day.” He turns my hand over, running a finger along my nails. “And how about we remove these and see what we’re working with underneath?”

“Sounds good to me. I just want to feel like me, even if I don’t know who that is yet.”

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