Page 80 of Their World

My eyes widened. “Who else has your eye?”

“Tony,” she answered, turning an even darker shade of red. “The one from the club.”

I nearly spit out my drink. “Really got a thing for the T’s, huh?”

Piper and I laughed while Maya groaned.

“It definitely wasn’t what I planned, okay? Tony from the club and I have been talking and dating, but I’ve always had a thing for Prince Tony.”

Hearing her call him prince was weird to me since she never called him that while we grew up. HewasPrince of the Hybrids, so it was correct and I supposed it was easier to differentiate which Tony she was talking about this way.

“There’s also …” She fidgeted with her shirt without finishing.

“Jaeden?” I guessed.

Her head snapped up and her mouth dropped. “How did you know?”

“I’ve always known you have a thing for him. It was so painfully obvious. How did you convince him to start dating?”

“I was helping him with his game and he asked me on a date,” she admitted. “Apparently, he realized that I was helping him because I liked him and apologized for being blind to my affection earlier.”

“Does Prince Tony know?” Piper asked.

Maya nodded and picked up a cheese cube from the plate of snacks. “I told him at the end of the date. At first, he scowled and seemed upset, but after a minute of silence he said he was fine with it, since it is so common for us. I mean, there arefarmore males than females in our world, so it makes sense.”

And he was raised in a family where we had multiple fathers, so it wasn’t something he didn’t understand. He saw that Mom loved each of our fathers equally.

“Any others you have your eye on?” Piper asked.

She shook her head. “I think three is enough for me, thank you.”

We all laughed.

I started the movie and we spent the rest of the evening enjoying each other’s company. It was something I had sorely needed.

No serious discussions, no battle strategies, just time with friends relaxing.

I really hoped I had more of these nights in my future.

After Piperand Maya fell asleep, I went to the command center. Trey had recently installed a fingerprint scanner in addition to the key, so we could use either one. I was very happy about that, since I rarely remembered to take the key with me.

I needed to practice with my new powers and with the battle coming up so soon, it was difficult to sleep.

As soon as I sat at the table, Mason walked in.

“Why are you still awake?” I asked as he sat beside me and wrapped his arms around me.

“The bed was empty without you,” he muttered into my hair.

“Well, since you’re here, are you up for being a guinea pig?”

He drew back and frowned at me. “What for?”

“I want to practice my curses and their removal.” Before he could protest, I added, “I won’t use the really bad ones on you.”

“As long as you don’t use the one that makes you throw up, go ahead,” he said with a small, tired smile.

“If you’re tired, we can do it tomorrow,” I said quickly.

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