Page 60 of Theirs

Chapter 17

The following morning, I wake up later than normal, finding the bed empty. Which is weird, because I think I fell asleep curled up next to Mac and Alex in my guest bed when we got home from the sex club. I go into my closet and change into a casual outfit before heading to the bathroom for my morning routine. Mr. Snuffy waltzes into my room just as I’m heading out, and hops up onto the bed to start his marathon cat nap. He’s getting spoiled here, but so am I. The smell of coffee gets closer and closer as I tiptoe down the hall in search of the men. It’s quieter than normal around here.

After my ‘disobedience’ as Mac called it last night, we all left the club together and came back to Colin’s and Ben. I was so exhausted from my punishment, that I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. If the guys were hoping for a round two last night, there was no way I was going to be capable of that. Hell, I’m not sure I’m even up to it this morning. It’s going to take three cups of coffee to get me to be alert.

I find a freshly brewed pot of coffee, and pour myself a cup with a little bit of creamer. Turning around, I look outside on the patio, and find the guys sitting outside chatting over morning coffee. I head out that way, barefoot, sliding the door open and joining them. They all glance up at me with bright smiles.

“There’s our girl,” Mac says, patting the spot beside him. Putting be between him and Colin. “How’d you sleep?”

“Great, I probably could have slept the day away,” I say softly. “Sorry I overslept... and sorry for last night.”

Mac wraps an arm around my shoulder and pulls me to his side. “It’s okay, Kitten. You’re forgiven. No more apologies today.”

“Okay,” I smile, looking at the other guys. “So what are we doing today?”

“What would you like to do?” Colin asks, sipping his coffee and placing a hand on my thigh.

“I mean, I would really like to have all of the caffeine and spend the day cuddling in bed with my boyfriends...” I tell them.

Colin chuckles. “Anything other than that, because that will be happening at some point.”

“Sans coffee,” Mac adds. “Only one cup for you, Miss. Sullivan.”

“Party pooper,” I mutter into my mug. “Well, I really need to go buy some new clothes. Since I’ve been saving on rent, I can finally afford to replace some of my stuff with holes.”

“Shopping it is, then,” Ben says.

I chuckle and roll my eyes. “Yeah right, you guys don’t want to go shopping with me. It’ll be boring. I can call Kristen and see if she wants to go to the thrift shop with me. We used to always find really good deals there.”

“Nope, we’re going shopping,” Colin says. “Besides, you underestimate how fun it’ll be to watch you model for us.”

I roll my eyes at that, it figures. Colin’s obsessed with watching me do almost anything. Suddenly, I begin to feel nervous. This is our first outing as the five of us where we’ll be in public, I don’t count last night because that’s a sex club; anything consensual goes. However, now we’ll be around ‘vanilla’ people. People who will probably judge me for holding hands or kissing multiple guys in one day. The guys have reputations to hold. I know Chicago is a big city, but it’s possible to run into people you know, and I don’t want to put their careers at stake for backlash.

“What’s wrong, Lavender?” Ben says, kneeling down in front of me.

I shrug my shoulders. “Maybe I should go alone. I don’t want you guys to run into someone and have to explain what this is.”

“No,” Mac says sternly. “We go together, fuck what anyone thinks.”

My cheeks blush. “Are you sure?”

The guys all nod in agreement around me, but it’s Ben who speaks. “It’s fine. Besides, it’s not like we’ll be all over each other...”

“Speak for yourself,” Mac says, but when I turn to him with shocked eyes, he just winks at me. “We’ll behave. Don’t worry. Let’s go get ready.”

***

The guys refuse to take me to the thrift store. We passed about ten of them on the way into the suburbs. They want to go to one of the fancier boutique shops, and I know damn well I can’t afford to shop there, even if I have two months of rent money I didn’t use. Maybe I’ll just get a pair of jeans and fake being sick, that way we can avoid the awkward money discussion. I’m sure the guys aren’t trying to purposely make me feel bad or flaunt their money. They just don’t understand what it’s like to survive on less than five bucks a day.

We get out of the car and I look at the adorable little boutique that we parked in front of. Alex reaches down and threads his fingers through mine, and I smile up at him. The other guys tell us they’re going to go down to another shop, but they’ll meet us back here. Alex opens the boutique door for me, and we walk hand in hand. An employee greets us immediately, but only looks at Alex. Probably because he looks like he’s swimming in cash, wearing pristine khakis and a tucked in polo with his country club’s logo over his peck. She takes one glance at me in my ripped leggings and bleach washed AC/DC shirt, and never looks at me again.

“Welcome in,” she says, flashing a perfect smile. “Anything you’re looking for in particular?”

Alex releases my hand, but wraps his arm around my shoulder, smiling at me. “Anything for my girlfriend. Whatever she wants. Maybe go get us a dressing room ready?”

“Of course!” she says. “I’ll come back and grab whatever she wants to try on.”

The employee rushes away, leaving Alex and I to browse. I pick up a pair of black jeans, and immediately put them back down when I see the price tag. I could buy twenty pairs of jeans at the thrift store for the price of one of these, and still have some cash leftover probably.

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