rubs Mia’s back again. He doesn’t look inclined to answer.
“My brothers and I got a little carried away a while back,” I explain, smiling as I remember that
day. “We were on babysitting duty while Colton and Evie went on their first date. And we got some
hamsters for Mia.”
“Lots and lots,” Mia mutters, eyes tiny slits. She’s fading fast.
Maya’s brows raise. “Lots? How many are we talking?”
I stand, and Maya steps back with wide eyes. They really are beautiful, so dark I can barely see
her pupil. If I get close enough I—. Mentally yanking myself away from her, I rearrange the chairs and
pat one, urging her to sit. She does, carefully, and I’m caught staring at the material of her pants
pressing against her thighs. Her dresses are hideous, not only because of their patterns but because
they hide her shape.
These pants aren’t hiding anything. The black material, dotted with little pink hearts, looks soft,
touchable, and it clings to her thighs.Thick, lush, they would probably feel amazing pressed against
my ears as I—Nope. Not going there. I shift my focus back to Mia and my brother, trying desperately
to remember what we were talking about.
“Ah…right, well, we bought twenty.”
Her mouth drops open. “You bought twenty hamsters?”
I scratch my neck and wince. “Yeah, well we didn’t want to get just one because then it would be
lonely. But then we saw there were other colors, and it snowballed from there.” It seemed perfectly
reasonable at the time, but later that evening, things got a little out of hand.
“Oh, my god. Where are they now?”
“We had them up here for a while,” Jonas says, swaying gently to soothe Mia. “But then we lost
two in here somewhere and thought we’d better set them somewhere permanent. So they were in my
home for a while…”
Maya pokes Jonas in the elbow with a smile, her eyes soft on the munchkin. “Then what?”
“Yes, well, it seems we chose males and females, and when they get together…” he trails off with
a grimace.
“No! Oh my god, how many did you end up with?”
“Hundreds,” I tell her, lip twitching. I break into a full smile as she dissolves into peals of
laughter. Her hands are over her mouth as she desperately tries to hold it in, not wanting to disturb the
