Page 17 of Liberating Water

“That makes no sense. We would have seen what you ordered when you got it,” Micah countered.

“So what are you getting, Micah?” Lailah asked, cutting into their argument.

“I’m going to get the catch of the day since we are here on the coast. I never pass up fresh fish since we live so inland,” Micah shared, giving Parker a smirk.

“Jay, what are you gonna choose?” Lailah inquired, turning to our ever-silent member.

“Ratatouille.”

Parker rolled his eyes. “Of course you would pick the healthy option. You do know we are on vacation, right?”

“No, Parker, we are not on vacation. We are on a mission, an important one, which you would know if you took anything seriously,” Jay corrected, stunning us all as he chided Parker.

“What the hell is going on with you guys today? Do I have a ‘fuck with Parker’ sign on my back I didn’t notice?” he demanded.

“Usually,” Micah muttered behind his hand.

I could see the tensions rising at the table now that we didn’t have the distraction of the environment around us. “Guys, we cannot have this discussion here. Let’s wait until we get back to the house and we can hash it out then.”

“Fine. If we can’t talk about that, then how about we talk about your so-called mother and the shit she was saying to Lailah?” Micah snapped.

“Oh, and the fact she claimed us as boyfriends and Brayden as her husband. I think that deserves a few moments of our attention as well,” Parker added.

All eyes turned to Lailah as he said that. Her cheeks were bright red, her blush setting her eyes off and making her more beautiful than she already was.

“I don’t actually think we need to talk about that,” Lailah said, fidgeting. “It was Parker’s idea to claim you all, so I did. There’s nothing more to talk about.”

She was given a momentary reprieve when the waiter came over and took our orders, then dropped off our drinks. Unfortunately for her, Parker was not backing down from this and was like a dog with a bone.

“Sorry Trouble, but you are so not getting out of this. Now tell me again what we are to you?” Parker grinned, pleased that Lailah was blushing beet red.

Taking a large gulp of her wine that I’d ordered her, she braced herself. “If I was wrong to call you all my boyfriends, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t stand the way she was eying you all up. It’s just rude to do that like you’re a piece of meat or something.”

“Especially when their girlfriend is standing right there to see it,” Parker agreed, nodding his head.

“Exactly!” Lailah exclaimed, then paused. “Wait—what did you say?”

“Oh, so you can call us your boyfriends, but we can’t call you our girlfriend?” he goaded.

“I think ‘wife’ has a better ring to it, myself,” Brayden chimed in, causing Lailah’s eyes to widen in shock.

Lailah opened her mouth to say something a few times but just ended up closing it, unable to get the words out.

“You know, Lailah, we would have been calling you our girlfriend much sooner if you didn’t want us to keep it a secret from everyone at school,” Brayden pointed out. “You made that call, so don’t be so shocked. I think we’ve all made it fairly obvious how we feel about you.”

Hearing Brayden say that, it struck me that I was the only one who had not shown her how I feel. I’d told her that I am interested in her and that I know that we will end up being together—which is far from romantic. Even Jay made his intentions glaringly obvious with that stunt he pulled this morning. Thankfully, the only reason I heard it is because my room is directly under hers; it would have mortified her if either of my siblings had heard instead. Situations like these were why I was so on board with sharing her between us. In relationship and physical matters, I was ignorant. I’ve never slept with anyone before. The one time Parker got me drunk, some random woman gave me a blow job at a party, but I didn’t want fake intimacy. It was the real thing or nothing for me.

“That was unfair of me, wasn’t it,” Lailah said dejectedly. “I was so worried about the backlash I didn’t think of how you guys would take it. I’m sorry for that. Starting now, I don’t want to hide our relationship. But I think calling me your wife might be a lot for people to take in when they figure out I have four other boyfriends.”

Parker laughed, and the rest of us followed suit, thinking of people’s reactions.

“Well, there’s an easy way to fix that,” Parker pointed out. “We gotta get a move on with this whole Bond thing.”

Micah glared at Parker. “This isn’t something you take lightly, fuckwit. It’s better to not commit than to do it for the wrong reasons.”

“It’s gonna have to happen eventually! If we want to keep our girlfriend from having dream conversations with the Dark Lord, or her power fluctuating when the demon venom fucks with her, then I suggest we stop dicking around the subject,” Parker retorted.

“Stop it,” Lailah snapped, cutting in before Micah could say his piece. “Let us enjoy our dinner. No one is allowed to talk about anything having to do with demons… or school.”

With a few grumbles, everyone agreed just in time for our food to arrive.