Living the Life of Riley | ✔

Chapter Twenty Nine

It was late in the afternoon when they arrived. For some reason, I hadn't fully believed Mason. Yes, I was excited at the thought, but I knew that they had jobs, college... things that probably weren't the easiest of things to move around. Out of the six of us, I was considered the 'wild card', or at least the one who was the nearest to it.

Loud, continuous banging had woken me from my sleep. Lifting my head from Tristan's chest, I saw that he too was puzzled. Rubbing my eyes, I pushed myself from my seat and walked to the door. It wouldn't have been Will; I had a sneaky feeling that he'd just break in.

Even though I was trying to keep calm, my heart was starting to beat rapidly. I groaned internally. I was in no danger – the guys were all still here, they were out in the back though, enjoying the rare moment of sun. They'd left Tristan and me to watch a film (which we'd fallen asleep in the middle of).

Tentatively opening the door, I had no time to even register what was in front of me – I only had a few moments to step back to avoid being hit in the face by the door. Screaming surrounded me.

"Mara!" I cringed, but at the same time there was a smile on my face. Excluding Vincent, they were all trying to squeeze into the doorframe.

"Guys, please. One at a time." I laughed, my eyes in disbelief. "Seriously? Don't you all have better things to do?"

"Heard you were in some trouble." Harvey, the youngest, said. I nodded and held up my hands in a surrendering motion. I'm guessing that while Mason hadn't told my newest group what had gone on last night, these guys got the full version.

"And I heard you have a hot toyboy." Jo managed to squeeze herself in first, brushing herself off.

"It's not really a toyboy when they're older than you." I corrected her, but she just laughed. I told them all to come in, and to just leave any bags by the side of the door. I'd sort it out later. Right now, I just wanted to focus on seeing my friends. And the fact that I had a full house.

"Whatever. Where's Mase-" she stopped, mid-sentence before putting a hand on her hips and giving a very flirty smile. "Who is this?"

Behind her, all the guys rolled their eyes, and I told them that Mason was in the garden. I gave them the directions and let them pass. They knew I'd come and talk to them later, but first I had to deal with a very sultry Jo. It was the one thing the boys couldn't stand seeing. She'd tried it on with them (I wasn't sure if she was still trying to get in on with Harvey – that was a whole 'nother drama I liked to ignore) and they found it cringy and embarrassing to watch. Unfortunately for me, as her wingwoman, I'd had to endure it. And let me tell you, the girl could say the dirtiest things without batting an eyelash or turning a shade of pink.

"Jo, this is Tristan. Tristan, this is Jo." I introduced the two, and Jo's smile never left. As she shook his hand, I saw her wink and giggle. A pang of jealousy tore through me, but I pushed it to the side. I knew that Jo would never try anything on, once I'd explained the situation. It was a rule we had: once we had our eyes set on someone, the other couldn't go for them. On the odd occasion, it had gotten tricky since sometimes we'd liked the same guy. The solution? Flip a coin.

"Nice to meet you." Tristan just grunted in response. He then turned to me and glared.

"You wanna explain?"

"Friends from Dalla." I rose an eyebrow at him. There was something in his eyes that I didn't expect to see. "Jealous that I have more male friends than you expected?"

"No." He scoffed. "I'm just surprised you have that many friends."

"Why? Because you have none?" I retorted. He rolled his eyes at me before walking out, and following the path that the guys had just taken.