All I've Never Wanted(55)

“We’re not being silly, it’s really important,” Zack insisted. Turning to Roman, he added, “We’re choosing the color of Maya’s lingerie.”

I groaned. Ground, please open up a hole and swallow me now.

Roman’s cheeks turned slightly pink, and he glanced quickly in my direction.

Without thinking, I crossed my arms over my chest, causing him to smirk slightly.

“Why are you choosing her lingerie?”

“We’re planning the consummation of Maya and Parker’s relationship,” Adriana explained calmly, as if she were talking about a birthday celebration or something.

Roman stilled. “Why are you talking about it like it’s a birthday celebration?” he asked sharply.


I blinked. Ok, that was just creepy.

“Well, it’s something to be proud of. Our little My-My’s growing up,” Zack sighed.

“I’m not anyone’s little anything,” I said, annoyed. “And stop calling me My-My.”

“I think it’s cute.”

“It makes me sound five years old.”

“That’s why it’s cute!”

There was just no arguing with Zack when he’s on a sugar high. Which is always, now that I think about it.

“So, we were in between red, black, or white,” Adriana said casually. “What do you think, Rome? Carlo here is being a spoilsport and won’t participate.”

Carlo smirked but didn’t say anything.

“None,” Roman ground out.

“Oh, you mean, no underwear at all?” Parker looked impressed. “Hey, that’s a pretty good idea.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Roman snapped. “Why are we even talking about this? What Parker and Maya do is their own business, so leave it up to them to decide!” He glared at me.

I frowned. What did I do? I didn’t even say anything!

“I’m going to the bathroom, and when I come back, I hope you guys are talking about something a little more important!” With that, he abruptly stood up and stormed out of the room, leaving behind a stunned silence.

I was rooted to the spot. Ok, what just happened?

“I think he voted for white,” Zack finally volunteered. “It’s the closest color to nude.”

* * *

“I can’t believe you didn’t help me earlier,” I groused, hugging my books to my chest as I walked down the hall with Carlo after school. “I almost died from embarrassment.”

Carlo shrugged, a small smile on his face. “It was pretty entertaining. Besides, they’re just messing with you.”

“I don’t think so. Adri’s taking me lingerie shopping later,” I said glumly, casting a pointed glance at where the blonde and her equally evil twin were walking in front of us.

“No talking about me behind my back!” she called without even looking at us.

How did she do that?

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have fun. Girls like shopping.”

I pouted. “Stop making fun of me.”

“I’m not making fun of you, I’m just having fun at your expense.” Carlo grinned, then lowered his voice. “Although I think animal-print would suit you better. It’s feisty, just like you.”

I pursed my lips, my cheeks heating up again. “I’m not talking to you anymore,” I declared haughtily, quickening my pace to catch up with Adriana and Zack.

Carlo just laughed.

“Hey, girl, excited about shopping, huh?” Adriana teased.

“Thrilled.”

My sarcasm seemed to be lost on the twins, because Zack nodded enthusiastically. “You finally came around! You’re going to have so much fun!”

And surprisingly enough, I did have fun. While the boys went to play basketball, Adriana took me to La Perla, which sold the most gorgeous lingerie I’ve ever seen in my life. I balked at spending $300 on a bra, though Adriana insisted on buying it for me.

“It’s on Parker, anyway,” she said, giving me a wink as she slid Parker’s black Amex across the counter.

When we finally finished, we headed to Il Serrano for dinner with the boys, the bags upon bags of bras and thongs and teddies and chemises burning into my thigh. I couldn’t believe I’d just charged that much money to Parker’s card. I'd tried to resist, but Adriana was having none of it, and I still needed to keep up my pretense as Parker’s girlfriend.

Besides, as expected, Adriana’s really good at persuading people.

When we got to the restaurant, Zack, Parker, and Roman were already seated in the private VIP dining room.

“Hey, honeybee,” Parker said smoothly, standing up to kiss me on the cheek. “Did you find anything you liked?”

Adriana answered for me. “She definitely found a lot of stuff you would love.”

“Oooh.” Parker grinned, pulling out my chair for me. “I like the sound of that.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “Can we order now?” he asked crankily, pressing a button on the side of the table.

“Jeez, what’s up your butt?” Adriana unfolded her napkin and laid it across her lap.

“Ignore him, he’s been like that since lunch.” Zack smirked.

The waiter appeared and took our orders. After a bit of indecision, I finally settled on the pancetta.