Maya (Book #3)

Chapter 12

"That didn't happen," I objected quickly, hoping that it wasn't true. I wiped off my shirt with my napkin and looked at Asher, who was stunned. His eyes squinted as the memory came back to him, and shock covered his face.

"That was you?" he asked, breathing weirdly. I slapped my forehead because of course, it was true. Why couldn't my adopted brother and the guy I liked just be perfect strangers? Of course, they'd have to be enemies from years prior. Life would be too easy otherwise!

"Yes, that was me," Dominic said joyfully, beaming at him and taking a big bite of food as if it didn't matter.

"Oh my gosh," Asher said, thinking back to it. "You shoplifted! You should be in jail!"

"Look, goody-two-shoes-" Damon began, defending his brother before I interrupted him.

"Everyone! Let's take a deep breath and relax." I said, performing one to show them all how to do it. Caleb leaned forward with an impish grin and said, "What happened exactly?" His eyes flicked from Asher to Dominic like he was watching a fight right now.

Brooks smiled and covered his full mouth as he spoke. "Yeah! Give us the full story!" He shook a fist in excitement.

Charlotte and I looked at each other, panic-stricken as Asher glared at my oldest brother and spoke.

"Well, I was at the mall shopping for Christmas, and I saw a kid from school stealing merchandise. I alerted the mall police and they tried to drag him away, but he saw that I was the one who had told..." he trailed off, scratching his forehead.

Dominic finished the story with a cocky grin. "I ran away from them and hit the kid in the nose, but he turned out to be a fighter himself." Asher looked reluctantly proud of that and then shook his head.

"You punched me like ten times!" he said furiously, food long forgotten.

"You punched me back," Dominic said, unbothered. He wiped his face with his napkin and smiled at me.

"You were a bully!" Asher said. "I was telling the truth and you lied, and you didn't even get in trouble."

"You didn't?" Damon asked Dominic, impressed. I turned to see Caleb and Brooks very invested in the story. I groaned, hiding my face with my hands.

"I didn't," Dominic affirmed conceitedly. I dropped my hands and glared at him, enraged at how this night was going. He seemed apologetic when he realized how I felt, so he backpedaled.

 "I'm sorry I did that, kid." He said to Asher, looking him in the eyes. "I was in a really bad place, and I took it out on you. You were right."

Asher looked surprised and I saw the outrage leach from his face. He shifted in his seat and his lips curled up a little as he let it go.

"Thanks, Dominic." He said genuinely. His gray eyes looked warm.

"Best fight I ever had, too," Dominic said fondly. "One of the few who ever got to hit me back." The other boys looked at Asher like they were impressed.

"I do a little boxing," Asher said with a shrug, cracking a smile.

"Nice!" Brooks said, giving him an appreciative nod.

I sighed loudly and exaggeratedly, making all the boys smirk. Asher smiled at me to show that he was okay, but I was still humiliated. 

"I am so sorry about all of that," I said to him with gritted teeth, waving my hand at Dominic. "If it helps, I can punch him to even the score out."

Dom snorted as if he'd like to see me try, which made me turn to scowl at him again.

Asher chuckled and reached for my hand under the table, drawing small circles on it with his thumb. It was effective. I looked at him apologetically and he smiled, looking relaxed.

 "That's alright. It's actually... kind of cool. I always wondered what happened to that guy. I assumed you were in jail." He said to Dom honestly, making the boys laugh. He looked proud at that. I realized with horror that they were all somehow getting along. Was this better than them fighting? I wasn't sure yet.

"I thought you'd be a cop by now," Dominic joked.

"I'm actually working on it," Asher revealed with a little laugh.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep."

"Nice!"

Charlotte and I exchanged confused looks and then finally shrugged and started a new conversation.

When we finished our meal, Caleb led Asher to the movie room to give him a tour. I offered to stay back and help so I could try to comprehend what had just happened. I cleaned off the dishes with Charlotte while the boys brought in the plates and left-over food. When we were finished and turned to leave, Dominic stopped me.

"I don't hate him," he said truthfully. I raised an eyebrow and he shrugged, before leaving to meet up with Asher and Caleb.

"Not bad." Damon agreed, trailing behind his older brother.

Brooks gave me a smile and thumbs up as he walked past me. I turned to look at my mom, dumbfounded. She chuckled as she put the last plate away and walked over to me.

"That went well!" Charlotte said, looping her arm through mine. We looked at each other and bust out laughing as we tried to figure out what had just happened.