Maria (Made Men 7)

Knowing that Chloe didn’t like to touch or be touched, she did with Lucca, and from time to time, Elle, if she had to. And, right now, she had to touch Maria.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Chloe lifted her hand, lightly twirling her pinky with theirs. “Promise.”

Each taking their hands away, Maria just came out with it. No fucking regrets.

“You were in Kayne Evans class, right?”

“Mr. Evans?” The strawberry blonde seemed to be confused that this was what they were talking about and swearing their lives away for. “Yeah … Why?”

Maria flipped a stray, blonde strand of hair behind her shoulder. “Well, I just want you two to tell me whatever you know about him.”

“Well, all the girls were in love with him—”

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that. Maria waved her hand, wanting her to pass over that, because she didn’t need to hear that part again.

Elle didn’t take the hint, continuing, “He’s very, very good-lookin’— Oh my God, Maria!”

The long, dark hair had been swept away from her pale face, able to perfectly see Chloe’s mouth dropped open.

“Shhh!” Looking at the door behind her, Maria made sure there wasn’t a shadow at the bottom slit of the door. She didn’t understand why she had to keep shushing people over the fact that she might actually like a man. “Quiet, or they will hear you.”

“Well, I like Mr. Evans. He was really nice to us,” Chloe stated something that, for once, wasn’t about his looks.

“You do?”

“Yeah, he protected us once, and I think he always looked out for us.” She looked over at her friend to make sure she had recalled it correctly.

Maria hadn’t known it could be possible to like the hot teacher more. She had heard about Chloe and Elle’s high school experiences and how it had been much different than hers. They had been bullied every day, until Nero caught feelings for Elle and grown a pair of balls to stop what was happening to them. Hell, Maria had even helped take part, shoving the heel of her stiletto right up Cassandra’s—

“Yes, and that’s exactly why it wouldn’t work.” Elle looked up at Maria seriously.

That statement took her off guard. “What?”

“Mr. Evans’s is very intelligent and didn’t buy my lies for a second. Yes, he is nice, and I am extremely grateful for what he did for us, but he has a strong sense of right and wrong.” Clearing her throat, she spoke softer, “And, considering your last name … I just think you’d have to be careful is all.”

Studying her, it seemed like Elle had wanted to say something else but had settled for letting her down softly.

“That’s true.” Chloe carefully thought for a second, seeming to choose her words before she spoke them. “But I think, if you like him, then there’s something about him that makes him even more special than we already thought.”

A slow smile tilted Maria’s lips at the sweet remark, having not expected Chloe to be the one on Mr. Evans’ side. If anything, she expected usually sweet Elle to be. Even though the two girls had vastly different opinions, she was grateful for them. It gave her two possibilities to look at and a warning that she hadn’t yet considered.

Her bedroom door flying open had them all snapping their heads to see a wet-haired, disheveled Nero entering.

“Oh shit.” Elle had a different reaction at seeing her boyfriend’s face coming at her than when she had seen Maria’s.

“We were in the middle of a conversation!” Maria snapped at her brother when he came in, taking Elle’s hand and pulling her off the bed.

The same emerald eyes as hers glowed at her. “I don’t know what you’re fucking scheming, Maria, but I ain’t in the mood for it tonight.”

“We weren’t scheming!” she hissed as he slammed the door shut behind them, obviously not believing it for a second.

“I-I better get to bed, too.” Chloe nervously twirled her thumbs before jumping off the bed, expecting Lucca to come in there and do the same.

Maria fell onto her bed, internally rolling her eyes. Like Barbie, they could do way better.

She watched Chloe’s long, black hair swing as the scarred girl headed for the door.

There was one other thing she had to ask. “Chloe?”

“Yeah?” Her hair stopped swaying.

“How did you know you loved Lucca and not Amo?”

Turning around, Chloe seemed a bit solemn, like the Chloe she had first met had been. “It wasn’t that I didn’t love Amo; I just didn’t know that the love I felt for him was as a friend—until Lucca. They can feel similar at first, but when you know, you’ll just”—her scarred pout turned upward—“know.”

Seven

Savage AF

Maria stepped into Legacy Prep’s office, walking directly to the front desk lady who had been working there since before Maria was a freshman in these halls.