Mark (Next Generation Carter Brother #9)

CHAPTER FIVE

Freya

Now I’m in the cute little clothes shop, my bravado has diminished. Five minutes ago, I planned to spend as much as I could on his dime, but now I’m browsing the racks, I wish I had kept my mouth shut.

Having a conscience sucks sometimes .

I let out a heavy sigh as I try to find the same anger and frustration that consumed me outside. Doing this felt easier then.

Maybe I should have let him come in with me .

“It would be easier if he was here, wouldn’t it?” Teagan muses, interrupting my moral compass.

I turn to the gorgeous woman who read my mind. “Sorry?”

“I just mean now that he’s not here, it’s not as much fun, is it?”

I laugh because it’s scary how accurate she is. “No, it’s really not. But please don’t tell him that,” I plead. “I can get some new things to tide me over. This really isn’t necessary.”

“Would it make you feel any better if I told you he can afford it?”

I lean my arm over the clothes rack. “It’s the manners my mum and dad engraved into me. Plus, it’s not fun if he’s not here for me to witness his misery. Now I just feel guilty.”

Hayden suddenly appears on the other side of the rack, startling me. “And that’s why I’m here.”

I glance around to see if anyone followed her, but aside from a few lingering customers who were already here when we arrived, I don’t see any more Carters. “How long have you been here?”

“Long enough to hear you backing out,” she replies and starts brushing hangers aside, scanning the clothes. “Going from the clothes you have on, this shop has exactly what you need.”

“It’s okay. I can buy my own clothes,” I admit. “Shouldn’t you guys be boarding a ship?”

She stops and arches her perfectly curved brow at me. “Don’t disappoint me now, Freya. You had so much potential on the plane.”

I’m not sure whether that’s a compliment or not. “I just don’t feel right doing this now I’m in here. It feels wrong.” The words taste bitter on my tongue because this is all his fault.

“Mark is out there bitching about this being all your fault. Do you really want to walk out there and watch his smug face light up when he realises he didn’t spend anything?” she questions, then turns to Teagan. “Aunt T, I mean no offence. But family or not, girls need to stick together. Unless they are a bitch, and in that case, I’ll happily feed her to the wolves.”

Teagan holds her hands up. “You’ll get no argument from me. I told him to stop annoying Maddox.”

Hayden grins in triumph. “If you don’t start picking stuff, I will. And trust me, with your figure, and going from your style, you might not be comfortable with what I’ll pick out for you.”

“All right. All right.”

She claps her hands together. “You start over there. I’ll start here and we’ll meet you at the changing rooms.”

When she leaves, I turn to her aunt. “Is she always this bossy?”

“Yes, I am,” Hayden answers as Teagan lowers her head, hiding her amusement.

“Come on, sweetie. We should get you some linen trousers and maybe a thin cardigan for the windier nights.”

I take in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Okay, let’s get this done.”

*** *** ***

Thirty minutes later, we are at the till, and both women have their hands full with clothes.

“I really don’t need this much,” I stress, glancing at the large pile.

All the clothes are practically what I had in my case before they were ruined, only now, I have multiple choices since neither Teagan nor Hayden could agree on what colour I should get. In the end, they threw both colours on the pile.

I have multiple pairs of linen shorts in different colours and styles, a bunch of short-sleeved T-shirts and tank tops, and a few bikini coverings, which I feel bad for since I never had one to begin with. But Hayden swears by them and threw in two. I have a few summer dresses and a couple of evening outfits. They chose a couple of different styles, but it’s the dark blue, floor-length dress that I fell in love with. It has a split up the thigh and the back is just thin straps zig-zagging across my back. Hayden picked out a shorter and tighter dress for backup, but for some reason, I think she’ll find a way to swipe it. She’s been eyeing it since she placed it down on the counter.

I glance at the thong bikini, my eyes widening. “I really don’t mean to be rude but there is no way I’ll wear that,” I squeak out, my cheeks heating.

Hayden snorts. “I would hope not. That is for me and I don’t share underwear.”

My shoulders drop. “Thank God.”

She grins at my expression. “I don’t see why you wouldn’t though. You have a beautiful figure.”

“When my mum comes, can you tell her that because she is constantly reminding me of all the carbs I consume.”

Hayden opens her mouth but her aunt gets there first. “Do not do that,” Teagan warns, her eyes widening.

Hayden’s expression drops. “But she said—”

“No, Hayden.”

Seeing my ‘oh fuck, what did I say’ expression, Hayden explains. “I have no filter. It sounds like fun though so maybe when we get back home?”

My lips pull into a smile when I see Teagan lose her stiff posture and sag forward. I turn to Hayden. “It’s a date.”

“I’m spoken for but yeah,” she replies, her attention going back to the woman ringing our purchases up.

My lips part. I want to tell her I’m not gay, but then that might sound like I have an issue with people thinking I’m gay and I couldn’t care less. Sometimes, I wish the world came with an instruction manual.

“We got you a new case,” my mother’s high-pitched voice announces. “And transferred over what didn’t fall into the ocean.”

I turn to see Mum and Dad making their way over to us, holding a beige case that is a little bigger than the one that broke. My dad glances down at the clothes. “Honey, do you really need that many clothes? They have a cleaning service on board.”

“It’s okay; it’s on Mark,” Hayden answers.

“You really took that poor man’s money?” Mum scolds. “Did we not teach you anything?”

Poor man .

That man stole my cat, has driven me nuts since the day I first bumped into him, and he’s the reason I need new clothes.

I grit my teeth, unable to answer since I’m close to losing it.

Teagan steps in to answer when I don’t speak. “We insisted. Your daughter kept refusing but, well…”

“No one can say no to a Carter,” Hayden finishes.

“This is my mum, Maggie Baker, and my dad, Mitchel Baker,” I introduce before my mum can belittle me some more.

“I’m Teagan, and this is my niece, Hayden,” Teagan greets. “Again, we are sorry for the disruption to your holiday.”

Mum waves her off. “No apology needed. I’m sure my daughter is as much to blame as your son.”

I’m really beginning to understand why Rose was going to jump from that ship. Her mother was just as insufferable as mine.

I force a smile. “Well, you know me, always the disappointment.”

“Why don’t we transfer this to the case,” Teagan offers.

Mum rolls her eyes, not hearing her. “Do not put words into my mouth, Freya. You’ve not exactly been jumping for joy for this wedding. Your sister deserves better.”

“This isn’t about the wedding.”

“Look, we know it must be hard to see Danny marry your sister, but you need to be happy for them. Or at least paste on a smile for them. They don’t need this souring their blissful day.”

“I am happy. I’m over the moon that my ex-boyfriend is marrying my sister,” I respond bitterly, feeling hot, bothered and frustrated.

“Don’t make a scene,” Dad whispers, glancing around.

“I’m not the one making a scene. I’m here, aren’t I? I did what you needed me to. But maybe, just maybe , you could think of me for once. I might not be pining for Danny, but the betrayal still cuts deep, and I had no one on my side. No one called out Esther or Danny for what they did to me.”

“Are you really going to make this about you?” Mum scolds.

“You’re the one who made it all about Esther. My clothes falling into the ocean had nothing to do with her. She didn’t orchestrate it. Yet you made it about her,” I growl. I turn to Teagan and Hayden. Teagan is zipping up my new case but Hayden is so engrossed in our conversation, it unsettles me for a minute. “Thank you for my clothes.”

I grab my case as Mum replies, “Do not walk away when we are talking to you.”

“Mum, I need five minutes. I’ll meet you on deck once I’m through boarding.”

“We will come with you,” she continues, following me out.

I stop just outside the door and turn to her. “Mum, I need five minutes. Please.”

“Come on, honey. We can go grab those drinks for Esther.”

I turn away from mum’s judgemental stare, and let out a breath when they head in the other direction from the boat.

“Your ex is marrying your sister?” Hayden asks.

“Hayden, I don’t think she wants to talk about it,” her aunt warns.

“It’s fine,” I reassure her.

“See, it’s fine.”

“I’m going to meet up with the others,” Teagan replies. “I hope we get to see you again, Freya.”

“I’ll be the one hanging off the end of the boat,” I grumble. “Just do me a favour and don’t try to talk me off the ledge.”

“Dude, you do realise that never happened,” Hayden declares. “Rose and Jack were never on that boat.”

“Which is why my dark humour isn’t offensive.”

“I’ll see you at the boarding bay,” Teagan replies as she walks ahead of us.

“So, sister, ex?”

As we cross the street, I reply. “We were together for three years and then suddenly, he broke up with me. He gave me some bullshit speech about wanting to find himself and that we weren’t right as a couple. A few weeks later, he turned up at dinner holding hands with my sister.”

“I would have lost my shit. I don’t have a sister, but if I did, you can bet your arse I’d cut the bitch. Then I’d cut his balls off.”

I laugh, wishing it was that simple. “Oh, I did lose it. But then my reaction to their actions is what everyone focused on. It still is. In their eyes, I overreacted.”

“It’s ballsy though. Turning up and announcing that. Risking your relationship with your own sister.”

I shrug. “It is what it is. I guess she didn’t care enough about me to even consider my feelings. Yet this whole wedding, I’m supposed to consider hers. It’s the story of my life.”

“Let me guess, she’s your parents’ favourite.”

I grin as we reach the queue waiting to board. “What made you think that?” I tease.

She chuckles. “It’s such a cliché.”

“Wait, you mean your parents don’t have a favourite?”

“Of course they do. Me! Some say it’s because I’m the only female triplet, but it’s really because I’m awesome.”

“Must be nice,” I muse.

“I am surprised you aren’t. Most favourites are the firstborn, or the best behaved. They are also children. But you’re an adult, so it doesn’t apply. The only other reason would be if you were a step-child, but you called them mum and dad.”

“I must have been a bad egg.”

“I thought my family had drama, but yours is literally forcing you to watch your sister and ex-boyfriend get married. I don’t think the couple of arguments we have compares to that.”

“I’ll be fine. I always am,” I admit. I don’t want her to feel sorry for me. “It’s not about them being together. I’m over that. I have been for a long time. It’s the betrayal I can’t forgive. I moved out to avoid the arguments. Esther was always making digs, and I’d snap. I just hate that there’s nowhere for me to escape to on this boat. My best friend, Summer, is normally the buffer, but they refused to let her come. Family only event and all that.”

“Well, you aren’t alone. You can come hang with us if you ever need to get away.”

“Not scared I’ll throw your cousin off the boat?”

She gets a look in her eye, one that says she knows something I don’t. “Not even a little.”

As we reach the back of the queue, I watch as Mark storms towards us, waving a receipt in the air. “Five hundred pound? Are you fucking serious?”

I cock my eyebrow. “Keep talking and I’ll go find your mum and make it another five hundred.”

He clamps his lips shut for a moment before turning to his cousin. “You let her do this?”

She smirks at the angry snarl he sends her. “Who do you think helped pick out all of her clothes?”

I duck my head to stop him from seeing the smile on my face. He doesn’t know what to do or say. I can see it in the way he presses his lips together.

I think I’m in love with her right now. She reminds me so much of Summer. Calm, collected, and doesn’t let anything bother her.

When he walks off without another word, I let out a breath. “That was…” I shake my head, unable to find words.

“Epic,” she finishes. “The word you are looking for is epic.”

“Yeah,” I breathe out, watching him make his way back to where he was.

“I should go and meet up with my other half. He has our boarding tickets,” she reveals, turning to face me. “But don’t forget to come find me. We can have a drink.”

“I will,” I promise, smiling wide.

Maybe twelve days won’t be so bad after all.