Chapter Seventy-Four

“Let’s go eat.” I pulled her from my room and raced down the stairs.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m not telling you.” I looked back at her and grinned. “I pulled her into the dining hall, and we grabbed big plates of food, okay?”

“It’s a surprise, but you will love it. I promise.” I went and sat next to my exhausted father. "You okay?”

“Yeah, baby girl. I’m just tired, but I got it done.” He took a sip of his coffee and looked over at me. “You look excited. What’s up?”

“Cass woke me up at the butt crack of dawn to get some quality time in.”

“But she hijacked my plans, and now I have no idea what we are doing.” Cass pointed out, and I laughed.

“You made the mistake of waking me up.” I leaned into the warmth of my father. “We are going to see MJ and Neil.” My dad looked over at Cass and laughed.

“No idea?” I just shook my head, and he laughed harder. “That’s definitely going to be some quality time.”

“I know. I’m excited.”

“Your mom is going to be pissed,” he pointed out, and Cass snapped her head in my direction.

“I’m old enough.” I pulled away.

“I know. I just want you prepared.” He kissed my head and got to his feet. “I want to see you before you go. The plane’s wheels are up at two thirty, so make sure you are back before that.” He kissed my head and then walked off.

“Take a nap,” I called out, and he waved his hand back to me without turning.

“Amy…what the hell is going on?” Cass had put her fork down and turned to stare at me, but I just smiled.

“Eat. You are going to need the strength.” I nudged her glass of water. “And drink.”

“Amy!” Cass slammed down her fork, but I just ignored her and ate my food. “Fine.”

Once we were done eating, and I had forced her to drink a few glasses of juice, we left. We made it to the mall right before eight, and I pulled Cass into the opening mall. We made our way through the mostly empty place, only walking around with the mall walkers. We made it to a darkened door, and I knocked a few times, and we waited.

A lock clicked on the door, and it swung in. MJ was staring at me with an energy drink in his hand. “Come on in, Aim.” His smile was sweet, and it matched his bright blue eyes. His dark hair was shaved down the sides, with the top flopping over his eyebrow.

“Handsome as always, MJ.” I patted his cheek as I walked in, and his smile got wider, showing off his dimples.

“Thanks, love. You know, if you were my cup of tea, I would be a puddle right now.” He pinched my butt as I walked by, and I laughed.

Cass followed me in and gave a soft greeting. “Hello.”

“Cass, this is MJ, my gay lover. MJ, this is Cass.”

“Oh, the sister from another mister you have been raving about.” MJ wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “I’ve heard nothing but the best things about you the entire time Amy and I have been designing this thing.”

“You heard about me?” Cass looked over at me, and I smiled.

“Of course,” MJ walked us towards the back.

“Where is your better half?” I pushed past the beaded curtain and looked over my shoulder.

“He’s in the back, getting the area ready.” MJ nodded and kept going.

“What are we doing?” I heard Cass’s voice, and MJ squealed.

“You didn’t tell her?”

“Nope.” I headed straight to the chair and hopped up, waiting for Cass to make it to the back and figure it out.

“Oh goodie. I promise we will be as gentle as we can.” MJ’s voice was low and reassuring.

“Amy?” I laughed and waited. Cass and MJ finally pushed past the curtain, and her eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Yup.” I smiled as I hopped up. Neil came from a back room with two trays, and Cass squealed.

“You’re serious?”

“I told you I was.” I pointed to Neil. “He will do whatever you want. MJ and I have been working on my design for over a month.”

“I can’t…” Her voice faded.

“You can, and you will. I have already prepaid for our time. You can get whatever you want, but there is one thing I want you to get.”

“What?”

“I want both of us to get a small paw print behind our ear.”

“Matching tattoos?”

I nod. “We always talked about it, and now that we have shifted, we are allowed to get them.” I smiled. “Are you in?”

“Heck, yeah, I’m in.” She jumped into my arm and then ran over to Neil to talk ideas.

“Come on, girl pop. Shirt off and lay down. We need as much time as we can get to get this finished in time.” MJ gestured me to the bed, and I smiled.