Ivory Causeways Framed Distant Outposts by Arman Steele 18

“Maybe if we weren’t so naive and scared back then, we would have saved ourselves a lot of heartache and trouble.” 

“Maybe, but maybe it had to happen this way so we could understand that it wasn’t just a passing thing; it’s real and will continue to be real for the rest of our lives. If you want to go anywhere alone, with Aleck, or with the girls, you don’t need mine or Aleck’s permission. You can spend time with Aleck, and it‘ okay. We decided we could live with it being each other. I can live with the fact that you love us both.” 

“I can see him kiss you or touch you because I know he loves you as much as I do, and he would never hurt you, and he feels the same. But the thought of a stranger touching you makes us lose our shit. There’s no jealousy, anger, hatred, or anything of the sort between me and Aleck, okay? Just be the way you want to be with us, princess,” he said, kissing my hand. 

“When did you know you were in love with me?” I saw the smile he tried to hide. 

“It was two months before our eighteenth birthday. Remember we went camping before we went back home for the holidays for our birthday?” 

“Yes. Stacy had a crush on you.” 

“Yeah. She kept bugging me all night. Anyway, that night you were sitting with Aleck, and he was teasing you about spiders. Roscoe told you if you were too scared and worried about spiders, you could sleep with him; he said he wouldn’t touch you.” 

“Oh, yeah. I told him I would never sleep next to any guy because every single guy would try something. The only two that would never are you and Aleck,” I said, remembering that night. 

“Well, yeah. After everyone went to sleep, I was sitting out, and he came back. He asked me if I really wouldn’t try anything on you, and I said no. He said he understood, but at the same time, he didn’t understand. That if I just looked at you as a girl and not my best friend, I would see how amazing you were. For some reason, his words got stuck in my head, and that entire weekend, I kept looking at you.” 

I remembered it because I could feel him watching me, and I had kept asking Aleck to make sure he was okay because he was extremely quiet for some 

reason. 

“Well, I watched you, and I realized that even before he said it, every single girl I came across, I compared them to you in some way unknowingly. Stacy was too bold, not like you; you’re only bold when you drink. Vanessa was vulgar, not like you. I began to realize that I was always worried about you, if you ate, if you slept enough, but what pushed me into accepting that I saw you as more than a friend was Paul.” 

I looked at him. “But you were the one that set me up with Paul, Dean.” 

“I know, princess. I figured I’d stop thinking like that if you dated someone. But the minute you said yes to him and I saw him kiss you, that shit tore at my heart. I wanted to strangle the fucking life out of him. That’s why I said I was going for a hike.” 

“You stayed almost four hours; Aleck got worried.” 

“Yeah. Well, I couldn’t control my emotions. It fully set in that I was in love with you and couldn’t have you. So I came back and acted like nothing was wrong. I didn’t let Aleck know. It was on the day of our eighteenth. Aleck was drunk when he barged into my room. He sat on the bed in a daze and just said it. He said, ‘I’m in love with her, and there isn’t anything I can do about it because she doesn’t see me that way.‘ I asked who, and all he said was, ‘Our best 

friend.“” 

I looked at him. “I love you, Dean.” 

“I love you too, Layla. Give me a minute; let me get the food, and we’ll head back.” 

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Chapter 18 

“Okay.” 

He got out and headed into the restaurant. Suddenly, my door was pulled open, and Mary was standing there. 

“You LYING, FUCKING BITCH!” she yelled, trying to hit me. I pushed her away at the same time Dean walked out. 

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING, MACY?” When she saw him, she stopped. 

“Dean, let me explain. I know she’s living with you. Tell me nothing is going on. Say you’re just friends.” 

“Her apartment burnt down. I don’t have to explain anything to you.” He closed my door and got back into the car. 

“Are you hurt?” 

“No, I’m fine. She just scraped my face.” He turned my face to see. I could see he was getting angry. 

L 

“Don’t, just let it be. Let’s head back; the others should be showing up soon.” 

He started the car, and we left. “Babe, why doesn’t anyone know who the CEOs of DLA are? Are you guys hiding your identity? How do you go to work every 

day?” 

He squeezed my thighs. “We walk in like everyone else. Only Justin Reynolds, the VP, knows. Everyone thinks we work with him. No one ever goes up to that floor, and we never sign our full names; sometimes it’s DC or AC. That’s how we can walk about.” 

“I see.” I felt water on my neck. When we pulled into the 

garage, another car pulled in. Chris, Rea, and Nella got out. The minute I stepped out, Chris looked 

at 

1. me. 

“DEAN, what the hell did you do? Why is her face bleeding?” Rea came to me and put a tissue on my neck. Dean came around and checked me. 

“I swear I’ll kill that fucking girl. Come on, let’s go up; there’s a first aid kit. We ran into Macy. Girls, the food’s in the car; can you get it? 

“It’s fine, Dean; it’s not hurting or anything; it’s just a scratch.” 

“You don’t know that, Layla,” Chris said, helping the girls get the food. While we were in the elevator, Dean told them what happened. When we got out, Mallory and Andrew were sitting with Aleck. The minute he saw us, he looked at me and looked at my hand, holding the tissue against my neck. 

“What happened to you?” I rolled my eyes as the others told them what Dean said. I saw Dean coming back with a box. 

“Aleck, take care of it,” he said, handing his brother the box and walking off towards the office. 

“Call Macy here,” I said. That stopped him in his tracks, and the others looked at me. I sat on the chair while Aleck disinfected the scrape. 

“Guys, look. She’s going to find out eventually. Do you want her running after you in public, at your jobs, accusing you? It’s better we get her here now and tell her, and she can yell as much as she wants, and then it’s done.” 

“Layla is right. At least she can’t do anything to all of us here, especially Layla,” Mallory said. 

“Fine, and if she does that shit again, it’s your ass,” Dean said. 

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Chapter 18 

“Yeah, yes, whatever. Call her Mallory.” 

“Done, it’s just a scratch, you’ll live,” Aleck said, pinching my hips. 

“Yeah, thanks, doc. You’ll get paid later.” 

“I look forward to it, baby girl,” he whispered in my ear. 

We opened the doors to the balcony, and we sat around drinking and talking. Mallory called her. She showed up thirty minutes later, dressed in a short black 

dress. 

“Hi, Dean, hi, Aleck, hi, guys,” she said, walking over to us. Dean ignored her. 

“The only reason you’re here is because Layla said to call you over,” Aleck said, not looking at her. 

“Macy, when we–I mean Andrew and I–met Dean, Aleck, and Layla, it was freshman year. Then we met Mallory, who was close to Layla. Then Rea joined us because of me. Nella joined because she was tutoring Aleck in physics. Nella, Rea, Mallory, and Layla. They were close and did everything together. We became close and good friends. If anyone did or said anything about them or hurt them, it was Dean, Aleck, Andrew, and I that protected them. In our sophomore year, you joined us. We let you in because you seemed fine. My point is, we were friends before we met you, understand?” Chris said, looking at 

her. 

“Okay, what’s the point of this?” she asked impatiently. 

“The point is, you’ve always been interested in Dean and claimed that he was never interested because Layla was around. Layla was always there; she was there before you. I tortured Aleck and was never interested in him or Dean, and I’ve spent many nights alone with them,” Nella said. 

“Macy, when I was eighteen, I fell in love and…” 

“Aleck and I were never interested in anyone because we’ve been in love with Layla ever since we were eighteen. She was seventeen.” 

“What?” She looked shocked. 

“That’s why I ditched everyone. I fell in love with them when I was eighteen, and I never stopped. I didn’t know they felt that way. Even when we met for the get–together, I didn’t know they felt that way. I didn’t want to go because I knew I would probably see them.” 

“Dean, Layla, and I are together. It happened after Mallory and Andrew’s wedding. After her apartment burnt down, she stayed here, and it all came out,” 

Aleck said. 

“You, you all knew?” she asked, looking at them. 

“No. They told us a few days ago. But before then, every time you accused them of being together, nothing like that happened. We called you here to tell you so you can stop acting like an insane person and come to the understanding that Dean doesn’t love you. He never did,” Andrew said. 

She turned around and walked out. She got into the elevator and left. 

“Well, that went well,” Chris said. 

“Yeah, it’s not over. Let’s drink,” Rea said.