Page 80 of 3 Daddies to Go

“It’s not just physical, Trudy. They really love me for who I am. You know how I’ve been wanting to help people?” Trudy nods. She’s one of the only people who always knew about my non-profit idea. “Well, the guys are helping me out. They set up a non-profit in my name. I can finally do what I’ve always wanted to do. Don’t you see? They truly care about me, Trudy.”

Trudy shakes her head with pity. “Kendall, you’ve been used,” she says.

I stand up. Trudy is my best friend, but if she can’t be supportive, I can’t stay here.

“Please, hear me out, Kendall. You need to know the truth about them.”

“What are you talking about?”

Trudy grabs my hand and pulls me back down on the couch. She threads my fingers with hers, something we’ve been doing since we were kids. We only hold hands like this when one of us is about to hurt the other.

“Herbie told me about them,” Trudy says. “They do this all the time. They’ve been doing this since high school. They gang up on a girl, using all her holes, making her think that they love her. Then they up and leave. Usually they give the girl jewelry or even an apartment so that she feels happy. It sounds like with you, they’re giving you a non-profit.”

I gasp. “No, you’re wrong! It’s real!”

Trudy shakes her head sadly. “You’re so innocent,” she says quietly. “You’ve never been with a guy, not really.”

I’m speechless because it’s true.

“I’m so sorry, but you’re being used. These guys don’t care about you. It’s a game to them, and it’s one of the reasons why I’m glad Herbie has barely had contact with them since high school. They’re playboys who love gangbangs, three on ones, MFMM, you name it. You fell for their schtick, and now they’re trying to buy you off before they go back to New York.”

I’m stunned and horrified. What if Trudy’s right? What if they’ve just been using me for physical gratification?

My heart races, and my lungs struggle for air. Trudy pulls me tight against her chest as I panic. This isn’t possible. They care about me, and I care about them. Trudy must have heard wrong, or Herbie doesn’t know his friends as well as he thinks. Herbie has barely spent any time with the guys these last few years. I bet they used to be like that, but they’ve changed.

People don’t change that much, my brain tries to tell me. I shake it off because frankly,I’vechanged. A week ago, I was a meek virgin with no plans for her life. Now I have a non-profit in my name, and I’ve made a real difference with the kids at the Sunshine Program.

I refuse to believe they would do something so horrible to me. This is all a huge misunderstanding, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.

I stand up, pulling myself from Trudy’s grasp.

“Kendall, stop.”

“No,” I say. “I need to talk to them.”

Trudy tries to stop me again, but I don’t let her. My feet know the way by heart, and they take me all the way to the hotel, to the elevator, and then to the penthouse floor. To the place where I’ll finally know the truth.

Even if it breaks my heart.

28

Tanner

We leave tonight, and Herbie starts his honeymoon tomorrow, so we hit up a local dive called ‘Jimmy’s’ for some goodbye drinks.

“Hey, man,” I say when Herbie joins our table. “Long time no see.”

He smirks. “I’ve barely left the bedroom.”

“Same for us,” I say. We feel bad about it. We stayed in Boone to spend more time with Herbie, but we haven’t seen him since brunch after the wedding. All the more reason to plan that guys’ night we talked about.

“Wait, you guys found someone? I knew you would. Is it Monica or Leonore? Or both of them?”

I’d forgotten about the twigs from Trudy’s wedding party. Herbie must not know us very well if he thinks Monica and Leonore are our type.

“Nah,” Tag says. “We found someone else.”

Herbie raises his eyebrows. “Really? I was so sure you’d hit it off with one of them.”