Page 86 of 3 Daddies to Go

I bury my head in her shoulder again. Trudy is trying to make me feel better, but it’s not helping. I want to believe she’s right, and that Tag, Tanner, and Trace are the idiots, but in my heart I know it’s not true. They went into this knowing it was only for a week. I’m the one who thought we had a chance at forever.

“Don’t worry,” Trudy says, her voice gentle and kind. “You’ll find someone who makes you feel a million times better.”

I don’t believe her. She tilts my chin up so I have to look her in the eyes.

“I swear you will, Kendall. I know this hurts right now, but you’re strong, and one day, you’ll find your Herbie.”

I chuckle. I’m pretty sure Trudy slept with every eligible man in Boone before she moved to Atlanta and found her one true love.

“You’re still new to sex and relationships,” Trudy adds. “You thought that sex was going to lead to true love, but it doesn’t work like that.”

That’s the truth. The fog in my brain lifts, and I listen to what Trudy is saying. It was just the rush of hormones that led me to believe I was in love with them. What I’m feeling isn’t real, and it’ll pass.

“It makes perfect sense that you would fall for the first guys you had sex with, especially when they’re as attractive as Tag, Trace, and Tanner. But you have to let yourself move on from this. They’re not the loves of your life.”

My voice is rough from the tears.

“But what if three guys using me for sex is the best I can do? What if I’m not meant for true love?”

Trudy pulls me against her, crushing my ribs with her hug. “You will find love, I promise you.”

“I don’t know, Trudy. How can anyone actually love me?”

“You’re a beautiful young woman,” Trudy says. “You’re strong and confident, and you care about other people more than yourself. You’re funny and the best friend anyone could ever ask for. There is a guy out there who will know you’re the girl for him.”

I nod, but I still feel hopeless. It took me my entire life to find anyone who would sleep with me. Is it going to be another twenty-five years before a guy falls in love with me?

A loud banging on the door disrupts my thoughts. Trudy meets my eyes with a silent question. I shrug. I have no idea who it could be. Trudy shuffles to the door reluctantly. She puts her eye up to the peep hole and recoils sharply.

“It’s them,” she hisses.

My eyes widen.

“How are they here? They don’t have my address.”

“They found it online. You can find anything online. Or maybe Herbie told them.”

I shake my head with exasperation.

“Why are they here?”

The guys knock again, harder this time.

“I’ll tell them to go away,” offers Trudy.

“No,” I say, wiping away my last tear. “Let them in.”

“Are you sure?”

I nod dully. I’m a mess. My eyes are puffy and damp. But I’m not going to hide from them, not in my own damn home.

Trudy reluctantly opens the door. Tag, Tanner, and Trace are standing there, looking forbidding. Trudy shoots them a sharp look, but steps aside so they can enter my tiny, shabby apartment, which could fit into the bathroom of their hotel room. How could I have thought that a girl like me, living like this, would ever fit into their world?

“What do you want?” I ask. It takes all of my strength to keep my voice steady.

“We need to talk,” Tanner says. “Please, Kendall.”

Trudy appears by my side. “Do you want me to stay?”