Page 57 of Heartbreak Kings

Things like friendship and being in love for the first time in my life.

I had told Billy about my five-on-one relationship a few weeks ago. It had been a practice run for telling Mom, and it had not been easy, but at least he hadn’t judged me. He had stared at me openmouthed and asked if I had bitten off more than I could chew. He had asked for the complete story and gotten it, minus a lot of the sex and violence.

My Gentlemen were all the alpha-male type in different ways, and they were all determined to spoil me. He had laughed when I had said that.He had accused me of wrapping the most powerful guys on campus around my finger, no matter who they said ran the relationship. I had smiled.

Is it true? Maybe.

But my relationship with the Gentlemen was entirely mutual. And we were all putting the work in to keep everyone happy. And that was what was important.

They were talking about getting me an apartment again, some place large enough for more than one of them to stay over at a time. Even now, with no safety concerns, they seemed insistent. Maybe they didn’t want the new batch of pledges teasing them about visiting a specific dorm room repeatedly. Maybe they wanted to spoil me even more. Whatever the reason, I didn’t mind. It was their money. But I still had reservations about living in a space that I depended on others to pay for. But we would work it out somehow. Next to the craziness we had all faced together, that discussion seemed simple.

The fraternity house was slowly becoming like a second home. Some mornings, I woke up in one of their rooms instead of back here. I couldn’t stay long—I could never be a member—but at least no one freaked out if they saw me coming down the stairs.

The men of Markinswell University had gotten used to my presence. Some, like the Gentlemen or my astrophysics classmates, were glad I was there. Others didn’t care, and if anyone else had a problem with it, they were keeping quiet. When I told Mom the whole story, she would at least know that I was finally safe here. And she would know who to credit for that besides me.

Even if introducing all five of my boyfriends to her was still going to be a little awkward. No—a lot awkward. She was going to do much more than tease me when the time came. She would worry, like she always did. She would wonder how in the world such a complicated situation would work. And she would put every one of them to the test, to make sure they were worthy of her precious daughter.

I knew that, and I loved her for it, because I knew it all came from the heart. But I still wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. I was new at love, and it would be a shock to her to learn that, unlike her sister, whom she thought of as so lucky, I had gotten very lucky early in the game.

Very lucky.

My phone pinged. Blake was downstairs. My smile came back—not the professional one this time, but one bright and full of joy.

It was time to go see the men in my life again.

Grabbing my bag and my coat, I hurried out.