32. Chapter 30
Emery
I stare at Oakley. “You want me to go where?”
She rolls her eyes at me before taking a bite out of an apple, then pointing a manicured finger at me. “Don’t give me that look. It’s brunch with a bunch of people about our age. That’s it. Don’t make it a bigger deal than that.”
“With other sugar babies,” I add, because that is a pertinent piece of information.
“It’s no different from someone working at Walmart going out to lunch with their colleagues,” she argues before shooting a look over my shoulder toward the table where Xavier has set up camp with his laptop and fucking nerdy little glasses. “Help me out here. She needs to make more friends.”
Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him. His opinion does not matter.
I look at him, because I apparently have no self-control.
Xavier doesn’t glance up from what he is doing. “She is fine the way she is.”
“Yes, I know you think she is fine. You moved in here because you think she is so fine. But I’m talking about expanding her fineness to other people in a purely platonic way. She can’t just have me and you. She needs more friends,” Oakley retorts before taking another bite of her apple.
“She’ll make friends when she is ready.”
“Uh, no. She won’t. She barely ever leaves this dorm unless it’s for a class or a modeling session with daddy number three.”
I whip my head back around to Oakley. “Firstly, I do so leave the dorm for other things. Secondly, maybe I don’t want more friends. And thirdly, daddy number three? What?”
Oakley waves a hand at me dismissively, shoves off the kitchen counter, and strides over to Xavier, tapping a finger on the notepad next to his computer. “Back me up.”
Xavier finally looks up from his screen and leans back in his seat, resting his elbow on the back of the chair next to him. “No.”
She glares at him and he just looks at her.
I stand there, staring, wondering what the fuck is happening right now.
“Urgh!” Oakley throws her arms up in the air and turns back to face me.
“You, go get changed out of your pajamas, put on something cute, and then you’re coming with me.
You need to meet people, and if you plan on continuing to be a sugar baby, then getting to know the others is a mandatory requirement. ”
Opening my mouth to argue, I immediately snap it shut when she bites into her apple, leaves it in her mouth, claps in my face, and points to my room.
Thirty minutes later, I’m dressed in the pink skirt with pockets and a white blouse tied in a knot under my ribs, and in the back seat of a rideshare with Oakley, a little confused about how I got here and more than a little freaking out about meeting other sugar babies.
“Okay, so, today it’s a small group, only three others can join us. Viv, Krissy, and Benny.”
That catches my attention. “A guy?”
Oakley raises an eyebrow at me. “You didn’t just think it was straight daddies on there, right?”
If I ignore the burning sensation in my cheeks, that means it isn’t happening, right? “Well, no. I just hadn’t really thought about it.”
“Benny has daddies and mommies, he plays the field. Same with Krissy. Viv is strictly daddies, like me,” Oakley continues as she scrolls on her phone. “We have a group chat I can add you to if you make it through brunch.”
“Right,” I reply, still feeling a little chastised. “Do they know anything about me?”
Oakley glances in my direction, then back at her phone. “Not really, no. I mentioned that I’d signed my roommate up, but that’s about it.”
“Cool, cool,” is my response, and who the fuck am I? Cool, cool? My nervousness is getting to me.
The back seat goes quiet for the last ten minutes of the drive, Oakley handling the Uber driver as we get out of the car.
Looking around at where we are, it’s clear that our meeting spot is the busy café directly in front of us.
The other buildings are all shopfronts, boutiquey looking places, like one shirt will cost me a week-of-tuition kind of thing.
Oakley hooks her arm through mine, and the gesture is so normal for us that I feel a fraction of my tension ease away.
“You don’t have to talk at all if you don’t want to.
And as much as I bullied you into coming today, they have no idea I’m bringing you.
You can engage as much or as little as you like.
I just want you to have other people to talk to about your sugar life. ”
“What, not interested in the details anymore?” I try to joke, but my throat is so dry it is practically a croak.
She laughs as she guides us forward. “Ha, you are not taking my details away. I want all the details.” Oakley pauses, like her thoughts are buffering. “Ah, actually, maybe not all of them. Like ninety-five percent?”
That makes me laugh. She’s lucky to get forty-five percent. “Sure thing, Oaks.”
As we enter the café, she immediately spots her people tucked into the far corner, and we weave our way through the table and chairs.
“Oakley! Ah, you made it. And who have you brought with you?” a black-haired beauty says as she stands and hugs Oakley, eyeing me over her shoulder as her bob, straightened to within an inch of its life, shimmers with her movements.
Oakley steps to the side and gestures at me until I step forward. “Krissy, this is Emmy, my roommate. The one I signed up to SugarLife.”
I study the other two people at the table—Benny, with his brown curly flop of hair and angelic blue eyes, and Viv, with her gorgeous red hair and lips so pouty they have got to be enhanced.
All of them are gorgeous as fuck and dressed like they have personal stylists.
And then there is me, giving an awkward-as-fuck wave and a grimacy sort of smile.
Krissy shoots a look at Viv and Benny, then comes over to me with her hand out. “Hi, Emmy, it’s really nice to meet you.”
I shake her hand and try to find a real smile. “Sorry if I seem a little awkward. I didn’t know I was coming to this until about twenty minutes ago. Oakley didn’t give me much of a choice.”
Krissy laughs. “Absolutely no worries. We always like meeting new sugar babies. There are so few of us and so many potential clients. And these brunches are a good way to vet the different invitations and accounts, make sure none are duds.”
“Duds?” I query as we all take seats around the table.
Benny offers me a menu. “Accounts looking for freebies or advertising an easy date type and then trying to pressure you into more.”
My lips form an O as I nod along. Scanning the menu quickly, I go with the first thing I see, which is a stack of pancakes with syrup, berries, and ice cream. My eyes almost bulge out their sockets when I see the price.
Thirty dollars for pancakes?
A waitress is at my elbow almost as fast as I make my decision, and we all place our orders. My voice absolutely does not croak when it is my turn.
The moment she is gone, the interrogation begins.
“So, Emmy, tell us a little about yourself,” Krissy prompts as she leans toward me with super strong eye contact.
I blink, several times, and try to concentrate on answering. “Uh, well, I’m a freshman at NU with Oaks, majoring in economics. That’s about it, really.”
Krissy, Viv, and Benny all have a little bit of a laugh, like I told a joke, but when Oakley and I don’t join in, it dies down. As much as I want to make friends, I’m not interested in sharing my story with these strangers yet. If ever.
“How are you finding SugarLife?” Viv asks, reaching up to play with a strand of her hair. “You’ve been on it for what, a month now?”
I shrug a shoulder. “I’ve only met up with one account so far. And I haven’t really explored much on it.”
Facts.
“Ah, did you get a dud? That sucks for your first time. What happened?” Benny asks as he fidgets with his phone and keys.
“Actually, no, the date went exactly as advertised. They did ask to extend for the entire weekend, but that was with a separate contract,” I reply, trying to sound as casual as possible, even though my heart is racing like I ran here instead of getting an Uber.
“Oh, well, why only the one date? I mean, unless you were the one who accepted the red gift box, then surely you would have needed more money by now?” Krissy asks, that laughing quality back in her voice, like who on earth would have accepted that?
I remain completely silent, eyes flickering between each of their faces and generally feeling super uncomfortable.
“Jeez, ladies, I thought you guys were cool. What the hell is your problem right now? So what if she did accept the red gift box, how is that any of your business? You all had a year to accept it before Emmy came along,” Oakley demands, and while she sounds like she is laughing, there is an edge to her words.
That seems to snap them out of it, and there are several mumbled sorrys.
Very conveniently, our drinks arrive, but before the waitress leaves, she bends down to whisper in my ear. “The gentleman seated in the opposite corner wanted me to let you know your food and drinks have been paid for.”
My eyes slide shut, and I have to take a deep breath before turning around to glare at Xavier.
The asshole just sits there, face completely neutral, in the same dark blue Henley and black cargo pants he had on in the dorm. Did he leave at the same time we did? Do I not even get the pretense of privacy anymore?
Oakley obviously shifts to look and turns back around with a sigh. “He couldn’t even give you an hour without being around?”
“I don’t fucking know. You talk to him more than I do,” I reply with irritation, causing Oakley to flinch. “Fuck, sorry. I’m not annoyed at you. It’s him. He is everywhere. All the damn time.”
And if it isn’t physically with me, it’s in my messages.
The only time I think I might actually be alone alone is in the shower, but I’m sure that won’t last too much longer.
“What’s going on? Is that guy following you?” Krissy asks, clearly picking up that something is going on, her tone changing from upbeat and perky to determined. “Want me to go over there and say something?”
I glance at Oakley, who gives a small nod. “He is one of the daddies I met up with. He basically just follows me around.”
Taking a sip of my hot chocolate, I melt a little on the inside from the pure deliciousness of the nutty chocolate.
“What do you mean?” Benny asks, sending his own furtive glances past me.
“Well, I tried to end it with the four of them last week. He has refused to let me go, so now he follows me everywhere,” I reply as nonchalantly as possible, but inside, my irritation is burning bright.
“That’s…” Benny starts
“Fucking hot,” Krissy finishes, giving herself a fan.
We all stare at her.
Her face squishes up. “Oh, shut up, you all think it’s hot too. A man so obsessed with you he lives in your shadow. Especially if he looks like that.”
Both Benny and Viv shrug and nod a little, and a laugh escapes me.
“Was it good, at least?” Viv asks, putting the straw of her frappe in between her lips. “Like, did they look after you or whatever? I’ve done two of the more intimate date types, and it just wasn’t for me.”
Allowing the memory of our first night together filter through my mind, I pause it in all the little moments of care.
The way they held me for their kisses, how Derek put a pillow on the ground for me to kneel on while I did the blow job circle.
Xavier carrying me to the room. How they constantly checked in to make sure I was doing okay.
The cuddles and shower afterward. And then when I started to feel a bit droppy.
They had looked after me, more than they probably needed to. I definitely hadn’t needed an orgasm or two from them. They could have just used me the way they had paid to, and there would have been nothing wrong with that.
But they hadn’t. They had cared for me. They’d wanted to keep me.
I snap that thought path off before I can wander down it too far. I can’t be remembering how they were before; it’ll only soften the image I have of them now.
“Ah, yeah, they did take care of me. Mind, body, and soul,” I reply and apply emphasis on the last part so they truly understand that I mean it in the literal sense.
Now it’s their turn to all have O faces.
“So, why the breakup?” Krissy asks, her hands cupping the sides of her mug.
I let her question bounce around in my mind, let myself really think about everything that I can remember from Friday night and the last few weeks. An answer eventually rises to the surface, filling my body with a gross, bulky sort of weight.
“They hurt me, and now I don’t trust them anymore.”
Facts.