Chapter 21 #3
I take stock of myself once more. My body is sore, like I really do feel like I went nine rounds with a MMA world champ, my stomach feels uneasy and my head isn’t pounding quite as much as it had been when I woke up. “Pretty bad, not still fucked up, and not the worst I’ve ever felt. But close.”
She watches me closely, studying to find a lie in my words, but eventually releases the breath she was holding with a very dramatic groan. “I shouldn’t have left you. I thought you’d be good with the guys. Are you good? Do you think anything happened?”
Poker will never be my game. My whole face gives away something definitely did happen.
“You whore!” she whispers, a wide smile breaking across her face. “You’re more than good.”
I’m viscerally aware that all three guys we’re discussing are currently in my house. Only feet away from us. But I need my best friend to be on the same page as me before I step foot out of this room.
How is a girl supposed to live without a debrief?
“All three of them kissed me,” I admit, dropping my voice as low as I can. Summer huddles closer to me until our foreheads are nearly touching. “And maybe more, it gets a little iffy.”
She nods, waving for me to continue. “In front of each other?”
“Yes, at the same time practically,” I hiss. “At one point,” my whole face heats and my voice shakes as I say, “West was holding me, Jude was touching me, and my stalker was watching the whole thing.”
“Fuck,” she curses, biting her knuckles. “The stalkers. We got to talk about that too. But holy shit. Was it hot? It sounds hot. But also at what point is it scary?” We trade looks and she nods solemnly. “If he’s ugly under the mask, you’re so right.”
I smack her. “I didn’t say that,” I argue.
She shrugs. “We were both thinking it though.” Summer bites on her bottom lip as her eyes get wide all over again. “Okay, wait. But where was Ezra during this?”
Where was Ezra? I have to search through the flashes of memory but I only have a rough idea. The order of events especially is hard to be certain of. He was with me and West and Jude wasn’t there. Then Jude did show up but was Ezra still with us?
“Oh, we don’t have time for this right now,” she smacks my hand and I scrunch my nose. She’s right. We really don’t. “Continue.”
“Ezra did join us,” I say, nodding my head. “I think he went down on me while West held me,” I admit in a rush of words, so tangled together, I’m surprised Summer is even able to understand them.
Understand she most certainly does. I slap my hands over her mouth to cover up her squeal of pure delight at the predicament I’ve found myself in. She pushes my hands away. “How sure are you it’s real and not a very vivid dream?”
I squirm under her gaze. “Pretty fucking sure,” I admit.
“Oh, we are so keeping them. Breakfast burritos or not. Stalkers who?” Her eyes drift over my empty laundry basket. “Or both. Why not have five guys? They’re obviously willing to share.” She waggles her eyebrows and I groan.
“You are not taking this seriously.”
Summer gives me a deadpan look. “You knew I wasn’t going to. You want me to make you feel better about secretly loving this.”
Well okay then. Don’t expect your best friend to go easy on you. “I wouldn’t say loving this,” I hedge, making her snort.
“Okay, okay. It is freaky, but it is so much more fun to focus on the sexy aspect. Why berate ourselves for enjoying a precarious situation if we also are addressing the dangers of it?” she offers like it makes perfect sense.
When she sees my expression she sighs. “If you had a bad feeling, I wouldn’t be making as many jokes about it,” she says in a more serious tone.
“But you don’t really have a bad feeling, do you? ”
I shake my head before shrugging. “Girl, I don’t know. Shouldn’t I? Two masked men broke into my house and did who knows what while I was unconscious. Shouldn’t there be more freaking out?”
She chews on her bottom lip. “They did say they were going to make your fantasies come true,” she says. “Maybe that’s all it is.”
“How—” I cut myself off. I’ve already decided they’ve been watching me for a lot longer than I originally thought. I look around my room. Are we being watched even as we have this conversation? Is it so hard to believe they already know all of my fantasies?
I huff, unable to argue that point. Unfortunately not because there’s no logical argument. There’s actually nothing but reasonable and logical arguments to that statement. The inverse is also true. There are nothing but irrational and insane agreements to that statement.
But here we are.
Two besties, staring at each other, wondering which one really is the crazier of the two and unable to distinguish.
“Breaking into someone’s house is a wild way to try and date them.”
Summer concedes that point with a tilt of her head. “So we hit them in the face with a dictionary until they understand the definition of consent.” A startled snort escapes me before we both dissolve into a fit of laughter. “And then you fuck them,” she finishes.
There’s a knock on my bedroom door and we both jump. “Not to interrupt,” Ezra says through the door, his amusement clear, “but the food is getting cold.”
Summer and I trade looks before we both crack up. We’ll have to finish this later.
“More detailed debrief tonight,” she agrees and I follow her out.
Ezra’s smile teases us as soon as I open the door. “Hi,” he taunts and my cheeks heat. He taps my nose and offers his arm. Summer shoves me from behind and I nearly trip before catching myself on his arm.
“Hi,” I respond.
His smile almost feels like a reward. “Atta girl,” he praises and my heart beats a little faster. “Hungry?”
I nod, because I really can’t trust myself with words any longer.