Esme
Astro lifted his chin toward my phone. “You’re getting a call.”
Seeing it was my daddies, I bit my lip, unsure what to do. I wanted to hear their voices again. Ached for it. But Eloise complicated whatever I thought I might be feeling. “I shouldn’t.”
“Hundred percent disagree. You had fun with them, and they want more. With you, Es—not Psycho Barbie.” He nudged my hand that was holding the phone when I couldn’t fight a grin. “Answer it. Give them a chance. You know you want more than just a night with them.”
“Okay. Okay, fine,” I gave in, and we both knew it hadn’t been hard for him to convince me. Feeling a thrill go through me, I accepted the incoming call and lifted the phone to my ear. “Hi, Daddies.”
Astro covered his mouth with both hands to stop his squeal. Otto sent him an indulgent smile, shaking his head as he took the empty spot on my bed close enough to listen to my call.
“Hey, little one,” Parker greeted.
“Tell us you changed your mind, baby girl,” Malcolm urged.
If he knew how badly I wanted to, he would have been landing his helicopter on the roof. I kinda wished he would. But that was a fairy-tale wish. I didn’t have a villainous monster for him to slay before whisking me away. Eloise was already gone, and I needed to get my head on straight before I made any decisions about the three men who had all my emotions scrambled in my head.
My silence caused him to groan. “Baby girl.”
“Don’t rush her, Mal,” Benson advised. “, baby, we’ll be patient, I swear. We don’t want to scare you, angel.”
But maybe I wanted to be rushed.
Astro scooted closer, tilting his head so he could hear better. I moved in a little to accommodate him. “I really do have school tomorrow. I was just reminded of an exam I need to be rested for in the morning.”
“What class?” Malcolm was the first to ask.
“Advanced Chemistry. It’s not my favorite subject, but it’s a class I share with Lia, so I can’t miss it.” Guilt swamped me. I needed to call her, figure out where her head was. Not only because of what had happened to her dad. I wasn’t the only one who’d lost their V-card the night before. Amelia had gotten down and dirty too—and with Trevor Pearson, of all people.
“I don’t remember you telling us what university you two attend,” Benson commented, and I froze. “Are you both premed?”
“That’s because I didn’t mention it. Why would you think I was premed?” I was the least likely person to ever choose a medical career. Amelia was a freaking genius. I didn’t doubt she would do amazing things in the world of medicine. But me? Had he not been paying attention at all?
“I’m trying to get to know you. Asking questions is how that works, babe,” Benson teased. “What is your major?”
Oh shit. I hadn’t told them I was still in high school. Or that I was only eighteen.
Would that matter to them? My virginity had mattered. They’d stopped fucking me over it. Would my age cause me to lose them completely?
“? Little one, don’t go shy on us. We want to know everything about you,” Parker entreated.
I closed my eyes, fear suddenly eating at me. Honesty could steal everything, but so could a lie. Tears burned my throat. “I… I’m… I haven’t picked a major yet.”
“That’s okay, sweetheart. It took me a while to choose between a business degree and criminal justice.”
Two hands squeezed my arm. I didn’t have to look at Otto or Astro to know they wanted me to woman up and tell the truth. When I met their gazes, I silently pleaded with them to understand. I didn’t want to lose my daddies. They shook their heads, disappointment filling their handsome faces.
Swallowing hard, I went for broke. “I’m not in college, Parker.”
“Wait a minute, what?” Benson choked out. “You said you have classes tomorrow.”
“Yes,” I answered, and Astro nodded, giving me a sweet smile to let me know he was proud of me for doing the right thing.
“, I’m going to need more than that, sweetheart. You aren’t in college but have classes. Are you a teacher?”
“No,” I whispered.
“Angel.” Benson’s voice was so full of authority. Damn, I liked that.
“Give us more information than that, baby girl.”
Squirming at the command in Malcolm’s voice, I readjusted my legs. “High school. I’m in high school.”
Their ragged inhales caused my heart to stop. No one spoke for a long moment, the tension stretching until I felt light-headed from the uncertainty clawing at me.
“Are you mad?”
“No, baby girl. Fuck no,” Malcolm rushed to reassure, but his voice was raspy. “It just surprised us. We weren’t expecting that.”
“How old are you, ?” Benson asked, his tone gritty and escalating my fear.
“Relax, I’m eighteen,” I snarked, wanting him to soothe me. When he didn’t, I struck out the only way I could. “You didn’t fuck jailbait. No. Never mind. You didn’t fuck anything. That was Parker. You didn’t dip your dick in, so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.”
“Little girl, you’re pushing the wrong buttons right now,” Benson countered. “I’m pissed the fuck off that you were drinking last night and you aren’t even close to twenty-one yet.”
“Oh, so sorry, Daddy. Your little come-slut isn’t old enough to drink, but she can take cock all day, any day. Uh-oh, wrong again. No one used me as a come-dumpster, so no worries, big guy.” Otto and Astro both sucked in sharp breaths. If we’d had popcorn, they would have been smashing handfuls into their mouths. It wasn’t like I’d had time to give them any juicy details about my adventurous night out. They were learning all about my dirty exploits as I spewed at my daddies.
“Enough, !” Benson bellowed. “You’ve already earned yourself one spanking. Do you want to add another one?”
“Spanking?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “For what?”
“You ran from us this morning, princess. That alone is going to get your ass nice and pink. Keep pushing, though, baby, and you won’t be sitting comfortably for a week.”
“What happened to all that your pain isn’t worth my pleasure bullshit?” I tossed at him, trying and failing not to imagine his big hands on my ass.
“You’ll love every minute of it, baby. I promise.”
“Doubtful.”
Benson laughed, low and so damn sexy it ruined my panties. “You’re just going to have to wait and see, angel.”
I needed to end this before my body completely betrayed me. My clit had an opinion on the entire spanking conversation, and it didn’t match my brain’s. “Well, good chat. Gotta go. I need to be well rested for that chemistry exam tomorrow.”
“Jesus Christ, , don’t you dare hang up on your daddies. We called to ask you about your friend. Lia.”
They’re just using you.
I shook away my sister’s nagging voice echoing in my head. “What about Lia?” I asked cautiously.
“Not for us, baby girl,” Malcolm rushed to interject.
“What about Lia?” I repeated through clenched teeth. There was too much going on with my friend that could hurt her, but having those three calling to question me about her bothered me on an entirely different level.
“Trevor,” Parker answered without further detail.
“Right. Trevor.” Amelia’s hookup. Her life was turning into a telenovela. “So, what does Trevor want to know?”
They paused, as if trying to read my tone, but they couldn’t. I didn’t know exactly what I was feeling, so they couldn’t have even guessed.
“Her name,” Benson finally said quietly. “I just need her full name.”
It was a simple thing to give them Amelia’s name. Letting them know she was a Durst would have answered so many of Trevor’s questions but would have exposed my friend in ways I didn’t know if she was ready for. Especially given the current state of her family. I wouldn’t have answered any of their questions, though, not a single one of them.
Because without loyalty, I had nothing, and I sure as fuck wasn’t giving up the only good thing in my life for those assholes. And yet, it was because of that loyalty to my friend that I completely understood why they were asking me questions about Amelia.
If a person could have heart emojis in their eyes, I would have seen them in Trevor’s the night before.
“What’s it worth to you?” I asked him.
“It’s not worth anything to me, baby. We’re just trying to help out our friend. Figured if he is even half as head over heels for her as I am for you, then he’s probably losing his mind right now not even knowing where she is.”
I tapped my finger on my chin, considering my options. There was no way I would give them anything on Amelia, but I could let her know Trevor was interested. I was not going to think about the whole “head over heels” comment Benson dropped on me. Insta-love wasn’t real…
Was it?
No. It couldn’t be.
What I was feeling was lust for all three of them. My heart didn’t know what it was talking about, hoping and wishing—demanding—to capture our daddies’ hearts.
But…maybe it was true for some people. If they were lucky.
“You can ask questions about her, but that doesn’t mean I’ll answer them. What I will do is play messenger on behalf of Trevor. Fair?”
“Are we negotiating?” Parker asked, his deep voice washing over my nerves in a way that made me melt into the bed. Astro and Otto gave me knowing smirks as they cuddled into each other, giving me a little space to enjoy the call.
“Negotiating would suggest a trade of some kind. But you weren’t willing to give me what I wanted earlier, so I’m going to assume you have nothing of value I want in exchange for those prized answers you called in search of.”
“But if we did put that on the table?” Parker persisted.
I huffed out a laugh. “You show me yours, and I’ll show you mine, Daddy.”
“Fucking Christ,” Malcolm practically whimpered.