Chapter 22
”No!”
”Yep,” I say, making the P pop. ”Every single time.”
It”s strange, not being able to tell everything to Tanya, when we”ve never really had secrets from one another, but Sebastian was clear: I can tell her anything about the two of us. My NDA covers sharing anything about his club, or any other member. Which is fair. I”m so attached to my privacy, I won”t begrudge other people theirs. That said, I wish I could tell Tanya how freaking wild, and sexy, and amazing his world is.
We haven”t had another night like last Sunday, but the fact that it”s possible, that we could have sex in front of an audience again, is deeply arousing. I”m looking forward to it.
Jesus, what”s happened to me?
”It”s statistically impossible for a man to make a woman orgasm every time they have intercourse,” Tanya says, sounding like she”s quoting from an encyclopedia.
”Whoever wrote those stats was never fucked by Sebastian,” I quip, sipping my milkshake.
She giggles before asking the question I”ve put out of my mind as much as possible.”And what does Senator Cole make of it?”
I wince. ”I didn”t talk to her yesterday.”
I should have called her back, but well, I”m not a great liar. I knew she”d be pissed about the way I received her golden boy last Sunday, practically kicking him out of my dorm.
”Good for you,” Tanya grins, seeming genuinely happy for me. ”I”m so glad you”re finally managing to put some distance between you. I don”t know everything about your relationship, of course, but it seemed…” she takes a moment to think. ”Toxic.”
I nod slowly. ”She”s abusive.”
I don”t think I”ve said those words out loud before, this directly.
”She”d lock me in the dark when I didn”t do what she wanted. And she”s blackmailing me to behave.”
”With your brother, André?” Tanya guesses, not surprised at all.
I”m sure she connected the dots a long time ago.
”I”ve always wondered…why don”t you ask your other brother for help?Caleb? Surely, he can take care of André if push comes to shove.”
I sigh. ”Caleb and Dad clashed—so much so he was disowned, remember? André”s Dad”s kid. He looks like Dad, too. Caleb was always very stiff about him. Not indifferent, but you know. Wary.” It”s hard to put into words. ”Besides, he had to start over with nothing. He only started to make money a year ago. I can”t ask him to support a kid he doesn”t even know or like.”
”But you have to let your mother walk all over you to support him? That doesn”t seem fair,”Tanya admonishes, quick to be in my corner.
“But see, Caleb launched his company fairly recently. It’s amazing, and I’m proud of him. But after taxes, paying his employees, and pushing some cash towards the next year and all that, he didn’t have enough to pay himself anything a couple of years back, let alone dropping five or six figures on his half brother’s tuition.”
“That was a couple of years back. He’s doing good, now, isn’t he?” she pushes.
I shrug. “My inheritance has over nine figures. The expense isn’t even worth an asterisk. I’m the one who should handle it. The issue is, while Mother is in charge of it, I need to play her games.”
“It’s not fair.”
Don’t I know that.
“You know what you should do?”
Wait her out. Resist her until I turn twenty-five.
“Get married to your hottie.”
“What?”
“She is only trustee so long as you’re single, right? So, get married. He’s rich himself, and he gives you tons of orgasms. Might as well.”
“I…it’s not that simple.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve kind of dated him for literally a week. I’m pretty far from getting a proposal.”
“So what?” She shrugs. “Propose to him. It’s the twenty-first century. If you explain the situation, I’m sure he’ll want to help. People get into arranged marriages for worse reasons, you know.”
“You’re insane,” I say with an eye roll.
But at the same time, I think about it while I finish my drink. I can”t help it. It would immediately solve all my issues.The only thing stopping me is the fact that no one gets married after a fucking week. Even a week of extraordinary fucking. For whatever reason.
It would be different if he were just some guy I didn”t know, someone I would propose to just for the sake of getting my hands on the inheritance. I wouldn”t have to worry about what I”d feel—especially if I brought it up to him and he laughed in my face.
But the thing is, a complete stranger wouldn”t work because I wouldn”t trust them. And to my astonishment, there”s no denying that I trust Sebastian. Or Aurelius. I know exactly who he is. And I know what he wants from me: me, preferably naked, my tits accessible, and if possible, an audience watching him rail me as I scream that I”m his.
I flush.
”You”re totally thinking about sex, aren”t you? You have a sex face on.”
I hide my smirk behind the straw, but Tanya rolls her eyes, then pouts. ”I wish I had a hot guy making me make that face.”
I snort. ”Come on. You”re Tanya Walsh. You have a string of hot guys who only dream of getting a chance to make you make any kind of face.”
My friend is seriously hot, and she knows it.
She shrugs. ”Not the right guys. I mean, since coming to Thorn Falls, there”s only one I”ve noticed, and guess what? He called me a little girl, then an idiot.”
I narrow my eyes. ”What the fuck? Who”s that asshole?”
”I might have been walking around at night in southie. Apparently, that”s not entirely safe. Hence, the whole idiot thing. But still. I”m very far from orgasms on tap territory.”
I have an idea suddenly. Maybe I can”t talk to Tanya about Sebastian”s club, but that doesn”t mean I can”t help my best friend. ”Hey, maybe I”ll ask Sebastian if he has some hot, single friends.”
Someone not as kinky as the rest of them, I think to myself. I can”t imagine Tanya doing the kind of stuff I”ve seen this past week. Even the kind of stuff I did last week.
”Sign me up,” she accepts eagerly. ”I”m officially desperate enough to say yes to a blind date.”
If I have anything to say about it, not for long.
“Can I help you with anything?” our waitress offers, with a lovely smile.
“Just the bill, please, Pen.”
I’m encroaching on Tanya’s workday again, chatting on her lunch hour. I’m quite taken with the cafe right across the road from the theater, Lost the Plot, so much so I’m on first-name basis with most of the staff by now.
Penelope’s quick to come back with the bill and her card reader. She scans my shiny black card and frown.
“I’m sorry, it was declined.”
My heart sinks.
It can’t be a question of funds. But there are occasions my cards are declined. It always comes down to one reason.
Mother.
“Oh no,” Tanya winces, her mind connecting the dots as fast as mine. “Did you say you didn’t call her back yesterday?”
My jaw tightens. I was having a great time, and then I was studying, and I quite simply didn’t want to deal with her.
But it’s not just that. I also sneered at her golden boy last weekend. I guess it was too many strikes for her.
“I’ve got it,” Tanya offers automatically.
“No, let me.” I still have some of the cash she lent me.
And yeah, paying with her money or letting her pay is about the same difference, but it’ll make me feel better. We had a deal. I’m the one supposed to pay until we’re square, after the cash she loaned me.
That leaves exactly twenty-five bucks in my hand, and no access to more until I comply with whatever Senator Cole demands.
Fuck this shit.
“I have something to do. I’ll call you after your show, okay?”
“It’ll be late, don’t bother. I’m off tomorrow if you want to do something after classes.”
I kiss her cheek, and make my way to the convenience store where I picked up some beer the last time I was in town.
I spotted something back then. Something I looked at wistfully, before putting it back down, because I’m Hestia Cole, and I obviously just can’t buy myself a box of cheap, home hair dye. That wouldn’t be proper. Mother wouldn’t approve.
I head straight to it, grab it, and stride to the counter, slapping it down.
Fuck this shit so hard.