She leans close and whispers, “I don’t like the change in you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re different.” She frowns hard and nods toward the railing. “You hurt that boy.”
I shake my head. “It’s just a role to help me survive, remember? I’m still me under here.”
“No, you’ve never been like this before. You’ve never taken pleasure in seeing other people…tortured.”
“I didn’t enjoy it. I just did what I had to do.”
Her eyebrows dip together while she takes a step back. “You looked like you loved it.”
A knot forms in my throat as I watch my best friend leave. Soren places his hand on my upper back, nudging me toward the drink table.
“Party pooper,” he jokes. “Come on; I’ll do a shot with you.”
“Cherry vodka?”
He smirks. “How did you know what I wanted?”
While shaking my head, I listen to the sound of partygoers reveling in booze and drugs below us. Pop music blasts from one of the lofts, reverberating through the boathouse and inspiring people to dance. I’m about to grab Tomas and drag him to our little dance floor when Parker clears his throat and taps his drink.
Silence falls over the boathouse. “I know you’ve all been waiting a while for this, but Alex and I have finally settled on a date for the wedding. It’ll be Valentine’s Day.”
Murmurs ripple through the floors below. My shock and anger inspire my limbs to move as I march toward him and whisper heatedly, “We never discussed this.”
“We didn’t need to.”
My frown deepened. “We had an agreement.”
More conversation slithers around the structure, whispers of dissent and questions of commitment.
“I’ve never broken any of my agreements,” he growls. “Unlike you.”
I cross my arms over my chest, daring him to defy me as I say, “I’ll be loyal to the three of you, but I won’t ever marry.”
The sound of shuffling footsteps and whispers carries out of the boathouse. When the students have officially left, Evelyn included, the boys circle me like vultures, their eyes stripping me of power as they quietly fume. I can feel them silently communicating with each other, trying to figure out what to do with me.
“Why do you have to be a cockteaser, doll?” Tomas asks, anger swelling in his voice. “We thought you were only waiting to make a decision.”
“Not stringing us all along,” Soren adds.
“With the hope of never deciding,” Parker finishes.
The boys stop moving, creating a perfect triangle around me. I avoid Parker’s gaze while keeping my arms firmly folded over my chest. Anticipation stings my skin, making it difficult to keep my knees from wobbling.
“You want to pledge your loyalty to all of us?” he asks in a voice thick with tension. “Then take off your clothes.”
John Trotter’s yacht party pops into my mind. If I don’t do this, I lose the control I have over them. With some hesitation, I drag the straps of my dress from my shoulders and drop them, letting gravity tug my clothes to the ground. I don’t meet Parker’s gaze, choosing to rob him of the pleasure of seeing how conflicted I am by the activity.
“All of it,” Soren instructs. “You know the drill, sweetheart.”
Tightening my jaw does little to release my tension. I remove my lace bra and panties, revealing the sculpted form they’ve come to know and appreciate. It’s almost like teasing them for a moment until hands fly toward me, roaming every crevice they can find. I have trouble determining who’s doing what, but it doesn’t really matter, does it?
Because I like it.
Parker watches as Tomas and Soren take turns fingering me. I’m clutching Tomas’s shoulder to keep myself from falling, my expression stoic as I watch his fingers plunge into my pussy. He nuzzles my neck as he whispers, “Did you miss my fingers, baby doll?”