All The Best Men

“I gave them my virginity, Elaine. It was wonderful. They treated me so special. Every time I’m with them they never let me forget that. Plus, you’ll never believe this, but they want to set up the non-profit I’ve always dreamed of. Can you believe it?”

The smile on my face was tremulous as I waited for my friend to respond. The blonde’s usually supportive when good things happen. Surely, she would be happy for me. But unfortunately, Elaine’s demeanor indicated otherwise.

There was a silent pause as my buddy chose her words carefully.

“You know they just used you right, Katie?” She shot a pitying look my way and then shook her head again. “You do know that, right?”

I gasped. I hadn’t expected her to completely understand, but still, this was unexpected.

“What are you talking about?” Hurt lanced through my words.

“Bobby told me about them.” Elaine shifted her position on the floor so she was facing me, heaving a deep breath.

“They’ve done this kind of thing for a long time, since high school. They gangbang some girl, use all of her holes, use her like their own personal doll. They make her believe she’s ‘fallen in love,’” Elaine said with air quotes.

What? What the hell? Tears formed in my eyes as I tried to process what Elaine was saying. Could it be true? My lip trembled as I listened mutely.

“Yeah, they get girls to ‘fall in love,’” Elaine stated again with those damned air quotes. “Then they up and leave. Once Mason, Kane and Tyler have their fun, they wrap it up and then presto whammo! It’s a disappearing act. There are parting gifts alright. Money, jewelry, a car or maybe even an apartment, so it’s not like she’s poor. She gets something too, like an exchange.”

Elaine made it sound like a business transaction. But my friend threw me another pitying look then.

“Sounds like your consolation prize is a non-profit. Is that what you asked for?”

I flew on the defensive then.

“It wasn’t like that,” was my protest. “They really like me; we talked. They feel something for me. It’s real, I swear.”

But suddenly, I didn’t know if I was trying to convince Elaine or myself. The air in the room grew heavy, invading my lungs and making it difficult to breathe. Was this the Twilight Zone? Was I in some nightmare where waking up was impossible?

But my buddy shook her head slowly, casting a sympathetic look my way.

“Katie, Katie, how many of the other girls do you think said the same thing? You’re not the only one.”

My head fell into my hands, defeated and lost. But Elaine continued, trying to make things better.

“This was your first experience with men, you’re so innocent and don’t know how ruthless certain alphas can be. How could you have known? It was all so sudden, they basically breezed into town and steamrolled an unsuspecting virgin.”

The words made me curdle inside. Because she was right. As much as I wanted to deny it, I couldn’t, it was true. How many times had Mason, Kane and Tyler pronounced that my innocence was one of the things they adored most about me? My head swam painfully, overcome with the implications.

But Elaine was on a roll now, intent on helping me, even if all it did was hurt.

“Katie, they used you. Those guys don’t care about you. They don’t care about anybody other than themselves. If it makes you feel better, it wasn’t you, per se. It’s just the way they are, women are a playthings and nothing else. And unfortunately, you were their target this time.”

Elaine stood up and began to gather up clothes from around the room as she continued.

“I’m so glad Bobby hasn’t had much contact with those douchebags since college because they are definitely not husband material. Can you imagine bringing someone like that home to meet your mother? I think not.”

My lip quivered as I tried to hold my tears at bay. Was this really happening? Oh god, oh god. But Elaine continued, not looking at me.

“They’re a bunch of playboys who love gangbangs and screwing chicks. They used you Katie, and now they’re buying you off. It wasn’t real. It was never real, don’t blame yourself.”

She dumped some items in her suitcase then, still proclaiming this and that.

But I couldn’t believe it. Swiping at an errant tear, I willed it not to be true. Please God, please. Everything these past few days was just a lie to get me in bed? But there were so many other women! Stacy, Linda, all the other bridesmaids, heck, all the other women at the wedding if it came to that. They could have used any of them.

But after everything Elaine said, I could no longer deny that she was probably right. After all, who sets up a non-profit on five minutes notice? Who says, take all this money, it’s yours to do with as you wish, have fun? And besides, the men made no mention of sticking around. I was gonna be on my own in Knox, just me and their parting gift.