All The Best Men

“Don’t remind me bro,” Kane shook his head once more, still perplexed. “We should have known she was going to be different. This was the same female that didn’t want money, clothes or jewels, nothing for herself, just a fucking non-profit for kids.”

Mason and I nodded our heads. Kane was right.

“Yeah, she’s completely selfless,” I agreed.

“And shit! We just made her feel like she was nothing, dust beneath our feet.” Tyler exclaimed. “What the fuck is wrong with us? Are we really such assholes?”

It was a tough question. Because yeah, this is our MO, and we’ve done it a million times. But this time it was different because the girl actually cared. No amount of money was gonna buy her off. No amount of resources, no amount of cold hard cash. Katie wanted us, and yet we’d just kicked her in the teeth.

“Fuck,” was Tyler’s curse.

“Fuck fuck,” added Kane.

“Shit,” I grunted. But them my tone became rhetorical. “Did we really just let the best thing that’s ever happened to us get away? Seriously. For real.”

That question rendered us thunderstruck. Because was Katie the best thing ever? Was she someone so different, so precious and rare, so blindingly beautiful that we hadn’t been able to see? Did we just bury a diamond in the mud like a bunch of idiots?

And Kane nodded then.

“Yeah, we fly around the world slamming chicks but it’s meaningless most times. I mean, hell, these women would sleep with anyone with a bulging wallet. He could be in the grave or have a dozen kids, and she wouldn’t care. So where does that leave us? What do we really have?”

The question hung in the air heavily. Forty years have gone by, half our lives over. Was this game gonna continue non-stop? Were we going to be three doddering Hugh Hefners, seventy with a boatload of chicks? Don’t get me wrong, Hefner is an incredible businessman, the head of a publishing empire. But did we want to be like him in our personal lives? Because shit, there’s something sad about an old man in a silk bathrobe, popping Viagra to keep up with his young girlfriends.

So yeah, there was something missing. Things had been pretty empty and pointless lately, and maybe Katie was the answer. Maybe the sweet brunette was what we needed in our lives. Ever since we’d met her things had seemed better. There was life, there was verve, there was a sense of goodness that permeated the air.

I stood then.

“Kane’s right,” came my slow words. “This girl has been amazing for us. She’s smart, she’s giving, and she genuinely cares, god help the woman.”

Tyler interrupted then.

“I could see in her in our lives bros. She would make us happy. How much is that happiness worth?”

Kane joined in as well.

“I dunno. But it’s been a long time since I’ve felt this good. Like real good, not the fake high from drugs and women. This is the real thing, and all we did this week was go to museums, see sights, and be with our female. That’s gotta be worth a lot.”

And with that, it was decided.

“Let’s go find our girl,” was my command.

At that moment, the door opened to reveal a bellhop standing in the hallway, arm raised poised to knock. But before he could speak, Tyler issued an order.

“Tell them we won’t be checking out tonight. We’re here to stay.”

And with that, it was done. The charter would take off, our companies rolling on without us. Because there were more important things in the interim … the most important being our sweet angel, Katie.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Katie

“You were right.” I blew my nose into a tissue with a giant honk, the words catching in my throat. “They used me. They didn’t even say a word when I asked.”

The tears hadn’t stopped flowing since getting home. Elaine zoomed over the minute I called, crying into the phone. She could have said, ‘I told you so,’ but my buddy didn’t. Instead, my friend made some tea and tried to console me.

“You didn’t know you were being used. It’s not the same thing,” she comforted, rubbing my back. “Not the same at all.”

The warmth of the tea did nothing to quell the chill in my bones. Because I’d been betrayed by Kane, Tyler and Mason. All my hopes and dreams were dashed. Happily ever after? I don’t think so, not for a curvy girl like me.

Elaine had a point, but I shook my head, not wanting to let myself off the hook that easily.

“I was so blinded by their charm and the great sex and their sweet talk. I was so dumb,” were my bitter words.

Because only someone naïve and idiotic would have missed the signs. There had been no promises, no nothing from the get-go. The billionaires didn’t sign a contract. They didn’t shake my hand, or offer themselves as potential boyfriends. It was just one hot moment after another, dreams of love a figment of my imagination.