Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Chase, Diesel, Dodge, and Maddox approach me, looking more cautious than I’ve ever seen them.
“Is everything okay?” Dodge asks.
“We saw you talking to your parents,” Diesel adds.
Maddox sounds apologetic when he says, “We didn’t know they were here until after our winning bid was announced. I take it they don’t like the fact that you’ve been seeing us?”
“Well … yeah.” I must hesitate so much that Chase becomes suspicious.
“Do they know you’ve been seeing us?” he asks.
I can’t meet his eyes, and instead pretend to be distracted by someone passing by. I don’t know what to say, because I don’t want the brothers to think that I’m ashamed of them, but isn’t that what my secrecy essentially comes down to? My parents are mad at me, and now these men are rightfully going to be angry too.
I’m angry at myself as well. I shouldn’t have gotten into this situation. I shouldn’t have been sneaking around, but on the other hand, my parents shouldn’t be telling me what to do.
Gesturing for the men to follow me, I lead them toward a quieter spot in the corner. “I don’t typically talk to my parents about my sex life,” I say when we have some privacy.
“Is that all we are? Sex?” Maddox teases.
“Well, we haven’t taken her on any dates,” Dodge reasons. “She can’t exactly say she’s dating us when we haven’t invited her out.”
“We’ll have to rectify that immediately,” Diesel says.
“There’s the picnic date you won,” I say, wanting to cut off the direction of the conversation. We should be able to go unnoticed at the island’s biggest park, but if I were to go to restaurants with the four men, it would only be a matter of time before news got back to my parents.
Even if someone who knows me does see us at the park, it’s a chance I’ll have to take. I’m not going to cancel the date. I can’t do that to the shelter, or to the men.
“We’ll start with the picnic,” Chase says. “When would you like to go?”
“I’m off tomorrow,” I say.
Chase gives me a grin that makes my chest ache. “Tomorrow works for us. And I apologize, but we need to run, because we have a show tonight.”
“How about if you come to the club tonight?” Maddox asks. “It’s been a while since you’ve come to the show.”
It has. It crosses my mind to tell them that I don’t like seeing other women throwing themselves at them, but I have no right to be possessive.
“Maybe I’ll come by. I need to help clean up here, though.”
“We’d really like to see you there,” Maddox says. “We miss being with you on the nights we’re working.”
“I miss you, too,” I say. Knowing my parents are long gone, I give them each a quick hug, and then I watch them leave, the heavy feeling in my chest expanding to fill my entire body.
Once they’re out of sight, I start gathering cups from the seating area, and as I work, their words replay in my mind. Even though the men are surrounded by hordes of attractive women when they’re at the club, they miss me.
If all of the women in the crowd truly don’t matter to them, why should those women matter to me? And why should my parents’ opinions matter? Why shouldn’t I be able to do whatever I want, as long as I’m not hurting anyone?
It would be nice to see them on stage again. Their dance moves are so … mmm … there aren’t really words for how good they are.
I’d like to ask Becca to go to the club with me again, but she came to the auction today as a favor, and she went above and beyond trying to smooth out the situation with my parents. I don’t want to ask her for another favor, because I’m sure she’d much prefer to spend the night with her men.
30
Jealousy, frustration, and defeat
I’m feeling quite bold as I join the crowd approaching the door of Club Red, but I’m caught off guard when the man at the entrance stops me. “Jade?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at me. He’s very imposing — tall and massively built, and maybe ten or fifteen years older than me.
“Yes …” I suddenly feel as though I’ve done something very wrong, until his face cracks into the faintest of grins.
“I thought I recognized you,” he says. “Do you want to go backstage?”
When I look at him in confusion, he ducks his head, his smile expanding a fraction more. “I’m sorry. You probably don’t remember me.” He offers me his giant hand to shake. “I’m Duke. I … eh … met you when you were here before.”
I want to tell the man he’s mistaken, even though he somehow knows my name, but then I realize he’s being diplomatic. He must have met me when I was too drunk to remember meeting him. “Oh, hi. Um, nice to see you again.”