Chapter Seven

I had the best dreams of my life when I went to sleep that night. When I woke up with a smile on my face the next morning, I didn’t feel the least little bit of guilt either. Whether this panned out for me or not, I was about to wreck Amanda’s plans. That felt petty of me, but it also felt really, really good.

Brooklyn came in, changed her clothes, and barely said a word to me. She wasn’t upset, she was just lost in a cloud of thought.

“What’s up with you, Brook?” I asked as I put my jacket on and grabbed my bag. I might be a petty bitch now, at least when it came to Amanda, but I loved my best friend.

“Nothing. Just… Well, I’ll talk to you about it later.” She gave me one of those smiles that isn’t reassuring at all but is meant to be.

I frowned, my lips pursed to the right, but let her have her privacy for now. Kind of.

“You’re okay, though?” I pushed one last time.

“Yes, I’m fine. Really. Just a lot on my mind. We’ll talk later.” She put her hand on my arm then walked to the door.

We went our separate ways as she headed off to do a shift at the hospital for her clinical training, and I went off to find my own class. I smiled as bright sunlight beamed off windows and windshields; the day just a little bit brighter after the evening I’d spent alone. Only I wasn’t really alone. I was with four deeply sensual men.

I could barely concentrate on my class, especially when I felt my phone vibrate between my legs. This professor absolutely hated students using their phones during class, but I didn’t care. I was in the back, the prof faced the wall as she presented a PowerPoint presentation to us, she wouldn’t see me.

“My cock is so hard for you right now I might have to stay in bed this morning,” Michael’s name appeared beside the text.

I could swear I hummed with delight, but when I checked there was nobody staring at me like I was freak. I quickly sent a winking emoji and put my phone back between my legs. I couldn’t concentrate on the presentation after that, even though I tried. All I could think about was Michael, alone in his bedroom, taking matters into his own hands.

A student in front of me turned to look at me with curiosity when I hummed again. It might have even been a strangled moan. I looked away, my face now on fire.

The boys were all dark-haired with light gray eyes. While they all had oval-shaped faces and noses that suited their faces, Michael had short hair and full lips. Adam’s hair was longer, down to his collar. Tristan’s was curly and a tad long, but not too long. Just enough to run your fingers through, like an Irish poet. Daniel’s was a bit long on top but shorter around the sides and back, a debonair look that reminded her of some of the younger rock stars.

All of them were more than fit.

The professor tried to draw our attention to one particular point she wanted to make, but I couldn’t do anything but stare into space. What would it be like to really be with all those men all at once?

I felt a shiver run down my spine. For a moment, I wondered if it was really a good idea or not. It could be very dangerous. They were rich, able to get away with whatever they wanted. But so was Amanda. It was her they were really expecting, not me, and I wished I could change that. No, I didn’t think this would exactly be dangerous, but it might blow up in my face when they saw me instead of her.

Which reminded me, I’d need to buy a flight to Las Vegas. How was I supposed to do that? I had no extra cash, at all.

I could borrow it, maybe from Brooklyn, but would I want to do that? I’d have to explain what my plans were. Otherwise, she’d want to go with me, and I didn’t want that. I loved her but I really didn’t need her help on this adventure.

No, I couldn’t ask her for help.

I’d do a search later for a discount flight. If nothing else, maybe I could drive out there. My car wasn’t the best one to look at, but it was well-maintained and reliable. That might be the answer. I’d have to rent a car in Las Vegas just to get to the hotel, otherwise. Hm. I wondered what it would cost me to drive out there.

The class came to an end finally, and I left. It was my only class that day, so I went straight back to the dorm. I checked the cost of flights online and used a student site to do it. There were some really good packages going, ones that I could actually afford now. I knew the date that we were supposed to all meet in Las Vegas and, on impulse, I paid for the flight out of my bank account. It was super cheap, especially when I added in the student discount, and that gave me a rental car, too. I made the flight for two days, so it wouldn’t be long, but long enough.

Just enough time to lose my virginity with four men. At one time.

I giggled with delight and sent the file that came with my purchase to the printer on a shelf at the other end of the room. The room had a long closet that we shared, two long dressers, and the two shelves against the far wall for storage. I ran over to the printer, pulled out the sheets of paper I’d need, and put them in my bag. I didn’t want Brooklyn to know anything about any of this.

She might try to talk me out of it if she knew.

I went into work at lunchtime, my brain ready for exactly nothing. I put more than one book back in the wrong place and barely noticed when students wanted to check out books. Mrs. Lawson glared at me more than once. I tried to bring my brain to life, but all I could think about was what could I wear?

I’d been able to afford the flight, but any other purchases would have to wait. I could go to the consignment shop to buy a dress, and I doubted I’d have clothes of any kind on for long, so I could just take a dress, some shoes, and I’d be able to wear jeans and a sweater on the way home.

If they wanted me to stay at all when they figured out I wasn’t Amanda.

Amanda came in a few hours later, looking around the shelves on her own. She came up to the checkout desk, her eyes slit suspiciously. “Have you seen a phone?”

“I’ve seen my phone,” I answered and held the phone up for her to see. “That’s all.”

“Are you sure?” she asked and stepped closer to the desk her eyes now held a menacing note. “Because if you have my phone and think you can use it against me, I’ll tell you right now, I’ll ruin you.”

“How? I think you’ve done everything you can to make sure I’m as low on the totem pole as anyone could be.” I stared back at her with a smirk in place. “I haven’t seen your phone, Amanda, and if I had, I’d just turn it into the CDC to see what kind of diseases it’s picked up during your… activities.”

I looked down my nose at her for the first time in four years, my head held high. I knew it probably gave away that something had changed but I didn’t care. Let her wonder.

She stared at me with an angry twist to her face. Her mouth pursed into a grim line. I thought she might strike me, but her face changed suddenly and she became all that was sweetness and light. Now the way she leaned over the desk was imploring. My eyes narrowed and I waited for whatever came next.

“Look, Nicolette, I need your help. I had that phone when I came in here last night, but I lost it between here and my dorm.” She paused and I could see it was taking everything in her to be nice to me. “It’s just that, if my dad finds out I’ve lost yet another phone, he’ll go ballistic. I really need to find it and could use your help.”

She stopped to take a deep breath before she gave me the biggest pair of puppy dog eyes I’ve ever seen. They didn’t sway me a bit. I didn’t care if her father was rich or not, I wasn’t about to reveal that I had her phone to her. She could deal with all the fallout she had coming to her.

The stupid girl really should have been a little more careful if it was that important.

“I’ll ask Mrs. Lawson if anyone has turned a phone in, Amanda. Just a moment.” I went back to Mrs. Lawson’s office, asked about the phone, even though I knew she hadn’t seen one, and went back to Amanda with the bad news.

I didn’t even pretend to be sad when I broke the news to her. In fact, I grinned at her. “No, I’m afraid she hasn’t seen a lost phone either. Maybe you lost it between here and your dorm? It might have dropped on the ground and you wouldn’t have heard it.”

“Oh, that’s helpful, Nicolette. So helpful,” she responded bitterly and twisted away with a flounce as her blond hair flew out behind her. She was the picture of righteous rage, her face an unflattering red.

My smile didn’t dim at all after she was gone, either. I picked up my phone and sent the boys a new text. “Michael, have you managed to take care of your problem?”

A few moments later my phone pinged.

“I did, but I seem to have developed a new case of the problem.” This time, I had a picture with the text. Michael was in bed, his hand around the problem in question and a grin on his face.

I snorted with delight and looked around the building. There were more students than ever, but it would empty out soon. Mrs. Lawson would kick out anyone that hadn’t left at five minutes to closing time.

I tapped my foot as the minutes ticked by slowly. Brooklyn sent me a text, an apology to say she wouldn’t be home that evening.

It wasn’t a problem for me. I wanted to know what was going on with her, but it was also a relief because that meant I could be on my own. Another night of naughty texts and giggles that I couldn’t smother. If she was there, I’d die of embarrassment, so the fact that she’d be out made life a lot easier.

“Did that girl find her phone?” Mrs. Lawson startled me when she came up behind me to ask.

“No, I don’t think she did.” I tidied up the desk, which was already tidy, and tried not to look guilty.

“And you know nothing about that, do you, Miss Howell?” Mrs. Lawson looked at me with a look that I thought bordered rather close to smug.

“No, I don’t, Mrs. Lawson.” I looked up at her and looked down at the desk. “I don’t know anything about that phone, at all. She’s not very careful with her property, so it’s not a big surprise that’s she lost her phone.”

“I would agree, Miss Howell. She’s not very careful at all, with anything that belongs to her.” Mrs. Lawson tilted her head at me and went back to her office with a pleased smile.

I got the impression she didn’t like Amanda any more than I did. After all, the girl had been using the library as her own private brothel over the last four years and though Mrs. Lawson was often in her office, she didn’t miss a whole lot. I even doubted she’d missed my picking that phone up.

A sly wink just before she disappeared told me she knew I had that phone but wouldn’t tell a soul. I stood there, shocked, but happy to have a co-conspirator. I knew we’d never talk about it together, but she knew I had something planned.

Mrs. Lawson had always been kind to me, especially when word got around about that blog. She never said a word about that blog, but she’d been even more gentle than usual with me. I’d appreciated that.

I didn’t want her to get in trouble over that phone, and if we both agreed that we hadn’t seen that phone, then she wouldn’t. I finished up my tasks and walked home in the dimming light. The evening was warmer than it had been in a very long time and I took my hoodie back off as I walked to the dorm.

I stopped at the corner store and bought a hot dog for dinner and a bag of plain chips. Spring was in the air, I decided as I came out of the shop. Instead of it being so cold I could see my breath, the air remained clear and I could smell a faint hint of something floral in the air.

I wanted to get back quickly, my phone buzzed quite a few times while I was in the store. I knew it was the Rome brothers, the phone buzzed differently than it did when it was a message from anyone else. I wanted to read those texts, eat my dinner, and get right to work. Well play, in this case, I thought with a giggle as I let myself in the door. So much play.