Faking the Play

A Reverse Harem College Sports

Romance

Piper Parker

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Copyright © 2024 by Piper Parker
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the
publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

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 Contents

1. Amelia
2. Amelia
3. Logan
4. Amelia
5. Ethan
6. Amelia
7. Ryan
8. Amelia
9. Amelia
10. Logan
11. Amelia
12. Ryan
13. Amelia
14. Ethan
15. Amelia
16. Logan
17. Amelia
18. Ethan
19. Amelia
20. Amelia
21. Logan
22. Amelia
23. Ryan
24. Amelia
25. Amelia
26. Logan
27. Amelia
28. Ryan
29. Amelia
30. Amelia
31. Logan
32. Amelia
33. Ethan
34. Amelia
35. Ryan
36. Amelia
37. Amelia
38. Amelia
39. Epilogue
40. Free Preview of Ride or Dies: A Best Friend's Brothers Reverse Harem
Romance

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 Chapter One

Amelia

“H oly shit! Did you see this? Full-on bush in that shot. I mean, wax or
something.”
The voice sounded young, more girl than woman, and the
excitement—however inappropriate—in her voice made me smile. I was
only twenty, but my parents always joked that I’d been “born old.” I was
the type to skip a grade in elementary school and then slip right from high
school valedictorian to overachieving psychology major without even a hint
of excitement.
And speaking of psychology, I had books to get. Books that weren’t on
the syllabus for anyone else in my program, and that thought did send a
little flash of excitement through me. I’d just found out a couple hours ago
that I got the teaching assistant position I interviewed for last week. Not
only was it a great opportunity to work with Dr. Beren Isenberg, but it came
with a scholarship for the graduate-level studies I hoped to pursue next year.
“What do you think the story is there?” another young female voice
asked. “Do you think the professor actually asked her to do the whole
‘naughty librarian’ thing? Because if that’s how she dresses normally—
well, it’s the unsexy version of it.”
“I want to know if he’s the one who posted the pictures, or if he shared
them with someone? I mean, no way did she post them—and a confession
that she’s banging her teacher—by accident.”
“Maybe she did it on purpose. Tried to blackmail him, or he dumped her
ass for someone hotter. Not that it’d be hard.”
 “Does it say who the prof is?”
I winced as I pulled a reference book from the shelf. I really hoped it
wasn’t anyone from CSU, because the last thing Colorado State University
needed was a professor-student scandal. We were starting off the year with
a football team that had the chance to make a record-breaking season, and a
science department that was getting some attention for some breakthrough
in micro-something-or-other.
“Oh, this one isn’t too bad,” the first girl said. “Looks like she shaved or
waxed or something. Maybe the professor offered extra credit for a bare—”
I stepped around the end of the bookcase, chuckling to myself as the two
girls froze, eyes wide. With my shoulder-length hair pulled back in a
ponytail and my plain white button-up shirt, I probably looked like an
employee, and their conversation wasn’t exactly one for polite company.
I didn’t really want to talk to complete strangers and I didn’t care about
gossip, so I just gave them an awkward smile and went to walk around them
to get to the checkout.
“Is that…?” one of the girls whispered.
If she was trying to keep anyone else from hearing, she wasn’t doing a
very good job of it.
“Shh.”
“Don’t elbow me.”
I rolled my eyes at the hushed bickering, knowing this was probably
going to be the talk of the student body as classes started next week.
Hopefully, my new job would keep me too busy to be bothered by it much.
Everyone else in the store, however, seemed like they only wanted to talk
about these pictures. In fact, as far as I could tell, I was the only person not
currently looking at their phone.
Which explained the funny looks I got as I reached the register and set
my stack of books down on the counter.
“Normally, I’d be against a man posting naked pictures of his girlfriend
online, but she cheated on him with a professor just to get some job, so if he
did it—and there’s no proof he did—I can’t say I blame him. I just wonder
who the poor sap is,” the cashier said to her co-worker as she set down her
phone and turned toward me. Her eyes went wide and the color drained
from her face. “How, uh…how can I help you?”
I raised an eyebrow and gestured to the stack of books in front of me.
“Um, ID?”
 I had no idea why she sounded so flustered, but I had other things on my
mind—namely, the reading I needed to get done before classes started
tomorrow. Professor Isenberg hadn’t asked me to do it, but I believed in
being as prepared as possible, especially since most TAs had a lot more
warning than twenty-four hours before the first class.
At least, if the current crowd was any indication, I wasn’t the only one
getting my textbooks at the last minute.
That didn’t, however, explain the fact that I could feel people staring at
me. I looked around as surreptitiously as possible as the cashier scanned my
books, and it wasn’t my imagination. People really were staring. And
whispering.
Did I have something on my face? On my clothes? I’d eaten pizza for
lunch, but I didn’t remember dropping anything. And I always checked my
shoes after using a public restroom, after that one incident in ninth grade
when I’d walked around with a piece of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of
my shoe.
“Here.” With one hand, the cashier shoved the bag of books in my
direction, and with the other, she held out my card. Unlike everyone else,
she didn’t look at me at all.
“Uh, thanks.” I took my things and headed for the exit, uncomfortable as
I realized all those eyes were following me there too.
As soon as I got away from the crush of people, I decided, I would find a
quiet spot to stop and check myself over, figure out if I’d put my shorts on
backward or something. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be anyone over by
the CSU Rams sweatshirts and blankets—which made sense since it was
still blazing hot outside—so I took a small detour to duck between two
clothing displays.
Once I set down my bag, I fished my phone out of my pocket, nearly
dropping it when it buzzed with an incoming text. I smiled, wondering if it
was a congratulatory text from my boyfriend.
When I saw the name on the message, my smile grew. The warmth that
spread through me had nothing to do with the weather. Jason Hunn and I
had been dating for nearly a year, and we were only getting more serious.
He’d come to see me almost every week over the summer, and the other day
I’d caught him looking at rings. Just the thought of a proposal had my
insides squirming, pushing aside the anxiety I felt only moments ago.
 As I read the message, however, my smile disappeared and a sick feeling
formed in my stomach, forcing me to grab onto the closest table to keep
from crumpling to the floor. I might not have fallen, but staying on my feet
didn’t soften the blow from the words in front of me.
I don’t understand how you could do this to us. To me. I hoped both of us
going for the same job wouldn’t come between us, but using me to get it? I
never thought you could do something like that. But still, I was going to
forgive you for passing off my work as yours. Then someone sent me this
link and said you’ve been fucking Isenberg this whole time, sending him
nudes and everything. You broke my heart, Amelia, and I can’t forgive you
for that. We’re done.
I stared at the message, my brain refusing to process it. Any of it. How
could I, when none of it made sense? Passing off Jason’s work as mine?
Sleeping with Dr. Isenberg? Sending him nudes?
And then I saw the link.
My hands shook so hard I almost couldn’t tap the screen, but when I did
and I saw what was there, I wished I’d dropped my phone. Broken it.
Stayed ignorant just a little longer.
The first one was a full body shot. An arm under small breasts that were
tipped with pale peach nipples. A thatch of dark hair between slender legs.
Full-on bush in that shot. I mean, wax or something.
The comment I’d heard in the store rang through my head, and my heart
began to pound.
Blood rushed in my ears as I scrolled through nearly two dozen pictures.
Some with skimpy lingerie. Some of just breasts. Some of spread legs and
newly shaved skin. And some with my face very clear.
All of the images were familiar. I’d posed for them, after all. After weeks
of cajoling, less than a month ago, Jason had gotten me to agree to let him
take pictures of me. First in my underwear, and then naked.
All of them for his own private perusal.
And now they were online for anyone to see if they knew where to look.
Based on the way people had been staring at me, people knew where to
look.
What made it even worse was that, along with each photo, whether my
face could be seen or not, was my name.
And the accusation that I’d earned my new TA position by having sex
with my fifty-something mentor and boss, Dr. Beren Isenberg.
 Heat flooded my face even as tears filled my eyes. I blindly shoved my
phone back into my pocket and grabbed my books. I needed to get out of
here. Away from the eyes I could still feel on me even though I was fairly
well hidden in this little space. Away from the whispers I could definitely
hear as they stopped being whispers and became full-blown conversations.
Away from the entire store of people who’d seen me naked and thought I’d
screwed my way into a job.
Books in hand, I made my way to the doors, grateful that I’d been at the
school long enough to know my way around without needing to see much.
A burst of heat rolled over me the moment I opened the door and practically
ran into the sunshine…only to be stopped short when I slammed face-first
into a very hard, very broad, chest.

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 Chapter Two

Amelia

“W hoa,Bigthere.”
hands closed around my arms and kept me from falling, but
did nothing to ease my embarrassment.
“I’m so sorry,” I said quickly, taking a step back. “I should’ve been
looking where I was going but I wasn’t and I’m so sorry and I’m just going
to—”
“Amelia?”
The deep voice rumbled through me, but this time, I realized that I
recognized it. My embarrassment gave way to complete and utter
mortification as I looked up—way up—into a pair of icy gray eyes that
warmed as soon as our gazes met. Messy blond hair and absolutely massive
muscles made up the six feet and four inches of Ryan Thompson, CSU’s
star defensive lineman.
And one of my childhood best friends.
Which meant…
Someone cleared their throat.
Shit.
“If it isn’t Amelia Fine.”
To Ryan’s right stood a handsome man a few inches shorter, with reddish-
brown hair and dark brown eyes. Twenty-one-year-old Ethan Blake,
playboy wide receiver with a bit of a troublemaker streak. His dimples
flashed as he smiled at me, but that smile quickly vanished when he saw my
expression.
 “What’s wrong?”
“Are you okay?”
The concern in Logan Carter’s voice broke me, and I burst into tears.
This time, they weren’t just running down my cheeks. I was full-on
bawling, standing in the middle of the sidewalk with three of the school’s
hottest and most sought-after athletes staring at me.
“What the hell?” Ryan muttered. “I didn’t do anything. I swear.”
“Amelia, hon, are you okay?”
I’d always thought Logan Carter looked a bit like Clark Kent with his
black hair and bright blue eyes, but that resemblance had faded when he—
and his two best friends—had basically abandoned me once they became
popular athletes in junior high. Now, he was right back to looking like
Henry Cavill’s Superman as he swooped in like some hero.
If I hadn’t been a complete and utter wreck, I might’ve been pissed that
he was finally deigning to talk to me again, but all I could do at the moment
was wring my hands and babble a bunch of nonsense that didn’t even make
sense to me.
“Those damn pictures…how? Who? No, I know who…but he couldn’t…
he did. It had to be him. What am I going to do? Oh, no—Dr. Isenberg. He
can’t think I’d…what if he believes I started…everyone saw them…” A
bubble of hysteria rose in my chest, and I knew if I didn’t stop the words
from coming out, I’d lose it right here on the sidewalk. Summoning all of
my self-control, I pressed my lips together and swallowed the rest of the
words before they could escape.
“We’re causing a show,” Ethan said quietly. “Let’s get her out of here.”
“Come on.” One of Ryan’s massive arms went around my shoulders.
The three of them led me toward the parking lot, which wasn’t in the
direction of my dorm at all.
“Where are we going?” My question was muffled, but they understood
me anyway.
“We’re taking you to our place,” Logan said. “I’m guessing you wouldn’t
want all the attention we’d get if we took you back to your dorm.”
“We drove over this morning,” Ethan explained. “So we’re taking you to
the car, and then we’ll drive to Quarry.”
Quarry. Right. The apartment complex not too far from the stadium. It
didn’t surprise me that they lived off campus. Ironically, it actually wasn’t
too far from my dorm.
 “Okay.”
My agreement seemed to be some sort of signal for us all to just shut up
and walk as quickly as possible. Before I knew it, I was bundled into the
back seat with Ethan who, at six feet, was the shortest of the three, and
Logan drove us back to their place. The drive was only a couple minutes,
but I managed to pull myself together in that time, enough that I wasn’t a
blubbering mess when I followed them into one of the buildings and down a
hall to a massive ground-floor apartment.
If my entire world hadn’t been falling apart, I would’ve been a little more
awestruck.
“Sit,” Ryan said as he led me over to an expensive-looking couch. “What
do you want to drink?”
“I’m good.” I sat down because it seemed rude not to, but I didn’t want to
overstay my welcome. “Once I catch my breath, I’ll go.”
“Here.” Logan held out a glass of ice water. “Drink this. Do you want
anything to eat?”
I shook my head, but accepted the water. Sipping at it helped cool me
down, but it also made my empty stomach remember that I’d skipped
breakfast this morning because I’d been too excited about getting the books
for my new position.
Shit. My books.
“My bag—” I started.
“We got it,” Ethan said from the kitchen where he was going through
cabinets. “And you’re going to eat with us. Coach has us on this strict diet
about when we eat and how much, especially before practice.”
“You have practice today?” I seized on the subject, hoping I could make
small talk for a bit and then leave.
I should’ve known better.
“What happened?” Logan asked as he sat down next to me. “I’ve never
seen you that upset before. I mean, you’re not exactly the type of person to
get emotional in public.”
I didn’t tell him that I’d been just as destroyed when I lost their
friendship. They’d never been mean to me after that, they just acted like I
didn’t exist at all. Somehow, that had almost been worse.
“Lia, tell us.”
Hearing Ryan use that nickname cracked something inside me, and
everything came pouring out. The looks in the store. The text from Jason.
The pictures, and that accusation.
The crash of something in the kitchen at the end of my story had the three
of us turning in that direction. Ethan gripped a frying pan so tightly that his
knuckles turned white. Fury flashed in his eyes, and his normally smiling
face wore an expression I’d never seen on him before.
“I’m gonna kill the fucker,” Ethan said quietly.
“One of Jason’s friends could’ve gotten his phone and sent themselves
the pictures.” Even as I said it, I knew it was a lie. Jason used facial
recognition to lock his phone. He’d mentioned it to his buddies once when
one of them complained about his girlfriend wanting access to his text
messages.
“You could go to the police about this,” Logan said. “There are a lot of
prosecutors who want to start setting precedents about revenge porn.”
My cheeks flushed at his word choice, and I knew I couldn’t do it. “No.
There’s no proof he did anything, and he’s smart enough to cover his
tracks.”
That was the problem with dating a fellow academic. Intelligent people
could be as awful as anyone, but it was harder to prove anything.
“You could go to the school about it,” Logan suggested. “He won’t get
jail time, but there’d at least be a punishment of some kind.”
“That’s if they believe me over him,” I pointed out. “Plus, there’s that
accusation about my professor—”
“Anyone who knows you knows that’s total bullshit,” Ryan said. “Even if
you weren’t fucking brilliant, you’d never sleep with a teacher.”
“You’d never fuck anyone for a job,” Ethan said. Some of the anger had
left his face, but he still wasn’t back to his normal smiling self. “We could
be your character witnesses.”
At that, I couldn’t help myself. “You guys haven’t done more than say hi
to me in seven years. How do you know I haven’t changed into someone
who’ll do whatever it takes to get ahead? Even sleeping with Dr. Isenberg?”
Logan shook his head, a contrite expression on his face. “First, I’m sorry.
We never should’ve dumped you like that. We might’ve been moving in
two different directions back then, but it shouldn’t have broken up our
friendship.”
“What he’s trying to say is that we were stupid little bastards,” Ethan
said. “And we should’ve made this right a long time ago.”
“So let us help you now.” Ryan sat on my other side. “What can we do?”
 Everyone was looking at me with such intensity that I took a large gulp of
my water…and choked. As I sputtered and coughed, my hand shook,
threatening to spill the rest of the glass. One of the guys took it from me and
the other pounded on my back as tears flooded my eyes.
A memory surged forward of the last time we’d all been together, sitting
around in the treehouse Logan’s dad had bought him as an apology for
breaking a promise. For some reason, my stomach had been a bundle of
nerves, and I’d done the same thing. Took a big drink and inhaled at the
same time.
Despite the tears streaming down my cheeks and how rough my throat
felt, for a brief moment, I felt safe.
And once I could talk again, I’d make sure the guys knew I’d forgiven
them for everything that happened in our pasts. Even if we were only ever
acquaintances from here on out, at least they’d be back in my life in some
way.

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 Chapter Three

Logan

I wanted to drive her back to her dorm, but Amelia said she’d calmed down
enough to walk back to Newsom Hall on her own. She claimed she
wanted time to think.
Personally, I thought she spent too much time thinking, but it wasn’t my
call to make. We’d fixed some of the damage we did to her when we were
kids, and I hoped we’d be able to build that friendship again, but right now,
it wasn’t our place to do anything more than make suggestions and offers.
“We fucked up,” Ethan announced as soon as we were back in the
apartment. “We never should’ve listened to those assholes who said we
couldn’t be friends with a skinny, brainy kid.”
“She’s definitely not skinny anymore,” Ryan said, his voice rough. “You
guys really need to check out these pictures.”
“We are going to figure out how to get them off the internet, right?”
Ethan asked. “I mean, Darak could do it, right?”
“That’s actually a really good idea,” I said.
“I do have them occasionally.” He sounded mildly insulted.
Then both of us shut up completely because we were staring at Ryan’s
phone. Or rather, more specifically, the very naked picture of Amelia on
Ryan’s screen.
I let out a low whistle, unable to stop myself. I was furious that her ex
had done this to her, taken something so private and intimate and posted it
for everyone to see.
 But I was a straight man, and I didn’t think any straight man could look at
those pictures without getting turned on. She was just that fucking hot.
“Damn.” Ethan sounded like he’d had the wind knocked out of him.
“How the hell is that the same girl who we used to joke looked like a boy in
her bathing suit?”
Amelia was still slender, but Ethan was right. She definitely didn’t look
like a boy anymore. A surge of arousal and protectiveness hit me hard.
“We need to get Darak to get these pictures down,” I said.
“Once something’s on the internet, it’s impossible to get it off
completely,” Ryan said.
“Doesn’t matter,” I insisted. “We’re going to do whatever we can to help
her. Protect her.”
I looked at Ethan and then at Ryan. Both of them nodded in agreement,
and that was it. We agreed, so that was what we were going to do.
How that was going to work was something we’d need to wait to figure
out, however, because we needed to head to practice. With the potential of a
great season ahead of us, Coach Hobkins would be beyond pissed if we
were late.
Less than twenty minutes later, we started on the first of what would be a
shitload of laps. As always, Ryan set the pace, pushing himself and
everyone else to do our best. The man didn’t say much, but everyone knew
he wouldn’t accept anything less than two hundred percent.
I’d once seen him play an entire half with a broken pinky and a cracked
rib. He said he wouldn’t have done it if it hadn’t been our last game of the
season, but I knew better. He wouldn’t let anything keep him from his goal.
Yeah, a lot of us wanted to play in the NFL, and a few of us had even
been talking to agents and scouts since last year, but with Ryan, it was
different. From the moment he’d realized that he could have a career as a
football player, that was it. Nothing swayed him from that.
“Hey, Logan.” Ethan came up beside me and matched pace. “I talked to
Darak, and he said he’d see what he could do.”
“Did he already know about it?” I asked.
Ethan’s mouth pressed into a flat line, telling me his answer. It took a lot
for him to lose his usual smile, but it didn’t surprise me that Amelia’s
problem did that to him. What we’d done to her hadn’t sat right with any of
us. Not that we’d had the balls to change anything until now.
 My stomach twisted at the memory of her sobbing in front of the
bookstore. She hadn’t given us her ex-boyfriend’s last name, but I didn’t
think it would be too hard to find if we really wanted to look. And I
definitely wanted to.
But I wouldn’t.
Beating the shit out of that guy wouldn’t do anything but get me into
trouble, and that wasn’t what Amelia needed.
“We should get her ice cream,” Ethan said suddenly.
“What?”
“Ice cream,” he repeated. “Isn’t that what chicks want after a guy dumps
them?”
“Usually that’s because they got their heart broken,” I said. “Not
humiliated by nudes being spread around the internet.”
“Blake! Carter! If you two ladies can talk, you’re not running hard
enough!” Coach shouted from the sidelines.
Grimacing at the reprimand, Ethan and I both ran faster, and I told myself
I’d focus on football until practice was done. After that, the three of us
could sit down and figure out what we wanted to do about Amelia.
Except all my good intentions went to shit when a bunch of us were
changing in the locker room and Otto Schaffner had to open his big mouth.
“Hey, does anyone know this Amelia chick?” He grabbed a towel and
started drying off his junk. “I think I might want an introduction.”
I gritted my teeth and reminded myself that he was a teammate and he
hadn’t said anything inappropriate.
Yet.
“She that girl everyone’s saying slept with Dr. Isenberg?” Terrick Hough,
another senior, spoke up from the other side of the row of lockers.
Ethan took a step forward and I put out an arm to stop him. If we were
going to get involved, it needed to be for something more than just a
question.
“Yeah. Got those nudes too,” Otto said as he wiped off his bald head.
“Not much in the tits department, but I like the way skinny girls squeeze my
cock.”
Red started to creep into my vision.
“Probably the only kind of pussy that can even feel that pencil dick you
got.” Terrick grinned, teeth flashing white against his dark skin. “But
seriously, man, how do you even know those are real? Some asshole
probably just photoshopped them or something. She’s probably not even a
real person.”
“Oh, she’s real,” someone else said. “My girlfriend said she was in the
store earlier today, walking around like it was all no big deal.”
“Damn.” Otto shook his head. “I’ll bet she’s a real freak in the sheets
then.”
“Shut up,” Ryan growled as he came out of nowhere.
“What?” Otto looked startled. Usually, he’d try to intimidate someone
who told him to shut up, but Ryan was just as big, and in better shape.
“He’s right,” I said, my hands curling into fists as I fought to keep my
voice even. “We don’t need to be talking about a fellow student like that.
Especially when the whole story isn’t out there.”
Otto rolled his eyes. “Come on, Logan. The girl took nudes and sent them
to the wrong person. Sucks to be her, but she shouldn’t have taken ’em if
she didn’t want them out there.”
“Fuck off, Otto,” Ethan snapped, pushing past me to stand next to Ryan.
“What if that was your girl? Or your sister?”
“My sister wouldn’t fuck a teacher.”
Ryan took another step forward, getting into Otto’s space, not caring that
the other man was naked. “She didn’t do that.”
Understanding dawned on Otto’s face. He may have been an ass, but he
wasn’t a complete idiot. “You know her.”
“You need to take a step back,” I warned him. “And leave it alone.”
“Or what?” Otto taunted, sneering at me. “You think you can take me? If
you didn’t have your thugs here—”
“What’s going on here?” Coach’s voice cut through the tension.
“Nothing,” I said, still glaring at Otto.
“Sounds to me like you boys are all standing around with your dicks in
hand instead of following your schedule and getting something to eat.”
Coach looked from me, to Otto, to Ryan and Ethan, and then back to me.
“Get it together. We can’t be fighting with each other if we’re gonna have
our winning season. Some of you boys have a lot riding on this year. Don’t
let whatever this is fuck it up.”
As he walked away, Ethan and Ryan came back over to me.
“Sorry,” Ryan muttered.
I shook my head. “We should’ve realized that protecting Amelia from this
is going to be a hell of a lot harder than just getting someone to take down
those pictures.”
“But we’re not abandoning her again,” Ethan said.
“No,” I said firmly. “We’re not. We just have to be smart about this.”

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 Chapter Four

Amelia

I stared at my laptop screen, as if that would make the email go away. I’d
been back in my room for about an hour and had only just now worked
up the courage to pull up my school email. There weren’t any harassing
emails, which didn’t surprise me since my generation was more likely to
put insults all out there on social media, and to use social media for
messaging. No, what I’d been scared to see was staring right back at me.
An email from Dr. Isenberg with the subject line: Recent Development.
Since I literally got my acceptance letter this morning, that “recent
development” could only be one thing.
After taking a steadying breath, I clicked on the email and braced myself.
Miss Fine,
As I’m sure you’re aware, disturbing gossip has called into question the
validity of your employment as my TA. I will be speaking with the head of
the department as to the best way to proceed. Until we have definitive
instructions, I suggest we continue along as planned, but taking care to
never be alone together so as not to add fuel to the fire. We should also put
all important communication in writing. If you have any suggestions or
problems, please reply to this email.
I kept my reply simple, saying that I understood and agreed with
everything, even though a part of me thought the two of us should deny the
accusations. Loudly.
Just as I sent it, the door to my room opened and a slender blonde came
in, olive-green eyes snapping the moment she saw me.
 “What the hell, Amelia?”
Twenty-one-year-old Megan Sayer was my assigned roommate our
freshman year, and we’d stuck together ever since. We hadn’t spent quite as
much time together since Jason and I started dating, but she was still pretty
much my only friend.
The faces of three men flashed through my mind, rapid-fire.
Well, maybe she wasn’t my only friend anymore.
I pushed those thoughts away and focused on the here and now.
“I know,” I said with a sigh. “I shouldn’t have—”
“How could you do that to Jason?!”
I froze, sure that I’d misunderstood her.
“Shit, Amelia, I know you’re really driven and care a lot about your
grades and all that, but I never thought you’d stoop to this.” She shook her
head, her expression as disgusted as her tone.
“I didn’t sleep with Dr. Isenberg,” I said quietly, my heart twisting with
pain. “I didn’t cheat on Jason.”
Megan rolled her eyes. “We both know it’s so far beyond a one-night
mistake. Most of us have thought about offering a blow job or a handie to a
prof for a better grade, and maybe if you were drunk and acted on it…”
She let her sentence trail off as I fought the nausea threatening to make
things even worse.
“I didn’t do anything inappropriate with my professor,” I said. “And
shouldn’t you know better than to believe everything you read on the
internet?”
“I’m not an idiot,” she snapped. “As soon as I heard the rumors, I called
Jason.”
Oh.
“He told me everything, Amelia.” She shook her head. “How you used
him and stole his work to claim it as your own. How you sent those slutty
pictures to your professor—”
“Jason took those pictures,” I cut in, my temper flaring at last and burning
away the ice that had kept me frozen. “He begged me to take pictures for
him and when I finally told him yes, he came up with every single shot.
Took them all on his phone. And he was the only one who had them.”
I let that last statement stand, hoping that she’d understand what I wasn’t
saying.
 “Even if I believed that Jason wanted his girlfriend to pose for pictures,
that doesn’t explain how they got online.”
“Seriously? And if I had sent them to the professor? Do you really think
he would’ve put them online, along with a rumor that we’ve slept together?
He’s smarter than that.”
“And Jason isn’t?” Megan countered. “If he really was the only person
you took those for and the only one who had them, he’d have to be pretty
stupid to post them.”
It hit me suddenly. She wasn’t going to think logically about this, and
nothing I could say would make a difference. She’d always come back with
some excuse, some reason why Jason was the innocent victim in all of this
and I was the villain.
A lump formed in my throat and I swallowed hard, desperate to keep her
from seeing how much her doubt hurt me. I couldn’t stop the tears from
coming though, not after the emotional roller coaster I’d been on today, and
I turned away from her, dashing the tears from my face with brisk brushes
of my hands across my cheeks.
“I can’t be in the same room as you.”
The self-righteous tone in her voice pissed me off, but it wasn’t enough
for the anger to overcome the sharp, bright pain cutting through me at her
betrayal. And as I heard the door close behind her, I realized that if the
person I considered my best friend didn’t believe me, no one else would
either.
This wasn’t just an embarrassing moment—okay, mortifying and even
horrific—it could ruin my life. Taint or destroy everything I’d worked for.
I sank back into my chair and buried my face in my hands, my shoulders
shaking as I cried. My chest tightened and I started sucking in air as my
lungs burned. Bright slivers of panic inched their way into my mind, and
my vision started going gray at the edges.
Then, a sound broke through.
My phone. Someone was calling me.
I reached for it automatically, my body moving without my brain really
telling it to. Even as I tapped the “accept” button, I realized that I probably
should’ve checked who it was first. Then a familiar voice came through and
relief rushed through me.
“Amelia, hey, it’s Ethan. I just wanted to check in.”
I took a shuddering breath, and his tone shifted before I could even speak.
 “Are you okay? Did something else happen?” A hint of anger tinged his
next words. “Is that asshole there?”
“No,” I said quickly. “He’s not here. It’s just…my roommate…”
I swallowed a sob, but it didn’t fool Ethan.
“I’m coming to get you.”
My hand tightened on my phone. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I’m coming to get you,” he repeated. “I don’t know what your roommate
said to you, but it doesn’t matter. If she made you cry, you don’t need to be
around her.”
He had a point.
“Let me take you out of that toxic environment.”
If he’d been talking to anyone other than me or the other two guys, his
words would’ve just sounded like something a good friend would say. I
knew him, though, and I knew how he felt about people being able to feel
safe, especially in their home. The dorm wasn’t a house or an apartment,
but I’d lived here for four years, so it should’ve been somewhere I felt safe.
And right now, I didn’t.
I didn’t think Megan would physically hurt me, but what she said to me
had cut as deep as any knife. I didn’t want to be here when she came back.
“Okay,” I agreed. “Let me change my clothes and I’ll wait downstairs in
the lobby.”
“No,” Ethan said. “Stay in your room. I don’t want anyone else messing
with you. I’m coming to get you and I’ll keep you safe.”
We might have only just reconnected, but I believed him.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Five

Ethan

T hehappened,
guys were immediately on my side when I explained to them what
and they said they’d have some pizza waiting for us when we
got back. The moment I arrived at Newsom Hall, I was glad I’d decided to
drive to get her. I didn’t know if the crowd outside the dorm and in the
lobby were here because of her, but I heard enough whispers to know that at
least some of them would just love to get a picture of Amelia with me, to
add to the shit storm surrounding my friend.
Her hallway was empty when I reached her door, and when she opened it,
I was glad no one else could see how puffy and red-rimmed her eyes were.
The flare of anger that went through me was hard to hold back, but I
managed to paste on a smile.
“Ready?” I asked, keeping my tone as casual as possible, like I was here
to take her on a date or something.
My stomach gave a weird twist at that thought, but I didn’t pay any
attention to it. Amelia was hot, but I wasn’t here because of that. Besides, I
wasn’t about to screw up a friendship just to get laid.
“Yeah, we can go.” She stepped into the hallway, careful not to touch me,
but I caught her arm as she headed for the stairs to the lobby.
The shock that went through me nearly made me forget why I’d stopped
her.
“There’s a whole lotta people in the lobby,” I said. “I’ve got no problem
walking through a crowd with you, but I figured you might like the choice
to go out a…less noticeable way.”
 Her mouth tightened but she nodded without hesitating. “This way.”
She gestured in the other direction and we made our way out to my car
without anyone saying a word to us. She seemed to relax the moment we
were in the car, and something that had clenched inside me finally loosened.
“The guys are getting pizza,” I said, glancing over at her as I drove. “We
just finished practice and, technically, pizza’s not on Coach’s approved diet,
but we figured one time isn’t going to kill us.”
“I honestly don’t know if I can eat,” she said, wrapping her arms around
her middle.
I shrugged as I parked the car. “More for me, but Logan probably won’t
let you get away with it. Unless you’ve already eaten dinner.”
“He still thinks he’s the boss of everyone?” One corner of her mouth
twitched, and I seized on that.
“When we moved here two years ago, he made a chore wheel.”
I felt a swell of pride when she laughed at that. I’d always been the one
who could get her to laugh, and it was nice to know that hadn’t changed.
When we walked into the apartment, her face lit up. Logan and Ryan
hadn’t just ordered a couple pizzas. They got her favorite, plus a bunch of
sides, and four or five different kinds of soda.
“There’s ice cream in the freezer for dessert,” Logan said as he came over
to give Amelia a hug. “We plan on putting you into a food coma, so I hope
you’re hungry.”
The sideways glance she gave me had both of us laughing while the other
two exchanged confused looks.
“I told her you’d make her eat,” I said as I walked over to the couch and
plopped down on the end. Looking up at her, I patted the cushion next to
me.
“Come on, I won’t bite.” I couldn’t help myself. I winked and added,
“Unless you ask me to, of course.”
Ryan smacked the back of my head. “Not cool.”
“It’s all right,” she said with a smile. “I remember how Ethan can be.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“I seem to remember someone saying that you’d flirt with anything that’d
stand still long enough.” Her dark blue eyes danced with humor. “Even if it
was a plant.”
Logan made a choking sound and I glared at him. “When did you say
that?”
 He shrugged even as he reached for a slice of pizza. “I’ve probably said it
a dozen times since I learned what flirting was. To be honest, I do
sometimes say ‘tree’ instead of ‘plant.’”
“Oh, yeah, that’s so much better,” I said. “Just for that, I get to choose
what we watch.”
“Hell, no,” Logan said, making a grab for the remote.
I cackled as I snatched it first. “Too slow, old man.”
“You’re only two weeks younger than me,” Logan pointed out.
I opened my mouth to say something snarky, but suddenly, the remote
was yanked out of my hand. I turned to see Ryan holding it, a small smirk
on his face.
“What was it you were saying about being old?” He sat down on
Amelia’s other side. “Experience trumps youth.”
Amelia barked a laugh, then clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes
wide. “Sorry.”
Her apology was muffled, but I wasn’t having it. I reached over and
wrapped my fingers around her wrist, tugging her hand away.
“You can laugh all you want. Hell, we like hearing it.” I let her go before
I could talk myself into keeping hold of her. Leaning forward, I grabbed a
napkin and put a slice of the pepperoni and bacon pizza on it. “Here. Eat.
Laugh. Relax.”
“Thanks,” she said quietly as she took the pizza. “Not just for the food.
Thanks for all of this, guys. I don’t know what I would’ve done today if I
hadn’t run into you.”
“Well, you don’t need to figure it out,” Logan said as he dropped onto a
chair. “Because we’ve got your back.”
“Like if you need someone to help you get rid of a body,” I put in. “We
can help with that.”
“Or with the murder,” Ryan added, his eyes darkening.
“Or anything else you need,” Logan said.
“Thanks.” She seemed to settle into the couch. “Right now, I just want to
not think about it. Not about Jason or school or what’s going to happen
tomorrow when classes start. I just want to turn off my brain.”
“That calls for classic comedy,” Ryan said as he pulled up one of our
streaming apps. “I hope this is still one of your favorites.”
The moment The Princess Bride showed on the screen, a smile broke out
across her face, so wide and bright that it was like seeing the sun come out
from behind a cloud.
“It is,” she said. “I just haven’t seen it in a long time.”
I didn’t know about the other guys, but I remembered exactly when the
last time was that I saw this movie. It was the weekend before the three of
us decided that hanging out with our brainy little friend would ruin any
chance we had at fitting in with the rest of the football team. After the
movie had ended, Ryan’s mom drove Amelia home and then that was it. I’d
never been able to bring myself to watch it again.
Even if I hadn’t admitted it back then, I knew we were assholes.
After The Princess Bride, we swapped pizza for ice cream and continued
the nostalgia theme by watching The Goonies. Yeah, it came out before we
were even born, but Ryan’s mom had a collection of movies that she’d
loved as a teenager, so most of what we’d watched back then had been from
the eighties.
As we watched, we talked, but not about anything serious. Definitely not
about what had happened, or about the bad part of our past. Instead, we did
the whole “walk down memory lane” thing, covering the things we hadn’t
touched on earlier today. We were on the subject of mementos when Ryan
said he needed to call it a night since his first class was early tomorrow.
Logan had already been asleep in the chair for nearly twenty minutes.
I should have offered to take Amelia back to her dorm, but instead, I
stood and held out my hand.
“Can I show you something?”
She took my hand and let me help her up, but it took her a moment to let
it go, making me wonder if I was the only one who felt that spark whenever
we touched. I didn’t bring it up as I led her back to my room.
We sat on my bed next to each other as I reached underneath and pulled
out a box. My heart pounded, but I knew she wasn’t going to make fun of
me. “The guys still don’t know about this.”
When I opened the box, she gasped. “Is that…?”
I lifted out a notebook and handed it to her. “Our notebook of fanfiction.”
“Did you ever finish the one with Starfire and Aquaman?” she asked as
she began flipping through it.
I shook my head. “I couldn’t write any of it without you, but I didn’t want
to get rid of it either. I haven’t looked at it in years.”
I stretched out on my bed and she moved up next to me, resting the
notebook on our laps. The two of us were really into superhero comics
when we were kids, and at some point, we started writing fanfiction about
our favorite characters. It was only ever a thing for the two of us, and I
hadn’t let myself admit how much I’d missed it until this very moment.
How much I’d missed her.
As we read through our old stories, I found myself looking at her more
than at the page, and I realized that I’d do anything to keep from losing this
again.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Six

Amelia

I floated on a warm cloud, drifting comfortably. Far more so than usual,

which was strange. While I’d become accustomed to my dorm room
mattress, I still wouldn’t describe it as comfortable. Dorm room. Right. I
was dreaming.
Except dreaming didn’t explain why the mattress was so fluffy, or why
the sheets were so soft.
Or why there was something poking me in the middle of my back.
A soft sound behind me had my eyes flying open and my entire body
going stiff as my brain scrambled to wake up enough to figure out where I
was and what was going on.
Light gray walls with football paraphernalia didn’t really narrow it down
to anything but “not my dorm room.” Thick mattress with soft cotton
sheets. Again, no help.
And there was an arm around me.
My pulse kicked up as I looked down at the muscled forearm resting on
my waist. A small burn scar on the tanned skin told me it was Ethan’s arm.
Which meant I’d fallen asleep in Ethan’s bed last night.
And, unless I was mistaken, that was Ethan’s erection pressing against
my back.
Shit.
I needed to get out of here before Ethan woke up and things got really
awkward for both of us and not just for me. I’d probably blush like crazy
the next time I saw him, but at least he wouldn’t know why.
 Hopefully.
Not wanting to wake him up, I eased out from under his arm and
managed to slip out of the room without him being any the wiser. I paused
in the hallway, listening hard for the sounds of his roommates being up and
about. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I was shocked to see the time. Of
course Ryan and Logan weren’t here. They were already in class.
And my first class started in just twenty minutes.
Dammit!
If I were in my dorm, that wouldn’t be too bad, but I wasn’t on campus,
which meant I didn’t even know where the closest bus stop was. Since I
didn’t have time to go home and change, let alone shower, I worked on
straightening my clothes and hair as I made my way to the lobby. Popping a
piece of gum into my mouth, I knew I was as ready as I was going to get,
and I just hoped that any disarray could be credited to my rush across
campus.
The way people watched me as I hurried to the Behavioral Sciences
building made me think I either looked more of a mess than I thought…or
people were still all about yesterday’s gossip. I hoped it was the latter,
because if it was the former, I’d have a hard time convincing anyone that I
was a professional.
I made it to my first class with a few minutes to spare and found a seat at
the back to avoid walking past the other students. It wasn’t until the
professor walked into the room that I realized I didn’t have any of my books
or my laptop. Fortunately, I always carried a small notebook and some pens,
so I wasn’t completely at a loss, but this was definitely not how I’d wanted
to start my senior year.
Still, it was just one class and I had two more today, including the class
where I’d officially be introduced as Dr. Isenberg’s TA. I managed to run up
to my room before my second class to change my clothes and grab my bag
so I’d have all my books and things. Not seeing Megan there gave me hope
that things were on an upward swing, but the moment I stepped back into
the Behavioral Sciences building, I knew that wasn’t going to be the case.
Most of the students I passed either stared at me right away, or did a
double take as they passed. The ones who seemed clueless quickly had
someone pull them aside to tell them what was going on. I couldn’t hear the
words, but I didn’t need to. They were saying the same things people had
said yesterday, and no one was on my side this time either.
 Reminding myself that I hadn’t done anything wrong and Jason was the
asshole, I lifted my chin, squared my shoulders, and walked to my second
class like nothing was wrong. I ignored the stares and the whispers of my
classmates as I took my seat, and kept my focus on the front of the room. It
didn’t stop me from feeling them burning holes in me through the entire
introductory lecture, and it was all I could do not to run when the class
ended.
One more. I had one more class, and it was the most important one.
Fixing what I hoped was a calm, professional expression on my face, I went
next door to the lecture hall where dozens of freshmen were already finding
seats. I smiled at a few who looked my way before it became clear that my
peers weren’t the only ones in on the gossip.
Setting my bag down on the table next to the lectern, I rummaged through
it more than necessary before pulling out my laptop. I didn’t raise my head
until I saw Dr. Isenberg out of the corner of my eye. The nod he gave me
was stiff, but he didn’t seem angry, which offered a little relief.
Even if he knew I wasn’t the one spreading the rumor, it’d be easy for
him to blame me for it. Hell, I had to keep telling myself that Jason was in
the wrong.
He cleared his throat as he moved over to the lectern, making sure to cut
a wide path around me. One nervous hand patted down his mousey brown
hair while the other pushed his glasses up higher on his nose.
“Good afternoon.” He offered his usual smile even though it wasn’t as
bright as usual. “I’m Dr. Isenberg and this is Psychology 101, also called
Introduction to Psychology. Hopefully, you’re all in the right place.” He
gestured to me without looking at me. “This is Miss Fine. She is my
teaching assistant, so you’ll be seeing a lot of her this semester. She’ll also
be helping grade papers, and perhaps teaching a class or two. I expect the
same amount of respect for her that you have for me.”
Normally, the professor’s words would’ve warmed me, but I saw the
glances many of the students gave each other. Respect wasn’t a word they
were thinking in relation to me or Dr. Isenberg.
No one said anything though, so the class went smoothly enough, and by
the time it ended, I almost felt some of my original excitement about this
opportunity. Then, a pair of serious-looking forty-somethings came down
the stairs to where Dr. Isenberg and I were packing up our things.
“Amelia Fine?” the woman asked.
 “Yes?”
“I’m Sonya Smythe and this is my colleague, Jefferson Hardwicke.”
Judging by the way Dr. Isenberg stiffened, this wasn’t good.
“How can I help you?” I asked, giving them both polite smiles.
“We’re part of CSU’s ethics committee,” Jefferson said. “We need to ask
you a few questions about a recent incident.”
My hand tightened around the strap of my bag, but I refused to let
anything else show. “I’m finished with my classes for the day, so now’s a
good time.” I pulled my bag and my purse over my shoulder. “Where would
you like to talk?”
By the time the three of us settled in an empty classroom, I knew how
rough this would be.
“Are you sleeping with Dr. Isenberg?”
Sonya didn’t pull any punches, but I didn’t expect her to. As women, we
both knew that using sex to get ahead was always an accusation waiting to
destroy us, and every time a woman actually did it, the rest of us had to
work twice as hard to prove we didn’t.
“No,” I said firmly. “Dr. Isenberg is my professor and my mentor. That’s
all.”
“And the pictures? Are those of you, or did someone photoshop them?”
Jefferson asked.
“My boyfriend—sorry, ex-boyfriend—took them a few months ago,” I
said. “As far as I know, he’s the only one who’s ever had a copy. I don’t
even have them on my phone.”
“But you could have deleted them,” Sonya suggested.
“I could have,” I agreed, “but I didn’t. Because I never had them.”
It went on like that for more than an hour, each question harsher than the
last, filled with doubt and skepticism that cut to the bone. I couldn’t tell if
they were doing it intentionally as some sort of tactic, or if they didn’t
believe me. Either way, by the time they said that was all for now, I could
barely breathe and my eyes blurred with unshed tears.
How I managed to keep myself together until I stumbled out of the
building and away from that pair, I didn’t know. As soon as the wave of hot
air hit me and I knew I’d made it out, I started looking for somewhere to
hide where I could quietly fall apart.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Seven

Ryan

E nglish was going to kill me.

My sports management major only required one English course and
I’d put it off for four years even though everyone told me not to. Now, I was
in a class with a bunch of freshmen and a syllabus that was going to kick
my ass. Ethan and Logan would help me out if I needed it, but they were
doing their senior-level classes for their majors and needed to keep their
grades up too. I couldn’t ask them to put their own futures at risk just
because I was stupid.
In the back of my head, I heard Amelia’s voice yelling at me for calling
myself dumb. She did it all the time when we were kids, and even after we
stopped hanging out, it was her voice I heard whenever I got down on
myself for not being smart.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar figure. For a second, I
thought my head made her up because I’d been thinking about her, but after
I turned to get a better look, I saw it was Amelia after all. I opened my
mouth to call out to her, but snapped it shut when I realized that something
was wrong.
Fuck. She was crying.
Anger surged through me and I shoved my syllabus into my back pocket,
my own problems already forgotten. If that asshole ex of hers had done
something else, I didn’t care what happened to me. I’d find the prick and
kick his ass.
 “Lia,” I called out when I was just a few feet away, not wanting to startle
her. When she looked up, I muttered a curse. When I went to sleep last
night, she was fine.
“Hey, Ryan.” She tried for a smile but didn’t quite make it.
“You got somewhere to be?” I asked as I fell in step next to her. I wanted
to put my arm around her, but I didn’t know if that’d just make matters
worse since there were people watching.
She shook her head. “Just figuring out if it’d be better to hide in the
library or risk going back to my dorm.”
“Come back to the apartment,” I said. “Coach gave us an off day. Or, as
much of one as we get, anyway. The guys and I were just gonna eat and
chill. No pizza tonight though. Just good food.”
“Ethan’s cooking?” she asked.
“Yeah, we still don’t let Logan near the kitchen.” I grinned and bumped
her arm with my elbow. “Remember when he told us he knew how to make
mac and cheese better than Ethan?”
She laughed and my heart damn near skipped a beat. “It took us three
hours to get the kitchen to stop smelling like burnt macaroni.”
“That’s a yes?”
She nodded. “Okay. I’ll come over.”
The relief on her face hurt more than it should, considering how long it’d
been since we’d seen each other before yesterday. I wasn’t the sort of guy
who thought about my feelings too much though, so it was easy to push it
aside.
“Come on,” I said. “It was too damn hot to walk this afternoon. I’m
parked over here.” I glanced at her as we headed for my car. “Do you want
to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “Not yet.”
I nodded, and neither of us said a word as I drove us to the apartment.
Even though she was still clearly upset, the silence wasn’t awkward. It
never had been with her. As much as she liked to talk, she didn’t have a
problem being quiet either.
When we got out of the car, a handful of people I knew were hanging
around the entrance. Even though none of them were CSU students, I knew
they could’ve seen those damn pictures so I held my hand out to Amelia,
offering the extra bit of protection that would come from me staking a
claim. They didn’t need to know what that claim was. She took it
immediately, lacing her fingers between mine as she gave me a grateful
smile.
Still, she looked down as we walked, her dark hair hiding her face, either
because she didn’t want them to recognize her or because she didn’t want
anyone to see she’d been crying. Either option pissed me off, because none
of it was her fault. Sure, some assholes would probably tell her that she
shouldn’t have posed for nude pictures in the first place, but if you were
gonna trust someone enough to have sex with them and be in a relationship
with them, why the hell wouldn’t you think you could trust them with
pictures?
“Hey, man,” Ethan called out from the kitchen as soon as I opened the
door. “We got about thirty minutes before this is ready if you want to grab a
shower or…” His voice trailed off as he turned toward me and saw I wasn’t
alone. “Hey, Amelia.”
She gave a little wave and then seemed to remember that she was holding
my hand. She pulled away just as Logan came out of his room. He, of
course, noticed right away that something was off and didn’t bother
pretending not to.
“What happened?” He immediately came over and gave her a hug before
leading her to the couch.
I sat on the other side of her, and Ethan just plopped right down on the
coffee table so his knees brushed up against hers.
“Today sucked.” Her voice broke and something inside me cracked.
“Tell us.” Ethan patted her knee but didn’t let his hand linger. “You’ll feel
better if you get it all out.”
“Will I?” she asked. “Because I thought I got it all out yesterday when it
all happened and I’d be okay today because everyone was going to be
focusing on their classes and once people saw that Dr. Isenberg and I were
being weird with each other the gossip would change and everyone would
be on my side—”
“Breathe, Lia,” I reminded her gently.
She took a gulp of air, but then started going again, just as fast as before.
“But people just stared at me and talked about me and even the freshmen in
the class I’m supposed to be TA for know what happened.” She sniffed and
Logan handed her a tissue without a word. “And then at the end of class,
these two jerks from the ethics committee came in like they were cops or
something and asked all these humiliating questions like why I’d posed for
the pictures and if there was anything going on with Dr. Isenberg and they
definitely didn’t believe me when I said there wasn’t because no one
believes me.”
“We believe you,” Ethan cut in. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
She shook her head and blew her nose, a loud honking sound that all of
us used to make fun of when we were kids.
None of us were laughing now.
“The worst part is, even if the ethics committee believes Dr. Isenberg and
me and I can salvage my academic reputation, my personal one is always
going to be shit. I’ll be able to tell potential employers I was cleared of
wrongdoing, but will anyone else give a damn?”
She took the box of tissues that Logan held out and blew her nose again.
“Every guy who ever wants to ask me out is going to find out I have nudes
online and there’s no way they’ll ever want to date me after that. Fuck me,
sure, because those pictures mean I’m easy, right? But dating? Being the
girl they can take home to meet their parents? I mean, what if their brothers
or their dad saw those pictures? Could you imagine what that would be
like? Christmas dinner knowing they’d all seen me naked?”
She started sucking in air in short bursts and I reached out to grab her
hands, drawing her attention to me.
“You need to slow down,” I said calmly. “You’re gonna make yourself
pass out.”
“Don’t you see? It doesn’t matter.” Her grip on my hands tightened, panic
in her eyes. “I was already shit at choosing guys. Always have been. Until I
met Jason. Then I thought it’d be different. I thought I’d finally found a
good one but he was the worst of the bunch and what does that say about
me that I keep picking these horrible people and no one nice ever asks me
out because I’m just awkward and weird and—”
I moved without thinking, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her
against my chest. The other guys moved in too, Ethan kneeling in front of
her and leaning against her legs while Logan held her from the other side. It
should’ve felt strange, us all being pressed together, but it didn’t.
We sat like that even after she stopped crying and her breathing slowed,
only moving when the oven dinged and Ethan got up to get the food out.
Amelia went to wash her face and us three didn’t say a word. We were all
thinking.
 What we didn’t know until later, when Amelia had fallen asleep, curled
up on our couch, was that we were all thinking the same thing. Of course,
Logan was the one who brought it up first.
“Guys, we need to talk about her.” His expression was serious. “I have an
idea, but it’ll work best with all three of us.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Eight

Amelia

I was back in the soft, good-smelling cloud with no idea how I’d gotten
there. Then I woke up a bit more and remembered that the cloud was
actually Ethan’s bed. And he was in bed with me. Again.
This time, however, he wasn’t behind me. I was on my back, and he was
facedown next to me. While that meant I had no idea if he was in the same
condition he’d been in yesterday, the arm that had been around my waist
before was higher now. As in, draped over my breasts with his hand actually
resting on the side of one of them.
And judging by how tight my nipple was, my breast didn’t mind.
As I shifted slightly, I realized with a start that my breast wasn’t the only
part of my body having a physical reaction to Ethan’s touch. I was wet. And
not like I was just a little sweaty because I was overly warm. No, this was
arousal so sharp that my panties were wet. And if I didn’t do something
soon, they’d soak through to my shorts and then I’d feel like I peed my
pants and Ethan’s bed and—
“You’re thinking way too hard for this early in the morning,” Ethan
mumbled.
I turned to see him looking at me, a sleepy smile on his face. When he
realized where his arm was, he gave me that damn sheepish smile that he
used to give teachers all the time to get out of trouble.
And it always worked.
Apparently, it worked on me too, because I didn’t yell at him when he
moved his arm slowly, letting his fingers brush over my breast as they went.
Well, it might’ve been more about the shiver of pleasure that went through
me than his smile, but the curve of his lips definitely played a role.
“Um, how did I end up in here?” I asked, still trying to orient myself.
“Last thing I remember, I was on the couch.”
“We figured you’d be more comfortable in a bed, so I brought you in
here,” he said, a pleased sparkle in his eyes. “I was gonna sleep on the
couch, but you asked me not to leave.”
If it’d been anyone other than one of these three guys, I would’ve said
they were lying, but despite my tragically bad taste in men, I trusted them.
And with that thought, the memory of my slightly hysterical verbal
vomiting of information and self-doubt came rushing back, and my face
flooded with heat.
“I am so sorry about everything I said yesterday,” I started to apologize.
Ethan shook his head, sitting up and looking down at me with a stern
expression I’d never seen him wear before. “You have nothing to apologize
for. You’ve had a shitty past couple days, and we’re your friends. That’s all
there is to it.”
The moment stretched out between us, but before it could get awkward,
someone knocked on the door.
“Hey, we’ve got doughnuts and coffee out here for anyone who wants it,”
Logan called through the door.
“We didn’t know when your classes were today,” Ethan explained as he
climbed out of bed.
My heart did a little dance at the sight of that athletic body clad in only a
pair of shorts, and I pressed my thighs together. Fortunately, Ethan didn’t
seem to notice as he headed for his bathroom.
“I’ll be out in a second,” he said. “If you want, you’re welcome to grab
something from my closet to wear. We’re not exactly the same size, but I’m
closer than the other two.”
Since the first of my two classes today didn’t start until ten thirty, I was
more than happy to take them up on their offers of clothes and breakfast.
Ten minutes later, we were all at their kitchen table with steaming mugs of
coffee in front of us, eyeing the box of doughnuts in the middle of the table.
Logan broke the silence. “Are bear claws still your favorite?”
Butterflies fluttered in my stomach at yet another thing the guys had
remembered about me. It didn’t change the years we’d spent apart, but it
did make me feel like maybe they hadn’t been as unaffected by my absence
as I’d always thought.
“They are.”
I smiled as Ryan and Logan reached for the box at the same time. They
exchanged quick looks with one of those silences that friends had when
they could communicate without talking. I used to be able to do that with
them, and I felt a glimmer of hope that I would have that again.
Logan handed me a bear claw on a paper plate, and Ryan passed me a
napkin. To my right, Ethan rolled his eyes and grinned. With that ice
broken, we made small talk about our classes, both the ones we’d had
yesterday and the ones on our schedules for today. By the time we finished
eating, something in the air shifted. It felt more serious, but not in a bad
way. More like the three of them had something to tell me that they weren’t
sure I wanted to hear.
“So, last night, after you fell asleep, the three of us got to talking about
what you said.” Logan took point, just like he always had.
“I was upset,” I said quickly. “I’m calmer today.”
“You didn’t say anything wrong.” Ryan’s voice was quiet, but firm.
“Listen.”
I nodded and motioned for Logan to continue.
“We can’t fix everything, but we think there’s something we can do to
help with your reputation.”
I didn’t see how that was possible, but I didn’t argue with him. I
appreciated that they even wanted to try.
“You need people to believe the truth, to believe you,” he continued, “and
the best way to do that is to have people who already believe you
supporting you. So the three of us are going to show just how much we
believe in you by dating you.”
I blinked and shook my head, sure I’d misheard him. “What?”
“We’re each going to take you on a couple very public dates, to show
everyone that we don’t think for a minute you slept with your professor.”
“And since we’re some of the biggest stars on campus, we can boost your
credibility,” Ethan chimed in. “Everyone knows that the three of us aren’t
hurting for dates, so if we’re competing for your attention…”
“You must be the most desirable person around,” Logan finished. He
dropped a wink that sent a shiver down my spine.
 “And we’re going to help you with the whole awkward and weird thing,”
Ethan added.
I raised an eyebrow and he flushed. “Sorry. I meant what you said
yesterday about how it’s hard for you to date, and you called yourself
awkward and weird. I’m not calling you that, for the record—”
“Before Ethan sticks his foot any further into his mouth,” Ryan
interrupted, “what he means is that we’re going to help you get comfortable
being around and talking to guys.”
“I can’t ask you guys to do any of that for me,” I said. “I know we used to
be really good friends, and I hope we’re on our way to being that again, but
it’s one thing to be there for me when I’m in the middle of a crisis and
something else entirely to pretend to date me. You guys have your own
social lives and I don’t—”
“You haven’t heard what we want from you,” Logan smoothly
interjected.
For a brief moment, I had the strangest, most erotic image in my mind of
me “serving” the guys on my knees.
“We have to keep our grades up,” he continued. “Not only to graduate,
but we have to stay eligible. We had scouts looking at us last year, but we
need them to see us this year too if we want to get drafted.”
“So the plan is to play in the NBA?” The looks of horror on their faces
were everything I could’ve hoped for. I managed to keep a straight face for
half a minute before bursting out laughing. “I’m not that bad, guys. Not
only do I know that it’s the NFL, I have actually been paying some attention
to the team over the last four years.”
I didn’t tell them that I’d actually been just watching them. Things were
going too well to mess it up by being creepy.
“Seriously though,” Logan said after we all stopped laughing. “We
probably would’ve ended up getting a tutor at some point, so we might as
well get the smartest person we know to help us right away, and then we
won’t fall behind at all.”
Just like when we were kids, none of us brought up that Ryan would need
the most help. It’d just work out that way and we’d never talk about it.
“Okay,” I said, “but we need to have rules about this dating thing.”
“Like what?” Ethan asked. “Because I want clothing-optional dates.”
I rolled my eyes. “Like no presents or going to fancy places. And I pay
my own way.”
 As the four of us debated various points, I couldn’t help the thrill of
excitement that grew alongside my hope. I was going to do this, and maybe
it could help fix things.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Nine

Amelia

T heto, rest of the week hadn’t been great, but I had tonight to look forward
so I’d gotten through it. Now, as I waited for Ryan to pick me up, I
was torn between anxiety about Megan showing up before I left and a
whole different kind of anxiety about going on a date with Ryan Thompson.
One of my childhood best friends…who was now one of Colorado State
University’s hottest bachelors.
“Stop freaking yourself out,” I whispered as I checked my dress for the
millionth time, as if I was worried that it might morph from a cute little blue
sundress with white daises into something hideous.
The knock at my door made me jump and let out an embarrassing squeak.
My hands fluttered as I rushed over and yanked the door open…then stood,
gaping at Ryan like an idiot.
“Are—am I early?” Ryan glanced around. “Is something wrong?”
I snapped my jaw shut and shook my head. “No. Sorry. You look really
nice.”
He smiled, and it was the soft, sweet smile that I remembered from when
we were kids. “Thank you. And so do you.” He chuckled, a low rumble that
was definitely not what he sounded like when we were kids. “Actually,
that’s not true. You look fucking amazing.”
I blushed and grabbed for my purse, needing to do something with my
hands. “Thank you. And you’re right on time.”
“Good.” He held out his hand. “I thought we’d start simple. A movie and
then dinner. I was thinking maybe that new action flick with the Hemsworth
brothers.”
“Hot Australians blowing things up? Yes, please.” I took his hand,
warmth curling in my stomach as I threaded my fingers between his.
The two of us had gotten quite a few looks every time we were seen
together on campus over the past week, but nothing compared to the shock
on people’s faces when they saw us dressed up and holding hands, without
a textbook in sight. The four of us had already discussed how we wanted to
handle the attention we were sure to receive when we were spotted, so that
was what Ryan and I did now. We ignored everyone but each other.
“Do you remember finding out that Gale from The Hunger Games and
Thor were brothers?” Ryan asked.
I laughed as the memory came to me. “I tried to convince Mr. Yardley to
let me do my science project on family genetics and use them as an
illustration of shared and different physical characteristics.”
“I think that’s when we all realized just how much smarter than everyone
else you were,” Ryan said.
“You guys might’ve thought that, but Mr. Yardley was convinced that I’d
stolen it from a high schooler.” I shook my head. “He actually asked Mrs.
Carney which of her students was doing a project on genetics.”
“Didn’t she twist it around on him and made him sound like he thought a
girl couldn’t come up with something like that?”
“She did.” I smiled. “I haven’t thought of that in ages.”
We spent the drive to the theater and the wait before the movie started
bringing up more memories from our shared past, things I’d forgotten or
hadn’t wanted to look at because they were too painful. Now that the guys
were back in my life, I found myself enjoying the nostalgia.
As soon as the theater lights began to dim, Ryan and I fell silent. We’d
never had any problem being quiet around each other before, and this was
no different. We sat with our arms pressed together on the single armrest
between us, the heat from his body a welcome warmth in the air-
conditioned theater.
The first time Jason and I had gone to the movies, I was so nervous that I
couldn’t remember anything about what we watched. I’d been too busy
analyzing everything. With Ryan, however, I could just let it all go. Let us
be us and not worry about what he was thinking or if I was reading too
much into a touch or a look.
I found the difference to be refreshing, to say the least.
 Once the movie was done, it felt natural to take his hand again, so I did,
and my stomach flipped at the pleased surprise that flashed across his face.
It suddenly occurred to me that I’d never heard anyone talk about Ryan
with a girlfriend. Women flirted with him all the time, and there were a few
times over the years when I’d seen him with a woman, but never the same
one. Sure, we hadn’t been friends, but I heard enough gossip about the other
two that I should’ve heard more about him if it had been there.
“Is there somewhere specific you want to go eat?” he asked as we left the
theater. “You said you didn’t want fancy, so I didn’t make any reservations
anywhere.”
“Let’s just go somewhere we can walk to.” A restaurant across the street
looked promising. Not fast food, but not somewhere we’d feel underdressed
either. “How about there?”
“Looks good to me,” Ryan agreed. As we walked toward it, he asked,
“What did you think about the movie?”
“I enjoyed it,” I said. “After this past week, I needed something that
wasn’t going to get my emotions in knots. That was the perfect balance of
adrenaline and plot.”
“Plus, shirtless Hemsworths are never a bad thing, right?” Ryan teased.
I fanned myself with my free hand. “I’m only human, and those guys are
hot.”
“Wow. Sounds like I have some competition,” he joked.
I liked this side of him. He was such a serious guy most of the time, I’d
always loved being able to draw him out.
“There’s no comparison,” I assured him, squeezing his hand. “They’re a
fantasy. You’re better because you’re real.”
I caught a glimpse of surprise in his eyes, but then we were at the doors to
the restaurant and the moment was gone. We were given a table almost
immediately and then it was all about figuring out what we wanted to order.
Once we did that, our conversation turned back to the movie, and we spent
several minutes discussing it before I started to wonder if Ryan was just
humoring me.
“You know how you said you guys were going to help me with not being
so awkward?” I changed the subject. “Maybe we can start with
conversation. I mean, we’ve been talking about the movie for nearly a
quarter of an hour. It has to be getting old, right? How do I get better at
this?”
 “You don’t need conversation lessons,” he said. “Because it’s not just up
to you. If a guy isn’t hanging on your every word, or not carrying his side of
things, that’s on him. You’re perfect.”
The last two words hung between us as warmth spread throughout my
body, a combination of embarrassment and pleasure at the compliment, and
a whole lot of arousal.
After letting that linger between us for a few seconds, he smiled at me.
“But, I do have some other ‘lessons’ in mind for later on.”
Before I could ask what he meant by that cryptic statement, the server
appeared with our food and the conversation shifted again. It wasn’t until
we were leaving that I remembered he hadn’t expounded on what he’d
meant about future lessons.
He held the door open for me, and as I passed by him, I said, “I’d like
some more details about those lessons you promised me.”
Without missing a beat, he fell in step next to me, putting his hand on the
small of my back. Bending down closer to allow me to hear him, he
murmured, “First, you’ll have to tell me if you’re a good girl…or a bad
girl.”
I shivered despite the evening’s warmth, my brain scrambling to decide
on the best way to respond to that question.
“Amelia?”
That voice made me freeze mid-step, my mouth falling open as a pair of
people stepped into my line of sight. One was my roommate and best
friend, Megan, and the other was a guy with sandy brown curls and green
eyes.
Jason.
My ex-boyfriend.
“Well, damn,” Jason said with a loud laugh. “This is awkward.”
I saw now what I’d missed before. His arm was around Megan’s waist,
hand resting possessively on her hip the way he’d always done it with me.
“And you are?” Ryan asked, pulling me against his side, as if he needed
me in a place where he could put himself between me and danger if need
be.
“Jason, Megan, meet Ryan.” My voice sounded strange in my ears.
“Ryan, meet Jason and Megan.”
He squeezed my hand, but spoke to Jason. “Oh, you’re the ex.”
 Megan’s eyes went wide as she realized who Ryan was, then narrowed as
she focused on our joined hands. She put a hand on Jason’s chest, then slid
it down his stomach.
What the hell? She would’ve been more subtle about marking her
territory if she’d slapped a “Hands Off” sign on him. My stomach churned
and I clenched my jaw to keep myself from saying something I’d regret. I
could feel that edge to my emotions that meant they were getting closer to
the surface than I liked.
“Aren’t you Amelia’s roommate?” Ryan asked Megan. “Her friend?”
The too-familiar burn of tears had returned, but I held them back through
sheer willpower. I’d be damned if I let these two see how much this hurt
me.
“The heart wants what the heart wants,” Jason said before leaning over
and kissing Megan’s temple. She let out a giggle and leaned into him even
more, making his hand slip from her hip to her ass.
I felt like I was in some weird movie where two couples were trying to
one-up each other by getting more and more physical with their partner in
some sort of weird competition.
“I know what you mean,” Ryan said, surprising me.
But what happened next surprised me even more.
Cupping my chin, Ryan tipped my head up and lowered his lips to mine. I
went stiff for a moment, my brain screaming RYAN KISSES RYAN KISSES.
Then the rest of me caught up and I kissed him back, my mouth eagerly
moving with his. The tip of his tongue swiped along my bottom lip and I
made a soft sound, my hands immediately going to his chest, the muscles
firm under my palms. I parted my lips and touched my tongue to his.
A loud crash broke us apart and I saw my own surprise reflected on
Ryan’s face. He pushed it away before turning to Jason, who was now
standing next to a tipped over garbage can.
“Problem?” Ryan asked.
“You can’t—she—don’t—what the hell?!” Jason sputtered.
“You fucked up,” Ryan said easily. “She’s not coming back to you. And if
you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from my girl.”
Then Ryan took my hand and pulled me after him.
His girl.
Even though I knew it was part of our plan, I liked the way those words
sounded.
OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Ten

Logan

“O kay, let me see if I have this straight,” I said as I tossed Ethan the
game controller. “You and Amelia had a great time on your date.
Then, just as you were about to bring her home, you ran into her ex,
who was on a date with her roommate and best friend?”
“Pretty sure that’s going to be ex-best friend now,” Ryan said, resetting
the video game. “But, yeah, that’s what happened.”
“Don’t forget the part where Ryan kissed her and told the asshole to stay
away from her,” Ethan added.
Ryan had actually said that he’d called Amelia “his girl.” And she hadn’t
argued. I’d known Ryan long enough and well enough to know that he
hadn’t said it as part of our fake dating plan. He’d had a crush on Amelia
since we were kids, and even though he hadn’t said it, Ethan and I both
knew that those feelings were still there.
“I really want to beat the shit out of that asshole,” Ethan said darkly.
“Pretty sure there’s going to be a line for that,” I said. “I’d love to know
what she saw in him.”
Ryan shrugged. “He’s smart. I mean, didn’t Amelia say he was second to
her in all their classes?”
“You really think Amelia went out with him because he’s good at taking
tests and remembering stupid shit?” Ethan asked.
“Well, I mean, he’s not ugly,” Ryan said.
“We all know she’s not that shallow,” I said. “I just don’t get how an
asshole like that got a woman like her.”
 “Maybe because, when she was younger, some guys made her feel like
she wasn’t good enough for them.” Sarcasm dripped from Ethan’s words.
“You’re saying this is our fault?” I asked, surprised.
He shrugged. “Just saying that us ghosting her must’ve seriously fucked
with her self-esteem. Seems to me this Jason guy is good at charming
people and manipulating them.”
“I told Amelia she can stay with us if things get weirder with her
roommate,” Ryan said as he picked up the controller. “The way those two
were acting, I wouldn’t put it past them to go back to Amelia’s dorm room
and make out there, even if Amelia’s there.”
“And that has nothing to do with you kissing Amelia last night?” Ethan
asked.
Ryan casually flipped Ethan off and then started to kick my ass in the
game.
Ethan wasn’t usually the kind of guy to poke at something, especially
something important to one of us. I got it though.
He was jealous that Ryan had kissed Amelia, and he hadn’t. I was jealous
too. It fucking ate at my insides. Not because I didn’t want Ryan to have
her, but because I wanted to have her too.
That might sound weird to anyone else, but these guys got it. We didn’t
exactly put a label on it, but if we did, we’d call ourselves poly. We weren’t
just horny frat guys who watched gangbang porn and saw women as objects
to fuck. We’d talked about it before, what we’d do if we found a woman
who’d be open to a relationship with all three of us…
And I shouldn’t have been thinking those thoughts about Amelia. We
were supposed to be helping her, not seducing her.
“We need to get her side of the story out there,” I said.
“We can’t flat-out accuse Jason of being behind it, because it’ll just look
like she’s making shit up to get back at him for dumping her,” Ethan
pointed out.
“So we do it a little more subtle,” Ryan said. “When we talk her up, we
make it about what type of person she is. How she never lies. That we’ve
always trusted her.”
Ryan might struggle in school, but he was a hell of a lot smarter than he
gave himself credit for.
“We could even tell people how she’s not the revenge type,” Ethan said.
Mention how we ghosted her as kids, but she never tried to get back at us.”
 I winced. “We should probably hold back on those details, or people
might think she’s hanging out with us now because she’s plotting
something, or because we’re popular. Hell, Jason would probably make up
some shit about her trying to seduce us so we knock her up and she makes a
shitload of money when we make it to the NFL.”
“Okay,” Ethan said. “So she’s kind and smart and a good friend and
rescues puppies from ditches.”
I huffed out a breath as I lost to Ryan, and then handed my controller to
Ethan.
“I forgot she did that,” I said. “And then she went all Nancy Drew to
figure out who’d done it.”
“And we let the air out of Old Man MacGregor’s truck tires when we
heard he told her to mind her own damn business,” Ryan said.
“I might’ve snuck back and slashed his tractor tires too,” Ethan
confessed.
“I put sugar in the gas tank of that old beat-up pick-up he had,” I said
with a grin.
“I overheard him at the hardware store telling anyone who’d listen that
he’d ‘slap that little bitch’s mouth if she backtalked him again.’” Ryan’s
expression was dark. “I might’ve cornered him when he was loading up
some lumber in the alley and told him if he ever laid a finger on Amelia or
even talked about her like that again, I’d break his jaw and set fire to one of
his fields.”
Ethan and I stared at Ryan.
“You’d never set a fire,” I said finally. “Not when it’d risk other people.”
Ryan shrugged. “I would’ve broken his jaw though, and since he saw I
was telling the truth about that, he thought I’d do the other one, too.”
Like I said. Smart.
“Now that we know what we’re saying or not saying,” Ethan said, “can
we get to where we’ll be doing all this?”
“I was thinking we’d have some friends over,” I said.
“You know any time we invite ‘some friends,’ it turns into a party where
we don’t know half the people,” Ethan said.
“Which means more people who’ll hear the truth about Amelia without it
looking like we planned to make a big deal of it,” I reasoned.
“He has a point,” Ryan said.
 I gave him a surprised look. He wasn’t exactly a social person. “I thought
you’d hate this idea.”
“Oh, I do,” he agreed. “But it’s for Amelia.”
And, even if he wouldn’t say it, he’d do anything for her.
We all would.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Eleven

Amelia

I was a little surprised when Logan sent me a text asking me to come over,
since I’d just gone out with Ryan last night, but when I arrived at the
apartment building, I was momentarily distracted by the vast number of
people around. College students, including the majority of the football
team, came in and out of the entrance, laughing and talking like they were
at a party.
Because they were at a party, I realized as soon as I opened the door and
saw people in the hall too, with most of the activity taking place just outside
the guys’ apartment. I almost turned around and walked out, but then I saw
a friendly face and felt that familiar warmth bubbling up inside me.
“You made it!” Ethan beamed as he came down the hallway toward me.
Heads turned to see who he was talking to even as he shouldered people out
of the way to get to me.
I caught glimpses of surprised expressions as he picked me up in a hug
and spun me around. Despite my discomfort at the situation, I couldn’t help
but laugh. Ethan always had that effect on me.
“You’re having a party,” I said as Ethan set me on my feet. “That’s why
you asked me over?”
He put his arm around my waist and lowered his mouth to my ear. “Trust
us. It’s part of the plan.”
I scowled for a moment, but then he pinched my hip, making me squeak
in surprise. I glared up at him, but it was impossible to stay mad at Ethan
Blake, especially when I didn’t really want to.
 “I’m so glad we finally ran into each other again,” he said, giving me a
wink as he led me into the apartment. “You’ve always been such a good
friend. Someone we could always count on.”
He wasn’t being overly loud, but he definitely made sure his voice
carried. The fact that he sounded slightly drunk when I couldn’t smell even
a hint of alcohol on him made me think that this was part of that plan he’d
mentioned.
“Amelia!” Logan greeted me with a hug almost as exuberant as Ethan’s,
pressing me against that hot, hard body for what felt like a moment too long
for friends.
“Hey, Logan.” I hoped my smile wasn’t as stiff as it felt. “You didn’t
mention you were having…people over.”
“Sorry about that.” He brushed a kiss against my cheek. “I figured you
wouldn’t come if you knew.”
“There’s my girl.”
I turned toward Ryan’s voice and found myself engulfed in one of those
hugs that blocked out everything else. I rested my cheek on that solid chest
and just took a few seconds to breathe him in—the laundry detergent and
soap scents that he shared with Ethan and Logan, but also that hint of spice
that came from his own unique combination of aftershave and just him.
“I know you’re not a fan of crowds,” he said quietly as he pressed his lips
to the top of my head. “But I think this is going to help.”
I nodded. If they thought having me here would make things better for
me, I’d go along with it. I might not be comfortable, but I knew I was safe
with them.
“Let’s get you something to drink,” he said as he stepped back from the
hug, but reached down to take my hand. “Just follow our lead.”
I nodded and let him lead me to the kitchen where a pair of guys were
arguing over something.
“…not the point, Otto. You’re being an ass.”
“It was a fucking compliment, Terrick. What ever happened to girls just
saying thank you?”
I knew both guys by sight since they were on the football team, but I
would’ve known who Otto was anyway. He had a…reputation with the
women on campus, and it wasn’t a good one. As far as I knew, it was
mostly him saying shit that he shouldn’t and just being a general narcissist
who didn’t understand why every woman in the world wasn’t falling all
over him.
Terrick saw us first and elbowed Otto who turned, his eyes going wide as
he saw me and Ryan.
“Hey, guys,” Ryan said. “This is Amelia. She’s a psych major.”
“Nice to meet you.” Terrick sounded sincere enough, and he didn’t leer at
me, which meant he either didn’t know about me, or he was a decent guy.
“How do you two know each other?” Otto asked.
It took him about half a second to start staring at my boobs.
“We grew up together, actually,” I said, finding my footing steady with
Ryan holding my hand. “It’s been great reconnecting with them.”
“Is that what you’re doing?” Otto grinned at me, but there was nothing
nice about his smile.
“And that’s your cue to get the hell out of my apartment.” Ethan suddenly
showed up. “Let me walk you out, Otto, before you end up in the hospital
with a broken jaw and Coach is pissed.”
“Did you just threaten me?”
Otto glared at Ethan, and for a moment, I worried there was going to be a
fight. Then, Logan appeared at Ethan’s side.
“Guess you aren’t as dumb as everyone says,” Logan said, his tone mild.
“Now that we’ve got that covered, you need to go.”
Still fuming, Otto stalked off with Logan and Ethan following to make
sure he really did leave.
“How about that drink now?” Ryan asked as he raised our joined hands
and brushed a kiss across my knuckles.
A thrill skittered across my nerves as I nodded my answer.
I could’ve taken Otto’s words to heart, but having Ryan at my side,
knowing Ethan had my back, and that Logan would too, made me strong
enough to brush it off. And with every new conversation, every new person
I met, I felt my confidence being built back up.
I lost track of time as we went from one group of people to another, the
guys always somewhere talking about me. How they managed to do it
without sounding like I’d hired a PR firm, I didn’t know, but people seemed
to be listening. The alcohol probably helped with that.
It definitely helped Ethan convince me to play a version of Fuck, Marry,
Kill that he apparently invented.
“It’s called what?”
 He grinned at me, flashing those devastating dimples. “Flash, Kiss,
Drink. If you’re picked, you either have to flash everyone, kiss the person
who asked, or take a drink.”
“Why doesn’t it surprise me that you’d come up with a game like that.” I
shook my head as he led me toward the hall. “You’re going to have people
passed out all over your room.”
“We always have someone sober making sure things don’t go too far,” he
assured me. “Now, let’s show everyone that even brainy girls can cut loose
once in a while.”
Eight or nine people were already in his room, sitting wherever they
could find room. The only free spaces were in the center of the floor and on
his bed, and I had a pretty good idea of where he was going to go. As we sat
on the bed, Ethan went around the room and introduced everyone. While I
knew a few of them by sight, only two had shared classes with me that I
remembered. Normally, that would have my stomach in knots, worrying
about what I was going to say, but with Ethan next to me—and a bit of
alcohol in me—I smiled at everyone and joined in the game.
“Since it’s my game and I’m host, I’ll start,” Ethan said. “And remember,
everyone, you get one flash with underwear, and one chaste kiss. After that,
it’s bare skin and tongue.”
A ripple of laughter went around the room as I held my breath, fully
expecting him to pick me. Instead, he turned to the pretty blonde across
from us.
“Felicity. Do you want Flash, Kiss, or Drink?”
She grinned. “If you’ve got ’em, flaunt ’em.” Going up on her knees, she
lifted her shirt to flash a sheer pink bra. “My turn.” She scanned the group
and pointed to a beefy guy sitting in Ethan’s desk chair. “Demo. Is it Flash,
Kiss, or Drink?”
“Kiss.” He got out of the chair and came over to where Felicity was
waiting. Bending down, he cupped the back of her head and gave her a
thorough, definitely not chaste, kiss. When it was over, he went back to the
chair and turned to the dark-haired girl perched on the edge of the desk.
“Phoebe. Flash, Kiss, or Drink?”
The game continued on for several more rounds, during which I finished
my beer after choosing Drink twice, and got a chaste kiss from Phoebe
when I realized picking the same gender didn’t remove the Kiss option.
We’d also made it through enough people that we now had half a dozen
undergarments in a pile in the middle of the floor and I’d seen more of
Demo and Felicity than I wanted.
But we were having fun. No one was asking me about Professor Isenberg
or those pictures. No one was asking if I’d cheated or slept my way into a
job. And no one was leering at me like they were picturing me naked. Or
treating me like a leper. I didn’t know if it was because these were the few
people on campus who didn’t know about me, or if they’d heard what
happened with Otto and figured it’d be better to play nice than get on the
guys’ bad sides. Either way, I was more relaxed now than I had been in a
group since those pictures went viral.
“Amelia. Flash, Kiss, or Drink?” Demo grinned at my empty cup and
winked, but it was definitely a playful wink, not a creepy one.
Still, I wasn’t going to kiss him.
I did, however, still have my bra on, and it covered as much as a bikini,
so my answer was a no-brainer. I flipped up my shirt, grateful that I hadn’t
worn a dress, and let everyone see the white and blue checkered bra I wore.
Next to me, Ethan muttered a curse.
With my attention drawn to him, I did something very stupid.
“Ethan. Flash, Kiss, or Drink?”
His gaze flicked down to my mouth for a moment, and then his eyes met
mine. The heat in them sent my heart racing, my mind knowing what was
coming, even if I couldn’t quite accept that it was real.
All of this happened in seconds that seemed to stretch on for an eternity.
An eternity where no one else, and nothing else, existed. And then he said a
single word.
“Kiss.”
Before I could do more than suck in a quick breath, Ethan cupped my
chin and pressed his mouth against mine. His lips were warm and soft as
they moved, parting my lips to let his tongue slip inside my mouth. A shiver
of pleasure went down my spine and I found myself clutching his shirt,
pulling myself closer, needing to taste more of him. His teeth scraped my
bottom lip and I made a soft sound.
At that, he drew back, slowly breaking the kiss and then locking eyes
with me for a moment before he sat back. I could feel the flush in my
cheeks, but they weren’t the only part of my body heating up.
“It’s your turn, Ethan.” Phoebe’s voice broke through, reminding me that
we weren’t alone.
 “I, uh, I need to use the restroom.” I bolted to my feet. “Don’t stop the
game on my account.”
I could’ve just gone into Ethan’s bathroom, but I needed space as well as
time to collect myself. Hopefully, they’d just assume that I didn’t want an
audience on the other side of the door while I peed, or that Ethan didn’t
want anyone using his private bathroom. Even if they knew the real reason I
rushed out of the room, it wasn’t going to stop me.
Ethan had kissed me, and I didn’t know what it meant other than the fact
that I’d really liked it.
I made my way through the crowd to the half bath that guests used, and
was relieved to find it open. Once inside, I shut the door and leaned over the
sink, closing my eyes as my head spun.
I could still feel his mouth on mine, taste him. More than that, my body
was still humming with everything he’d made me feel. Wanted. Desired.
Safe.
His.
What really blew my mind was that I’d felt it before.
When Ryan had kissed me.
Thinking about that wasn’t going to make things any clearer. Maybe what
I needed to do was go back to my room, focus on the lesson plans Dr.
Isenberg had given me for next week, and take a break from the boys until it
was time for Ryan and me to go on our next date.
With that thought in mind, I opened the bathroom door and found myself
face-to-face with Logan. His eyes were dark, his expression more intense
than I’d ever seen it before.
“You kissed Ethan,” he said.
“Um, yeah? We were playing—”
“And you kissed Ryan.”
“Well, technically, both of them kissed me,” I pointed out.
He stared at me for a heartbeat, then caught my face between his hands.
“My turn.”
And for the second time tonight, I found myself being thoroughly and
properly kissed. Ethan’s kiss had been heated, but sweet. Logan, however,
kissed me like a starving man, tongue plundering and teeth nipping. Sharp
jolts of pain that barely registered before he soothed them away. He stole
the air from my lungs and thoughts from my head. My entire body throbbed
with need.
 Then he stopped.
No easing out of it like Ethan had done. Logan was kissing me one
moment and gone the next, disappearing before my eyes even opened.
What the hell had just happened?

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Twelve

Ryan

W hen the guys told me they had kissed Amelia the night of the party, I
assumed that meant my time with her was done and one of them
would be stepping in. Instead, Logan insisted that I take her on at least one
more date before we switched things up. People had seen her with all three
of us at the party, and now they needed to see that Amelia wasn’t playing us
off each other or fucking with our heads. They needed to believe the things
we said about her.
With our football schedule picking up, it took a bit of juggling to plan
today, but now, finally, Amelia and I were at the Rocky Mountain National
Forest on a beautiful September morning, ready to do a little hiking and
have a nice picnic.
We’d been walking up the trail for a few minutes, just enjoying the peace
and quiet, when Amelia said, “Can I ask you something? It might sound like
a complaint, but I promise it’s not. It’s just something I’m wondering.”
“Go ahead.” I squeezed her hand. “You can ask me anything.”
“If the point of these dates is for us to be seen together, why aren’t we
doing something a little more public? I guess we could run into some
people we know, but it’s not really likely.” She hurried to add, “And I’m
really not complaining. I think this is great and everything. I was just
wondering.”
I smiled, hoping to put her at ease. “We’re also supposed to be teaching
you about dating.”
“So this is a lesson date?”
 If I wanted to be completely honest with her, I’d have to say no, because I
really hadn’t been thinking about anything other than taking her on a date
that she’d enjoy. But that wasn’t something I really wanted to get into
before I had a chance to figure out what it meant and what I planned to do
about it. Which meant I settled for a half-truth and some improv.
“We’re going to have a lesson on asking questions and apologizing,” I
said. “I told you before that you don’t need lessons in conversation, and you
don’t…when it comes to having a back-and-forth discussion about things.
When it comes to asking something important, you could use some
pointers.”
She frowned. “I’m not following you.”
“You wanted to ask me a question that was more than just a ‘getting to
know you’ kinda thing, right?”
“Right.”
“So you started by asking if you could ask me a question, and then
reassured me about the question you hadn’t even asked yet.”
She thought for a moment before answering. “I guess I did.”
“You don’t ever need to apologize for wanting to know something,” I
said. “If a guy can’t handle you asking a question, especially one where
safety could be an issue, you shouldn’t go out with him.”
“Safety?” She looked confused again.
“You basically asked why I brought you somewhere we won’t be seen by
a lot of people. If a guy can’t or won’t explain that, run.”
“Oh. I guess I didn’t think of it that way because I know I’m safe with
you, but that’s a good point.”
Something warm spread through me and it wasn’t because she turned me
on. Well, she did, but that wasn’t the reason now. This was more.
“Hey, it looks like there’s some picnic tables over there.” Amelia pointed.
“Those trees are practically hiding them.”
We chatted a bit about food as we set up the lunch I’d packed this
morning. Nothing fancy, but I knew the sort of stuff she liked to eat and,
fortunately, it made for good picnic food.
“Are you sure this is going to be enough for you?” she asked as she
looked at the selection of crackers, cheese, and fruit spread out on the
tablecloth Logan had miraculously found somewhere. “You could’ve
brought more and I would’ve helped carry it.”
 “Remember the lesson about not apologizing for asking questions?” I
asked as I sat down next to her. “Let’s add—don’t apologize unless you
actually did something wrong.”
“I just feel bad that you packed a bunch of stuff that I like, but it’s not
very filling and I’ve seen the way you guys eat—”
I silenced her by shoving a strawberry into her mouth, laughing at the
shock on her face. Part of me had wanted to kiss her to get her to be quiet,
but she needed to eat. We hadn’t hiked very long or far, but I doubted she’d
eaten breakfast this morning. Even though it seemed like things were
getting better for her, she was still stressed.
“I ate a big breakfast,” I said. “It’s usually not a good idea for me to eat
heavy stuff before practice, so eating this now and then something small
again before practice is better.”
“I heard you guys won your first game,” she said. “I have to admit, I was
a little disappointed that it was an away game. I would’ve come if it’d been
home.”
“Really?” I didn’t try to hide my surprise. “Did you come to games
before?”
She shrugged and took a bite of cheese. “Sometimes. I liked checking in
to see how you guys were doing.”
I bumped my arm against hers. “You just wanted to check us out in our
tight pants.”
She laughed. “Busted.”
We continued laughing and joking like that while we ate. It was strange,
how easy things were with her. In some ways, it felt like we were kids
again.
Then her leg brushed against mine and a jolt of pure lust hit me hard
enough to remind me that we were definitely not kids anymore. Judging by
the way she sucked in a breath, she felt it too.
I’d already kissed her, but it was the sort of thing we could write off as
part of our pretending. Ethan’s kiss had been part of a game, but more
intentional than mine. Logan was the only one of us who’d had the balls to
flat-out say that he wanted to kiss her.
She started breathing faster as her eyes met mine, and the moment her
tongue darted out to wet her lips, I was done. Curling my fingers around the
back of her neck, I pulled her to me. If she told me to stop, I would, but my
gut said that she wanted this as much as I did.
 Kissing her felt like the Fourth of July and my birthday and Christmas all
rolled into one. Her tongue lightly touched my lips, and I tilted my head,
deepening the kiss. Her hands were on my chest as I explored her mouth,
nails biting into my skin even through my T-shirt.
Fuck, I wanted those nails on bare skin, wanted her to mark me up so
everyone would know how good I could make her feel.
The hand I’d had on her waist moved up until my thumb brushed against
the side of her breast. She moaned, which may have been the sexiest sound
I’d ever heard in my life, and then shifted to give me better access. No way
in hell was I going to turn down that invitation.
It was my turn to groan when I covered her breast with my hand. I was
right. They were absolutely the perfect size. Even through her bra and her
shirt, I felt her nipple hardening against my palm. My dick strained against
my zipper, but I ignored it. Just being allowed to feel her like this would be
good enough.
The moment she dropped one of her hands to my lap, just resting on the
bulge there, I muttered a curse and prayed I wouldn’t embarrass myself by
coming in my pants like some teenager who’d just felt his first boob.
Then she pulled back, stepping away from the table, and I braced myself
for the “this was a mistake” conversation. Instead, her eyes darted down to
my crotch for a moment before coming back to my face.
“Please tell me you have a condom.”
I stared at her. “What?”
“A condom.” She shimmied out of her shorts and gave me another reason
to be speechless. “Unless you don’t need one. I mean, I’m clean and I’m on
the pill. Jason and I always used—”
“Stop.” The order burst out of me, startling us both. “I don’t want to hear
that asshole’s name. Not when I’m gonna make you scream mine.”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh.”
I let all the lust and want and need coursing through me show on my face
as I ran my eyes down and back up her body, pausing at her simple pale
blue panties each time. She’d already tied the long-sleeved shirt she’d been
wearing around her waist a little earlier, which meant, if we did this right,
no one who happened to look this way would see anything.
Well, they’d be able to figure out we were fucking, because I meant what
I said about making her scream my name, but they wouldn’t see anything
important.
 “If you want to stop, say the word,” I said. “Otherwise, get your ass over
here and ride my cock.”
Her eyes went even darker, like the sky at midnight, nearly black. Then I
opened my shorts to pull out my aching cock, and she made a strangled sort
of sound.
“No underwear?”
I smirked at her. “You should try it sometime.”
She lifted her chin a bit as she came over to me. “Maybe I will.”
Putting her hands on my shoulders for balance, she climbed onto my lap,
a knee on either side of my thighs. My hands automatically went to her
hips, her bare skin searing mine. Without taking her eyes from mine, she
reached down, adjusting, and then wrapped her fingers around me. Part of
me wanted to watch my cock disappear inside her, but I couldn’t look away
from her gaze.
The tip brushed against soft skin as she got me into position and then
lowered herself until the first inch was inside.
“Fuck, Lia,” I ground out, electricity racing across every nerve in my
body. “You feel so good.”
“Not so bad yourself,” she said breathlessly. She leaned forward, resting
her forehead against mine, and eased herself down again, making it halfway
before she paused, panting as a shudder ran through her. “Too fucking big.”
Maybe it made me an ass, but I definitely liked hearing that.
“More foreplay next time,” I promised before I realized what it meant.
She nodded. “That’ll be good too.”
She took a slow, deep breath, and then, as she let it out, she took the rest
of me into her. As she settled on my lap, I wrapped my arms around her,
holding her still while I tried to keep from coming right then. She pressed
her face against the side of my neck, her body shaking.
Her pussy was the best thing I’d ever felt, but I knew things felt more
intense because she wasn’t just some random hookup. This was Amelia. My
Lia. And being with her like this not only felt amazing, it felt natural.
But we didn’t have the time to drag it out, no matter how much I
would’ve liked to. As soon as she started to rock back and forth, I grabbed
onto her ass and took charge. She clung to my shoulders as I drove up into
her, going so deep and so hard that I worried I’d hurt her, but her whimper
turned into a plea.
“More. Please, Ryan. More.”
 “Move with me, Lia,” I said. “Just like dancing.”
She nodded without turning her face away from my throat. I lifted her a
bit and then thrust into her, grinding her down on me for a moment before
repeating it. She matched my rhythm quickly and added a roll of her hips, a
clenching of her pussy around my cock. Her breath was hot on my skin as
we moved together, our pace getting more and more frantic as we raced
toward release. Pressure built inside me until I could barely hold back the
explosion.
“Close,” Amelia gasped.
“Thank fuck.” I grabbed the back of her neck and held her in place as I
slammed into her. “Come for me, Lia. Let me feel you come on my cock.
Want that hot cunt of yours to squeeze me until I pop.”
If I shocked her with the dirty talk, she didn’t show it. If anything, it
seemed to turn her on more because she started to writhe on me, desperate,
greedy sounds falling from her mouth even as she began to lick and bite at
my neck.
“Now, Lia! Dammit! Come!”
She let out a cry that sounded a lot like my name and that was all I
needed. I lost myself in a wave of pleasure and sensation that hit all of my
senses at once. The scent of apples and cinnamon from her shampoo. The
sight of her slender body shuddering in my arms. The taste of her kiss
lingering on my tongue. The sounds she made. And the feel of her. Fuck.
The feel of her.
I was so completely screwed.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Thirteen

Amelia

I wasn’t sure which was worse, how sore I was from yesterday, or how
awkward it was to come over to the guys’ apartment after Ryan and I
slept together. I’d gotten myself worked up to the point where I was almost
nauseous, and it was all for nothing because when Ethan opened the door, I
found out that Ryan and Logan were both out at some extra class thing that
would keep them away from the apartment for a while.
Perfect for helping Ethan with his presentation because we wouldn’t have
to worry about being interrupted. And it should’ve been perfect to calm me
down, but now that I wasn’t freaking out about seeing Ryan again, I started
freaking out about whether or not Ethan knew what Ryan and I had done
and if he did, how he felt about it and then if Logan—
“Earth to Amelia.”
Ethan’s voice jolted me out of my head. “What?”
He laughed. “You were staring off into space for like, a full minute. I
know this isn’t the most exciting thing. Do you need to take a break?”
I shook my head to clear it and smiled even as I had to force my
shoulders to relax. “Sorry. I’m just tired. I’ll focus better.”
“I think we need to take a break,” Ethan said, standing up and stretching.
His T-shirt rode up, exposing a very nice set of washboard abs that I
would love to trace with my tongue…and I was a horrible person. I’d
literally had sex with one of Ethan’s best friends less than twenty-four hours
ago and now I was ogling his abs.
“Behave yourself,” I muttered.
 “Did you say something?”
“No.” Heat flooded my face. I’d gotten so much better at thinking before
I spoke, but being around the guys again turned me right back into that
awkward little girl who spent her whole childhood hearing that she talked
too much and said things that should’ve been kept inside her head.
“Here.” He handed me a beer. “I know you don’t drink beer that often,
but something tells me you need it. I just hope it’s not because I’m that
bad.”
“No,” I said quickly. “No, of course not.”
“Do you want to talk about something random?” he asked. “We could
talk about going on a date.”
“A date?” My stomach twisted uncomfortably.
“Yeah, it’s my turn to take you on a couple dates, so we could talk about
what you want to do or where to go.”
His words came like a punch to the gut. Ryan didn’t want to go on
another date with me. Less than a day after we had sex, he decided he’d had
enough. I wouldn’t have thought Ryan was the sort of guy who’d dump a
girl when he got what he wanted, but it had been seven years since the four
of us had really known each other. He could’ve changed. Hell, I hadn’t
thought the three of them would abandon me the moment they got a taste of
popularity and yet that’s what happened.
I rolled my beer between my hands, staring at it so I didn’t need to look at
Ethan. “So…Ryan and I aren’t going out again.”
“Would you rather go out with him again?” Ethan suddenly looked
uncertain and I hated that I’d done that to him. “We didn’t really talk about
what would happen if you decided—”
“It’s not that,” I cut in. “Going out with you will be really nice.”
“‘Really nice’ isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement,” he said.
“I’m sorry.” I put my hand on his knee for a moment. “I didn’t mean to
sound like I don’t want to go out with you too.”
“Okay, then we need to talk about what’s going on,” he said, “because
you’ve got me worried. Ryan said things went good with you guys
yesterday, but did something happen after that?”
I shook my head, taking a drink to avoid talking for as long as I could,
but Ethan was surprisingly patient.
“You can trust me, Amelia,” he said quietly. “We told each other secrets
all the time when we were kids. Hell, you know more about me than anyone
but Logan and Ryan.”
He was right. He always seemed like the guy who just coasted along
without a care in the world, but his childhood hadn’t been a good one. That
easygoing attitude wasn’t because he didn’t care. It was a defense
mechanism. It had been talking to him growing up that first got me
interested in psychology.
But if Ryan had changed, then Logan and Ethan could’ve changed too.
No matter how sweet they’d been, I didn’t really know the sort of men
they’d grown into. Not really.
“I can’t,” I said finally. “Not because I don’t trust you to not say
anything, but because I’m still working it all out in my head.”
“If you need to go do that instead of helping me, that’s okay,” Ethan said.
“You’ve already given me a lot to work with.”
I shook my head. “No, I want to help. And it’s good for me to get out of
my head. Maybe it’ll help me come at it from a different angle.”
“Are you sure?”
“Let’s get to work.” I set down the beer.
“Okay, but how about when we’re done, we watch a movie? Get us both
out of our heads and not having to think about anything complicated,” he
suggested.
“You get through the presentation without flirting, and you’re on.”
Ethan put a hand over his heart. “You wound me, Amelia Fine.”
I rolled my eyes, laughing. “Get to work.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
For the next hour, we worked on his speech, picking at pacing and
enunciation, making sure every point was clearly made. Only after I was
completely satisfied with that, and he got through the whole thing without
smirking or winking at me, did I announce that he was ready.
“Pick something to watch and I’ll make some popcorn,” he said, heading
for the kitchen.
A part of me wanted to know when the other guys would be back, but I
didn’t want Ethan thinking I didn’t want to spend time with just him. If
Ryan showed up and things were weird, I’d deal with it.
“This one? Really?” Ethan sat down next to me and stretched his arm
along the back of the couch, barely touching me.
It was enough to make me very aware of it, but I didn’t ask him to move.
I liked having his arm there.
 “It’s a comfort movie,” I said, hitting play. “And if we get interrupted, it
won’t ruin the movie.”
As the familiar scenes began to play out on the screen, I found myself
leaning closer and closer to Ethan until the popcorn was forgotten and I was
snuggled up against his side. I struggled to keep my eyes open, but just as
the hero started giving his big inspirational speech, I found myself drifting
off to sleep. And because I knew I could trust Ethan, I stopped fighting and
I let myself fall under.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Fourteen

Ethan

A fter the movie ended, I managed to ease Amelia down onto the couch
without waking her and then started cleaning up, going back to check
on her every few minutes. We’d all done it the other times she’d fallen
asleep here, and we’d all pretended not to notice the other ones doing it.
While I was alone with her, I didn’t have to pretend that I wasn’t watching
her all the time, wanting to make sure she was all right.
Wanting to simply watch her.
When the hell did she go from that girl who climbed trees and played
with us to this beautiful, intelligent woman? And why did it take me this
long to notice?
The questions still circled in my head when Logan and Ryan came in,
looking tired and hungry. When I signaled for them to be quiet and gestured
toward the couch, their eyes lit up. Both went to check on her, and the looks
on their faces when they turned around told me that we needed to talk.
I motioned for them to come with me and we made our way back to my
room. Both looked completely confused, but I waited until I closed the door
before explaining. Or at least, attempting to.
“I don’t want to go on a fake date with Amelia.”
Two sets of eyebrows shot up.
“You’re backing out of our deal with Amelia?” Logan still looked
confused, but Ryan looked pissed.
“It’s not that I’m backing out,” I tried to explain. “I just don’t want a fake
date.” I looked at them, took a deep breath, and told them the truth. “I want
a real one.”
Ryan barked out a laugh and shook his head. “I’ve been trying to figure
out all day how to tell you guys that I can’t fake it. I want her for real.” He
rubbed the back of his neck. “And we kind of had sex yesterday.”
Well, damn. I hadn’t seen that coming. The first part, yes. I’d known that
Ryan had feelings for Amelia. I just wouldn’t have guessed that the two of
them would—
“Wait, didn’t you guys go on a picnic in the mountains?” I asked. “Where
did you…?” I made a general gesture.
Ryan didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to, not when Logan decided to
join in the conversation.
“I want her too.” He sighed. “Dammit. At first, I told myself it’s just that
she’s attractive, that I was just comparing the woman she’s become to the
girl she was, but the more time we spend with her…”
“She’s amazing,” Ryan said quietly.
“She is,” I agreed.
“Maybe we should use our fake dates to pursue her for real,” Logan
suggested.
Ryan and I exchanged glances and I saw my own question in his eyes. I
was the one who spoke.
“You said we. Does that mean you think we should all three date her and
let her choose who she wants?”
“That’s one solution,” Logan said. “But I’ve seen the way she looks at all
three of us. And she kissed me back. And Ethan. And she slept with Ryan.”
What he was saying hit me then. “You think she might want all of us.”
And as I remembered the way she’d been all day, absent-minded and
worried, it made me wonder if that was the problem. If she felt about us the
way we felt about her. That would have to be a hell of a lot more confusing
for her than it was for us. Especially since she didn’t know that being
attracted to all three of us wouldn’t hurt our friendship.
“I think we should stick with each of us taking her on a couple dates and
seeing if all those signals we’re getting are accurate,” Logan said. “She’s
dated too many assholes for us to just hit her with a poly relationship.”
“She’d probably think we just want sex and figured that the rumors about
her mean she’d be open to fucking all three of us,” I said.
“We need to show her that we all respect her as much as we care about
her,” Ryan added. “These bastards she’s dated definitely haven’t.”
 “How do you think we should approach this whole thing?” I asked,
motioning to the three of us.
“I think we need her to bring up that she has feelings for us,” Logan said.
“If she’s thinking that the physical stuff is just a way to have some fun
while we’re fake dating, then we let her have that, but if she really cares
about us, I think she’ll want to talk to one of us about it. When she does,
that’s when we bring it up. We let her lead.”
“Pretty sure Ryan’s got a head start,” I said.
He shrugged. “You try to say no while she’s grabbing your dick. I try to
be a good guy, but no one’s that fucking good. Not when she’s stone-cold
sober and standing there in these fucking little panties and telling you…”
His mouth snapped shut and he shook his head. “Nope. If she tells you,
that’s fine, but I ain’t giving the details without her okay.”
“Well, I’m claiming the next date,” I said.
“That’s fine with me,” Logan said. “As long as it’s my turn eventually.”
“You seem pretty confident that she’s going to go for it,” I said. “Other
than kissing us, has she said or done something that makes you think she’ll
be open to something like this?”
“Not exactly,” he admitted. “But ever since we kissed, I’ve been thinking
about the first time we all kissed her.”
I hadn’t thought about it in years, but the memory came rushing back
now. “The treehouse.”
“Yeah, that last weekend before football camp,” Ryan said.
“The last time the four of us hung out together,” Logan added. “Because
we turned into jerks and basically ignored her after we got back.”
We were barely teens at the time, but we were old enough to want to kiss
girls instead of ignoring most of them. Amelia was the only girl we’d been
around much, and she seemed just as curious as the three of us. So that last
evening, we were up in the treehouse one of Logan’s parents had bought for
him, and Logan had started talking about kissing and how we should
practice.
“She was my first kiss,” I said.
“Mine too,” Logan said.
We looked at Ryan who just nodded.
“First time I ever touched a boob too,” I admitted. “Hell, it was the only
one I touched for years.”
 “By the time Irene McTavish let me feel her up after the homecoming
dance when we were sophomores, I was convinced I was gonna die a
virgin.” Logan chuckled. “She had some great breasts.”
“You think that because Amelia let us all kiss her when we were like
thirteen, fourteen, that means she’s going to want to have a relationship
with the three of us?” Ryan asked. “We were barely kids fooling around.”
“I don’t know,” Logan said. “But she didn’t act like it was weird back
then, so I guess I’m hoping she’ll think of this the same way.”
“I guess there’s only one way to find out,” I said. “We gotta take that leap
of faith.”
“As long as we’re all agreed that this won’t ruin our friendships with her
or each other, no matter what happens,” Logan said.
The three of us agreed, and then Logan and Ryan headed out to the
kitchen to make themselves something to eat. I followed a little slower,
wondering if we were going to be able to keep our promises to each other or
if we’d just made a huge mistake.

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 Chapter Fifteen

Amelia

G oing on a date with Ethan was nothing like going on a date with Ryan.
Their personalities were so different to begin with that it didn’t really
surprise me. What did surprise me was that, despite parties not really being
my preferred activity, I didn’t protest when Ethan asked if our date could be
the party the football team was having after their game. Maybe it was
because I knew that if I didn’t want to go to the party, it’d be at least a week
before I’d have the chance to go out with him, or maybe I didn’t mind
parties as much when I knew he’d be with me the whole time.
Things got off to a great start when he knocked on my door five minutes
before he said he’d be here to pick me up, and they got even better when I
opened the door and found him standing there with a bouquet of daisies.
Not only were they my favorite flowers, but they matched the ones on the
pink halter I wore.
“You look great,” he said as he leaned down to give me a chaste kiss on
the cheek.
I tried not to feel too disappointed that he hadn’t gone for a real kiss, but
as I took the flowers to put them in some water, I reminded myself that our
kiss at his place had been during a game, and we’d never talked about it. He
was clearly trying to be a gentleman and not make assumptions.
“Ready?” He held out his hand and I took it, letting him thread his fingers
between mine.
His hands were different from Ryan’s. Not smaller, exactly, but a little
thinner. Sort of like how Ryan had bulky muscle and Ethan’s body was
leaner. But still appealing.
Okay, more than appealing. Both of them were hot. And so was Logan.
Which made me a horrible person.
“Everything all right?” Ethan asked as we got into his car.
I shook my head. “Where did you say the party is?”
“A couple of the guys on the team actually have a small house off
campus. It’s about fifteen minutes from here.” He looked over at me,
concern on his face. “You sure you’re okay with this?”
“You guys won against our rivals,” I said. “You deserve to celebrate and I
want to be with you, so I’m definitely okay with it.”
“All right,” he said, “but if you want to leave at any time, you just tell
me, got it? This is a date, and I don’t want you to feel obligated.”
I reached over and squeezed his forearm. “I don’t, and if I want to go, I’ll
let you know. I promise.”
My answer seemed to satisfy him because he didn’t say anything else
about it as he pulled out of the parking lot. Instead, we talked about the
game. I’d gone to support the guys, but I wanted to hear about the things I
wouldn’t have seen from the stands. The things that were important to
Ethan, Ryan, and Logan. Because they were important to me. We hadn’t
been reconnected for long, but already they’d fallen back into those spaces
they left behind years ago.
“Just a warning,” Ethan said as he turned into a packed driveway.
“Things can get a little crazy after a win like today.”
He pulled into an empty spot in the yard just as two guys covered in
green and gold body paint—and only paint—ran out of the house toward
the road, chanting something I couldn’t quite make out.
The concern on Ethan’s face as he looked over at me warmed my heart.
“I really hope they put on a lot of bug spray or they’re going to be really
miserable when they sober up,” I said with a smile.
That seemed to reassure him, and we headed for the party, hand in hand.
We got a couple drinks, chatted with some people, and I started to feel like
this might not be such a bad date after all. Then Ryan passed by and didn’t
even look our way.
“Excuse me,” I mumbled to Ethan. “I need some air.”
Yanking my hand out of his, I made for the quickest exit, which happened
to be the back door. I pushed my way through the crowd on the patio, not
stopping until I reached a small shed at the back of the property. After
checking to make sure no one was using the space behind it for some alone
time, I disappeared behind it and finally breathed.
It was too much. I thought being around a lot of people would help me
forget how much this past week had sucked, but seeing Ryan walk by me
without even a glance in my direction had been the proverbial straw that
broke this camel’s back.
“Amelia?”
Ethan appeared at the corner of the shed, his worry sending a stab of guilt
through me.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m being a lousy date tonight. You’re being so nice
trying to help me and I’m not pulling my own weight. You deserve to have
fun.” My heart hurt at the thought of what that fun might entail. “Find some
girl to—”
“I don’t want some girl,” Ethan said firmly. He came over to me, hands
casually tucked in his pockets. “I’m here with you because I want to be.
Now, tell me what’s wrong.”
I started to shake my head and then realized that keeping it all inside was
just going to make everything worse.
“I think I messed up,” I blurted out. “I slept with Ryan and now he
doesn’t want to go on another date with me and I thought it was fine
because we were good afterward but now I don’t know because I haven’t
talked to him and—”
Ethan put his finger on my lips to stop the flow of words I couldn’t seem
to control. “When I asked you out, if I made it sound like Ryan told me that
I needed to take you out because he didn’t want to, I’m sorry. That’s not
what happened.”
That made me feel a little better. “Okay.”
Taking his finger away from my mouth, Ethan reached for my hand and
gave it a squeeze. “Relax. Breathe.”
After I took a few deep breaths, he explained.
“When the three of us talked about taking you out, we figured we’d do a
couple dates each, and a lot of it would depend on how we were doing in
our classes. At the moment, my workload is easier than Ryan’s. We were
just being practical.”
That last sentence didn’t ring quite as true as some of the other things he
said, but I let it go.
“I’m guessing practicality was Logan’s idea.”
 Ethan laughed. “It was.”
“Ryan’s not blowing me off because he had sex with me?”
Ethan’s hand tightened around mine. “No. I can promise you that isn’t the
case. And if you’re thinking that’s why he didn’t say anything to us just
now, it’s not. Tonight, he and Logan are the ‘party monitors.’” Ethan
chuckled. “It’s a stupid title, but basically, last year the team decided they’d
pick a couple guys at each party to keep an eye on things. Make sure no
one’s taking advantage of anyone else, no idiot who’s had too much to drink
gets into their car, that sort of thing.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said. After a beat, I couldn’t help asking another
question. “You weren’t surprised when I said I slept with Ryan.”
“He told me and Logan. No details, of course, but yeah, we both know.”
“And you’re not mad?” I couldn’t breathe while I waited for his answer.
As much as it hurt that Ryan hadn’t sought me out after what happened
between us, it was nothing compared to the thought that I’d done something
to damage the friendship the four of us shared.
He reached out and caught my hand, bringing it up to brush his lips
across my knuckles. “I swear, none of us are mad at you. Not for that and
not for anything else. We want you to do what you want, not what you think
we want.”
“Ryan didn’t push me into anything,” I said quickly. “He’d never do
that.”
“Never crossed my mind,” Ethan said, lightly touching my cheek with his
free hand. “None of us would pressure you into anything. If you tell us to
stop, we’ll stop.”
He kept saying us and we, not I and me. Like he was speaking for all
three of them. Like they weren’t just okay with my getting physical with all
three of them, but they actually expected it. I had no idea what to do with
that.
Then again, what else was new? I had no idea what to do with pretty
much anything going on in my life right now. My shoulders slumped and I
sighed. Maybe coming to the party had been a bad idea. I wasn’t exactly the
life of the party when I was in the best mood, and right now, I wasn’t
anywhere close to that.
“Something else is bothering you, isn’t it?” Ethan asked, tapping on my
nose to get my attention.
He was always more observant than people gave him credit for.
 “The ethics committee hasn’t cleared Dr. Isenberg or me yet and he’s
getting a lot of pressure from the department head to fire me.” Sharing it
with someone should’ve made me feel better, but I still couldn’t shake the
cloud I’d had hanging over me all week.
“I’m not going to promise that Isenberg isn’t going to be a coward and
cave, but I can promise that if he loses you, he’s going to regret it.” Ethan’s
thumb stroked along my bottom lip.
Something in his tone made me wonder if we were still talking about Dr.
Isenberg and my job, but I didn’t think I’d be able to handle the answer on
top of everything else.
“I’m sorry I’m not better company tonight,” I said. “You should be
having fun.”
“I want to be with you tonight,” Ethan said. “I don’t care where. If you
want to go home, I’ll take you.” He leaned closer until I could smell the
sandalwood aftershave he used. “But I have another idea. One that’ll make
you feel a whole lot better. Let’s call it a lesson in letting someone take care
of you.”
My heart gave an unsteady thump. “I like the sound of that.”
He stepped forward until his toes were touching mine, his face barely an
inch away. “If you want me to stop, just say it.”
I nodded to show that I understood, my breathing already quickening in
anticipation. We stared at each other as his hand skimmed down my side,
barely touching the fabric of my dress until he got to the hem. I caught my
breath when his hand went underneath, fingers brushing against my bare
leg. Trails of heat followed his path around to the inside of my thigh and
then further up until he brushed against my panties.
“I’m gonna make you feel good, baby,” he murmured. “But you can’t
scream, okay? We don’t want anyone coming out here to investigate or
maybe call the cops. Understand?”
He said all this as he stroked over the dampening fabric and I nodded
frantically, needing him to just get on with it. I shifted, spreading my legs
wider, and he laughed, but it wasn’t his usual laugh. No, this was something
deeper, the kind of sound a man made when he knew exactly how crazy he
made me.
“We need to be quick,” he added. “So don’t hold back. You come as soon
as you can, okay?”
 I nodded again, biting my bottom lip to keep from begging him to please
touch me. He must’ve seen the need on my face though because he gave me
one of those cocky smirks before sliding his hand up and then into my
panties. His fingers moved through the thin curls on my mound and then
down between my legs. I let out a shuddering breath as a single finger
parted my folds and brushed over my clit.
I grabbed onto his forearm, not to stop him, but just because I needed to
touch him. As he pushed his finger inside me, the heel of his hand pressed
against my clit with just the right amount of pressure and friction. I started
to moan, unable to stop the sound from escaping, and he immediately
covered my lips with his. I opened for him eagerly, coaxing his tongue into
my mouth even as he began to move his finger in and out of my body.
Pleasure began to build inside me and I rocked against his hand. He broke
the kiss, then, to whisper two commands.
“Ride my hand. Make yourself come.”
Then his mouth slammed into mine, his teeth bruising, tongue
plundering. I grabbed the front of his shirt, my hips jerking back and forth
even as he added a second finger. The pressure was almost too much and I
found myself hovering at the edge, unable to tip over. Frustrated tears
formed and one slipped down my cheek.
“Amelia, baby, are you okay?” Ethan asked.
“Can’t come.”
Despite how roughly he was driving his fingers into me, his kiss to my
cheek was gentle. “I’ve got you.”
And then he curled his fingers inside me, pressing against a spot that sent
fireworks off through my entire body, and that pressure finally released in a
flood of white-hot pleasure that burned away everything else.
Damn, I’d needed that.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Sixteen

Logan

I considered myself a fairly patient person, someone who kept their head
under pressure. Those were two of the qualities that made me a great
quarterback. They were also two of the reasons Ethan and Ryan tended to
let me take the lead in most things. Except I wasn’t at the head of the pack
when it came to this thing with Amelia.
Ryan fucked her in the mountains. Ethan got her off at a party. Both of
them had been on dates with her.
I’d kissed her.
And I’d been jerking off to that memory ever since.
The guys and I hadn’t discussed how or when we’d switch from Ethan
taking her on dates to me, and it had been days since I’d seen her. And even
then, she was on a date with Ethan, so I hadn’t spent a lot of time talking to
her. Today, the minute I learned that one of my classes had been canceled,
my first thought was of her.
Which was why I was headed to Newsom Hall, hoping to catch her in her
room so I could see if she wanted to take a walk or go get a coffee or
something. We wouldn’t even have to make it a date. Just two friends
hanging out.
I didn’t think about texting her first until I’d already knocked on the door,
and the moment it opened, I wished I had. A slender woman with short,
white-blonde hair stood on the other side, staring up at me with wide eyes. I
assumed this was the roommate, Megan, and while I had my own thoughts
about the sort of person she was, I planned on being polite.
 Until that walking asshole, Jason Hunn, came up behind her and put his
arms around her waist in the sort of possessive manner that said he was
staking a claim.
“What do you want?” he asked belligerently.
“I’m looking for Amelia,” I said.
“Well, she’s obviously not here,” Jason said. “So why don’t you fuck
off?”
“Jason.” Megan patted the hand resting on her stomach. “We don’t need
to be rude to Logan.”
“You know this clown?”
I could practically see the green in his words, like he’d caught me kissing
his girl instead of just knocking on a fucking door.
“He’s Logan Carter.” She shook her head. “CSU’s star quarterback who’s
got like three NFL teams drooling over him.”
Technically, I had five that I knew were interested, but I didn’t feel the
need to correct her.
“Oh. You’re a jock.”
Jason gave me the kind of look I’d been getting from assholes like him
my whole life. The big guys who bullied the shit out of me when I was a
scrawny kid, barely coordinated enough to ride a bike. The muscle-head
athletes who thought humiliating the new kid on the team somehow made
them look better. And then the non-athletes who thought I was all brawn
and no brains, expecting the world to give me everything on a silver platter,
including grades and girls.
Jason was the last one. The one who would’ve bullied a weaker kid, but
because he knew he couldn’t push me around, he relied on trying to act
superior. When that didn’t work, he’d blame me for anything shitty that
happened in his life.
I really didn’t want to be here any longer than I needed to, but if they
knew something that would save me some time, it was worth asking one
more question. “Do either of you know where Amelia is?”
“We’re not her fucking parents,” Jason snapped.
“Is she supposed to be tutoring you or something?” Megan asked.
“Because you might want to find someone else. You know she completely
stole Jason’s work to convince Dr. Isenberg to hire her.”
“I don’t tend to believe rumors about people,” I said. “Especially people
I’ve known since we were kids.”
 “Really? She never mentioned you,” Megan blurted out, her cheeks
turning pink.
Ouch. Three years of being roommates and Amelia hadn’t talked about
me or the guys once. I supposed we deserved that.
“Anyway, they’re not rumors,” Megan rushed to continue. “I mean, Jason
saw the paper she presented to Dr. Isenberg and recognized it as his work.
So you’re not just hearing secondhand. He can tell you himself.”
Jason shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his eyes darting
around. “Yeah, as soon as I saw that opening paragraph, I knew it was
mine.”
“But it wasn’t the same one that you turned in for that job, right?” I
asked, my gut telling me that there was something more here than just Jason
lying about Amelia. “Because Dr. Isenberg would’ve seen that and wanted
to talk to both of you. Find out why they were the same.”
“That’s why she slept with the professor,” Megan cut in. “Isn’t that right,
babe? Because he knew she stole the paper from Jason, and it was the only
way she wouldn’t get kicked out.”
“But he didn’t accuse you of plagiarizing her paper?” I asked, my eyes
narrowing. “Because if they were the same, someone had to be copying,
and he’d need to point the finger somewhere.”
“Well, maybe it wasn’t that paper,” Jason stammered. “I’ve written lots of
papers for my classes. It’s hard to keep track of all of them. It might’ve
been one I wrote for another class. I just know it was mine and she
pretended it was hers just so she could get the job I deserved.”
Something about the way he said it, the way a thin trickle of sweat slowly
made its way down his cheek, had me thinking that maybe Jason Hunn
wasn’t as smart as he made everyone think he was. And not just because
he’d let an amazing woman like Amelia go. He was an entitled bastard, and
he was hiding something more than just the secret that he’d lied about his
ex.
That was something to explore some other time. Right now, I needed to
find Amelia.
“Do you know where Amelia is or not?” I directed my question to
Megan. She might’ve been a shitty friend, but I trusted her to at least tell me
the truth about this.
“I think she’s in the library,” Megan said. “That’s where she’s been going
most of the time she’s not in class, anyway. Hides away in one of those little
cubicles, pretending she’s studying.”
“You got what you wanted,” Jason said. “Now go away.”
He slammed the door shut, but I could still hear him asking Megan why
she’d been so nice to me. Shaking my head, I made my way back
downstairs and then over to the library where a helpful librarian pointed me
in the direction of the study room Megan used most of the time.
The first one was empty, but the door to the second one was closed with a
sign on it that said “occupied.” Without any windows, I couldn’t see who
was inside, so I knocked on the door. After a minute, I knocked again.
“Occupied!”
Even from that single word, I could tell it was her. I grinned. I couldn’t
help it. She sounded pissed, and a part of me found that adorable. She’d
always been fairly quiet, but there was a fierceness to her that came out
from time to time, and I’d always loved seeing that.
I knocked again.
Like I hoped, she yanked the door open, eyes flashing as she prepared to
yell at whoever wasn’t getting the hint that she wanted to be alone.
Her eyes widened. “Logan!” She clapped her hand over her mouth,
flushing. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t realize it was you. Is everything
okay? Do you need something?”
“I just wanted to see you,” I admitted. “If you’re busy, I’ll go.”
She shook her head, glancing down the hallway. “It’s just a good place to
hide from people.”
My smile vanished. “Who’s harassing you?”
“Shhh, Logan.” She grabbed my arm.
“Did someone here say something?” I knew my voice was too loud, but I
didn’t give a damn, not if someone was bothering her.
She made a frustrated sound and yanked me into the study room, closing
the door behind me. “You can’t be that loud in the library.”
“I’m not going to just sit here and let someone harass you,” I argued as
she gave me a little shove toward one of the chairs. I sat down, but I wasn’t
going to apologize for protecting her.
“Be reasonable,” she said. “You can’t be with me all the time.”
“It didn’t matter in high school.” The statement popped out before I
realized what I was saying.
“What do you mean?”
Shit.
 I ran my hand through my hair. I’d never planned on her finding out, but
my only options right now were to lie, try to change the subject, or tell the
truth. And if I really wanted to be with her, the first two just weren’t going
to cut it.
“I might’ve looked out for you during high school even though we
weren’t really talking,” I admitted. “Made sure the guys left you alone, and
that the girls knew they’d hear it from me if they went after you.”
Amelia stared at me and I waited to find out if she’d yell at me for what
I’d done back then or thank me for it.
She did neither.
Instead, she threw her arms around my neck and kissed me.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Seventeen

Amelia

I probably shouldn’t have thrown myself at Logan, and I almost definitely

shouldn’t have kissed him. Not after sleeping with Ryan, and then what
happened with Ethan at the party. It wasn’t fair to any of them, no matter
what Ethan had said.
But my lips were on his and it felt amazing.
More than amazing. It felt right.
It was that thought that made me take a step back, horrified at my actions.
“I am so sorry.”
Logan raised an eyebrow. “Okay, not exactly what a man wants to hear
after a kiss.”
“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” I said. “I know you know about me and
Ryan sleeping together, but Ethan and I fooled around too, and it’s not fair
to you guys to keep doing this and—”
“Hey.” He grabbed my hand. “Take a breath, okay?”
I nodded, slowly inhaling and then exhaling. My pulse started to return to
normal, but breathing wasn’t helping me with the guilt.
“I don’t think we should do this fake dating thing anymore,” I said. The
thought of not spending time with the guys anymore hurt, but I couldn’t
keep doing this to them.
One corner of Logan’s mouth twitched upward, surprising me. I supposed
if he thought that was funny, I was right to end things.
“I am so glad you gave me that opening, because we’ve been trying to
figure out how to tell you something.”
 I pressed my lips together and crossed my arms, hoping I wouldn’t cry.
“We don’t want to fake date you,” he said. “We want you for real.”
I stared at him, my mouth opening and closing several times before I
managed to ask him to repeat himself because I’d apparently hit my head or
something.
He stood, closing the distance between us in a single step. Looking down
at me, his eyes blazed with the kind of fire that burned a person from the
inside out, and they thanked the stars while it did.
“We. Want. You.” He enunciated each word like that would make more
sense.
“I don’t understand.”
He put his hand on my cheek, his thumb brushing back and forth across
the corner of my mouth. “We were all thinking it, but Ethan’s the one who
got us to say it out loud. We all want you, and we think you want all three
of us too.”
And there it was, the thing I couldn’t do. I’d never be able to forgive
myself if I got between them.
“We don’t want you to choose unless that’s what you want,” Logan
continued. “We want to…well, we want to share you.”
“Share me?” I echoed.
“No choosing. No jealousy. No guilt.”
“You really think that’ll work?” I tried not to let my voice reveal how
much I wanted that to be a real option.
“Ethan and I know that you had sex with Ryan,” Logan pointed out. “Was
Ethan mad? I’m not mad. And then you went out with Ethan, and Ryan and
I are fine.” He must’ve seen something that looked a lot like panic on my
face because he added, “You don’t have to decide anything right now. We
can just see where things go.”
It still sounded too good to be possible. Not having to choose between
three sexy men who also happened to be my friends?
“But if you don’t want me, I’ll turn around and leave,” Logan said
quietly. “No hard feelings. We’ll still be friends, and I won’t be mad at
Ethan and Ryan either, if you just want to be with them.”
He was putting himself out there. The least I could offer was the truth.
“And if I do want you too?” I asked.
He gave me the sort of smoky smile that made my panties damp and my
heart beat faster. “Then you just have to say the word and I’ll have you on
that table, trying desperately not to scream my name.”
“Oh.” My pulse fluttered madly and my mind spun. “What word do I
have to say?”
He lowered his head until his lips hovered bare millimeters above mine.
“Yes, Amelia. Just say yes.”
It was somehow both the easiest and the hardest word I’d ever had to say.
“Yes.”
Logan made a sound low in his throat seconds before his mouth crashed
into mine. I didn’t try to stifle my moan as his tongue swept between my
lips, my yes unleashing a passion I’d never imagined Logan hid below the
surface. At least not for me.
Without taking his mouth from mine, he lifted me onto the table, making
the height difference between us a little easier to manage. Pulling my hair
out of its ponytail, he buried a hand in the now loose strands, and I took that
as permission to finally mess with that thick black hair. His other hand
explored the rest of me, moving down along my waist and over my hip,
down my leg as far as he could reach without breaking our kiss.
I was the one who pulled back first, gasping as his hand slid under the
hem of my dress. I’d started preferring dresses to shorts during the summer
when I was in high school, and it stuck with me. Now, as the heat of his
hand traveled back up my leg, I discovered that my preference had other
benefits. His fingers paused at the waistband of my panties.
“Have Ryan or Ethan tasted you yet?”
The rough edge to his voice sent goosebumps racing across my skin. I
shook my head, the flush on my face deepening as I made a confession.
“No one has.”
Logan looked stunned. “You’re telling me that no one has ever gone
down on you?”
I shook my head, dropping my gaze.
He hooked a finger under my chin and raised my head. “Let me guess.
That asshole ex said it grossed him out, but he expected you to do it for
him.”
I shrugged, and that seemed to be answer enough. My heart skipped a
beat as Logan went down on his knees.
“And just so we’re clear,” he said as he pushed up my skirt. “I expect
nothing in return. I just want to make you come on my tongue.”
 With that pronouncement hanging in the air, he pulled my legs over his
shoulders and buried his face between my legs. I made an embarrassing
squeaking sound and pressed my fist against my mouth to keep it all inside.
The last thing my reputation needed right now was for some curious student
—or librarian—to find me in here with the star quarterback devouring me
like a starving man at a feast.
The first pass of his tongue went over my panties and I flushed, knowing
he’d be able to tell how turned on I was just from the bit of kissing we’d
done. He didn’t say anything, just pulled my panties aside and ran the flat of
his tongue over my sensitive skin. Then he changed it up, dancing the tip of
his tongue along my slit, teasing at going deeper until I squirmed.
Or rather, I tried to. He grabbed my hips and held me in place with a steel
grip. If it’d been someone else, I might’ve felt trapped, but with him, the
harder he held me down, the safer I felt.
His lips moved over me, opening me up to his questing tongue. It circled
my entrance, dipping inside for only a moment before moving up to that
bundle of nerves that was waiting for some attention.
My entire body jerked the moment he touched my clit, the soft, wet heat
of his tongue so different from fingers. Lighter pressure and a different
texture registered in my brain, alongside the sensation of Logan’s hair
brushing against the insides of my thighs, the near pain of fingers digging
into my flesh.
But it was the fact that this was Logan—my friend, my first kiss, my
Logan—that charged the pleasure coursing through me. Electricity in my
veins, across my nerves, filling every cell with something too powerful to
contain. I wanted to drop my head back, close my eyes, and just enjoy, but I
couldn’t take my eyes off him. My breath came in ragged pants from
between parted lips, my fingers held tightly to the edge of the table, and I
watched as he pressed his mouth even closer.
Suddenly, his gaze flicked up to me and held. With us locked together
like that, he took my clit between his lips and started to suck on it. Hard,
deep pulls mixed with rough licks from the flat of his tongue, the exact
opposite of the light touches from only moments ago. The change sent me
careening over the edge with a stifled cry, my body jerking with the force of
my orgasm.
He kept working my body through one climax and into a shocking second
that had me curling over him, my fingers buried in his hair as I struggled to
breathe. Only when I begged him to stop, my overloaded nervous system
unable to take anything else, did he sit back on his heels, face shiny, a smug
grin curving his lips.
I slumped back on the desk, too spent to even tug down my dress. When I
heard the sound of a zipper, however, I found the strength to raise my head
far enough to see that Logan had his cock out. As I watched, he moved his
hand up and down the thick shaft, faster and rougher than I would’ve
thought comfortable, let alone pleasurable. I’d given hand jobs before, but
I’d never actually sat and watched a guy get himself off like this.
I probably wouldn’t have found it as hot if it were someone else.
Well, Ethan and Ryan would’ve been equally as hot.
And now I was thinking about all three of them jacking off while staring
at my…
I didn’t finish the thought because at that moment, Logan was finished.
With a groan, he came, emptying himself into a piece of cloth that I only
now realized was mine. As in, my underwear. I didn’t remember him taking
them off, but I couldn’t even be annoyed that I’d have to leave here bare-
assed. Not when he was chanting my name, shudders going through that
strong body as he clutched my panties around his cock.
Needless to say, I would never be able to study in this room again,
because damn. Logan had just ruined the library for me, and he’d done it in
the best way possible.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Eighteen

Ethan

T hisWhen
still didn’t seem quite real.
Logan came back to the apartment a couple days ago and told
Ryan and me that he’d talked to Amelia about us sharing her, I’d been
expecting a rejection. Hell, I’d thought the best-case scenario would be that
she at least wanted to stay friends. Instead, he’d said that she was willing to
think about it.
Which was how I’d ended up in a booth at a little ice cream shop, sitting
across from Amelia, discussing how sharing her would work with the same
sort of casualness that most people used when talking about things like
where to go for dinner.
“What would we do if, say, all four of us decided we wanted to go out for
ice cream?” she asked.
I thought for a minute before answering. The few times the three of us
had shared a woman, it’d basically been just sex, even when it was more
than once, and Logan had handled the logistics. With Amelia, though,
things were different. We wanted to date her. Even though us guys had
talked about having a poly relationship, it had seemed so impossible that
we’d never really talked about how it would work.
I didn’t know about Logan and Ryan, but when I’d pictured it, I only
thought about us being at home, even if it wasn’t sexual. Sitting on the
couch, one of us holding her hand, her feet on another one’s lap. That sort
of thing. I realized now that was stupid, because of course we weren’t going
to spend our entire lives locked away.
 “I guess we’d come get ice cream and see what we felt comfortable doing
in public,” I finally answered. “If you wanted to hold my hand, but not the
other guys, that’s what we’d do. If you wanted to have Ryan’s arm around
you, then that’s how it’d go.”
“And if I wanted both?” she asked quietly, her cheeks pink. “If I wanted
to hold your hand while Ryan’s arm was around me?”
“Then Logan will have to carry your ice cream,” I said.
Just like I’d hoped, she smiled. “You guys really are okay with this, aren’t
you?”
I shrugged. “It just feels right, you know? All of us being together?” I
reached across the table and took her hand. “But we don’t want to pressure
you into anything. If this isn’t going to work for you, you tell us, okay?
Because if we’re not all on the same page, we shouldn’t be doing this.”
She nodded and squeezed my hand. “I really am thinking seriously about
it. I’m not just stringing you guys along.”
“Thought never crossed my mind,” I said honestly. “And if you want
some diagrams of how things might work in other instances, just say the
word. I’m a pretty good artist.”
She rolled her eyes and laughed. “I remember that picture you drew of
Mr. Caldicott in sixth grade after he made half the class cry. It was the first
penis picture I’d ever seen. And still the only one I’ve ever seen with a hat.”
“A cowboy hat,” I clarified. “And his balls had spurs on the sides.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right! I forgot about the spurs. How could I have
forgotten about those?”
“I have no idea,” I said. “Logan and I must’ve argued for twenty minutes
about whether or not I should’ve given him cowboy boots.”
“So you’ll argue about if a penis should have cowboy boots instead of
spurs, but you’re not going to argue about who gets to sleep with me on any
particular night?” She was half-teasing, which made me more than half-
hard.
“Why argue when we can just both sleep with you?” I watched her face
as my words sank in.
Her eyes widened, but I could see the heat in those deep blue irises. She
wasn’t opposed to that sort of sharing either. Thank fuck. The three of us
would’ve kept things separate if that was what she wanted, but we’d shared
enough women for sex to know how good it could be. I had a feeling, with
Amelia, it’d be fantastic.
 My phone chose that moment to start ringing. Frowning, I fished it out of
my pocket. No one called me unless it was an emergency. The moment I
saw the word “Hospital” on my screen, all of the ease and humor I’d been
feeling disappeared.
“I need to get this,” I said to Amelia even as I answered. “Hello?”
“Is this Ethan Blake?” A woman’s voice came through.
“Yes, I’m Ethan.”
“Are you related to a Mia Blake?”
“She’s my mother.”
Amelia put down her spoon, her focus completely on me now.
“I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but she’s been brought to Poudre
Valley with severe injuries resulting from an assault. She is conscious and
she requested that we call you.”
“I’m on my way,” I said. “Thank you.”
I ended the call and turned my attention to Amelia, preparing to tell her
that we were going to have to cut our date short. I’d take her back to her
dorm, of course, but then I needed to go.
“Is she okay?” Amelia asked.
I nodded. “She’s in the hospital, but it sounds like she’s going to be okay.
I just have to go.”
“We have to go.”
I paused before standing. “What?”
“I’m not letting you go back there alone.” Her chin had that stubborn set
to it that I recognized all too well. “You’re not dealing with this by
yourself.”
“Don’t you have class tomorrow?”
She raised an eyebrow. “I’ll call Logan and Ryan if you’d rather they go,
but one of us is going with you.”
I didn’t ask her why. I didn’t need to. My three childhood friends were
the only people who knew the full truth about the shit that went on with my
mom and the assholes she dated. The burn scar on my arm where one of
those boyfriends had burned me with his lighter when I was six wasn’t the
only permanent mark on my body. Until I hit my growth spurt at fourteen,
there hadn’t been a week when I didn’t have a bruise or something else.
Sometimes, it wasn’t just the boyfriends.
Mom had struggled with drugs and alcohol for as long as I could
remember, but never bad enough that I was ever taken away from her. I’d
been good at hiding things, including the bruises she sometimes gave me
when I was too loud or too messy or too whatever. She tried to get clean
more than once, but those boyfriends had always pulled her back in. The
most recent one was the same as all the rest of them, and I had no doubt
he’d been the one to put my mom in the hospital.
A hand on my arm startled me, and I realized I’d been staring off into
space for a few minutes.
“Do you still keep a bag of clothes in your car?” Amelia asked.
I nodded.
“Okay, then we can leave from here,” she said. “We’ll go straight to the
hospital, and we’ll stay as long as you need to. Then we’ll go back to my
house. My parents are spending a couple weeks with my aunt in Louisiana
because she—” Amelia made a dismissive gesture. “Not important. What is
important is that we can stay at the house and not worry about having to get
a hotel or anything.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, unsure if I was talking about her coming with
me or her offer for us to stay at her parents’ house. Or maybe I was talking
about something different altogether.
Maybe I was the one who wasn’t sure about anything.
“Come on.” She held out her hand and I clung to it as we made our way
to my car. “Keys.”
“What?”
“I’m not letting you drive like this,” she said. “You can text the guys on
the way, and if you need to reach out to your coach, you can do that too.
That way, when we get to the hospital, you can focus on your mom.”
While Amelia adjusted the seat to fit her much shorter body, I watched
her, loving how calm and capable she was. She’d forgotten that part of
herself with all the shit that was going on. I made a promise to myself that
I’d make certain she found that again, that she remembered what an
amazing person she was.
But first, there was something I didn’t want to wait to tell her.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’d do it for me,” she said. “If something had happened to one of my
parents—”
“Not for coming with me,” I said. “Or, not just for that. No, thank you for
not trying to tell me that I shouldn’t care about her after everything she’s
done.”
 Amelia turned toward me and put her hand on my cheek. “She’s your
mom. I’m not going to tell you how to feel about her.” She paused, and then
added, “But if she says anything mean to you, I will kick her ass, even if
she’s already in the hospital.”
I smiled, which I knew was what Amelia wanted. Then, she leaned
forward and brushed her lips across mine in a quick kiss before turning her
attention back to the car and our trip.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Nineteen

Amelia

I hated Mia Blake. I’d hated her from the first moment I realized those
injuries Ethan was always saying came from climbing trees or
roughhousing actually came from his mom and the men she brought into
their lives, and that hate had grown from that of a child to the hate of an
adult who better understood the responsibilities of an adult for a child.
Seeing her lying in a hospital bed, bruised and battered, with a broken
wrist and cracked ribs, probably should’ve made me feel sorry for her, but
all it did was remind me of all of the times I’d patched Ethan up and
promised not to tell anyone. All the times I should have told someone even
though I’d promised I wouldn’t. I just hadn’t wanted one of my best friends
to be mad at me.
I glanced over at that friend now as we left Mia’s room. The smile he
usually wore hadn’t shown up since we left Fort Collins, leaving in its place
something serious and thoughtful, though if he was thinking something
specific, he didn’t share it with me.
As we got on the elevator, I reached over and took his hand. While we
were with his mom, I’d stayed close to him, but I hadn’t touched him. Mia
didn’t recognize me, but the look she gave me wasn’t a friendly one. My
gut said that she had hoped to talk to Ethan alone, to try to con him into
either moving back home with her, taking her back to Fort Collins with
him, or most probable—giving her money.
I’d shared my lunch with him too many times as a kid when the money
from his paper route had mysteriously “gone missing” to think that she’d
just wanted to see him.
The whole time she was awake, she kept giving me this look like she
expected me to excuse myself, but I ignored it. Hell, I’d basically ignored
her entirely. If Ethan had wanted me to go, he would’ve asked, and Mia had
been coherent enough to realize that if she sent me away, her intentions
would be too obvious. Instead, she’d just dropped not-so-subtle hints that
Ethan left where they were.
And she hadn’t asked a single question about him. Not about how his
senior year was going. Not about his friends. If he had a girlfriend. Who I
was. If he planned to come home for Thanksgiving.
It’d all been about her, and that was pretty much par for the course when
it came to Mia Blake. She had always been her number one priority.
When we reached Ethan’s car, he stopped me before I could walk around
to the driver’s side. Instead of asking for the keys like I thought he would,
he just pulled me to him and wrapped me in his arms, his face pressed
against the top of my head. I held him back, letting the embrace tell him all
the things I didn’t know how to say. We stayed like that for a while before
he took a step back and got into the passenger’s side of the car.
Neither of us said a word during the drive to my parents’ house, and that
worried me. If it were Ryan, I would expect silence. Ethan had been quieter
tonight than I’d ever known him in all of our years as friends. I didn’t need
him to confide in me, but I needed him to say something. Anything. I didn’t
know how to help an Ethan who didn’t talk.
I hated this feeling. I was helpless to do anything about the rumors, and
now I was helpless to do what Ethan needed me to do because I had no clue
what that was.
I waited to speak until we pulled into the driveway of the little house
where I’d grown up. “I texted my parents from the hospital to let them
know we’d be staying here at least for the night. They said we’re welcome
to whatever food they have, but they didn’t leave any perishables. I can go
get—”
“I’m not hungry,” Ethan said, his voice strangely flat. “But if you want
anything, don’t let me stop you.”
He got out of the car before I could respond, making it all the way up
onto the porch before he realized he didn’t have a key. I took a few extra
seconds to grab his bag from the back seat, and handed it to him as I joined
him on the porch.
 “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to be short with you.”
I stretched up on my toes and kissed his cheek. “Whatever you’re feeling
right now, it’s okay.”
He nodded as I moved to the door and unlocked it. I felt him following
me inside and I flipped on the entryway light, casting a dim glow across the
familiar living room.
“Do you want to stay in our guest room?” I asked, hoping my tone
sounded a little more casual to Ethan than it did to me.
“Is there another option?”
I startled, spinning around. “I didn’t realize you were that close.”
He reached down and tucked some hair behind my ear. “Is that okay?”
I nodded, my heart suddenly thudding against my rib cage. “Like I said,
whatever you’re feeling right now.”
“I’ve had a lot of feelings today,” he said, letting the backs of his fingers
run down my cheek. “Good and bad.”
“And now?” My voice was barely a whisper.
“Now, I’d like to focus on feeling you,” he said, a small quirk of a grin
offering me hope. “If that’s just sleeping, I’m okay with that.”
“And if I’m okay with more than sleeping?” Arousal had my stomach
twisting into knots.
Ethan’s eyes looked almost black as they met mine. “Then I’d ask if you
want me to undress you here, or somewhere else?”
Heat flooded my body and I reached for his hand. I didn’t need lights to
make my way to the stairs and then up them and into the short upstairs
corridor. A night-light in the bathroom showed nothing between me and my
bedroom door, so I didn’t linger. Even though I knew my parents wouldn’t
be home for several days, as soon as both Ethan and I were in my room, I
closed the door behind us.
And then Ethan was there, pushing me back against the door as he
claimed my mouth. His hands were desperate as they tugged at my clothes,
searching for the way to get my dress off. The teasing we’d had between us
at the party when he got me off didn’t exist here, and I understood why. I
didn’t want him to change things though. This side of him was as much a
part of who he was as the humor, and I wanted all of it. All of him.
I followed his lead, letting my hands move over the hard planes of his
chest and across his shoulders. He wasn’t as bulky as Ryan, but he was a
little bulkier than Logan. Comfortably in the middle, which described a lot
of Ethan’s traits.
I didn’t spend too much time comparing. He felt too good, all that hard
muscle pressing against me, the wet slick of his tongue tangling with mine.
His fingers twisted in my hair, pulling my head to the side as his lips left
mine and burned a trail across my jaw and down my throat.
Somehow, we made our way to my bed, losing our clothes in the process.
It wasn’t until I was on my back, staring up at Ethan as he knelt by my feet,
that I realized he was seeing me naked for the first time. Despite what I’d
already done with the other guys, this was the first time I’d been completely
nude with any of them. I waited for the inevitable embarrassment, the
apologies I felt like I needed to make because my breasts weren’t bigger,
my hips a little curvier, but it didn’t come.
It never came.
The heat from Ethan’s gaze warmed me, and the unmistakable desire in
his eyes fed the warmth inside me that turned my nipples into hard little
points and made my core ache.
And then I let my own eyes roam, and everything in me tightened.
He was perfect.
And I didn’t mean that his skin was unblemished, but rather that the scars
on his sculpted body turned him from a flawless work of art to something
even more beautiful. They wrote his strength on his skin in a way that even
his defined muscles couldn’t. As he got older, no matter how hard he
worked to keep his physique, he’d eventually lose that definition, put on
some weight, but those scars would always be there, showing that he had
survived.
“Touch yourself,” he said hoarsely. “I don’t know how long I’ll last this
time.”
I immediately obeyed, cupping my breasts with both hands and lightly
pinching my nipples the way I liked. Then I moved one hand, sliding it
down my stomach to the curls between my legs. If Ethan had a problem
with the fact that I wasn’t completely bare, he didn’t say anything.
In fact…
My eyes dropped to where he slowly fisted his cock. Like with
everything else, he was right in the middle when it came to size. Longer
than Ryan, but a little thinner. Shorter than Logan, but a little thicker. My
pussy clenched as I imagined what it was going to feel like to have him
inside me.
I parted my lower lips with two fingers, opening myself up to his gaze.
He muttered a curse, his fingers stopping on the base of his shaft as he
squeezed it. Taking that as encouragement, I ran my middle finger down my
slit, dipping inside before taking that moisture up to my clit. My eyes
fluttered closed as I teased that sensitive bud with light circles, just enough
pressure to send little ripples of pleasure dancing across my nerves.
“Don’t ever fake it with me.”
Ethan’s words had my eyes opening. “What?”
“If I get off and you haven’t come yet, you tell me.” He picked up a
condom he’d gotten from somewhere. “I’ll make sure you get there. I don’t
ever want you feeling like you have to pretend to soothe my male ego. I
want you to be honest with me, no matter what.”
Something that felt like a hell of a lot more than affection squeezed my
heart.
“I promise,” I said as I spread my legs wider and moved my hand lower
to slide two fingers inside me.
I made a soft sound at the slight stretch but kept working them in and out,
knowing I’d take him easier that way. I hadn’t done anything in the way of
prep before having sex with Ryan and I’d been sore afterward. I had a
feeling Ethan and I were going to go more than once tonight, so I needed to
be smart about it.
“You ready for me, baby?” He inched closer. “That pussy nice and wet?”
I pulled my fingers out, moving them up to my clit to start playing with
it. “Why don’t you come find out?”
He grinned and I saw the last of the shadows leave him. When he leaned
over me, propping himself up on one arm, I only saw good things in the
dark depths of his eyes. Holding himself steady with one hand, he eased his
way into me with a single smooth motion that suggested he had more
control than he’d claimed.
As he filled me, I reached up and grabbed the back of his neck, pulling
him down for a kiss. We found our rhythm quickly, bodies moving in that
perfect point and counterpoint that pressed in all the right places. Luck or
coincidence or fate, I didn’t know, but as I rushed toward release, I wasn’t
going to complain.
“Close,” he gasped against my lips, his hips starting to fall out of sync.
 I nodded, squeezing my eyes closed as I tried to keep up. I was almost
there when he jerked against me, his cock swelling inside me. His words
echoed in my head and I resisted the urge to pretend that I was already
there. Instead, I kept moving against him, taking him deep as I locked my
legs around him. Using the leverage, I ground up against him, getting the
extra friction I needed on my clit to tip me over edge just as he finished
spending himself inside me.
He held me as I came apart, murmuring my name and running soothing
hands over my body. When we collapsed in a tangle of limbs, he rested his
head on my chest and I found my hand automatically moving to stroke his
hair. Maybe I should’ve felt guilty for having sex with him in my childhood
bed, but as the sweat cooled on our bodies, the only thing I could really
think was how glad I was that I’d been able to be here for him when he
needed me.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Twenty

Amelia

E ven though I’d told Ethan that we could stay for as long as he wanted,
he got a call that next morning saying that Mia had checked herself out
against medical advice. He’d texted her, but when she responded with just a
request for money, he decided that it would be better for the two of us to
just go back to CSU.
I’d seen the frustration on his face as he drove us back to school, but he
hadn’t wanted to talk about it, and I hadn’t pushed. Mia’s behavior wasn’t
out of character, and Ethan had to deal with it however it worked for him.
By the time we got back to campus, we needed to go our separate ways to
get caught up on the things we’d missed during the hours we’d been gone,
but I had texted him a couple times throughout the day, just to check in.
We’d both been busy enough over the next couple days that texting was
all I’d been able to do with all three of the guys. With football season really
kicking off in earnest, I knew that our time would have to be more spread
out, but it didn’t make them miss me any less, or think about them any less.
Which meant they were on my mind as I walked toward the Lory Student
Center, and the moment my phone rang, I grabbed it from the front pocket
of my purse, thinking it was one of the guys. The name on the screen,
however, was Dr. Isenberg.
“Dr. Isenberg.” I kept my voice cheery despite my disappointment.
“Good afternoon.”
“Good afternoon, Miss Fine.” His tone was calm and even, but there was
a stiffness to it that immediately made my stomach sink. “I’ve just spoken
with Mr. Hardwicke and Ms. Smythe from the ethics committee.”
I stopped walking, frozen to the sidewalk as I waited to hear the verdict
that would make or break my career before it even began.
“They’ve determined that neither of us have done anything unethical and
are ruling that we haven’t violated any university policies.”
I closed my eyes as relief washed over me. Tears burned my eyelids and I
had to clear my throat before speaking. “That’s great.”
“They’re recommending that there be no further investigation or
penalties.”
My gut twisted as I identified a new note in his voice. He sounded
apologetic.
“However, the department head and I have met, and came to the mutual
consensus that it would be best for all involved if you were to step away
from your TA position.”
He was firing me. Of course, he wasn’t using that word, because if he
did, I could argue that they didn’t have the cause to terminate my
employment. No, they were going to go with “it would be best” and have
me be the one to make the decision.
“They assured me that none of this will affect your graduate application,”
Dr. Isenberg hurried to add. “The assumption is that whoever posted those
inflammatory things made up all of the accusations, as there have been no
indications that you’ve been involved in any sort of academic dishonesty.”
He went on for a few more minutes, droning on about how I wouldn’t
have to worry about being expelled and how everyone believed that I did all
of my own work, but that I did need to understand the need to protect the
department from even the appearance of wrongdoing.
I let it all wash over me because I didn’t need to hear all the excuses or
the bullshit. I’d turn in my resignation, because I always did the right thing
and because me staying on as his TA would bring the wrong sort of
attention to the school. Besides, the last thing I wanted to do was spend my
last year as an undergrad butting heads with people in the department I
wanted to be a part of. And despite Dr. Isenberg’s assurances, I didn’t
believe that none of this would affect my admission to graduate school. If I
did as they asked, I hoped that would be what they remembered when they
looked over my application.
When Dr. Isenberg finally stopped his monologuing, I cut in to end the
conversation before I said something I would regret. I liked to think I had
quite a bit of self-control, but even I had my limits.
“I’ll have my resignation on your desk first thing in the morning,” I said.
“Unless you would prefer I mail it to prevent anyone from making any
assumptions about why I’d be at your office before your usual office
hours.”
If there was a bit of bite in my words, I didn’t apologize for it. I figured
I’d earned that at the very least.
“Either one is acceptable,” he said. The hint of annoyance in his words
said that he heard just how unhappy I was with how things had gone.
And if I was being completely honest with myself, I didn’t give a damn.
This man had been my mentor for the past three years, and I’d worked my
ass off to make him proud. Now, it sounded like he hadn’t fought for me at
all. His only concern had been covering his own ass. Yes, he’d been a
victim in this too, and it wasn’t his fault that Jason was a vindictive bastard,
but I didn’t deserve any of this either.
“I’ll have it to you in the morning,” I said again. “Have a good evening.”
I ended the call and didn’t care if I’d been rude. I’d had my fill of
bending over backward for people who clearly didn’t care about me. I
started for the Lory Student Center again, deciding that I would pick up
something sweet along with my lunch. After that conversation, I’d earned
an indulgent dessert.
Just as I reached the glass doors, I saw that my bad day wasn’t over yet.
Coming toward me—and too close to avoid without looking like I was
avoiding him—was Jason. With a sigh, I braced myself and opened the
door. A part of me hoped he’d be too interested in his phone to notice me,
but I wasn’t that lucky.
“Amelia.” A cruel light shone in his eyes even as a smile curved his lips.
“All alone, I see.”
“You too,” I shot back as I tried to walk past him. “I thought you and
Megan were joined at the hip these days.”
He shrugged and stepped between me and where I wanted to go. “I know
I can trust her around other guys.”
“We both know that I didn’t cheat on you,” I said, gritting my teeth.
“Maybe,” he said. “But you can’t say that now, can you?”
As much as I just wanted to push him aside, I knew he wasn’t going to let
me go until he said whatever it was he wanted to say.
 “I mean, three football players?” He gave me a disgusted look. “Could
you be more of a cliché? Just hope you make ’em wrap it up. I’m sure
everyone’ll be pissed if you spread something between CSU’s precious
athletes.”
My face burned, which must’ve been enough for him because he just
grinned triumphantly and finally left me alone.
I went on my way, but I wasn’t hungry anymore. I didn’t know if Jason
was just guessing, or if there were new rumors going around about me, but
these had some truth to them. I had slept with two of them, and Logan and I
hadn’t exactly kept things platonic.
But if everyone already thought that I’d slept with Logan—and if Jason
was the only one right now, I knew he wouldn’t keep those thoughts to
himself very long—maybe I should look at things a different way.
If people believed it, why shouldn’t I just do it? At least that way, I’d get
to enjoy the benefits of having sex with three amazing men instead of just
hearing that I was doing it.
Definitely something to think about, I decided as my appetite returned.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Twenty-One

Logan

I watched as the ball sailed through the air, a perfect spiral soaring above
the heads of the other team until it dropped perfectly into Porter’s waiting
hands. Three steps later had him in the end zone just as the clock ticked
down to zero. The stands erupted and I threw my hands in the air, joining
the rest of my team in shouting while the scoreboard confirmed that we’d
just won.
Some people liked blowout games where their team was so far ahead that
even the third-string got to play. Not me. I loved games like tonight where
we all had to be at our best, fighting for every inch, never knowing which
team would be ahead when the buzzer sounded. And to top it off, I’d had
the best game of my life. If I never played again, I’d be happy to have this
one be the one that defined my career.
The excitement carried us into the locker room where Coach confirmed
what we all knew—we’d been epic tonight.
“I don’t do this after every win,” he added, “but tonight, there’s one
person who deserves to be singled out, not only for how he played, but for
the leadership he’s shown.” Coach came over to me and held out the game
ball. “Great work tonight, Carter. Keep it up and you’ll be one of those
players people are still talking about fifty years from now.”
“Thanks, Coach.” My smile stretched wide enough to make my face hurt.
Wanting to bask in the afterglow of tonight’s game, I moved slower than
normal, to the point where Ethan and Ryan were the only other people left
in the locker room and I could tell they were both getting antsy.
 “I’m gonna grab a shower,” I said as I stripped off the last of my clothes.
“I’ll meet you guys at the party if you don’t want to wait.”
“That shower might be a bit longer than you planned.”
Amelia’s voice had me spinning around, too surprised to even think of
grabbing something to cover up my junk. Not that she hadn’t seen it before,
but the context was definitely different.
“You can put your clothes over there so they won’t get wet,” Ethan said
to her with a grin.
“Thanks.” She squeezed Ethan’s arm as she passed him and then did the
same for Ryan. “Do you guys think you can stick around outside the door?”
“We’ll make sure no one comes in,” Ryan promised. He glanced at me.
“But no promises if you make her scream too loud.”
Amelia flushed but kept her eyes on me as the guys left. Pulling off her
dress, she hung it up where Ethan had told her and then did the same with
the pale pink bra and panties she was wearing underneath.
I swallowed hard as she walked toward me. I’d seen her pussy up close
and personal, but I hadn’t seen her naked. She was so fucking perfect that
my cock ached. In the time it took her to undress, I’d gone from completely
soft to fully erect, and now I gripped the base of my shaft tight to keep from
embarrassing myself.
And then a thought hit me.
“I’m probably going to kick myself for this,” I said, my voice rough. “But
do you have a condom? I just remembered that I haven’t replaced the one
that used to be in my wallet.”
She froze, something like horror in her eyes.
For a moment, I thought it was because she didn’t have a condom, but
then I realized what I’d said.
“Oh, shit. Sorry. No. It’s not what you think.” For someone who was
usually really good at talking to women, I’d royally fucked this up. “After
you and I—after the library, I checked the condom in my wallet and
realized it was expired. I threw it away and meant to replace it in case
something like this happened. But I forgot.”
Her expression eased into a soft smile and she started walking toward me
again. “Well, the way I see it, we have three choices. One, I can go ask
Ryan and Ethan if they have any. Two, we can do some things that don’t
necessarily need a condom.”
“And three?” My heartbeat thudded in my ears.
 “I’m on the pill and I’m clean.” She stopped within arm’s reach. “Ethan
and I used condoms, but Ryan and I didn’t. I trust you to decide what you’re
comfortable with.”
My cock twitched in my hand, the thought of being bare inside her almost
as potent as her declaration of trust.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded and held out her hand. “I don’t know where the showers are.”
I grinned as I took her hand and led her around the corner to the line of
showerheads. Most of the other guys had showered before leaving, so the
tile was slick.
“Careful,” I warned her.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I know you won’t let me fall.”
Fuck. If she kept talking like that, I wasn’t going to be able to keep being
patient about this whole sharing thing. I’d want to know her answer right
now so that when we went to the party, I could know she was ours.
I didn’t say any of that though. Instead, I turned on the water,
automatically adjusting the spray to the perfect temperature before turning
toward her.
“Shampoo?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Sex first. No point in cleaning up if we’re just going to
dirty each other up again. We’ll wash after.”
I pulled her to me and moved us both under the water. My mouth found
hers and I lost myself in the taste of her, in the stroke of her tongue against
mine. Hands moved over wet skin, caressing, touching, learning. I’d had
my mouth between her legs, but I hadn’t gotten to explore the sweet curves
of her hips, the delicate skin of her pert little breasts or the hard points of
her nipples. The moment I brushed my thumbs over those, she moaned and
I knew I needed to have my mouth on them.
Lowering my head, I took one taut nipple between my lips, lightly
sucking on the sensitive flesh the way I had her clit. She said my name and
arched her back, her fingers burrowing into my hair as I took her nipple
even deeper. As I flicked my tongue back and forth across it, I pushed a
hand between her legs. She shifted her weight, letting my fingers delve
between her folds, dancing over her clit before moving inside her. I pushed
two fingers in just as I lightly bit down on her nipple and she came apart
without warning.
 Grinning against her breast, I drove my fingers up into her, twisting them
until I rubbed against that spot inside her, forcing her even higher. She
keened, the sound echoing off the walls until I clapped my free hand down
on her mouth. I kept at it, working her through her orgasm until the
trembling stopped and she sagged against me.
I straightened, easing my fingers out of her and then wrapping my arms
around her, holding her for a moment. She didn’t take long to recover, her
fingers wrapping around my cock only seconds later. I hissed, my hips
jerking at her touch. When she started moving her fist over me, I growled,
grabbing her hips and lifting her up.
Without me needing to tell her what to do, she wrapped her legs around
my waist. I took two steps and had her up against the wall, and then with a
little shifting of position I sank inside her. Cursing, I buried my face against
the side of her neck, fighting for control. She was like nothing I’d ever felt
before. I’d expected her to be hot and wet, tight enough to need a minute to
adjust.
I hadn’t expected her to feel like home.
“Oh, Logan.”
The soft way she said my name, barely audible over the fall of water, told
me she felt it too. This connection we had.
Digging her fingers into my shoulders, she begged, “Move, please. I need
you to move.”
I nodded, rolling my hips against her as I braced myself. Having sex
against a wall was one thing. Doing it this way in a shower was something
else entirely. When I was sure I wasn’t going to dump us both onto the
floor, I gave a shallow thrust that had her gasping, her legs tightening
around me. In this position, I couldn’t go deep, but the angle let me give her
the friction she needed. All I needed was the feel of her pussy squeezing
me, muscles contracting as ripples of pleasure went through her.
It took a moment, but we got into a rhythm, neither of us saying a word
as we moved together. One day, I silently promised, I’d have the time to
worship her thoroughly and properly, but right now, I was more concerned
about finishing before we were interrupted. I had no problem with Ethan
and Ryan coming in, but we didn’t need a CSU janitor getting an eyeful.
A surge of possessiveness went through me, and I drove into her hard,
desperate to erase the thought of her with anyone but me or our two friends.
I could share with them. Hell, a part of me looked forward to the first time
we took her together, but I couldn’t stomach the idea of someone else
seeing her like this, hearing the cries of pleasure she made.
My teeth scraped the side of her throat, nipping hard enough to leave
little red marks. Nothing too obvious, but enough that I’d know what they
were. What they said she was. Because she was mine. Maybe only for a
little while, but as she called out my name, body quivering around me as
she came, there was no doubt, no question.
I gripped her hips tighter and slammed into her hard enough to drive the
air from her lungs and turn her words breathless. Then her nails raked along
my shoulders, bright ribbons of pain that turned to pleasure as I gave in to
my body’s need for release.
We stood there for a few minutes, foreheads resting together as our
overheated bodies began to cool. When she shivered, I eased out of her and
gently set her on her feet, keeping my hands on her waist until I was sure
she was steady. She looked up at me, eyes bright as she smiled, and I felt a
rush of relief and pride that I was responsible for that expression.
“I guess we both need to clean up now.” She winked at me. “We should
probably make it quick. You have a lot of people waiting to congratulate
you on your game.”
I chuckled and tapped her nose with my index finger. “I got all the
congratulations I needed right here. But you’re right that we should make
this quick. We have a party to go to.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Twenty-Two

Amelia

I put my hair in a French braid and reapplied my makeup before Logan and
I left the locker room, but a part of me worried that everyone would know
what we’d been doing. That part of me, however, was much smaller than
the part of me still buzzing with a lot of excitement and a bit of pride at my
daring. I’d instigated things with Ryan, but we’d been on a date. With
Logan, I’d been the one to initiate everything. I’d come to the locker room
uninvited with the intention to have some sort of physical encounter.
I still couldn’t believe I’d done it.
“I like your hair like that,” Logan said, nudging my shoulder as we
walked up to the house. “Not that I don’t like it down too, but the braid’s
nice.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at him before a gust of wind made me shiver.
“Here.” Ryan spoke up from my other side. He shrugged out of his jacket
and draped it across my shoulders.
“And that’s why I didn’t leave it down when it was wet,” I said, pulling
the jacket tight around me. “Thank you, Ryan.”
His smile warmed me in a whole different way and I was struck with the
desire to take his hand too. I wanted to walk into that party holding hands
with both Logan and Ryan, but not to show off or anything like that. I just
wanted to hold their hands because I liked them.
Maybe even more than liked, which made everything even more
confusing.
 “There he is!” a large Black man roared from the porch. “Logan! Man, I
thought you decided to ghost us! Where’ve you been?”
“Hey, Porter.” Logan laughed, reaching up to slap Porter’s hand before
leading me up the porch steps, our fingers still tangled together.
The big man’s grin widened when he saw us holding hands. “I get it
now.” He came over to me and opened his arms wide like he was going to
give me a big hug, maybe even pick me up. Before he could, Ryan put
himself between me and Porter.
“Sorry, man.” Ryan held up his hands. “You gotta know her better before
you get to hug her.”
“No problem.” Porter leaned around Ryan. “Hey, I’m Porter. I live here.
Well, I’m one of the guys who lives here. You want a tour? Drink?”
“Porter.” Ethan’s voice held a warning.
“Right, sorry. I might’ve had a little too much to drink already. I should
go get something to eat.” He waved at me. “See ya later!”
As we headed inside, the guys didn’t go far. I didn’t know if they had
talked about it, or if knowing that I’d had sex with all three of them had
changed something between us—but whatever the reason, it felt more like
the four of us were there together rather than Logan and me at the party
together along with our two friends. With Ryan’s coat around me, Logan
holding my hand, and Ethan going to get us all something to drink, I was
more comfortable than I’d ever been at something like this.
“Here.” Ethan handed me a cup. “There’s water and soda too, but I
thought you might want to start with a beer.”
“Thanks.” A little jolt of electricity went through me when his fingers
grazed mine. Judging by the way his eyes darkened, I’d be willing to bet he
felt it too.
With my drink in one hand and Logan still holding the other, I followed
him around the room as he talked to everyone who seemed like they wanted
a word. No one who wanted a bit of his attention was left wanting. I
could’ve felt left out, wanting all of his focus to be on me, but it wasn’t like
that. Even though he didn’t bring me into the conversations, I knew it was
because he knew I didn’t like making small talk with strangers rather than
because he didn’t care. Some people might not have liked being with
someone who knew them so well, but I did.
And I had three of them, if I was brave enough to admit what I wanted.
 I lost track of how much time we spent at the party, thanks to the guys
hanging around making sure I didn’t need anything, but at some point, we’d
been there long enough that I needed to take a quick trip by myself. After
letting Ryan know where I was going—always a smart thing for a woman
to do if she’s going somewhere on her own—I headed for where I thought
someone had said the bathroom was.
Once I disengaged from Logan, I became practically invisible, but I
didn’t mind. As grateful as I was that the guys weren’t leaving me alone,
being with them did mean having eyes on me pretty much nonstop, which
was exhausting for an introvert like me. Still, I wouldn’t have traded my
time with them for time alone. I hadn’t truly realized how much I missed
them until I was with them again.
“Did she seriously come in with all three of them?” A woman’s voice
came from around the corner.
“I’d totally hit that if she offered.” The man sounded drunk, not bothering
to keep his voice down.
“From what I hear, she offers to a lot of guys. There’s probably a waiting
list.”
Steeling myself, I came around the corner and ignored the red-faced
brunette and her inebriated companion. I told myself that I didn’t know for
sure they were talking about me, but my gut said they were. The gossip
Jason had started had died down a bit as time passed, but it sounded like no
one had forgotten anything.
I took my time in the bathroom, letting myself take a couple minutes to
just rest in the quiet. Right as I was getting ready to leave, it was just my
luck that a group of girls decided to stop right outside the door where I
could hear every word they said.
“…kissed Ethan.”
“Yeah, but that was during a game. I heard she came in tonight holding
Logan’s hand.”
“And she went on at least one date with Ryan.”
“I don’t get it.” It sounded like the first woman again. “What do they see
in her?”
“Who’re we talkin’ ’bout?”
I sighed. I was fairly certain that voice belonged to that asshole player,
Otto, who the guys had kicked out of the party at their place. We weren’t in
their apartment now, unfortunately, which meant he was present. I really
didn’t want to deal with him, so I stayed where I was for a few more
minutes, listening to the four or five people in the hall discuss what I may
or may not have been doing with my three friends. When they were finally
gone, I quickly left, breathing a sigh of relief when I found myself relatively
alone in the hall.
That relief didn’t last. I’d barely gone a few feet before someone came
out of another room and stepped directly into my path.
“What do you want, Jason?” I asked. “We’ve already done this little
dance. I’d rather just get back to—”
“Your date?” he cut in. “Or should I say ‘dates’? Because we both know
you’re fucking all three of them.”
“Like I said, we already had this conversation.”
“Oh, but I was guessing before,” he said. “Now I’m sure. And you’re not
even trying to hide it, are you?”
“I don’t have to listen to this.” I moved to go around him and he grabbed
my arm.
“I think you should listen a little longer,” he said, his voice low and
angry. “How else will you know what I want?”
I yanked my arm away. “Why should I give a damn what you want?”
“Because if you don’t give me what I want, I’ll make sure everyone
knows you’re a fucking gold digger, going after three top NFL prospects,
probably planning on trapping at least one of them into something.”
I gritted my teeth. “That’s a lie.”
He shrugged. “People believed other lies about you. I’m sure these ones
will stick. At least enough to ruin you and your asshole boyfriends.”
“Why won’t you just leave me alone?” I asked, anger giving way to the
sort of hurt I hadn’t thought he could inflict on me anymore.
“I’m gonna text you in a few days and let you know what I want,” he
said. “There’ll be some money. Some work I’ll want you to do for me.” His
eyes ran over me. “Maybe some other things. But whatever it is, you’re
gonna give it to me, or your life will be done. No career. No prospects. No
friends.”
And then he walked away like I was nothing.
My heart constricted painfully. I needed to go home. Now.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Twenty-Three

Ryan

“F uck! I’m never going to get this!” I shoved my laptop away from me
and stood up. I paced back and forth across the living room, fists
opening and closing as I resisted the urge to punch a hole in
something. “I’m just stupid. I never should’ve thought I could do this.”
“You’re not stupid!” Amelia snapped at me, getting to her feet and
deliberately stepping in my path. “Don’t say that about yourself. I didn’t put
up with it when we were kids and I’m sure as hell not going to put up with
it now.”
I stopped a few inches from her, surprised that she held her ground
without blinking. I was glad she wasn’t scared of me, but I wouldn’t blame
her if she was. When I got pissed, I scared the shit out of pretty much
everyone.
“Oh, yeah, I’m a real Einstein.” Sarcasm filled my words. “All I needed
was a pep talk.”
She poked my chest hard enough to surprise me. It didn’t hurt me, but she
winced. I suddenly wanted to take her hand and kiss each of her fingers
until she forgot which one hurt.
“You don’t need a pep talk,” she argued. “There are plenty of scantily
dressed cheerleaders who’d be all too willing to help lift your spirits.”
The jealousy that flashed across her eyes made my stomach flip and I had
to force myself to pay attention to what she was saying.
“You need a kick in the ass.” She put her hands on her hips and glared up
at me. “You may be bigger than me, but I remember everything you guys
taught me about how to fight someone twice my size.”
I raised an eyebrow and managed not to laugh. “Really?”
She nodded. “If it’s a guy, kick or knee him in the nuts, and then when he
bends over, grab his hair and slam his face into my knee.”
“Good memory,” I said. “I hope you like my nuts well enough that you
wouldn’t want to damage them.”
She flushed, looking away from me. “Leave it to you to turn a threat into
an innuendo. Not that the other guys would’ve been any better.”
“So now that you’ve yelled at me, do you feel better?” I asked.
“That depends.” She still didn’t look at me. “Are you done with your
little temper tantrum so we can get back to work?”
“It’s not a tantrum if it’s true,” I said, crossing my arms. “You helped me
enough when we were kids that you know I can’t do this.”
That got her head jerking up, eyes flashing. “I did help you back then.
And what did I tell you about can’t?”
I laughed. “I think it had something to do with washing my mouth out
with soap.”
“I don’t care that you’re some sort of football god, I’ll still do it,” she
threatened.
I held up my hands in surrender. “All right, all right. You win. No more
saying the c-word.” And then, because I couldn’t help it, I winked at her.
“That c-word anyway. No promises about the other one.”
She flushed and got that look on her face again, like my teasing bothered
her now when it never had before.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“What?” She shook her head. “No, of course not.”
“I won’t say shit like that if it bugs you.” At her confused look, I
explained what I meant. “The innuendos, dirty jokes, that kinda thing. You
looked like it bugged you. If it does, I’ll stop.”
She smiled, but it looked a little forced to me. “No, it doesn’t bother me. I
don’t want you guys to feel like you have to change anything about yourself
for me. I wouldn’t do that to you guys.” She turned suddenly. “I’m going to
get something to drink. Do you want something?”
“No, thanks, I’m good.”
I watched her as she went into the kitchen, my brain working—not on the
essay I needed to read and write about, but on what could be wrong with
Amelia. I knew she said she was okay, but I didn’t believe it. And if she had
a problem, I wanted to be able to fix it.
“Ready to get back to work?” she asked as she came back with a cup of
coffee.
“Needed the caffeine?” I motioned to the cup.
She shrugged, looking down at her cup as she sat down. “I haven’t slept
well the past couple nights.”
A suspicion popped into my head and I figured I might as well go for it.
“Since the night you and Logan had sex?”
She didn’t answer, instead picking up my tablet and holding it out to me.
“Ready to try again?”
I sighed and sat down next to her.
“I still can’t believe no one’s made Professor Shelby adapt his syllabus
yet,” she continued. “It’s ridiculous. You aren’t the only student with
dyslexia and there are plenty of other learning disabilities that could benefit
from using audiobooks.”
I didn’t realize I was grinning at her until she looked at me, clearly
confused.
“What?”
“I like when you get worked up over stuff like that,” I admitted. “You
know, when you think something’s not fair.” I reached over and tucked
some hair behind her ear. “I probably shouldn’t say it’s adorable, but it is.”
“Are you procrastinating, Ryan?” She gave me one of those teacher looks
that she’d had even when we were kids.
I shook my head. “If I was doing that, I’d be doing this.” I leaned forward
and brushed my lips across hers.
She didn’t pull back, but she didn’t lean into it either. When I sat back, I
caught a glimpse of something crossing her eyes and she turned her head
away.
That was enough for me.
I set down my tablet.
“I’m not going to be able to concentrate until I know what’s going on
with you, so you might as well tell me.”
“People have been talking about us.” She twisted her fingers together on
her lap, staring at them instead of looking at me. “When we were at the
party the other night, after the game, I overheard a few people talking about
how I was wearing your jacket but holding Logan’s hand, and how I kissed
Ethan during that game and went on dates with you.”
“We probably could’ve—should’ve—been better about separating your
time with us,” I admitted. “It’s just hard to be near you and not touch you or
try to take care of you.”
“Aren’t you guys worried that if we do this for real, it’s going to mess up
your reputations?”
Her question made me realize something I hadn’t before. Maybe the other
guys had already figured it out, but it hadn’t occurred to me until just now.
“That’s what’s holding you back, isn’t it? You’re worried about us?”
She finally looked at me. “Having my reputation go to shit these past
couple months hasn’t been fun, but I’ll be able to get away from it. When I
apply to jobs, those pictures may come up, but people are a lot more
understanding when it comes to revenge porn and I won’t have a problem
telling prospective employers the truth about what Jason did. But I’m not
going into a career that’s going to put me in the public eye like you three.”
“Male celebrities tend to get away with a lot,” I pointed out. “I mean,
look at how many actors have affairs or have these huge age gaps. And
athletes do it too.”
“But it depends on what those things are,” she said. “It’s one thing for
you guys to have a new girl on your arm every night, but the three of you
sharing one woman? You know a lot of people are going to think you guys
are sleeping together too, right? There will be reporters who are going to
want to know if you and Logan have sex, or what sort of physical contact
there is between you guys if all of us are together at once.”
I shrugged. “I don’t care. And neither will Logan and Ethan. This isn’t
something we just came up with on the spur of the moment. We’ve talked
about this kind of thing.”
“And what if what happened to me happens to you guys?” She reached
out and lightly touched my hand, tension vibrating off of her. “If someone
decides to take private things and reveal them to the world before you’re
ready, or out of context? What if someone starts spreading rumors that I’m
using you guys, making you look foolish?”
My eyes narrowed. “That’s oddly specific.”
She sighed. “Jason cornered me at the party and said he was going to tell
everyone that I was some sort of gold digger and latched onto you guys
because of your careers. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past him to accuse me of
being an escort or probably just your average prostitute because I wouldn’t
be high class enough to be an escort and—”
“Stop.” I squeezed her hand hard. “Don’t get all worked up over that
asshole running his mouth.”
“He’s not just talking,” she said. “He said he’s going to text me with a list
of demands and that if I don’t give him what he wants, he’s going to destroy
me and all three of you.”
I was quiet for a moment, gathering my thoughts, and she let me be. The
fact that she knew me well enough to know that I wasn’t freaking out, just
thinking, only solidified for me how much I wanted her.
“Do you want to try to have a relationship with the three of us? A poly
relationship?” I asked. “Because if you don’t, that’s okay. We’ll still stand
by you and we’ll stop Jason’s blackmail.”
“But if I do?” She whispered the question.
A flare of hope lit me up. “Then let’s give it a shot. Let’s see if it can
work for us. And we’ll take care of that bastard then too. No way is he
going to get away with blackmailing us.”
For the space of a couple heartbeats, she said nothing, but then she smiled
and it was like watching the sun break through storm clouds.
“Yes,” she said. “I want to try.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Twenty-Four

Amelia

I didn’t know what, exactly, I had expected when I told Ryan yesterday that
I wanted to try this poly thing with him, Ethan, and Logan, but it hadn’t
been to go back to my dorm after working with him so he could talk to the
guys. And I hadn’t expected a text a little while later asking me to come
over tonight for dinner and a movie. Our first date for the four of us.
I thought maybe we’d have to sit down and talk over things, come up
with schedules and plans, decide what we were going to tell people. This all
seemed too casual, especially since we were just going to be hanging out at
their apartment together.
But then Logan opened the door before I could even knock, and I saw the
fire in his eyes and knew that nothing about this was going to be casual.
None of us needed to have the awkward getting-to-know-you stage, and
we’d already been progressing past friendship into the physical part of
things. We just needed to move from one-on-one dates to a date with all
four of us at once.
I needed a drink.
“We got wine,” Ethan called from the kitchen as I came into the
apartment. “We didn’t know if you preferred red or white, so we got both.
And if you don’t like wine, that’s fine too. We have beer, water, soda,
juice…”
“We might have gone a little overboard,” Logan confessed, a slightly
sheepish expression on his face.
 “I’m just glad to know I’m not the only one a little nervous about
tonight,” I confessed as I shrugged out of my jacket.
“You look amazing,” Ryan said as he came over to give me a kiss on the
cheek.
“You do,” Logan agreed, following Ryan’s example and kissing my
cheek.
“My turn.” Ethan grinned at me, but didn’t kiss my cheek. Instead, he
kissed the tip of my nose. “Now, what do you want to drink? I think all of
us could use a little alcohol in our systems.”
“A glass of white wine sounds great,” I said, setting down my purse. “My
grandma used to give me some on holidays even though I wasn’t old
enough to drink.”
“That’s right,” Ethan said suddenly. “You’re only twenty. Should we
worry that we’re corrupting you with alcohol?”
I rolled my eyes. “And I’m sure you guys all waited until you turned
twenty-one to drink.”
“Of course.” Logan crossed his heart and held up his fingers in the Boy
Scout salute.
“Which grandma was that?” Ryan asked as he handed me wine in a
Disney glass. “Sorry, we don’t have wine glasses.”
I laughed. “It’s fine. It’ll taste the same.” I took a sip and smiled. “That’s
good. And it was my Grandma Houston. My mom’s mom.”
“The one who lived in Indiana?” Ethan asked.
I nodded. “She passed away last year.”
“Shit. I’m sorry,” Logan said.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I miss her, of course, but she was ninety-two and died
at a casino with her eighty-year-old boyfriend. It’s exactly how she
would’ve wanted to go.”
Ethan cleared his throat. “If I could change the subject, our dinner is
ready.”
It was only now that I realized their dining room table was set with
decent plates and silverware, even if it didn’t all match. The candles and
bouquet of wildflowers brought tears to my eyes. I’d thought this would be
like our usual times hanging out and eating pizza, but this was nothing like
that.
I was wearing one of my favorite dresses because it worked in pretty
much any sort of situation, but now I was extra glad I hadn’t gone with
sweats or even jeans. The guys were wearing jeans, but now I saw that they
wore nice jeans and fitted shirts. Ryan and Ethan had short sleeves, but
Logan’s sleeves were long and he’d pushed them up in that sexy way that
showed off his forearms and…
Shit. I’d barely been here ten minutes and my panties were already wet.
“Here.” Logan pulled out a chair and broke my thoughts away from
bedroom things. “Sit. We’re taking care of everything.”
And they did.
Serving the food. Keeping the conversation light and flowing, with just
the right amount of flirting. We talked about school and our families, but
none of the hard stuff, making it almost like normal first date talk even
though we knew each other well. I appreciated it because it gave me the
chance to relax into the idea of this being something romantic rather than
just friendly.
And then we moved to the living room to watch a movie and the
atmosphere completely shifted.
I stood next to the couch, completely unsure about where I was supposed
to sit or if I was supposed to decide who sat next to me.
“There’s no right or wrong thing here,” Logan said quietly as he came up
behind me. When he rested his hand on the small of my back, I leaned into
his touch automatically. “Do you want me to decide?”
Maybe it made me a weak person, but I nodded. I knew what I wanted,
and they said they wanted the same, but a part of me was still waiting for
the other shoe to drop, for me to make one wrong move, to somehow show
favoritism and hurt the other two.
“Take the middle seat,” Logan said. “Ryan, you sit on one side. Ethan,
you take the other. I’ll take the floor and lean back on your legs, if that’s
okay.”
He made it sound so simple, and as the four of us settled in, I wondered if
it really could work this way. No bickering, no hurt feelings, just
communication and a willingness to be flexible.
My worries about the logistics of things disappeared into the back of my
mind as the movie progressed. We’d gone with a new superhero movie so
there wasn’t really any romance in it, but that didn’t stop me from being
overly aware of how close the guys were sitting. The pressure and warmth
where we touched managed to be comforting and arousing at the same time,
making me wish there weren’t so many layers between us.
 And then Logan’s fingers started to trace patterns on my calf. My dress
was fairly long, but the slit in the side bared my leg and, apparently, the
temptation had become too much for him to handle. I caught my breath as
flickers of electric heat danced across my skin. Moments later, I felt Ethan’s
hand in my hair, loosening it from the braid I’d put it in, his fingers raking
through the waves as they fell over my shoulders. When Ryan’s fingers
curved around my neck, his thumb rubbing back and forth under my ear, I
closed my eyes, blocking out the movie in favor of absorbing the sensations
their caresses brought.
If I felt this good with these touches, I couldn’t imagine what it would be
like to have their hands and mouths on my more intimate parts. Or rather, I
could imagine it, and a part of me longed to know if my fantasy was close
to the truth.
“Would you like to move somewhere a little more comfortable?” Ethan
asked, his voice low in my ear. “We can stay here and keep doing what
we’re doing, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want more.”
“We’ll only go as far as you want,” Ryan promised.
“If you’re ready”—Logan pressed a kiss to the side of my knee—“let us
take care of you.”
The promise in those words gave me the courage I needed to answer.
“I’m ready.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Twenty-Five

Amelia

I fscorching.
one man undressing me was hot, having multiple men do it was
My dress, panties, and bra fell to the floor without me needing
to do a single thing…and with hands and mouths on me the entire time. I’d
be lying if I said I hadn’t imagined something like this before, but reality
was no comparison. I hadn’t been able to guess what it really felt like to
have that many hands, fingers, and mouths on me all at once. I couldn’t
keep track of who was doing what.
“You’re thinking too much,” Logan murmured in my ear before he
nipped at my earlobe. “Close your eyes and just feel.”
I hadn’t wanted to close my eyes because I didn’t want to miss a single
moment of this, but the moment I did as he said, I understood that not
seeing didn’t mean I would miss anything.
A hand covered my breast, squeezed. Finger and thumb plucked at my
nipple until a dull ache formed, matching the pulse between my legs. Firm
lips pressed against mine, a hand cupping the back of my head to hold me
in place as a tongue demanded entry. Fingers skimmed down my side, over
my ribs to the curve of my hip before dancing across my belly. A hot mouth
took my nipple into it, tongue and teeth worrying at the flesh with sharp
bites and soft licks.
Then, suddenly, I was moving. My eyes flew open just as Ryan set me
down on his bed. I stared up at him, my befuddled brain wondering when
he’d gotten undressed. Then Logan and Ethan came to stand on either side
of Ryan and I saw that they were naked now too. There had been no
absence of warmth, no waiting moments when someone could second-guess
themselves. I’d been cared for the entire time, and even though we were
only just getting started, the last of any hesitation melted away.
I trusted them.
I shifted on the bed, rolling onto my side to look at them before they
joined me. Except they just stood there, a trio of Greek gods that, for some
inexplicable reason, wanted me. I could argue with their words. Hell, I
could argue with their actions. What I couldn’t argue with were the hungry
looks in their eyes and three very full erections that clearly wanted
attention.
“Condoms?”
It took me a minute to realize Logan was talking to me and not Ryan.
With a willpower I hadn’t known I possessed, I tore my eyes away from the
visual feast in front of me.
Considering I hadn’t used them with Ryan or Logan before, I didn’t need
to think too hard about that answer. “I don’t need them if you guys don’t.”
The men exchanged glances and then Ethan said, “So how do you guys
want to do this?”
“I haven’t gotten to taste her yet,” Ryan said.
And that seemed to be all they needed to say before they got moving.
Ryan knelt next to the bed and grabbed my ankles, pulling me toward the
edge. I made a surprised noise, prompting laughter from all three men—but
it was nice laughter, the kind that rolled over my skin like a warm wave,
sensual and erotic in a way I’d never known laughter could be.
My own laughter shifted into a moan as Ryan’s hands ran up my legs,
calloused fingers rough, but his touch gentle. He pulled my legs apart,
bringing them up to hang over his shoulders.
“I always knew you’d have a gorgeous pussy,” he remarked, his tone
reverent.
I flushed, fighting back the instinct to close my legs, cover that most
private part of me. But this was Ryan. One of the three men I trusted the
most.
“Don’t just sit there.” Ethan climbed up onto the bed next to me. “If you
don’t get to work, I’m gonna take over.”
Ryan casually flipped off his friend and then lowered his head. I sucked
in a breath as he went straight for my clit, his thumbs holding me open so
all the pressure and friction from his tongue focused in on that one little
spot. Before I could lose myself in the pleasure, Ethan put his hand on my
cheek, turning my face toward him. He knelt next to my head, his hand
stroking up and down his cock. The moment he touched his thumb to my
bottom lip, I knew what he wanted, and I wanted it too.
The moment I parted my lips, Ethan’s eyes darkened, a wide smile
curving his mouth. I reached up as the tip of his cock pushed between my
lips, wrapping my fingers around the solid flesh. I mimicked the
movements Ryan’s tongue made between my legs by running my tongue
over and around Ethan’s shaft, exploring every inch of soft skin as it slid
deeper into my mouth.
“Taste so fucking good,” Ryan mumbled, the vibrations from his words
sending tingles of pleasure through me.
I felt the bed dipping on the other side, but didn’t turn to see what Logan
was doing. My brain and body were too busy with the cock in my mouth
and the head between my legs. It felt a little like trying to rub my stomach
and pat my head at the same time.
Then I felt something hot and wet move across one of my nipples, and
my body jerked. As Logan took that nipple between his lips, laving his
tongue over the tightening flesh, Ryan began to suck on my clit, starting
with gentle pulls of his mouth that had my pulse quickening as a wave of
pleasure rolled through me. Continuing to copy Ryan was automatic, and
Ethan let out a groan as I sucked on his cock. His hand went to my hair, his
hips rocking back and forth even as that wave inside me crested.
As my orgasm exploded through me, I cried out and Ethan pulled back,
his dick falling from between my lips with an obscene popping sound. He
cursed, but the sound was muffled by the rushing of blood in my ears. I
could only feel. Feel the sharp bite of pain as Logan’s teeth sank into my
nipple, hard enough to bruise, but not enough to break the skin. Feel the
pressure from Ryan’s fingers digging into my thighs as he held me down,
his tongue moving over my sensitive skin to draw out my climax longer
than I imagined it could be.
At some point, my brain went fuzzy and I lost track of everything. The
next thing I knew, I was in the center of the bed with Ethan between my
spread legs and the other two guys on either side of me, all three of them
holding their cocks and staring down at me.
“You with us again?” Ethan asked, reaching down with his free hand to
trace circles on my thigh.
 “Uh-huh,” I said as I nodded. “Why are you guys staring at me?”
Ethan grinned. “We’re gonna rock your world, baby. Don’t want you to
miss a second of that.”
Something squeezed my heart. A part of me had worried that sleeping
with the guys would change how they were around me, and not in a good
way. I’d feared we would lose the humor we shared, that I’d be self-
conscious, policing everything I did and said so I didn’t look silly or
awkward. But Ethan was teasing the same way he always had.
Well, not exactly the same since he’d always done it with clothes on
before, but the point was that he hadn’t become this serious person.
“I’m all for having my world rocked,” I said. “But you guys are going to
have to help me a bit because I don’t know how do this with this many
people.”
“Do what feels good,” Logan said. “And we’ll do the same.”
“And if anything doesn’t feel good, or you don’t want to do it, just tell
us,” Ethan added.
“We’ll do the same,” Ryan promised. “But unless you’re into seriously
weird shit, I’m pretty sure we’ll like anything that gets your hands or mouth
on us.”
It should’ve felt awkward, talking like this when we were naked and the
guys were hard and my muscles were still quivering from coming so hard—
“You’re doing it again,” Logan said.
“Stop thinking so much,” Ethan said.
I looked up at Ethan. “Then you should give me something else to think
about, shouldn’t you?”
He raised an eyebrow and leaned down to brush his lips across mine.
“You go right ahead and scream my name when I make you come, all
right?”
With all the grace he expressed on the field, he managed to flip me onto
my stomach and get back between my legs before I could do anything but
turn my head so I didn’t go face-first into the mattress. I opened my mouth
to say something about him manhandling me, but all the words in my head
turned to a loud cry when he drove into me without any warning.
Spots danced in front of my eyes and my lungs burned as I tried to catch
my breath, but Ethan never gave me the chance. Grabbing onto my hips, he
pulled back until just the tip stayed inside me, then slammed into me again.
No pause to let me adjust to the way he stretched me. Just pleasure edged
with pain each time he filled me completely.
I’d never thought of myself as someone who enjoyed anything remotely
hinting at discomfort when it came to sex, but I couldn’t deny the intensity
that came with not quite being able to breathe correctly, the bruising force
of his hips colliding with my ass as he rode me.
And then there were Logan and Ryan. Even with my eyes closed, I knew
they were there. I ignored the twist of guilt that came with the realization
that I enjoyed knowing they were watching, that this turned them on. I
reminded myself that this wasn’t something I’d asked of them, or something
they were reluctant to do. It was their idea, and they had made it clear that
they liked the thought of sharing me like this. If they changed their minds,
they would say something. I needed to trust that.
As if they sensed that I needed reassurance of their enthusiasm for what
we were doing, two hands brushed against me. It took barely a touch for me
to understand that it wasn’t one of them with both hands on me, but rather
each of them using one. The slick sound of skin on skin finally registered
and I realized that as their hands moved over my shoulders and slid down
my spine, their other hands were busy with their dicks.
One hand moved under me to tweak the nipple that Logan had bitten a
short while ago and suddenly I was coming, my climax hitting me without
warning. Ethan cursed as my muscles clamped down on him, and I felt a
sting on my ass as his palm made contact. That just made me come harder, a
wordless keen escaping my lips as he struggled to push into me, to take
those last few strokes he needed to tip himself over the edge.
He spilled into me with a cry, his body dropping onto my back as he kept
himself buried deep. My own arms gave out, but I didn’t fall. Other hands
moved over me, soothing me until the trembling stopped and Ethan pulled
out of me with a groan. He rolled off to the side, and with his weight off of
me, I managed to take a deep breath.
A hand cupped my chin and raised my head while another hand pushed
the hair back from my face.
“You ready to take me?” Logan asked, his thumb resting on the corner of
my mouth.
I nodded, not yet recovered enough to speak, but enough to know what I
wanted. My pussy throbbed, aching to be filled again, and I knew that I
wouldn’t be satisfied until all three of these men—my men—had found
release with me. I enjoyed individual sex, and I’d want that again, I was
sure, but all of us together like this was what made this sharing idea real to
me.
As Logan moved around behind me, Ryan helped me get up on my hands
and knees.
“I wanna see those pretty tits of yours jiggle when Logan fucks you,” he
said, his gray eyes darkened from ice to smoke. “Then we’re gonna put on a
show for them.”
I didn’t know what to say to that—this talkative-during-sex Ryan took
some getting used to—but I didn’t worry about that for more than a couple
seconds because I felt the blunt head of Logan’s cock nudging at my
entrance. He eased inside with a little more patience than Ethan had
demonstrated, but he didn’t pause, just did a long, slow slide until he hit a
place deep inside me that Ethan hadn’t quite gotten to. I inhaled sharply, but
didn’t ask him to stop. I didn’t want any of them to stop, not when they
were making good on their promise to rock my world.
Logan fucking me this way felt as much like a dance as the last time we
were together, only we found our rhythm faster this time. I moved back
against him, reveling in the way he kept running his hand up and down my
spine even as his cock moved in and out of me, like he needed to have some
other part of his body touching mine. Despite Ryan in front of me, watching
me with that intent gaze of his, I lost myself in Logan, letting our dance go
faster and harder until I found myself back at the peak and ready to jump
over the edge.
His fingers tangled in my hair and he pulled my head back—the sting in
my scalp mixed with the pressure building from each consistent stroke, and
I flew. I cried out his name and his hips stuttered against me before he
thrust into me twice and held himself there. His cock pulsed inside me,
emptying into me the same way Ethan had, the same way Ryan would, and
sent a new shiver of pleasure through me. The moment Logan’s grip on my
hair loosened, I dropped down to the mattress, my muscles twitching as my
nerves tried to get back some semblance of normalcy.
Ryan didn’t give them the chance.
Only moments after Logan withdrew, staggering back to drop down next
to Ethan, Ryan was behind me. I waited, limbs weak, for him to position me
how he wanted me. There was something to be said for manhandling when
you’d been fucked so hard that your body didn’t want to work right.
 Ryan wrapped one arm around my waist and the other around my
shoulders, pulling me up onto my knees, my back against his front, his cock
pressed against my skin. He turned us to face Logan and Ethan, then
pressed a kiss to the side of my throat.
“This is going to be quick, Lia. Watching you with them while I can still
taste you on my tongue—” He squeezed one of my breasts. “Sexiest
fucking thing I’ve ever seen.”
Keeping one arm around me to hold me upright, he used the other to get
himself into position before burying that thick cock of his as deep as he
could go. I whimpered, too far gone to make any louder sound. He set a
brutal pace, driving up into me even as he slid his free hand around to slip
his finger between my lips and rub my swollen clit. Rough circles around
and over. His massive hand tightening on my breast until I knew I’d have
fingerprints in the tender flesh there. And that impossibly wide shaft
stretching me almost to the point of pain.
This wasn’t the easy riding I’d done when we went hiking. The gentle
rolling motions that had given me a wonderful and intense climax.
No, this was definitely fucking. Hard and fast until I couldn’t breathe and
spots danced in front of my eyes. Until my vision started to go gray and my
pussy reached the point where that line between pain and pleasure started to
tip.
And then Ryan’s voice was in my ear.
“Come on my cock, Lia. Show Ethan and Logan how much you like
being taken like this. Come harder than you’ve ever come before. Scream
for us like a good girl.”
Just when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to do what he wanted, that
I’d fall the wrong way and it would just be pain and I’d ruin everything, he
shocked me by lightly pinching my clit.
I did what he ordered. I screamed and I came harder than I’d ever come
before. And just before the darkness took me, I felt Ryan jerk inside me,
groaning my name. I let everything go dark, knowing that I was safe with
them, and that when I woke up, they’d be there.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Twenty-Six

Logan

I glanced at my phone for the fifth time since I’d arrived at the little off-
campus café, but the person I was meeting still had ten minutes before the
time we’d agreed to meet.
I considered getting another drink, but the way my leg was bouncing up
and down told me it was probably a good idea to cut out any additional
caffeine. I’d practically been guzzling it nonstop over the past two days, and
I’d be paying for it sooner rather than later. I had no regrets. It was the only
way I’d found the energy to keep up with school, football, and my research
into Jason Hunn.
Amelia had told Ethan and me about what happened with Jason and, like
Ryan, we had assured her that we’d protect her from him. I had no doubt the
other guys meant what they said, but they both struggled more with school
than I did, and this week had been a busy one. Rather than waiting for them,
I’d taken matters into my own hands. They’d probably be pissed when they
found out, but if I had something we could use against Jason, they’d forgive
me.
And at six thirty this morning, right before practice, I had found
something.
One of Jason’s classes last year had been on social media’s impact on
modern communication. I’d taken the same thing the semester before him,
and I remembered that we were required to maintain a blog where we had
to post two opinion pieces a week, one on something political or social and
the other on something in pop culture.
 I was no computer genius, but I had picked up a thing or two from Darak
and it paid off big time when I found the personal blog of a local Fort
Collins resident who had three posts that were virtually identical to posts
from Jason’s blog. I’d contacted the author right after practice and they had
agreed to meet me here.
Just when I was getting ready to check the time again, a stocky guy in his
late twenties came into the café, looking around like he was searching for
someone. Taking a guess that this was my guy, I raised a hand.
He hurried over, pushing back his unkempt dark hair. “Hey. Whew. I
didn’t realize I wouldn’t recognize you right away since I watch all of
CSU’s games and follow your career, but context, you know?” He plopped
down in the chair across from me and let out a sigh.
“Carl Aames?” I asked. I didn’t want to assume and end up talking with a
fan instead of the guy I was here to see.
“Oh, yeah, sorry.” He held out his hand. “Carl Aames.”
I shook his hand and then got down to business. “I need to talk to you
about a few of your blog posts. They sounded an awful lot like some posts I
saw on another blog, one a guy I know did for school.” I took a beat to
watch how Carl reacted to what I said. He shifted in his seat, but didn’t say
anything, so I continued, “Do you know Jason Hunn?”
Carl’s face went white, then red. “I don’t know what he told you, but I
told him that was a one-time thing. I needed money last year for some
personal debts, and I was desperate. I’m sorry if you thought I could—”
“I’m not here to pay you to do work for me,” I cut in. “Jason’s not my
friend. He’s made some accusations about a friend of mine, specifically that
she’s stolen work from him.”
Carl barked a bitter laugh. “That bastard’s never done a day of honest
work in his life.”
And there it was, what I’d suspected since that confrontation with Jason
and Megan at the dorm. Not only was Jason lying about Amelia—which I’d
never doubted—but he was guilty of academic dishonesty. I didn’t know
how much, but I intended to find out. And get the evidence to prove it.
“So he bought a few articles from you?” I needed to hear him say it.
“Four,” Carl said. “And I told him I still planned on polishing them up a
bit and using them on my blog. They were ones I’d already written, and he
said he didn’t have the time to wait for me to write new ones.”
 “What did he say when you told him you were going to post those
articles?”
“He didn’t care. Just asked me to wait a couple weeks since his class
would be done by then and his professor wouldn’t be checking for
plagiarism anymore.”
Jason might not be as smart as he pretended to be, but he wasn’t a
complete idiot.
“I’m guessing he paid in cash,” I said.
Carl grinned. “Wire transfer.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?”
“Yup.” His grin widened. “And I took screenshots of everything. As soon
as I agreed to sell him the articles, he started going on about how if I tried
to blackmail him or get him in trouble, he’d deny everything and say I
plagiarized from him.”
“That does seem to be his MO,” I muttered. When Carl gave me a
questioning look, I shifted the subject. “You wouldn’t happen to know
anyone else he did this to, would you?”
“Actually, I do.”
Damn. I’d really hit the jackpot with this guy.
“When he was threatening me if I didn’t keep quiet about ‘helping’ him,
he mentioned that he got a girl he dated kicked out of school when she
kicked up too much of a fuss. He said they were freshmen. What was her
name?” Carl frowned, thinking. “Wen. Chyou Wen.”
I jotted down the name and had Carl send me everything he’d kept from
his interaction with Jason. Once we went our separate ways, I started
searching for Chyou Wen.
By late afternoon, I’d met with the former CSU student and heard her
story. A story I repeated to Ethan and Ryan on our way home from the gym.
“When he showed her the videos of the two of them having sex, she said
she’d agree to write a paper for him, but it wasn’t enough.” I pulled into our
parking space. “He used those videos for the entire year even though he
kept promising to delete them. She ended up dropping out of school and
telling him that if he posted those videos, she’d report what he did to CSU.
He must’ve figured it’d be better to just move on because he left her alone
after that.”
Ethan let out a low whistle.
 “I’m going to kill the little bastard.” Ryan sounded like he’d just made a
decision to do his laundry.
“Pretty sure that’d ruin your football career,” Ethan said.
“And I’m not sure I’d care.” Ryan ran his hands through his hair. “Please
tell me we’re going to tell Amelia tonight. I don’t wanna keep this from
her.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more people out there who’ve helped Jason
cheat,” I said. “Either for money or because he blackmailed them. I
wouldn’t put it past him to use a relationship either.”
“We can keep looking for them, if that’s what Amelia wants,” Ethan said.
“But this thing with Amelia is so new. I don’t just hate the idea of lying to
her. I think she might be upset if she found out we’d hidden shit from her.”
“This is exactly why I wanted to talk to you guys about this. It has to be a
decision we make together,” I said. “And it sounds like none of us want to
wait to talk to her about it.”
“If we start digging into more of this, she should be able to do it too,”
Ryan said.
“Then let’s get her over here for an early dinner and tell her what I
found.”

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 Chapter Twenty-Seven

Amelia

T hewe guys inviting me over for pizza hadn’t surprised me. I didn’t know if
were going to have sex again tonight, but if this thing between the
four of us was a relationship, having a casual night in without sex was
normal. And given how strange the idea of a foursome like us was, a little
bit of normal would be nice.
And normal was exactly what waited for me when I entered the
apartment. We ate pizza and wings from the best place in Fort Collins while
we sat on the couch and chatted about our days and what our plans were for
the next few days.
I’d worried that having sex would make things awkward between us, but
the only difference I found between this evening and other times we’d eaten
together like this was that I didn’t feel self-conscious about leaning against
Ryan or letting my hand linger on Ethan’s shoulder.
“So, there’s something else I did today that we need to talk about.”
The serious tone to Logan’s words made my stomach sink. For a brief
moment, I thought he was going to tell me they’d all changed their minds.
That this was their way of letting me down easy.
What he said, however, wasn’t anything I possibly could’ve imagined.
“I’ve been looking into Jason’s academic history,” Logan said.
“Something he said the other day made me think about how he’d accused
you of cheating, and I had a feeling that maybe he was the one taking credit
for work that wasn’t his.”
 My head spun. In all the time I’d been with Jason, all the times I
wondered if maybe I really was smarter than him, I never dreamed that he
would cheat…except now that Logan had put those words out there, all
sorts of pieces fell into place.
“Did—did you find something?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
“I found two people. Carl Aames and Chyou Wen,” Logan said. “I’m
pretty confident there are more, but what they told me was bad enough.”
Ryan put his arm around me as Ethan reached for my hand, threading his
fingers between mine, as if they both knew I’d need the support for what
Logan had to say. At first, as Logan explained what happened with Carl, I
didn’t think things were too bad, but then he started to tell me about Chyou,
another young woman who’d foolishly trusted Jason Hunn and paid the
price for it.
“He did this before,” I whispered as Logan finished. “He’s not just a
cheater. He’s a fucking predator.”
Ryan’s arm tightened around me and he kissed my temple. “Say the word
and we’ll dump his body in a hole so deep that he’ll never be found.”
From anyone else, I might’ve taken it as a complete joke, but from Ryan,
I knew a part of him was serious. He played defensive lineman, and
defending the people he cared about was something written into his very
DNA.
“I just talked to Carl and Chyou earlier today,” Logan said. “And right
after I got that information from them, I talked to the guys. We didn’t want
to keep any of this from you.”
“And we thought you should get to decide what we do next,” Ethan said,
giving my hand a squeeze. “We might hate him because of what he did to
you, but you’re the one whose life got screwed up because of him.”
“What do you think our options are?” I asked.
“We can keep investigating,” Logan said. “See how many more people
we can find who provided work for Jason. Maybe even covered up shit for
him too. Who knows.”
“We can let him know what we found and use it to stop him from trying
to blackmail us,” Ryan said. “Or wait until he approaches you again and
then tell him what we have.”
“Or we can give what Logan found to someone in charge and let them
take over from here,” Ethan suggested. “Or you can come up with
something completely different.”
 “Whatever it is, we’ll have your back,” Logan assured me.
I closed my eyes and tilted my head back to rest on Ryan’s shoulder.
Options were good, I told myself. Ever since Jason had sent me that text, I
felt like all of my options had been taken away from me. I was only able to
wait and see how things played out and hope I could pick up the pieces. I’d
stood up to him, but I hadn’t been able to fight back. Now I could.
I just had to decide how I wanted to do it.
But, as the solid weight against my back reminded me, I didn’t have to
make that decision alone. They knew I wouldn’t want them making it for
me, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t offer advice if I asked.
Just one more way they were nothing like Jason.
I opened my eyes, but stayed where I was, too comfortable to move.
“What do you guys think I should do?”
Logan spoke first, probably because he’d had the most time to think
about it. “With homicide off the table—sorry, Ryan—I don’t think we
should just ignore it until he tries to blackmail you or us. And I don’t like
the idea of him basically getting away with all this shit.”
“I know it doesn’t happen a lot, but I’m going to be practical and say that
we don’t have the time to keep digging.” Ethan shrugged when we all
looked surprised. “Between classes and football, any extra time I have, I’d
rather spend it like this, working on making this relationship work.”
“The school needs to know,” Ryan said quietly, the rumble of his voice
vibrating against my back. “Him cheating is bad enough. Some of us work
our asses off just to pass. But using what someone else did to make himself
look smarter isn’t right. How many people have thought they were stupid
because they compared themselves to him, and it’s not even him who’s
smart.”
“Ryan’s right,” I said. “This is about more than what he could say about
us. Jason has scholarships he hasn’t earned. Accolades that he doesn’t
deserve. Things that should have gone to other people, but he stole.” I met
Logan’s gaze. “We should turn over everything you have to the school and
let them deal with it.”
“And if Jason decides to spread more rumors?” Logan asked. “He’s going
to be pissed.”
“I have a feeling fewer people are going to believe him once all of this
comes out,” I said. “And anyone who has more of a problem with how I
live my life than they do with his cheating isn’t someone whose opinion I
care about.”
Logan nodded. “All right. That’s what we’ll do then. First thing
tomorrow, we’ll all go with you, and we’ll hand things over to the school.”
“And then we can focus on what’s really important,” I added with a
smile. “Finishing up this year. Watching the Rams kick some ass on the
field. And us.”
Ryan kissed the top of my head as Ethan grinned. The pleased light in
Logan’s eyes spoke just as loudly as his friends’ reactions. We were
important.

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 Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ryan

G oing out to a bar wasn’t usually my favorite way to unwind and this
past week had been seriously stressful, but when Ethan had suggested
that we celebrate taking Jason down, and Amelia had liked the idea, nothing
could’ve kept me from going too.
Now, as I made my way through the crowd to the table Ethan had
grabbed, I wondered how long we’d have to stay before we could take
Amelia back home to celebrate privately. After the four of us spent that
explosive night together, I’d been looking forward to the chance to do it
again, and I knew the others were too. Tonight seemed like as good a time
as any.
“Here.” I set all four drinks down on the table and slid into the booth next
to Logan.
Amelia took a sip of her drink, her eyes widening as she let out a soft
moan that had my cock pressing uncomfortably against the front of my
jeans. Judging by the way the guys shifted in their seats, they had the same
problem. It didn’t matter that Amelia wore a pair of jeans and a simple
fitted sweater that brought out the blue in her eyes. She turned me on just
by existing. Always had.
“This is amazing,” Amelia said, taking another long drink from her straw.
She sucked hard enough for her cheeks to hollow out and I heard Ethan
mutter a curse that I mentally echoed. Apparently clueless about how she
looked and sounded, she began humming while she finished every drop of
the Fuzzy Navel I’d ordered for her. As she leaned back, smacking her lips
together like she’d just had the most delicious thing in the world, the three
of us stared at her.
After a moment, she realized what we were doing and her cheeks turned
pink. “What?”
“I’ve seen porn less erotic than watching you drink that,” Logan said.
“I’m pretty sure my dick is going to have imprints from my zipper,”
Ethan announced, not even trying to keep his voice down.
“Ethan!” Amelia hissed as she elbowed him in the stomach hard enough
for him to let out a rush of air.
“Ow.” He rubbed at the spot she’d hit. “You still have bony elbows.”
“And you still have a loud mouth,” she shot back.
“Come on, baby, you know you love my mouth.” He grinned, wiggling
his tongue at her.
“You’re an ass.” She shoved at his shoulder, but laughed while she did it.
“You love my ass too,” Ethan said, leaning closer.
Amelia squealed, pushing herself into Logan who sat on her other side.
He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his cheek to hers.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from him.” He didn’t talk as loudly as
Ethan, but he wasn’t exactly being quiet either.
“What about you, Ryan?” she asked, giving me a flirty look even though
she was snuggled up to Logan. “Will you protect me from Ethan?”
“Hey!” Ethan pretended to be offended. “What did I do?”
“You said my elbows were bony,” she reminded him.
“Logan, help a guy out here,” Ethan said. “Her elbows are bony.”
“Dude, you don’t tell the girl you’re with that anything about her is
bony,” Logan said, shaking his head.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said, setting down my beer after a long drink.
Three sets of eyes turned in my direction.
“What?” Logan asked for all of them.
“It doesn’t matter if her elbows are bony,” I said. My eyes locked with
Amelia’s. “Everything about her is perfect.”
“What the hell are you drinking?” Ethan asked after pausing for a
moment. “And can I have some?”
I rolled my eyes. “Just because you keep sticking your foot in your mouth
doesn’t mean all of us have to act like idiots.”
Another moment of silence and then Amelia snorted a laugh. She clapped
a hand over her mouth but couldn’t quite stop us from hearing her giggles.
 A middle-aged man with a ponytail gave her an amused look as he set
down a plate of food in the center of the table.
“Thanks,” Logan said.
The man nodded and headed back to the kitchen, sidestepping a pair of
drunk frat guys who were stumbling toward the bar.
“I can’t believe you guys ordered all of this after we just had pizza,”
Amelia said as she sat up straight and reached for an onion ring.
I shrugged. “This place makes the best potato skins.”
I stabbed one with a fork, making sure to get plenty of sour cream on it,
and then shoved the whole thing into my mouth.
“Are you using a fork?” Ethan asked, grabbing for a cheese fry. “This is
finger food, Ryan.”
I ignored him and focused on Amelia. “When you want to get away from
greasy fingers, you can come right to me. I won’t get anything on your
clothes. I’m considerate that way.”
Ethan’s jaw dropped and Amelia burst out laughing.
“All right,” Logan said. “The food’s making me thirsty. Who wants a
second round?”
Thirty minutes later, the guys and I were pleasantly buzzed and Amelia
had crossed the line into drunk. I could’ve been disappointed that this meant
no sex tonight—no way in hell any of us would take advantage of her—but
I found myself enjoying drunk Amelia. It seemed that when she got enough
alcohol in her system, she turned back into the dorky little girl we knew
back then.
And the last of her filters disappeared.
“I really like fooseball.” Amelia frowned. “Footsball. Yes. I love
footsball.”
“You do?” Logan asked, not even trying to hide his smile. “Is it because
the three of us play?”
Amelia made a back-and-forth motion with her hand. “It’s because—”
She dropped her voice to a stage whisper. “Those tight pants show off
everyone’s butts.” She giggled, putting her hands over her mouth. “And you
guys have really nice butts.”
“Yours isn’t bad either, you know.” Ethan winked at her for the tenth time
tonight, but I couldn’t be annoyed by it, not when it made her eyes shine
like that.
 “Butts is a funny word.” She reached for her drink and then scowled at
the glass when she saw it was empty. “Can I have another?”
“Why don’t you have some water?” I pushed a different glass toward her.
“You’ll appreciate it tomorrow.”
She pursed her lips and put her finger on her chin like she was thinking.
“What do I get if I drink it all?”
“What do you want?”
She got this mischievous look that I hadn’t seen from her since we were
kids. Crooking her finger at me, she said, “I have to whistle—wiper—fuck.
I have to quiet talk it.”
Already laughing, I leaned forward, totally unprepared to have her say, in
a very not quiet voice, “I wanna touch your pen—pin—dammit. Wanna
touch your dick.”
Logan spit out his drink as Ethan roared with laughter and Amelia turned
on them, glaring at Logan.
“Hey, mister. We don’t spit. We swallow.”
Everyone within ten feet turned and stared. Ethan bent over, holding his
stomach, while Logan tried to clean up the mess he’d made while not
looking at anyone. Amelia just hummed happily and picked ice cubes out of
her glass, popping them into her mouth like they were candy.
And I couldn’t do anything but let the train wreck happen and hope that
something else distracted everyone before she said anything else.
Fortunately, less than a minute later, a tray crashed to the floor on the other
side of the bar and everyone’s attention went that way.
“Fuck me,” I muttered, running a hand over my face. “I really hope no
one got video of that.”
“I ate the crunchy water,” Amelia announced. She reached toward me.
“Can I touch—”
“How about we dance?” I grabbed her hand before she could finish her
sentence.
Her face lit up. “I love dancing!”
And I hated it, but I’d do it, and not just so she didn’t embarrass us both
by grabbing my cock in public. I liked holding her.
I led us to the edge of the dance floor and put my arms around her, my
hands settling at the small of her back. She stretched her arms up, barely
able to lace her fingers together at the back of my neck, but when she put
her cheek on my chest, we couldn’t have fit together more perfectly. With a
sigh, she closed her eyes and began to sway with me. We weren’t really
dancing, not like the people around us, but as long as I got to hold her, I
didn’t care how we looked.
We made it through two songs before something a little faster came on
and I reluctantly eased back from her.
“I can take this one,” Ethan said as he came up beside me.
“Ethan!” Amelia threw her arms around him. “Look, Ry-Ry! Ethan’s
gonna dance with us!”
I was so focused on the ridiculous nickname that it took me a second to
realize what else she’d said.
Dance with us.
“Um, Lia, why don’t you go ahead and dance with Ethan? I’ll go wait
with Logan.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said, grabbing my hand. “Why would I want to
dance with one when I can dance with two?”
She turned to face Ethan as she wrapped my arm around her waist and
held it there. With her back to my front, that firm ass of hers brushing
against my crotch, I didn’t know how to get away without making a scene.
And Ethan wasn’t being any help. He simply started moving in sync with
her as if this was completely normal.
“C’mon, Ryan, please.” She looked up at me with those gorgeous eyes of
hers and I knew I couldn’t say no.
“All right.” I sighed and found their rhythm, matching it as easily here as
I had in the bedroom.
Me being awkward when I danced wasn’t because I didn’t know how to
move. I just always felt out of step with whoever my partner was, and now I
realized that maybe the problem wasn’t that I didn’t like dancing. Maybe
the problem was that I’d never had the right partner before.
Amelia reached out for Ethan, grabbing his shirt and pulling him closer.
His hands settled on her hips and we were suddenly all three dancing
together. This wasn’t just a couple guys dancing around a woman. We were
very clearly dancing with her.
And her hands were wandering.
She slid her palms over Ethan’s chest and up to his neck, then reached
back to brush her hand against my side. It was all I could do not to lean
down and press my lips to that sweet spot where her shoulder met her neck.
On some level, I knew that we were being a little too touchy-feely in public,
that there was a good chance we’d unintentionally gone public with our
less-than-traditional relationship way before we’d even talked about it. But
I couldn’t bring myself to pull away from her.
I needed her in a way I hadn’t needed anyone before, and the fact that I’d
wanted her for so long just made everything I felt that much stronger.
So I let it go. Let her dance with us until she said she was thirsty and we
went back to our table where Logan was waiting. After she finished her
water, he took her onto the dance floor while Ethan and I took a break. It
took two more songs before the pair returned to the table and Amelia
announced that she was ready for bed.
I caught a few people giving us looks when they heard what she said, but
a glare from me had them minding their business before Amelia noticed
them. Putting an arm around her, I led the way out to our car, satisfied with
Logan’s assessment that he’d sobered up enough to drive. We’d take her
home with us, but only because I didn’t trust her roommate to take care of
her if Amelia was hungover in the morning. And I wouldn’t even let myself
think about what could happen if Jason was at the dorm and Amelia came in
this drunk.
No, she was ours and we’d take care of her. It was that simple.

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 Chapter Twenty-Nine

Amelia

G iving the evidence of Jason’s deceit to Jefferson Hardwicke had been

strangely anticlimactic. I’d considered getting Dr. Isenberg involved,
but then I thought about how he hadn’t stuck up for me when he was told to
ask for my resignation and I decided to bypass the department altogether. I
didn’t want it to look like I was trying to retaliate against Jason for his
accusations. Going with Hardwicke meant I was also able to lodge a
complaint against Jason for putting those photos on the internet. Only
Logan had gone with me, since he was the one to talk to Jason’s other
victims, but Ryan and Ethan had waited for us outside.
I was also feeling particularly grateful that in the two days since I’d
handed everything over there hadn’t been much attention given to my
behavior at the bar. I didn’t remember much, but I’d made the guys tell me
everything and, based on what they said, I’d either finally gotten a lucky
break, or they’d made it clear that anyone who posted anything about me on
social media would have to deal with them. I hadn’t flat-out asked because I
didn’t want to put them in the position of deciding whether or not to lie
about it, but I’d made a point of telling them how much I appreciated all the
support they’d given me.
And tonight, I intended to cook them dinner, both as a gesture of
appreciation and as a way to show them that, while I might not be able to
put my feelings for them into words yet, I cared very much about all three
of them.
 Almost to my dorm, I was in the middle of going through my list of
ingredients when someone stepped in front of me, blocking out the sun.
Some primal part of me must’ve registered his presence before I raised my
eyes from my phone because by the time they reached Jason’s face, every
muscle was already tense, adrenaline pouring into my system.
“You fucking bitch.” Color suffused his cheeks as he glared down at me.
I took an instinctive step back, needing to put a little more space between
me and him, but I didn’t look away. I didn’t want to give him the
satisfaction of knowing how hard my heart was pounding in my chest.
“I got fucking expelled!” He practically shouted the words, his hands
curling into fists.
I pushed back the impulse to cheer. Hardwicke had told me that I most
likely wouldn’t hear back about the cheating accusations, and I knew that
proving anything about the pictures would be difficult. I hadn’t let myself
hope for anything more than a black mark on his reputation, even for the
cheating, because I had no idea how much he’d be able to talk himself out
of it. Expulsion was more than I had dared to anticipate.
“What the fuck, Amelia?! How could you do that to me?”
In my peripheral vision, I could see people turning our way, and some of
that bright panic receded at the knowledge that people were watching this.
Jason had done some stupid stuff, but I didn’t think he’d go to the extent of
trying to physically hurt me with all these witnesses. And after how my
guys had rallied around me these past couple months, Jason’s words didn’t
scare me.
“I didn’t do anything to you, Jason,” I said calmly. “Now, if you’ll excuse
me, I have somewhere I need to be.”
I took a step to the side as if I intended to walk around him, and he
moved back into my personal space. Squaring my shoulders, I made my
voice as steely as possible.
“Out. Of. My. Way.” I gestured around me. “Or you can explain to
everyone here why you’re not letting me by.”
“Now you listen to me, you fucking cunt,” he hissed from between gritted
teeth, “you’re gonna fix this. You’re going to tell everyone that you lied.
And if you don’t, I’m gonna ruin you.”
“Leave me alone.” After making that statement, I walked around him,
half expecting him to grab my arm and pull me back, but he didn’t. What he
did do, however, was shout one final threat at me.
 “You’ll be sorry you ever fucked with me, Amelia! I’ll destroy you!”
Considering what he’d already done to my reputation, both professional
and personal, I wasn’t too concerned about his threats. If he decided he
wanted to tell people about me and my guys, then I’d deal with it, but I
wouldn’t be alone, and that would make all the difference. And, honestly,
after the way people had treated me when those pictures got out, I really
didn’t give a damn what anyone thought of me. All I cared about was that
rumors of my sexual preferences couldn’t be used to prevent my acceptance
into the graduate program.
By the time I dropped off my books in my room, grabbed some extra
clothes, and picked up the ingredients I needed for this evening’s meal,
thoughts of my run-in with Jason had moved to the back of my mind. I
didn’t want to give him a single second of my time when there were other
people who deserved it more.
“Hey, Lia,” Ryan said as he opened the door to the apartment. He gave
me a light kiss as he took the grocery bag from me. “What’s all this?”
“I told you guys I’m making you dinner tonight,” I said.
“Yeah, but we didn’t think you’d go to this much trouble.” Ethan came up
and kissed my cheek before taking my other bag. “I figured you’d keep it
simple.”
“I just hope you guys like it,” I said.
“I’m sure we’ll love it.” Logan wrapped his arms around me, giving me a
tight hug before walking with me over to the counter where Ryan had put
down my bags.
I took a few things out of the bag and then realized that all three guys
were still in the kitchen, just casually leaning against the counters and
watching me.
“You guys know I can do this myself, right?”
Ethan grinned at me. “We don’t intend to help unless you ask us to. We
just wanna watch you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Is this one of your relationship lessons? Sexy cooking
for your man? Or, men, I guess?”
“Oh, I like that,” Ethan said. “Maybe cooking while wearing only an
apron?”
“I’d like to get behind that,” Logan said with a grin.
“Only if Ethan does it when he cooks too,” I countered.
 “Please.” Ryan looked vaguely nauseated. “I don’t want to think about
Ethan being naked near my food.”
“I don’t want to think about Ethan wearing only an apron,” Logan added.
A question popped into my head and I almost didn’t ask it, but then I
thought that if I couldn’t be completely transparent with these three men,
then I’d never find anyone I could truly be myself with.
“How do you guys handle seeing each other naked when we’re all
together?” I kept my tone casual and glanced at Logan as he hopped up
onto the counter. He didn’t seem annoyed by the question.
“I’m too busy staring at the naked woman,” Ethan said. “I mean, why
would I want to look at Logan’s hairy ass when I could be looking at your
cute one?”
“I guess it’s like when we’re changing or showering in the locker room,”
Ryan said.
“Except we’re generally not hard when we’re around the other guys,”
Logan pointed out.
“That’s true,” Ryan agreed.
We had a few minutes of silence while I carefully measured all of the
seasoning, and then I decided that, as long as they were hanging around, I
might as well ask something I’d been thinking about on and off for a couple
weeks.
“So, I was wondering why you guys weren’t giving me lessons
anymore?” I sprinkled the seasoning onto the chicken breasts I’d put into an
aluminum pan. “Did I miss the final exam?”
“You don’t need them anymore,” Ryan said.
“Because I’ve miraculously become a less awkward individual?” I asked.
“Because the entire point of those lessons was to teach you how to be
more comfortable flirting and on dates,” Logan said. “And you don’t need
to know that because you already know how to flirt with us.”
“Besides,” Ethan cut in, “we like it when you do awkward things like ask
Ryan if you can touch his dick in public.”
My cheeks burned as the memory resurfaced. Ryan leaned over and
punched Ethan in the shoulder.
“Sorry about that,” I said. “And anything else embarrassing I said.”
“No apology needed,” Ryan said. “And you can touch my dick tonight if
you want.”
 A hunger that had nothing to do with actual food made my stomach
clench. We’d flirt and eat and have a bit of fun, but at some point tonight, I
planned on taking him up on that promise.

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 Chapter Thirty

Amelia

“I think you broke my vagina,” I announced as soon as I could breathe

enough to speak again.
The four of us were sprawled on Ryan’s bed in a pile of sweaty
limbs, our skin sticky with all sorts of things I didn’t want to think about.
My body still hummed with the afterglow of more orgasms than I could
count, however, so I wasn’t about to complain for real.
“I hope we didn’t,” Ethan said. “Because I really like your vagina.”
“Please stop saying the word vagina,” Ryan groaned as he threw his arm
across his eyes.
“What should I call it?” I asked. “Hoo-ha? Vajayjay?”
The laughter that followed my intentionally ridiculous questions made
my stomach squirm with something that was more than affection. I closed
my eyes and basked in the warmth that came from being in this place with
these people.
I didn’t know how long I drifted there, somewhere between sleeping and
waking, only that I gradually became aware of light touches on my skin.
Fingertips dancing up my legs and over my stomach. A brush of lips at my
throat, my breasts, my belly.
A finger slipped between my folds and I whimpered, a shudder running
through me. The guys had taken me, one right after the other, and they
hadn’t been gentle. Not that I had minded. I came so hard I almost passed
out. The downside was—now my pussy ached and my clit throbbed, so
sensitive that even this gentle touch was almost too much.
 “I can’t.” I pushed the hand away. “Not yet. It’s too much.”
I opened my eyes and looked at each of my lovers as they backed off. All
three were hard again, but none of them tried to coerce me into changing
my mind.
“Just because I can’t have you fuck me doesn’t mean I can’t get you off,
though,” I said, reaching for the closest cock, which happened to be
Logan’s.
To my surprise, he caught my hand before I could touch him.
“There’s something we’ve mentioned but haven’t tried,” he said, raising
my hand to kiss my knuckles. “Maybe we could try it now. We have the
time to do it right. And it’ll give your poor hoo-ha a break.”
I giggled and the guys joined in for a moment before I turned back to the
matter at hand. The laughter had given me the time I needed to realize what
Logan was talking about.
“You want to fuck my ass,” I said flatly.
“Yes,” Logan said, his voice just as even. His eyes, however, twinkled
with amusement. “I very much want to fuck your ass.”
I sighed, feigning annoyance. “I guess we can try it.” I rolled onto my
stomach and wiggled my ass. “But I still want orgasms, so don’t get any
ideas about just sticking it in and pumping a couple times before you
unload.”
Logan chuckled as he leaned down to press a kiss to the small of my
back. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
I expected there to be some prep work involved, but I thought Logan
would get right to it. Instead, his hands began to move over my back,
kneading the muscles there even as two additional sets of hands started to
massage my legs, all three men working until the last of the tension I hadn’t
even realized I was holding melted away.
“We’re going to take this slow,” Logan said, spreading my legs. “If you
want to stop at any point, just say the word. And try to stay relaxed.”
I nodded, keeping my eyes closed as the mattress shifted under me. I felt
the guys brushing against me as they got to wherever it was they wanted to
be. Then I felt something cool and wet between my cheeks and all of my
attention instantly went there. Logan’s touch was careful as he first spread
the lube and then rubbed his finger over my anus.
I had the sudden urge to laugh, but it disappeared the moment Logan
started applying pressure to that ring of muscle. It didn’t feel bad, just
weird, so I focused on following Logan’s instructions and keeping my
muscles relaxed. When the tip of his finger pushed inside, it went easily,
and Logan put his free hand on the small of my back.
“That’s the way to do it,” he said. “Let’s keep going.”
I nodded even though he hadn’t made it a question.
Little by little, he eased the rest of his finger inside me, and while the
strange feeling grew, I still didn’t feel anything I’d even call uncomfortable.
Then he started moving his finger in and out, making me suck in a breath at
the new sensations.
“You’re doing so good, baby,” Ethan said as he took my hand, threading
his fingers between mine. “He’s gonna put another finger in now and that’s
gonna stretch you a bit, get you ready to take his cock.”
I nodded again, teeth worrying at my bottom lip as Logan started to work
another finger into me. The slight burn made me want to squirm away, but
Ethan’s grip on my hand tightened, grounding me.
“When he’s ready to switch to something a little bigger—”
“A little bigger?” Logan interrupted, sounding mildly insulted.
“Fine,” Ethan said, clearly amused. “When he’s ready to switch to
something massively huge, I’ll give you something to else to think about
and put that mouth of yours to good use.”
“That’ll be a pretty picture,” Logan said. “What do you think, Ryan?”
“I’m thinking when Ethan’s done with her mouth, I’m gonna want to
finish there.”
Just the thought of it made me shiver, the movement making the muscles
in my ass flutter around Logan’s fingers. He cursed, stilling until I could
relax again. When he resumed what he’d been doing, he added a twist every
time he pushed his fingers in, and again when he pulled them out. I’d just
gotten used to the rhythm when he took his fingers out entirely, and I
gasped at the sudden feeling of loss.
“All right, baby, let’s get those pretty little lips around my cock while
Logan lubes up.”
Ethan moved in front of me, his cock thick and full, curving up toward
the flat plane of his stomach. We took a moment to find the most
comfortable position for this and then he took the base of his shaft in hand
and guided the head toward my lips. He rubbed the tip along my bottom lip
and then along the top, leaving a drop of precum there for me to lick off. He
groaned when I did, then set the head on my bottom lip, waiting. I flicked
out my tongue to try to coax him inside, but then I realized he wasn’t
waiting for me.
Something blunt and thick nudged against me, the pressure not intense,
but definitely steady. The moment that first inch pushed past my body’s
resistance, my eyes widened and my mouth opened in a surprised o…and
then it was filled with Ethan’s cock.
The surprise of having that soft, salty skin sliding across my tongue
turned out to be exactly what I needed to take the edge off the initial
discomfort of this new experience. Logan kept easing forward at a slow
pace that had me whimpering around Ethan’s cock as he rocked back and
forth, never going too deep for me to handle.
“Fuck, Lia, do you have any idea how hot you look right now?” Ryan’s
voice was rough. “How’s she feel?”
“Fucking tight.” The words came out strained, almost as if Logan was in
pain.
“Amazing.” Ethan’s hand rested on my head, fingers tangling in my hair
but not pulling. I looked up at him, the expression of pure bliss on his face
sending a bolt of pride through me that I could make this gorgeous man feel
like that.
I closed my eyes as Logan finally stopped moving, his cock buried deep
in my ass. I could barely process all of the sensations coursing through me.
The ache in my jaw and lips from where they stretched around the shaft in
my mouth. A matching ache, but with an intense burn and pinpricks of pain,
from my impossibly full ass. The sheer strangeness of having one part of
my body full while the other was empty. And underlying all of it was a low
sort of pleasure, different than anything I’d felt before. I would’ve assumed
that the force of an orgasm could differ, but not the buildup of pleasure. I
would’ve been wrong.
“She’s thinking too much again,” Ryan said.
“We can’t have that.” Ethan rocked into me, forcing me out of my head as
he almost reached the back of my throat.
I jerked my head back, but didn’t have time for any reaction other than
that because Logan chose that moment to start moving. A slow pull back
and an equally slow push forward, but it felt like he wasn’t just testing to
see what I could handle, but what he could take as well. The pain faded by
the second stroke and the burn shifted, merging into that building pleasure,
like two lines of flame coming together.
 It took Ethan only moments to find the correct counterpoint, and then I
was being emptied and filled, back and forth until I couldn’t think or do
anything but feel. Then, suddenly, Ethan yanked his cock out of my mouth,
falling back onto his heels, his breathing ragged.
I coughed and gasped, sucking in air I hadn’t realized I needed. Except I
no sooner had filled my lungs than Logan surged forward, harder than
before, driving the air right back out. Over and over until my vision
narrowed and the pressure inside me reached the tipping point, and then I
felt a featherlight touch on my clit without me even knowing which man did
it. It didn’t matter who. I exploded, pressing my face against the bedspread
and screaming because I needed to get it out in some way. Behind me, I
heard Logan curse and then he came too, leaning down to kiss the middle of
my back as he rode the wave right behind me.
I turned my face to the side as he pulled out, wincing at the way my
muscles fluttered at the sudden emptiness.
It didn’t last long though. I hadn’t realized that Ethan had moved until I
felt his hands on my hips, his cock pressing against my twitching asshole.
“Open up, Lia.”
Ryan sat down, stretching out his legs on either side of me so that his
thick, weeping shaft pointed right at me.
“You’re gonna take all of it,” he said. “Suck on it like a good girl, and
then you’re gonna swallow every last drop when I unload in your mouth.”
“Damn, Ryan,” Ethan griped from behind me. “Keep talking like that and
no way will I last long enough to get her to come again.”
“She’ll come one more time,” Ryan said. “Won’t you, Lia?”
I nodded because it was the only thing I could do, but honestly, with the
way my nerves thrummed with energy, I didn’t think it’d take long at all.
Ryan’s fingers curved around my shoulders, pulling me up onto shaky
arms. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my lips despite what I’d just
had in my mouth. His eyes met mine as he pulled back.
“I won’t let you fall.”
“I know.” I smiled at him. It was a tired smile, but a good one.
Then I bent my head and took him into my mouth, letting the weight of
him slide over my tongue. I’d gone down on all three guys and even though
there were similarities, they all had something unique that made me able to
distinguish between them. I didn’t have any actual words for what those
differences were, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they were
mine.
Ryan groaned as my nose brushed against his pubic bone. I held him
there as long as I could before I had to pull back. Keeping my teeth away
from the delicate flesh in my mouth, I raised my head. Just as I reached the
tip of him, Ethan slid inside with one smooth stroke.
I moaned, my eyes closing for a moment as I fought to keep my hands
beneath me. I knew that Ethan had more girth than Logan, but I hadn’t
realized it would be enough to make a difference in how this felt. I was
suddenly very glad that Ryan didn’t want to take a turn. One day, maybe,
but right now this was all I could handle.
Then Ethan started moving and Ryan put gentle pressure on the back of
my head and we were off again. My world became the up and down motion
as I licked and sucked every inch of that beautiful bit of male perfection,
tracing veins with the tip of my tongue, tasting the tang of his precum. And
my world became the stretch and sting of Ethan’s equally beautiful cock
moving in and out of my ass. His way was slicked by Logan’s cum, but
there was still a burn from the friction of his movements, stoking to life
again the fire that had banked a bit while we’d been situating ourselves.
The guys seemed as much on edge as I was, because it didn’t take long
for Ethan to start muttering curses, his hips jerking against me. Ryan’s
fingers curled in my hair, tugging and twisting until electric jolts raced
through my scalp and down my nerves to join the bundle twisting into
something explosive.
“Get ready,” Ryan warned.
“Let’s get her there first.”
I heard Logan but didn’t realize what he was doing until I felt a hot
mouth on my nipple. Mouth, tongue, and then teeth. The moment he bit
down, it was over. I screamed around Ryan’s cock, my muscles tensing,
squeezing Ethan and tipping him over the edge. Even as I felt him pull out,
cum splattering on my ass and back, Ryan came with a guttural sound that
managed to make everything that much hotter. He spilled into my mouth
and I automatically did what he’d told me to do. Even though I couldn’t
think clearly, I swallowed every drop, continuing to lick at his softening
shaft until he pulled me off of him.
I was already halfway asleep by the time the guys came back with warm
washcloths and started cleaning me off. I did manage one more thing before
I gave in to the darkness.
“That was fucking fantastic.”

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 Chapter Thirty-One

Logan

T hecelebrating
trip back to CSU was louder than usual, and while I enjoyed
with my teammates after our two massive victories on the
road, I breathed a sigh of relief when the bus pulled into the stadium
parking lot. All I wanted was the relative peace and quiet of home with my
two friends and our girl. It had been too long since we’d gotten to do more
than just text her, and even those had been infrequent over the three days we
were gone.
As much as I loved this game, I couldn’t deny that a part of me looked
forward to the end of the season when we’d finally get a real break and
could spend more time with Amelia. A little voice in the back of my head
whispered the question that I’d been ignoring for weeks.
What would we do if the three of us signed to separate NFL teams?
It had always been likely. Maybe two of us could go to the same team,
but all three? The odds of that happening were slim, and we’d accepted that.
It would suck being separated from my friends and teammates, but it
wouldn’t have broken anything between us. Now, though, every time
someone mentioned playing professionally, I couldn’t help wondering if
Amelia would have to make a choice.
And that could break us.
Pushing those negative thoughts out of my mind, I focused on how good
it was going to be to see her again.
“You guys coming to the party?” Darak asked. “Or do you all have plans
with a certain brunette?”
 The humorous glint in his eyes suggested he knew what Ethan, Ryan, and
I had been doing, but he didn’t say anything crude or inappropriate, which
made me think he didn’t care. I had to admit, I liked knowing that not
everyone would freak out if they found out about the four of us being in a
relationship.
Sex was one thing. It’d ruin Amelia’s reputation, but not ours. Wrong,
yes, but unfortunately true. More than sex, however, and people started to
get weird, especially when it came to athletes, and football was probably
the worst when it came to the whole macho men bullshit.
“I think we’ve seen enough of your ugly faces for a while,” Ethan said
with a grin. “Try not to miss us too bad, all right, Wolverton?”
“I’ll do my best,” he joked as he slung his bag over his shoulder. “See
you at practice.”
“You guys didn’t want to go to the party, did you?” I asked as the three of
us headed for my car. “I don’t want to assume that we all want the same
thing.”
Ethan snorted a laugh. “Come on, man. We all want exactly the same
thing, and that’s why we’re going home rather than going to another party.”
“You think she’ll be waiting for us?” Ryan asked.
I shrugged. “We gave her a key so she could water our plants while we
were gone, so she might be there.”
“You went out and bought plants for her to water so you could give her a
key without actually telling her that you wanted her to have a key,” Ethan
pointed out.
“I didn’t hear you complaining when she took it,” I said. “Or telling her
that you wanted her to have a key.”
He didn’t say anything to that, and neither did Ryan. They’d been happy
enough to let me take the lead when it came to giving her the key. If they
didn’t like the way I’d done it, that was their own damn problem.
It didn’t matter that he was right in a way. Doing something like giving
someone a key came with discussions about where things were going and
giving names to feelings. All the shit that I avoided whenever possible.
I took a slow breath as I pulled out of the parking lot, putting aside all of
that. We didn’t need to put labels on things, use words that didn’t mean
anything. Actions were what mattered. I didn’t need to try—and fail—to tell
Amelia how I felt. I’d seen too many people say all the right things but then
betray each other when it came down to it. And I’d seen it up close and
personal.
“Should we text her?” Ryan asked. “See where she is?”
“I sent her a message before we left this morning,” Ethan said. “She said
she was running some errands.”
“If she’s not at the apartment, we’ll shoot her a text,” I said. “Invite her
over, maybe order some food.”
Thinking about seeing her again had my smile returning, and by the time
we stood in front of the door to our place, my former excitement had come
back as well.
“How’s your arm feeling?” Ethan asked as he leaned against the wall,
waiting for me to unlock the door.
“Fine,” I said. “Why?”
“It just looked like it was bugging you during that last throw,” he said.
“I talked to Jet about it after the game.” I pushed open the door. “He just
said to lay off the lifting for the next couple days.”
The apartment was dark when we went inside, telling us that Amelia
wasn’t here. I was a little disappointed, but didn’t let it get me down. We’d
just reach out like we’d talked about. We were a little early, after all. Except
when the lights came on, we realized we had other things to worry about.
“What the hell?” Ethan stared at the mess in the living room.
Food and empty containers were scattered everywhere. On the couch, the
chairs, the coffee table, the floor. Nothing was broken or missing, but it
looked like someone had just decided to eat a bunch of food and not clean
up after themselves. Setting our things down by the door, we moved
together to the kitchen and found dirty dishes piled up in the sink and three
empty wine bottles that I didn’t recognize.
“Those aren’t ours, are they?” I asked.
Ryan shook his head. “I threw out the last empty bottle before we left.”
“Did Amelia say she was going to have friends over or that she needed to
clean things up before we got home?” The question sounded hollow to my
own ears.
“Something’s wrong here,” Ethan said, frowning.
“No shit,” I muttered, heading for my room.
The other guys came after me, going to their rooms too. It took me only a
few minutes to see what I needed to see, and I went back into the hallway to
wait for the guys, a sick feeling in my stomach.
 Both of them looked confused as they joined me, and that was enough to
tell me that they’d found the same sort of shit I had.
“Bed’s a mess,” I said, my voice even despite all the emotions roiling
inside me. “Wet towels in the bathroom. There’s a used condom in the
trash.”
“There’s boxers on my bed and they’re not mine,” Ryan said. “Condom
wrapper next to them.”
“I found a bra on my desk and a used condom in the trash,” Ethan added.
“Who the hell would have a party in our apartment while we were gone?”
“I want to know how they got in,” Ryan said. “I know we locked the door
before we left and it was locked just now, so it’s not like someone broke
in.”
I stared at both of them, wondering how they could be so clueless. “You
guys really think that’s what’s going on here?” When they gave me blank
looks, I gritted my teeth. “Amelia. The only time this has ever happened is
right after we gave her a key to our place.”
“You think Amelia had a party?” Ethan laughed. “Come on, Logan. The
only person who dislikes parties more than Amelia is Ryan.”
“I don’t think she had a bunch of people over,” I said. “But she partied all
right.”
And then I held up the one thing I hadn’t left in my room.
“Is that Jason Hunn’s student ID?” Ethan asked. “Why do you have that?”
“It was in my room,” I said. “On the floor, like it would’ve been if it had
fallen out of someone’s wallet while they were getting a condom.”
Ryan shook his head. “Amelia would never have let Jason in here. And
she definitely wouldn’t have let him hook up with Megan in your room.”
I blew out a long rush of air and resisted the urge to call him stupid. He
wasn’t, but right now he was definitely acting like it, not wanting to see the
truth even though it was right in front of him.
“Jason wasn’t here with Megan. He was here with Amelia,” I said.
“No.” Ethan shook his head emphatically. “She’d never cheat on us and
she sure as hell wouldn’t go back to him.”
“Yeah, that’s what my dad thought about my mom and her ex from high
school,” I said. “She has a key and knew we’d be gone. It’s a great
apartment, not like that dorm room she shares with her former best friend.”
“Lia wouldn’t.” Ryan’s words were firm, but I could see the doubt in his
eyes. “We know her.”
 I shook my head. “We knew who she was as a kid. And then we ghosted
her for seven years. That’s a lot of time to build up some serious anger
toward us. And what better way to get back at us than to make us care about
her and then fuck her boyfriend all over our home?”
Neither one of them looked like they wanted to believe me, but then we
heard the front door open and a familiar voice call out for us.
Pushing off the wall, I clenched my jaw. “I guess we’ll just go ask her
and find out.”

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 Chapter Thirty-Two

Amelia

I really didn’t like away games, especially ones where the guys were
playing two nights in a row. Fortunately, this three-day trip had been the
only one of its kind. Some sort of makeup game or something like that.
Whatever it was, I didn’t want to go that long away from the guys ever
again. Sure, there’d been times I’d gone a couple days without spending a
lot of time with them, but I’d always seen them around on campus. And I
always knew they were right there if I needed them.
For the past three days though, they hadn’t been nearby, and it had been
the longest three days of my life. Well, the longest since we’d stopped being
friends. Those had been some long and lonely nights.
This time, I’d tried to keep myself busy so I didn’t constantly check my
phone or bombard them with texts while they were trying to concentrate,
but it had been hard. I’d planned on surprising them, but I saw the bus
leaving the stadium while I was on my way over and realized they’d gotten
back sooner than they thought. While surprising them had been a fun idea, I
was just glad they were home.
Using the key Logan had given me—the memory made my heart flutter
—I let myself into the apartment.
“Guys? Logan? Ethan? Ryan?” I called their names as I closed the door
behind me and came a few steps further into the apartment.
As I looked around, I realized that something had happened since I’d left
here late last night. The place was a disaster. For one wild moment, I
wondered if they’d gotten back even earlier than I realized, and hadn’t told
me so they could have some big party, but I dismissed that thought even as
it came into my head. Even if they hadn’t wanted to tell me the moment
they got back, it would’ve been because they wanted to decompress or take
naps or something, not have a party.
I beamed as I saw the guys coming down the hallway. “Hey, do you need
a hand cleaning up? What happened here?”
“Don’t bother,” Logan snapped. “We know it was you.”
Startled by his tone, it took a second for his words to register. “What was
me?”
“This.” He gestured toward the living room and kitchen. “And all the shit
we found in our rooms.”
I frowned. “Someone trashed your rooms? And you think I had
something to do with it?”
“Someone had sex in our rooms,” Ryan said, the hurt and betrayal in his
eyes speaking volumes.
“I’m hoping you guys think I let people in here and they had sex in your
rooms,” I said slowly. “Because that’d be bad enough.”
“Just stop!” Logan exploded. “We know you fucked Jason in our beds or
showers or wherever. Probably all over the whole fucking apartment.”
I took a step back, pain lancing through me, sharp enough to make it hard
for me to even breathe, but I managed to get the oxygen I needed to defend
myself. “I haven’t even seen Jason since he got expelled, and I certainly
haven’t fucked him. Here or anywhere else.”
“You’re the only other one with a key,” Ethan said quietly, unable to meet
my eyes. “The lock wasn’t broken, so whoever got in here used a key.”
“Or picked the lock,” I countered.
“There’s evidence all over the place,” Logan cut in, stepping between me
and the other two guys. “Condoms, clothes.”
“You want a DNA sample to compare?” My nails bit into my hands as I
curled my hands into fists. “Or maybe I should give you my phone so you
can check my call history and texts? I hadn’t realized you’d changed your
major to criminal justice.”
“Yeah, well, you two didn’t bother being that subtle about it.” Logan held
something up. “You wanna explain how Jason’s student ID ended up on the
floor of my bedroom?”
I gaped, staring at the little piece of plastic. It really was Jason’s ID. I’d
seen it a hundred times before. And I had no idea how it could’ve gotten
into Logan’s room. All I knew for certain was that I hadn’t put it there and I
certainly hadn’t been here with Jason.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But he threatened to destroy me for getting
him expelled.”
And I had walked away from him, thinking he’d never be able to do
anything that would hurt me as badly as what he’d already done.
I’d been so wrong, because I had no doubt at all that he was behind this.
Logan laughed, but it was a brittle, bitter sound, like no laugh I’d ever
heard from him before.
“I didn’t do anything with him.” The strength faded from my voice as I
saw in Logan’s eyes that he didn’t believe me. I turned to Ethan and Ryan.
“I swear, I have no idea what happened here. This place was spotless when
I left last night and I haven’t been back until just now.”
“We knew Jason was a cheater,” Logan said. “We just never imagined
you would be too.”
Tears burned my eyelids. “You believed me before. Why won’t you
believe me now?”
“Yeah, well, maybe that was a mistake,” Logan said.
I flinched. For a second, I saw a flash of guilt on all three faces, but it
disappeared from Logan’s eyes almost immediately, replaced by something
hard and unyielding. Something cold I’d never imagined could come from
such a warm person.
“You should probably go,” Ethan said.
“We need to figure out what really happened.” I hated the desperation in
my voice, but I couldn’t believe this was actually happening. “There’s a
logical explanation for all of this.”
“You’re right,” Ryan said, “but it points to you not being the person we
thought you were.”
“I’m not the only one,” I whispered. “Because the men I thought you
were, my friends, my lovers, the men I was falling…”
I swallowed hard and shook my head to dislodge the blinding tears. I
didn’t care if they saw them. Let them see what they were doing to me.
If they even gave a damn.
“We’re done, Amelia.” Logan crossed his arms over his chest, his face
stony. “Leave the key and get the hell out.”
I took the key out of my pocket and set it on the closest surface. “I wish
you’d kept walking that day.”
 “Yeah, well, I’m wishing we’d never gone near the bookstore either,”
Logan said.
I shook my head again, turning away from him before I clarified. “Not
then. That day fourteen years ago when you stopped to help me pick up
everything I’d dropped. I wish you’d just kept walking and left me alone.”
I’d never wished that before, not even when my heart broke seven years
ago when I realized I’d lost my friends. But I meant what I said now. I
wished our friendship had never existed.
I left without waiting to hear if they had anything to say to that. I didn’t
care. I couldn’t care, not about anything. Not when I hurt like this. Before,
it’d been a breaking of my heart, but this was more than that. It wasn’t even
a shattering. No, this was like my entire heart had been ripped from my
chest, leaving a raw, bleeding hole that I could only hope time would heal.
I somehow made it back to my dorm room without anyone stopping me.
When I saw that Megan wasn’t there, I threw myself onto my bed, buried
my face in my pillow, and sobbed. I let it all out because when I was done, I
wouldn’t cry for them again.
I wouldn’t feel anything for them ever again.

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 Chapter Thirty-Three

Ethan

W hen I dropped the second pass in thirty minutes, I let out a scream of
frustration, followed by a string of curses that would’ve done Samuel
L. Jackson proud. I didn’t need to see everyone looking at me to know what
they were thinking, because I was thinking it too.
I was fucked.
What made it worse was that I knew why and couldn’t do a damn thing to
fix it.
It’d been nearly three weeks since Amelia walked out of our apartment,
and I hadn’t smiled or laughed since. Even if I had, it would’ve been faked.
The only thing I’d felt since then, besides misery, was anger. Anger at
myself, at Amelia, at Ryan and Logan. At Jason fucking Hunn. It was all I
could do to get through classes and practice without breaking something. If
Hunn were still at school, I probably would’ve beat the shit out of him
already, and that wasn’t how I usually handled things.
“What the hell, Blake?!” Terrick shouted. “Get your head out of your
ass!”
I actually took a step in his direction, like I was going to do something
stupid, but then Ryan was in front of me.
“Don’t.”
He just said a single word, but it was enough to turn my attention from
Terrick to him.
“Why not?” I snapped. “I’ve been playing like shit, so it’s not like I have
anything to lose. I’m one fumble away from being benched.”
 “Because Terrick’s a good guy and you’ll hate yourself if you take out
your anger on him.”
Ryan sounded reasonable, but his eyes had the same hopeless look to
them that I knew mine did. And for the same reason.
All of that rage emptied out of me, leaving me feeling deflated.
“I don’t really think I could hate myself more than I already do,” I said
quietly.
Before Ryan could respond, Logan was there. He clapped a hand down
on my shoulder. “Come on, Ethan, we need to focus.”
“You’re one to talk, Carter.” Otto came up behind us. “You’ve fucked up
more plays this practice than you did at our last game, and that’s saying
something.”
Logan’s face flushed, but he didn’t argue, because Otto was right for
once. The game the other night had been bad, but instead of pushing us to
do better, all three of us had gotten worse. Forgetting plays. Getting
distracted. Dropping the ball.
Literally in a lot of instances.
“We need to get our shit together,” Logan said. “We have to move past
Am—past what happened. We had plans before, and we let…things get in
the way. We can get back on track. Get back to what matters.”
“Signing with the NFL.”
Ryan said it like he wanted to be sure what Logan was talking about, but I
didn’t need the confirmation. Logan had made it pretty clear that he wanted
nothing more than to pretend like our time with Amelia hadn’t happened.
The dark circles under his eyes and the shit way he’d been playing said that
he hadn’t managed to convince himself yet.
“Carter, Blake, Thompson!” Coach Hobkins shouted. “Get your asses
over here! We need to talk!”
“Fuck,” Logan grumbled. “What now?”
Ryan and I kept our mouths shut as we followed him over to the coach.
We seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Keeping our mouths shut and
following Logan’s lead. Actually, we’d done it since we were kids, because
we trusted him.
Except it had been his leading that took us away from Amelia the first
time, and I couldn’t help wondering if things would’ve gone differently if
that hadn’t happened. If one—or all—of us would still be with Amelia.
 Thinking about her and our childhood together brought back the last
words she’d said to us.
I wish you’d just kept walking and left me alone.
She didn’t just regret getting romantically involved with us. She regretted
even meeting us. Her friendship was one of the best things about my
childhood, and the fact that she didn’t just want to forget it, that she wished
it’d never happened, had cut deeper than her cheating.
And to make matters worse, I still had my doubts about what had actually
happened.
I’d doubted it from the moment Logan had said that Amelia slept with
Jason, but he’d been convincing, and emotions had run high, so I’d decided
to believe it. That decision, however, hadn’t stopped my brain from
constantly bringing it up when I least expected it.
“Office,” Coach Hobkins barked.
He didn’t say anything else until the four of us were crammed into his
office, with him behind his desk and the three of us on the other side. Since
there were only two chairs, we stayed standing.
“What the hell is going on with you three?” he demanded. “You’ve been
off your game for weeks and now I got professors telling me that your
grades are all slipping.”
I winced. I knew I bombed a test last week, and there was an assignment
I’d completely forgotten about for another class, but I hadn’t realized it’d
tanked my grades enough for Coach to get a call.
“Everyone has off days,” Logan said.
Coach shook his head. “Don’t give me that bullshit, son. You guys have
been off in practice, in games, and in school for weeks now.”
“We’ve got some personal stuff going on, Coach,” I offered.
“No shit,” he said. “Unless someone died or is sick, I don’t give a damn.
Everything else isn’t important.” His eyes narrowed. “Unless one of you
idiots got a girl pregnant. That’s not what this is, is it? You knock up some
chick?”
“Hell, no.” I shook my head. “That’s not it at all.”
“Then put it aside. Push it down. Do whatever the hell it is you have to do
to get your heads screwed on straight again.” He reached into his desk
drawer and pulled out a toothpick. Popping one end into his mouth, he
chewed on it for a moment and then added, “You boys are all still serious
about wanting to play pro, right? Because if you’re not…”
 “We are,” Ryan said.
“Good. Then keep your eye on that prize.” He crossed his meaty arms
and leaned back in his chair. “This next game we got coming up, it’s an
important one.”
“Yes, sir,” Logan said. “It determines whether or not we’re moving on to
the playoffs for this new bowl game.”
“Now, I know there’s been a lot of talk about how this Honeycomb Bowl
was the wrong choice for our team, but if we make it, we’ll be playing here.
And I happen to have it on good authority that some members of the
Broncos staff have said if the game is at CSU, they’ll be coming. And I
don’t think I need to tell you what that could mean for your futures.” He
eyed each of us for a long moment, like we needed time for what he was
saying to sink in.
“No, sir,” we all muttered.
“I’ve been coaching for a while now, and there’ve been other talented
players, some who went on to play pro, but you three are the most talented
athletes I’ve had the pleasure of knowing, and you’re even better when
you’re together. I sure as hell would like to see you boys all get to keep
playing together, and if it happened to be as close as Denver, well, it’d be
nice to take my players up there once in a while and brag about how I used
to be your coach.”
We stared at him, mouths hanging open. He wasn’t a cruel or verbally
abusive coach. In fact, he gave a lot of positive reinforcement. But I’d never
heard him make a speech like the one he just made.
“Do I have your word that you’re all gonna buckle down and get those
grades back up?” He kept going like he hadn’t just shocked us into silence.
Dumbly, we nodded our heads.
“Good. Go hit the showers and then hit the books,” he said. “And when
you come into practice tomorrow, I expect you to all be focused on the
game and not on whatever else has been filling your head.” He leaned
forward and put his elbows on the desk. “I don’t want to bench my best
players during an important game, but I will do it if I think you aren’t
thinking straight. I won’t have anyone getting hurt because you weren’t
paying attention.”
Shame filled me as I nodded my head again. He was right. We weren’t
just screwing with our futures or even just putting our own health at risk.
Football was a dangerous enough sport on its own. Add in someone who
didn’t have their entire focus on what they were doing, and the chances of
someone being getting hurt increased by a lot.
“We hear you, Coach,” Logan said. “We’ll take care of it.”
“See that you do.”
And with that, we were dismissed. None of us said anything as we headed
for the locker room, but I didn’t think we needed to talk. We all knew what
we needed to do. Now we just had to do it.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Thirty-Four

Amelia

“C omeA on! We’re gonna be late!”

rush of laughter followed the urgent statement, the sound
muffled by my dorm door, but I still felt a pang at their happiness. I
didn’t know who they were, but I felt pretty safe betting that they were on
their way to tonight’s game. It’d been moved here at the last minute and it
was all everyone had been talking about for the past two days. Between
that, and word of Jason’s expulsion for cheating getting around, I’d been
able to get back to almost the same level of invisibility I’d enjoyed before
he blew my world up.
Anonymity suited my mood over these last few weeks, but I couldn’t find
it in myself to be grateful about it. My feelings since I’d finished crying that
awful day had been pretty muted, but I knew that was because I’d pretty
much been walking around in a fog. I’d taken two tests and had absolutely
no idea how I’d managed to pass them both with decent grades. The only
reason I managed to even make it to all of my classes was because ever
since my freshman year, I’d set alerts for all of my classes. By this point
every semester, everything pretty much worked on muscle memory.
This malaise had, however, gotten bad enough that I was forced to admit
to myself last week that if I still had my TA position, I probably would’ve
ended up losing it for screwing up grades or something like that.
When I wasn’t in class, I was pretending to do all of my normal things—
things like going to the dining hall and the library, and pretending to study
—but in reality, I stared at the pages without really seeing what was in front
of me. I knew I needed to snap out of it soon or I’d end up failing this
semester and completely screwing up my plans for the future. Considering
they were the only bright spot I could see in my future at the moment, I
needed them desperately.
What I didn’t need was the reminder of why I felt this way. So far, I’d
managed to avoid seeing the guys in person, but all of the football stuff as
we approached the playoffs for this new bowl game meant that I couldn’t
completely get away from them.
I’d tried to avoid hiding in my dorm room too much, but right now it was
the only choice. To my relief, Megan hadn’t been here when I got back
from dinner. She’d actually been here very rarely over the last couple
weeks, and I assumed that meant she’d been spending her time wherever
Jason was now living.
I hadn’t asked and I honestly didn’t care.
I snuggled down deeper into my comforter and stared at my computer
screen. I didn’t often work on my laptop while I was in bed, preferring to do
that sort of thing at my desk. I did use it in bed when I planned on watching
a movie or a show. I told myself that I just wanted to be comfortable today
while I worked, but I knew I was lying.
The school’s website televised home games.
I’d managed to keep busy during the last two games, but the pull to
watch, to see them again, had only grown until I didn’t think I could resist.
“I just want to see that they’re okay.” I said the words out loud, as if that
would make them truer. “If I can see that they’re fine, then I’ll know that I
didn’t mean as much to them as I thought. If I can see that they’ve gone
back to their normal lives as if our time meant nothing, then I could do the
same.”
Even as I heard the words in my own voice, I didn’t believe them.
I wanted to see them because I missed them. I was pissed at them, and a
part of me even tried to hate them, but I still missed them. Which made me
pissed at myself for not being able to rationalize away what I felt. After all,
I’d been with Jason for nearly a year, and it hadn’t taken me very long at all
to jump into bed with three other men. I’d barely been in a relationship with
those guys—if I could even call it a relationship—but losing them again
hurt a thousand times more than Jason’s betrayal.
Dammit. I didn’t want to think about what that meant.
 That should’ve been the kick in the ass I needed to not go to the school’s
website and navigate to the page where the game would be streamed live.
But I was apparently as much a glutton for punishment as I was an idiot,
and I found myself staring at the screen only minutes later, searching the
crowd for a familiar face.
Well, a familiar name and number, to be more accurate. I couldn’t see
anyone’s faces with their helmets on, but I really didn’t need to. Not when I
could close my eyes and see every detail.
My heart gave an unsteady thump when Logan jogged out to the center of
the field for the coin toss. All his gear made it virtually impossible to read
his body language or expression, but I thought he looked tired. Maybe I was
reading too much into things, wanting the guys to be as affected as I was,
but my mind kept insisting that he didn’t look like the same confident
quarterback I’d watched these last few years.
As the game began, I looked for Ethan and Ryan, tracking all three men
on and off the field as best I could. I barely paid attention to who had the
ball or what the rest of the team did, instead focusing solely on those three
figures. Each hit they took had my heart pounding. Every time someone
from the other team even ran at them, I held my breath. I’d watched games
before and, while I might’ve paid a little more attention to them than other
players, worried a little more about them, it had been nothing like this.
My room grew dark as time moved on, but I didn’t get up to turn on any
lights. I didn’t get up for anything. I sat, my face bathed in the glowing light
of my laptop screen, and tried to will everything to be all right. The longer I
watched, however, instead of feeling better, I felt worse. Anxiety gnawed at
my stomach, and I found myself biting my thumbnail, something I hadn’t
done since my first day of second grade when I worried about being the
youngest kid in class.
With less than ten minutes left in the game, I shifted position, groaning as
my stiff muscles protested the movement. I took my eyes off the screen for
just a second and that was when one of the announcers shouted.
“Wow! Quarterback Logan Carter is sacked in what looks like the hardest
hit of the season. Carter doesn’t get tackled often, but he picked the wrong
time to hesitate on that throw.”
Blood rushed in my ears as I grabbed my laptop and leaned closer to the
screen.
 “Okay, now wide receiver Ethan Blake is yelling at the referee. It seems
he thinks—and now they’re calling for a trainer because Carter isn’t getting
up.”
I watched in horror as men gathered around Logan, taking off his helmet.
Pain contorted his face and he reached for his leg. Then Ethan was there,
grabbing Logan’s hand, and the grim look on Ethan’s face told me more
than any announcer could. This was bad.
“What is Ryan Thompson doing on the field?”
The announcer’s question had the camera cutting away from Logan in
time to watch Ryan approach one of the referees. He wasn’t yelling, but I
could read the intensity radiating off him.
“It seems like Thompson is taking up where Blake left off. Remember,
Blake, Carter, and Thompson grew up together and they’re known for
watching each other’s backs not only on the field but off it as well.”
Ryan turned away as the ref jogged over to the other team and started
talking to the coach. Even on my small screen, I could see the coach’s face
getting red, but the ref didn’t look bothered at all as he motioned for one of
the other team’s players to come over.
“Now, we don’t know what’s going on, but it seems like number 44 is
being taken out of the game because of how he tackled Carter.” There was a
pause, and then the camera cut away to where Logan was being lifted onto a
stretcher. “It looks like Logan Carter is being taken off the field. That’s not
a good sign. We’ve seen him play hurt before and—”
“What the hell?!”
The other announcer’s curse shocked me, but not as much as what I saw
when the camera angle changed, cutting to the sidelines just in time to catch
number 44 slamming headfirst into Ryan’s back and the two of them falling
to the ground.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Thirty-Five

Ryan

T rying to wake up felt like swimming in cement. Not that I’d ever swum
in cement, but it sounded like it would be hard, and getting my eyes to
open now that I knew they were closed wasn’t easy. Instead of forcing it, I
took a minute to think, because that seemed to be hard at the moment too,
which was different than when I normally woke up…because I hadn’t fallen
asleep.
Everything came rushing back all at once.
Hearing that asshole player from the other team say that he was going to
take Logan down a peg or two.
Seeing my friend in pain after that asshole sacked him.
Ethan running to Logan’s side.
Me going to tell the ref what we heard and the ref saying he’d talk to the
coach.
Then the solid thump and pain as something hit me from behind.
Pain that exploded across my back and made my legs go numb.
That memory sent a bright jolt of panic through me, giving me what I
needed to open my eyes.
I grimaced at the light, blinking rapidly as I became aware of a loud
beeping noise.
“Dude, relax. You’re okay.”
The familiar voice had me turning my head to see Ethan sitting in the
corner of a room. A hospital room, I realized. I was in the hospital. He
pushed himself up and came over to me. As he stepped out of the shadows,
I realized he looked exhausted.
“Are you okay?” I asked, my voice rough.
Ethan nodded. “Here. Drink some water.”
“My mom?” I asked as he handed me a cup with a straw. I managed to
flip him off before I took it, but he didn’t smile.
“She was in Florida visiting your grandparents,” Ethan reminded me.
“They were watching the game.”
I winced. “Shit.”
“Yeah, well, I grabbed our phones before I came because I had a feeling
I’d be keeping everyone updated. Good thing you never changed your
password because she’d already texted three times about renting a car. I told
her to stay put until we found out more because you wouldn’t want her
trying to drive upset.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Once I talk to a doctor, I’ll call her.”
“I’ll go get someone.”
By the time I finished the whole cup of water, he came back with a
skinny Asian guy in blue scrubs. When Ethan turned to go, I stopped him.
“Stick around. I might need help keeping shit straight.”
Ethan nodded, staying standing, but keeping out of the doctor’s way.
“I’m Dr. Chin,” the man introduced himself as he pulled a penlight from a
pocket.
He quickly went through checking whatever he needed to check and
asking me questions about how many fingers he was holding up and all that
shit. I didn’t really care about any of it until he went to the end of the bed
and asked me to wiggle my toes. Then I remembered how my legs had gone
numb, and I zeroed in on my toes.
The relief that went through me when they moved had me sighing out
loud. I did it again when the doctor started poking my feet and then up my
legs and I felt every single thing.
“Everything looks good,” Dr. Chin said finally. “We’ll want to do a
couple more tests before we discharge you, but I’m happy with the
progress.”
I folded my arms, wincing as the movement pressed my back against the
bed in a new way. “That’s good, but can you tell me what the hell actually
happened?”
“What do you remember?” Ethan asked.
 “I got hit from behind. My legs went numb.” I frowned as I thought.
“Then it’s all bits and pieces. People shouting. Someone asking me
questions. Then I think I was in an ambulance.” I started to run my hand
through my hair and grimaced when a jerk to my hand reminded me I had
an IV in. “I don’t really remember anything after that.”
“That asshole from the other team was gonna get kicked out because of
what he did to Logan,” Ethan said with a scowl. “He saw you talking to the
ref and went after you. His helmet hit you right in the middle of your back.”
“You were given medication in the ambulance,” Dr. Chin said. “That’s
why your memories aren’t clear. The additional medicine you were given
caused you to sleep for the past few hours.”
“My legs went numb because he hit my back,” I said. “But I can move
my toes and feel shit, so I’m not gonna be paralyzed?”
My question sounded a hell of a lot calmer out loud than it had in my
head.
“I don’t like giving certainties,” Dr. Chin said, “because strange things
happen, but I would say that I’m as confident of your full recovery as I am
of anything.”
That was good, but I wanted something more specific. “Why does my
back hurt?”
“You have a rather large contusion on your back,” Dr. Chin explained. “It
is a rather deep bruise, and that’s what caused the numbness in your legs
initially. There was some swelling, which is why we gave you medication to
reduce that. We’ll do some tests to make sure that’s gone down and that it
wasn’t hiding an additional injury, but as long as that’s clear, you should be
cleared to return to normal activities in a day or two.”
“I can keep playing football?”
That damn heart monitor betrayed how nervous I was, but I didn’t really
care, not when my entire future hung on what the doctor said.
Dr. Chin raised an eyebrow. “As a doctor, I can’t in all good conscience
encourage you to continue playing a game with that many physical risks,
but I can say that, yes, barring any changes in your condition, you would be
cleared to play again.”
I swallowed hard, nodding because I didn’t think I could speak. My chest
felt tight enough that if I hadn’t been able to hear that steady beep-beep-
beep on the monitor, I might’ve thought I was having a heart attack.
 “Coach is gonna be glad to hear that,” Ethan said, smiling for the first
time since I woke up. “He sent everyone home like an hour ago, but told me
to text him as soon as I heard something.”
“I hope he’s that worried about me too.”
It wasn’t until Logan’s voice came from the other side of the curtain that I
realized someone else was even in the room. Ethan pulled the curtain back,
and all the happiness I’d felt at my news evaporated when I saw Logan.
Like me, he was hooked up to monitors, and I was sure I looked like shit
too, but it was the leg that had my stomach sinking. He had all sorts of
braces and shit clearly meant to keep it from moving, and I knew that was
never a good sign.
“About time you woke up,” Ethan said. “You’ve been out of surgery for
half an hour.”
“Surgery?”
“Let’s get you something to drink,” Dr. Chin said, moving from my bed
to my friend’s. “Then we can talk privately about your condition.”
Logan shook his head even as he took the water from the doctor. “We’re
family. And roommates, so if they’re going to have to help me shower or
wipe my ass, they should probably know it now.”
“You should be fine in the ass-wiping department,” Dr. Chin said dryly.
“As for showering, that’s going to be a no-go for a while. Sponge baths
only.”
“Do you rent nurses for that?”
The fact that Logan was making jokes scared the shit out of me. Ethan
was the one who used humor as a shield. Logan faced things head-on.
“Do you want me to sugarcoat things or tell it to you straight?” Dr. Chin
asked after he’d done the basic check on Logan’s vitals.
“I’d rather have it all,” Logan said, visibly steeling himself.
“You cracked three bones in your ankle,” the doctor began. “We put in
two metal pins for that. You also tore several muscles and tendons between
your knee and your ankle. And your ACL was pretty much destroyed. We
did the best we could, but there’s a lot of damage.”
“Long-term prognosis?” Logan asked quietly.
“Best-case scenario? A month or two of PT and you’ll be able to walk
and probably run a bit without too much difficulty. Maybe a slight limp if
you push yourself too hard. Worst-case, you need more surgery and you’ll
have to walk with a cane.”
 No one bothered to ask Dr. Chin about football. We all just sat in stunned
silence as the doctor said to call for a nurse if we needed anything. Ethan
looked like he was going to be sick, and I couldn’t even look at Logan. He
was a brilliant quarterback. The kind who’d get signed to some big team
and get endorsement deals and make millions before he turned thirty. And
then he’d use it for charity and helping disadvantaged kids because that was
the sort of guy he was.
And one jealous bastard had ended it all.
“Tell me the guy who did this isn’t getting away with it.”
Ethan raised his head to look at me. “Suspended for the rest of the season,
but Coach said if you guys were hurt bad, he’d make sure that kid never
plays again.”
“It’s not enough,” I said.
“It’s okay, Ryan,” Logan said quietly.
“No, it’s not okay,” I argued. “You’ve worked your ass off for years and
it’s not even some stupid accident that ruins all of that! It’s some asshole
who did it on purpose!”
“I’ll walk again,” Logan said. Despite his words, his expression was
bleak. “Besides, after everything else we’ve already lost, this doesn’t seem
like quite as big of a deal.”
After a long stretch of silence, I asked the question. “Did she text or call
any of us?”
Ethan shook his head. “Let’s get real. She probably doesn’t even know
what happened. I mean, would you be watching the game after that fight?”
I shook my head and tried not to let my disappointment show. I knew it
was stupid after the way she’d played us, but a part of me had hoped that
this changed things. That maybe, magically, all of that could’ve been
erased.
A knock on the door had us all sitting up straight. We could see just a
shadow from the hall, but it looked like it was under five and a half feet tall
and slender, which meant it wasn’t my mom. Logan’s mom was who knew
where and Ethan’s wouldn’t have come for this.
“Amelia?” Logan whispered her name.
But when the door opened, the young woman who came through was a
blonde. And the last person I expected—or wanted—to see.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Ethan snapped.
 Megan’s face was pale and her eyes were rimmed with red like she’d
been crying. Not that I gave a damn. No matter what Amelia had done to us,
unless Megan had been fucked over the same way by Amelia and Jason, I
didn’t care why she was upset.
“I know my timing sucks, but I just can’t stay quiet any longer. Not when
you guys are like this and she’s worried and all of this is my fault and—”
“Stop babbling and get to the damn point,” Logan said.
Megan nodded and took a deep breath. “There’s something you guys
need to know.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Thirty-Six

Amelia

I jerked out of a fitful sleep to the sound of someone knocking on my door.

“Please open the door.” The young man on the other side sounded
desperate. “I’m gonna be late for work. I can’t just leave these here because
they said I had to actually hand them to you and I really don’t wanna piss
these guys off.” The knocking resumed. “Please, Miss Fine. Open the door.”
With a sigh, I rolled out of bed and staggered to the door, yawning as I
went. I probably looked like a mess, but my head was too fuzzy to
remember why or even care. I barely remembered to check to make sure I
wouldn’t flash the guy, but when I was satisfied that my clothes were in
place, I opened the door.
And found myself staring directly into the eyes of a giant stuffed panda.
I let out an undignified squawk and stumbled back a couple steps.
“Sorry.” The guy lowered the panda enough for me to see his face. “Are
you Amelia Fine?”
“Uh, yes?”
At the uncertainty in my voice, his eyes narrowed. “Are you sure?”
“Who are you?” I asked, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes.
“Caleb.” He shoved the panda toward me. “This is for you.”
“For me?”
“There’s a note tied to its neck, and I didn’t open it.” When I made no
move to take it, he tried again. “Please take the panda. I really do need to go
to work.”
I sighed and took the panda. “Thank you, Caleb.”
 “Will you please tell them that I did a good job?” he asked before turning
and practically running away.
As I turned to close the door, I caught a glimpse of several open doors
and curious people looking my way. Now thoroughly embarrassed,
confused, and a little annoyed, I set the panda in the middle of the floor and
yanked free the ribbon holding the card Caleb mentioned.
My heartbeat quickened when I recognized the handwriting on the
envelope and, for a moment, I seriously considered just throwing it out, but
then everything from last night came rushing back. The game. The guys
getting hurt. Waiting for hours for some news on their condition. Falling
asleep not knowing.
I tore open the envelope and moved over to my bed as I unfolded the
paper and began to read the brief, but pointed, message.
Amelia,
We’re assholes. And we’re so sorry for believing the worst. We should
have trusted you and believed you. We know there’s no reason for you to
ever forgive us, but we’re begging you to come to the next game. All three of
us will be there and afterward, we’ll take you out and we can talk. And by
talk, I mean the three of us will grovel.
Please, tell us you’re coming.
We miss you and we’re so sorry.
Logan, Ethan, Ryan (aka the biggest assholes in the world)
I stared at the letter for a full minute before tearing it up. That still,
however, left the giant fucking panda sitting in the middle of my room,
staring at me like I’d done something wrong.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with you?” I asked. “I can’t take you
anywhere without everyone staring at me, because I’d be carrying a giant-
ass panda.”
If a stuffed animal could look reproachful, this one managed it.
My phone buzzed with a text and I reached for it without thinking, but
paused when I saw the name on the screen.
Ryan.
I started to toss my phone down on the bed when the image of what
happened last night flashed into my head, bringing back the absolute horror
I’d felt when I watched that player slam into Ryan’s back. The need to
know if he was okay overrode the hurt I still felt.
I opened the message.
 Caleb said he gave you the stuff. Think you’re gonna come to the game
next week?
I wrote, deleted, and rewrote my response a dozen times before I was
finally happy with what I had.
I’m sorry, but I can’t. Are you and Logan okay?
I’d considered not asking how they were doing even though it might’ve
made me look like a bitch, but I couldn’t do it. No matter how angry I was
at them, what happened at the game worried me.
I stared at the three dots as they appeared, disappeared, and then appeared
again. It took nearly five minutes for him to get what he wanted to say, and
at first, I assumed it was due to him trying to get the words right, something
he’d always struggled with, but when I finally read what he sent, I
wondered if it took him a while because it was just hard to write.
I got a bad bruise and it’s gonna hurt like hell but I just need to take it
easy a day or two. Logan’s not so lucky. Busted his leg up bad. Blew his
ACL and a bunch of other stuff. His career’s done. Doc says with work he’ll
be able to walk okay. Maybe run a bit.
My hand went to my mouth, covering the pained sound I couldn’t help
making. No matter how furious I was, I didn’t want this for Logan.
Honestly, there were very few people in this world I’d ever wish to have
their dreams be destroyed like that. Not trusting me didn’t put the guys on
that list.
But it didn’t mean I could stomach the idea of meeting with them. Not
yet. Maybe not ever. That wound was still too raw.
Will we see you after the game?
I dashed the tears from my cheeks with the heels of my hands and steeled
myself to refuse again. This time, I decided on some brutal honesty.
It hurts too much.
Leaving my phone on my desk so I didn’t have to deal with more
messages asking me to come see them, I gathered up my shower things and
headed down to the showers. I passed a few people as I went, but kept my
eyes straight ahead, not wanting to prompt anyone to talk to me, either
about the guys, the game, or the giant stuffed panda. I breathed a sigh of
relief when I reached the bathroom without having to stop, and I allowed
myself the indulgence of a shower that was a little longer than usual, letting
the heat ease the tension in my muscles and the white noise fill my head.
 By the time I left the bathroom to go back to my room, I was more
relaxed than I had been in a while—since before that last time I’d been with
the guys when everything had fallen apart.
I was halfway down the hallway when I noticed a handful of people
standing near my door. Still toweling off my hair, I approached the group
and politely asked to be let through. When the people in front of me moved,
I finally saw what had caused the group to gather.
Piled up in front of and next to my door was…well, a hell of a lot of stuff.
A basket with my apples-and-cinnamon scented shampoo, soap, and
lotion.
Two unopened boxes with my name on the top.
A vase full of daisies.
Lots of chocolate.
A hardcover anniversary edition of The Princess Bride that the guys and I
had talked about last month.
Heat flooded my face and I quickly slid my keycard through the
electronic lock and went inside.
“I’m going to get this stuff in a minute,” I said to the people staring at
me. Then I closed the door and took a minute to gather myself.
What the hell were they doing? I knew Logan had money from his
parents, but I’d never cared about that. Except, as I quickly opened the door
and pulled things inside just to get them away from prying eyes, I realized
that the things they’d sent were personal. Reminders of how well they knew
me.
Which still didn’t explain the giant stuffed panda.
Except…as I started finding places to put all those things, I realized that I
did understand the panda. When we were in fourth grade, we went on a
field trip to the Denver Zoo, and I was upset because we weren’t able to see
pandas, so Logan took the money his parents gave him and bought me a
large stuffed panda. Not as big as the one currently staring at me, but big
enough to make an impression on everyone.
And I still had it.
When we had our falling out back then, a few things had been too
precious for me to throw away, no matter how much it hurt to see them, and
that panda had been one of them. Right now, it sat in a plastic tote in my
childhood closet.
 I pulled myself out of the past and focused on the things they’d given me
now. Each one had a note with the same words.
We’re so sorry. We were so wrong.
What none of them said was what had changed their minds.
I supposed that what had happened to Logan and Ryan could’ve made
them rethink their lives, but these weren’t “we might’ve been wrong and we
should talk” notes. Every bit of communication from them made it sound
like they now knew that I hadn’t slept with Jason.
The door opened and my shoulders slumped as Megan walked in. She
hadn’t really been around much over the last couple weeks, which I
appreciated, but I didn’t feel like dealing with her any more right now than I
had before. But then I saw the expression she wore and it gave me pause.
She was pale, her face devoid of makeup and her hair looking like she’d
barely brushed it. She wore sweats and a hoodie that had the sort of
rumpled look that came with clothes having been slept in.
“Can we talk?”
I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I’m really not in the
mood to go over everything that happened, okay? I don’t give a damn that
you slept with Jason.”
“It’s not about that,” she said. “And I’m pretty sure you’re never going to
forgive me for this.”
Opening my eyes, I saw an expression of such guilt that my stomach
twisted ominously. “Sit and talk.”
She perched on the edge of her bed, waiting until I sat down in my desk
chair and turned to face her.
“Jason told me that Logan, Ethan, and Ryan were responsible for getting
him expelled and he needed to find the proof so he could get the decision
reversed.”
I had a feeling I knew where this was going, but hoped I was wrong.
“I took the key to their apartment that they’d given you and had a copy
made. I gave the key to Jason.” Megan sniffled as her eyes welled up with
tears. “I swear I didn’t know what he was going to do until he told me
yesterday. When we were watching the game and the guys got hurt, Jason
was so happy, and I realized that only a really horrible person could be
happy about something like that.”
“Yeah, Megan. And Jason’s a horrible person,” I said tightly. “He posted
those pictures of me online. He lied about me sleeping with Dr. Isenberg.
He lied about me stealing from him. He’s lied about everything he says he
did in college.”
“I know,” she said quietly, not bothering to wipe away the tears that
spilled down her cheeks. “I know all of that now because he told me. He
thought I was so in love with him that I wouldn’t care. Actually, I think he
thought I’d be impressed.”
“What do you want from me, Megan?” I asked, suddenly exhausted.
“You want me to forgive you for helping Jason ruin the best thing that’s
happened to me in a long time?”
She shook her head. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I’m trying to
make things right. That’s why I went to the hospital this morning and told
the guys about what Jason did.”
I looked over at the panda, suddenly understanding. They hadn’t come to
the realization that I hadn’t cheated or lied. They “believed me” now
because someone else had told them the truth.
“Okay, well, now everyone knows the truth,” I said. “Your job is done.”
“You should give them another chance,” she said. “The looks on their
faces when they realized what’d happened…they were destroyed.”
“Now they know how I feel,” I said softly. “I can’t be with someone who
needs proof to believe that I’m not a cheater or a liar.”
“Amelia—” she began.
“No,” I snapped. “Now, if you really want to do something for me, leave
me alone.”

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 Chapter Thirty-Seven

Amelia

M yAmazon
dorm room looked like a botanical garden combined with someone’s
wish list and then exploded. The guys kept sending stuff, each
item specifically linked to some shared memory or the sort of thing that
proved how well they knew me. I knew they’d respect my wishes if I asked
them to stop, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Not because I wanted
all the stuff, but because I really did miss them and didn’t have the strength
to completely cut them out of my life.
And it didn’t help that Megan was on their side.
She hadn’t said much about me giving them another chance, but she also
didn’t complain as our room slowly filled up with stuff. She was also being
a better roommate than she’d been the entire time we’d lived together,
which made it hard to stay angry with her.
Some people might not have understood why I was more willing to
forgive her than I was the guys, especially considering she hadn’t believed
me over Jason, and then she’d been instrumental in causing the problem
that had driven me and the guys apart. The thing was, I’d only known her
for four years. I’d considered her one of my best friends, but that was only
because I didn’t really have anyone else. Looking back, I realized how little
we actually knew about each other.
The guys and I had a deep, intimate history, even if we’d only been lovers
for a short time. They’d known me in ways that no one else ever had, and
they’d still believed the worst.
I wasn’t ready to get past that hurt, and I didn’t know if I’d ever be.
 But I was, apparently, going to the playoff game despite my numerous
efforts to avoid it.
I’d stuck to my resolve not to go until Professor McNeil offered extra
credit for attending. Extra credit and he’d provide tickets for us. If my
grades had been where they normally were, I probably would’ve passed on
the offer, but I’d screwed up a couple assignments in his class right after
what happened with the guys, and it put my grade on the border between a
B and an A. Going to the game would give me the points I needed to get
that A.
So here I was, bundled up against the cold and hoping that the hat and
scarf, along with my coat and gloves, would keep anyone from recognizing
me. Word about what had happened with me and the guys hadn’t made the
rounds, but everyone in my dorm knew that something was up.
The fact that Megan had kept her mouth shut about all of it had been the
last push I needed to ask her if she was going to the game, and if she’d go
with me so I didn’t have to sit alone. She agreed and managed to trade
tickets with one of my classmates to get a seat next to me. I’d hoped the
seats were way up high, but Professor McNeil had actually gotten some
pretty good seats only a few rows behind our team. Normally, I would’ve
been thrilled, but now I was just hoping to avoid prying eyes and keep the
guys from noticing me at all, and for the twenty minutes leading up to the
team’s entrance, it seemed to be working.
It was harder to ignore the conversations around us about Logan’s career-
ending injury. I’d managed to do it all week by avoiding people as much as
I could, but now I was surrounded and the stands were packed, with no
empty space for me to escape to.
Then everyone was on their feet, cheering as the Rams came running onto
the field, and I suddenly found it hard to breathe. I couldn’t see Ryan or
Ethan from here, but it was easy to spot Logan as he made his way up the
sidelines, maneuvering his crutches like he’d been doing it his whole life. I
couldn’t see his face from where I stood, but I imagined it couldn’t be easy
for him to not be with the rest of the guys, to know he was never going to
play again. That something great and wonderful that he’d been a part of was
lost to him forever…
My heart squeezed and a lump formed in my throat. I couldn’t do this. I
couldn’t sit here and watch the game like it was no big deal.
 I turned toward Megan to tell her that I needed to go, but froze as a
familiar voice echoed from the sound system.
“Amelia Fine? Amelia, I know you’re here.”
I looked over at Megan, the guilty expression on her face telling me
exactly how Logan knew I’d come to the game.
“Amelia, can you please come down to the front? Please.”
Now everyone was looking around, trying to spot me, and I knew if I
tried to leave it would just draw attention to me. Shit. Shoving my hands
into my coat pockets, I sighed and started to make my way to the end of the
row, Megan following right behind me. Bracing myself, I headed for the
wall that separated the stands from the field. When I reached it, Logan was
right there, leaning on his crutches as he held a microphone in one hand.
Ethan and Ryan stood on either side of him, both dressed in their uniforms
but without their helmets, letting me see their faces.
“Last week, after I got hurt, I was told I’d never play football again,”
Logan began. “And a lot of people would probably use the phrase ‘my
world ended’ if they got news like that. But the truth is, my world ended
weeks before that when I let my own insecurities and baggage take away
the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
His eyes locked with mine and even though he still spoke into the mic so
everyone could hear him, I knew the words were for me.
“You know how fu—screwed up my family is,” he continued, stumbling
when he realized he probably should keep the cursing to a minimum. He
kept going though, clearly determined to say everything he had to say. “My
parents showed me from a young age that romantic love doesn’t last, and
faithfulness is a joke. I let that poison me more than I realized, and there
aren’t the words to say just how sorry I am.”
I swallowed hard, clenching my jaw as I tried to keep back my emotions.
Logan didn’t talk about his family, not like this, and certainly not in front of
strangers. He pretended his parents’ divorce was just a run-of-the-mill kind
of thing that hadn’t really affected him. Him laying this all out in front of
people who weren’t just strangers, but fans—some of whom were probably
not too happy about getting relationship drama instead of a football game—
spoke more about the depth of his feelings than any of the notes or gifts
back in my room.
“I love you, Amelia,” he said. “You’re one of my best friends and I know
I don’t deserve to have you forgive me, but I hope you will.”
 And then he handed the mic to Ethan. My gaze followed.
“I’m more likely to make jokes than declarations,” he said. “But I don’t
think I’ve smiled or laughed since you walked out. You’ve always been
there for me, taking care of me, supporting me, and when it mattered the
most, I didn’t do the same for you. I told myself that I didn’t think straight
when it came to you, but that was just an excuse. These two are my best
friends, and I was scared that taking your side would mean I’d lose them,
and if I was wrong about you, I’d end up alone.”
I bit my bottom lip, tears stinging my eyes.
“I’m so sorry, and I swear that if you can forgive me, I’ll never not have
your back again.” One side of his mouth quirked up in something that
wasn’t quite a smile. “I’ll even write that Superman vs. Captain America
fanfiction with you.”
My heart gave an unsteady thump as I remembered our constant debate
about writing a story featuring a fight between Superman and Captain
America. I’d been for it. Ethan had insisted it would be boring because they
were both too nice.
“I love you, Amelia, and I want you back in my life.”
Even though I guessed it was coming, I was still half-surprised when
Ryan took the mic.
“Words aren’t my thing,” he said. “But I’ll write you a whole damn book
about how sorry I am and how much I love you if it’ll get you back.”
A tear spilled over and ran down my cheek. Other people might not
understand what that meant, but I’d watched him struggle for years,
thinking he was stupid.
“We want you back,” Ryan continued, changing from the singular to a
plural without looking even a bit embarrassed about it. Anyone who hadn’t
understood it before definitely got it now. “And to show you how much, we
kinda put something together for you.”
Music started to play, and it was familiar music, but it took me until Ryan
sang the first line to realize what it was.
“‘Come my love…”
My hands covered my mouth in shock as these three popular athletes
sang me the love song from The Princess Bride. Behind and around me, I
could hear people reacting—mostly positively—but I didn’t care. When we
were kids, they’d chosen football over me, and now they were disrupting
the most important game of the season, risking people being pissed at them,
to publicly apologize, own their wrongs, and show me how much I meant to
them.
As they finished, Ethan handed off the mic to one of the other guys and
all three men came over to stand right in front of me. Their expressions
were open books and I read everything I could ever want on their faces.
“I love you too,” I said, leaning forward to get closer to them. “And I
forgive you.”
As Ethan beamed and Logan closed his eyes in relief, Ryan took my face
between his hands and kissed me. The contact was brief, but held the
promise of more to come. By the time he pulled back, Ethan was there, and
then Logan. I kissed all three of my men and didn’t care what anyone else
thought.
“Now go play your best,” I said. “And be careful. I want to celebrate
later.”
Grinning from ear to ear, Ethan and Ryan ran to get their helmets, while
Logan lingered.
“How did you get your coach to let you guys do this?” I asked.
Logan shrugged. “I told him it was the only way Ethan and Ryan would
be able to concentrate on the game.”
“And the other team?”
Logan grinned. “Their coach is a huge Princess Bride fan.”
I laughed, then leaned down to press a kiss to Logan’s forehead. “Get
over there with your team, and I’m going back to my seat. I’ll see you after
we win.”
As Megan and I returned to our seats, I knew I’d be the center of
attention for a while longer, but now I didn’t care. If we could work through
this, we could work through anything, and that meant we’d never have to go
through anything alone ever again.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Thirty-Eight

Amelia

T heguaranteeing
game was a fantastic one, and we came out of it with a win,
that the party the team was throwing would be one to
remember, but there were four of us who wouldn’t be going to that party.
Instead, my guys and I were going back to their place to have our own
private celebration.
After we all showered. At least, I told them that was why I needed to stop
at my room for a few minutes. I did shower, but the main reason I didn’t go
straight to their place was the surprise I put on under my comfy sweats. I’d
bought it while they were at those away games and I’d shoved it back into
my dresser after things had gone to hell. Now, I was glad I hadn’t gotten rid
of it.
Using the new key Logan had slipped into my pocket—they’d changed
the locks after Megan told them about Jason having a key—I entered the
apartment to find Logan on the couch and Ethan leaning against the back of
it, both of them only wearing gray sweatpants.
“Fuck me,” I said softly.
But apparently not soft enough.
“Oh, we plan to.” Ethan grinned at me. “Come on, Ryan’s just finishing
up because it was his turn to help this idiot.”
Logan flipped Ethan off and then took the offered hand to get to his feet.
Or rather, foot.
“Are you okay to be…you know?” I asked.
 “My cock works just fine.” Logan winked at me. “And I’ll be happy to
prove it.”
“Don’t worry,” Ethan jumped in. “We worked out the logistics while we
were waiting.”
We made our way back to Ryan’s bedroom just as he came out of the
bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. His eyes heated the moment
he saw me, and he took a step in my direction. When I held up a hand, he
looked confused, but stopped.
“I wanted to get a shower, but I went back to my room to get something
else too.” I pulled my shirt over my head and then yanked off my
sweatpants, tossing both in the general direction of Ryan’s desk chair.
“Holy shit,” Ryan muttered, his eyes wide.
Logan sank down on the edge of the bed, the bright blue of his irises
darkening with arousal.
“As much as I like you naked, I think you should keep that on, at least for
the first round,” Ethan said, his gaze raking up and down my body with a
weight I could practically feel.
I’d never liked the really fancy lingerie, which made this perfect. Sexy,
but not elaborate. Dark blue sheer lace made up the tiny pair of panties and
matching corset-style top, the latter of which displayed my breasts with
more cleavage than I’d ever had. Criss-crossed ribbon went from the top to
the bottom, the bow settling an inch above my belly button. Another set of
ribbons ran down either side and they actually tied to the sides of my
panties with bows that could easily come undone.
“Turn around,” Logan said hoarsely.
With a pleased smile, I did as he asked, slowly turning in front of them so
they could see it from every angle, including the fact that the panties barely
covered any of my ass. By the time I was facing them again, Logan had
pushed himself further back on the bed so his legs stretched out in front of
him as he half-reclined on a pile of pillows.
And his hand was already in his pants, moving over the considerable
bulge there. Desire twisted my stomach and I wet my lips, already
imagining the feel of him slipping into my mouth.
“On the bed,” Logan instructed, gesturing to the space between his legs.
“You’re gonna suck me off for a bit, get me nice and wet, while the guys
get you ready.”
He paused, clearly waiting for me to ask the question.
 I didn’t disappoint. “Ready for what?”
Hands slid around my waist, calloused fingers skimming over the smooth
skin of my stomach. Ryan’s voice was low as he answered, the sound
rumbling through me.
“You’re going to take two of us at the same time.” He pressed his lips to
the side of my neck and I tilted my head to give him better access.
Ethan took up the explanation from there. “Logan’s going to fuck your
ass nice and slow while Ryan and I take your pussy.”
Butterflies took flight in my stomach at the picture Ethan’s words
painted. Of course I’d thought about it before. No one seriously considered
dating three men at the same time without having that particular scenario
running through their mind at one point or another.
I nodded, knowing they wouldn’t go forward with their plan if I didn’t
want it.
“Now, be a good girl and get on the bed,” Ryan instructed.
I turned my head for a quick kiss and then did as I was told, purposefully
putting a little extra swing in my step. I smiled as I heard both Ryan and
Ethan swear, and then I focused all my attention on Logan. Going down on
my hands and knees as soon as I climbed onto the end of the bed, I crawled
toward him.
Now close enough to touch him, I reached out to the waistband of his
sweats and eased them down enough to free his erection. The thick shaft
rested on his stomach, a bead of precum already at the tip. I tucked the
elastic under his balls, brushing my fingers over that softest of skin before
trailing up from base to crown. Logan moaned as I wrapped my hand
around him, pulling his cock away from him to allow me to get my mouth
on it.
Flicking out my tongue, I captured that bit of moisture at the head, then
swirled my tongue around the crown, savoring the taste of soap and salt and
him. I’d thought I had lost this forever and I didn’t intend to take a single
second of my time for granted.
As I took the first inch of him between my lips, I felt the bed dip behind
me and then two sets of hands were moving over my legs and up my thighs.
I concentrated as best I could on the flesh in my mouth, lowering my head
to take a little more, but as those exploring hands progressed to my ass and
down under to my breasts, it became more difficult. Fingers teased my
nipples through the sensual slide of silk against skin until the sensitive flesh
pebbled.
And then someone eased aside the small bit of fabric covering my most
private bits, and I moaned at the gentle touch of a tongue. Whichever of the
men had their mouth on me licked over and between my folds, dipping into
my pussy before shifting to tease my clit, all from a brand-new angle. Then
that mouth was somewhere else and I tried to gasp, but Logan flexed his
hips and pushed his cock just a bit deeper. Even that wasn’t enough to
distract me from the decidedly odd feeling of a tongue at my anus.
“Do you like what Ryan’s doing?” Logan asked, pushing back some hair
that had escaped from the messy knot I’d quickly pulled it all into. “Do you
like being rimmed?”
A shiver went through me at his words, and all three men laughed, the
vibration moving from them to me wherever our bodies connected.
While Ryan pressed his tongue, and then a finger, into my ass, I worked
on getting Logan as slick as possible. Both of those things, as well as
Ethan’s attention on my breasts, had my pussy wet with very little direct
attention, something that made Ethan grin when he pushed a finger inside
me.
“She’s already nice and wet for you, Ry,” Ethan said.
The two men moved their fingers inside me, the digits both much smaller
than their cocks, but the feel of them in two different places sent a wave of
new sensations over me. I made a sound that had Logan cursing as he used
my hair to pull my head up. The sting in my scalp helped draw my focus
away from the slight burn in my ass as Ryan worked in a second finger, this
one slippery enough to tell me that he’d added some lube.
“As much as I like the idea of watching you swallow my load, we have
plans. The other will have to wait.” Logan swiped his thumb along my
bottom lip. “You almost done back there, Ryan?”
“What do you think, Lia?” Ryan asked as he twisted his fingers,
stretching me.
I nodded, the mounting fire inside me desperate for an outlet.
“Let’s get you in position then,” Ethan said as he withdrew his finger.
I made a displeased noise that turned into a whimper when Ryan pulled
his fingers out too. I’d gone from having a part of each of them inside me to
being completely empty and I didn’t like it.
 I didn’t have time to complain though. Before I’d even fully processed
what was coming, Ryan had me turned around and straddling Logan’s lap.
With Ethan helping me balance and Logan guiding his cock, it was
surprisingly easy for them to lower me right where they wanted me.
As the tip breached me, I bit my bottom lip, nails digging into Ryan’s
shoulder and Ethan’s forearm. I let out a breath slowly, my world narrowed
down to the discomfort of Logan’s thick cock in my ass. He might’ve had
the thinnest dick of the three men, but it was still above average, stretching
that part of my body in a way I still wasn’t used to.
“You okay, baby?” Ethan asked.
I nodded, my eyes closing as Logan filled me completely. “Just takes a
little getting used to.”
I took a few slow, deep breaths and relaxed as best I could.
“You’re so fucking tight,” Logan ground out, his hands settling on my
hips.
“She’s gonna get tighter in a minute.”
Ethan’s words had me opening my eyes. He knelt in front of me now, his
pants long gone and his cock hard as a rock. He stroked himself with one
hand while the other started making soothing circles on my thigh. His touch
and natural easygoing nature helped me relax even more, drawing a sigh of
relief from Logan.
“Not that your ass doesn’t feel fucking amazing,” Logan said, “but if
you’d squeezed me any tighter, I would’ve been done.”
“Incentive to keep working out with us even if you’re not playing,” Ethan
said with a grin. “You get too out of shape and you’ll need me and Ryan’s
help satisfying our woman.”
Our woman.
I liked the sound of that.
I didn’t get the chance to think about it for too long because Ethan leaned
forward, pressing the head of his dick against the entrance to my pussy, and
all coherent thoughts flew away. With my legs spread wide to let me put my
feet on either side of Logan’s legs, I should’ve been completely open to
Ethan, but at the moment he first entered me, I understood just what this
was going to do to me.
My body stretched naturally, but I wasn’t a very big person, and these
were two massive cocks. Having one already inside me while the other was
being worked into my other channel was like nothing I’d ever felt before.
 I dug my nails into Logan’s wrists in an attempt to dispel the
overwhelming sense of being too much, too full, too everything. There was
pain, but after the initial shock, the pressure and friction against internal
walls filled with screaming nerves had pleasure overpowering that pain.
Drowning it. Owning it.
Pleasure made pain its bitch, and by the time Ethan was fully seated
inside me, I was coming. I cried out, my body going completely stiff,
muscles clamping down on both men’s dicks until they shook with the
effort to keep from following.
Only once I started coming down did my muscles go limp and give them
the chance to start moving. Carefully, they each made shallow thrusts, with
Logan mostly using his arms and Ethan helping to control things. As my
body adjusted, I started to move too, and the three of us found a rhythm that
felt a lot like the dance we had shared that night at the bar.
The thought had me looking for Ryan.
He hadn’t gone far, settling against the wall so he could lean against it
while he watched us, his towel gone and his thick cock in his hand. The
contentment in his eyes, more than his obvious arousal, told me that he was
enjoying himself as much as the rest of us were. He wasn’t being left out.
He truly liked to watch.
So we gave him a show. Three bodies moving in a perfect, primal dance,
driving toward the same goal. At some point, Ethan started moving faster,
pushing himself harder, and Logan went still, holding my body tightly
down on his while Ethan thrust into me with that intense urgency he rarely
showed.
“I love you, Amelia,” he said just before he slammed his mouth down on
mine and buried himself deep.
His words as much as the physical action had me tipping over the edge
again and this time, he went with me. While Ethan’s cock pulsed inside me,
Logan cursed beneath me, his muscles trembling as he fought for control.
And then Ethan was gone, sliding from me as he dropped down beside us.
I didn’t have a chance to mourn the loss because Ryan was right there,
smoothly sliding into me with one single stroke. Still sensitive, I came
again, this time reaching for Ryan, wanting to mark him with my nails the
way I knew I’d already marked Logan and Ethan. Even if no one ever saw
the marks, I’d know they were there, that I’d claimed these men as mine.
 Ryan’s eyes met mine and I knew he understood. Our gazes stayed locked
as Ryan started a new dance, a new rhythm, but one that Logan and I found
easily enough. Even though I kept my eyes on Ryan, Logan’s presence
didn’t fade. He sat up, his lips moving over my neck as he whispered the
filthiest things in my ear. Telling me all the ways they’d take me. The things
they’d teach me.
And mixed in with those promises were the sweet ones. The declarations
of love. Promises of a future. Commitment. Family. Love.
And it was those words of love that made the sensations become too
much for him, and he came. The feeling of his cock pulsing in my ass was
all I needed. My climax exploded through me, shattering me even as the
arms around me held me together. I gave myself over to it, knowing that my
men would keep me safe. I floated on that bliss, knowing I was loved.
Always.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Thirty-Nine

OceanofPDF.com
 Epilogue

L ogan
“I can’t believe it’s finally here,” Amelia said as she nervously
smoothed down her skirt for the tenth time in as many minutes.
I reached over and grabbed her hands, holding them still. “Relax.
Everything’s going to be fine.”
She looked around at the other guests, most of whom were older than us.
As in, old enough to be our parents. Because that’s what the majority of
them were. The parents of the potential NFL draft picks. There were a few
girlfriends and wives, even a couple siblings, but there definitely wasn’t
anyone like us.
What Ryan, Ethan, and I had done at our playoff game had gone viral,
making the four of us quite the celebrities on and off campus. It’d definitely
overshadowed Jason’s appeal of his expulsion getting denied. Apparently,
he’d left Fort Collins in disgrace, heading back to his parents where he was
working behind the scenes on his father’s latest political campaign. The
cheating and revenge porn scandal had followed him—thanks to a reporter
who may or may not have been tipped off by Megan—and it didn’t look
good for his dad’s career.
Megan, however, was doing well. After graduation last week, she’d
headed back to her home state to the promise of a job as a second-grade
teacher. I had to admit—at first, I’d been surprised at how Amelia had
forgiven the other woman, but then I remembered how she’d forgiven us,
and it didn’t seem so strange.
 Still, I was glad to have all the school stuff behind us. Thanks to some
strike of some kind, the draft had been pushed back from its usual end of
April time slot, which meant we all got to graduate first. If the draft had
come first, there would’ve been tons of people at graduation trying to get
Ethan’s and Ryan’s attention. While they had dealt with people asking about
the draft, we were able to keep the interruptions to a minimum and
celebrate our academic achievements, focusing mostly on Amelia’s
honors…and the fact that she got into the graduate program.
“You’re absolutely sure that Ryan’s mom was okay with me being his
guest instead of her?” Amelia whispered the question as a silver-haired man
walked onto the stage to announce the beginning of the draft.
I nodded. “She’s not a fan of big crowds so she talked it over with Ryan
and he wanted her at graduation more.”
Amelia still seemed skeptical, but we didn’t talk about it anymore
because it was time for the first-round draft pick by the Denver Broncos.
“In the first round, the Denver Broncos pick defensive lineman, Ryan
Thompson from Colorado State University.”
Amelia let out a stifled squeal and threw her arms around me as Ryan
came out onto the stage. He found us almost immediately and smiled, relief
mixed in with the pride and joy in his eyes.
Denver picking him wasn’t a surprise, but that didn’t stop how happy we
all were about it. With Amelia getting accepted into the CSU graduate
program, the three of us had decided that we’d do whatever we could to
stay as close to her as possible.
Which was why, after we were done here, I’d share my own news.
The Broncos were going to be my home too. I did my last interview
yesterday morning and accepted their official offer to be one of their
trainers. Not the head trainer, of course. I’d have to work my way up. But
I’d gotten my foot in the door.
Now we just had to wait to find out where Ethan was going and hope it
was fairly close too. Well, that and hope that the Broncos kept Ryan. The
chances of him being traded were slim, but not impossible. Based on the
way Amelia squeezed my hand, I knew her excitement was laced with the
same anxiety as mine.
It was going to be a long day.
And it was, but in the end, it was a good day too. Great, actually, because
Ryan stayed with the Broncos and Ethan signed with them too. The moment
it officially ended and the guys came over to where Amelia and I waited, I
knew it was time to solidify our future. Because that’s what she was. Our
future.
After a few minutes of hugging and congratulations, it was time for me to
make my announcement, not because I wanted to upstage the other two
guys, but because it would let them know that our tentative plans could go
forward now. And none of us wanted to waste a single minute of this.
“Seems like Denver is the place to be,” I said with a grin.
Ethan and Ryan knew about my interviews, so they immediately knew
what I meant and their expressions brightened even more than they already
were. Amelia, however, just looked confused.
“I had a final interview for a job yesterday,” I said. “And the Broncos
offered me a position as a trainer.”
Her eyes widened and she threw her arms around me. “That’s wonderful!
I’m so glad you guys get to be together.”
Over Amelia’s head, I looked at Ryan first and then at Ethan. They both
nodded, letting me know that they wanted me to start the conversation we’d
talked about having with her if things went our way.
“We really hoped that would be how things would go,” I said as she took
a step back. “Because there’s this house we’ve been looking at. Just in case,
you know?”
“That’s great.” Her smile stiffened a bit. “I mean, it’ll suck not having
you guys right near the school, but I’m glad you’re going to get a place
together.”
“The thing about this house,” Ethan said, brushing her hair back over her
shoulder. “It’s a little bit of a commute from Denver…and from Fort
Collins.”
She frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“We want to buy a house halfway between Fort Collins and Denver so the
four of us can live in it together,” Ryan explained.
“You want us to move in together?” Her expression was impossible to
read.
“I know it sounds like we’re rushing things,” I said, “but when you look
at how long we’ve actually known each other, it’s been a long time
coming.”
She raised an eyebrow, but her lips twitched in that way they did when
she was trying not to laugh.
 “And one more thing,” Ethan said. “Ryan and I are going to use some of
the money from our signing bonuses to pay for your graduate degree.”
She shook her head. “That’s too much.”
“Look at it as us being selfish,” Ryan suggested. “If we pay for your
classes and you live with us, you could just tutor and have enough money
for anything you need.”
“And that means more time with us,” Ethan finished.
None of us said that we fully intended to make this a true partnership
between the four of us and combine all of our income. That was a
conversation for another time. Preferably after we’d made her senseless
with orgasms.
“We’re going to have a conversation about the details,” she said after a
moment. “Because this isn’t going to be you three taking care of me all the
time.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Ethan said. “Besides, I like when you take care
of me.” He wiggled his eyebrows, making her laugh.
“Okay,” she said, her smile stretched wide.
“Okay to what?” I asked, needing to hear her say it specifically before I
accepted it.
“Okay to moving in together. Okay to the help with school. Just as long
as you promise we’ll work out details.”
I grinned, picking her up and spinning her around. “Whatever you want,
Amelia. Whatever you want.”
As soon as I set her down, Ethan took his turn, giving her a deep—and
publicly indecent—kiss, and then she stepped into Ryan’s arms. I could feel
people watching but I didn’t care. These people were my family and I didn’t
give a damn what anyone else thought.
“Now,” she said as she moved back to the center of our group. “What do
you say we go back to our hotel room and celebrate?”
I had only one answer to that question. “I’d say that is the perfect way for
us to end a perfect day.”
And it was.

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 Chapter Forty

Free Preview of Ride or

Dies: A Best Friend's
Brothers Reverse
Harem Romance

I checked my makeup in the rearview mirror even though I’d just looked at
it a minute ago. My stomach was a knot of nerves and excitement as I let
out a slow breath. I’d planned to come back to my hometown for the
wedding of my best friend, Jenna Bradshaw, but I always imagined other
circumstances. The kind where I had a fiancé of my own—or at least a
boyfriend—and maybe a couple awards sitting in the back seat.
“You’ve had eight top ten country songs in five years, three of which held
the number one spot for more than a month,” I reminded myself sternly.
“You’ve had three crossover hits making the top ten, and one that stayed at
number two for six weeks. You’re not a failure just because you don’t have
a man.”
Done with giving myself a talking to, I got out of my car and smoothed
down my favorite sundress. There weren’t many places in Bedford,
Kentucky that had dress codes, and Rocky’s Road Bar definitely wasn’t one
of them, but I still wanted to look nice. It was, after all, the first time I’d
been back in town since I left shortly after graduation.
I put on my best smile and started up the sidewalk, telling myself that
everything was going to be fine. This was a birthday party for my best
friend’s fiancée. All of the attention was going to be on the happy couple.
I’d fly right under the radar, and I doubted anyone would even notice I was
here.
Suddenly, the door to the bar slammed open as a body flew out and hit
the porch railing before flipping over and landing in a giant bush with
wicked-looking thorns. I winced in sympathy, but it was just a flash,
because an angry sort of laughter had me turning to look back at the
doorway.
I caught my breath as three men came out onto the porch.
The first was over six feet tall and solid muscle. Arms that were almost as
big around as my legs and covered with tattoos. A black t-shirt stretched
across a massive chest. Dark brown hair and scruff on familiar features. Too
familiar.
No. Fucking. Way.
I looked to the second man, as if that would tell my brain I was mistaken.
This one was a little taller, maybe an inch, but just as broad, with dark
auburn hair that was longer than the last time I’d seen it. The third man was
lean, but I could see the clear cut of his muscles under his t-shirt. His
golden blond hair was the same, and he was still shorter than the other two
by an inch or so, but the moment I laid eyes on him, I knew I hadn’t been
wrong.
Levi, Mason, and Tucker Bradshaw.
The banes of my childhood and adolescence.
And, oh, the naughty fantasies I’d had about all three of those men.
They hadn’t seen me yet. Their attention was fixed on the man trying to
get himself out of the bush.
“I’m gonna call the cops,” he sputtered.
“You’re not gonna do anything but fuck off,” Levi said, his voice even
despite the anger on his face.
“You can’t—”
“We can.” This time it was Mason who spoke, and his voice was the same
rumble that I remembered.
The same rumble that made my insides twist in a way I hadn’t felt in
years.
Five years, to be exact.
“You’re not welcome here.” Tucker’s dark brown eyes sparked with an
anger I’d seen before.
 “It’s a free country.” The man was on his feet, but he didn’t try to come
back up onto the porch. “I can go where I want and say what I want.”
“Not when you’re slinging homophobic shit at my sister and her fiancée,”
Mason warned, taking another step forward. “You’re just lucky we don’t
want to get blood all over when we’re trying to have a party.”
“Try to come back and we’ll deal with the cleanup,” Levi warned.
The man stared at the three Bradshaw brothers and then decided to be
smart. He walked away, trying to look casual about it, but the brown stain
on the back of his pants made me laugh.
Three sets of eyes turned my way and my stomach flipped, a new set of
butterflies taking off. Heat licked over my skin as I watched their gazes run
down my body and up again. Then I watched as they realized who I was.
Levi’s light blue eyes went from flame to ice, and his mouth flattened
into a hard line, making him look more dangerous than the tattoos did.
Knowing he was president of the Thunder Riders Motorcycle Club only
added to the image.
The desire in Mason’s eyes shifted from something primal into the lighter
humor I’d always known from him. Even when he was a total jackass, there
was that spark of laughter, as if he just couldn’t help himself.
And Tucker. Three years older than Jenna and me, he was the closest in
age to us, but he’d still been untouchable. The warmth in his dark brown
eyes made me wonder if he remembered all the times he’d picked on me,
done the sort of shit that’d made my crush on him that much more painful.
All of this flashed through my mind in seconds, and then Mason was
bounding down the steps to where I was still standing.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t little Evelyn Hayes, all grown up.” He grinned
as he circled me. When he let out a low whistle, my cheeks flamed. “You
sure do fill out that dress way better than you did as a kid.”
“Hey, Mason.” I was shocked to hear my voice sounded normal.
“I see how it is,” Tucker said as he strolled down to where Mason and I
stood. “Just standing around, letting the three of us take out the trash.”
“You seemed like you could handle it.”
Mason smirked at me. “Oh, Miss Hayes, you have no idea what we can
handle.”
“I’ve heard you handle yourself more than anyone else,” Tucker said.
Mason flipped his brother off without taking his eyes off me. “At least I
have something worth handling, little brother.”
 Tucker’s ears turned red, and I felt a surge of affection at how someone
who was definitely all man now still had a bit of the teenager I’d known.
“That’s not what your girlfriend said last night,” Tucker shot back.
My eyebrows shot up. “Mason, you have a girlfriend? Don’t tell me
you’ve traded in your manwhore ways.”
He put his hand on his chest. “You wound me, Evie. Really. Wound me.”
I was surprised at how easy it was to fall back into the way I’d bantered
with the guys when we were younger.
Well, most of them.
“I’m impressed.” Levi finally spoke, and I gathered my courage to look
up at him. His expression was unreadable. “I really didn’t expect the Queen
of Country to take time out of her precious schedule to come back here.”
I ground my teeth together, hating that physical jolt of desire that hit
when I looked at him, no matter how pissed his comment made me. And the
worst part was, this wasn’t anything new. Mason and Tucker had been
assholes to me at times when we were growing up, but it wasn’t all the
time. Levi, however, never cracked a smile when I was around. Unless he
was making fun of me, of course.
And that had still never stopped my treacherous heart from wanting to
leap out of my chest whenever he looked my way. Based on how it was
pounding against my rib cage, it seemed like that hadn’t changed. All of the
Bradshaw brothers were hot, but there was something about the edge Levi
carried with him that kept drawing me to him, even when he said shit like
that to me.
Something else that hadn’t changed was the way that, the moment Levi
spoke, Mason and Tucker took a step back, their playful teasing replaced by
something sharper. Something their brother would be more likely to
approve of.
While my brain attempted to come up with a witty response, I tried to
pretend that hearing Mason and Tucker laugh at Levi’s comment didn’t
sting.
“Levi Bradshaw!”
The voice came from behind him, but it didn’t stay there. A second later,
a tall, slender figure moved around him, those light blue eyes, so much like
his, snapping with irritation. Completely ignoring the fact that he could
probably snap her in half if he wanted to, she poked him in the chest.
 “Behave yourself.” She spoke to this massive biker the way only his baby
sister could, and it was something I’d always loved about her.
Then she turned to me and beamed. Squealing with excitement, she ran
my way, arms wide. “You’re here! I’m so happy you’re here!”
The instant her arms closed around me, all of the stress and anxiety I’d
been feeling faded into the background. I closed my eyes and hugged her
back, the scent of her coconut body lotion taking me right back through the
years. She hadn’t changed much physically, with her strawberry blonde hair
and perfect skin, but it was good to know that the years hadn’t changed who
she was either.
I’d come home for a few reasons, but this right here was the main one.
Jenna had been my ride or die since we were twelve, and I needed that solid
foundation right now.
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