Damon chokes on his water, coughing violently, which draws the rest of the guys over.
“What happened?” Chris asks, glancing around to make sure no one else is listening.
I drag a hand down my face, well aware that I’ve just opened Pandora’s box and already regretting it. “Tate broke up with Ethan Friday night at Bradd’s.”
“Well, that explains why he was sitting with his friends at the bar looking like someone pissed in his beer,” Jace says. “So, what happened?”
“I walked her back to her dorm room,” I continued, lowering my voice. “I stayed the night, but nothing happened, and then Saturday morning . . . things got intense.”
“Define ‘intense,’” Chris says, with a shit-eating grin.
I take another swig of water, buying time. “We were talking about her relationship with Ethan, about how”—I clear my throat—“unsatisfying it was for her.”
“You mean he sucked in bed,” Damon translates.
“That,andshe was completely wasted out of her mind the one time they were together,” I say, squeezing the water bottle in my hands until my knuckles turn white.
At first, nobody speaks. The gym is alive with shouts and clanging weights, but within the little circle we’ve formed at the edge of the water station, there’s a sudden, gaping silence.
“Wait.” Jace frowns. “It wasn’t the night . . .?”
“Of the Sigma Alpha party? Yep,” I say, popping thepfor emphasis, because it’s either that or put my fist through a wall. “Her first time was with that manipulative piece of shit while she was so drunk she could barely walk.”
The guys fall silent, their expressions darkening as my words sink in.
“Shit,” Damon mutters, shaking his head.
“Damn, man,” Chris says, and I can feel the rage building inside me again, that same white-hot fury that consumed me when she first told me.
“I always knew I hated that asshole, but this . . .” I slam my water bottle down on the bench. “This is a whole different level. I want to break his fucking face.”
“Again, you mean,” Chris says with a smirk.
“Only this time, I probably wouldn’t stop.” I exhale through my nose, shaking my head. “But I promised Tate I’d let it go and stay away from him.”
West nods. “What’s important is that they’re over, and she’s okay.”
“Wait, rewind,” Damon says, wiping the sweat from his brow as we head back into the weight room. “So, she broke up with him, you went back to her place, and then you just randomly hooked up the next morning?”
“Sort of. But that’s not even the craziest part,” I mumble, raking a hand through my hair.
“Dude, we’ve got two fucking minutes until Coach Wilson blasts our asses again,” Jace says, glancing toward him. “Spit it the fuck out.”
“She asked me to sleep with her.”
Damon’s eyes bug out. Chris’s jaw hangs slack for a beat, while West and Jace stare at me like I just spoke another language.
“She propositioned you?” Chris asks. “What the fuck does this mean? Did she finally come to her senses and realize she has feelings for you? We need fucking context, man!” he nearly shouts.
“Lower your voice, dumbass,” I hiss, catching a couple heads turn our way. “That selfish asshole ruined her first time, and I think she just . . .” I trailed off, unsure of how to put it in a way the guys will understand.
“Wants a do-over?” West asks, his brow creasing.
“Yeah.” I shrug. “Since she had no prior experience to reference, she’s worried she was the reason it sucked. And she wants to try it again with someone who has her best interests at heart, someone whom she can trust explicitly.”
“So,” Chris scratches his head, “she is into you, or she’s not?”
I groan, dragging a hand over my face. “She made it very clear she still sees me as her best friend. In fact, she used that as the reason to cite for why it would work so perfectly,” I say, unable to keep the bitter edge from my tone.
