“Thank you, Combs. You don’t have to do this anymore, though. I have boyfriends now to do that,” I said jokingly, with yet another nervous chuckle, side-eyeing said boyfriends.
Boyfriends who are looking at me with their lips curled at the corners.
Nero’s chest moved under his white shirt, almost like he’s taking a deep breath and steeling himself before I watched his lips move as he said, “I’m not doing this out of habit, C. These aren’t flowers for my best friend anymore. Not like before, no.”
With one glance at the guys on the bench in front of mine—did they just fucking nod at Nero—he then met mine again.
“I’m asking you out on a date.”
21
COSETTE
“What the hell? What the actual hell?!”
“Volume, little vixen.”
I turned on my heel, my fingers still gripping my hair as I looked at him and Dex, the latter just looking at me smugly, leaning back on my mattress with his hands behind him.
Siege, at least, had the decency to look guilty that they didn’t warn me of Nero’s—fucking Nero—plan to ask me out on a date tonight.
“How are you two so chill about this? Actually, no. My question is, why are you goading him on to ask me out?”
I was panicking. For so many reasons.
I’m pretty sure I knew from the day I met Nero that I would be frantic if he ever showed any interest in me. But to do it when I’m already in a relationship? Not that it matters, because my two boyfriends are in on the plan, it seems.
Still. This is nuts.
“We didn’tbegfor him to ask you out, sweetie. Trust me, I’m not so keen on sharing you when you and I are still so new, but it’s not like we can stop the guy. Dude’s got balls. If he wants you that bad, I respect it,” Dex said, shrugging like all of this is totally normal. “I’m not really in the place to stop him when Siege has been generous enough to let me…haveyou.”
I know he meant ‘have me’ in a way that allowed us a relationship, but maybe it was because I was in front of them in nothing but my bra and panties that he’s a little distracted with the other meaning of the word.
“Anyway,” Siege interrupted, side-eyeing Dex at getting distracted as he stood up. “Let’s go back to the task at hand and find you something to wear for your date. Deep breaths.”
I rolled my eyes, letting him cup my face in his huge palms, closing my eyes when he rested his forehead against mine.
Feeling his skin grounded me, my breathing returning to its normal state from before I opened the closet to look for a date outfit.
I was already panicking enough after Nero asked me in the cafeteria. Enough that I didn’t answer him for a good whole minute before I found my voice when Siege’s foot gently nudged mine under the table.
“Sure. Like a friendly date?” was what came out of my mouth that made Nero smile one of his boyish smiles before shaking his head.
“No, a real one,”he’d replied.
“How about this one?” Dex said, apparently standing up from his spot on my bed, pulling me out of the moment from earlier that my mind was replaying.
I opened my eyes, pulling away from Siege before looking at the dress Dex was holding up.
“What’s that?”
“The dress you’re going to wear tonight,” Dex replied, making me scrunch my brows.
“That’s not mine.”
I narrowed my eyes at him as he smirked.
“It is. I bought a few extra dresses that you tried on at the store while you were still in a post-orgasm haze,” Dex said.
