She was wearing her mic, which I wasn’t. Because I’d forgotten and I had no idea what time it was.
“Not relevant,” I hissed. For heaven’s sake.
“Very much so. Desperate is not a good look, sweetheart. Now. If we get Diane and your sugar daddy set up, then I can free up my bed for the gorgeous girls I intend to snag. If you hadn’t noticed.” She winked. I must have just looked clueless.
“Oh come on,” she huffed. “You can’t be that dumb. Level with me. Us queers need to stick together.”
“I have no idea what you mean,” I said briskly, trying to walk off as she grabbed my arm.
“The new guys who got moved in last night? Did you not notice all the commotion? Two girls, two boys. All queer. Things are about to heat up, baby. Which is why Anne is on the sofa here, because…Yeah. Someone got frisky, and that Thom is hot as fuck. Jorge walked out too, which was great because there were a few of them in his bed. Fun times. But back to Thom, you’d like him. Tall…fit. Arrogant as anything, but yeah. He’ll like you.”
“Wren. No. ButJorge? He walked?”
“Walked straight out, didn’t even say goodbye to Anne here. Well, there was some kind of orgy going on in his bed, so yeah. Didn’t go down well, and Anne wasn’t too impressed either.”
“Oh.”
“But, no stress.” She smiled knowingly. “I intend to have two hot girls in my bed by tonight. Diane needs to have somewhere else to sleep because if I have to put up with her crying in the night again, I’ll blow my fuse. I didn’t come into this to be some kind of therapy person. I’m here to get laid, and so should you be.”
Was I? I…
Because… Crap. Shit. And absolutely not.
I took my cups of tea and fled. Because apparently? I had zero backbone and no idea what I was in for here.
Chapter 9
Peter
Iwas hunched in a corner, peeking through the opening in the door and at the same time trying to awkwardly blend into the wallpaper. I wasn’t quite supposed to be here, eavesdropping on Oliver being grilled by Gina, but I was up next and I was early and…here I was.
“Was it a shock?” Gina asked gently as Oliver was squirming in his seat on the sofa. “I mean, it was very obvious that Peter didn’t feel comfortable with his match. At least not at first.”
“I don’t think either of us was comfortable with the other,” Oliver replied calmly. Impressively skirting what could have been another faux pas. I knew I had said some very stupid things on day one. Today? I was going to learn to control my mouth. Think before I speak. Not like Oliver here, who was laughing at whatever Gina had just said.
“He’s really good for me, I think,” Oliver continued. “Peter is calm in this absolute chaos here. You have noticed the chaos, Gina? I mean? Last night? What was that? Fill me in on the details, doll.”
Now he was winking, and even I was blushing as he leant forward, far too close to Gina’s ample…cleavage.
She was nice, but equally terrifying. On the surface very pleasant, but I was learning to guard my walls here. I had no idea where my loyalties were supposed to lie, apart from.
Damn it.
“So are you saying that Peter could be a possibility for you here?” Gina smiled. “Is calm something you are looking for in a partner?”
“I am looking for calm, of course I am. Loyalty and support are things I value. Don’t we all? We all need that person in our life, the one who we know will have our back, no matter what. That is what my ideal partner would look like.”
Good answer, I thought, standing there staring at him. Then at Gina, who just smirked knowingly.
“I think you like Peter. I think that perhaps there has been an initial surprise connection there. Who knows? I mean, let me ask you this. If you were asked to re-couple today, who would you choose?”
“Peter,” he said without hesitation, as my face flamed.
Then I swallowed, because as that question had been spoken? I had thought the same thing. There was… It was day two, and there was nobody else here I had even considered. But then. We were twenty-four hours in, and Oliver? A friend. A good friend. For now? I wanted to stay with him. Easy. Comfortable.
Uncomplicated.
I just stood there, unable to actually function.
