“I smell bullshit,” she says. Ugh. This is just what I feared. “You want to keep them all for yourself.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Mmm…” she murmurs again suspiciously.
“Look, we better get to class.” I glance at my watch to emphasize the point. If we don’t get moving, the lecturer is going to be pissed. I start to try and join the throng of students walking into the building and Danna sticks by my side.
“This isn’t over, Laura,” she says with mock threat. “If I have to pull your teeth out to get you talk, I will. Didn’t your mom ever tell you that sharing is caring?”
“We’d be happy to share you,” a voice shouts from behind. I turn and see the most obnoxious boy in my classes laughing with his mate.
“Fuck off, Connor,” I shout, which is followed by a ‘wooo’ sound from all the students around us.
“You know you need some cock, Laura,” he shouts. “Wipe that sour look off your face.”
“Yeah, well. I’ve heard you’re pretty small in that department,” Danna says, wiggling her pinky in the air like a maggot.
The ‘wooos’ are now peppered with laughter.
Connor’s friend is laughing and Connor’s face is burning red. “Want me to show you what I got, bitch?” he says, his teeth gritted.
“No thanks,” Danna responds. “I don’t have my magnifying glass with me.”
We’re outside the lecture hall by this point so we hurry in and take our usual seats, quickly unpacking and avoiding looking at where Connor goes to sit. As long as he isn’t behind me, I’m okay.
“That guy is such a dick,” Danna says.
“Yeah, he is but you don’t want to make him angry,” I say. “You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
Danna rolls her eyes. “Connor is a pussy.”
“That’s what people think about a lot of serial killers before they find out that they chopped up twenty women and fed them to pigs.” I look around and spot Connor on the other side of the hall, eyes narrowed in our direction. “Enemies are hard to shake, you know. Especially ones like Connor who like everybody to think they are something special.”
“Fuck Connor and his small dick. Guys like that need to be taken down a peg or two so they get to understand that they aren’t anything special.”
I’ve known Danna for long enough to understand that I just need to shut up now. There’s no convincing her once she’s gotten something like this into her head. I just hope she takes some of what I’ve said on board. The last thing I’d want to see is her getting hurt by a douchebag like Connor, and there are many ways a man can hurt a woman.
The lecturer appears and we get through the next hour frantically typing our notes out. I’m so glad I don’t have to write much. My handwriting is atrocious when I need to go fast and there is no point in having notes if you can’t read them yourself!
As we’re packing up, Danna is gives me the side-eye. “You need to tell me what’s going on, girl. I know there’s something. You’re so damned clammed up.”
“It’s nothing. Seriously.”
“You fucked one of them didn’t you?”
I turn to her, shocked that her mind would go that far. “What?” I stutter.
“Your cheeks are turning red, Laura. You did, didn’t you? Which one was it? Casey? Blake? Ford?”
“Stop it,” I say quickly.
“Ford. That’s it. You think you can hide this kind of thing from me but what you’re forgetting is that I’ve been with you on this fucked up journey called life for long enough to know all of your tells. Why didn’t you want to say anything? Was it bad? Did something happen?”
“No,” I say quickly. The last thing I want her to think is that Ford is a bad guy. That is so far from the truth that it almost hurts to think it.
“So it was good?”
“Danna...” I say. I just don’t know what to say next.
“Yes. That’s my name, don’t wear it out. You don’t have to tell me the details, Laura. I’ve seen that guy shirtless in pictures on the internet. He has a body to die for and a face that would make angels weep. If you got him to stick his dick in you, I’m surprised you’re even able to walk today. But I want you to know I’m hurt. I’m very hurt that you got to do something so fucking amazing and you don’t want to share the details with your bestie.”
“It’s not that,” I say. “It’s… The guilt is eating me up. She’s right. I should be sharing everything with her. The joy and the pain of life. That’s what our trusted friends are for. It’s just my own anxious feelings of shame that are holding me back. “I did. . .okay.”
“Well excuse me while my head explodes. Is that why your phone was off? You were so busy fucking your new stepbrother that you didn’t even have the energy to take a call.”
“No…well, kind of.”
“Shit. I can’t even look at you the same. It’s like you just told me you climbed Everest or something. Ford McGregor is a god.”
I burst out laughing, imagining what Ford would say if he heard Danna’s comments. “He’s just a man, Danna. A really nice, very sexy, man.”
“Is he hung?” she asks. “I bet he is. I bet he’s got the dick Connor wishes he had.”
“TMI,” I laugh.
“No such thing as TMI, baby,” she says, sliding her laptop into her bag and packing up her folder. “The stuff you call TMI is the stuff we’ll be laughing about together when we’re in our forties.”
“Women in their forties don’t laugh about dirty sex,” I say, thinking about my mom with her friends and getting grossed out.
Danna put’s her hands on her hips. “Of course they do. What do you think they talk about? Botox and recipes?”
“Pretty much,” I say shuddering at the alternative. Are Mom’s friends asking her for details on the size of Roderick’s cock? If his sons are anything to go by, I’d say there is a pretty good chance that my mom struck lucky but that very thought makes me vomit a little in my mouth. “Can we stop talking about this? Our moms are in their forties.”
“Oh my god. My mom talks sex to her friends all the time. Stop being such a prude, Laura.”
Damn. If only she knew just how unprudish I became this weekend, I think her head might explode.
“You got another class?” I ask her.
“Nah. I’m gonna head over to the library. I’m thinking about getting ahead on this essay so that I don’t have to do anything tonight.”
“That’s a good idea,” I say. “I’ll come with you.” If I’m going to be posing for Donnie later, it’ll be good for me to get a bit more organized.
We stroll across to the building which houses the library. It’s one of my favorite places; the quiet stops my head spinning and the musty smell of books reminds of me of fun times with my mom, sitting in the reading corner of our local library.
There’s a study area on the second floor so we head up there. All the while, Danna is probing for more details. I end up telling her quite a lot because not sharing the details is starting to make me look more suspicious. She shrieks at my fishing story and the even more when I let slip that Ford’s cock has a nickname all its own.
“Was it really that big?” she whispers really loudly. A few heads at adjacent tables turn slightly, ears straining.
“He has a reputation for good reason, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Spoil sport,” she says, shaking her head as though she considers me to be a huge disappointment.
I look at her over the screen of my laptop. “What do you want me to do? Show you using my hands?”
“Yes,” she nods furiously. “I want to see full on visual descriptions.”
I roll my eyes but can’t help laughing. She looks like an over enthusiastic puppy. “That’s not very classy,” I say. “I could end up marrying him and then you’d know the size of my husband’s manhood.”
“Marriage? Who said anything about getting married? Oh yeah, that’s right. You!” Danna p
oints at me with wide eyes. “Damn, that man must have some magic in his boxers to get you talking marriage after one fuck.”
“Can you just concentrate on your work?” I hiss. “What’s the point of coming to the library so we can have a conversation in a place we aren’t even supposed to be talking?”
Danna narrows her eyes at me again. Wagging her finger, she says, “Don’t you think you’re getting out of this that easily. We will work now and gossip later. I’m going to drop you back to the McMansion after last class and I want to hear it all.”
I turn my attention back to my assignment but my mind isn’t focusing. I’ve told Danna a tenth of the story, but she’s not going to be happy with just that. It’s going to take all my resolve to keep my lips fastened shut enough to keep my secrets. I should turn down her lift but I have no alternative method of getting home other than the bus and if I opted to get public transport she’d be even more suspicious. Looks like Danna is coming to the casa McGregor.
I don’t know if I should be laughing nervously or bursting into tears.
19
The journey back the McGregor mansion is fraught for me.
Although I’m pretty certain that no one is going to be revealing anything to Danna, I have no idea how they will all react to me having a friend over. I go over the layout of the house in my head trying to remember which way to go to get to the kitchen.
I also, with a complete rush of mortification, remember what my room looks like. OMG. What is Danna going to say about my pink princess palace. Ugh.
“So, tell me what it’s like living there.”
“Well, they have a big family breakfast at the weekend.”
“Wow, that must take a lot of cooking.”
“They have staff,” I say. “We just sit our lazy asses down and eat.”
“Wow,” Danna says. “You need to make the most of that. Unless you snag one of these brothers or meet another rich dude, at some point you’re going to have to get used to living like the rest of us paupers and making your own pancakes.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Danna. I’ve only been living there a couple of days. I’ve hardly lost touch with my ordinary roots.”
“You better make sure you don’t,” she says. “If you start turning up to class with designer bags and a manicure, I’m going to freak out.”
“You know that shit isn’t me,” I say. “I’ve got my feet firmly on the ground. It just happens to be more expensive ground these days.”
Danna pulls the car up to the gate and presses the buzzer. A man’s voice answers.
“McGregor residence.”
“I’m here with Laura Winters,” she says in a faux-British accent and I practically die with embarrassment.
“Drive right in.”
The gates open in a dramatically slow way and Danna drives the car up to the front of the house.
“I don’t even know what to say about this,” she says, craning her neck to get a view of the very top. “This place is unbelievable.”
“It is pretty awesome,” I agree.
“Well done, Mom, is all I can say. She must be really great in bed for Roderick McGregor to have fallen for her. You know he’s been single for years.”
I shudder at the thought. “Can we stop with mom and sex talk, please?”
I open the car door, stepping out and grabbing my bags from the car. “Thanks…” I start to say, hoping that Danna will get the hint that this is a drop-off situation only, but she’s already out of the car, chatting away.
“Men are simple creatures,” Danna says. “Sex and food are the things that are most important to them. Secondary comes someone to stroke their ego and make their lives easier. If you give them all of that just the way they like it, then you’re in.”
“Is that how it works?” a voice says from behind another parked vehicle.
A head pops around and winks. “Hey, Laura.” It’s one of the C twins. Is it Cameron or Casey? I have no hope of being able to tell them apart. They are seriously identical.
“Hey,” I say.
“Who’s your friend?”
“This is Danna,” I say.
He steps forward and offers his hand. “I’m Casey.”
“Well hello there, Casey,” Danna says. She grins at him like a tiger staring at prey but he seems more amused that intimidated.
“You here to hang out?” Casey asks.
“Well, sure. What are you doing?”
Casey waves at the SUV. “I was just getting something from my truck. Wanna come inside and have a coffee?”
“That was the plan,” Danna says, looking over her shoulder at me and winking. Oh lord. This is going to get interesting.
“Come on then.” Casey begins to stride towards the entrance and Danna is right behind him matching his pace. I’m still struggling to get my bag on my shoulder and shut the car door. Doesn’t seem like Danna is bothered about locking up, but I guess her car is worth around $500 and is next to at least three that are worth over $50,000 so it’s not exactly going to be the first on any thief’s list.
“So, how long have you lived here?” Danna asks.
“Over ten years,” Casey says. “We moved in when I was 15.”
“That must have been quite an experience.”
“Yeah,” Casey smiles. “It was a good day. I mean, we had a nice house before this but we were sharing rooms and doing all our own chores. I don’t want to sound like a lazy prick but it really helps to have people to take on some of the work. Dad keeps us pretty busy.”
“Then how come you’re home so early?” Danna asks. It’s only 4 o’clock so I see her point.
“I was on site at 5:30 am. Finishing at a reasonable hour is one of the perks of getting up at the ass-crack of dawn.”
“I guess,” Danna says. “Although 5:30 am sounds a little early for me.”
“What about you, Laura? Are you a late riser?”
“Not really,” I say. Casey closes the front door behind us and we all stand awkwardly in the hallway. Danna looks up, taking in the sweeping staircase and amazing light fittings. Thankfully she doesn’t make too much of a big deal about it all. If we were alone, I’m sure she’d be squee-ing right now.
“So, you guys wanna hang out in the den?”
“Laura was going to give me a tour,” Danna says, giving me a look that tells me there is no point in me saying any different.
“That’ll be interesting. Do you know your way around yet?” Casey laughs.
“Probably not but I’ll do my best.”
“Okay then. I’ll leave you guys to it and see you in the den if you can find it.”
He strolls off and Danna looks at me with wide eyes. “Oh. My. God,” she gushes. “That is one sexy man.”
“There are two of them,” I say. “His twin is identical.”
“Damn!” She shakes her head. “I’m glad we only bumped into one. I don’t think my ovaries would have survived two at once.”
“Well, your ovaries had better get prepared because they seem to travel as a pair most of the time so I’m sure that Cameron is around here somewhere.”
Danna puts her hand over her heart. “I’m gonna need a vodka tonic to get through this. Please tell me that you have some stashed in your room.”
“I wish,” I say. “To be honest, my room is a bit of a mess. I’ve still got boxes to unpack.”
I start to lead Danna up the stairs and she’s full of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ at all the artwork we pass on the journey. The house is pretty quiet but my heart is beating fast as we reach the floor where my bedroom is. Any of the boys could pop out of a doorway and I’d be like a rabbit in headlights. I know I would be.
I’m almost running down the corridor and Danna is huffing to keep up. I throw open the door to my room and Danna burst out laughing behind me. “Oh my god. I think Barbie threw up in your room, Laura.”
“Don’t start,” I say, throwing my bag on the bed. “I want to say that Roderick didn’t realize
how old I am, but I’m pretty certain he knew I’m an adult woman and he still thought this bubblegum-freak-show would be appropriate. I’m putting it down to the fact that he has no daughters. I think he indulged all his own fantasies in here.”
She spins around, creating a whirly pattern on the soft cream carpet. “Look at that chandelier.”
“I know.”
She drops her purse on the floor and leaps onto my bed, practically bouncing off the other side. “I think I just died and went to five-year-old heaven.”
“I’m not laughing anymore,” I say. I sit on the edge of the bed and toss off my sneakers.
Danna turns over and puts her hands behind her head. “So who’s your nearest roommate?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “I think Elliot’s in one of the nearest, and maybe Antony and Ford.”
“Well, that would be very handy,” she giggles. “You won’t have far to go every time you’re in the mood for a little booty call.”
“We didn’t do it here,” I whisper. “We went up to his cabin.”
“Oh, did you? Very nice. A lovers retreat.”
“It wasn’t like that. It was supposed to be some time away from all the crazy,” I say.
“You’ve only just moved in, Laura. What crazy happened on Saturday that you needed to escape on Sunday?”
“Just some stuff with Mom,” I say, waving my hand as though it was something stupid. “We should get going before the rest of them get back. I don’t want it to look weird that I’m showing people around their house like some kind of realtor-wannabe.”
“I’m sure they’ll be very understanding of your enthusiasm for your new home. They might have money but their dad came from nothing. They know what they have.”
“Maybe, but I’m hungry, too. We need to hunt down snacks.”
Danna wriggles to get off the bed. When she stands, she stretches her arms into the air. “I’m sure that Casey will provide cookies with the coffee. We just need to make our way towards the den.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
We make our way out of the room and I’m scanning the corridors like a person in fear of their life. We find our way to a branch in the corridor and I have no idea which way to go. I hesitate and Danna starts laughing. “Are you lost already?”
10 MEN: A MEGA MENAGE REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE (HUGE SERIES Book 7) Page 17