Page 123 of Notorious Park Avenue Prince

“Some of the best sex I’ve had isbecauseI hated that guy.” I walked over to Travis to pour some tequila down his throat. Soothe the jealous ache and all that. “Although hate’s such a strong word.”

“Islooovea better one?” JT said from where he sat on West’s lap. Little Golden Boy looked awfully smug over there.That just wouldn’t do.

“I don’t know what that exactly feels like,” I winked at him. “But maybe.”

JT’s mouth fell open, and that was the perfect opportunity for me to go over and fill it with more liquor.

When he swallowed, I narrowed my eyes on him. “I just want you to know, this group turned soft whenyouturned up.”

JT looked over to the bar, where Preston was all but hanging off Archer, then back to me. “I don’t know.” He bit at West’s jaw line. “I’m pretty sure you all finally got hard for a special someone—or two—when I showed up.”

“No one likes a braggart.” I looked at my best friend, who just grinned at me. “Shut him up, would you? He’s killing my buzz.”

“My pleasure.” West captured his boyfriend’s lips in a wicked kiss, and for the first time ever, I didn’t feel that dry-heaving sensation that usually overcame me at the sight of their love-fest. Instead, my eyes drifted back to where King had his arm around Zac’s waist and was whispering something into his ear, his eyes on me. He winked, and I almost melted into the fucking floor.

“Look,” Donovan said as he perched on the arm of the couch Kelly had taken up residence on. “I know we’ve all been watching our tongues because you’ve been going through…things. But how did this even happen?”

“Who cares?” Travis said, sitting up. “The guy’s been fucking not one buttwoof his professors.”

“Zac is not a professor, dumbass.”

“Well, he’s the professor’s something… I’ve been drinking too much to keep this straight.”

“Teacher’s assistant,” Gavin said, shaking his head. “He used to get up East’s ass all the time about his work.”

“Now he’s up his ass for a different reason.” Daire’s comment was so unlike him that everyone in the lounge looked his way. “What? The joke was right there, assholes.”

“I don’t want to hearjokes,” Travis said, waggling his brows. “I want to hear how it was. I mean, we’re talking King here.King. We need all the dirty details. He’s a total dom, right? At first I thought Zac might be spanking your ass, but after watching the two of you with him, I’m calling it—total fucking dom.”

“Let’s just say”—I swung the bottle in my fingers and shrugged—“King’s the only person I’ll ever letpunishme.”

“I knew it.” Travis grabbed the bottle off me and took a swig.

Caleb snorted. “Of courseyouneed two people to handle you.”

I rolled my eyes, happy to know I still had a like/hate relationship right here whenever I felt like sparring, because the only kind of fighting I wanted to do with Zac these days was wrestling his clothes off him.

Speaking of which…

My eyes wandered back to the bar, my attention now solely focused on the two I knew were waiting on me, and I decided it was time to peace out. I’d come, I’d celebrated—no, I’d celebrated, and now I wanted to come. And I had not one, buttwohot men to seduce. What the hell was I doing standing all the way over here?

“All right, you lushes, drink up and tell ’em to put it on my tab.” I clapped West on the shoulder and started to leave when Iremembered, “Oh wait, I’m rich but not for, like, another month.Whoops.You’re all good for it, right?”

FORTY-FIVE

east

Graduation Day

2 months later

I’D BEEN NO stranger to being called to a professor’s office for a stern talking-to throughout my schooling years. So it was no surprise to find a message from Professor Kingston waiting for me on my very last day at Astor, instructing me to see him before the commencement ceremony began.

It had been very specific in nature. The time, the place, the reason why—to get ready for the ceremony together. Not that I’d ever expect anything else from the strict, no-nonsense professional he was within the walls of this university. But when I knocked on his door and slipped inside the office, fully expecting to find him and his gorgeous TA, I instead found an empty room waiting for me.

What the hell?

It’d been a couple of months since my father’s arrest and my mother’s filing for divorce, and while my family continued to dread more future unraveling whenever my father’s epic trial finally began, I was determined to thrive. With the help of my kickass friends, my grandparents’ trust fund, and thetwo delicious men I called mine, I’d made the comeback of all comebacks.

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