Page 37 of Break: Vol. 2

I frowned. "Of course they do. I don't doubt that for a moment."

She nodded. "Then it doesn't matter what happens. They'll stick with you. Besides, like you said, it's too late. You've already sealed the deal. You got married—which I'm still irked at you about, by the way. Don't think I won't hold that over your head for a while."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "We didn't do the ceremony," I said. "We just went to the courthouse and signed the papers."

She harrumphed. "Doesn't matter." She put the cup to her lips again. "I'm your best friend and I was supposed to be there." She sipped her milky-sugar-coffee flavored liquid.

"Uh huh, next time, I'll make sure to remember that."

"Is there going to be a next time?" she asked.

"What?" I blinked as she set the cup down and leaned over the table, eyeing me.

"You heard me," she said. "Is there going to be a next time? Are you going to get married to each of them?"

"Uh..." I looked around awkwardly before resettling my face on hers. "That's kind of illegal," I pointed out.

She shrugged, her eyes closing with a blasé expression before she reopened them and leveled me with a meaningful look. "You could always do some sort of unofficial marriage ceremony," she said.

Huh. I'd never thought of that. I mean, I guess I should have considered it, but none of the guys had mentioned it either. They'd all actually agreed that I'd be marrying one of them officially, while the other guys would be the groomsmen. In the private ceremony between just the five of us, we'd known that we were dedicating ourselves to each other. Me to all of them. All of them to me. And them to each other, in a way, as friends and fellow husbands. I'd kissed all of them for that ceremony. In my heart, I was married to all of them.

"Not this time," I finally said. "Officially, I'll just be marrying Dex. My parents have met him. They like him. They've met all of them, but as far as they know, I'll just be married to him. Tomorrow night, I'll come clean. We all will."

Roxi gave me a pitying look. “Ahhh, so that’s what you’re nervous about,” she said. “telling your parents that you’ve been seeing four guys instead of just the one.”

I nodded, and hearing her say it made me feel even worse for keeping it all a secret not just from my family but from all of our families. How would I have explained having multiple boyfriends to my parents, though?Oh, hey, Mom and Dad, meet my boyfriend, Dex. Oh and his friends, Dare, Cody, and Taylor. I've been fucking all of them rather regularly for the last few years and we're all in a relationship together.

Pretty sure my mom would have tried to box me up and ship me to church camp in the middle of nowhere with no hope of returning or perhaps she might’ve gone easy on me and sent me off to a convent or even a psych ward instead.

"It'll be okay," Roxi said, reaching forward and patting the top of my hand. I turned my palm over and let her grasp it. "I'll be here if you need me. You know I'm only a phone call away."

I sniffed, forcing back the tears of anxiety that had been building at the back of my eyes for the last few minutes. "Thanks," I managed to choke out.

"Hey, with you moving to New York City, we'll be even closer than a phone call," she said with a sensitive smile. “And whenever one of the guys pisses you off, you can come over to my apartment and rant about them.”

I clutched her hand and nodded. "You're the best," I whispered.

She laughed, squeezing me right back. "I know I am, Babe."

I snorted. "Bitch."

"Whore," she replied playfully.

God, I loved her.

Chapter 2

"I'm standing in front of the building."

"What are you wearing?" Dare asked in his sexy voice.

I rolled my eyes. "My birthday suit."

"Uhhhh.” There was the sound of footsteps on the other end as well as behind me. “No, you're not!" I grinned when I heard his voice in double form as both an echo and in person. I pressedend call,but before I could turn around, two thick arms circled me. "If you were in your birthday suit in public, I'd have to tell Dex," he growled playfully as he bit my neck. "And you know how he'd react to that."

I laughed and slapped his arm. "Come on, we're already late. Where are the others?"

He finally let me turn around and face him. Tipping my face up with a finger under my chin, Dare leaned down and gave me a light kiss. "They're already upstairs," he answered.