Page 19 of Scandalous

“Such a goddamn tease,” Liam groans, pulling me into the present.

What the fuck am I doing?I think as I back out of the app. Was I really going to show up on her doorstep like a fucking creep? Not that I even actually know where she lives.

“Why is she so pleasant with all of you but not me?” Ezra frowns.

“Because I’m charming as hell, and everyone likes this guy,” Liam says as if the answer is obvious while pointing at Drake. “Now, who knows why she was flirting with Santi?”

“She wasn’t flirting. She was just being friendly.”

“Uh-huh,” Drake mumbles as he smiles down at his phone.

“What are you smiling at?” Liam asks him suspiciously.

“Nothing,” he says as he shoves his phone into his pocket, blushing.

“She can’t be making comments like she made to Santi. Just imagine if she said it to someone else, and they really did show up on her doorstep,” Ezra rants. “Someone should paddle her arse red before giving her a lecture on internet safety. She already has that one asshole in her comments being a creep.”

“Sign me up,” I say under my breath.

Liam raises his hand. “I volunteer as tribute!”

“Why aren’t any of you taking this seriously?” Ezra demands.

“You know, E, for someone who claims he doesn’t really like the woman, you sure are concerned for her safety,” I say, setting my phone down as I eye my friend.

I watch him shift in his seat as he scowls. “I like her just fine until she opens her mouth.”

“Nah, you get off on verbally sparring with her,” I tease him.

He turns his head, clenching his jaw, but doesn’t deny it.

“We agreed that none of us could have her unless it was all of us,” Liam reminds us.

“One for all, all for one,” Drake says quietly.

“That chick asked a good question though, in the comments,” I say.

“Which one?” Drake asks.

“The woman who asked if we were inviting her to one of our parties.” I smirk, eyeing Ezra out of the corner of my eye.

After knowing him for almost two decades, I know how he ticks. The more you nettle him about something, the sooner he will cave. I know he’s just as intrigued about her as the rest of us. He’s just worried that we will scare her off or, worse, she’ll turn us down.

Turn him down.

“Who said she would even accept an invitation,” he says as he rubs his pierced eyebrow.

I scoff. “We all know she would.”

“But which one would she want to go to, all of them? Or only one?” Liam muses.

“I think she would go as long as it didn’t interfere with her school schedule and she could get the time off work,” Drake says.

“There’s one more thing to consider,” I say as I stand. “Would she be able to afford it? She’s a twenty-one-year-old college student,” I remind them. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

“Night,” they say in unison.

I head down the short hall to the bathroom where I brush my teeth. Once I’m done, I head into my bedroom and shut the door. Removing my clothes, I drop them into the laundry basket before falling face-first into bed, passing out.

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