Page 59 of My Ex-Best Men
“The three of them turned sleeping with you into a game. I’m ashamed that Will participated. I know he needed the money, though, so…I can’t be too angry at him. And if he comes back tome and puts that money towards our future, I guess I can’t judge him so harshly if I’m willing to use it.”
Ice ran through my veins. “What are you talking about?”
“They all made a bet about who’d bag you first. God. Men are fucking assholes sometimes. I couldn’t believe they were saying it like that. Bagging you. The three of them bet a hundred thousand dollars to whoever screwed you first.” She turned to the mirror and gasped when she saw her reflection. “A hundred thousand dollars just for sleeping with you first. Talk about a magic vagina, I guess.”
I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying. “You’re lying.”
“I was there, Claire. It killed me. They were all so drunk that Will didn’t even blink twice about making the bet right in front of me. Do you think that I like that the man I love wanted to fuck you? It didn’t matter that he tried to convince me it was just about the money. I mean, I know he needs the money, but I know he wanted to screw you, too. I had to just keep my mouth shut and pretend like it wasn’tkillingme when I knew he was with you that way.”
I stumbled back a step. No.No. “Why would they make a bet like that?”
She let out a bitter laugh. “You’re their Moby Dick or something. I don’t know. They were salivating at the idea of fucking you. It was disgusting. I might hate you, Claire, but even I felt bad for you after hearing the way they talked about you, like you were just three holes for them to race to. Winner gets the money and the first run. Losers get sloppy seconds. Their words, not mine.”
“You’re lying.” I hissed the words out and moved closer to her, fighting the urge to claw her eyes out of her head. “All of this is bullshit, isn’t it?”
“You want to know the truth? Go find the checks. If I know Will, he slipped the checks into his extra shoes.”
I was going to vomit. He’d always slipped extra things in his shoes so he didn’t lose them or forget them. “And when the checks aren’t there?”
She looked at me like she felt sorry for me. “They’ll be there.”
“They love me.” I hated the way my voice shook as I said it. “Whatever you’re trying to do, it won’t work, Madeline.”
“Do they love you or did they make some other fucked up bet? Like who could convince you to move back here first? Or who could get you to admit your feelings first? I don’t know. I never would’ve believed it myself if I hadn’t heard it with my own ears. I can’t make you believe me. If you think I’m full of shit, that’s fine. This does nothing for me. If anything, it puts my relationship with Will in danger. If you tell him that I told you all of this, he could hate me for ruining whatever he’s doing.”
I already knew that I had to go to the house and check his shoes. It was stupid. I should’ve just trusted that I knew the guys and that I knew they wouldn’t make some stupid bet over me.
I walked towards the door and stopped just inches from Madeline. Leaning into her space, I growled out my words at her. “Even if you’re telling the truth, Madeline, you’ll never have Will. You’ll always be the girl he can talk about fucking other women in front of. Do you think that’s how a man talks in front of the woman he’d ever make his wife? Maybe you’re being honest but if you are, you should save your pitying looks for the mirror because you’re just as big of a loser as me in this whole mess. Good fucking luck.”
My entire body shook as I let myself out of the bathroom and slipped around the edge of the room. Sophia was still being posed like a doll, despite her grumbled protests, so I had time. I left the suite and barely managed to walk and not run over to the house.
The guys were all in another suite with Jake getting ready so the house was silent when I let myself in. I raced up the stairsto the room we’d all sort of moved into together. Throwing open the closet, I went to my knees in front of the neat row of their shoes.
It was so domesticated. They stored their shoes together in the closet they shared while I took the one on the other side of the room. They wouldn’t organize their lives to be with me, even temporarily, if I was just a bet.
I screamed in my head at my hands to stop reaching for Will’s shoes. I didn’t need to check. I loved him. I loved all three of them. When I slipped my fingers into the tennis shoes and felt the crinkle of paper, my chest threatened to crack open.
52
***Will***
Iclinked whiskey glasses with Jake and grinned. “I’m happy you made it here, man. I couldn’t think of another man I’d rather see marrying Soph today.”
He sipped his whiskey and groaned. “Hair of the dog should feel better than this.”
Zane slapped him on the back. “And this is why I rarely ever drink these days. Feels like shit, right?”
“I’m just fucking glad that Soph barely cares about the wedding. She’d kick my ass if she was as obsessed with having a perfect wedding because I think I’m going to look more than a little ill in the pictures.” Jake made a face that made me think he’d thrown up in his mouth. “Oh, fuck. Remind me to never get drunk with male strippers again.”
I laughed. “Sure. It’s not something I thought I’d ever have to say to you, but sure.”
Anthony looked at Zane and sighed. “You looked like shit and you’re not hungover. Fix your tie.”
“How are you still this grumpy? You got laid last night. Several times. You’d think it would cheer you up some.” Still, Zane fixed his tie.
“I’ll cheer up when I see Claire again. On our wedding day, I don’t want to do this whole spending the entire day apart shit.” Growling, Anthony took over fixing Zane’s tie and then turned on me. “Yours looks like shit, too.”
Anthony didn’t seem to notice that the rest of us had gone silent and still. It was a strange thing to share a moment with a guy you’d just met for the first time less than a week earlier and to know that he was going to be standing next to you when you both married the woman you both loved one day. Looking at him and then at Zane, I let out a low chuckle and shook my head. It was insane that in such a short amount of time I’d come to trust both of them almost as much as I’d ever trusted anyone in my life. Not only that but I felt downright brotherly towards them. I didn’t want to get mushy and say that I loved them, but I could no longer imagine my day to day life without them being a part of it somehow.
