Page 41 of Heartbreak Kings
Nathaniel had gone to Sabine’s dorm to tutor her prior to midterms. He had then completely disappeared for almost two days. When he had returned, he had been strangely quiet and very exhausted. I had suspected something then, but I had kept my counsel until I was certain.
But then Sabine had disappeared on me. Not returning my calls, not returning my texts, and I could hardly bother her during class with midterms on. Now, days later, after putting together the pieces about why Sabine had postponed our date and was avoiding talking to me, I had confronted Nathaniel, and he had admitted it.
The son of a bitch had beaten me to her. He had cut in line. He had caused her to skip a date with me after taking her virginity. He had forgotten who was head of the pack around here, and it pissed me off to no end. And then, his only response, after he had stolen what should have been my time with Sabine, was to tell me to calm down.
Forget punching him. I wanted to kill him.
“I had a date with her. I was all set up to have time alone with her. I was first in line. She skipped our date to be with you! That’s why she hasn’t been returning my calls. I just found out for certain. She confessed to me to try to clear the air. What the hell were you thinking?” I couldn’t keep my voice down. I was just too fucking furious.
“Yeah, man. That really wasn’t cool.” Marcus stood behind me, arms folded. I could tell he was seething, but he kept his voice a lot calmer than mine. “This isn’t a competition, and you jumped the line.”
“Excuse me?” Nathaniel scoffed. “We weren’t in line for the ice cream man. She chose to be with me, and she postponed your date with her so we could continue.” And from the big, smug smile on his face, he wasn’t sorry at all. Not one bit. Hell, this was the first time I had seen a smile that wide on his face at all.
“That’s not the point!” I moved closer to him, fists balled at my sides. His eyes narrowed slightly and his smile faded, but he stood his ground. I stopped short and poked a finger at his chest. “You knew I had a date with her. You got her to cancel, and to have an affair with you, without considering the insult to me.”
“Insult?” He blinked at me with shock in his eyes. “It occurs to me that if anything, you are the one who is insulting her.”
I drew back my hand, folding my arms and shifting my weight. Behind me on one of the common room couches, Jude sat forward, making the cushion rustle slightly. “How do you figure?” Jude asked skeptically. “I mean, we had an agreement here. You were supposed to meet her for tutoring, not fucking.”
Nathaniel shrugged. “I did not get Sabine to do anything. I did not take control of her and cause her to sleep with me, and I did not make the choice for her to postpone your date.” He was still damnably calm. “Nor did I have any say in her not calling you back. I wasn’t even aware of it until you brought it up now. She made those choices, as she is, you know, a free individual and not a passive object.”
“Oh, fuck you, Nathaniel,” Marcus sighed in exasperation as I dug my nails into the flesh of my palms. “It’s not like we’re fighting over her like a piece of meat. You know what Blake is talking about.”
Nathaniel hung up his bag and walked past me, sitting down in one armchair. “No,” he replied, voice still infuriatingly calm. “I don’t. And given his behavior, that seems to be exactly what he is doing. What you’re doing, to a lesser degree. You should ask her why she skipped your date, not scream at me as if her free choice was a plot to undermine your precious authority.”
I stiffened, moving closer to the group, arms shaking with the urge to lift him up by his collar. I deliberately kept out of arm’s reach so I wouldn’t be tempted. “I do not treat her like a piece of meat.”
“No,” Nathaniel replied. “But you are treating her like a possession. Your possession.”
“What is going on?” Daniel yawned on his way down the main stairs. His hair was mussed, and he was still buttoning his shirt. I shot him a disapproving glare. He ignored it, annoying me even more than I already was. “I heard yelling.”
“Blake is having a fit of jealousy,” Nathaniel disclosed.
Marcus huffed a sigh. “Stop being a dick, Nathaniel.”
“I’m not.” He turned back to me, lifting an eyebrow. “I am being honest. I keep trying to tell you, Sabine is her own woman—not yours, mine, or anyone’s. She chose everything that happened. I did not manipulate her into spending time with me.”
That just made my blood boil more.How in the hell could he be so nonchalant about all this?And how could he call me the immature one in this situation, when he had turned a tutoring session into a seduction and gotten his dick in before I could even get my date?
Jude shrugged. “Dude. That’s true. Nate here couldn’t manipulate his way out of a wet paper bag. And besides—”
“Shut up!” I barked over my shoulder. Somewhere in the back of my mind, behind the rage, a small voice nagged that maybe I was overreacting and taking all this way too personally. But I hated being ignored and disregarded. I hated being put second and disobeyed.
“Whoa,” Daniel muttered and went to sit by Jude. “Okay, I definitely missed something.”
“Dude’s pissed off because Sabine went and fucked Nathaniel after their study date,” Jude explained with his usual lack of tact. “She also broke a date with Blake the next day.”
“Shit,” Daniel sighed as he flopped down into a chair, his shirt hanging open negligently across his broad chest. “Well, shouldn’t you be bitching at her instead of at Nathaniel?” His accent was thicker when he was half asleep. I wondered what he had been doing all night. Had he been with her too?
I considered that, then shook my head. “This isn’t about the choices Sabine makes as far as bed partners.”Yes, it is,but saying that wouldn’t get me a good reaction right now. I stood with my back to the entryway, arms folded, with Marcus coming to stand next to me. “This is about Nathaniel knowing that I was first. As is right.”
“Why is it right?” Nathaniel asked mildly. “You’re the head of fraternity leadership. The matter with Sabine is different. It is personal. I do not think your rationale respects her autonomy very much at all.”
“You’re only talking about her ‘autonomy’ because it worked out in your favor.” I forced myself to turn to Daniel. “The issue is largely that Sabine broke the date. I should bring it up with her, and I will. Meanwhile, my argument stands. Nathaniel should have had the consideration to back off until I had at least had my date with her.”
Nathaniel stared back at me. “I didn’t go in there planning to fuck her, Blake. You’re being paranoid. It happened.”
“What, did you somehow fall out of your clothes and fall on top of her several times? For days?” My voice rose to a shout of outrage.
