Page 42 of Heartbreak Kings
Jude, Daniel, and Nathaniel went quiet suddenly and stared past me. Marcus frowned and then turned to see what they were observing. After a brief struggle, I curbed my rage and peered over my shoulder.
Carmody was standing in the entryway, staring at us, eyes and mouth both wide in shock and horror.
Oh shit. My heart sank. Of all the times for the crazy bastard to come wandering in searching for more free food, he had to choose now. “This is a private conversation, Carmody. Breakfast finished an hour ago.”
He just stared at me. “You…” he started. “Dates? Sex? You’re fucking that interloping cunt?” His voice rose in absolute outrage. “You said you hadn’t touched her.”
“None of this is your business, Mikey,” Marcus warned, but I had already lost my temper.
I advanced on him, face burning, fingernails biting into my palms so hard they stung.
“We’re trying to save our school, and you bastards are letting her manipulate you with her pussy!” Carmody yelled.
“Get out!” I roared, lunging forward and grabbing him by the front of his battered trench coat. “Take your aging ass and go somewhere where you’re wanted, if that place exists outside your mother’s basement!” I shoved him hard toward the door. He flailed, suddenly conscious that he was being kicked out. “It’s none of your business how we handle the Sabine situation. You’re just a fucking pledge, and that’s all you’ll ever be. You’re not part of leadership. You’re not even part of the fraternity. Now get out before we fucking ban you.”
He stumbled away from me, face going from red to white and back again. “Looks like she’s the one running this fraternity—with her pus—” He didn’t even have time to finish his accusation. I raised a fist, and he darted for the door and ran out.
“Fuck!” I snarled as I locked the door behind him. The members had keys. The pledges could fucking well knock from now on.
“That was unfortunate,” Nathaniel mumbled, sounding more concerned about Carmody’s intrusion than he was about my anger.
I turned back to him, scowling. “Next time I tell you I have a date with Sabine, keep your dick to yourself until it’s done. If you interrupt again…”
“Again, with the not respecting her choices,” Nathaniel replied, having the balls to be annoyed with me.
“Just do it,” I snarled. “If we’re going to share her, we need to do it in a way that doesn’t step on one another. I’m pissed at her for skipping out on our date and then ignoring my calls for almost a week.”
“Part of that was getting through midterms, likely,” Daniel pointed out.
Goddamn it.I silently counted to twenty and then sighed. “Okay, there is that. But she’s such a damn bookworm that studies getting in the way will always be a thing. I can handle that. I can’t handle this fucking betrayal.”
“That wasn’t the intention,” Nathaniel protested, but his voice was quiet now, and he sounded almost contrite.
“Whether done intentionally or thoughtlessly, the results were the same. Not all of us are experienced with polyamory, and not all of us have sorted out situations like this before. The whole thing depends on communication and respect. The least we can do is adhere to a schedule with one another and respect the agreed-upon rules.”
“All right. That I can go along with. I apologize for my part in ruining your date.” Nathaniel peered over at the coffee machine and then went over to pour himself a cup. “Perhaps I should have caffeinated before coming back here.”
“Me too,” Daniel agreed, getting up to wait for Nathaniel to finish. “Maybe that would have helped me figure out what was up faster. Do you think Carmody will do anything with his new knowledge?” His expression was concerned.
“I don’t care,” I muttered. “Anything that childish idiot throws at us, we can handle.”
After finishing up at the fraternity house, I checked my copy of Sabine’s schedule. She had no afternoon classes until late, which meant she would eat, then retire to her dorm room as usual to study, work on her vlog, or get in a nap. She was a creature of habit, like me. I liked that about her. It made catching up with her just that much easier.
Outside, it was still below freezing, thin berms of hard snow piled up against every curb. It was too early for this kind of weather. I hoped the next five-odd months wouldn’t pass exactly the same way.
No sign of Carmody. He had already scuttled away in the fifteen minutes it had taken me to finish my conversation, fortify myself with coffee, and then put on my coat and boots. I wasn’t worried about him. The man was a coward to the bone, which was one reason for his total lack of success with women, and with life.
Despite the cold, I walked across campus to Sabine’s dorm. I had a lot of anger to burn off, and I didn’t want to bring it to her. I tried never to scream at women. The last thing I wanted was to scare her off. But we needed to clear the air between us.
I only hoped she wasn’t actually monogamous. If she had fixated on Nathaniel instead of me, I wasn’t sure I could ever really forgive him.
Chapter 17
Sabine
“Yeah,Mama, I survived all my midterms. Just started getting my grades back. Ninety-plus percent on all tests and projects. I’m killing it!” I felt proud.
“Good, good. You sounded so stressed out the week before that I thought I would have to drag you away from your studies personally.” She paused. “Have the men there stopped bothering you?”
