Page 28 of Room Ten: Praise Times Three

“We’ll eat anything you feed us,” Caiden chuckles.

Reese removes his hand from my leg and crumbles up a napkin, throwing it across the table to land on Caiden’s plate. “Ass.”

“What did he say?” I look between them. Reese’s eyes narrow while Caiden wears a wide, almost goofy grin.

“Ignore them, Leti. Sometimes they are no better than a couple of teenage boys who have stumbled upon their first Playboy magazine.” Soren rolls his eyes.

I know I’m naïve for my age. My experience level is almost zero, even though I’m not a virgin. I dated the same guy for two and a half years while in college. Matt went to Northwestern University and was a brother from Sigma Alpha Epsilon. We met at a charity event that my sorority and his fraternity co-sponsored. While he never made my heart flutter—on paper—we were the perfect overachieving couple. Just like his parents.

Both attending excellent schools.

Both from wealthy families.

Both with what others considered “good pedigrees”.

Under pressure from my sorority sisters, I started dating Matt my sophomore year. He demanded little my time, and we spent most of our dates at the library. Occasionally, he’d take me to dinner, which most of the time was at his parent’s house. They were as stiff and cold as my father, a loveless marriage born of the same fodder—now that I look back on it—that brought Matt and me together. Even though he proposed my senior year and I said yes, my heart wasn’t really in it. I did it more out of obligation, thinking it would make my father happy.

It didn’t.

Although I gave Matt my virginity—deep down, I did it because I hoped sex would bring us closer. Unfortunately, sex with him was passionless and, well, boring. It brought about none of the feelings I’ve read about in books, and fortunately, it didn’t seem like he wanted to do it with me anymore than I wanted to do it with him. Over the last four months of our relationship, we had sex a handful of times, and then, right before we graduated, I found out why.

Matt, while quiet and reserved with me, was wild and freaky with a handful of girls at his college. They knew him as Mad Matt, bedding two or more girls at every frat party. Everyone knew, but nobody felt the need to tell me. Because I wasn’t the girl who went to these parties, I had no idea what he was doing, leaving me completely humiliated once I found out.

Needless to say, I broke off the engagement. He wasn’t happy because he really thought he could replicate his parents’ picture-perfect marriage for high society while having his dirty little secrets that weren’t really secrets at all… just like his father.

Like I said, I know I’m naïve, but I’m not completely stupid. There’s a loose level of tension between the men at the kitchen table right now, and something tells me it’s all about me.

Do they know I kissed Caiden last night? Are they mad? They don’t seem to be mad at me at all. I’ve never had so much welcomed contact from one person, much less three.

Speaking of kissing. I’d really like to try that again. I don’t have a lot of experience, and I’m sure I need to practice. What if I’m a terrible kisser, and that’s the reason Matt never tried to be with me like he was the others?

If Epiphany and I were closer, we could talk about these things. I’ve seen pictures of her kissing on the red carpet, as well as at different celebrity parties. I bet my sister is an excellent kisser. Not that she and I have ever talked about something like that. She’s far too busy to have conversations like that with me.

“Back to the ingredients,” Soren says. At the same time, I ask, “Do you look at Playboy often?”

Caiden chuckles while Reese swears under his breath. “No, doll. Looking at pictures of naked women doesn’t really do it for us.”

“What does?” My eyes are on what’s left of my pancake, but I can feel the collective sucking in of breath around the table. I’m probably overstepping my boundaries—I know I am—but I really want to know what makes them tick.

What gets them excited?

What kind of woman turns each of them on?

I dare to bring my eyes up, finding each of them staring back at me.I’m sorryis on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow it down.

“There’s a good possibility we’re going to be together for a couple of days. Are you sure you want to have this kind of conversation with us?”

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Caiden smiles. “You couldn’t make us uncomfortable if you tried, but we don’t want you to be embarrassed around us, ever.”

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