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I roll my eyes, but don’t confirm Gabe’s suspicions. “I’m fine. I promise,” I say, mostly meaning it. Something about being smooshed between the two of them has me feeling safe and secure.
“Where are you headed?” my blond giant asks.
“My dorm.”
The two men exchange a look before Zach says, “We’ll walk you.”
They pry for more information for the entirety of our walk, but my lips stay sealed.
It’s not that I don’t want to tell them, it’s just... as crazy as it sounds, I can’t help but feel like Sterling has eyes and ears everywhere. The last thing I want is for anything to get back to him.
We slow our pace as my building comes into sight. “Thanks, guys,” I say right as a flying blonde ball slams into me, wrapping me in a frantic hug.
“Oh my God, Emmy! Where have you been? What happened? Did you let him have it? Who are these two hotties? Tell. Me. Every. Thing!”
“Well, hello there, sunshine,” Gabe murmurs as Stella releases me. “Who are you?”
My roomie’s big, blue eyes flit between my two escorts. “I’m Stella, Emmy’s roommate, and y’all are?”
“Her daddies,” Zach says with a twinkle in his eyes.
“What my lovely boyfriend meant to say is we’re her friends. I’m Gabe, and that fine piece of meat is Zach.”
I zone out, my mind drifting back to the way Sterling played me like a freaking fiddle.
How on earth am I supposed to face him Thursday morning?
“Hello!” Stella snaps her fingers in front of my face. “Are you coming?”
“What? Where?”
“Inside.” She draws the word out, the three of them staring at me expectantly. When I don’t reply, she adds, “So we can talk. Duh.”
“Oh, um. Sure.”
The three of them herd me through the door, down the hall, and into the elevator. I fall into an uneasy silence as the elevator car begins its ascent. There’s no doubt in my mind they’re going to grill me the second we’re in our suite. And while the idea of secrets between us unsettles me, I’m not sure I’m ready to face the consequences of what happened between Sterling and me today.
I’m not sure I’m ready to face their judgment either, if I’m being honest.
The elevator jerks to a stop and the doors part. On the other side stands Melanie.
I haven’t seen her since the party last weekend, and after the day I’ve had, she is one of the last people I feel like dealing with.
“Melanie,” Stella sneers, loyal and fierce as ever.
“Flirted with any taken men lately, slut?” my RA hisses, her eyes narrowed in misplaced anger.
Well, only semi-misplaced, I guess, seeing as we made out today.
Oh, God. If they are together, not only did I let my tormentor kiss me, I also helped him cheat.
Lovely.
Gabe and Zach form a protective barrier around me, ushering me past Melanie.
The second we’re inside of our suite, Stella is on me, demanding details.
“What happened? Seriously, Emmy. Tell me—us—everything.”
“Yes, sweets. Spill.” Gabe doesn’t hesitate, making himself comfy on our couch. His hulking frame makes the room seem ten times smaller, but I’m glad he’s here.
Zach lowers himself to the floor in front of where Gabe’s seated, leaving the other side of the couch for Stella and me.
Despite being smaller than me, Stella drags me to the couch and plops me down into the middle before claiming the seat beside me.
“Dish, babe. Now.”
Tugging on the ends of my hair, I groan. As excited as I am to have true, genuine friends, the thought of telling them what a monumental idiot I am has me wishing a hole would open in the floor and swallow me, if only to spare me my humiliation.
“Look,” Zach says, laying his head back onto Gabe’s thigh. “We aren’t gonna judge you. We aren’t gonna think differently of you. No matter what you say, we’ll still have your back. Okay?”
Gabe and Stella nod their agreement.
“He.. he kissed me,” I mumble. My shoulders instantly sag without the burden of my secret weighing them down.
“What?” Stella shouts, right as Gabe commands me to explain.
I open my mouth to speak, to try and explain myself. But it’s no use. All I manage to do is look like a goldfish gasping for air; how can I even begin to explain what happened in that small office?
“He kissed me,” I say again, when nothing better comes to mind.
“Yeah, you mentioned that.” Stella pins me with a look. “I’m trying to figure out how you ended up locking lips when you left the cafeteria with stabby-stabby-murder-murder in your eyes.”
I throw my hands up in the universal hell if I know gesture. “I don’t know. We were fighting and then, the next thing I know, we were kissing.”
“Who kissed who?” Gabe asks, sounding a little too interested for my liking.
“Um.” I replay the entire sordid ordeal, desperately trying to seek out who was the instigator. “He kissed me. I think. Maybe.”
