Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

brIAR

"Good morning!" I sail past my bleary-eyed friends with a smile, grabbing a coffee mug and lifting the pot to see how much is left. "You guys actually left some for me? Happy Sunday to all!"

I turn away to grab the creamer, grinning to myself at the stunned silence. Even as I wrap my hands around the finished mug and lean against the counter, they're still staring.

Robby is the first to pull himself together. "Uh… in fairness, you aren't usually awake until after lunchtime."

"Arguably, not even then," Jeff adds, and they all nod in agreement.

"What can I say? I'm a new, improved Briar. Call me Briar 2.0," I wink.

"Okaaay, Briar 2.0," Robby says, raising his eyebrows and looking around at our other roommates, each of whom shrugs in turn.

"I just…" Kurt's sitting at the dining table, holding a spoonful of Cheerios midair as the milk slowly drips back into the bowl. "What…?"

"Careful," I point. "You're about to get a little something on your shirt. Speaking of which, how was last night?"

Everyone cracks up. I set my coffee mug down on the table, fetching my textbooks from the living room. I'm so not walking right today, but nobody seems to be noticing. They're just regaling me like usual with all the stories from the club.

Nobody's ever in charge of said stories, so I let the rapid-fire excited chatter wash over me.

"—Robby found these two bears?—"

"—there was this guy wearing a mask like that guy from Princess Bride?—"

"—waiting for him in the dark room?—"

"—a weekend retreat to become, and I quote, multiorgasmic?—"

"Huh, wow," I mumble automatically whenever the moment seems right. To be honest, I'm not really following the thread of any of their stories. I'm pretty distracted by the pleasurable ache between my legs as I slowly sit down at the table.

I've got good reason to wince a little. Thinking about that reason—and the man who wields it—makes it so hard not to grin like the cat who got the cream.

Or the Sleeping Beauty who got his Prince Charming.

"Hold on," Robby shushes the rest of them. "Hey, Briar."

Shit. My heart skips a beat as I glance up over my books, trying not to look too guilty. Did they notice me walking funny? Do I look less innocent than I used to be? Am I emanating the radiant, relaxed, well-rested glow of a freshly-fucked boy?

Robby frowns. "You don't feel like you're missing out on anything, do you? You know you can come whenever you want, right?"

"Huh?" I blink at him. They're definitely not supposed to know about Prince Charming's rules…

"Your birthday, man. I don't know anyone who didn't go out and get trashed on their twenty-first."

Theo nods earnestly. "We felt really bad ditching you to go to the club. We almost came back to check on you."

I could almost laugh in their faces with relief, but the real concern they're showing is too touching. My laugh fades into a smile.

"No," I promise them all sincerely. "I had a great night, and I got about twice as much beauty sleep as all of you combined." I scan all of my friends' faces, and then I smirk and toss my head as I add, "Obviously."

That breaks the tension with a laugh. Robby snorts and tosses a napkin at me, which I bat away.

"Dickhead," Theo grins.

I wink at him. "But a beautiful dickhead," I run my fingers through my hair and pat my cheeks, opening the top textbook in the stack. "Shiny, healthy, and radiant as the noon sun."

"Are you studying? You ? On a Sunday, before noon?" Robby's look of concern is back.

"Yep," I chirp at him, giving away nothing.

Don't get me wrong, it's like throwing a nickel at a student loan's worth of sleep debt… but compared to usual, I feel better this morning than I have in months.

"Mr. I'm going to flunk this test because the teacher says so, and there's nothing I can do about it , studying," Theo shakes his had.

Robby grunts in agreement. "What the hell got into him? Can we get some of that?"

Not a chance.

The intensity of my wave of jealousy surprises me. But in all my years of fantasizing about the magical first time… I didn't think I'd enjoy it so much, or that it would be so sweet and tender afterward.

I don't even know what Prince Charming looks like, much less how to find him again. All I can do is wait for him to show up again.

There's nothing for me to get wrong. It's all up to him.

I can't text him a million times today and scare him off. I can't stalk his Facebook profile and decide how many kids we're having. I can't even imagine my first name with his last name. I just have to wait.

As hard as it's going to be tonight—in more ways than one—I also can't wait.

"Maybe Gay Jesus took the wheel because Briar's an inch away from failing this prereq," Robby grunts. "And he keeps sleeping through our study hours. And the big test is this week."

Actually, that's a good point. I'll never focus on my homework if I'm thinking about him all day long.

"You know, I've got an idea," I tell them, bouncing to my feet to slam my textbook closed and drain the rest of my coffee. "Group coffee-slash-study sesh at the cafe."

" Sesh ?" Theo groans loudly, folding his arms on the table and plopping his head down on them.

"Sesh," I repeat firmly. "Now, get off your asses and get dressed. The special is half-price before ten AM. And I happen to know this weekend's special is that fruity little blueberry number you all love."

Robby groans. "Fuck. I do love that fruity little blueberry number. With whipped cream. But first, who are you and what the fuck have you done with the real Briar?"

"I couldn't possibly say." I grin as I gather my armful of textbooks. "You guys in or what?"

"Fiiiine," Theo sighs. "Give me ten minutes." He winces and hunches down over his folded arms again as I turn to head for my room. "Or twenty, and a blowjob."

"Ten, no blowjob, and a fruity little blueberry number. Final offer," I call over my shoulder.

I'm not so far down the hall that I can't hear Robby saying, "Guys… I've changed my mind. That boy needs less sleep. Anyone want to take turns waking him up tonight?"

But I'm feeling great. For the first time in months, I'm not just going along with what other people want.

I'm not sleep-walking through life. I'm awake, and I'm slaying . I don't know how long this will last, but until my next sleepless night, I'm going to take full advantage of it. And for once, everyone else can come along for the ride.

I feel like I've been brought back to life to discover I'm the queen of my own goddamn life.

Last night, I made my deepest, most secret dream come true. The only hard part now is going to be waiting for my Prince to return. Tonight will be the real test. Compared to that, everything else in my life is a piece of cake with a half-price, fruity little blueberry number on the side.

And extra whipped cream.

Mmm. I can't wait.