Chapter 13

Sadie

The loud hooting of an Owl jolts me awake. I gasp, shooting up into a seated position. Blinking, I rub at my eyes before looking around at my surroundings.

A large horned owl sits on the end of the window. He turns his head towards me, black beady eyes blinking slowly before he stares into my damn soul. He hoots again, making me jerk in surprise before launching himself into the sky.

It takes me a moment for my sleepy brain to register where I am. Fuck. I’m in the chapel.

For a second, I can’t remember laying down to fall asleep on the hard wooden floor in the first place. Movement beside me has my eyes widening and snapping down to look at the body next to me.

The moonlight streams through the window, illuminating Preston’s broken yet still handsome face.

Everything comes rushing back to me: Him joining me. Me realizing he was hurt, yet again. The electrifying tension between us and how it burst into a million little pieces. The way he kissed me, his lips dominating mine as he took control.

The way he pinned me to the ground, thrusting inside me, made me feel all the things I tried to push away.

Him cumming inside me with that pained, sexy groan, getting the feeling he was giving all his hurt and pain to me.

All of that happened without uttering a single word, us communicating with our eyes and our sounds of pleasure. And when he pulled me into his arms, holding me close, everything felt right. Like he was meant to be there with me, in that way.

Only now, as I look down at him, panic fills me. This shouldn’t have happened. I can’t allow these kinds of mind games. He might want me in some sense, but I can’t just be his fuck toy anymore. I won’t be at his beck and call. I won’t be used like this.

If he wants me, he needs to do better, show me more.

Slowly and carefully, I get to my feet, cringing when I feel the stickiness of his cum between my thighs.

My panties? Where are my damn panties? Looking around frantically, I find them on the ground nearby. Hastily, I slip them on before grabbing my shoes and phone.

I’m about to leave when I look back to Preston. My stomach dips, and the idea of leaving him like this when he’s clearly hurting, so I grab one of the blankets and place it over his sleeping form.

“I want to help you. To be there for you. To take the pain away,” I whisper, brushing his hair off his forehead. “But I can’t do any of that until you show me you want more. I won’t hurt myself chasing after a man who doesn’t think I’m worth fighting for.”

Leaning forward, I press a kiss to his forehead. “I care about you, Preston. I just wish you cared enough about yourself to allow others in.”

I leave the tower, waiting until I’m at the bottom of the stairs before slipping on my flats.

The cool night breeze has me shivering as I quickly walk away from the chapel.

“Stupid, Sadie,” I curse myself. “Way to fucking go. Cheating on your boyfriends after only dating them for a week.”

The realization hits me, and I feel sick. My body breaks out into a nervous sweat, and I start to panic.

This isn’t me. I would never cheat on the man that I love. Men that I love.

But I did.

My hand shakes as I lift my phone up, tears stinging the back of my eyes. It’s nearly three in the morning, but I know if I don’t get this off my chest now, it’s going to eat me alive.

The phone rings a few times before Collin answers. “Sadie, is everything okay?” his voice is thick with sleep. Shit, of course, he was sleeping.

“I just fucked your brother,” I blurt out before choking on a sob.

“Ahh, well, hello to you too, baby,” he huffs out a laugh. “Did he at least make you cum?”

His answer has me stumbling to a stop. “W-what?”

“You know, did you orgasm? Because if that fucker left you wanting, I’ll have to kick his ass.”

I blink rapidly at the path before me in stunned confusion. “You want to know if your brother gave me an orgasm?” I ask slowly, still not sure I’m hearing him right.

“Well, did he?”

“Yes...” Three, if we’re being exact.

“Good. It would be a shame if I’d have to come over and finish the job for him. I mean, I can still come over if you want.” I can hear the cockiness seeping from his tone.

“Collin, I’m so confused. I just told you I had sex with Preston, and you’re not mad at me?”

“No,” he starts. “Why would I be? I told you I was going to learn to share you with the guys. And as much as I wish it was me inside you, I’m not mad.”

“Yeah, but I thought you meant Declan and Grayson. I’m dating them, not Preston.”

“No. Not officially. But I told you that I knew my brother wants you and I know you have feelings for him. He wasn’t a jerk, was he?”

“No.”

“Good. If anything, I’m kinda bummed you didn’t make him work harder for it.”

“What?” Am I half asleep or something? I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

“He needs to work for it, Sadie. He doesn't just get to be a jackass to you, then continue to have you. No, you need to make him work for it, make him show you he wants you. I can’t make you, but think about that next time you’re tempted to give in.”

“Okay?” I rub the back of my head. He does have a point. But fuck, it’s so weird to act so casual about all of this. “But I cheated on you.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I did! I slept with someone who isn’t you, Declan, or Grayson. You know, my boyfriends,” my voice cracks as I start to freak out again.

“Sadie, baby, breathe,” his voice softens. “You didn’t cheat. And I know the guys would think the same thing. This thing we have, it’s complicated. And if it was anyone outside the three of us besides Preston, I’d say yes. But he gets a pass.”

“A pass...”

“Yup. Because once he pulls his head out of his ass, he’s going to be a part of your little harem too.”

“This is all so damn weird,” I groan, continuing my way down the path.

“Yeah, well, I don’t think it’s going to stop getting weird anytime soon, if ever,” he chuckles.

“I should tell the others,” I murmur.

“You can if you want, but I don’t think they’re going to care, Sadie. I really don’t think they would.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he answers confidently.

“Okay,” I whisper. I’m still most likely going to mention this to the others just to be sure.

“Goodnight, baby. Be a good girl and get some sleep.”

“Goodnight.”

I hang up the phone and just stare at it for a moment. “This will never not be weird!” I huff, stomping the rest of the way to my cottage. So he doesn’t think I cheated. That's good, right?

Being with Preston, it didn’t feel wrong. If anything, it felt right, beyond right. It was perfect.

Tonight was bizarre. I went there to get away from all the complicated things in my life, only to leave with even more worries on my shoulder.

But the night isn’t over yet; there’s still time to add more bullshit onto my plate because when I open the front door to my cottage and step in, my feet become wet.

“What the fuck?” I quickly flip on the light and gasp in horror when I see that my fucking cottage is flooded! Okay, not exactly flooded, there only seems to be about an inch of water, but still.

“No, no, no, no!” I shout, rushing through the house. Water splashing as I go around, trying to find the source of the leak.

Nothing in the kitchen or bathroom. I don’t see anything dripping from the roof.

“Fuck,” I hiss when I get into the laundry room. The pipe that's connected to the washer is spurting out water. “What do I do?” I rush over and wrap my hand around the pipe to try and stop the water. Only it does nothing, making the water spray in my face. “Damn it!” I mutter, flinching away before letting go.

“Shut the water off, Sadie,” I curse at myself before running into the furnace room and finding the water valve. It takes some effort, but I manage to shut it off.

Sighing, I take a moment, my breathing heavy from the effort.

Making my way back out to the main part of the house, I let out a wail of frustration. All of the floors are drenched. Thankfully, my room is safe because it’s higher off the ground than the rest of the house since the cottage is built on a bit of a slope. So everything I own should be fine since it’s only about an inch of water, but everything else?

This is not good, not good at all.

“Oh, boy,” Mom sighs as she steps into the house. I’ve been sitting on the kitchen table, waiting for my mom to get here.

Mark follows in after her and whistles. Of course. I should have known Mom was going to bring Mark, but that just means that I’m not surprised to see Grayson enter right behind him.

When I called Mom, I felt bad for waking her up. But when I told her about the broken pipe and water damage, she woke Mark up and said she would be on her way soon.

“And you said it came from a broken pipe?” Mark asks me after taking a look around.

“Yeah, I found water spewing from a broken pipe in the laundry room.” I nod as Grayson hops up onto the table next to me.

“Hey, Pretty Girl.” He grins widely at me as if he knows something I don’t know.

“Hey.” I raise a brow at him, too tired to be flustered by his handsome looks and addicting charm.

“I’ll make some phone calls, see if anyone can come out and clean this up before it causes permanent damage,” Mark says, as if it’s going to be hard to find someone. He’s Mark Taylor. His kind of money gets people out of bed at four in the morning without complaint.

“I’m going to see what’s ruined,” Mom sighs. Poor Mom looks tired. I feel bad because if I didn’t leave the house, I would have noticed the water before it got this bad.

“So, wanna tell me why you’re dressed like—” Grayson nods his head towards me with a smirk. “That. In a dress. With your hair all done.”

“You know I went out with the girls,” I tell him, chewing on my lower lip as guilt hits me hard.

“Yes, but it’s four in the morning. You normally would have changed out of it when you got home. Are you telling me you fell asleep before changing?”

It’s not hard to believe. I could have easily fallen asleep in my dress, crashing as soon as I got home from the movies. But I can’t tell him that, it would be a lie and I don’t want to lie to him.

“No,” I whisper, swinging a guilty gaze his way. “I went out again not long after I got home.”

“By yourself?” he raises a brow.

“Yes,” I groan. “I know, I shouldn’t have. It’s not safe for me. But you guys said off campus; the chapel is on campus.”

“The chapel, eh?” he smirks again. “What were you doing there?”

My brows furrow. He’s acting really weird right now.

“I went there to think. My mind was drowning, and I just needed to breathe,” I admit. His face softens.

“I get it. A lot has happened in a small amount of time. It’s going to take some getting used to, but you're not alone, Sadie.”

“I know.” I smile.

“Pretty shitty what happened here,” he says, looking around. “Probably not the best thing to come back to after getting fucked so good you passed out.”

“What?” My eyes snap to his, widening so big I fear they might fall out of my head.

He looks like he’s holding back laughter as he leans in. “Did Preston make you feel good, Pretty Girl? Did your pretty little pussy grip his cock nice and tight?”

My breathing stutters, my pulse spiking.

“H-how do you know?” I whisper, my voice shaking.

His smile grows. “I may have watched.”

“What!” I gasp. “You were there spying on us?”

“No. Not exactly,” he chuckles. “But I was watching.”

“Grayson,” I growl, not in the mood for word games.

“A few years ago, when I found out that the chapel meant a lot to you, I may have had some cameras installed. Only because I wanted to make sure no asshole students were coming in and destroying the place.”

“Cameras?” I narrow my eyes. “So you were watching us through a camera?”

“Yes. Not there, but at my house.”

My eyes widen. “You were sitting at home, watching me fuck Preston from a security camera you had installed in the chapel?” I whisper harshly.

“Does that bother you?” he asks, eyes searching mine.

Does it? The thought of him at home while watching Preston and me like that.

It should bother me; any rational person would be bothered by the fact that someone was watching them have sex without their knowledge or consent. Yet, the idea has a flush of heat rushing through me as my nipples harden.

Grayson chuckles low and husky. “Does the idea of me watching you get fucked turn you on, Pretty Girl?”

My lips part, breathes coming in low, quick pants. “Yes.” A blush creeps onto my cheek as I bite my lower lip.

He grins, his lips so close to mine I want to lean in and kiss him. But I can’t, not with our parents here.

“Hmmhhmm,” he hums. “I’ll remember that.”

I’m fucked. I’m so fucked. If it was anyone else other than one of my guys who did that, I’d be boiling mad. But he said the reason he had the camera up in the first place was because he wanted to protect a place that meant something to me.

“I called and told Collin,” I admit. “That Preston and I... you know.”

“Fucked like animals.” He grins.

“Grayson!” I hiss, slapping his arm, but he only laughs.

“And why did you feel the need to fill him in on that?”

“Because I thought I was cheating,” I whisper, looking away from him.

“What?” All humor drains from him. “Pretty Girl, you didn’t cheat.”

“He said that too,” I sigh, looking back up at him with watery eyes. “But how is it not cheating?”

“Because Preston is a part of our little band of merry men,” he chuckles. “He’s just a little slow in the head.” He winks. “He’s gonna catch up sooner or later, and if he doesn’t, well... then he‘s stupid.”

“He’s not stupid.” I narrow my eyes. “He’s hurting. He has a monster for a father who uses him as a fucking punching bag.”

Grayson’s grin falls, anger taking over his features. “Again?” he growls.

“Yeah.”

“Fuck. We really need to get rid of that fucking bastard.”

The sooner, the better.

“Thankfully, everything damaged can be replaced. Nothing important is ruined,” Mom says, stepping back into the room.

I move away from Grayson so fast that I almost give myself whiplash. I can see Grayson’s frown of disapproval. I feel bad because I don’t want to force myself away from him, but if we’re going to date, our parents can not know.

“That's good.” I smile at her. “It didn’t make it to my room.”

“Thank goodness,” she sighs. “And my room is pretty much empty anyway. So it’s just the couch, and honestly, I don’t think it would be a bad idea to get it replaced anyway.

“I like that couch,” Grayson adds in a chipper tone. “I bet there's lots of good memories on it.”

He turns a grin towards me, and I shoot him a glare, praying my cheeks aren’t red at the thought of what we did on that couch.

Mom looks confused. “Ah, yeah, I guess. Lots of movie nights when you were a kid,” Mom states to me, and I groan as Grayson chuckles. We ruined that couch for life.

“Alright, I have a guy who can come here in twenty minutes. For now, I’m going to do what I can to clean up. I want you two to head back to the house,” Mark instructs, stepping inside the house and to my mother’s side.

“I’m not leaving. I’ll stay here and help,” Grayson counters.

“I wasn’t talking about you.” Mark chuckles, his attention turning to me. “Sadie, you’re going to need a place to stay until everything can be cleaned and fixed. I’m not going to tell you what to do, and you can say no if you like and we can find you other accommodations, but you're more than welcome to stay at the house. There’s a room for you and everything. It’s your home now, too.”

“Oh, please!” Mom’s eyes light up. “Yes, Sadie, come and stay at the house. I’d love to have you close again. I miss you.” My heart sinks at her sad tone.

I’ve missed her too. She’s one of my best friends, my person, someone who’s always been there for me. Being alone in this cottage all the time has gotten lonely. I thought living on my own would give me some sense of freedom, but in reality, it’s just empty in here.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Grayson interjects. “Would love to get to know my soon-to-be new sister better.” Grayson’s smile seems friendly enough, but I know my dirty-minded man is thinking about how he’s going to have easy access to me now.

And I don’t hate that idea.

“Yeah.” I nod. “I don’t see why not.”

“Yay!” Mom claps her hands excitedly. “Let’s go pack a bag for tonight, and we can come back tomorrow for the rest. We need to get some sleep. You have school in the morning.”

That has me groaning inside. I’m going to be dead to the world. Maybe if I sit in the back, no one will notice?

Once I’m done packing, the guy who’s here to vacuum the water out is already at work.

Mark gives Mom the car keys and kisses her goodbye. Grayson follows after me, snatching my bag and putting it over his shoulder.

“So, you're not mad at me?” I ask Grayson, hanging a little bit behind my mom as we head for the car.

“No, Pretty Girl. I’m not mad. Anything with me, Collin, Declan, and Preston is free game.”

“I don’t get your guys’ way of thinking.” I shake my head. “I’ll need to talk to Declan, though, and see what he thinks.”

“Dude is going to cream his pants when you tell him.” Grayson smirks.

“What?!” I gape at him.

“You know how much he likes Preston. The two people he’s head over heels for are now fucking? It’s his nerdy little dream come true. Only thing better for him would be if he was there too. I should show him the video, give him some new material.”

“Material?”

“Something to beat the meat to.”

“Oh my god.” I cover my ears with my hands. “Grayson.”

He cackles. “Pretty Girl, you have no room to talk. If I remember clearly, a certain someone was playing with her pretty pink pussy to a video of one of us.”

Fuck. I almost forgot about that. And how could I? Grayson fucked me so damn good on those stairs.

“So, what you’re saying is I’m overthinking this?” I ask him.

“A little. But that’s okay. Honestly, I like that you’re worried. It means you have a conscience. That you don’t want to hurt us.”

“I don’t,” I insist, coming to a stop. “I never want to hurt you guys, any of you.”

“I know, Pretty Girl.” He goes to reach out to touch me but looks over in my Mom’s direction. “And we don’t want to hurt you. If we ever do, know it’s not on purpose. Preston isn’t just some random guy. He’s someone you have feelings for, someone who you have a history with. And... he’s one of us.”

“So this little bromance might become something?” I smile, knowing they weren’t really friends before joining the Host Club but have gotten closer since.

“Maybe. But I’m not fucking any of them,” he states, and I laugh in surprise.

“I never expected you to.”

“But if you play your cards right, I could see Preston bringing your boy, Dec, to his knees.” He grins, and my face flushes. “Does it bother you? The two of them having feelings for one another.”

“No.” I shake my head. “Trust me, I'm the last person who should be upset with having feelings for more than one person.” I give him a pointed look. “If anything, I feel bad. I can only assume Preston hasn’t taken any steps towards having something more with Declan for the same reason he won’t with me.”

Grayson nods. “I think you're right.”

He walks me to the car and hands me my bag back. “Thanks for coming tonight,” I tell him.

“No, thank you for coming tonight.” He grins, and I die.

“Good night, Grayson,” I mutter as my mom starts up the car.

“Good night, Pretty Girl. See you soon.”

I think I like the idea of being down the hall from Grayson, even if I might miss my cozy little cottage.