Page 4 of Brutal Bond

“It’s an investment,” I summarize.

“Exactly!” she exclaims. “Do you know of an easier way to make a million dollars? I don’t make near that with any of the Daddies I date.”

I shake my head and mutter, “I guess I’m just nervous.”

Unlike Nikki, I haven’t taken the sugar daddy plunge yet. I signed up for the app with her a few months ago—which I’m sure is how they found me for tonight’s party—but I haven’t actually gone on a date or met up with any of the guys on there. Letting some disgusting old guy sweat all over me for a few minutes doesn’t quite seem worth it.

Although the apartment Nikki’s current Daddy is basically footing the bill for is quite nice.

Way nicer than either of us could afford.

“It’s just sex,” she shrugs. “What is there to be nervous about? It’s not like you’re selling your virginity. You’ve fucked plenty of guys for the hell of it. I know, I’ve been there for several of them.”

“Twice,” I correct her. Not that it makes a difference. “We’ve fucked two guys together. And I’ve told you, it’s not the same for me as it is for you.”

“And I’m telling you, I still don’t believe you. No one eats pussy like that and doesn’t actually enjoy it,” she smirks.

“Whatever.” I throw a hand towel at her as she walks from the bathroom.

It’s not a lie.

She’s the only woman I’ve ever been with—always as the two of us joining a guy—but I’m definitely not sexually attracted to her or any other woman for that matter. They just don’t do it for me. I do enjoy it, though. I come. She comes. It’s fun, but that’s it.

Sex with men isn’t much different, other than the coming part most of the time. That usually doesn’t happen. There is no denying that I like men, but something about sex is missing. It’s definitely not the fireworks and explosions that I hear some girls talk about.

The closest I get to that is the drawer of power tools in my nightstand.

“Ten minutes,” Nik pops her head back in the doorway. “The driver just texted, and he’ll be here in ten minutes.”

“Fuck.” I hastily apply the last of my makeup.

“Don’t worry. I already laid the clothes they sent over on your bed.” She sets my mascara on the vanity. “And I’m just going to go on record here, I could get very used to five-hundred-dollar panties.”

“To what?” I scoff.

“Did you not look in your box earlier? La Perla lingerie, Valentino dresses, and Jimmy Choos.” She slides her hands over the sleek black dress hugging her body. “You don’t go back to off-the-rack stuff after this.”

Quickly finishing my makeup, I head to my room and look at the clothes spread across the foot of my bed. They are gorgeous. Luxurious. And they probably cost as much as a month’s rent for our apartment.

It's one night.

How bad could it be?

CHAPTER

FOUR

EDMUND

Sitting at the bar while we wait for Grant and his newest pet to arrive for tonight’s festivities, I sip my gin and tonic and aimlessly scroll through my phone until I wind up reading emails for work.

Is this what my life has come to?

At a fucking party, waiting to dip my cock in a gorgeous and over-eager co-ed, and I’m reading my fucking work email.

The barstool beside me scratches across the hardwood floor as it’s pulled from the bar, and I look up from my phone to find Samuel taking a seat beside me. As much as he grates on my last nerve with his impulsivity, he is a welcome distraction to the deep dive I was about to take into my own psyche.

We talk for a bit, waiting for Grant to arrive with his new plaything. I’m more than eager to see if she is as beautiful in person as she was in the photo he sent of her, even if the chance of getting to play with her is going to be slim.

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