Page 94 of Brat Baby
This time, Hudson doesn’t hold back his laughter before leaning in to whisper in my ear. “Fucking perfection.”
“Mean, princess. That is just plain mean.” Darcy turns and grabs something from Hudson’s desk. “But you’re lucky I like it.”
He crouches down in front of me and uses a plastic fork to stab at something in the container, bringing up a piece of juicy, very ripe, strawberry. “You need to eat some of this, and then we need to get you out of here. Your things are being delivered soon.”
Obediently, I open my mouth, and as soon as the flavor hits my tongue, I moan. “I think that is the best strawberry I’ve ever eaten.”
Hudson squeezes my waist before adjusting both of us so that it’s less of a recline and more of a sit. “That’s the endorphins talking. They’ll taste like normal strawberries next time you eat them.”
I pout around my mouthful. “If endorphins make food taste this good, can I have them all the time?”
Darcy wipes some juice from my lower lip with his thumb. “If we could, we would give you the world.”
I stare back at him, my heart melting into a giant puddle of goo in my chest. But then my stomach clenches and my resolve firms. I need to win Derek over before Friday night. Especially now that I know that some sort of decision is going to be made about our situation.
No more messing around with teasing him in class. I need to start taking a much more direct approach. I need to get one-on-one time with him. We need to talk like fucking adults.
I open my mouth and accept the piece of watermelon that Darcy offers me, crunching down a little too hard for the mushy fruit.
I need to win my daddy back.
Chapter 48
Emery
“A knife, seriously?” Oakley repeats for what must be the fourth time this afternoon, her eyes as wide as a cartoon character’s.
I nod and take a bite of the spaghetti Bolognese she taught me how to cook tonight. Her teaching me how to cook is somethingthat started late last week when she discovered I didn’t even know how to cook rice.
She’d given me a sad stare for half a second before turning into a head chef and teaching me things I’m sure I should have known by now.
“And three of them are back together with you?”
I nod again, nudging one of the still-unpacked boxes that litter our dorm. Spoiler alert: it was not only a few boxes.
As promised, everything arrived yesterday afternoon. Both Oakley and I stood around in a state of shock at the sheer volume of stuff once the delivery guys left. I swear Hudson added more things when I wasn’t looking because I don’t remember saying yes to half this stuff.
I’ve slowly been unboxing things and tossing my old things into bags I plan to donate back to Goodwill. Only a few items have made it to the trash. And not only has my room gotten a bit of a makeover, so has the main living space. We have shelves and knickknacks, which makes the room feel a bit squishy, but it’s all too pretty not to have up. Thankfully, Oaks is okay with it all.
“I’m honestly not sure if I’m intrigued or worried for you,” she mutters as she pops a forkful of pasta into her mouth. When I don’t reply, she looks up, then waves her fork around as she explains. “The knife thing. We have already established that I’m cool about the multiple daddy thing.”
Cool is not the word I would use to describe her feelings, but okay. Maybe intrigued? Definitely shocked. But also very, very interested, without wanting to show it. Personally, I think the fact that she has multiple, mostly platonic, daddies on her roster right now is probably satisfying some sort of unmet need within her.
Maybe when this whole situation with my daddies has sorted itself out, I can ask them if they have friends that might be interested in Oaks.
“Honestly, same. I had no idea that sort of thing would do it for me, but it so did,” I reply, conjuring up the sensation of Xavier’s blade pressing into my tongue as my mouth stretched around the rest of him, all with a slice of fear cutting into my pleasure.
A shiver runs down my spine and heat pools in my core at the memory.
Yep, totally does it for me. I haven’t mentioned the vibrator in the classroom or Hudson’s office. I like Oakley, but it’s probably best that I don’t mention having sex with my professors on school property.
“As long as you’re happy, that’s all I care about. I would hate to think I introduced you to all of this and it was making you sad.” She glances up from her spaghetti, eyes sharper than I’ve ever seen them. “You are happy, right?”
An overwhelming warmth washes over me, and my throat grows tight at her concern. “Yeah, Oaks, I’m happy. Just need to get through to Derek and I’ll be perfect.”
She watches me carefully for a few seconds, her blonde hair flopping around her face from the scrunchie that is losing its hold on her messy bun. “Any thoughts on what’s going on in his head? Has he given you any indication that things could be worked out?”
I shake my head. “No, to both. I’m not an idiot—it’s definitely the student-teacher thing—but the part I don’t get is why we can’t talk to someone about the fact that we were together before we knew that? Or even, just talk to each other? Like, isn’t there a way to declare the relationship? Or pause it for this first semester, then we can figure out an alternate arrangement or something for the rest of college?”
