Page 59 of Crave: A Reverse Harem Romance

“Well, don’t be,” she said. “I’m sure it’s fantastic. You’re a great writer, you know you are.”

“I mean, it’s not really the writing skills I’m worried about. It’s more just… putting my life out there for everyone to read and judge.”

She sighed. “You’ve got to get over this obsession about what other people are going to think and how they’re going to react to you, Harlow. You’ve honestly just gotta do you. Put yourself out there and say, ‘hey world, this is who I am, and this is who I love.’ I mean… you're trying to do this long term, right? This isn’t a fling.”

“No, not at all,” I answered. “In fact, we’re all kind of talking about moving in together.”

“That’s amazing,” she chimed. “But if you’re going to do that, if you’re going down this road, then you have to be proud of your relationship. I mean, do you want kids one day?”

I was thinking about this a lot lately. The more serious things got with all of the guys, the more I thought… yeah, I did want to have kids. I really wanted to be a mom.

“Yeah, I do,” I admitted.

“Well, then what are you going to do? Be in a relationship with these men but hide your children’s fathers from the world? Do you want them to grow up with some sense of shame? With this idea in their head that their family isn’t normal?”

I hadn’t thought about that. “No, of course not.”

“So get over that now! Stop thinking that your relationship isn’t normal enough for the world. You’ve got an amazing life with three amazing guys that worship the ground you walk on. You need to own it, girl. Hell, I want three smoking hot guys of my own to date! I’m jealous of you! I think a lot of people would be.”

I laughed. “You’re right. You’re completely right. I mean, I’m not ashamed of my relationship at all. I don’t doubt it for a second. I love these men. There’s no right way to have a relationship.”

“Exactly! So get over this hump, press send, and own your damn life!”

I loved that she was always hyping me up this way. “Okay, I’m going to do it.”

“Good! Call me as soon as you get a response from your editor, okay? I want to know how it goes.”

“I will, I promise. Talk to you later.”

“Bye!”

I hung up the phone and took in a deep breath before clicking send.

I had to accept that whatever happened now was going to happen. And I needed to be brave for it.

Despite my insistence to myself that I had to be brave, I was pretty nervous over the next few days as I waited for my editor to get back to me. Thankfully, I had the boys to keep me calm. And they did a wonderful job supporting me.

They all knew how stressful this was for me, and they made it a point to constantly do adorable things for me. Just little things like making me tea, bringing chocolate home for me, giving me a massage…

At one point, they actually all grouped up together and joined in on a full-body massage for me. I was sure they did it hoping it would lead to some hot sex… and it did.

But I loved the hot sex just as much as they did, so of course I didn't mind.

It was only a few days later that I woke up to an email notification from my editor. I woke up alone, which was a rarity. All of the boys had a meeting this morning, though, so I was stuck at home by myself. Normally I would have used the alone time to write, but after just finishing a book, I was a bit burnt out.

My heart began to race as I waited for the email to load. The internet was slow on my phone, because of course it was the one time I was desperate to know what was in my inbox.

To my surprise, there was only one word in her reply to me: “Hot!!!”

Well, I guess I did something right.

I had to grin to myself. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting… but I don’t think I was expecting positive feedback. She didn’t even mention that she thought it was weird or unconventional or that it might not sell… no, she just said it was hot.

I excitedly went to my texts, where I had a group message going with the boys.

>You all better come back with a bottle of champagne! I wrote. We have some celebrating to do!

I added a winking emoji and sent it. Axel was the first to reply, immediately asking if this was about my book.

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