glance and almost groaned out loud.
She was doing it now.
What the ever-loving fuck?
As I shifted in my seat, I heard myself say, "I don't have a harem."
"Oh." She paused. "Well that's good, unless, um, you want a harem, I guess."
If I wanted one, it wouldn't be hard to get. Hell, I could probably have one lined up by the time I got home.
But the whole group sex thing had never been my idea of a good time. It was part of the reason I'd been doing a slow, pissed-off burn over Angelique's book.
By now, I'd read the thing from cover to cover.
It hadn't made me happy, even if some of it was true.
Yeah, I could be callous. And yeah, I'd had my share of partners. And yeah, maybe I wasn't the kind of guy who'd be warmly welcomed by an overprotective dad.
But I wasn't a raging pervert either.
When it came to sex, I didn't even go looking for it. My whole adult life, it had always come to me.
And after we'd hit it big?
Shit, these days, I could have a different girl every hour and never run out.
So yeah, some of Angelique's allegations were spot-on. But the rest were bald-faced lies – or nuggets of truth dipped in so much bullshit, it reeked to high heaven.
That was another kick in the teeth.
As far as the thing she'd called an orgy, that had been her fantasy, not mine. And hey, I was a decent sport when it came to pleasing my partners, so when she showed up with a couple of female friends looking to make my birthday "extra-special," I hadn't said no.
To be fair, I hadn't wanted to say no – until the deed was done, and I'd found myself in a pile of naked women. Every guy's fantasy, right?
Not for me, apparently.
In the end, all I'd felt was empty, wondering if my twenty-ninth birthday was the peak of my existence.
Money, girls, fast cars, and a kick-ass condo on the river – I had it all. Except I wasn't feeling it.
It didn't help that both of my brothers were so fucking happy, it was sickening. Even Mason, who didn't have a happy bone in his body, had gone all soft and gooey for a girl who was way too nice for the likes of him.
Don't get me wrong. I was happy for him. I was happy for both of my brothers. And I wouldn't take away their happiness for all of the tits and asses in a high-dollar strip club.
It's just that with all the changes – both with my brothers and with myself – I'd been feeling a sensation I hadn't felt in years.
Loneliness.
Pathetic, right?
Chase Blastoviak wasn't a lonely guy. Or at least, he didn't need to be – harem or no harem.
To Mina, I asked, "What made you think I had one?"
"Had what?"
She knew what. But hey, if she wouldn't say it, I would. "A harem."
"Oh, I don't know," she said. "What made you think I had hogs?"
It was a good point, but hell if I'd admit it. I replied, "I didn't think you had hogs. I was talking about your dad."
"Oh," she scoffed, "so my mom doesn't get her share of hogs?"
She looked so indignant that I couldn’t help but smile. "Hey, she can have the chickens."
"Which would be great," she said, "if only we had them."
Mina still hadn't answered my question, except to make that crack about the hogs. Sure, I got what she meant. A guy like me – I'd have a harem the same way farmers had hogs – except her dad didn't have hogs, which meant that her logic was flawed.
Looking to get her talking, I said, "So, let's say your dad did go for my liver. With no hogs, how would he get rid of it?"
"Trust me," she said. "Your liver's safe."
"Oh, yeah? How do you know?"
Under her breath, she murmured, "Well, if he didn't rip out Bryce's, I doubt he'd go for yours."
Bryce? Who the hell was Bryce?
When I gave her a questioning look, she straightened in her seat and added, "But that's totally irrelevant. I'm just saying, your liver is safe, that's all."
So she'd said.
But now I was curious. "So who's Bryce?"
"Nobody," she said. "I mean nobody anymore. I just dated him for a while, that's all."
That's all, huh?
I wasn't buying it.
So Bryce was her ex. And he was on her dad's shit-list. I frowned. Or was it Mina's shit-list?
Had Bryce hurt her?
At the thought, I felt my fingers tighten