Unwrapping Holly - A Holiday Reverse Harem Romance, page 9
It was the betrayal of having it given so freely to someone else.
It took less than an hour for word to spread about what I’d done. They didn’t say anything, but I could see their looks. Feel their stares. Old Holly would’ve been utterly humiliated, to the point of curling up into a ball.
New Holly — the one who’d just confronted her ex on the eighteen floor — couldn’t give a rat’s ass.
“Holly, could you come see me when you get a second?”
My blood ran cold. James had already walked away, sipping his coffee, without waiting for an answer. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or disappointed or any of those things.
But it was never a good thing to be called into your bosses office.
I waited five minutes, to give the illusion I’d been in the middle of something important. Then I went, slipping inside and closing the door behind me.
“Hey…”
James was behind his desk, typing away. He finished the sentence he was working on, then folded his hands in front of him before looking up at me.
“How’s your day going, Holly?”
I smiled weakly. “Busy Monday. It’s going okay, I guess.”
He cocked his head. He wasn’t buying it.
My gaze dropped. My shoulders slumped. There was no use in lying.
“Alright,” I sighed. “My day sucks.”
“That’s more like it.”
I glanced up again and James was smiling. It was a warm, genuine smile. The kind that would instantly put you ease.
“Listen, I know you’ve had a rough day,” he said. “Why don’t you take the rest of the afternoon off?”
I swallowed glumly. “Are you mad?”
“Not at all,” he said. “These things happen. I get much more drama than you realize, and usually from repeat offenders. I’m not allowed to give you names,” he chuckled, “but you already know them.”
Oh, I knew them. It was funny to think he knew them too.
“You’re one of our best people, Holly. And you know I’m not just saying that. If anyone deserves a break, it’s you.”
I felt my heart swell with gratitude. The tears threatened to come again, but this time they’d be good tears. “T—Thank you.”
“No thanks needed,” said James. “And between you and me? You should’ve gotten that promotion.” He sighed wistfully. “I still don’t know why you didn’t. But I want you to know I gave the people upstairs a glowing recommendation.”
My boss leaned forward and pushed a box of tissues my way. It was covered in one of those crazy-colored yarn things, probably some heartfelt craft done by one of his kids.
“I appreciate that,” I said miserably. “I—I just want to…”
“Slip out of here Holly,” James smiled, “while everyone’s at lunch. I’m ordering you to do something happy with the rest of your day. Get some Christmas shopping done. See a movie. Have fun.”
Christmas shopping…
With the exception of Lincoln, I’d been neglecting my second job. I still had so many clients to fulfill, so many people left to buy for.
“Thanks again,” I grinned back through glassy eyes. “I— I could really just hug you right now.”
James stood, rising to his full height of just five-foot seven inches. He was big, round, grey-bearded. Smiling beneath his mustache, he looked like Santa Claus with his arms held out.
“If anyone needs one it’s you,” he grinned merrily. “Hug away.”
Twenty-One
HOLLY
I spent the rest of Monday shopping… and avoiding Donovan’s text messages. I’d called the front desk at Crunch Time to cancel my training appointment, which was pretty cowardly all things considered.
Between my whirlwind weekend and what had happened at work, I really just wanted time for myself. Shopping was twice as hard without a car. I’d had to lug everything home on the bus with me, or in the case of bigger items, arrange for them to be shipped. My better clients would probably reimburse me for the cost. But some, I knew, would question why I was suddenly charging shipping when I never had before.
And it wasn’t just Donovan I was ignoring… it was Brody and Lincoln too. After responding sweetly to their initial messages, I’d gone totally cold when it came to answering subsequent texts.
“Meet me,” Jocelyn’s voicemail had warned sternly. “Or DIE.”
It was the one part of my day that made me laugh. I’d listened to the message twice already, chuckling each time, before texting her to invite her over for dinner.
Dinner consisted of Chinese take-out. I’d always thought the #1 Best Kitchen was a hilariously redundant name, but considering how good their shrimp fried rice was, maybe not.
In the comfort of my little apartment, we unpacked everything together. Jocelyn waited until our drinks were poured, and the sleeves were off our eggrolls. I was surprised she even gave me that long.
“Alright,” she said flatly. “OUT with it!”
I smiled back at her innocently from my end of the couch. “Out with what?”
“You know Goddamn well what I’m talking about!” she said. “Your date on Saturday. Your meeting with Lincoln yesterday. What the hell happened to you today that you somehow got out of work early. All of it.”
“So you wanna know about my date, huh?” I asked.
“Hell yes.”
I grinned evilly as she took the bait. “Which one?”
It took a few seconds for my words to sink in. When they finally did, Jocelyn threw a packet of duck sauce at me.
“Bitch, you’d better start talking!”
She reached for the mustard. I laughed and held up my hand defensively. “Okay, okay…” I said. “I’ll start the from beginning.”
“With Donovan,” she said.
“With Brody,” I shot back.
My friend’s eyes went ridiculously wide. She dropped her eggroll onto her plate.
“Brody?” she repeated. “Who the hell is Brody?”
“The super-cute guy from my psych class who took me out Friday.”
I had to admit, I was enjoying this. Usually I was the one living vicariously through her. It was nice to have the tables turned for once.
“Now do you understand why I didn’t call you back?”
Jocelyn nodded like a robot, her mouth still slightly open.
“Good,” I grinned, picking up my plastic fork. “Now, I’ll start from the beginning…”
I told her everything, from the moment my bag was snatched on Friday afternoon, to the minute the cab dropped me off Sunday night. Jocelyn listened intently as I went over every date, every kiss, every dripping detail. By the time I’d finished, neither one of us had even touched our food.
“Holly…” was all she said when I finally stopped talking. “Oh my God!”
“I know.”
“You went out on three dates?” she swore incredulously. “In three days?”
“I know.”
“With three different guys?”
“Yes.”
“And you… you slept with…”
“I know!”
My friend wasn’t trying to make me feel guilty. If anything, the half-smile plastered across her face was one of pure admiration. Jocelyn had been trying to get me to see the anti-Malcolm light for quite some time now. She was my head cheerleader, begging me to come out of my shell.
And well… here I was.
“I’ve always said you should get back in the game,” Jocelyn swore. “But Holly! You went and played three different sports at once?”
“That’s a shitty analogy.”
“No it’s not! Look at you, you’re a legend! A rock star! Donovan and Lincoln? And this other guy…”
“Brody.”
“And you said he’s cute too?”
“Beautiful,” I confirmed. “A green-eyed hunk.”
I punched a few buttons on my phone and brought up the photo of us together, the one taken at the Cloisters. Brody’s boyishly handsome face and bright white teeth made him look like a male model.
“You’re an asshole,” Jocelyn swore, grabbing the phone and staring into it. “You know that?”
“Why?”
“Juggling three guys at a time, Holly? I can barely keep up with one!”
“I’m not juggling three guys…”
“Oh no?” she said. “Then give me one.”
“Wha—”
“Him,” she said, taking the phone. “He’s cute! I’ll take him. Brandon.”
“Brody,” I corrected her. “Jeez, you can’t even get his name right!”
Jocelyn laughed and squirmed back into the cushions. “Fine, I’ll take Donovan then. Holy shit, I can’t believe you slept with him! Look at his body! He must’ve been amazing…”
He was, I thought to myself fondly. So was I, come to think of it.
“You don’t want any of these guys anyway,” I chided her. “I already had sex with them.”
“So?”
“So?” I repeated. “That’s like… it’s… wouldn’t it be weird to—”
“Not at all,” she shrugged.
I shook my head. Leave it to Jocelyn to take something that would’ve bothered any other girlfriend in the world, and just shrug her shoulders at it.
“You’re not getting anyone,” I said. “I’m not even getting them.”
Jocelyn stared at me like I’d grown seven more heads. “Why the hell not?”
“Because I have a very big problem!” I cried. “I have to pick one, Jocelyn! And they’re all so incredible, I have no idea which one I—”
“Wait. Why do you have to pick just one?” my friend countered.
“Because that’s what people do.”
“Not all people,” she winked.
We stopped talking only because we both ran out of breath at the same time. Jocelyn spoke first, one side of her mouth curling into a wicked smile.
“So you’re saying you don’t know which one to choose, right?”
“No clue,” I admitted helplessly.
“Then why decide now?”
I blinked in confusion. “What?”
“You could date all three,” she pointed out, “for a little while at least. See which ones you like or don’t like…”
“That’s just… it’s…”
“Hey, you already slept with them right?” Jocelyn pointed out. “So it’s not like sex would be a factor. The damage is already done.”
I sighed. She actually had a point, there.
“Go out with them each again. And again after that. If you find yourself attracted to one in particular, you can break it off with the other two — no hard feelings.”
She made it sound so simple. So easy. Like juggling three boyfriends at once was something women did every day.
“And what if I like them all?” I found myself asking.
Jocelyn popped a wanton into her mouth and bit down. Juice flowed down her chin, into her napkin.
“Then you’re screwed,” she smiled, wiping her lips. “Literally.”
Twenty-Two
HOLLY
It took the better part of a week — several long days of avoiding and not answering. A week of running from the three most amazing guys I’d met, dated, and yes, screwed, in my entire life.
And for no real reason.
I’d stopped going to the gym altogether. I’d even skipped the review class for my psych final, to avoid seeing Brody. It was amazingly stupid, and childish too. But it seemed the longer I went without making a decision, the bigger a mess I was making of the whole thing.
Just date them all, Jocelyn’s voice sang in my head. See which one you like, already!
I’d almost taken my friend’s advice. In fact, I’d come painfully close to making dates with each of them. It would’ve been easy, just picking different days. At least in the beginning, while things were still casual.
In the end though, I did the only thing I could do. The only thing that made any sense to the old Holly, or even the crazy new one:
I made the same date with all of them.
Standing outside the coffee shop, I was more nervous than I’d ever been in my life. One by one I saw them go in. Through the window I watched as they sat down alone, picking their own little spots, completely obvious to one another.
My stomach was doing barrel rolls the whole time. I felt like throwing up.
You could leave now, you know.
I supposed I could. None of them had even seen me yet. I could concoct an emergency. In just three little text messages, no one would be the wiser.
But as much as I wanted to…
Summoning every ounce of courage, I forced myself to walk through the door. Lincoln saw me first. He stood up with a smile, and I greeted him by taking his hand and pulling him along.
“Come with me.”
I reached Brody next. His back was to me. I tapped him on the shoulder and nodded in the direction of an empty table. He followed grinning, but his grin faded as he saw Lincoln coming along too.
This is it…
My heart was thundering inside my chest! I sat them down next to each other, the both of them wholly confused. Then I held up a single finger as I left.
“Wait here. Just one sec...”
Donovan was clear on the other side of the room. It took another minute to grab him. By the time I’d gotten him back to the table, Brody and Lincoln were already discussing something. They still looked confused though.
“Brody, Lincoln, meet Donovan.”
I motioned my personal trainer into a third chair. He went reluctantly, totally bewildered. But he still went.
“Donovan, this is Brody and Lincoln.”
All three men sat in a circle now, sizing each other up like gunfighters. Only Brody made a half-hearted effort to shake hands. He quickly stopped himself though.
“I know this is weird,” I said, taking the fourth seat. “And I know you’re all here expecting to meet up with me. But please, hear me out. Let me just say everything I have to say, because God knows I’ve practiced it enough times.”
I had their attention, all three of them. For one strange and wondrous moment, an electric thrill shot through me.
Just do it already!
One deep breath later… I did it. I told them everything, just as I had with Jocelyn, only this time I left out all the more heated details.
It was crazy, telling the story to all three of them, each one knowing a third of it already. I talked about my impromptu date with Brody. My date with Donovan. My shopping trip-turned-romance with Lincoln, too. All three of them listened intently, as if I were telling the most interesting story in the world rather than an account of my very busy weekend. I left nothing out, but I also left certain things to the imagination. I wanted to be honest, not raunchy.
By the time it was over all three of them were staring at me. From time to time, they’d stare at each other, too.
An uncomfortable silence blanketed the table. It was as if each one of them was waiting for someone else to make the first move.
“So?” I said finally, prompting them. “Now you all know the story, and you all know each other.” I sighed and sank back in my chair, my shoulders slumped. “Let the fun begin.”
The last part came off intentionally sardonic. Or at least I hoped it had.
“What fun?” asked Brody.
“The fun of calling me a complete asshole?” I said, totally exasperated. “I mean… look at what I did. I played with your feelings. I went out with three of you in three days.”
“So?” Donovan asked.
“So nothing! I broke rules. I betrayed all three of you.”
Lincoln shrugged. “Seems to me you didn’t really betray anybody.”
“Are you even listening to me?” I practically shouted. “I can’t decide! I just can’t make a decision, so I called you all down here to make it for me. That’s how shitty a person I am. That’s how cowardly I—”
“You could’ve dated us all,” said Donovan. “We wouldn’t have known. That would’ve been the act of a shitty person. But rather than hurt us, you brought us here to explain.”
Brody and Lincoln nodded. “Hey, at least you were honest about it,” my classmate said. “I mean, you could’ve easily—”
“But I’m being selfish,” I tried to explain. “I’m not strong enough to reject anyone, so I’m making you do it.”
“More like you’re putting it all out in the open,” Lincoln disagreed. “This is total transparency, Holly. You’re laying everything bare.”
I sat back in my chair, totally stunned. Are they crazy?
“Look,” said Donovan. “You obviously brought us here with an end goal in mind. Or at least an idea of how this should go.”
“Yeah,” Brody jumped in. “What exactly did you expect us to do?”
“I— I don’t know!” I practically shouted. “Get mad? Get pissed? I—I figured someone would drop out. Or walk out. And maybe someone else would back away.”
The guys looked at each other and laughed. I couldn’t believe it.
“Maybe I expected one of you to fight the other,” I said. “Shit, I don’t know. Maybe I expected to lose you all.”
“Is that what you wanted?” Lincoln asked.
“No, not at all!”
“Then what?”
I was suddenly upset. I’d pictured this going a thousand different ways, but this definitely wasn’t one of them.
“I—I don’t know what the hell I wanted,” I admitted. “Maybe this whole thing was a terrible idea. I just know I wanted to be honest. I never intended on hurting anyone…”
Lincoln folded his arms across his chest. “That sounds kind of admirable, actually.”
My eyes went to Brody, then Donovan, then back to Lincoln. I was at a loss.
“He’s right,” said Brody. “This was sweet of you. It was the best case scenario really, considering how your weekend went.” He winked at me and my heart melted a little. “You came clean.”
Twenty-Three
HOLLY
A waitress finally arrived, asking if we needed anything. Somehow it broke the tension for me. One by one the guys took turns ordering; a surreal little circle of my suitors and lovers, all talking casually. Ordering coffees and lattes as if none of what was happening here was a very big deal.
