Opal: A Contemporary Reverse Harem Romance (Jewels Cafe Book 4)

by Candace Wondrak

  Then again, it had been a while, so it was difficult to remember what my type actually was.

  “What do you want this to be, Opal?” Kent asked, crossing his arms as he leaned on my dresser. His blonde hair was slick with sweat, and I had to admit, he looked even sexier after the act itself. Maybe because I knew now what he was packing, what he was capable of.

  “I…” I was about to answer him truthfully when I heard the doorbell ring.

  Great. Who the hell could it be now?

  Chapter 9

  “Hold that thought,” I said, lifting a finger in the air. “Wait here.” If it was Brock…I didn’t want him to see me with Kent, even though we were neighbors so it was more than obvious where Kent was if he wasn’t anywhere in their house.

  Still felt wrong, like I betrayed him, almost.

  Stupid, because I wasn’t with any of them. I was a free woman, and I could sleep with whoever I wanted.

  I made my way into the hall, making sure Kent stayed in my room, heading to the front door. It was unlocked, because apparently I did have a habit of leaving it wide open for anyone to waltz in—though this time, the doorbell ringer was more polite about it than Kent was. Unlike Kent, he didn’t just stroll in.

  The other brother stood outside my door, his hands shoved in his pockets, his stubbly face looking concerned. Ace was just as attractive as his brother, even though he wasn’t quite as muscular. He was a bit thinner, and when he moved just right, beneath his coat, under his t-shirt, I saw his tattoo sticking out.

  Huh. I did like a man with tattoos.

  “Ace,” I spoke his name. “What are you doing here?”

  “I need to talk to you,” he said. “Can I come in? I don’t care if Kent’s here. He knows. I just…I need to talk to you, please.” Beneath his scraggly blonde hair that honestly needed a trim, his sapphire gaze was pleading.

  How the hell could I say no?

  I stepped aside, letting him enter my house. Ace didn’t make it far. He stopped a few feet into the room before whirling on me, a desperate look in his normally sad eyes. His blue gaze was still a bit sad, but beyond that, it held a mixture of so many different emotions—emotions that made me freeze up.

  What was going on here?

  “I can’t get you out of my head,” Ace muttered, shaking his head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve tried and tried, but something changed. I don’t…” His chest let out a loud sigh, and I was slow to cross my arms, as if crossing my arms would protect me from whatever he was about to say. “I don’t want to upset you anymore, Opal. I’m sorry for being a dick and playing my music all night. I’m sorry for saying mean things to you anytime I saw you. I’m sorry about it all. I didn’t mean any of it.”

  This was an apology and an admittance of feelings? I didn’t know how to respond, so I didn’t. I stayed quiet, even though my heart was practically in my throat.

  We stood near the door still, and Ace took a step towards me, adding, “I don’t want to fight with you anymore. I just want you.”

  Of course, it was then that I remembered what Kent said, that Ace had heard me last night. So again, embarrassment flared up, because that was embarrassing. This? This was…just not what I was expecting. Today was not going at all how I thought it would. There really had to be something in the air around here, or in the coffee, or something, because this was…just nuts. I’d never had multiple guys banging down my door before. I knew people said there was a first time for everything, but this felt a little extreme, didn’t it?

  “I—” I was about to say something, anything really, whatever one could say to such a declaration, but again my doorbell went off, so I closed my mouth, turned away from Ace, and answered it.

  Freaking Brock stood there, his hands in his pockets, instantly telling me, “Opal, we need to talk.”

  I blinked. This was definitely a doozy of a day, a day unlike any other. This was a day that seriously should go into a book, because none of it felt real. Imagining having these three men at my beck and call was a hell of a lot different than actually having them with me, needing me as much as I needed them.

  It was wrong to be greedy and selfish, but I couldn’t help think a thought that my mother would truly shame me for if she knew I thought it: I want them all.

  “Uh, sure,” I said. “Come in.” What the hell else was I supposed to say? He knew I had both Ace and Kent here, so there was no denying it. A silly, stupid, mortifying thought came to me just then—was I so loud with Kent that they’d heard me again? How freaking paper-thin were these walls?

  Brock walked in, still wearing the same stained shirt and jacket he’d been during our date. The world outside had turned to night, the moon high in the sky, a cloudless, starry night. He spotted Ace and gave him a nod, a nod which Ace responded to, and I just stood there, wondering what kind of opposite world I’d walked into when I wasn’t looking. Another reality. Another world, because this…there was no way this could be my world.

  Three sexy guys in my house, all needing to talk to me or, well, fuck me. I couldn’t exactly complain. Only a stupid woman would complain about a situation like this, and yet I still was hesitant, because I didn’t know where any of this was going.

  It was as Ace and Brock were staring at each other when Kent chose to walk out of my room, carrying his suit jacket and smoothing out his shirt, which he’d tucked into his pants. He saw them both, gave them a smirk, and went to sit on the couch, as if he owned the entire place. He had a habit of doing that, acting like he owned me.

  “Come on,” Kent spoke to Ace and Brock, though his blonde head was turned to me, his smirk making butterflies go all wiggy in my gut. “I think we have to talk.” He wasn’t wrong, that’s for sure.

  Ace and Brock made their way to the couch, both of them sitting on opposite sides of Kent, since he had to choose the middle cushion. That left me to stand before them, between them and the TV. Where this conversation was going to go was anyone’s guess, and I didn’t know what to say.

  Yes, I was a horny bitch. Sue me.

  The room was silent for a few moments, and I drew my gaze to each of the handsome men on the couch. They were each attractive in their own way. One was a soulful musician, the next a suit-wearing jock-turned-dom, and the last was a kind artist. Three different men, and they each called out to me in the same way.

  I wanted them. Yes, holy hell, I wanted them all. I wanted to claim them as mine like we were caught in one of those paranormal shifter novels. I wanted to mark them as mine; the thought made me happier than I should probably admit.

  “So,” Brock spoke, glancing between his roommates and me.

  “So,” Ace repeated, rubbing his hands together, his azure stare heavy on me. Did he want me to guide this meeting of dicks? I sure as shit didn’t know what to say. This was a new experience for all of us, I think.

  “I think what they’re trying to say is they’re jealous that I fucked you first,” Kent spoke smugly, smirking as he crossed his legs and stretched his arms out on the back cushions behind Brock’s and Ace’s heads.

  His bluntness caused me to stammer, “What—I…can we all just forget that he said that?” Ace’s and Brock’s stares were serious, questioning, and not having any of my bullshit. “No?” I spoke after a while, barely able to squeak out the word. “Okay. Just checking.”

  Talk about awkward, although based on past experiences with Kent, it shouldn’t surprise me he’d say something like that.

  To Brock and Ace, Kent said, “You can’t be upset with me for making a move. You two were content with waiting around, pining like little girls. I did something about it, and I don’t regret it.” His green gaze flicked to me. “And I don’t think our Opal regrets it, either. She likes being dominated.”

  I liked…oh, dear God, why did the stupid man have to go and say that? My cheeks flared up in heat, and I wished I could bury myself under a mound of blankets and never surface, or at least hide until this conversation, whatever the
hell this was, was over.

  “Yes,” Brock spoke, glaring at Kent. “I do think it was a little harsh, going after her right after our date. I was trying to be a gentleman, you know—”

  “She doesn’t want a gentleman. She wants someone who’ll take charge and make her beg for it,” Kent said, speaking as if he knew me well. He didn’t…although he might have a point. Not about the gentleman part—gentlemen were always nice, and I did love Brock’s date—but about the latter. It was very sexy to be dominated by a man like him.

  “Kent,” I took on a scolding tone, as if I was his mother or something. Ugh.

  “What?” He sounded miffed, as if upset that I’d dare speak to him with a tone like that. “I’m only telling these two the truth.” He turned to his brother. “And you. You’ve been moping for months, all too happy to annoy the hot neighbor with your music, and now you suddenly want her to swoon over you? Be real, Ace.”

  Ace looked like he wanted to punch his brother. “I am being real. Maybe you need to be real, Kent. You act like you’re some tough guy, and maybe you are, but you’re here, just like us. You want her, just like us. We’ve gone over this before.”

  Wait. They’d talked about me before, or they’d all liked the same woman before? I really hoped it was the first, because if it was the latter and it hadn’t ended well, my hope of getting them all would be short-lived, I think.

  I broke into their bickering, asking, “You all want me?” It seemed like such a far-fetched scenario. I wasn’t hideous, but I wasn’t supermodel gorgeous. I was just me. Just Opal. Nothing special about me, and definitely nothing special enough to merit the attention of three dangerously beautiful men.

  “Yes” each one of them spoke unanimously, their eyes turned to me. They were like eager boys, sitting in a class. My class.

  Okay, wait. That analogy was kind of icky, huh? These men were anything but boys, and as I stared at them, I couldn’t help but recall that dream. That blasted dream, where I’d been hot and heavy with each of them. Having them together would be a dream come true, literally—but there was no way they’d go for it.

  Kent, being the blunt one of the group, asked, “Do you want us? I mean, I know you want me, so I guess I mean these two. Do you want these two as much as you want me?” His lips curled upwards yet again. “Would you bend yourself over for them like you did for me?”

  Before meeting Kent, I had no idea real men talked like that. Language like that made me clench my thighs together and pretend I didn’t hear him. Language like that was freaking hotter than hell.

  “Kent,” Brock said, “you can’t just say those things.”

  “Why? Our Opal dreamt of us, you know. All of us,” Kent informed them, telling them yet another embarrassing thing about me. “Together. I think she’s not as innocent as she looks…actually, I know she’s not as innocent as she looks, even though she looks like an angel when you’re balls-deep inside her.”

  Oh, my God. This…this wasn’t happening. I should walk out of this room right now and…do what? Leave them? Fuck that. As much as Kent’s language got to me, I had to see this through, see where this would go.

  “She wants us all too,” Kent added. “So now that we know who everyone wants, the question is: who will get her? One of us, two of us…all of us?” He leaned forward, setting his arms on his knees, staring right at me as he asked, “Do you think you could handle us all, Opal?”

  I didn’t know how to answer that question. He didn’t mean all at once, did he? I’d never been with more than one man at a time before, let alone a threesome or a foursome.

  I spoke, “Did I fall asleep when I wasn’t looking?”

  Ace turned his glare away from his brother, his gaze softening when he looked at me. “No, this isn’t a dream. As crude as my brother is, what do you think?”

  What did I think about having them all? Hell, I wanted them all, but faced with the reality of three dicks I didn’t know whether or not I could even juggle them, I was speechless. This wasn’t a situation that I could’ve ever prepared myself for. A girl didn’t exactly grow up and think: yes, I need to find me three handsome boyfriends, who all agree that their feelings for me beat out the notion of monogamy society has taught them to follow.

  Because I was me, and because this still felt like some kind of a trick, or a dream—I was half waiting for them to jump up and say just kidding, as if we’d ever want to be with you in a serious capacity—I said, “What do I think…about what?”

  I had to be sure here. There was no room for the unknown, not when three dicks were involved and I was both hopeful and cautious simultaneously. Three dicks…could I even juggle all of them? Could I handle them? It’d been forever since I dated a single guy, for goodness sakes.

  “If we want you, and you want us,” Brock spoke tentatively.

  “If we wanted to share you amongst ourselves,” Kent said with a smirk.

  Ace was the one who added, “If you want that, too.”

  A whole bunch of ifs, and yet, even though there were a thousand ways this could backfire and go wrong, I found myself nodding once. “I…yes.”

  What in the literal goddamn hell was I agreeing to here? To date them all? To sleep with them all? To have my bedroom’s door become a constantly revolving one, each of them having a night with me and just trading off?

  This could be bad, or it could be really, really good.

  I knew they were about to say something. Ace and Brock something serious, while Kent would probably say something totally inappropriate. Before they had the chance to speak though, I held up a hand, saying, “I need a moment, though. I need…I need to work. Tonight, I mean. I need to work.” AKA no more dicks for me tonight, even as yummy as they looked.

  Not that I could see through their clothes and get a peek of their dicks, but you know what I meant.

  The guys looked as if they were going to fight me on it, but I practically hustled them off my couch and to my front door, saying, “I do have a deadline still, you know. But I would appreciate it, if we’re really going to try this out, if you would stop being so loud after dark. Please.” God, I sounded like I didn’t know what I was talking about, and in a way, I didn’t.

  This was just nuts.

  Even though it was absolutely bonkers, I got them to leave, though they all swore they’d see me again tomorrow. Great. I probably wouldn’t get any work done in the foreseeable future, because let’s be honest, I wasn’t going to do shit tonight except call Sofia, pray she answered, and then tell her all the details about my weird arrangement with my neighbors.

  It was only when the guys were gone that I allowed myself to breathe in deeply and relax my shoulders. Being around them had made me so tense, and I didn’t even realize it.

  It was crazy. It was absolutely crazy, and I had to call Sofia right this instant.

  In the next minute, I had my phone in my hands, gingerly sitting on the couch where all three of them had been. I could feel each of their warm spots as I laid there, and I wondered how good it would feel to have them all in my bed, curled around me, their body heat sinking into mine.

  I dialed Sofia, and she answered after the fifth ring. Before she had the chance to say anything, I blurted out, “I think I just agreed to date all three of my neighbors.” Wow. No semblance of smoothness here. Nope. None at all, but then again, that didn’t surprise me. I was never the smoothest one around. Awkward and weird and sometimes bitchy, that was me.

  Sofia’s side of the phone was quiet, and I heard her yell to her fiancé, “I’m going to need to take this call in the hall, babe. You can start eating without me.” It sounded like she got up and moved, the phone probably held against her shoulder as she left the nearby vicinity of her fiancé.

  Yes, why would she want to talk about dating multiple men at once when her fiancé was nearby? Who knows? He might get a little jealous, think she would want to start getting all the dick.

  It wasn’t like that for me. I didn’t want to date th
em simply for their dicks, although it was a part of it. No, I had feelings for them, as strange as it was, and they were feelings that had only seemed to grow and blossom into a field of flowers in the last few days. Before that, the field had been barren. Now it stood with flowers of all kinds, blooming and strong, their fragrance in the air.

  Me and weird analogies were super close tonight, I guess.

  Once she was a safe distance away from her fiancé, I heard her ask, “What do you mean, you think you agreed to date your neighbors? How do you not know? You either did or you didn’t. There’s not that much grey area when it comes to agreeing to date multiple people like that.”

  I closed my eyes, wanting to bury myself against the couch cushions. I’d probably be able to smell them if I closed my eyes and tried hard enough. “Okay, you’re right. I don’t think I did—I definitely did. I am now seeing the three neighbors who I thought I hated, or at the very least firmly disliked.”

  “Girl, you know there’s a fine line between love and hate, but hold up. How did this all happen? Explain it to me, give me the details, and don’t be skimping. I’ll know, and if you skimp on me, so help me I will get my ass in a car and drive to Silver Springs and make you tell me.”

  I grinned to myself, knowing Sofia was one hundred percent serious. So I then told her what happened, summarizing the entire day. My date with Brock, how I’d come home to find Kent in my house—yes, I might’ve skipped the bit of the day where I was in the shower masturbating—and how Kent pretty much dominated me. Then how Ace and Brock had shown up, and we all had that awkward little chitchat on the couch.

  My whole day didn’t take too long to summarize, actually. Hmm. Maybe my life wasn’t as complicated as I thought it was.

  “Wow.” Sofia seemed speechless, for once, which was a shocker. Who knew all I needed to do to make my ever-so-talkative friend at a loss for words was nab three boyfriends at the same time? I would’ve done it years ago.