“Did I hear right? You exchanged numbers with the boys, right?” Dad asked as he dropped me off at my dorm. I hadn’t wanted him to drive, but he’d sobered up somewhat after a couple of espressos.
“Yeah,” I whispered.
He patted me on the knee as if I was five years old. “Good. I just need to get Dante on my side so he can look at this app.”
Since I’d spent the evening trying to stop myself from getting wet from Carlo’s touch, the scam had flown right out of my head, but the frustration came flooding back with his reminder.
“Dad, you never told me you invented things. Why the hell didn’t you tell me this was all part of some scam? I go to school with these guys—did you think, or even care, about how this would reflect on me when it all goes sour?”
In the end, he hadn’t even told Dante exactly what the app he supposedly developed was supposed to do. And wasn’t that supposed to have been the whole point of the dinner?
I was upset, disappointed, and fed up with him using me. Him being my dad didn’t seem a good enough reason to put up with his behavior.
“Calm down, it’s not a scam. I never told you a lot of things. It was hard back then. I would invent, go to these roadshows before you were even born. Then someone would invent the same thing, but better, and get more money for it.”
He ran his hand over his head, then sighed and smiled sadly. “I noticed you had a couple of glasses at dinner, but then you stopped. You were always a good girl… just don’t take after your old man.”
“My old man’s not so bad.”
I hated myself for lying and trying to reassure him, but I was a sucker.
He sighed. “If only it was true, Rose.”
I smiled at hearing him call me Rose. The pet name Mom used all the time.
God, I missed her.
“Anyway, we’ll catch up in the morning after I’ve had breakfast with Dante. We’re going to talk shop.”
“And what if he says no? Then what?”
He winked at me. “You don’t want to know. Now go and get some beauty sleep. You did good tonight. I think the boys like you.”
Like wasn’t the word I would use.
I kissed him on the cheek and then headed inside, smiling as I thought about dinner. Even if Dad was chasing money and pimping me out for the night, it had been fun. Dad was fun. He was a typical car salesman, and he had enough stories to keep everyone entertained all night, including the triplets.
I felt my phone vibrate as I scanned my ID to get into the building, swiping to view the text from the unknown number.
Unknown: Let me know when you take that sexy number off. You looked hot tonight, I want to see if you look as hot without it. C.
It was clear Carlo wanted more than to help me with my thesis, and he had something dirty in mind. I smiled as I thought about the idea of someone like him being interested in me. He was the most popular one out of the three brothers, and he’d certainly been friendly tonight.
To be fair, it was really only Alessandro that I despised, not the three of them. Alessandro was the one who made women feel uneasy, the one who would voice his latest conquest. He was the one who didn’t fit the bill of the type of person I’d want to be with.
The more I thought about the night, the more my smile grew. I’d broken all my rules by wearing a dress too short, putting my hair up, and wearing more makeup than I normally would.
I walked up to my room with the text on my mind.
Should I take it off and reply to him or should I wait?
I smiled as I opened the door and saw that Erika wasn’t in the room. This meant she had somewhere else to crash, most likely her boyfriend’s, and I wouldn’t have to fill her in on the night’s events.
I tossed my purse, closed the door, and started to strip, wondering if I should send Carlo a picture of me in my underwear. Luckily, I had one set of decent lingerie that I bought when I came to Yale, hoping that the V-card I’d so dearly been holding onto would one day be lost.
Here goes nothing!
I took a selfie as I tried to find the right pose and light, which could only be found in the bathroom, and sent him a picture, giggling like a teenager as I waited for his reply.
Nothing.
I brushed my teeth and washed my face, deciding that I was too tired to shower tonight. I would do that first thing in the morning.
Nothing.
I put on my Betty Boop oversized t-shirt. I was a fan… why not? She was sexy and everything I wasn’t, even if she was only animation. Besides, Mom was a big fan of hers, so wearing Betty Boop kept her spirit alive.
Nothing.
I turned the light off and crept into bed, deciding to check my phone one last time.
Shit!
There was a group chat called Ethics, with the picture I’d just sent to Carlo set as the group’s photo. I checked out the members, and sure enough, Carlo, Alessandro, and Adolfo were there.
The group’s description was Rose´s road to ethics, and there were two messages:
Adolfo: Bella
Alessandro: Bellisima
Were they saying my photo was beautiful?
I didn’t reply as I thought about the boys I thought I didn’t want near me ever in a million years… until tonight. Now I was dreaming about them having their hands all over my body. They’d made me feel special, just by creating a group. Made me feel sexy with a few simple words.
Maybe it was time to let my hair down. College would soon be over, and my only achievements would be to graduate, have Erika as a best friend, and have an ex-boyfriend who claimed college was for studying, not dating… even though he’d been seeing a girl for the better part of the three years since we broke up.
I’d seen Bianca walking around campus as if she was lost, never fitting in after all this time. I’d only ever heard of her dating the one guy, Ben, who broke up with her when she wouldn’t put out, and I’d only seen her with one friend, her roommate Erika, who worked with her at Two Sheets. Unlike Erika, Bianca was far from friendly. It felt like as soon as we stepped into Two Sheets, she headed in the opposite direction. Alessandro says it is because she’s stuck up, the kind of person who thinks she’s better than us. But how would he know if he’d never spoken to her?If anything, Alessandro was the uptight one. If some girl didn’t grovel to him twenty-four seven, he concluded that she wasn’t the kind of girl we should hang out with. He made too many assumptions about people. Sometimes I wondered if we were even related—he was too fucking judgmental.Dad said her dad, Paul, used to go to high school with him. He said he was a mess when they were kids, and it seemed as if things hadn’t
Jesus, this dude was still drunk. Had he constantly been drinking since we left him last night? How did he even manage to get around in his state?Paul was talking, and Bianca complained about needing to complete some paper before her shift at Two Sheets later. I’d been there a few times and bought drinks for the guys, which is how I knew exactly who she was as soon as Dad told us about the dinner last night. Bianca was the kind of girl who was saving her V-card until her knight in shining armor came upon a horse and took her in his arms. Sure, she looked hot last night, but the girl didn’t know how to dress or hold herself. Bianca walked around in sweats and t-shirts, and a knight wasn’t going to take a girl that didn’t dress like a princess. If she couldn’t be bothered to keep up her physical appearance, I hated to think what the inside her dorm looked like. Most likely like Adolfo’s room. As for my other brother, Carlo… any girl would do for him. He was so damn horny. He was so i
I’d hated him before, and after the way he spoke to me at breakfast, I hated him even more. He always had a way of making me feel insignificant. Yes, I didn’t normally dress in a minidress like I did last night, but I did it because Dad asked me to. This was why whenever Alessandro came to Two Sheets, I made a point to never serve him. I always made sure Erika did the deed. She was more tolerant than I was, always managing to serve everyone, including jocks like Alessandro, with a smile on her face. He would swarm in with his gold card and buy drinks for anyone who gave him any attention. I hated the way he did it, and I knew I wasn’t the only one. He was loaded, and he wanted everyone to know it. I knew some guys on campus were probably as well off as he was, but they didn’t flaunt it like he did with his Rolex, Gucci clothes, and every other designer item under the sun. He made it known everything on him was worth more than I had in my closet and then some. I needed to stay as fa
“Delete the fucking group, Carlo!” I blurted out as I saw my lazy brother sitting in the kitchen, eating what looked like the whole delicatessen section of Walmart. “What’s your problem? You don’t need to contribute to it anymore, and if you do, then I’ll do it for you. Ok?”I shook my head, because he wasn’t listening. I headed to Adolfo’s room to get him in on this conversation. Enough was enough. We didn’t need to have anything more to do with them, neither Bianca nor her dad. “Adolfo, come out so we can have this out.”Adolfo shook his head. “Nope. I’m shooting hoops with the guys. You and Carlo figure it out. You know me, I’m easy. Whatever you decide, I’m down with it.”Adolfo, the voice of no reason. He never took sides, always backing out whenever there was a confrontation between me and Carlo… which was most of the time. “Fine, be a chicken!” He ignored me as he sighed, rolled his eyes, and then stormed out of the door. “Just leaves you and me,” Carlo said. “Can we talk
Two Sheets was quiet, which was the good thing about working the early shift. It was always calm this time of day, never stressful like the night shift. Erika said I was crazy, that there was nothing better than the night and seeing the craziness that went on, that it made work entertaining and the time fly by. I had to admit, she did get tipped a lot more than I did… but then again, she was a lot friendlier than me. I gave each customer their drink or snack and moved on. Erika not only to served them but entertained them at the same time, all while managing somehow to never accumulate a line. I was daydreaming, thinking about Alessandro and wondering why I struggled to focus on a particular topic for my paper.“Maybe he’s right. I’m an imposter,” I mumbled to myself. When I looked up, I saw the last man I wanted to see in my life burst into Two Sheets. “We need to talk, now,” Alessandro barked at me. Then he turned to James, the manager, and said, “Can we use your office for a few
I’d been texting Bianca, but I hadn’t heard back from her. Alessandro was out for blood. He’d been on the phone with Rik and had managed to track down Paul. He was going to get every penny from him. I couldn’t believe he’d gone to Two Sheets to accuse Bianca of taking Dad’s money. I tried telling him Dad was a grown man. He knew what he was doing the moment he gave Paul the money, and frankly, it was none of Alessandro’s business. Yet he didn’t fucking listen. Neither Adolfo nor I could understand the madness. I knocked on Bianca’s door and waited patiently, croissants and coffee from the bakery in hand. I decided to make my first romantic gesture ever, hoping to convince her over breakfast that we weren’t all as crazy as Alessandro. I hoped she wasn’t a late sleeper… maybe ten was too early for her. She did work in a bar. Although, she must have class at some point today…I was just about to give up when a teary-eyed Bianca opened the door. “Bianca?”“Sorry, I just… I don’t know
It had been nearly a week, and still nothing from Dad. I tried not to worry. Carlo had promised he would try and do the best he could to find answers. He was right—Dad had done a disappearing act for the better part of five years. When he was ready to come back, then he would do it. I just had to wait until that day.“Why are you getting all dressed up today?” Erika asked teasingly. “Can’t a girl make an effort once in a while?”She shook her head. “Please! You’ve never worn a denim miniskirt or had your hair braided—I didn’t even know you could braid your hair! And you’re wearing a see-through top so everyone can see your boobies!”“Stop it!” I laughed, trying to apply lipstick and failing miserably.“Thank God for Instagram. There’s loads of videos on how to do it, with girls that have the same hair texture as mine. Also, Carlo has a game. I’m going to see him play, and if he wins… well, who knows,” I said flirtatiously.“Look at you!”I sighed. “Do you think there’s something wron
I stood waiting for Carlo to get ready to go to his game. I was going to support him, while Alessandro was still missing in action. Not only was he not returning our calls, but his phone was switched off. “Why the hell is he so fucking dramatic!” I blurted. Carlo rolled his eyes, not even needing to ask who I was talking about. “Who cares. I have a hot date tonight, and neither you nor big brother are going to stand in my way.”“Bianca?”He nodded. “Uh-huh, and after the hungry text she just sent me, don’t expect me back later. If I do come back, don’t even think about knocking on my door.”“Please, as if I would. I’ll most likely be out with one of the girls from my fan club.”He shook his head. “Don’t you get tired of messing around, playing games with girls? Don’t you want a woman?”“What, like Bianca?”“Exactly!” he said, pointing to me. “I think she’s something special, not like these little spoiled brats you love hanging around. She’s someone who has been through so much shit