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Tropes

• Why Choose Romance
• Best Friends to Lovers
• Billionaire

Tags

MF, MFM, MMFM, bi-awakening, golden retriever, dirty talking best friend, woman who decides to take control of her life, toys

Katherine’s Soundtrack

• Middle of the Night (Rain Paris)
• I See Red (Everbody Loves An Outlaw)
• E.T. (Katy Perry)
• Pornstar Dancing (My Darkest Days)
• It’s Raining Men (DeathbyRomy)
• Just Pretend (Bad Omens)
• Legends Never Die (League of Legends)

Have a song you think Katherine would listen to? Send me a note.

Excerpt

Oh, this is bad. So bad.

Several seconds tick by and the auctioneer repeats the starting bid.

The room is devoid of paddles in the air. I’m looking now. Hard. A girl I went to high school with smirks near the front of the group.

Why didn’t it occur to my mother that no one would pay for a date with the so called Ice Queen. I’ve heard the rumors. They suit me just fine.

Palms sweating, I glance back at Alex. Will he bid on me? Is that wild connection I always feel whenever we’re within ten feet of each other real or all in my head?

Next to him, Gabriel stares at me. It’s a long, cool look. Thoroughly appraising. Almost as if he’s asking if I want him to join the fray.

My frenemy suddenly seems like a prize.

I give him the tiniest nod.

He doesn’t move. Doesn’t lift his paddle.

My heart thunders. I’m going to strangle my mother.

My gaze ping pongs between the two men. It’s only been a few seconds. Why does it feel like five lifetimes?

“One thousand.” Gabriel’s paddle flashes. Sweet relief shoots through me and my knees go weak.

Alex’s head swivels toward him so fast it’s almost comical.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see another paddle above everyone’s head.

Tyler.

What the heck is he doing?

The auctioneer confirms the bid, and an ache takes up residence behind my breastbone.

This is exactly as awful as I’d feared.

Bright lights. All eyes on me. A murmur rippling through the crowd. Speculation and gossip.

My temples begin to pound in time with my heartbeat.

“Five thousand.”

My gaze snaps to Alex, and that’s when I wobble, my knees giving.

Gabriel shoots him a baffled look. What the hell are you doing?

Alexander dips his chin ever so slightly to the side, his dark eyes never leaving me. Not even to recognize his friend.

His best friend.

I let out a slow breath between my lips and an ounce of the anxiety fades.

On the other side of the room, Tyler calls out “fifty-five hundred.”

Cheapskate. His investments alone would have brought in 8 figures last quarter.

I fight to not roll my eyes.

“Seven thousand.”

My attention snaps back toward Gabriel and Alexander. It’s Rothburn’s paddle in the air this time.

And then it’s on. The three men outbidding each other like it’s the final match at Wimbledon. Swift and energetic.

My head’s on swivel as I watch the three men volley. No one else enters the war.

Under the hot stage lights, I resist the urge to wipe my palms down my thighs. My mother instilled a few lessons in me at an early age. No fidgeting. Don’t let them see you sweat.

At nineteen thousand, Tyler shoots Gabriel and Alexander a thunderous look.

Why on earth would he think I’d go on a date with him, no matter how much he paid? It’s all to force my hand. To get the last word.

To their credit, once they started bidding, Gabriel and Alexander haven’t paid him a lick of attention. In fact, it seems like they’re barely paying attention to each other. But how could they not?

They’re shoulder to shoulder in exquisite inky tuxedos. A sight to behold. To remember. Straight off the cover of GQ, but oh so alive.

“Thirty thousand,” Alexander says.

“Forty,” Gabriel replies.

“Fifty.”

My jaw drops. There’s a chorus of quiet gasps. Even the auctioneer seems stunned.

Tyler’s paddle is stationary at his side.

“Sixty,” Gabriel counters.

“Seventy.”

“Eighty.”

“One hundred thousand.”

This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever witnessed firsthand. But somehow, I don’t feel like a slab of meat.

No, I feel like a toy on the playground.

Their favorite toy. They both want it and so they’re tugging back and forth to see who will win.

Find me online and be sure to tag me if you see something or someone that reminds you of Katherine, Alex, Gabe or Kingston!